Do the Bruins Make the Playoffs?
- Thread starter TSC
- Start date
- Status
Pitt / Ottawa tonite is huge for about 6 teams in the east (Ottawa and Pitt fighting in this game for their playoff lives, Boston and Detroit watching and fighting for their playoff lives, and Washington and the Islanders looking to lock up that top 3 spot in the division). If Ottawa wins this thing it will be a serious knife-fight for that final playoff spot
If Ottawa wins tonight and the Bs lose in regulation to the Caps tomorrow night, the Bs will have to at least match Ottawa's point total in the two games each team would have remaining. That's problematic because the Bs need to travel to Florida less than 24 hours after the Washington game to play a Panthers team that hasn't been on the road since a week ago today and doesn't have any games between this past Sunday and the Thursday night game against Boston. In other words, Boston will be about as tired as a team gets and Florida will be about as well-rested as a team gets.
Worst case for the Bruins last night with Detroit winning and 3 points getting doled out in the Pitt/Ott game.
They need to win tonight.
They need to win tonight.
Here is what I was trying to figure out, but failed because this stuff makes my eyes glaze over. If the B's lose tonight, which I'm deathly afraid of, but they win their last two, are they in automatically, or will they need some help at that point?
Bruins are in with two more wins. They own the tiebreakers against Ottawa. Most point Sens can have is 99 (95 with two games to play). Bruins are at 95 with three games to play.Deathofthebambino said:
They are in with two wins, unless both wins are in a SO. Then Sens could win out in regulation or OT and tie them in the ROW column. I think the Sens may hold the next tiebreaker in that scenario.
Thanks guys. Afraid my fear tonight is being realized, so might need both of those last two unless they get some help, which unfortunately doesn't appear to be in the cards for the B's lately.
HAHAHAHAHAHASpaulding Smails said:
Don't think we have to worry about that outcome. Though it would be incredibly ironic if that was the case given how poor they have been in SO this season.
Curious to see how the NYR play tonight, they have a chance to potentially knock out the hottest team/goalie out of the playoffs, a team they could likely face if they don't beat them.
The Rangers may actually prefer Ottawa to the Bruins though. It's a better matchup for them. I know Rangers fans don't want the Bruins, at least from listening to some of them.j44thor said:
They absolutely do not want any part of the Bruins. My whole in-law side of the family are diehard Rangers fans and the one team they don't want to get is the Bruins.BoSoxFink said:
If they win in regulation tonight and the Senators lose in regulation, wouldn't that clinch a playoff spot? Bruins would be up to 38 ROW and Ottawa would not be able to catch them.
Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarrello, and Marc Staal are all out tonight for the Rangers. Ryan Bourque is going to make his NHL debut.
I wonder if they sit Lundqvist even though he probably needs the work.
I wonder if they sit Lundqvist even though he probably needs the work.
Meh, they're still in control. 2 wins and in. If they can't do that on their own, they probably don't deserve to be in there anyways. Shouldn't need help to get in.
I know that. But, the question is whether they want to risk Lundqvist to injury with nothing to play for or get him some more work.Greg29fan said:
Sigh. Last two games were so depressing. From a great position in control of their own fate to desperate in 48 hours.j44thor said:
The Bruins would have already locked up a playoff spot if posters didn't start listing players who should be rested after they clinched.
In my lifetime said:
We've solved the mystery! Man, this whole time I thought it had more to do with injuries to Chara, Krejci and Hamilton, trading Boychuk, Claude's ridiculous ice time allocation and refusal to play Spooner, no viable backup goalie leading to burnout for your goaltender, and a general malaise that has hung over the whole team all year where they lacked focus and drive at key moments.
But, no, you're right, it was become some posters listed players they wanted rested after they clinched. Fucking genius.
Practice and player/Julien availability scrapped today. Chiarelli speaking this afternoon.
Kind of surreal that we may be at the end of the Chia/Julien era. Not sure I like it, but we'll see.
