Tongue firmly in cheek.
Yes, this is better.
I have a firm memory of the B's needing a 5 on 3 to break the PP drought in 2011. It was painfully bad.
2019 Stanley Cup Final - No Singing the Blues - Boston is Going Back to Backes
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I have a firm memory of the B's needing a 5 on 3 to break the PP drought in 2011. It was painfully bad.
I’m not an Edmonton fan lol. 88’ is the year my first nephew was born. I’ve never stepped foot in Edmonton.
Geez, you guys don’t like real hockey talk here. Ok then, Bruins in 5! Weeee! Tuukka!!
Geez, you guys don’t like real hockey talk here. Ok then, Bruins in 5! Weeee! Tuukka!!
Unless, of course, the penalties are the result of not being able to "hang with the Bruins" for more than a few minutes at a time. After the first one one-millionth of a second, I'm even with Usain Bolt. But then I have to trip him up with the bat-a-rang as he pulls out in front.
So your first nephew is named Lord Stanley and he was born in 1988; thanks for the clarification.
You had four garbage posts before a real one, then you follow it up with this crap.
Yes. SOSH is the problem, not you. Right.
Also, let's cut the shit giving new members a hard time and give him/her a chance. More hockey talk around here is better, not less. This isn't V&N, we can accept dissenting views.
What Flawless said.
Bruins are up 2-1 in the finals. Let's enjoy this and welcome the new member.
Bruins are up 2-1 in the finals. Let's enjoy this and welcome the new member.
Or, Maroon slashes Krug, who grabs his stick and slowly pulls himself down it like Arthur and Mordred, before stabbing Pat in the breastplate with his own.
Or, Edmundson skates hard at Pastrnak, drooling as he decides precisely where on Pastrnak’s head to drive his shoulder, when Chara skates calmly in front of Edmundson.
The two wrestle until a liquid tearing sound can be heard throughout the arena. Chara takes the arm he has torn off Edmundson and tosses it aside. Edmundson, death-sick, seeks his den in the dark moor.
I have my issues with our Agent Provocateur, but if Marchand did another one of those submarine jobs where he sees the hit coming, ducks low and sends his assailant head-over-heels into the boards, I would gladly accept whatever comes to him for it.
My favorite stat of that entire run is that they won that montreal series with their power play being -1 because they scored no goals and gave up a shorty
Looks like Berube’s gamesmanship worked. Refs swallowed the whistles in the 1st period and Bruins are being outplayed 5 on 5. We’re coming back to Boston tied.
Agreed.
It’s clear that the Bruins aren’t interested in playing a heavy, chippy game, limiting Backes’ usefulness. Backes could probably contribute with a few nights off, but he’s been diminishing since playing every night.
I’d drop Pasta down. That top line is far too light with him and Marchand, especially with Pasta running away. Marchand might simplify things if he’s not trying to make a perfect play with Pasta.
This is what I said after Game 2. It's pretty much the same story heading into Game 4. Only other thing I'll add is that the 4th line was hot garbage in their own zone last night as well. I think they were on the ice for every one of the long zone time shifts that the Blues had, and that was kind of uncharacteristic of them. They've been nails all postseason, so I expect a bounceback.
Chara going down is going to hurt, as I don't expect him for Game 5. McAvoy needs to step up to help cover this, as he was invisible last game as well.
Some things to fix, but this team has always fixed them. I expect no different on Thursday.
McAvoy wasn’t up to par, not just invisible. For example, he singlehandedly gave up the 3rd goal. Not to his normal level and not where he needs to be for them to win this series. He’s the 1D now and needs to play like it; Chara coming back is secondary to him playing better.
I agree on moving Pasta, put him on the 2nd line, Heinen on the 1st and whatever forward Johanssen and Coyle are comfortable with on the 3rd.
The Blues are rolling out the old Ray Bourque strategy against McAvoy: hitting him at every opportunity possible.
If Chara's out...yikes. Clifton was awful last night. No Gryz (he's got to be done for the series, that was an awful hit).Cassidy said last night if they need to put a d-man in the lineup it would likely be Kampfer.
The Nordstrom-Acciari-Kuraly line got their doors blown off last night, at one point they had like 11% possession while on the ice.
I'm frustrated with all the fancy cross-ice passing going on in the offensive zone. Binnington is a rebound machine, yet the top line continues to try to make the perfect pass across for the one-timer. Get pucks on the net and dig for the rebounds, because they're there to be had.
