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Bruin Reunion? Campbell looking at joining Ference’s Czech league team

campbell ference

Gregory Campbell is currently exploring an opportunity to play alongside B’s teammate Andrew Ference for Budejovice of the Czech Extraliga, according to the Boston Globe.

Campbell, who has spent the lockout skating with teammates and going on ride-alongs with the Boston Police Department (seriously), is looking to get some game action.

He hasn’t played a competitive match since the Bruins were eliminated in Game 7 of the opening playoff round -- Apr. 25 -- and, with CBA talks heating up, wants to be in shape should the season start soon.

“If you ask an injured player during the season, they can work out as hard as they want. They can get bag-skated as hard as they want by a coach,” Campbell said. “But unless you’re actually thrown into a game, you’re never in game shape.”

As for signing in the Czech Extraliga...

Ference joined Budejovice early in the work stoppage, agreeing to join the team in mid-September. Since then, a number of other locked-out NHLers have been added to the roster -- Martin Hanzal, Milan Michalek, Vinny Prospal -- but those three had the advantage of holding Czech passports, something Campbell doesn’t have.

That said, the team is almost exclusively made up of domestic players. Ference is one of the few imports, so an opportunity could be there for Campbell, a solid checking forward with some offensive pop.

Campbell was a key contributor to Boston’s cup-winning 2011 team -- he had 13G-16A-29PTS during the regular season -- and was rewarded for his efforts with a three-year, $4.8 million extension in June.