Habs @ Bruins - Game taking place outdoors
- Thread starter Titoschew
- Start date
Buddy of mine in the media area reports an ex-Bruin saying the "Habs wanted this one more." I got killed in this forum for saying something similar two years ago after the playoffs, but good to know it's a diagnosis sanctioned by the pros themselves… 5-1 bears it out.
I think that's a given, the injuries were a big factor, but there's also an old hockey saw; "Will beats skill." There was a will deficit for huge portions of this game.
Oh my god. First - people like Joe Haggerty are not pros.
And two, if that's the company you want to keep - good on you. It just further solidifies why most people in this forum completely ignore everything you write.
edit - mis-read what you posted. But point remains. One person saying something doesn't mean anything. I bet even more old Bruins players would say that this team just doesn't have the talent right now to match up with a deep Montreal team.
Brad Marchand, a good Nova Scotian like myself, has to realize that he is too valuable to the Bruins to do stupid things and get suspended.
That was an incredibly ugly performance. Goodness. Can we trade Loui now? I don't want him re-signed.
Blaming Loui for today's loss about the wrongest wrong that ever wronged, except for wanting to trade him because of it.
Loui is clearly playing the best hockey he's played in Boston. But it wouldn't break my heart to trade him at the deadline if the team continues to struggle.
Two including the first week of the season, but your point remains. When this team was healthy they were playing very very good hockey. Judging them based on today, and the last week is incredibly unfair.
Taking polls on folks, are you? I seem to find that most of my direct questions get answered. I make a fair number of comments—as does everyone in the thread—that don't beg a response. Thanks for shooting your mouth off before understanding what I wrote, though—that's quality.
And for immediately, and unwarrantedly, making it personal. That's quality too. Good playground bully stuff from a vet like you.
Can anyone that has watched Koko in Providence tell me if he's always a ghost out there? It felt like he had a better chance to assist on a Habs goal than a Bruins one. Just awful. He does not belong on NHL ice.
Neither does Kevan Miller for that matter, but alas, here we are.
Pretty disappointing effort, but it's tough for me to stay mad when they were missing their best playmaker and goal scorer.
Neither does Kevan Miller for that matter, but alas, here we are.
Pretty disappointing effort, but it's tough for me to stay mad when they were missing their best playmaker and goal scorer.
He's had virtually no opportunity to play on NHL ice. Brad Marchand, just to use one example, needed well more than double the opportunity Koko has had to establish himself in the league.
Koko was a ghost because he had 6 minutes of ice time. I thought he was one of the few that was really moving his feet out there.
And I don't think there's any doubt the Habs were out working the Bruins for at least the first half of the game. They were getting to every puck and I saw a lot of circles by the Bs and not a lot of stops and starts- that includes some players that are usually better than that. Silly of Catomatic to bring up that playoff series thought, because that wasn't the issue then (even though you thought that)- that series was a horrific tactical matchup.
Overall they just sucked today. Handful of guys looked solid, but most of the guys were okay to useless. And the thing is they could have been in that game. After it was 3-1 there were 2-3 shifts where the puck almost bounced their way, but the Habs weathered the storm and put it away.
And I don't think there's any doubt the Habs were out working the Bruins for at least the first half of the game. They were getting to every puck and I saw a lot of circles by the Bs and not a lot of stops and starts- that includes some players that are usually better than that. Silly of Catomatic to bring up that playoff series thought, because that wasn't the issue then (even though you thought that)- that series was a horrific tactical matchup.
Overall they just sucked today. Handful of guys looked solid, but most of the guys were okay to useless. And the thing is they could have been in that game. After it was 3-1 there were 2-3 shifts where the puck almost bounced their way, but the Habs weathered the storm and put it away.
I take your point, DH, it's perfectly valid. I only brought it up because of the drubbing I took in the wake of that assertion. I will agree to disagree with you on that series, and have no desire to rehash it. Today's game looked like an echo of it though, and the comment in the media area was a note of vindication I couldn't resist injecting. It was not surprising that it brought similar ad hominem stuff from the itchier trigger fingers among us. Yes, in many ways, today sucked. That is all.
Of course, totally fair. To be perfectly clear, it came from a clutch of three former B's players and the speaker couldn't be identified because they were over the shoulder of my buddy who does voiceover work for the NHL/Winter Classic.Will agree on today's performance, disagree on that playoff series, and suggest that I will agree on the media comment, unless it was one of a couple of guys. Fair?
