It's going to be crazy on the Strip tonight. Glad I'm not down there and just watching from my house.
Stanley Cup Final
- Thread starter The Napkin
- Start date
JFC, Tkachuk played Game 4 with a broken sternum.
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He was giving up 11 goals in his 3 wins after giving up 5 in his first game. The problem was the bs defense and goalie giving up 15.
So it turns out that all the Bruins would have had to do to win that series was have the line brawl after being up 3-1. Hope they took notes.
So Butch gets a Cup with his new team the year after being unceremoniously dumped by the Bruins, and Bob turns into a pumpkin at just the right time to make it happen.
I don't think this postseason could have turned out worse for the Bruins. Just an absolute kick in the face from all corners.
I don't think this postseason could have turned out worse for the Bruins. Just an absolute kick in the face from all corners.
He was most certainly a problem given that he won 2 OT games against them. They couldn't crack him when it actually mattered.
Oooooooooooooor, considering neither OT was that long, their sieve of a defence/goalie crew kept them from having a chance.
He won when he needed to which is something none of the Bruins can say, so I'm standing by my point. He was the one who made the stick handle save on Pasta in OT, the Bruins certainly didn't step up like that.
This postseason was embarrassing for the locals. Congrats to Butch and all that but the team's reputation isn't exactly going to shine this summer.
This postseason was embarrassing for the locals. Congrats to Butch and all that but the team's reputation isn't exactly going to shine this summer.
I think Bob made nine saves in the two OTs combined, which isn’t exactly earth shattering. One was a great scoring chance. Don’t remember the others so well.
It was like 0.60 expected goals in the 14 minutes, the bulk of which was from that 1 chance. He didn’t stand on his head.
He didn’t win when he needed to, because he lost in the Finals, right? He hasn’t shown he’s good enough to win a Cup, and can’t win when it actually matters.
Which Cassidy himself wasnt doing a whole lot of with the Bruins after the run in 2019. Two relative beatdowns in round 2 and a first round loss isnt great...That said, while my preference last offseason would've been to hold onto him, I'm also pretty understanding of their decision to move on. While we can never know for sure, from what I recall isn't the most likely story that he was going to continue here, until vets had post season meetings and then he got fired because of how he dealt with the younger guys (which you allude to in the offseason thread)? Or, if that isn't the most likely story, it's definitely a major part of it. Hell, for all I know, Bruce took an hard look in the mirror after one of the most well respected vets in the league wanted him gone and made some changes that resulted in him being a better coach. Good for him, Im happy for him...I just dont take it as a kick in the face as a Bruins fan.
It makes the Bruins look like clowns.
Ideally, they wouldn't care about their outward perception, they'd merely focus on trying to win the Cup, but the players are still human, fans even more so, and perception matters a lot to both groups. The Bruins have now gotten three very public eggs on their organizational face: the Mitchell Miller debacle, the 1st round playoff embarrassment, and now Butch winning the Cup the year after being unceremoniously dumped to the curb. All three things negatively impact the way the Bruins are viewed in the larger public eye and will undoubtedly negatively affect their efforts at team building for next season. Maybe the effects won't be huge but they will be real. Players are going to think hard about Cassidy leaving Boston and winning a Cup, it doesn't reflect well on the organization even if there are multiple factors at work there.
As a fan, all of this is a huge negative. Fandom is emotional and always should be, IMO. You want to feel good about the team who spend time and money on. No one feels good when their club steps on rakes, no one wants to financially support a team that underachieves and no one wants to support a team that was willing to sign Mitchell Fucking Miller.
Cassidy departing the Bruins may have some logical reasons behind it, but it still feels like total shit when he goes out and promptly does what this organization did not despite going all in this year. It absolutely feels like a kick in the face as a fan. I have nothing against Cassidy myself, and perhaps his grating persona wouldn't have worked here anyway, but it still really fucking stings.
I'm dating myself here with age but it's vaguely emotionally similar to O'Connell trading Joe Thornton for a magic of magic beans, claiming he did so to improve the team on the ice immediately, and then seeing Thornton win MVP (or the scoring title, can't remember which) while the Bruins missed the playoffs.
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That's all fair. If Im ranking those eggs though Butch winning it is a very distant 3rd IMO...he was 2-3 in playoff series his last year seasons here and the regular season standings post cup run went from 1st --> 3rd --> 4th. I also just generally think across all sports, save for a TINY list, that if you arent at least seriously competing for titles routinely than a coach has a somewhat short shelf life in a locker room.
I would have chosen DeBrusk over Butch too, I'm not even saying the Bruins screwed up here. I'm just emotionally gutted about the way the season collapsed; seeing Cassidy win the Cup is the cherry on top of that particular shit sundae. I thought it was bad enough seeing Charles Barkley of all people clowning on them on the NBA broadcasts, but this is worse.
It's sobering to think the Bruins are already 12 years removed from their Cup win and now look to be further away than ever given what they have to change this summer. It's going to be a very long time before they are relevant again in Cup circles.
Ok yeah I hear you. I think I read too far into your original post and thought you meant Bruins not retaining Cassidy was their screwup. My bad...emotional gutpunch end to the season indeed.
I doubt players in free agency care about a team deciding that a coaches message wasn’t getting through after last year, the team moving on from him, and him winning the cup after he was fired with another team. They really only care about how they would fit in with current guy.
I would think that if players would not want to sign with any team that did not at least make the second round the previous season, that would severely limit their market.
And I would wager heavily that any incoming free agents would give less than a shit about the Bruins signing some dirt bag kid in the minors that isn’t even part of the organization anymore.
Free agents care about:
1. How much total money are they offering?
2. What would my role/playing time be?
3. Do we have a chance to win?
4. Would I get along with the coach/other players on the roster?
5. Is it a nice place to live for players?
This year the Bruins have everything except number 1 unless they can unload contracts.
So, Bobrovsky was merely an utter disaster until this year, having never gotten out of the second round before, and something fundamental changed in him, at age 34, that made him a winner?
Feels like this speaks a bit to the point I made above about shelf life in a locker room (that I think you agreed with)...I appreciate that quote from him, takes the high road.
And I think that’s where a lot of us landed, both in June 2022 and in the wake of the playoff loss. You can simultaneously say that someone is one of the best coaches in the league and that he’d become a bad fit in Boston. Hell, I feel like Fris made something of that argument once or twice.