ANAHEIM, Calif. — This is a town built on smiles, happiness in the DNA of every ounce of ink that once flowed from Walt Disney’s pen. No one here in the greater Disneyland area Tuesday wore a bigger grin than Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who spent a sizeable chunk of practice hammering pucks from the left point, the big man once again stationed on the power play.
“Yeah, I am obviously excited,’’ said Big Z. “I want to play in all situations, like I have said before, and any time I get a chance, I am obviously willing to help and hopefully, you know, I will get some looks in the game, too. I love being out there.’’
Chara, owner of one of the league’s hardest shots, for years was a fixture on the Boston power play, dating to signing with the Bruins as an unrestricted free agent in July 2006.
His time on the unit was cut back significantly last season, and it was all but erased this season, with then-coach Claude Julien adamant about budgeting the playing minutes of his soon-to-be-40-year-old No. 1 defenseman.
But there’s a new coach in town and Bruce Cassidy figures he possibly could use the hulking Chara on the club’s No. 2 unit, which Tuesday was fronted by a line of Peter Cehlarik-David Krejci-David Pastrnak. Chara split work on that unit with Colin Miller, and Frank Vatrano manned the other point.
“Yeah, Z could get some looks,’’ said Cassidy. “We’ve tried to use him here and there throughout the year (in rare 5-on-3 situations). Now that we are not playing quite as much, we can keep him fresh. Not only that, but sometimes having him kill [penalties] in practice, it avoids him maybe taking a shot off the foot. He’ll definitely get some looks, to keep him current.’’
It’s obvious to Cassidy, along with anyone else at the rink, that Chara likes the role.
“He loves it,’’ said Cassidy. “He wants to play on it. It’s been well documented and we’ve tried to manage those situations — do what’s best for the team and keep him a part of it.’’
Cassidy also made a point, soon after he took over the Boston bench, that he wanted to see Miller’s shooting accuracy improve. He, too, has a big shot, but it’s not as laser-fixed as Chara’s bomb, which he still can launch at over 100 miles an hour.
“My ice time is not an issue,’’ said Chara, discounting the idea, held by Julien, that added shifts on the power play would sap his energy over the course of the 82-game season. “I always take a lot of pride in playing a lot of minutes. I want to be out there. I want to play the game as much as I can.’’
Chara chose his words carefully, but it was clear being back at the point had to feel like a homecoming for him.
“Like I said, I am very excited to get a chance — even in practice I get excited,’’ he added. “It’s something that I love to do. I love to help the team any way I can.’’
Front and center
Just a couple of weeks ago, Ryan Spooner was among the Boston forwards most likely to be wheeled away at the upcoming (March 1) trade deadline.
Installed again as a full-time center — one of Cassidy’s first moves after being named coach on Feb. 7 — the 25-year-old Spooner on Sunday night scored for only the second time in the last 21 games and will carry a three-game point-scoring streak (1-2—3) into Wednesday night’s faceoff here vs. the Ducks.
“It’s been good, I’ve been trying to use my speed a little bit more,’’ noted Spooner, now pivoting a line with Vatrano to his left and fellow-forward-in-recovery Jimmy Hayes on his right.
“I think in the last game, second period, we got a little hemmed in there. I think some of that was on me, I wasn’t closing quick enough, so I have to work on that. But I think for the most part it’s gone well.’’
The fleet-of-foot Spooner actually was standing still Sunday night in San Jose when he scored for only the ninth time this season.
It was a more engaged Hayes — another of Cassidy’s initial reclamation projects — who made a wild turnaround shot from the slot that fired wide to the left of Sharks netminder Martin Jones.
Spooner, camped at the right post, was the proud recipient of the puck as it careened off the back wall, and he was left to make the easy touch at the post before Jones could recover his position.
Later in the night, Spooner had a couple of shifts, particularly on the club’s lone power play, when he freewheeled with the puck, dancing with a confidence he rarely flashed under Julien. Cassidy has put more trust in Spooner, given him a full-time gig at center (his favorite position), and thus far it has paid off for the former No. 45 (2010) draft pick.
Cassidy, winner of all four games he has coached behind the Boston bench, noted that every coaching change brings a rearrangement of roster parts.
‘When a new voice comes in,’’ he said, “there’s probably three or four guys that are looking to sort of get their season back on track. And maybe there’s a couple that don’t get as much responsibility. That’s certainly been the case for a few of our guys and they’ve responded — you are probably aware of which guys they are.’’
Spooner, added Cassidy, has been “one of the biggest benefactors’’ of the change in voice.
“In my opinion,’’ added Cassidy, “he is a better centerman than a winger right now. Whether he can sustain that in the long run, time will tell. But he has been a center all his life and I think he would be the first to tell you he enjoys that more than the wing.
“I thought he had good days on the wing, with Krejci. They are both offensive minds. I just think he prefers playing between the dots, having the puck in the neutral zone, being away from the walls, being creative and using his speed.
“We’ve asked him to be a 200-foot player and he is working at it. Is he perfect? No. But he’s working at it and that is just part of the responsibility of being a centericeman. You’ve got to be able to go out and play against whoever they throw out there.’’
Do it again
The Bruins practiced at the Honda Center for some 45 minutes, after which Cassidy said the lineup could change slightly for the match vs. the Ducks. Left winger Matt Beleskey, a healthy scratch in San Jose, could be back on duty, although Cassidy didn’t identify whose spot he would take. Austin Czarnik (injured reserve) will be scratched, along with John-Michael Liles and Joe Morrow from the backline . . . Tuukka Rask will start in the Boston net, with Anton Khudobin still pegged as the starter Thursday night in LA . . . Hayes, with only 5 points (2-3—5) all season, collected his second assist in three games with that helper on Spooner’s goal . . . The Ducks were edged Monday night in Arizona, continuing a recent dip that has left them 3-5-1 in they’re last nine games . . . The Bruins were 1-8-0 in their three California stops (San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles) the last three seasons.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.
