441 replies to this topic

[kenneycb]

And Thomas probably takes a piss in it before every game.

[TheStoryofYourRedRightAnkle]

So, then we know that Thomas and Ference both have the flu and possibly syphilis. What about the rest of the team?

[Toe Nash]

I thought they played well in the first period last night. The first goal was flukey / a boneheaded play by Campbell and then they should have had a goal that was waved on a bullshit call. For the first ten minutes they were controlling the play but Miller was on. Then you had a defensive lapse which caused the Pomminville goal and the third goal was a softy by Rask.

From that point on they kind of lost their cool / played very sluggishly. It was uncharacteristic of them to seemingly give up like that but that's what seemed like happened. That I don't have much explanation for.

[cshea]

FWIW, I went back through the B's schedules from the past few years and, for whatever reason, under Julien they have pretty much always struggled coming out of the All Star Break. So far this year they are 2-3 since the break. Last year they were 3-4 before hitting the road for the 6 game trip where they picked up Kaberle, Kelly and Peverley and won all 6 games. '09/'10 was a little different since it was the Olympic break, but they were 4-5-1 in their first 10 games when NHL play resumed. In '08/'09 they won 3 straight after the ASG, then hit the skids and went through a 1-5-1 skid in the middle of February.

I don't know what to read into this, other than late January/February seems to be the dog days of the NHL season for them.

[behindthepen]

I think they really, really miss Horton.

The Horton/Lucic combo played "Bruins 2011 Hockey ™" to a tee, and allowed Krejci the room to do what he can do best. I like Peverly's game a lot, but it's so dramatically different than Horton's, it really seems to have thrown off the effectiveness of both the 2nd and 3rd lines. It obviously doesn't help that Krejci hasn't really been playing up to his potential anyway, but I think that his shortcomings get exaggerated when we're missing contributions from the other 2nd and 3rd line players.

[erfus]

I think they really, really miss Horton.

The Horton/Lucic combo played "Bruins 2011 Hockey ™" to a tee, and allowed Krejci the room to do what he can do best. I like Peverly's game a lot, but it's so dramatically different than Horton's, it really seems to have thrown off the effectiveness of both the 2nd and 3rd lines. It obviously doesn't help that Krejci hasn't really been playing up to his potential anyway, but I think that his shortcomings get exaggerated when we're missing contributions from the other 2nd and 3rd line players.

Krejci playing between two offensive stiffs in Caron and Pouliot has to stop. I think it's time to re-unite Krejci and Lucic, though they certainly do miss Horton without anyone in Providence having much of a shot at becoming a top 6 forward. Keep Peverley and Kelly together, Krejci and Lucic together, and plug in the LW du jour until the tide turns. I think it's just more a matter of time than anything else.

[steveluck7]

Krejci playing between two offensive stiffs in Caron and Pouliot has to stop. I think it's time to re-unite Krejci and Lucic, though they certainly do miss Horton without anyone in Providence having much of a shot at becoming a top 6 forward. Keep Peverley and Kelly together, Krejci and Lucic together, and plug in the LW du jour until the tide turns. I think it's just more a matter of time than anything else.

I also think Clode has been hesitant to break up seguin-bergy-marchand but i think it should happen now. Evaluate everything and determine who would benefit the most from playing with the others. Any trade for a forward would probably affect the bergeron line anyhow (the addition, not that they'd trade one of them)

[TheRealness]

Krejci playing between two offensive stiffs in Caron and Pouliot has to stop. I think it's time to re-unite Krejci and Lucic, though they certainly do miss Horton without anyone in Providence having much of a shot at becoming a top 6 forward. Keep Peverley and Kelly together, Krejci and Lucic together, and plug in the LW du jour until the tide turns. I think it's just more a matter of time than anything else.

He did this at the end of the game last night, and I hope he continues it tonight. The whole Krejci on the 3rd line has set everyone back on that line, including Pouliot and Caron, who look lost on Krejci's wing. Krejci himself has looked like shit, and makes moves in the offensive end to create space, only to find that his wingers don't go that space, and turnovers ensue.

Krejci needs to be on the top 2 lines. Hopefully he's with Lucic tonight.

All that crap being said, as Michael Hurley recounts, the Bruins winter swoon has become a seasonal occurrence for the Bruins. I'm still unconcerned.

Edited by TheRealness, 15 February 2012 - 05:06 PM.

