Round 2: Bruins vs. That Team Up North

Ed Hillel

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Marchand has become a really streaker player. He'll go from playing like a top 5 forward in the league to playing like a jackass. I don't think there's too much of a choice with him because of his upside, though, and I don't expect he'll be watching from the press box any time soon. He was also sick this week and it usually takes the body a good week or two to get over the flu, if that's what he had. I'd keep him in.
 

kenneycb

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I only caught the comeback so I can't speak to his play but sitting Marchand has a pretty big effect on down regarding the PK especially since Kelly is out with the Black Plague.
 

Spacemans Bong

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Can we talk about what a gigantic fucking pussy Max Pacioretty is? You have killed us at 5vs5 and the complete no-show from Pacioretty is a big reason why. Our first line sucks, although the little guy is at least trying. Vanek had a pretty bad game too, even if he scored twice.
 
Other than Marchand there's not too many guys on Boston that I want on the ice versus my team. For the Bruins, the entire first line, Bouillon and Prust have been godsends.
 

Eddie Jurak

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kenneycb said:
I only caught the comeback so I can't speak to his play but sitting Marchand has a pretty big effect on down regarding the PK especially since Kelly is out with the Black Plague.
His fingerprints were all over a key sequence that shifted momentum to Montreal early in the second. Montreal bobbled the puck on a breakout and somehow Marchand found himself alone with the puck in the left slot... and he passed the puck across the front of the net, to no one! Canadiens recovered the puck and had a good possession in Boston's end. Marchand carries the puck out and instead of a dump in (near end of shift), he tries to make a forehand to backhand move and gets stripped. Montreal goes in and scores.
 

Wave em in Wendall

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I just re-watched each sequence where the Bruins got a penalty in Game 2. From my point of view, the refs got 6 out of the 9 penalties wrong. How can this happen so consistently? Is hockey going the way of the NBA? The refereeing today was a complete fucking joke. 
  • Krug - roughing - fine, but look what Bourque does at the end - looks to the ref expecting the call to go in his favor. 
  • Caron - hooking - bs - Emelin dives
  • Hamilton - interference - right call
  • Chara - unsportsmanlike - total BS - PK cross checks Chara, skampers away and somehow Z gets a mathcing.
  • Miller - roughing - WEAK call - just jostling in front of the net.
  • Krug - roughing - BS - refs never called Eller's snow shower of Rask until the scrum was over
  • Meszaros - another weak call - playoff hockey
  • Bench - unsportsmanlike - we'll never know what was said, but how often do you see a bench minor in the playoffs? weak.
  • Hamilton - interference - right call
 

Ed Hillel

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The refs seem to be doing a great job of calling matching minors to even things out to keep Boston off the Powerplay. When you count the two today, and the one at the end of regulation in game one where Eller slammed the puck at Rask after the whistle, that's 3 Boston Powerplays negated. Strangely enough, there are no examples of the converse. The penalty on Chara was just a complete load of BS. Unsporsmanlike conduct, what a joke. He took a crosscheck to the chest.
 

Stitch01

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Never have understood the refs desire to match calls when things get chippy. Seems to accomplish zero at settling the game down, they'd be better off matching power plays
 

RedOctober3829

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Stitch01 said:
Never have understood the refs desire to match calls when things get chippy. Seems to accomplish zero at settling the game down, they'd be better off matching power plays
It's like the double technical foul in basketball.  It's the most pointless call in both games.
 

MiracleOfO2704

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Worse than that, it's totally advantage Montreal when they match minors. Unless the situations truly warrants it, either call a penalty and have the balls to stick to it or let it go.
 

Byrdbrain

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Ed Hillel said:
The refs seem to be doing a great job of calling matching minors to even things out to keep Boston off the Powerplay. When you count the two today, and the one at the end of regulation in game one where Eller slammed the puck at Rask after the whistle, that's 3 Boston Powerplays negated. Strangely enough, there are no examples of the converse. The penalty on Chara was just a complete load of BS. Unsporsmanlike conduct, what a joke. He took a crosscheck to the chest.
Guaranteed what happened there is they saw PK turn around and cross check Chara so they made the call figuring it was retaliation for something Chara did they didn't see. It was but the original offense would never have been a penalty on it's own. 
 

