I hate to say it because I love the guy but I would rather have seen them trade Sergie before thornton, seems you could have gotten the same value (that they got from san jose for joe) for Sergie elsewhere.

Raycroft isn't doing too much to raise his trade stock at this point, he still has a problem with the soft goals and that is never attractive to another team, the only team I can see even remotely in need of him at this point would be the Canucks, and I don't think they would give up that much for him, hell maybe we can get anson carter back! heh

If there is going to be a day when Mike Sullivan was fired, it would be tomorrow right?

Maybe if we lose the next two.

They needed 10 points on this 7 game homestand, which is now impossible. Time for Jack Edwards to stick a fork in them.

Brutal. Just brutal

I thought it was all just that they didnt play many games at home and they played all the toughtest teams in the league ... so you are giving up now? amazing .. oh well at least now everyone can just admit they suck from top to bottom...

They had to win on this homestand, period.

I like that chart and the rest of the site it came from. I'm going to look into setting something up with that for the B's and C's.

This has been a rough week to be a Bruins fan. Good grief.

Could be worse. You could be a Pens fan....
Course I guess I've seen a couple Cups won when I was younger, so I have that going for me.

thanks - that's my site - i'll give you a template of the spreadsheet if you want.

Yah then we could wait for them to trade Sidney Crosby?

Even worse, I have tickets for tomorrow's game.

Not the best week for them to give it up.

How about the people who booed him last night?

When does he pull off the mask and show that he's Blaine Lacher?

I think, in reality, the cutoff will end up being a little bit higher than the projection. As the season goes on, teams that have no realistic shot at the playoffs will start to tank, and trade veterans, so they will do worse than the projections. The teams in the fight for a spot will play harder and maybe add a veteran or two.

So... at this point I'd expect Montreal, Atlanta, NJ, and TB to do better than projected while NYI, Boston, and the others tank.

I agree. The top 8-9 in the East will get better than they already are (NJ is already showing signs of heatin up with the return of Elias). The bottom will tank, and tank hard. The B's are just part of the sludge lining the bottom of the East and have already begun to sink since they made "the Worst Trade Evah." (no copyright infringement intended )

Last night was understandable and warranted, but I hate all the sarcastic bullshit that Raycroft's been getting. I know I sound a little like Manila on Millar, but he's been truly left out to dry by his defense. The Leetch-Tanabe combo has got to be one of the worst defensvie combos in the league this year in terms of defense.

Certainly the cutoff can jump a few points from where it is now. A lot of people were predicting a higher cutoff this year because of the elimination of ties, which means more points awarded. But looking at the data, the bigger factor in the cutoff is the relative parity in the conference. Less parity equals lower cutoff as the few point-whore teams (OTT-PHI) are sucking up those extra points. I think it's more likely the cutoff rises due to some cooling off at the top of the standings, then some underperformance at the bottom. I mean those bottom dwellers are not laying claim to that many more points in the projections as is.

Of course the interesting debate is the relative performance of those teams on the bubble. Atl (for whom I root) and NJ both seem to be rising. I think the Thrashers could reach 5th. Montreal is a question mark, can they get it together for a late run? I don't think TB is in the mix with their current goaltending. How vulnerable are the Rangers and Leafs?

Good point about the cooling off at the top, although I could see a team like the Bruins (much as it pains me to say it) going into all out tank mode. Also, it could be that one of the bubble teams (maybe TB as you suggest) falls out opening up more points for the opther three.

But I do think the cutoff is going up.

Suck that the Bruins suck in the weak draft year between the Crosby year and the Esposito year.

Clean them out.

Keep Hannu, Bergeron, Boyes, Stuart, Alberts, and maybe Boynton. The rest of the players should be shopped for whatever they can get in return.

Remove everyone in front office operations. Harry, MOC, Sullivan, MacIver, Bradley, the scouts....everyone. Clean out every last motherfucking one of them and start over. Let no trace remain of the previous regime. It's beyond time to do this.

Radical, yes. But right now the sign at the TDBanknorth Garden entrance reads "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." We're fucking desparate.

Dale is on WEEI saying the players haven't even tried the last two games and he thinks it will probably end up with MOC and MS being fired.

One name a called threw out was Brent Sutter and there seemed to be agreement about him being a solid GM.

Come on LoseR, Razor is a heck of a lot better than Lacher every though of being.

They just sent Pat Leahy down and called up Nate Robinson. Is that enough housecleaning for you, SJH?

No. That move smacks of rearraging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Although Robinson was pretty good in training camp, wasn't he?

If you were running the Bruins, who are the players you'd keep as the core?

Toivonen, Bergeron, Stuart absolutely. After that, no absolutes, though there are other guysd on the team that I like.

Not Boyes? I would think he's a must keep.

Toivonen, Bergeron, Sturm, Boyes, Jurcina, Stuart.

I don't know about Alberts.

I'd keep him, but he's not at the level of the other three. Same for several others. Toivonen, Stuart, and Bergeron are all franchise player caliber. I would not put Boyes at that level.