[erfus]

I also think Clode has been hesitant to break up seguin-bergy-marchand but i think it should happen now. Evaluate everything and determine who would benefit the most from playing with the others. Any trade for a forward would probably affect the bergeron line anyhow (the addition, not that they'd trade one of them)

That I'd actually not do. I still like that line. I thought Seguin got more comfortable last night as the game progressed against a terrific defensive team that is playing well and is hard to play against. Long-term, the more time he spends on Bergeron's wing figuring out how to be a 2-way player the better and while their scoring pace has slackened, I don't believe it's because of a lack of opportunity. I think it really is accelerating Seguin's learning curve to spend on-ice time with Bergeron, who has hockey smarts and good hands and vision, and Marchand, who knows how to protect the puck despite his lack of size and to use his agility to win one-on-one battles. Seguin still needs to learn when to trust his hands or use his legs (or both) and how to survive in the NHL as a young adult without turning into a physical non-entity. Over the long-haul of the season, I keep that line together through thick and thin because they can go against another team's top line, neutralize them, and still score. The 3 of them are all having great years, despite this little bump in the road. Depending on what happens in the offseason, Seguin can move back to center during training camp.

[OttoC]

Is this beer and chicken between periods?

[PedroSpecialK]

Can't say the effort isn't there. The offensive output, bounces, and on occasion the goaltending hasn't been, though. They'll be alright if they can add a piece to replace Horton.

[MiracleOfO2704]

Can't say the effort isn't there. The offensive output, bounces, and on occasion the goaltending hasn't been, though. They'll be alright if they can add a piece to replace Horton.

But would they look for a legitimate top-6 forward, or will it be a depth guy? I'm almost convinced just getting another Kelly or Peverley won't help matters, as the first line isn't fixed, just the third.

I also think they need another defenseman, since Chara's been relatively bad lately and Corvo is still strangely on the Bruins roster. That said, it's absolutely a seller's market when it comes to the Bruins, since they have needs AND the Stanley Cup.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Hate to say it, but they've been shite since Thomas blew off the White House visit.

Probably coincidence, as I'm sure Horton's injury has hurt them more, but it's an interesting item.

I think they need an Iginla.

[Eddie Jurak]

It doesn't help that Thomas has been showing flashes of his Dave Lewis era goaltending form, and Rask hasn't picked up any of the slack.

[MiracleOfO2704]

Perhaps the solution to the Rask issue would be to get Rask into more games, like, say, more than one a week instead of trying to get Thomas to play through his issues.

And SJH, Calgary's a playoff team these days.

[Eddie Jurak]

Why is it that Seguin is almost always on the bench during the final minute with goalie pulled? Today Bergeron, Lucic, Marchand, Krejci and Rolston were on the ice. Just doesn't make sense to have the best scorer on the team on the bench.

[erfus]

Why is it that Seguin is almost always on the bench during the final minute with goalie pulled? Today Bergeron, Lucic, Marchand, Krejci and Rolston were on the ice. Just doesn't make sense to have the best scorer on the team on the bench.

My guess is that Julien doesn't trust his decision making more than Krejci and Bergeron, wants at least 2 centers on the ice (Campbell ends up out there once in a while), with Marchand and Lucic better at winning the puck in the corners and providing net front presence. Seguin's speed is somewhat marginalized during a 6-on-5 with a faceoff in the offensive zone. I don't agree, but that's my attempt at reading Julien's mind.

BTW, 7 defensemen when 3 of them are Corvo, Mottau, and Zanon pisses me off. I realize Pouliot was a last-second scratch and Paille is close, but having Lane MacDermid in your top 9 is just not acceptable at this point in his development. Too bad indeed for Max Sauve.

[Toe Nash]

Why is it that Seguin is almost always on the bench during the final minute with goalie pulled? Today Bergeron, Lucic, Marchand, Krejci and Rolston were on the ice. Just doesn't make sense to have the best scorer on the team on the bench.

Too add onto what erfus said, I'd guess Rolston is out there because he's new to the team and Julien's trying to figure out what, if anything, he's got left.

[jsinger121]

Rolston has nothing left. He was brutal today.

[Blacken]

Rolston has nothing left. He was brutal today.

I don't agree. He seemed fine to me--I thought he was positionally solid and played pretty hard on the boards.

It's not 2004 and he's not that guy anymore, but in the role he's supposed to be in (i.e., when Peverley gets back) he'll be fine.

[scotian1]

Hate to say it, but they've been shite since Thomas blew off the White House visit.

Probably coincidence, as I'm sure Horton's injury has hurt them more, but it's an interesting item.

I think they need an Iginla.

Or a Michael Ryder who has 30 goals now.

[Eddie Jurak]

Or a Michael Ryder who has 30 goals now.

Something he didn't do once in three years as a Bruin. (He scored 27, 18, and 18 during his three years here.)

[scotian1]

Something he didn't do once in three years as a Bruin. (He scored 27, 18, and 18 during his three years here.)

He did score some big goals though.

[burstnbloom]

He did score some big goals though.

True but he was maddeningly inconsistent. I think anyone having regrets about not signing Ryder in March of 2012 is forgetting how they felt in July of 2011 about paying him $3.5 mil.