MoGator71

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ForceAtHome said:
 
I don't remember if it was Pang or someone else, but there was definitely some commentator who meant to say "right way" and ended up saying "white way" while discussing Subban.
 
Edit: Bless you google.
 
A slip, but a pretty unfortunate one.

Ultimately his coaches and teammates are the only people he should really be concerned with. If his teammates don't have a problem, then I suppose there's no problem if he wants to continue to drive his opponents crazy.
 

BoSoxFink

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Subban can do some very hateable shit on the ice, but off the ice Subban makes it very hard to dislike him. These are comments by him about the racist tweets on twitter after game 1:

You know what, this is the first time and probably the last time Ill comment on it, Subban said. First things first, the Boston Bruins are an Original Six franchise, they have been around for a very long time, they are respected. Its completely unfair for anybody to point the finger at the organization or the fan base. They have passionate fans here, great fan base and since Ive been in the league its been awesome. Ive come to Boston many times, my family has come here, and its been great. What people may say on Twitter or social media is not a reflection by any means of the league or the Boston Bruins. So, whoever that is, theyll get dealt with, but its completely separate from this league or the Boston Bruins organization.
Handled with pure class from the sounds of it
 

mabrowndog

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BoSoxFink said:
Subban can do some very hateable shit on the ice, but off the ice Subban makes it very hard to dislike him. These are comments by him about the racist tweets on twitter after game 1:
 
You know what, this is the first time and probably the last time Ill comment on it, Subban said. First things first, the Boston Bruins are an Original Six franchise, they have been around for a very long time, they are respected. Its completely unfair for anybody to point the finger at the organization or the fan base. They have passionate fans here, great fan base and since Ive been in the league its been awesome. Ive come to Boston many times, my family has come here, and its been great. What people may say on Twitter or social media is not a reflection by any means of the league or the Boston Bruins. So, whoever that is, theyll get dealt with, but its completely separate from this league or the Boston Bruins organization.
Handled with pure class from the sounds of it
 
It also reflects the fact that his brother is coming up through the Bruins system.
 

RetractableRoof

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Wave em in Wendall said:
<p>

I just re-watched each sequence where the Bruins got a penalty in Game 2. From my point of view, the refs got 6 out of the 9 penalties wrong. How can this happen so consistently? Is hockey going the way of the NBA? The refereeing today was a complete fucking joke. 
  • Krug - roughing - fine, but look what Bourque does at the end - looks to the ref expecting the call to go in his favor. 
  • Caron - hooking - bs - Emelin dives
  • Hamilton - interference - right call
  • Chara - unsportsmanlike - total BS - PK cross checks Chara, skampers away and somehow Z gets a mathcing.
  • Miller - roughing - WEAK call - just jostling in front of the net.
  • Krug - roughing - BS - refs never called Eller's snow shower of Rask until the scrum was over
  • Meszaros - another weak call - playoff hockey
  • Bench - unsportsmanlike - we'll never know what was said, but how often do you see a bench minor in the playoffs? weak.
  • Hamilton - interference - right call
That doesn't even account for the calls against Montreal that were just missed. There was a Sodeberg mugging that was let go shortly after the first interference penalty that had me looking for something to throw at the TV. I'm not usually a scream at the TV guy... but damn. If you are going to call the stuff in one direction you have to be consistent.
 

cshea

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Though the first two games, the Bruins have been the better even strength team. Their at ~63% Corsi and have outscored Montreal 7-3. At even strength, the Bruins basically need to keep doing what they're doing and not press. Clean up some turnovers defensively.
 
