2019 Stanley Cup Final - No Singing the Blues - Boston is Going Back to Backes

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Berube is a goon. Basically telling his players to play dirty because it's the last game of the year so don't worry about suspensions.

"Berube said he wants to see more physicality, saying some players might have held back because of the possibility of suspension. He credited Bruins for boxing out well but said the Blues have to find a way to get inside more"

https://twitter.com/jprutherford/status/1138199635238051840
Sadly we all knew this was coming. I love good phsyical hockey, but Hopefully the refs call them on late hits and head-hunting.

@OurF'ingCity 's comparison to the 2014 Seahawks is spot on. The old' "They can't blow the whistle on every play" approach to dirty play.
 

cshea

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No contact for Grz today so he appears done. Wagner took contact so he could be a possibility, but I think they probably just roll with the same group as game 6. The only conceivable change would be Wagner for Acciari.
 

kenneycb

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No contact for Grz today so he appears done. Wagner took contact so he could be a possibility, but I think they probably just roll with the same group as game 6. The only conceivable change would be Wagner for Acciari.
Accari has looked pretty brutal to my eye and Wagner is a bit bigger. That said, I probably wouldn't want to toss a guy in there who hasn't played in 10+ games for Game 7 of the Cup.
 

kenneycb

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That would be amazing. My team once clinched a men's league tourney with a goalie scoring an empty netter and that was amazing. I can only imagine that for the Stanley Cup.

That said, something I notice in Game 6 was Tuukka staying in his net for pretty much all hard dump ins and even a few soft ones. Probably playing it conservatively for weird caroms off the glass and whatnot but just something interesting I saw.
 

joe dokes

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That said, something I notice in Game 6 was Tuukka staying in his net for pretty much all hard dump ins and even a few soft ones. Probably playing it conservatively for weird caroms off the glass and whatnot but just something interesting I saw.
Noticed that, too. He barely moved on most of them, so I assumed it was part of the game plan.
 

McBride11

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Accari has looked pretty brutal to my eye and Wagner is a bit bigger. That said, I probably wouldn't want to toss a guy in there who hasn't played in 10+ games for Game 7 of the Cup.
And is only 4 weeks removed from a broken forearm ( I never heard if he needed surgery), but 4 weeks on a forearm for a hockey player seems like a high risk of refracture at this point between checking and shots and what not. DRS can give more specifics but most broken bones are 6ish weeks and even then you aren't jumping back in NHL level hockey.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Noticed that, too. He barely moved on most of them, so I assumed it was part of the game plan.
I wonder if the thinking is that Tuukka slowing up the puck is giving extra time for the Blues forecheckers to close on the puck and drop the hammer, which is generally what has led to the backbreaking turnovers.
 

RetractableRoof

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Wagner for Heinen is possible as well. (Assuming Wagner is even under consideration - which based on the lines in practice it doesn't look it).
 

Myt1

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Accari has looked pretty brutal to my eye and Wagner is a bit bigger. That said, I probably wouldn't want to toss a guy in there who hasn't played in 10+ games for Game 7 of the Cup.
Acciari has been hitting everything in sight. He’s a dervish.
 

Leather

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It just seems like the Blues had a better plan since game 3. Granted, part of that plan was to be raging goons, but it worked. Bruins never really got behind a cohesive strategy.

I mean, ONE even strength goal by the top line?
 

DeadlySplitter

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I'm not qualified to analyze what happened, but up 2-1 with home ice, and you lose 3/4. you blow the doors off of the inferior team twice on the road and still lose the series. it's going to be a tough one to swallow all summer for everyone.

Unless Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastarnak all had crippling injuries... I'd focus offseason improvements on playing better 5v5 against the more physical teams. also, clearing pucks was an issue this entire run. the blown call in game 5 and the general goonery they let the Blues have did contribute and I think they may have won in 6 without these factors, but the Bruins should have been able to overcome all that on talent alone nonetheless.
 

wilked

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I'm not qualified to analyze what happened, but up 2-1 with home ice, and you lose 3/4
Take the Bs colored glasses off. That door swings both ways. You don’t get credit for blowing the doors off on the road if your doors get blown off at home.
 

Eddie Jurak

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The Bruins took one game off.

The refs stole a game.