[teddykgb]

This one seems pretty simple to me. Their ability to prevent goals has gone to shit. Some of this is Thomas, some of this is the defense, and I'm sure missing responsible two way players like Peverley isn't helping. But this team is scoring enough goals to win. They've been shutout twice in the last 30 days, and they got a point out of one of those against Ottawa. In the month of March, they've scored at least 2 goals every game and are netting 3 or more in most games. They've just completely stunk at stopping the puck. They've given up at least 3 goals in every game this month, and far too many with 4 and 5 goals against. They've got to tighten it up, as this is not a team that's wanting to play in these shootouts.

[NYCSox]

The first 21 times they scored three goals (excluding goals credited for winning the SO) they went 21-0. The last 16 times (starting with the Vancouver game), they have gone 11-5.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Last night was the absolute nadir of the season as far as I'm concerned. A complete shitshow from start to finish. I understand that these things happen when you're starting your 4th string goalie and Bergeron misses the game, but they weren't remotely competitive. Second game in a row they've gotten blown out.

They look awful, and at this point praying real hard for injuries to heal is the only recourse they have. The new acquisitions haven't done much to improve the team either. Motteau doesn't dress, Rolston looks cooked, and Zanon hasn't been as good as he was advertised to be.

It's also a pretty bad point in the year for Thomas to completely shit the bed. Turco's terrible, and at this point I hope that when Khudobin gets healthy he's brought up and Turco's shipped out.

I have no idea what the hell's going to happen in the playoffs. Frankly they don't look like they ciould beat anyone right now. I'm not counting on Horton coming back this year. Getting Peverly back will be a big help, but will it be enough?

[jsinger121]

Bergeron played last night.

[OttoC]

Bergeron played last night.

Not only did Bergeron play, he had the most time on ice of any of Boston's forwards and he had a +/- rating of even when his club was down 0-5 (he was on the ice, though, for Stamkos's final goal).

[j44thor]

I'm at the point where I'm comfortable accepting that this isn't going to be their year. This was a team that overachieved a bit last year, was healthy for the most part and caught a fair amount of breaks. Repeating as cup champs is really, really, tough and becomes next to impossible when you suffer the amount of injuries the B's have had this year.

What this season will be good for is building towards the future. This team is still really young at the core and will have significant reinforcements in the likes of Hamilton and possibly Knight/Spooner at some point next season along with another season of development for Seguin. Combine that with the emergence of Caron + a good amount of cap room and this is a team in as good a position as any for the foreseeable future.

[MiracleOfO2704]

I'm at the point where I'm comfortable accepting that this isn't going to be their year. This was a team that overachieved a bit last year, was healthy for the most part and caught a fair amount of breaks. Repeating as cup champs is really, really, tough and becomes next to impossible when you suffer the amount of injuries the B's have had this year.

What this season will be good for is building towards the future. This team is still really young at the core and will have significant reinforcements in the likes of Hamilton and possibly Knight/Spooner at some point next season along with another season of development for Seguin. Combine that with the emergence of Caron + a good amount of cap room and this is a team in as good a position as any for the foreseeable future.

This is, almost verbatim, my view of the last two months. Considering the Bruins can't seem to go a week without another debilitating injury, and that's taxing the few star players left, there isn't a GM in the league that could have overcome this. All I hope for with the last few games is no more major injuries to critical players and good continued development from Seguin and Caron.

[Dogman2]

I'm at the point where I'm comfortable accepting that this isn't going to be their year. This was a team that overachieved a bit last year, was healthy for the most part and caught a fair amount of breaks. Repeating as cup champs is really, really, tough and becomes next to impossible when you suffer the amount of injuries the B's have had this year.

I have never understood this line of thinking. What the hell does it mean to overachieve? Does it mean the team was lucky that their opponents played worse? Does it mean the path to the cup was easier because certain teams were knocked out and didn't play the B 's? Does it mean opponents were undercoached?

It's far more realistic to say a team rode a hot goaltender, solid D play, good coaching and balanced scoring through the playoffs. During that stretch, the team got the bounces and breaks and were lucky with the small amount of injuries. This can be said with all cup winners so why say a team overachieves to win it all if these last few statements are true?

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

This is, almost verbatim, my view of the last two months. Considering the Bruins can't seem to go a week without another debilitating injury, and that's taxing the few star players left, there isn't a GM in the league that could have overcome this. All I hope for with the last few games is no more major injuries to critical players and good continued development from Seguin and Caron.

They didn't even show up to play last night. Injuries are one thing, not bothering to compete is quite another.

[BucketOBalls]

I have never understood this line of thinking. What the hell does it mean to overachieve? Does it mean the team was lucky that their opponents played worse? Does it mean the path to the cup was easier because certain teams were knocked out and didn't play the B 's? Does it mean opponents were undercoached?