Here's who I keep:

Toivonen, Bergeron, Stuart, Boynton (most likely), Boyes, Axelsson, Robinson (LOVE him, watched him play a couple times in Providence. The guy's got absoute jets), Leahy (good PK guy, cheap for a while), Jurcina.

I believe that Samsonov would be nice to keep around on a 2-3 year deal at decent money, maybe around what he's making this year.

I deal Leetch for sure at the deadline. After watching him this year, he's clearly lost a lot from his game but could still have value for a few weeks. I'd also dangle Tanabe to contenders as a 5th-6th defenseman and see what we can get for him. Perhaps a serviceable forward or a pick?

I would also try like hell to deal Murray. Without Thornton to feed him, he's lost a ton of value. In the UFA Period, I'd try like all hell to sign Wade Redden or Zdeno Chara (I see no way that Ottawa can keep both without dealing Alfredsson), and I'd go after a couple forwards as well. I'd also like to trade for Andrew Cassels, simply because I've been thinking that a Cassells-Samsonov-Boyes line would put a good amount of pucks in the net.

I'd like to see Walter stay with the big club, maybe deal Isbister and call up Tyler Redenbach. I'd like to see a massive shakeup with this roster, but as long as this F.O. is here, it'll never, ever happen.

Man am I glad they sent down Leahy, he's really been the brunt of the problem these last two games.

I would agree w/ most that Boyes is a must keep, along with Bergeron, Axelsson, Toivonen, Stuart and Boynton. I like the way Sturm and Primeau have played and wouldn't mind seeing them stick but of course they're not untouchable. It would look pretty bad if they were dealt a few months after the Joe trade.

Was at my first game of the year last night and I swear it seemed like there were more Kings fans (their farm club is in Manchester) than B's fans. You could hear the crickets for most of the game.

Dumping Raycroft now would be the epitome of selling low, wouldn't it? Unless you believe that he's ruined for good.

Time to get some goons in here and entertain the hardcore fans. They can't win enough games to contend for the playoffs, might as well win some fights to give the loyalists something to cheer for.

Correct. You'd be lucky to get a bag of pucks in exchange for him

This is what I posted over at Hfboards...

I'm all for giving Robinson a look. I haven't seen much of him, but he sounds like he brings something the Bruins can use (speed and energy).

But why send Leahy down? Leahy is a guy who has worked hard, hits people, has filled his role well, and has sacrificed himself for the team (breaking his hand blocking one of the many shots he has blocked this year).

In the mid80s, before they picked up Neely and got very good, the Bruins were known as a lunchpail gang of players who may not have had the talent, but always worked hard.

Nowadays, talent is there but a whole lot of players don't show up night in, night out.

I think part of the reason for that is that the Bruins organization no longer values hard work and sacrifice. (Ironic, given their recent ad campaign.) How else do you explain Leahy going down? What could have been a good move (the Robinson callup) is now just another example of rearranging deck chairs. Evidently they don't want to have too many hard workers on the team at any one time.

I don't even think Leahy is anything to write home about. Players with Leahy's skills are a dime a dozen. But on this team he stands out because he is a team player on a team with so few of them.

They guy the Bruins need to fix this mess is Bill Belichick. He may not know hockey, but he knows team.

Firesale:

1. Sammy--I think Samsonov will be out of the Bs price range, given another injury plagued and, frankly, statistically disappointing year. He's my favorite B to watch, but someone somewhere will pay him Kovalev money (4M+). Ideally, create a situation where you can unload Murray along w/ him or Leetch (below).

2. Leetch. Still can be a helpful piece to a contender's puzzle. He's not, however, a 25-minute a night defenseman anymore. He shouldn't be part of a penalty kill squad either.

3. Axelsson. Impending UFA that has a great rep (deservedly) as a defensive forward. IMO, defensive forwards grow on trees. I think he has some decent trade value.

Dump for picks:
Isbister, Tanabe, Murray (if possible), Gill.

Try like hell to rebuild the reputation of Raycroft.

Next season's foundation:

C: Bergeron, Walter, Primeau
W: Sturm, Boyes
D: Stuart, Boynton, Alberts, Jurcina
G: Hannu

Next summer's UFA crop is sizable and chock full of quality defensemen. If you can deal Boynton for a top 6 forward at this season's deadline, you have to think about doing it. Hopefully, Raycroft will be tradeable after a late-season rebound.

At this point, probably the most important thing the B's can do is rebuild Raycroft. If you can get him back to form, then you've got a valuable chit to trade - and the B's can use all they can glom onto. Can Raycroft be sent to Providence? Admittedly, I haven't seen many games, but when I hear the score, it seems all too easy to pick out who was goaltending for the B's that night. The defensemen can't be that on/off from one game to another.

As a guy who always had the hockey satellite package just so I could watch B's games, my apologies to all the B's hard-core if this in any way smacks of dancing over the dead body. I will not commit myself until Jacobs is gone. Quite simply, he's our Bidwell and he's ruined this incarnation of the franchise.

Just a question for those with more insight or info then I have on the B's--How important is today's game for Sullivan and/or MOC?? My guess is that another loss like the last two, Sullivan is gone and MOC may noy be far behind. Should be interesting post game today

They're playing with solid energy so far. Thomas looks good in net, and they're taking the body hard (Jurcina with a pair of booming hits).