The big problem is the penalty kill. They've conceded 4 PP goals in 2 games, all of which are essentially Subban's doing. What sort of adjustments need to be made here to take Subban away? 3 of the 4 goals were slap shots from straight away, 2 go in untouched and a 3rd was tipped by Vanek. The 4th goal was the 4-on-3 where Subban on the left point and he made a nice slap pass for Vanek to tip in. I'm not very good with X's and O's for hockey, but my adjustment would be to have the high forward step up on Subban and try to take away the space right in front of him. Force him to move the puck to the half boards instead of allowing any shots. It seems like they're currently sagging a bit, giving him time and space to shoot. 
 
Any ideas? 
 

Eddie Jurak

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RetractableRoof said:
That doesn't even account for the calls against Montreal that were just missed. There was a Sodeberg mugging that was let go shortly after the first interference penalty that had me looking for something to throw at the TV. I'm not usually a scream at the TV guy... but damn. If you are going to call the stuff in one direction you have to be consistent.
Yes, the non-call on Soderberg was jaw-dropping.
 

Red Right Ankle

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Most of Subban's PP goals against the Bs seem to come on the cross ice pass where he sneaks in to the top of the dots while the puck is on the other side of the ice, low in the zone and takes the cross ice pass for a one timer. I think the Bs have to be more aware and the PKer on that side probably has to sag up to cover the lane.

the problem with sagging in his direction all the time is that it opens space in behind the forward who is doing it. That creates a much easier half board cycle and more space for cross ice puck movement.
 

TSC

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TheStoryofYourRedRightAnkle said:
Most of Subban's PP goals against the Bs seem to come on the cross ice pass where he sneaks in to the top of the dots while the puck is on the other side of the ice, low in the zone and takes the cross ice pass for a one timer. I think the Bs have to be more aware and the PKer on that side probably has to sag up to cover the lane.

the problem with sagging in his direction all the time is that it opens space in behind the forward who is doing it. That creates a much easier half board cycle and more space for cross ice puck movement.
 
He's the kind of talent that may require additional attention like this, though.
 
Have someone (Bergeron/Loui) shadow him and let the other three forwards rotate. He's the QB of their powerplay, and he's almost single handedly put the Bruins down 0-2.
 

IdiotKicker

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Montreal really just cannot hang with them 5-on-5. Staying out of the box, regardless of the level of douche from Montreal, is going to be the key to the rest of the series. If it wasn't for their power play, this series is 2-0 right now. We'll flip out in the game thread for you, just out your head down and keep moving.

Beyond that, I think our D-men need to take a little more care in their own zone when trying to move the puck out, as there have been too many giveaways there, and I'd like to see Marchand get his head out of his ass and get going. Overall, I think we have dominated play for more time than Montreal, and I think that if we clean up those things, we should be in good shape. And stop hitting the outside of posts.
 

Red Right Ankle

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TheShynessClinic said:
 
He's the kind of talent that may require additional attention like this, though.
 
Have someone (Bergeron/Loui) shadow him and let the other three forwards rotate. He's the QB of their powerplay, and he's almost single handedly put the Bruins down 0-2.
Yeah, it's a balancing act, pick your poison deal.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Subban has been scoring/assisting from the top of the zone...the 1st Vanek goal yesterday was on a 4x3, which throws things off and opens up that much more space. They just need to get the top forward out in the shooting lane when PK is at the top of their formation. TSYRRA points out correctly that getting out too high opens up the cross ice pass behind the forward, but that may have to be what they deal with, because PK dropping bombs from the top is killing them.
 

RedOctober3829

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cshea said:
Though the first two games, the Bruins have been the better even strength team. Their at ~63% Corsi and have outscored Montreal 7-3. At even strength, the Bruins basically need to keep doing what they're doing and not press. Clean up some turnovers defensively.
 