It's not hard to make a case they beat a better team in the finals, and they were 7th in the league overall, so they did in that sense. I would probably say more that they played well and were lucky when they needed to be rather than overachieved though. It's not like they were a meh team that just got hot at the right time. 09-10 team would probably be a better case of overachieving.

[Jed Zeppelin]

Nvm

Edited by Jed Zeppelin, 14 March 2012 - 11:44 AM.

[erfus]

The Bruins were largely healthy throughout the playoff run last season, at least until they lost Horton. I think they knew Savard would be dicey before 10-11 started. In that light, this year's team seems like it's really beat up but it seems more like the league norm. Just about every team deals with injuries, in many cases injuries to players just as important to the team if not moreso than Horton, Peverley, et al. The best playoff teams tend to be the healthiest ones, so there's an element of luck in that.

The thing about this year's team for me is that they are not very deep. I actually think management has to bear the most responsibility for this dip in play. I think they misread their ability to add to the team during the season and at the trade deadline. They had a very uninspiring offseason and it's biting them in the butt. The prospect pipeline dried up for a season and it is debatable if they really thought the likes of Kampfer, Bartkowski, Arniel, Sauve, and MacDermid would be viable depth players in case of injury. It would be troubling if they did.

Everyone gets a free pass in my book for the Cup-hangover season, but I do not want to see a repeat of so much unused cap space next season. And I don't think we will.

[smastroyin]

I think Horton is basically severely underrated, and the play of the lines since he has gone down shows is the real life evidence that backs up the statistical evidence.

Also I'm sure I'll get slammed for this, but Seguin has gone from solid effort every night back to keeping people happy by showing a flash every few shifts. And Marchand was basically castrated by his suspension, it seems. Even though that is still the best line they just don't have the same consistent pressure and two-way play that they did even during the early season struggles.

I'm not sure how you would have spent more money, erfus, it's not like you can really tell viable NHL players to go sit in Providence instead of signing with teams that can use them right away. I guess they could have gone out and tried to sign a bigger name d-man than Corvo, but all those deals from last year (other than the guys who stayed with their teams) are looking pretty bad, aren't they?

[erfus]

I'm not sure how you would have spent more money, erfus, it's not like you can really tell viable NHL players to go sit in Providence instead of signing with teams that can use them right away. I guess they could have gone out and tried to sign a bigger name d-man than Corvo, but all those deals from last year (other than the guys who stayed with their teams) are looking pretty bad, aren't they?

It's not necessarily about the money, I hit that point too hard. Some of that is to setup the team next season and going forward and I get that with Seguin and others coming due for new deals. It's more about the inaction. It's not hindsight and wasn't hindsight to wonder about depending on Pouliot in a top 12 role, about how the D could improve when they were exchanging a disappointing Kaberle for a questionable Corvo, etc. UFA signings almost always look bad, but I'd much rather overpay in the summer than overpay at the trade deadline. This season they decided to do neither but didn't have the support system in place to pick up the slack when the injury bug hit. Next season may be a different story with Hamilton, Knight and Spooner coming down the pike but I would like to see them a bit more active on the free market, generally.

The last few games we've seen Trent Whitfield, Dan Paille, and Lane MacDermid get top 9 roles to start games and that is just not a good thing. Unlike when Chiarelli first took over, to his credit the cap is pretty well allocated to guys that have trade value. With the room they have and the success they have, they should be able to leverage their situation into improved talent next season.

[Tony the Pony]

Nothing.

They sucked at first, played out of their minds after, and have been a .500 team since New Year's Eve.

I am convinced this team is still the best 5 on 5 team in the league, because they can roll out 3 quality lines (and the 4th is not bad either, compared to other fourth lines). With Horton out, the lines have been a bit shitty - with Peverley out even more so. I do like the acquisition of Rolston. Pair him up with a Kelly and the Balls and you'll have a very competent 3rd line with a very high hockey IQ and a lot of experience.

As long as the Bruins can roll out their three lines, they should have a chance to go far.

[behindthepen]

Rolston and Caron have effectively "replaced" Horton. Impressed that they stuck with Caron and got these results, I certainly wasn't expecting it after his first couple of months with the big club.

They all seem a little more focused, making fewer stupid passes, etc, and offensively are a lot more consistent in their overall play.

If you're going to have a .500 run, better to do it in Jan/Feb/Mar than April and beyond. And I will trade a crappy beginning of the season for a long playoff run every time.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Replacing Corvo with Zanon has been a huge upgrade as well.

[TheStoryofYourRedRightAnkle]

Also, Timmy has been playing well, we got a good start from Turco and Z has been much better of late especially since Julien put Seids on his pairing. To SJH's point, Zanon's capable play has enabled this since Claude can now feel that his bottom 2 pairings are good enough that he can put his best D on the same pairing.

Goaltending (duh) and Chara's performance are Carl err... bell-weathers for this team on the goals against front.