That loud whoosh sound was my frustrated sigh.
But to be fair, isn't this what they said like a week before firing Cassidy?
I should hope so, considering what they have in cap room.
23-24 Bruins Season Thread
- Thread starter cshea
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But to be fair, isn't this what they said like a week before firing Cassidy?
I’m assuming that no one brought up why they can’t fix the ice, or why they continue to get fucked over by the league office without responding?
Consider the source (Reddit) - but apparently Pasta was intverviewed by a local Czech reporter, and said that TD Garden has the worst ice in the league.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonBruins/s/5Y1FbBDR6l
https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonBruins/s/5Y1FbBDR6l
I’m good with Sweeney and fine with Montgomery getting another chance because of how the team performed in the past two regular seasons and how limited it was this past offseason.
Montgomery should be on thinner ice. While Sweeney has made some questionable decisions in the past, he’s been very good of late specifically in building the best roster in the league in 22’-23’ and putting together a strong team with limited resources in 23-24’.
Ice-
The ice problem reoccurring is annoying; it seems like a problem that should be solved by simply spending (a lot of, millions) money.
Montgomery should be on thinner ice. While Sweeney has made some questionable decisions in the past, he’s been very good of late specifically in building the best roster in the league in 22’-23’ and putting together a strong team with limited resources in 23-24’.
Ice-
The ice problem reoccurring is annoying; it seems like a problem that should be solved by simply spending (a lot of, millions) money.
Sweeney is not going anywhere without Neely being out as well. They are pretty much a package deal.
Jacobs (Sr and Jr), Neely, and Sweeney all seem to be aligned in the overall direction and strategy of the team. I don't see any major mistakes that Sweeney has made over the past few seasons that should lead to his dismissal, so I'm not surprised that everyone in the front office is staying. It would likely take a couple of playoff DNQ's for Sweeney to be shown the door, and Neely is probably here for as long as the ownership remains in place.
Montgomery? Whatever. Yeah, he deserves the criticism, but the reality is that everyone acknowledges that the max-capped roster overachieved this season.
Montgomery? Whatever. Yeah, he deserves the criticism, but the reality is that everyone acknowledges that the max-capped roster overachieved this season.
I think everyone agrees that Monty is an excellent regular season coach. His struggles to adjust to the different world of the playoffs are the major mark against him.
I think they match up poorly against Florida. It'd be nice to avoid them in the playoffs next year (should they be so fortunate as to make the playoffs).
Judging by last nights’ game, the Bruins might not be the only ones that match up poorly against Florida. They might just be a wagon. It will certainly make me reevaluate how far away this group is from contention if Florida handles the Rangers in 5 or 6 on the way to winning the cup.
Maybe it is a mark against him, but adjustments would be just as much an organizational failure as a coach failure. I’d be surprised if the front office is hands off on lineups and desired usage patterns. If they are feeding him data on recommend matchups and he is ignoring without repercussions them it’s on both of them.
There is also the matter of the bench assistants. Sacco runs the D and PK. Not many complaints there other than Forbort ever being in the lineup (above Sacco’s pay grade I assume). Maybe Chris Kelly needs to upgraded or empowered in different areas to mitigate Monty’s weaknesses?
Bob was terrible in that series, the issue was that the Bruins could not or would not pepper him with shots. He was right there for the taking and the shot strategy never changed.
They definitely should have shot more, and I’m not saying that they didn’t make tactical mistakes, and that was one of them.
What I am trying to say is that, if the scenario that I described in my previous post pans out, that will have been two seasons in a row where the Bruins were the only team in the East that actually gave those guys a series. So maybe the gap can be closed with some hits in free agency and some tactical coaching adjustments.
I keep going back to they had Justin Brazeau and Morgan Geekie as two guys on the ice during a 6-on-5 in one of the games. The talent level wasn't there and that gets exposed in the playoffs compared to the regular season. You can't advance scout in depth in the regular season because you're playing 3 different teams in 4 nights and have limited scouting resources so gameplan changes are going to be limited. You are able to get a lot more specific and prey on weaknesses much better when you're focused on one team. Given Florida greatly outmatched them offensively and Boston probably only had a slight advantage defensively, Florida had a much easier time successfully executing their gameplan. That doesn't exonerate Monty but at some point it's about the horses.
Given Boston's strength was defense and goaltending, they should've just packed the house and rely on counterpunching. That's miserable hockey to watch and maybe would've elevated their ceiling to ECF loss so I'm quite happy they didn't go that route.
Given Boston's strength was defense and goaltending, they should've just packed the house and rely on counterpunching. That's miserable hockey to watch and maybe would've elevated their ceiling to ECF loss so I'm quite happy they didn't go that route.
I don’t think volume shooting is a good strategy or the answer to not advancing. The power play was cold when it mattered most…. didn’t help that Marchand was hurt.
Bury a few power play goals and they advance.
Bury a few power play goals and they advance.
Florida allowed the 3rd fewest shots on goal/60 in the regular season. The Bruins were in the bottom half of the league in shots for/60. Bad combo, leads to a results like what we were seeing. Tampa struggled to get pucks on Bob in round 1, the Rangers struggled to get pucks on him last night. Florida excels at surpressing shots against. I didn't love the quality over quantity approach they took for the entire year but it mostly worked, they finished at an above average clip. The Bruins played that way for 89 games. I don't think you can change systems in hockey at the flip of a switch. Minor tweaks on exits and entries and what not, sure, but in general they weren't going to go from a quality team to a quantity team overnight.
I thought Monty was fine. He made adjustments, inserting Lohrei in during the Toronto series which helped the breakout immensley. Taking Lauko out for JVR amd tjat got the 3rd line going. When the top 6 was stale he mixed and matched and tried different combos, but nothing clicked. It's kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't. He changes lines and it doesn't work he looks panicky. He runs the same thing out ther eover and over and he looks afraid or tentative. He rode the hot hand in net. Think he could've done more with the PP, it got stale after the first 4 games against Toronto.
Totally random thought here, and it was prompted by something that popped up on my social media feed. But I pulled up the 1983 Edmonton Oilers. I know it's a totally different era and all, but they had SIX players with 75+ points:
Gretzky: 196
Messier: 106
Anderson: 104
Kurri: 104
Coffey: 96
Linesman: 75
Meanwhile, the 2023-24 Boston Bruins had exactly one guy with 75+ points - Pastrnak with 106.
Gretzky: 196
Messier: 106
Anderson: 104
Kurri: 104
Coffey: 96
Linesman: 75
Meanwhile, the 2023-24 Boston Bruins had exactly one guy with 75+ points - Pastrnak with 106.
You're right, it was a totally different era. Goals were scored by the bucketful.