The Bruins had a 2-fold problem today. First and foremost they couldn't get the puck out of their own end. That leads to tired shifts and once they do get it out, they are gassed and it's a chip out and change. The second problem was zone entries. When they did actually break the puck out, it was pretty much always a dump and chase at the Habs blue line. Dump and chase is useless and doesn't work. All it does is give the puck back to the Habs and tire our guys out trying to chase. Carrying the puck over the blue line is a much better way of getting scoring chances. The 2 best Bruins at carrying the puck in and setting up? Krejci and Marchand. Their absence was really felt today.
Anyways, shitastic game but it was a fun day down in Foxboro.
Anyways, shitastic game but it was a fun day down in Foxboro.
Great scene at the Game today. Couldn't ask for a better venue. As for the game itself, well, I think everyone above echoed my thoughts.
This team is very thin after you get past Krejci, Bergeron, Marchand, Chara, Ericksson, and Rask. Most of the rest are JAGs or worse. In the case of Talbot and Rinaldo, a lot worse than JAGs. I'll never understand the team's fetish for players like Talbot (or Caron before him) or Kevan Miller, players that bring nothing to the table other than some strange definition of "toughness in the corners" that does not translate into actual production on the ice. /rant.
Yeah, they were without 2 of their top forwards today, and they had to curiously send down Colin Miller so that they could give Koko and Vatrano all of 12 combined minutes of ice time (Talbot and Rinaldo combined for 21 minutes for some odd reason). But they Bruins had lost 3 of 4 going in, so I'm not willing to simply chalk this up as "one of those games". Montreal had the puck the entire first period due to a combination of both skill and will; Boston has a ways to go before they are considered to be in the upper tier of teams in their conference.
This team is very thin after you get past Krejci, Bergeron, Marchand, Chara, Ericksson, and Rask. Most of the rest are JAGs or worse. In the case of Talbot and Rinaldo, a lot worse than JAGs. I'll never understand the team's fetish for players like Talbot (or Caron before him) or Kevan Miller, players that bring nothing to the table other than some strange definition of "toughness in the corners" that does not translate into actual production on the ice. /rant.
Yeah, they were without 2 of their top forwards today, and they had to curiously send down Colin Miller so that they could give Koko and Vatrano all of 12 combined minutes of ice time (Talbot and Rinaldo combined for 21 minutes for some odd reason). But they Bruins had lost 3 of 4 going in, so I'm not willing to simply chalk this up as "one of those games". Montreal had the puck the entire first period due to a combination of both skill and will; Boston has a ways to go before they are considered to be in the upper tier of teams in their conference.
Wouldn't have minded Colin Miller to move the puck around from the back end either, alas...
Koko has never been a player that sticks out on the ice in Providence. He picks up a lot of his points playing off the puck and making quick decisions. He doesn't seem to have a single exceptional skill like other guys that have come up recently and had some degree of success (Vatrano with his snap shot, Spooner's skating etc), but does most things well. I think that is where part of the problem is. To succeed in the NHL you need to have something in your game that is elite. I don't know if he has that elite component.
Yes, if you take away 1/3 of the roster it's a pretty thin team. That's some pretty good analysis right there.
There's nothing wrong with Talbot in and of itself. But with 2 guys out and Claude rolling 3 lines because shockingly Koko didn't score in his 4 minutes on the ice with Larry and Moe it's just too much of him. Put him in the Thornton role and he's fine. Expect him to be a 3rd liner and it's problematic.
With you on Miller though. Expose him to waivers and if someone bites on him thank your lucky stars.
But again, he hasn't had a chance to play an offensive game. Koko comes up and he gets 4 minutes with shithead and Randell. Griffith comes up and he gets put with Bergeron and Marchand and also gets PP time. Who do you think is going to look better?
And oh by the way Griffith today? 1 shot for and 15 against. Woof.
Agree. He'd be infinitely more effective if he played with guys with an ounce of playmaking ability. It's impossible to play off the puck and get yourself in position to score when the skill level of your line mates limits them to dumping in the puck.
I always operate on the assumption that coaches and the front office see, know, and understand way way more about the usefulness of a player than we fans.
But I'll be damned if I can figure out what the Bruins see in Kevan Miller. I get that he's big and strong and can crush a guy if he can catch him. I don't see much in the way of other useful skills and, like everyone else in this thread, I see too many bad decisions.
Conversely, what doesn't the coaching staff see in Zach Trotman? He's big and strong, he stays in his lane, and he can move the puck.
But I'll be damned if I can figure out what the Bruins see in Kevan Miller. I get that he's big and strong and can crush a guy if he can catch him. I don't see much in the way of other useful skills and, like everyone else in this thread, I see too many bad decisions.
Conversely, what doesn't the coaching staff see in Zach Trotman? He's big and strong, he stays in his lane, and he can move the puck.