However, to call their offense anemic would be to give it too much credit. They've had about one scoring chance in 13 minutes.

Hard to generate scoring chances when you are two men down and missing Murray and Leetch.

Here's a great Patrice Bergeron story:

With Murray, Leetch, and Gill (guys who wore As for most of the season) out injured, the Bruins needed to give the As to three new guys: Boynton, Axelsson, and Bergeron (first time in his career). When Bergeron (#37) saw the A on his uniform, he thought it was a mistake! He thought the A was meant for Travis Green (#39), and immediately went and checked with the equipment manager!

5 bucks says Messier starts crying.


And it sure is nice for NBC to show their diversity by employing homosexuals like Ray Ferraro

It seems to me that if the B's don't get a great deal for him, Samsonov would be an almost must keep and resign. The whole period leading up to the Thornton trade it was Sammy's name that was getting thrown around. Now with Thornton gone, who do the B's have that is a serious scoring threat every time he steps on the ice? With the diminishment of Murray and Bergeron still developing, the only name you can put there is Samsonov. That being said, if a great deal comes along the B's would be foolish to pass it up, but if all they're getting is a bag of pucks and a 2nd round pick, they should look to re-signing Samsonov before the end of the season. To lose Thornton and Samsonov in the same season would seem like a firesale to the public and that would signal the end of any kind of attendance the have.

Keepers:
1. Bergeron (God I love this kid)
2. Samsonov (if he doesn't have high enough trade value)
3. Toivanen (improving, young, already NHL caliber goalie on cheap money)
4. Stuart (After the Thornton trade, if they flip him away, we should strike from being B's fans)
5. Sturm (See the reasoning to 4 at a slightly lesser extent)
6. Boyes (Again, young and a good deal of upside, the longer we keep him the better and more valuable he will be)
7. Boynton (if he ever is able to start staying healthy he may be the best Defensman that the NHL at large has seen, but doesn't realize how good he is)

Traders:
1. Gill (for pucks and a thank you card)
2. Leetch (has shown signs of aging and has struggled defensively coming after the year off)
3. Murray (hopefully he puts together another 25 goal season before the year ends and we can get something good for him)
4. Raycroft (but, like Samsonov, only if and when his trade value warrants it)
5. Samsonov (See #2 for keepers)

The one thing I fear more than getting bad trade value for these guys is letting the FO have all that free money. Unlike the Sox or Pats, the Bruins have been notoriously cheap, and nothing from this year points to them being otherwise now. If they don't put the money in the team then we're in for a very long, very bad series of seasons.

Dallas scores and the crowd boos. I have no idea what.

8 Dallas PP's to two for Boston. The B's have taken some bad penalties absolutely, but there is now way the disparity should be that huge.

Well, Thomas gets them a point, at least.

hard to win a shootout without any shooters.

mini-g and I went to the game today.

This is a strange team. They show flashes of intensity, but then loaf when the puck is cleared into the opposing end and the defender who did it could get to it first if he hustled.

The lack of intensity in the shootout was pretty nasty.

If I had not seen the rest of the season, I'd say that the team showed promise, as they killed off multiple stupid penalties quite well.

I think the coach needs to go.

These guys are not getting motivated the right way.

I was at the game yesterday. I thought the intensity level and effort from the Bruins players was OK, but the lack of offensive touch with the slimmed down lineup was frightening. The Bruins scored one goal on a fluke dump in from the blue line and didn't have any other decent scoring chances the rest of the game.

If not for Tim Thomas, who was named the game's #1 star, we're probably looking at a 5-0 result. He was outstanding yesterday. Bad luck to give up a goal on a 3-on-1 rush.

As for the officials, yeesh. An awful non-call on the takedown from Isbister on the partial breakaway, and the disparity in the penalty minutes was baffling.

What the fuck does Jacobs think he's doing at this point?

It's time for him to pull the plug. On 2005-06, on Mike Sullivan, on Mike O'Connell, and on Harry Sinden. (Though I would give Harry the option of retiring).

If he wants to win, now is the time for him to get rid of the guys who have been mismanaging his team for over a decade now.

It's not an issue of Jacobs being cheap. He's been spending plenty of money on payroll over the past 5-6 years. The problem is that he's letting an incompetent management team make the decisions about whom to spend money on. I doubt MOC could build a winner with na $100 million payroll.

The best guy in that organization is Director of Amateur Scouting Scott Bradley. Back when the Bruins drafted Jon Aitken, Bradley them to take Derek Morris instead. He's the guy behind the Bruins' recent draft successes: Shaone Morrisonn, Andrew Alberts, Milan Jurcina, Hannu Toivonen, Patrice Bergeron, etc.

The Bruins' hockey operation needs a major overhaul. Until that happens, the bruins are just wasting their time and Jacobs' money.

Don't look now but they're up 2-0 after one. And two forwards actually have goals.

Greeeeaaaaat goal by the Broons there. The defenseman made a nice play, but Bergeron had enough to get the puck over to the streaking Sturm. Haven't seen many plays that nice this season for the B's.

Well that sucked.

But not a surprise