On Oct. 8, Mark Recchi sat and unlaced his skates in a small Czech Republic locker room as he both wrapped up his final practice of the preseason calendar and looked ahead to the regular season. He talked about what season-openers mean to a team, how many he's been through, and shared other stories that only someone with his experience could tell. 

Of course, the 42-year-old had more than hockey tidbits picked up other the years to share. He had a perspective as a hockey great to assess just what the Bruins 2010-11 were as they entered the season, and what they could be.

From a reporter's perspective, it was one of the quotes you jot down, circle, and underline so you won't have difficulty finding it when you need to go back to it later. It was a quote that one could use as a measuring stick all season.

“One thing we were talking about, all of this us this morning [is that] we’re a tough team," Recchi said. "When you look at our team, we’ve got a big, physical team. … You want to get that reputation. That ‘Jesus Christ, we’ve got to go play them. No matter what, they’re going to work.’ That’s important. If we can get that consistency, we’ll be a real tough team.”

It's safe to say the Bruins do not have that reputation as of Dec. 22. Recchi basically said as much in Tuesday's interview on the Dennis and Callahan program when he said that the Bruins "have to be a tough team to play against, and we're not right now."

"Toughness," like "emotion," "effort" and the other must-have characteristics, has been a popular word when dissecting the Bruins' woes. The offense isn't being as physical as it can be, and it's showing both in a lack of opportunities and, above all, a dinky 1.8 goals per game over their last five contests (1-3-1). The Bruins got 45 shots on goal Monday against Jonas Hiller, but they weren't creating any trouble for the Anaheim goaltender in front of the net.

"You've got to be willing to go there and bang rebounds and create traffic. That's something that we are not willing to do every night right now," Recchi said. "We kind of do it, then we don't do it. It's the identity thing. The first 15 games were did it, and we were good. We were tough to play against, and we've gotten away from it."

One of the guys failing to play to his full potential lately is Nathan Horton. Brought in over the summer along with Gregory Campbell in exchange for Dennis Wideman, the 15th overall pick in last year's draft and a third-rounder in the next one, Horton was described by general manager Peter Chiarelli as a "robust" forward. Despite the skill and size that Horton, a former top-three draft pick, brought to the team, he also brought with him a reputation of being unable to sustain consistency over the course of a game. 

Early on, Horton appeared to be whole package. He was physical, he could get from point A to point B whether the guys in the way moved or not, and he showed off his lethal wrist shot. In other words, he was tough. 

Yet slowly Horton has morphed into that other player, the guy whose impact on a game is far less than what someone would expect from a guy with his talent. After picking up 18 points in his first 17 games, everything has seemed to trail off for Horton. He's had just five points in his last 15 games, but even if he isn't scoring, there is more the 25-year-old can do. 

"I try to [be more physical], but like everyone else, we don't play well every night," Horton admitted. "It's getting old and we want to turn things around if we want to stay in the race."

Though he is slumping, the Bruins know what Horton is capable of. They've seen it, though it's been a while. Then again, it's been like that for the offense in general lately. Claude Julien tried to fix that by switching up the lines on Tuesday, placing Marc Savard between Horton and Milan Lucic and putting the line that hockey historians seemed to be clamoring for -- Patrice Bergeron between Recchi and Tyler Seguin -- together. Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder were reunited with David Krejci, while the energy line went untouched (though Brad Marchand remains out). 

If the team wants to have any semblance of being tough to play against, they'll need more offense. Horton is a huge fan of Lucic's game and speaks very highly of Krejci as a center, but if changing the lines can give them the spark that makes them a team other squads would rather not face, he's all for it. 

"We need to," Horton said. "One night, one line's going and three aren't, and the next night [another] line's going and three aren't. I think we need to get everybody going and everybody playing good, smart hockey."

Horton, who has four registered hits in his last seven games, can add "grittier hockey" to that list. The more bruising the squad can be, the less likely first-period boos, which were the fashion on Monday, will be. 

"I think everyone in the room is, too," Horton said when asked if the fans are rightfully frustrated. "We don't want to be in this position of losing."