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Energy abounds at both United Center, TD Garden

BOSTON — TD Garden and the United Center have a lot in common.

Both buildings stand relatively close to where their predecessors stood: In the case of the Garden, a mere few feet from where old Boston Garden was before it was bulldozed.

The United Center is across Madison Street from where Chicago Stadium stood.

Both buildings are loud, which is what the Bruins were hoping to use to their advantage Monday night when the Stanley Cup Final changed venues.

“We’ll be able to feed off our crowd a little more,” said Bruins forward Shawn Thornton. “We enjoy playing in this building, but just that we’re home doesn’t mean it will be easy.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien was glad to be home.

“There’s no doubt you’re a lot happier at home than you are on the road, right?” Julien said. “But we’ve got a great crowd here. Our fans have been great.

“What can you say about the Chicago fans for them? Let’s give credit where credit is due. It’s pretty awesome when you go into that building and listen to them.

“Our fans are very capable of doing the same thing. We may not hold as much in our building, but the decibels will be just as good as it was at the United Center.”

It had been almost two years since the Hawks last played in Boston.

“You like to be home because that’s where you are every day, but coming into this building we’ve done well on the road and in the playoffs,” Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “We always try to take the energy out of their crowd and their team and their bench.”

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville noted that some of his players were making their first trip to the Garden.

“Being on the ice here for the first time, some of these guys haven’t been in this building at all,” Quenneville said. “The boards are a lot livelier. Some of the buildings we played in the playoffs, like Detroit, you get to check out the ice. Let’s be excited about the challenge we have coming in here.”

Red, white and blue:The NHL trotted out the handful of players it expects to be picked at the top of the draft, including defenseman Seth Jones, who is expected to be the first American taken first overall since Patrick Kane in 2007.#147;You#146;ve seen as time has gone by here Americans have gone high in the draft,#148; Kane said. #147;Myself, personally, I think it was back-to-back years when me and Erik Johnson went first overall. That same year was the first time Americans went 1-2 in the draft, with me and (James) van Riemsdyk.#147;From what I hear about this Jones kid he#146;s going to be really tough to play against. He#146;s a big defenseman who can skate (and) with a big shot. You always welcome that as an American, and hopefully he can help us out (on Team USA) in the future.#148;Jones is expected to go first overall to Colorado, which is where he grew up.Defensively speaking:Bruins coach Claude Julien is very impressed with what he has seen from the Hawks#146; defense.#147;They#146;ve got good mobility, there#146;s no doubt there,#148; Julien said. #147;From their back end all the way to the front, they#146;re a speed team. The transition is great. They have obviously a lot of good things on that team. That#146;s why they won the Presidents#146; Trophy. That#146;s why they#146;re in the Stanley Cup Final.#148;Being physical was one way for the Bruins to handle what the Hawks do.#147;Physicality is one thing, but when we finish our checks, when we have to finish our checks, I haven#146;t seen our team run out of position just to throw the big check,#148; Julien said. #147;It#146;s more about if you#146;re there, you finish your check, but we still have to play our game.#148;Line dancing:Hawks winger Patrick Sharp never knows what line he#146;s going to be on. He just shows up at the rink every day ready to play.#147;I kind of get put wherever,#148; Sharp said. #147;I trust that Joel (Quenneville) knows the best combinations, the best lineup to throw out there. My role stays the same no matter where I am, play hard and get pucks to the net.#148;Milbury on Jagr:NBC Sports analyst Mike Milbury, the former Bruins player, coach and general manager, took a shot at 41-year-old Jaromir Jagr during Game 2.#147;He can#146;t skate in this series,#148; Milbury said on the air. #147;They#146;ve got to get him off this line (with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand).#147;If he can do something when he gets the puck standing still, fine. But he can#146;t forecheck; he can#146;t participate with this line. He can#146;t get anything going here. That, to me, is a guy that is too tired to play in this Final. That is a guy that has to be replaced.#148;

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