Kind of surreal that we may be at the end of the Chia/Julien era. Not sure I like it, but we'll see.
cshea said:
Chiarelli needs to be fired. I would hesitate on firing Julien until I heard what the players say in their exit interviews.
Sens-Flyers game has almost a reverse lock feel to it, Sens come all this way only to lay an egg tomorrow. Even if that's the case, hard to feel great about the B's chances to win in Tampa anyways.
I wonder if Chia is willing to fall on his sword for Claude, after Julien apparently made reference to the roster after last night's game.
I wonder if Chia is willing to fall on his sword for Claude, after Julien apparently made reference to the roster after last night's game.
TheRealness said:
New GM is gonna want his own coach, assuming you're hiring from outside and not promoting someone who won't have that power
If one goes, the other should go with him.
If you're going in a new direction, go in a new direction. Don't half ass it.
Chiarelli didn't build a great team, but Julien didn't help him out any. With the talent on this team, they shouldn't be fighting for a playoff spot - but with this talent you can't expect the team to seriously contend for the Cup.
They both failed, they both failed to live up to expectations.
And that's not even taking the players into consideration. Yes - the coach should motivate and put the team in the best position to succeed. But the players are the ones that need to execute.
If this team needs a culture change - fire Chia, fire Claude, and make some leadership/personnel changes on the roster.
If you're going in a new direction, go in a new direction. Don't half ass it.
Chiarelli didn't build a great team, but Julien didn't help him out any. With the talent on this team, they shouldn't be fighting for a playoff spot - but with this talent you can't expect the team to seriously contend for the Cup.
They both failed, they both failed to live up to expectations.
And that's not even taking the players into consideration. Yes - the coach should motivate and put the team in the best position to succeed. But the players are the ones that need to execute.
If this team needs a culture change - fire Chia, fire Claude, and make some leadership/personnel changes on the roster.
I don't think you can remove the GM and keep the coach. I wouldn't want to hire a new GM and then not give him the authority to pick his own staff. There are 3 scenarios, IMO:TheRealness said:
1. Fire both
2. Keep both
3. Keep Chiarelli, Fire Julien
I think I come down on option 2 or 3 but I'm still seething from the past 2 days so I'm not quite sure which way I'd want to go.
Exactly Lose. Coach-GM are a tandem. Either they both stay or both go. We don't need a NYJ-type of scenario.
I know nobody wants to hear it, but injuries do matter, and they had an inordinate impact on the performance of this year's team. Anyway:
Chiarelli: yes, he's made some mistakes building this year's roster. But every GM makes mistakes, and this team had been on a very nice run for a number of years now. I'd say he should get some runway to start the reload or rebuild. Last season's Stanley Cup winner may not make the playoffs either.
Julien: Coaches are nearly always the first to go in these situations. I'm sure Julien realizes it. And he said what needed to be said about the roster, as I think it was directed more at his team than the GM.
If the B's miss the playoffs, I'd say there's a 90% chance Julien is gone, and 50/50 for Chiarelli.
Chiarelli: yes, he's made some mistakes building this year's roster. But every GM makes mistakes, and this team had been on a very nice run for a number of years now. I'd say he should get some runway to start the reload or rebuild. Last season's Stanley Cup winner may not make the playoffs either.
Julien: Coaches are nearly always the first to go in these situations. I'm sure Julien realizes it. And he said what needed to be said about the roster, as I think it was directed more at his team than the GM.
If the B's miss the playoffs, I'd say there's a 90% chance Julien is gone, and 50/50 for Chiarelli.