We're not even sure Grz knows what year it is (NHL coaches comments on player health in the playoffs are as reliable as Baghdad Bob). As for Chara, I was trying to find recent examples of guys playing with a broken jaw and Google tells me Derek Stepan broke his jaw in game 3 of the conference finals in 2014 and was back for game 5 after having surgery. Obviously there's no way of knowing if Chara even has one or if it's in any way similar to Stepan's so I'll just stop typing now.
Are we sure it's a broken jaw? Cassidy mentioned stitches and dental work and extreme discomfort, but that's it.
I guess I'm just hoping.
I guess I'm just hoping.
The really shitty thing about the Chara jaw injury is the whole play happened because he was soft on the puck again and turned it over. Clear the damn puck.
It's actually even worse than that—he had a forechecker in front of him and should have clearly been able to see that there were a couple Blues waiting at/near the blue line to intercept. Meanwhile his partner was easily available for a D to D pass and instead he chose to flip it to nowhere. Maddening.
Their options if Chara and Grzelyck can’t go are Kampfer or Vaakanainen.
Kampfer is the more experienced option, but he has only played in 2 career playoff games. He hasn’t played since 5/9, so he’s been idle for a while. A wrinkle with this option is he is a righty, which would put them in the position of dressing 4 RHD and 2 LHD meaning a righty would have to play on the left side. That is not something they have had to do much this year.
I’m assuming Vaakanainen will be under consideration with Kampfer since they brought him up to practice with the team after Grzelyck’s injury. He is a lefty, so if they don’t want to move a righty to the left, he could be the guy. The cons to this move are obvious. He’s a rookie who has played all of 1 NHL game plus a few minutes in a 2nd game before getting concussed. He also hasn’t played since the end of April when Providence was eliminated on 4/26. He did log heavy minutes for a World Junior Championship team this past December/January so he does have experience in a high stakes, high pressure spot. Maybe we can call him Urho “hasn’t played in 6 weeks” Vaakanainen.
Tough call here, but at least they are at home and could shelter whoever goes in a bit more.
Kampfer is the more experienced option, but he has only played in 2 career playoff games. He hasn’t played since 5/9, so he’s been idle for a while. A wrinkle with this option is he is a righty, which would put them in the position of dressing 4 RHD and 2 LHD meaning a righty would have to play on the left side. That is not something they have had to do much this year.
I’m assuming Vaakanainen will be under consideration with Kampfer since they brought him up to practice with the team after Grzelyck’s injury. He is a lefty, so if they don’t want to move a righty to the left, he could be the guy. The cons to this move are obvious. He’s a rookie who has played all of 1 NHL game plus a few minutes in a 2nd game before getting concussed. He also hasn’t played since the end of April when Providence was eliminated on 4/26. He did log heavy minutes for a World Junior Championship team this past December/January so he does have experience in a high stakes, high pressure spot. Maybe we can call him Urho “hasn’t played in 6 weeks” Vaakanainen.
Tough call here, but at least they are at home and could shelter whoever goes in a bit more.
From my view, I didn’t see him move his mouth once while they had shots of him on the bench. It didn’t look good.
Didn’t Stamkos break his jaw in Game 7 of the 2011 ECF against the Bruins and just put a mask on and played?
OK, so I’m more optimistic after this one than I was after game 2.
The Bruins aren’t so much better than the absurd that they merely have to show up, play hard, and skate the Cup around.
But they still have the talent to deliver beat downs to this Blues team and they have a decisive edge between the pipes. That should be enough.
I guess the biggest concern is around injuries, as the Bruins are now having to play their 7, 8, and 9 defensemen while relying on a 21 year old as their #1. That gives the Blues more of a shot than they would otherwise have.
The Bruins aren’t so much better than the absurd that they merely have to show up, play hard, and skate the Cup around.
But they still have the talent to deliver beat downs to this Blues team and they have a decisive edge between the pipes. That should be enough.
I guess the biggest concern is around injuries, as the Bruins are now having to play their 7, 8, and 9 defensemen while relying on a 21 year old as their #1. That gives the Blues more of a shot than they would otherwise have.
Didn’t the Bruins have a player many years ago, I think during the 80s, who could and would swing from D to wing?