The top line did this: 21 games, 5 goals (3 PP, 2 ES [1 EN]), 8 assists (4 PP, 2 ES, 2 SH). Bergeron went pointless at even strength and was held off the board entirely in 5 games. There were other problems (the 4th line's talent for getting itself pinned in the defensive end, Heinen's talent for getting himself bumped off the puck without making a play, Krejci limited to 2 assists), but at the end of the day the top line sucking was the difference.

Crazy to think that the team might have to get rid of Krug, aka the guy who actually showed up and did his job in this series, for money reasons.
 

bosockboy

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I'm not qualified to analyze what happened, but up 2-1 with home ice, and you lose 3/4. you blow the doors off of the inferior team twice on the road and still lose the series. it's going to be a tough one to swallow all summer for everyone.

Unless Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastarnak all had crippling injuries... I'd focus offseason improvements on playing better 5v5 against the more physical teams. also, clearing pucks was an issue this entire run. the blown call in game 5 and the general goonery they let the Blues have did contribute and I think they may have won in 6 without these factors, but the Bruins should have been able to overcome all that on talent alone nonetheless.
Those blow the doors off games the Blues had key players suspended that crushed their penalty kill. Full strength they won 4 of 5, 3 of 4 on the road and had a 2-0 lead in the other. I’m a rare Blues fan here, and empathize with the hurt here as I’ve been through every Sox high and low with everyone here for 16 yrs. Great series and class in here outside of SemperFidelisSox.
 

coremiller

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Those blow the doors off games the Blues had key players suspended that crushed their penalty kill. Full strength they won 4 of 5, 3 of 4 on the road and had a 2-0 lead in the other. I’m a rare Blues fan here, and empathize with the hurt here as I’ve been through every Sox high and low with everyone here for 16 yrs. Great series and class in here outside of SemperFidelisSox.
I mean, sure, but those Blues players were suspended for a reason. It's not like they were missing from the lineup due to fluke injuries.

Congrats though, Blues fans have been waiting a long time for this.

Signed, a bitter Sharks fan.
 

lexrageorge

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Paraphrasing something I said in the game thread:

This loss feels a lot like the infamous Too Many Men on the Ice game, in that after that loss (albeit in the semifinals), the Bruins window was slammed shut sooner and for a longer time than anyone expected. And pain-wise, it's irrationally up there with the Helmet Catch game.
 

PedroSpecialK

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Game 5 is my Helmet Catch game analog. Each team had a stinker in the series - game 3 for the Blues, game 7 for the B's. An enormous and arguably deciding factor in an ultimately extremely tight series was, unfortunately, Kelly Sutherland
 

Silverdude2167

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Those blow the doors off games the Blues had key players suspended that crushed their penalty kill. Full strength they won 4 of 5, 3 of 4 on the road and had a 2-0 lead in the other. I’m a rare Blues fan here, and empathize with the hurt here as I’ve been through every Sox high and low with everyone here for 16 yrs. Great series and class in here outside of SemperFidelisSox.
Congrats on the cup.

Of course now to point out the flaws in your post.

So in 2 of the 5 games, you listed the Bruins had to play with 5 D-men for the majority of the games so full strength games for both teams was actually only 3 games.
In the 2 of 3, they won the Blues were dominated for long stretches.
 

bosockboy

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I mean, sure, but those Blues players were suspended for a reason. It's not like they were missing from the lineup due to fluke injuries.

Congrats though, Blues fans have been waiting a long time for this.

Signed, a bitter Sharks fan.
The Barbashev suspension was garbage and was a make up suspension, but fair enough. They let go of worse that Marchand could have been suspended for. Bottom line 5 on 5 the Blues more or less eliminated the Bruins top line. This was as good a defensive series as you can have. Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester and Parayko was their real Conn Smythe winner.
 

kenneycb

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The Barbashev suspension was garbage and was a make up suspension, but fair enough. They let go of worse that Marchand could have been suspended for. Bottom line 5 on 5 the Blues more or less eliminated the Bruins top line. This was as good a defensive series as you can have. Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester and Parayko was their real Conn Smythe winner.
That hit has been an automatic suspension basically since the Savard hit. Lateral, while a guy was shooting, with principal point of contact being the head.
 

cshea

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The Barbashev suspension was garbage and was a make up suspension, but fair enough. They let go of worse that Marchand could have been suspended for. Bottom line 5 on 5 the Blues more or less eliminated the Bruins top line. This was as good a defensive series as you can have. Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester and Parayko was their real Conn Smythe winner.
Congrats, but first part is dumb.
 