They absolutely matter lex, but are they enough to sway thinking that changes need to be made and do you think Chiarelli would be the man trusted to make the necessary changes? Is Julien's system going forward the system that is going to get you back to the Cup? Lots of factors to weigh. This isn't necessarily directed at you, but in general these are the questions management is going to have to answer whether they snuck in or not.lexrageorge said:
lexrageorge said:
Even if 100% healthy this roster isn't good enough and they have zero flexibility against the cap. In fact they may need a 2-3 year rebuild because the new GM may need a year just to get out from under some of these lousy contracts. They're also going to have an issue with Hamilton. Unless Haggerty is pulling the Dougie offer sheet stuff straight out of his super sized asshole, somebody is leaking that to him. I'm guessing it's Dougie's agent already posturing. While I don't think anybody is going to sign him to an offer sheet, if they're already negotiating through the media, it's not going to be easy to sign him.
One thing I keep circling back to...win or lose tomorrow, and as much of a disaster as the year has been, they're going to have 95-97 points. Since they went to the SO, 2 teams with 95 points have missed the playoffs, 06/07 Avs and 10/11 Stars.
There's something there. They aren't a bad team. They need changes, significant ones, but they have a good team to build on.
There's something there. They aren't a bad team. They need changes, significant ones, but they have a good team to build on.
Those are all very fair questions. I think the organization needs to change their thinking with regards to the younger players: talented young players like Pastrnak are going to make mistakes some nights, and the last thing this team needs is a coach or GM that would give up on the less physical younger guys in favor of more 3rd/4th line plumbers. Their draft fails haven't helped them either, but it will take time to assess the Gretzky drafts, even though early returns are promising.RedOctober3829 said:
But, there's still a game to be played, and lots of things can change between now and Monday in terms of how we view this season and potentially the overall roster to some degree.
Not good enough to make the playoffs of win the cup? While no team ever makes it through a season 100% healthy, there is no doubt that the injuries cost the B's 5 or more points. Losing 2 of your top 4 players for significant portions of the season (and having them at considerably less than 100% when in the lineup) definitely cost them. The ripple down effect of a lack of lineup stability adds to that.Salem's Lot said:
I find it hard to come down on Chia and Claude after a Cup win, another appearance and a President's Trophy. I recognize that the primary reason their in cap trouble was the decision to GFIN last year. Cups are hard to come by and we've experienced too many years of playing for next year to really argue with that. Chia has been too liberal with years and NMCs at times, but not too many of the contracts were total head scratchers when they were executed.
That said, hockey is an emotional game and you need to find ways to get the players up for the games. Maybe the news comes out that half the team is playing with significant injuries, but overall we haven't seen the level of desperation and effort necessary over the last month. It's probably time for a new voice. Coaches grow stale in hockey more than any other sport. I wouldn't be surprised if Claude recognizes that himself and steps aside. Chia is a more difficult call. It really comes down to if him and Cam were on the same page. If the contracts and the roster building were organizational decisions he may get some rope.
As for Haggs, I wouldn't pay any attention to what he says. I'd be more inclined to believe he is pulling it out of his asshole than him getting a scoop.
I've thought about this quite a bit and come down to this: The Boston Bruins organization has been highly successful in the NHL for the majority of the time this group has been together. I think it is both unfair and unwise to break up this group after one season that went significantly below expectations when injuries, player performance, and scheduling all played a role in shaping that outcome. That's not to say it's been a perfect hand for management, clearly not, but after years of deep playoff runs, father time and the grind of long seasons with shorter summers was going to catch up with the organization eventually.
You can't bury these guys after multiple cup appearances, a win, and President's trophy. Multiple down years merits a total overhaul of the management, but I think one bad year merits a more serious retooling of the roster before you make changes at the top.
You can't bury these guys after multiple cup appearances, a win, and President's trophy. Multiple down years merits a total overhaul of the management, but I think one bad year merits a more serious retooling of the roster before you make changes at the top.
Yes, it does RB but you had better be willing to stick with Chiarelli and Claude for 2-3 more years to see the results of those changes. You can't let them overhaul the roster then fire them if they are in this position next year. It is a very tough decision to make.Reardons Beard said:
- Status