The big problem is the penalty kill. They've conceded 4 PP goals in 2 games, all of which are essentially Subban's doing. What sort of adjustments need to be made here to take Subban away? 3 of the 4 goals were slap shots from straight away, 2 go in untouched and a 3rd was tipped by Vanek. The 4th goal was the 4-on-3 where Subban on the left point and he made a nice slap pass for Vanek to tip in. I'm not very good with X's and O's for hockey, but my adjustment would be to have the high forward step up on Subban and try to take away the space right in front of him. Force him to move the puck to the half boards instead of allowing any shots. It seems like they're currently sagging a bit, giving him time and space to shoot. 
 
Any ideas? 
Devote a guy specifically to him.  Get stick in front of his stick every time he gets the puck so he doesn't get a clear lane.  Run right at him to make him give up the puck.  
 
Marchand has been really lazy getting out to the point to stop him.  It can't be that easy for Subban.  He can't have the freedom to do whatever he wants.  Make him uncomfortable.
 

wiffleballhero

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I think we are preconditioned to be pissed about the calls in games against Montreal. This is not the NBA. Montreal flops and are cheap. But the Bruins pound away beyond the rules and it tends to even out. As far as I can tell, these two games are not even in the same stratosphere as the Detroit holding games. Good lord.
 
Marchand:
 
Marchand certainly can drive you crazy, but he is a pretty unique player in that when he sucks, he is not just floating around doing nothing. His problem, at least from my perspective on my little couch, is that he really is just trying too hard. He holds the puck too long, he commits to that little spin move over and over again down the side boards when he should just dump, he commits too many silly penalties and then (inexplicably) he seems to not be grinding that hard on defense.
 
All of that said, good lord, when he is going well, he is a wonderful offensive player and the idea of doing anything but waiting for Patrice to calm him down is crazy. When Marchand is on, his combination of speed or skating 'step' and stickwork is pretty unique.
 
I, too, would like to see him really get in Subban's grill. It is a match-up that can work well for the Bruins. They are similar players in some ways but Subban means much more to Montreal than Marchand means to Boston.
 
All that said, no matter how much I'd like to strangle him at times: ride that train, Marchand wins us a game or two in the next few weeks.
 

Ed Hillel

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As an example, Marchand was all over Subban on Smith's go-ahead goal. Subban was so busy paying attention to Marchand that he was out of position and couldn't get over to help Gallagher or get in front to block the shot. That second line was on the ice for all three of those goals.
 

kenneycb

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Just watching the dafoomie video, Marchand had a significant piece in all three goals in the third. The backhand pass to Dougie was absolutely filthy and he had a great keep on the blue on I think Bergy's.

Not to bring up a stupid subject again (which is the equivalent to " having said that..." ), but regarding the whole Boston's racist storyline again, but, um, Iginla? Pretty much everyone loves him, ethnicity and all, in spite of last year. Basically I just hate stupid people.
 

SawxSince67

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Iginla...Gallagher said something that really pissed him off. Lucic and Iggy seem to discuss something...then the bench gets the Unsportsmanlike...thereafter Lucic destroys Gallagher (off-season workout buddy, we were repeatedly informed!) in front of Montreal bench. Is that the correct sequence? 
 
Chara - Subban: honestly, I seem to recall a hack at the back of Subban's leg that prompted him to pivot toward Z.
 
Also, Is Bart back? Meszaros seemed out of place a number of times.
 

BoSoxFink

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SawxSince67 said:
Iginla...Gallagher said something that really pissed him off. Lucic and Iggy seem to discuss something...then the bench gets the Unsportsmanlike...thereafter Lucic destroys Gallagher (off-season workout buddy, we were repeatedly informed!) in front of Montreal bench. Is that the correct sequence? 
 
Chara - Subban: honestly, I seem to recall a hack at the back of Subban's leg that prompted him to pivot toward Z.
 
Also, Is Bart back? Meszaros seemed out of place a number of times.
i thought Meszaros was fine other than taking that penalty that cost the Bruins a goal at the end of the second. Then again, the guy was holding his stick and wouldn't let him go, of course. I forget who the Canadien was though.

I don't think Bart will be put back in next game and at least until Meszaros has a really poor game, but who knows really.
 

smastroyin

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Bart didn't play poorly other than taking stupid penalties but against this team that's the proverbial "other than that how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"
 
Of course Meszaros then obliged with a stupid penalty of his own.
 
