2
SEPTEMBER 7, 2019
“I thought [the drama] was
normal and didn’t think too
much of it until you have a year
of this,” Foster said. “It’s a lot
different tempo. Hats off to
Le’Veon and Antonio, but the
train forever rolls on. We’ve
kind of had that motto here for
a while. You’re either on or
you’re off. Those guys are gone,
so I say it sincerely when I say
good luck to them.”
Quarterback Ben Roethlis-
berger has caused some of the
drama, too. Last year, he openly
uONFOOTBALL
Continued from Page 1
criticized Brown and other
teammates on his weekly radio
show. Roethlisberger has
vowed this year not to be so
public with his criticism.
“I think we all create distrac-
tions,” he said. “I know I’ve
done it. So I’m going to do my
best not to do it moving for-
ward.”
The Steelers may not have
generated a lot of buzz this off-
season, but they’re still danger-
ous. Running back James Con-
ner averaged 113 total yards
per game last year, and scored
13 touchdowns in 13 games.Wide receiver JuJu Smith-
Schuster, only 22 years old, is
coming off a monster sopho-
more season in which he
caught 111 balls for 1,426 yards
and 7 touchdowns.
Smith-Schuster’s stats may
take a dip now that he is the No.
1 option and doesn’t have
Brown drawing attention away.
But the Steelers’ system always
seems to crank out receivers —
from Hines Ward to Santonio
Holmes to Emmanuel Sanders
to Brown and Smith-Schuster
— and Donte Moncrief and
James Washington are the nextmen up.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that I
think can be successful and
help us win football games,” Ro-
ethlisberger said. “I’m going to
have to be good to get them the
ball, then it’s up to those guys.”
The Steelers are the last
team to beat the Patriots, com-
ing away with a 17-10 win at
Heinz Field last year in Week- Brown was in the lineup
that day, but not Conner; his re-
placement, Jaylen Samuels,
rushed for 142 yards on 7.
yards per carry.
And the Steelers defense
held Tom Brady to 279 passing
yards, with one touchdown and
one interception.
“It was obviously not one of
our most well-played games,”
Brady said. “All of the self-in-
flicted errors. The interception
I threw was a really bad play,
and we had our chances. This is
a team if you get opportunities
like that, you have to put points
on the board.”
The Steelers may not be one
of the AFC’s sexy teams, but the
Patriots know they are capable
of ruining their banner-raising
night.“They’ve got too many good
players, too many good coach-
es, a great scheme that puts a
lot of pressure on you,” Brady
said. “You have to take advan-
tage of the opportunities you
get. If you don’t, they’re too
good.
“They’re one of the best
teams in the AFC, they prove
that year after year, and we’re
going to be tested right off the
bat.”Ben Volin can be reached at
[email protected]. Follow
him on Twitter @BenVolinSilencewasgoldenforSteelersinadrama-freetrainingcamp
By Matt Porter
GLOBE STAFF
After having surgery in June on
his jaw and elbow, Zdeno Chara
said he may not be in the lineup for
Game 1 of his 22nd NHL season.
“I’m not sure,” the Bruins cap-
tain said Friday, speaking after a
preseason skate at Warrior Ice Are-
na.
“I think I should be, but it’s a
process of making sure there are no
setbacks or any discomfort.”
A deflected puck in Game 4 of
the Stanley Cup Final broke Chara’s
jaw, and he needed to have plates
and screws inserted, though he
wound up missing only one period
of action in the series. After the sea-
son, he also had surgery to remove
loose bodies in his elbow.
At Friday’s captain’s practice, he
took wrist shots and one-timers
and skated during drills, but he did
not join a large group of teammates
for a lighthearted scrimmage at the
end.
Chara, well-known for his strict
training and dietary regimen, said
he couldn’t eat normally again until
nearly four weeks after the jaw sur-
gery. His typical summer work was
postponed by “six, seven weeks,
with all the surgeries I had and all
the rehab I had to go through,” he
said. “I’m still recovering, still
working at being full strength.”Chara,whowillturn 43 next
March 18, logged the lowest ice
time (21:05) and point total
(5-9—14) of his career since his ear-
ly stint with the Islanders. MCL
surgery in November cut his work-
load to 62 games, his lowest total
since 1998-99.
Like the rest of his teammates,
he still seems to be grappling with
the way last year ended. As usual,
he prefers to look forward.
“Life is too short to kill yourself
over something that when you look
back you think that it has meaning,
but it’s not the end of the world,” he
said.
The Bruins open the season Oct.
3 at Dallas.
...
David Backes, who was rumored
to be dealing with an unknown ail-
ment after the season, participated
in Friday’s session. He was also at
Wednesday’s workout... Team-
mates David Pastrnak, Jake De-
Brusk, and Danton Heinen, absent
from Wednesday’s session, joined
the on-ice contingent Friday... Pa-
trice Bergeron, recovering from a
groin issue, Joakim Nordstrom
(foot), and Matt Grzelcyk worked
out with skills coach Kim Brand-
vold after the main group departed.Follow Matt Porter on Twitter at
@mattyports.Aftersurgeries,
Charaunsureon
statusforopener
FILE/DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF
Having broken his jaw in the middle of the Stanley Cup Final series, Zdeno Chara had to don modified headgear.
is expected to maintain ownership
and the running of the franchise in
perpetuity, all part of a long-
planned succession that the senior
Jacobs said he finally executed ear-
lier this year.