lexrageorge

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The Barbashev suspension was garbage and was a make up suspension, but fair enough. They let go of worse that Marchand could have been suspended for. Bottom line 5 on 5 the Blues more or less eliminated the Bruins top line. This was as good a defensive series as you can have. Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester and Parayko was their real Conn Smythe winner.
The Blues were definitely a better team than many folks here gave them credit for. They went all in on shutting down the Bergeron line at even strength. It worked, as the Bruins 2nd and 3rd lines couldn't make up the difference:

1st line goals (5-on-5): 2 (Marchand and Pasta)
2nd line: 1 by DeBrusk
3rd line: 3 (2 by Coyle, and 1 by Kuhlman)
4th line: 4 (2 by Kuraly, 1 each from Nordstrom and Acciari)

4 defenseman (Chara, Grzelcyk, Clifton and Carlo) with one each.

Also, Krug had a sole assist at even strength, and McAvoy was held without a point 5-on-5.
 

DebSox

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That was such a BRUTAL loss. Right up there with the Scottish game. And you know if PSK got tossed from the GARDEN for flipping the bird (assuming that is all it took), then the world has truly tilted off it’s axis.

TBS, I do think the better team won last night, although I wouldn’t say the better team won the Cup.

As a casual hockey fan, I do think the NHL as a league is in trouble if this is the product they want to endorse on the ice. The officiating has been horrendous these playoffs and they seem to be going backwards as far as player safety. That game 5 was a fucking joke, and the officials and the league allowed the headshots and goonery to take over the series.

The boys deserved better. Man, that game sucked!!
What a really bad sports week in Boston
 

Leather

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Paraphrasing something I said in the game thread:

This loss feels a lot like the infamous Too Many Men on the Ice game, in that after that loss (albeit in the semifinals), the Bruins window was slammed shut sooner and for a longer time than anyone expected. And pain-wise, it's irrationally up there with the Helmet Catch game.
That’s not really true though.

The Bruins had a better record in 1979-80 than they did in 78-79. And after a downish two years; they had 110 point and 104 point seasons from 82-84.

They couldn’t get it done in the playoffs, but they were absolutely still capable of winning. Christ, they lost the Conf finals 4-2 to the Isles in ‘83. The window was most certainly open.
 

kenneycb

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I'm not going to pretend to know anything about those teams but that period also ran up against one of the greatest dynasties nobody ever talks about in the early-80s Islanders, so just very unfortunate timing.
 

NYCSox

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I'm not going to pretend to know anything about those teams but that period also ran up against one of the greatest dynasties nobody ever talks about in the early-80s Islanders, so just very unfortunate timing.
First it was the Habs, then the Isles, then it took a few years to solve Roy, then the Oilers and then the Pens before they ran out of steam. It was brutal.
 

coremiller

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That was such a BRUTAL loss. Right up there with the Scottish game. And you know if PSK got tossed from the GARDEN for flipping the bird (assuming that is all it took), then the world has truly tilted off it’s axis.

TBS, I do think the better team won last night, although I wouldn’t say the better team won the Cup.

As a casual hockey fan, I do think the NHL as a league is in trouble if this is the product they want to endorse on the ice. The officiating has been horrendous these playoffs and they seem to be going backwards as far as player safety. That game 5 was a fucking joke, and the officials and the league allowed the headshots and goonery to take over the series.

The boys deserved better. Man, that game sucked!!
What a really bad sports week in Boston
It's not just the headshots and goonery; the way the playoffs were officiated, it's no surprise that the biggest, most physical team won. The refs only intermittently called safety penalties and pretty much stopped calling obstruction penalties.
 

prizminferno

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The Barbashev suspension was garbage and was a make up suspension, but fair enough. They let go of worse that Marchand could have been suspended for. Bottom line 5 on 5 the Blues more or less eliminated the Bruins top line. This was as good a defensive series as you can have. Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester and Parayko was their real Conn Smythe winner.
BUT WHAT ABOUT...!! Garbage post.
 