It seems like that sort of player would have incredible value. Positional versatility! BB would approve.
It seems like that sort of player would have incredible value. Positional versatility! BB would approve.
Ugh, good point.
This sucks. Bad luck all around.
If they would just SHOOT THE PUCK I'd feel good about their chances. Binnington is there for the taking. His rebounds are Reimer-esque.
Those players have universally been true defensemen who could occasionally take shifts on the wing (a far easier position than defense).
Reading this makes me want Cassidy to dress 7 DMen Thursday and Kruger can play wing with Coyle and MoJo. Heinin to Bergy-Marshy line, Pasta stapled to JDB-Krejci.
I thought Krejci had a good game last night. JDB really needs to step up as that line has not given the team nearly enough goals. Some of that is Backes, but his minutes are low enough compared to the other 2 that they've had others on the wing as well.
Pasta has scored goals these playoffs, but he really needs to step it up to get this team over the line. Especially with the D Corps hurting.
Rask also didn't have his best game last night. He might need to steal one of these last two wins for the Broons to get over.
Krug has never played wing. That will not happen.
If they go with 7 D, I think it would be in a scenario where a less than 100% Chara is cleared to play and they pick their spots with him (PK, D zone draws in a close game late, etc.)
If they go with 7 D, I think it would be in a scenario where a less than 100% Chara is cleared to play and they pick their spots with him (PK, D zone draws in a close game late, etc.)
Disagree on Rask, I thought he played great and was getting very little help around him. Puck was in the defensive zone for extended periods. Smothered a lot of shots without rebounds.
Is Lauzon not practicing with the black aces anymore? Problem with both Vaak and Kampfer is they are sub 200lbs to go along with Clifton and Krug. Need some size on the back-end against STL and Lauzon can skate as well. He is also a L shot D so fits in perfectly for Chara.
Gooning it up and working the officials served STL well. Seeing Clifton on the point at the end of the game was horrifying. Feels like STL-SJ all over again. The B's PK is good enough to withstand a couple of retaliatory strikes - show them that they can be wounded as well, if that's what it takes. Gotta take their predatory stuff down a notch.
Also wouldn't hurt to lay a little Stanislavski on 'em too. Christ knows they are embellishing, turnabout is fair play. Seeing Binnington do the flop-a-rooski was pathetic.
Also wouldn't hurt to lay a little Stanislavski on 'em too. Christ knows they are embellishing, turnabout is fair play. Seeing Binnington do the flop-a-rooski was pathetic.
I agree Rask had a good/great game, but the first goal was one that he saves in the previous two rounds and the third goal seems like he might've been able to control the rebound better, but I may be wrong on that one. It was a bad change more than anything. Nevertheless, my point being that Rask may need to stand on his head to get one of the two wins to get the cup home.
Nope. Krug isn’t a wing, period. And “offensive defenseman” skills don’t automatically translate to wing skills. For example, forechecking is not really a thing that offensive defensemen are called on to do. And at some level the whole idea of the position is different. As play transitions to offense someone like Krug is used to reading the play in front of him and jumping in when it creates an odd man situation. A wing doesn’t play like that.
Hawgood was an offensive defensemen whom the Bruins tried to turn into a forward, mostly unsuccessfully. He spent a long time after that kicking around in lesser leagues before having a late career run as a defenseman.
There have been a couple of guys recently who have played successfully as forwards and defensemen, but the ones I can think of don’t have a whole heck of a lot in common with Krug or Hawgood: Dustin Byfuglien and Brett Burns, both big guys even by NHL terms.
I think Wendel Clark split time for a while. Scott Stevens used to play some wing on the PP - mainly just crashing the net.
But yeah it's usually the more physical players.
But yeah it's usually the more physical players.
I’ve been worried about the second line for a while. They’ve been mostly non-existent. And the first line is all or nothing, it seems.
They need to get more from both lines.
They need to get more from both lines.
I don't think the commentary on the third goal is fair. That was a high rocket from a talented D at the circles. McAvoy wasn't back yet from the change and Petro was in alone so Rask had to worry specifically about the shot and hope Krug or McAvoy could cover anyone rushing. He took the puck off his collarbone. It would hav ebeen great if he could have smothered it or steered it away from the slot, but the degree of difficulty there is extremely high. Bad line changes happen sometimes and you get away with it. They didn't in this instance.