“I have given it to my kids,” said
Jacobs. “They are paying me some
of the proceeds that come out of
this. It happened this year. This
was done on the basis that the lon-
gevity is going to continue in the
hands of the Jacobs children, and
the next generation will have it.
“Hopefully, it will continue to be
a successful franchise.”
Jacobs bought the franchise in
1975, for some $10 million, and
held it under his name for the last
44 years.
The transaction, he said, in-
uJACOBS
Continued from Page 1
cludes the company, now a multi-
national enterprise that has ex-
panded its footprint far beyond the
hot dog-peanuts-and-beer business
that his father founded more than
100 years ago.
“I see this and they see this as
very much a part of the family per-
sona — and this business’s perso-
na,” said Jacobs, who was inducted
into the Hockey Hall of Fame,
builders category, in 2017. “We
think, as we wander away from
sports — something we haven’t
done totally, but we are doing a
number of things that take us away
from sports — this will continue
the heritage that began there.”Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached
at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter
@GlobeKPD.Jacobs gives his children
ownership of the Bruins
FILE/STEVEN SENNE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jeremy Jacobs (center) owned the Bruins for 44 years but that changed this year when his six children took over.By Kevin Paul Dupont
GLOBE STAFF
BUFFALO — Scott Conway is not
on the express, well-trodden lane to
the NHL, but the ex-Providence Col-
lege forward has grown accustomed
to skating hockey’s road not taken.
Conway, 24, was born in Basing-
stoke, England, and learned the game
there while his Canadian-born dad,
Kevin, toiled 18 years at right wing
for a variety of British clubs.
“Yeah, my dad set multiple scoring
records over there — he was kind of
an English god for hockey,” said an
admiring Scott after scoring a goal of
his own in his pro debut Friday after-
noon for the Bruins.
The younger Conway, meanwhile,
is hoping to find a fit one day in the
kingdom that is the NHL. He was 13
when his dad decided to move back
to North America, in large part for
Scott to be exposed to higher level of
competition, and possibly one day
fulfill a dream that his dad was never
able to attain.
“We basically moved to Florida,
and ever since high school I’ve
bounced around, billeting from place
to place,” he said, ticking off the myri-
ad stops, which included three years
in Michigan, a year in Texas, and a
year in Indiana.
“I eventually went to Penn State
for a year, transferred out to Pentic-
ton [British Columbia junior hockey]
and then finished up at Providence
College.”
Those three years with the Friars,
for whom Conway scored 75 career
points, eventually led to Providence
coachNateLeamantoutingConway
as a prospect to the Bruins.
This past spring, after the Friars
were eliminated by Minnesota Du-
luth in the Frozen Four, Leaman’s rec-
ommendation helped persuade the
Bruins to sign Conway to a deal with
AHL Providence.“WeknowNatewellandgotword
of the type of player Scott was,” said
Baby B’s coach Jay Leach, who was
behind the bench here for Conway’s
pro debut.
“He kind of did everything for Na-
te, especially his last couple of years,
and I think he’s a competitor —
which we really like. I thought he as-
serted himself well here [Friday after-
noon]. His skating ability will dictate
where he goes more than anything, I
think, but that is something we can
work on.
“He’s got some vision, can make
plays, he’s competitive, and it’s nice
to have him as an option as we move
forward.”
Conway’s goal, with 18:30 gone in
the second period, pushed the Bruins’
rookies out to a 3-2 lead over the Pen-
guins in the opening game of the an-
nual four-team round-robin tourna-
ment. The other goal scorers in Bos-
ton’s 4-3 win were Jakub Lauko, JackStudnicka, and Anders Bjork, who
potted the winner with 1.9 seconds
remaining in regulation.
“Unbelievable, I’ll never forget
that feeling,” said a smiling Conway.
“Even if it is just a rookie camp, I’ll
never forget that feeling.”
There are openings at forward on
the Boston varsity, but realistically
it’s the likes of Lauko, Studnicka, and
Bjork, just to name three, who have a
decided edge over a kid with a one-
year AHL loose-change deal and a
pocketful of hope.
A good year for Conway would be
to find steady work with the Wan-
naB’s, perhaps on the bottom six, im-
prove his giddy-up and do enough to
entice Providence GM John Ferguson
Jr. to tack another year onto his deal.
He has been on this track for 11 years
now, so he knows patience and the
value of persistence.
“I’ve had faith in myself, and the
same for my family, obviously, mov-ing over here,” he said. “I started off
in Triple A hockey, made the step to
the NAHL, got drafted, and after I
proved myself there I got to the
USHL and had a great year there,
proving I could play. Then just a
domino effect basically, do well wher-
ever I go and hopefully I can continue
to do that.”
...
The Black-and-Gold rookies will
be back in action here Saturday
night, facing the Sabres, then wrap
up the tourney Monday morning
against the Devils, a squad that in-
cludes No. 1 overall draft pick Jack
Hughes.
The best kids will see some time
with the Boston varsity camp that
opens on Warrior ice in Brighton on
Friday.Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at
[email protected]. Follow
him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.Dream moment for Bruins’ hopeful
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