BOSTON -- Yogi Berra transcended baseball. Everyone loved him -- even in the hockey world.

Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien spent one season (2006-2007) with the New Jersey Devils and the coach would see Berra on an almost-daily basis at the team’s practice facility in West Orange, N.J.

After hearing of Berra’s passing Wednesday, Julien recalled the many conversations and interactions he had with the Hall of Famer.

Berra had an office upstairs at the Devils’ practice facility and would be one of the first in the building for his morning workouts.

“I would be one of the first guys to get to the rink to watch video and he would be coming out of the shower at that point, and before going into his office he would stop by and have a chat with me,” Julien said. “We’d chat about different things. He was an interesting guy, a real nice guy. I got to know him a little bit and that was pretty special because we all know what Yogi Berra meant to the game of baseball.”

A mention of a Yogi-ism made Julien smile.

“I’ve got a book of his that I always regret not bringing it in and having him sign it,” Julien said. “There’s so much about Yogi and I felt fortunate to have the opportunities to spend time with him and have some chats with him. He was a real, real nice guy. He was about 10 years younger back then and was still coming in for his workouts and everything else and kept himself in good shape.”

The two would talk about the changing dynamics of coaching and managing young professional athletes and Berra would always have an interesting story to tell Julien.

“He still had a way of telling stories that would make you smile, giggle and look forward to coming back and seeing him again,” Julien said. “That was a lot fun. For my short experience in New Jersey that’s one of the things I’m glad I got the opportunity to meet him and have some real interesting chats with him.”