I agree with stripes, though, Meszaros until he is truly horrible and then re-assess if you get through this series.
 

Ed Hillel

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The "hack" at the back of Subban's leg could be described, in the most malicious sense, as a love tap. That's not a penalty in any hockey universe. I thought Meszaros played fine, as well. His stick was definitely getting held on that call, though he probably should find a better way to react. I think that's one situation where it's ok to embellish a bit, but only because it's the only way to get the ref's attention about the infraction actually occurring. Maybe hold onto the stick with one arm, try to skate away, and point at what's happening with the free hand.
 

allstonite

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http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/2014/05/next_time_you_call_6_million_b.html
 
This article traces the root of the racist tweets issue from Friday. I figured it was some journalists or fans seeking it out and then casting assumptions on the entire city. Turns out it was actually worse than that. Cliffs notes: a Montreal soccer blogger tweeted that the N word was now trending in Boston. I'm not sure if this was meant to be a joke or not but it was not even close to true. A Montreal soccer player retweets it to his larger number of followers. Larger media outlets pick up on it from there.
 
In actuality, there were only a tiny number of legitimate hateful, racist tweets. Many of them from high school kids, many of them not even from Boston. Obviously one of these is too many but the fact that this became the story that it did with little actual proof is sad. The headlines could have read "High school kids think they're funny on twitter after Subban scores" but that doesn't fit in with the narrative that would get them clicks.
 

SoxFan58

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smastroyin said:
Sorry if I didn't look around enough, but is there really not a single post about the volume of racist tweets sent subban's way? I'm honestly having trouble today caring about this series knowing there are so many ignorant Bruins fans still. I know those assholes don't represent everyone but it still turns me off an incredible amount. Like, I care more that those Fucking idiots are unhappy more than I want myself to be happy.
http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/2014/05/next_time_you_call_6_million_b.html

From someone who's got more time to investigate these things than I...
 

RedOctober3829

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Renaud Lavoie ‏@renlavoietva 1m
#canadiens Michel Therrien thinks that the Bruins are getting away really well with some non calls by referees. #tvasports
 
LOL Therrien.  Really?  Bruins are getting away with non-calls?  Go look at the tape and see how many penalties were called on the Bruins that were questionable.

 
Аrpon Basu ‏@ArponBasu 1m
"That's the Boston Bruins. It's always been like that and it won't change." - Therrien on Price "weaknesses" and complaining about officials
 
 

Maurice09

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RedOctober3829 said:
LOL Therrien.  Really?  Bruins are getting away with non-calls?  Go look at the tape and see how many penalties were called on the Bruins that were questionable.
 
He's setting the table for tomorrow night. I am sure he believes what he is saying but even if he didn't, he has to play this game.
He knows the Bruins are a better 5 on 5 team. They have to start playing a more discipline game.
Especially there.
 

Wave em in Wendall

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It's really amazing. It reminds of a tweet from Jack before the series started:
 
https://twitter.com/RealJackEdwards/status/462659009292820480
 
These two organizations believe that their brand of hockey is the 100% the right way. 
 
Serious question: if you could poll other NHL organizations (don't know whether it would be players, coaches, or front office), but what would the split be on who plays hockey the right way? Boston or Montreal? I suppose you could have a 3rd option of "neither."
 
I'm biased, but I would guess the results would be something like 70% Boston, 30% neither, 0% Montreal. I assume Marchand alone and some Lucic crap would ding Boston a few times.
 
 
Of course nothing matters except for the results, and somehow the refs keep playing along.
 
Would you hire Michelle Therrien to coach your team and tolerate this style of hockey?
 

lars10

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It's really amazing. It reminds of a tweet from Jack before the series started:
 

https://twitter.com/RealJackEdwards/status/462659009292820480
https://twitter.com/RealJackEdwards/status/462659009292820480
mabrowndog is a dingus
 
These two organizations believe that their brand of hockey is the 100% the right way. 
 
