John Bishop is the beat writer for BostonBruins.com. He covers the Black & Gold hoping to offer a positive look at the team, not only from the stands and the press box, but also from inside the locker room. A graduate of Boston U. and Northeastern, 'Bish' grew up in Connecticut and moved to the Hub of Hockey in 1993. Since then he has made all four rinks at the Beanpot schools, as well as both Gardens, his icebound homes away from home. Prior to joining the TD Banknorth Garden staff in 2005, Bishop had written for several publications, with his primary focus being college hockey. He coauthored the book Bygone Boston in 2003 and hopes someday to pen a bio of Hobey Baker.

It was my extreme pleasure to have caught up with the Boston Bruins Marco Sturm via telephone late last week.

The popular B's forward sounded well, said that he looked forward to getting back to Boston to begin preparing for the upcoming season, but is enjoying his summer as best he can.

Obviously, watching the playoffs does not sit very well with the German winger.

"It's been pretty good," said Marco of his time off. "I really enjoy seeing my family and friends."

Sturm has done some bounding around, too, as he and his wife recently got back to Germany after a visit to Italy.

"We went to Milan," said Sturm with some reverence to the beautiful city. "It was just us, no kids, and it was nice to get away (with my wife) for a while."

Beyond that, however, Sturmie has simply been trying to catch up with people from his home.

"Everyone wants to see the kids, and us," he said, adding, "It's always nice to get home.

"Home is home.

"Especially for us, because it is far away and not everyone has the chance to see us during the year," said Sturm.

But Boston, his professional home, tugs at him, too.

"After a while you always want to go back to the US," admitted the Bruins sniper who has already begun to think about 2007-08.

"I'll pick up the workouts pretty soon -- even harder," said Sturm, who continues to keep in shape throughout the summer, thanks, in particular, to some select television programming.

"I am watching the playoffs right now," he said. "So, that kind of stinks, because we are not in there.

"That should be our goal -- to be in the playoffs.

"We want to go as far as we can and have some fun again," said Marco.

Sturm reiterated his earlier satisfaction with signing with Boston and staying with Bruins organization.

"I could have been one of the free agents, right now, not knowing where to go," said the oft-smiling winger with some relief in his voice. "So, I am really glad I signed with Boston."

The city, and New England in general, has treated the German left wing very well.

"We're really pumped -- we're moving into a new place when we get back -- and we're looking forward to settling in getting ready to go," said Sturm. "We love the city."