Gagne still waiting to get a shot with the Bruins

BOSTON - Even before Simon Gagne first pulled on a Bruins jersey in training camp last month, the date of Oct. 8 was circled on his calendar.

For Gagne, it would be the date he would have proved the doubters wrong and defied the odds. It would be his first NHL game in 529 days.

That the Bruins open their season against the Flyers on that date - the franchise he is so inextricably tied to - was a bonus.

Classy as ever, even Gagne had to feel a twinge of revenge. In his mind, the Flyers were the reason he was forced to sit out all of last season and contemplate retirement at age 33. They strung him along for the entire summer of 2013, leading him to believe he would be in a Flyers jersey when training camp opened last September.

The invitation never arrived, a situation botched by then-general manager Paul Holmgren almost signing Dan Cleary. Gagne was burned by his blind faith in the organization that raised him.

Tomorrow night's nationally televised season opener was his chance to send a message to his former club: "Look at me; I've still got it."

"I'm not going to lie, I looked at that when the schedule first came out and I was excited," Gagne said.

Alas, when the Bruins take the ice to the roar of TD Garden tomorrow night, Gagne will not be with them. He still has not earned a contract for the upcoming season.

But the Bruins have not sent him home yet. Intrigued by his skill, experience and possible value, the Bruins will have Gagne remain with them for at least the next week - still skating on a tryout - as they continue to evaluate their roster.

After banking on last season to bring home a Stanley Cup, the Bruins are in salary-cap jail. GM Peter Chiarelli hedged this season's cap space on last season's team, since Jarome Iginla played on a special 35-and-over contract that applied his potential $4.2 million in bonuses to this season, even though he now plays for Colorado.

The Bruins already traded away heart-and-soul defenseman Johnny Boychuk to make room. The next week will be beneficial for both Chiarelli and Gagne. Chiarelli will have time to sort out his roster and determine whether a few young prospects are worthy of spots. Gagne, now 34, will have one more week of full-speed practice to smooth out his game after a year on his couch.

"I'm getting better and better every day," Gagne told the Daily News yesterday. "I had a pretty good summer with my training, but I think the first 4 to 5 days of camp were rough. We had some really intense practices. Now, I'm starting to feel like normal, which is what I was hoping for after being away so long.

"I'm not 100 percent yet, but it's coming slowly. They know that. My speed is coming back. I'm getting better hands-wise. I felt a lot more natural in the last preseason game."

Gagne joked that he had a lot more time to get shots off when he was skating this summer in Quebec with a few "old-timers." As one might expect, his biggest adjustment so far is the difference in speed, that fraction of a second to make decisions and release the puck. He finished with one goal and one assist in five exhibition games.

"I've only had 3 weeks to play, so I think this is a good sign," Gagne said. "I like the way things are going. I would like to get a little more time, and they would like to get more time to look at me, too."

In some ways, Gagne's situation is not all that different from last summer - when he was banking on returning with the Flyers. He has been assured of nothing with the Bruins, except more time. The only thing he's receiving on his tryout contract is a hotel room and meal money.

Yet, Gagne has placed his trust in Chiarelli and the Bruins. Maybe that's because he knows veteran forward Jay Pandolfo earned a spot on the Bruins in 2012 by playing the same waiting game. Or because the Bruins invited him to their "team bonding" exercises last weekend at the Vermont Police Academy.

"Yeah, I just think it's different now this time," Gagne said. "It feels different. I'm here with the team. I'm skating. I'm wearing a jersey. They promised me they would give me a chance. With the Flyers, there was that thought for camp and then it never happened."

Gagne still wanted tomorrow night to happen - and not only for payback. Fortunately for him, he can still be the rare player to recover a flamed-out career after taking more than a year off in his mid-30s. It probably shouldn't be all that surprising. As one of of the top 12 Canadian-born forwards in two different Olympiads, this Stanley Cup winner was never an ordinary player.

"I'm a little bit disappointed I won't get to play against the Flyers," Gagne said. "But I'm still here. I'd be home right now, maybe talking about retirement. We're only talking about waiting 1 week. We'll see. I think there will be other chances to face them this season."

Coach Craig Berube said he couldn't put a number on the ideal number of starts for goalie Steve Mason this season: "I'm a game-by-game, 'feel' guy" . . . The Flyers worked on a new power-play formation at practice for 5-on-3 situations, which included Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek working mostly low in the zone. They were trying to set up Vinny Lecavalier and Mark Streit for shots at the point, while Wayne Simmonds occupied the front of the net . . . Defenseman Kimmo Timonen (blood clots) also accompanied the team on its trip to Cape Cod.