Seven games into the season, the Providence Bruins are rolling. They�ve won three games in a row and haven�t given up a goal in seven-plus periods. Because the team did not play on Sunday, they had a rare Monday practice at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

Seven games into the season, the Providence Bruins are rolling. They�ve won three games in a row and haven�t given up a goal in seven-plus periods. Because the team did not play on Sunday, they had a rare Monday practice at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

As he usually does, coach Bruce Cassidy had some interesting thoughts on his team.

On the weekend:

�When you sort through the video, it�s never as good as you think or as bad as you think, but on paper when you win 4-0 and 5-0 and each goalie gets a shutout, got some guys getting on the score sheet that you knew would, some guys getting their first, so it�s a lot of positives. As you know around here, especially early in the year, things can change in a hurry in one weekend in the American Hockey League.��

On Malcolm Subban�s improved focus and practice habits:

�That�s normal. He�s a second-year pro. They tend to understand how to be a pro better, the value of practice. That�s the biggest thing to me is the value that kids put into practice. . . .

�People have said it from day one, if he can get technically better, better focus, tighten up some areas, his natural abilities will take over. It�s no different than when you get offensive defensemen that come in here and they don�t defend well or understand the value of getting better at that. Forwards, you see it with kids like Koko and kids out of junior who are scorers. They rely on that.

�I see a guy (in Subban) I don�t have to talk to during practice. Last year he couldn�t make it through � 20 minutes into practice, he was tired. You�ve just got to do better for an hour a day. It�s 11:47. They went on at 10:30. This is your job. That hour�s important.

�Now they�ll go in the gym and maybe look at some (video) clips and stuff, but it�s 45 minutes to an hour on the ice. Now they walked in the door at 9 o�clock and they�ll walk out at 12 or 12:30, so it�s a three-, three-and-a-half hour day and the weekends get long, but an hour of strong focus is an important time.

�It isn�t a lot to ask for these kids to work on their trade for a solid hour a day and maybe a little bit after.��

On David Pastrnak�s weekend:

�Friday I wasn�t enamored with his game. I thought it was one of his weaker ones. He wasn�t bad. He made some plays early, then I thought when we got ahead he lost a little bit of that � let�s play the right way. He got out of position, his structure was completely lost. That�s kind of what he�s here for, to understand the game better, the position, so when he gets to the NHL, on the days the puck�s not finding him, he�s not all over the place.

�Some stuff was pointed out to him on Saturday morning. The kid takes stuff the right way. How much improvement will happen how quickly, I don�t know. But my take, I guess, is that he�s showing a lot of high-end skill and the ability to make plays. Good hockey IQ. Still is learning to understand the game away from the puck.

�Even how to get open. It�s not always defensive. How do I get open? Puck support, there�s still some work to be done there in his game. Without taking away from his natural ability to all of a sudden create something-out-of-nothing plays, like the home-run pass. He�s like that wide receiver who still has to run good routes. He can�t just be all over the place.��