Serious question: if you could poll other NHL organizations (don't know whether it would be players, coaches, or front office), but what would the split be on who plays hockey the right way? Boston or Montreal? I suppose you could have a 3rd option of "neither."
 
I'm biased, but I would guess the results would be something like 70% Boston, 30% neither, 0% Montreal.

I think Chicago and Boston are the two teams right now that teams want to emulate... Montreal doesn't have the talent to play with them even strength so they resort to what they do. I'd imagine any team would love to play bruins hockey but they barely have two lines let alone four that can play.

The bruins remind me of Kentucky or UNC where they skate (or run) you to death... By the third period the other team just can't keep up.

Plus they can adapt to any style of hockey.

How Thierrien thinks his team deserves more penalties is beyond me. Boston has been absolutely dominating...and Montreal feels they should have more power plays? For what?
 

krobe

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AMcGhie said:
Bruins are 13-1 in Game 3s under Julien, according to ESPN stats and info.
 
I think they are actually 14-1 with the one loss being against Carolina in 2009. 
 

Ed Hillel

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allstonite said:
http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/2014/05/next_time_you_call_6_million_b.html
 
This article traces the root of the racist tweets issue from Friday. I figured it was some journalists or fans seeking it out and then casting assumptions on the entire city. Turns out it was actually worse than that. Cliffs notes: a Montreal soccer blogger tweeted that the N word was now trending in Boston. I'm not sure if this was meant to be a joke or not but it was not even close to true. A Montreal soccer player retweets it to his larger number of followers. Larger media outlets pick up on it from there.
 
In actuality, there were only a tiny number of legitimate hateful, racist tweets. Many of them from high school kids, many of them not even from Boston. Obviously one of these is too many but the fact that this became the story that it did with little actual proof is sad. The headlines could have read "High school kids think they're funny on twitter after Subban scores" but that doesn't fit in with the narrative that would get them clicks.
 
I think the Bruins organization made a big mistake in even addressing this "issue." It doesn't need to be said that the Bruins don't endorse racism, and the only thing it did was to legitimize the story. It made a mountain out of a molehill.
 

FL4WL3SS

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I actually agree with you on this. My first thought was "why are the Bruins releasing a statement, it should go unsaid". By them releasing a statement, it made the story much bigger because the media was obligated to pass along their statement. It got a lot more airtime then it should have.
 

FelixMantilla

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Bruins were obviously trying to get ahead of a potentially bad story. That there turned out to be no story is not the Bruins' fault.
 

Stitch01

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RedOctober3829 said:
LOL Therrien.  Really?  Bruins are getting away with non-calls?  Go look at the tape and see how many penalties were called on the Bruins that were questionable.
 
Meh, cant blame him for trying to get the series called tight.  Canadians are clearly better off the less 5-on-5 time there is.
 

The Napkin

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Rene Bourque missed practice today with the flu. Let's hope he spent the flight back to Montreal coughing and sneezing all over everyone. And didn't wash his hands before hitting the buffet.
 

Spacemans Bong

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Chicago's actually the hockey most Habs fans would want to see the tricolore play. The Habs for most of the last 30 years have played a somewhat tight, defensive style reliant on the goalie standing on his head and special teams to make up for a lack of offensive firepower. The daddy of that style is Jacques Lemaire, the daddy of Chicago's style is Toe Blake and the Chicago GM's dad. No points for guessing which guy's teams are more revered locally.
 
Strangely, I thought we played much closer to Chicago's style last year but Therrien and the organization has completely overreacted to getting blown out by Ottawa, focusing not on the fact that practically every good player was hurt but that somehow it was the team not being big enough. So they instituted a grinding style which is unsuited for the team (because you can't change the roster in a year...and also sign Danny Briere for PR reasons) and saw their 5v5 numbers plummet. If Stephane Waite didn't join the organization and help Price dramatically improve his game they're probably already playing golf.