MiracleOfO2704

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The Barbashev suspension was garbage and was a make up suspension, but fair enough.
I’m late compared to everyone else, but I don’t just believe the league had to suspend him for that hit. Same as Sundqvist in Game 2 and McAvoy in Columbus Game 6, of the NHL is actually serious about player safety, particularly staving off CTE, this hits earn multiple games, even in the playoffs. Of course, we know the league is only interested in the thinnest veneer of legal cover, so it’ll always be a coin flip whether there’s any suspension, and always one game if so.
 
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prizminferno

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Bruins built a team for 2019 and a series got called like it's 1999 and insufferable Blues homers took the cheese about their dirty, headshot garbage. They could have had 3 or 4 suspensions, just an awful take overall.
 

nolasoxfan

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It was a headshot. It is as simple as that.
And a head shot for which an in-game penalty wasn’t even called, correct? Actually, were any penalty minutes called for the acts that led to the Blues suspensions? What’s the tally of PP minutes not received?
 

MiracleOfO2704

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And a head shot for which an in-game penalty wasn’t even called, correct? Actually, were any penalty minutes called for the acts that led to the Blues suspensions? What’s the tally of PP minutes not received?
Sundqvist got 2 for boarding. Barbashev nothing for shoulder-to-jaw on Johansson.

There’s a reason I added McAvoy’s hit on Josh Anderson: an honesty about what’s better for the NHL. Headshots should always lead to long suspensions if you want them out of the game. @bosockboy, your team won the Cup, and congrats to them, but if you’re contending Barbashev’s suspension is anything other than putting the players’ safety ahead of competitive interests, then we can’t help you engage in this discussion properly.
 

PedroSpecialK

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It stings so much worse than 2013 - but it could also be a lot worse. Could be fans of Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Minnesota, Ottawa, Columbus, Nashville, Philadelphia, Buffalo, NYI, San Jose, Arizona, Florida, or any other team that has either never won or hasn't won in over 50 years.

Thinking of 2011 makes today a whole lot easier
 

BaseballJones

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This is definitely a tough loss to take. And I wonder what's harder (perhaps it depends on whether you're a hockey guy or a basketball guy) to take: The underachieving Celtics looking so lackluster and getting rolled in the Eastern semifinals, or these Bruins putting together such a spectacular playoff run only to have it end like that in game 7 on home ice. It is definitely a huge opportunity missed, and it will always sting losing on home ice like that, but it doesn't take much reflection to realize that the Bruins were FAR better than the Celtics this year. Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all?
 

Carmine Hose

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This stings far worse than 2013. Even if they had won Game 6 then, Bergeron would've been in the hospital for a Game 7 and he was their best player.

This one had a record-breaking one seed removed from your path in the second round, and having survived the Leafs yet again, they only had to beat the #8 and #7 seeds with home ice to get to the SCF.

And then when you reached the Final, you were matched up with arguably the least skilled/talented team from the West with a rookie goalie.

They lost this series because the first line was clearly not physically (injured or not) ready for the Blues' style, which the officials let them play with relative impunity. They lost this series because they lost a key defenseman in two different games, where they were forced to play 2 full periods (and one OT) with 5 D in games where they gave up the lead late in the game. They lost this series because Kelly Sutherland handed the Blues a two-goal lead in Game 5, which was ultimately decided by one goal.

Had this series been officiated like the regular season (e.g., Sundqvist's hit is a 5 minute major), Bruins win this series in 5. However, it wasn't, and they didn't.
 

staz

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I'm still not getting over it. Today has sucked. I'm depressed.
Right there with ya. Yuck. Waitress at lunch had on Bs gear, yet didn't get my cupcake reference to last night. Likely just a uniform to her, but a constant reminder to me.

So. What was with the terrible puck handling and whiffs? Nerves? Can't be ice quality, because it didn't seem to affect STL. Until corrected, I'm calling it nerves - which really sucks.

And I can't stand it when goalies are lauded for making saves on high percentage scoring chances, when in reality the shot is off target. Yes, Binnington made 2, maybe 3 quality saves, but it seemed an inordinate number of shots were off target, and right at him. One instance that haunts me is Marchand has him dead to rights, with the left half of the net wide open, yet fires it right into Binny's shoulder. SAAAAAVE Binnington! Wrong. Bad shot, Bruins. Sirius XM guy today went on about how Binnington stood on his head in game 7. No, asshole, Tim Thomas stood on his head in 2011, Binnington happened to be in the way of a lot of pucks last night.

But I'm not bitter...