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Julien, Campbell talk ‘blue-collar’ Bruins

Gregory Campbell

It may be cliché by now -- talking about the Boston Bruins and the “blue-collar” work ethic that’s been so successful for them -- but there’s no doubt it remains a huge part of their identity.

“We take pride in being a blue-collar team,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien on Tuesday, the day after his team took a 2-1 series lead over the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final.

“We don’t care about calling certain guys superstars on our team. We all want to be on the same level.”

Julien was actually responding to a question about Bruins forward Gregory Campbell, who famously broke his leg blocking a shot, and kept playing, in the Eastern Conference finals versus Pittsburgh.

Campbell, on crutches, spoke to the media today as well.

“I’m not going to put myself in front of anybody else and say I’m the picture of the Bruins,” he said when asked by a reporter about becoming “the symbol” of the team.

“This Original Six organization, goes back a long way. It kind of represents the city, a blue-collar, hard-working city with honest people.”

Campbell, in similarly humble fashion, also put the play that ended his season into proper perspective (something that was perhaps lost by some observers), explaining that “your adrenaline’s going pretty good at that point. You’re stuck on the ice with a couple of the best players in the world. You really don’t have much time to think about anything else but trying to help out and kill a penalty.”

He added: “There’s a lot of tough guys in this league. A lot of players are willing to do whatever they can to win. At this point you see that more often, guys doing whatever they can to win. I’m no different than anyone else on these two teams in the playoffs. I was just trying to finish the play and do my job.”

Game 4 of the Cup final goes Wednesday at TD Garden, where the B’s have won seven straight in the playoffs.

Related: Bruins go ‘above and beyond’ to take 2-1 series lead