Jason Harris
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Posts posted by Jason Harris
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The winning goal last night reminded me of about five others I've seen this year. The Bruins' D is conditioned into making the behind the net pass, so much so that they often do it blind -- as Hunwick did last night -- and it gets intercepted then passed out front. With both defenseman off to the side, the opposition has a clear shot on net.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems the B's rely on the behind the net pass much more than other teams, and it seems that most teams are prepared for it. It doesn't always get intercepted, but it gets intercepted enough that I think the B's need to allow more creativity to their breakouts.
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I wouldn't get too worked up over them fading at the end. They were missing five regulars, had to kill about five minutes straight of penalties, and were playing their third game in less than three days after flying six hours and three time zones.
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Given all the factors -- back-to-back games after six hours of flying, missing their top three centers, playing one of the league's top teams -- I don't think it's hyperbole to refer to yesterday's game as a stunning victory. Of course, it helps when last year's Vezina goalie played like last year's Vezina goalie.
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That's where we disagree. As I've posted before, there have been a number of games this year when the B's didn't play with the three periods of intensity, something they did with regularity last season. I thought they played with intensity almost that entire game, although they were missing five players, but once the Blackhawks matched the B's intensity it was Game Over.
Let's face it, if you're faster than me, but sometimes lazy, I'll win a few races to the puck. However, if you're faster than me, yet skate with the same intensity, then I'm only going to win those races when I'm closer to the puck.
My take on that game is the B's played with three periods of intensity, but the Blackhawks only played with two-and-a-half. If Thomas had been more solid, maybe the B's could have stolen a point, but I can't fault the B's for a lack of intensity that game. Only for having less speed and skill than the Blackhawks.
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The Blackhawks look like they would have beaten last year's B's team. They are good! The scary thing is I read an article suggesting they could be the frontrunner for Kovulchuk, since they have a lot of assets and will need to clear cap space for next season anyway.
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I don't know, the Bruins power play was horrendous most of the night. And Thomas is still fighting the puck, he hasn't been the same since he was out with his hand injury, possibly nursing something else?They were 1 for 3 on the power play (two other penalties resulted in 4-on-4 play). That's better than their season average, yet they were missing their triggerman on the top unit and their best player this season from the second unit. Coming into the game, Thomas had a 1.5 goals against over his previous six games, but there's no doubt he had a clunker Thursday.
The bottom line is Chicago appears to be a superior team than the B's are at full strength, and are undoubtedly better than a hobbled B's team. There's no shame in being outplayed by a better team, yet the drunk skunks booed instead.
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I think it was idiotic for some of the fans to boo tonight. Based on the speed of their players and their ability to get their sticks on the puck, it's clear that Chicago is a more athletic team. And I don't think Bergeron and Savard would have changed that much.
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Yes, it was a good effort, as well as encouraging that Thomas has begun playing like last year, but obviously we'd like to see that intensity nightly -- and not just as a reaction to a previous night's clunker.
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KDP blogged that Bergeron called a friend after leaving Mass General and said he'll probably be out two to three weeks. Apparently, the injury is to his thumb, not the wrist.
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I could see a trade for salary cap room but, from everything I've read, they wouldn't trade the Leafs' first round pick, since it could be a top three pick. However, I think they'd be willing to trade their own first rounder.
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The Globe's claiming the B's are close to signing Miroslav Satan. He seems a bit long in the tooth, but probably worth taking a chance on if the price isn't too high.
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I realize Atlanta hasn't been playing well and that the B's have scored more goals, but based on Time-Of-Possession, tonight might have been their most dominant game of the year. It was thoroughly entertaining to a Bruins' fan.
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do you think boston regrets letting kessel go now? although if they werent going to be able to afford him there was nothing they could do anyway.I suspect they are conflicted. From what I've read, they wanted him back but, because they were exasperated with his lack of defense, they were only willing to go to $4 million annually. When Chara was quoted as politically saying that Kessel needed to grow up, as well as reports that Kessel chafed under Julien's system, it's pretty easy to conclude that Chiarelli probably wasn't far off when he said that Kessel wasn't going to sign with the B's.
Consequently, there's no doubt the B's would love to have his scoring, but are presumably fairly happy to be receiving three high picks in return, since there's probably the added result of less drama in the locker room.
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I don't know if I can agree that the defense has been good enough most games. They are still coughing up the puck way too much. Hunwick is folding under strong forechecks and just appears hesistant most nights.Although Hunwick and Wideman can both get yippy with their passes, I think a lot of the coughing up is because the B's seem to be very rigid with their breakout methodology. I've seen a lot of occasions when the opposing forward skates directly below the goal line because he knows the B's will send a pass behind the goal. I understand having systems, but when one team is defending it or matching up well, the B's need to alter their breakout.
I think this is how the Canes beat them in the playoffs last year -- a strong forecheck that intercepted the breakout pass.
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I had thought that the B's had finally straightened their season, but there's just too much inconsistency. They didn't show up the first period against the Panthers, then outplayed them the rest of the game. They started strong in the first period against the Lightning, then were run over in the second period. Still, if they could find one legitimate scorer, their defense has been good enough to keep them in most games.
As an aside, it looked like the refs were still hung over from their Xmas eggnog. There were some atrocious calls the past two nights.
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Yes and no. Sobotka was jamming at it first, then the defenseman slid into Boucher. In any event, when NESN stated the reason given by the league, it sounded more like revisionist history, as in "We know our ref screwed up, but we have to back him, so we'll just try throwing this slop on the wall and hope it sticks."
I've noticed lapses in effort the last two games, which they had seemed to clean up over the past month. Hopefully, this will only be an isolated blip.
Second topic, Rask is outplaying Thomas. Maybe this is because he's working a lighter load, but I'd hate to be in Julien's position. He knows what he SHOULD do, but realizes he can't.
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I agree about the offense, but they're sixth in the league for Goals Against, with it trending downward over the past six weeks. If they continue this pace, they might end up around the second or third best team defensively, which would make them a contender, but a true scorer would make them a favorite.
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In 2007, when the Sox were running away with the division, yet the lead dropped from 12 games to 9, one of my friends asked us our predictions for where the Sox would end up in the standings. It was amazing how much more pessimistic the predictions were for those remaining in New England.
It caused one of my friends to make a comment to another that I'm going to pass along to you, chippa: "You REALLY need to move away from New England!"
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While I somewhat agree with you, if they were to play a game like last night against the Sharks or Caps, I'd say they'd be a strong Cup favorite. However, I don't think they have enough offense to be considered among the favorites. On the other hand, they're 7-2-1 over their last ten games, so it's fair to think that they've turned their season around and should be considered at least a contender.
The way I look at it is if they had continued to play like they had at the start of the season, they probably would have held onto all their picks. But if they're still playing this way in February -- strong defense but anemic offense -- it won't surprise me if they trade their first rounder for a scorer.
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Solid game by the B's tonight, after that shellacking by Montreal. Of course, it would have been nice to get Tuukka his shutout.
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I liked the new pairings on defense last night. Hunwick looked a lot more like he did in last year's playoffs.
Also, I'm starting to like Paille. Good effort on the PK.
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I think you guys will like this one. I was at the Induction Weekend for the HOF, then worked the booth at the Sports Management conference that is held simultaneously. Today, a new group of attendees started going into the next room over, and I realized it was the GM's meeting. Once I realized Chiarelli was being interviewed, I hung out to ask him a quick question.
I asked him, "I was wondering if you brought a voodoo doll to stick the Toronto players while you're here, because we need them to lose the next 60 games."
Let's just say that brightened his afternoon......
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That was last year's Tim Thomas in the net last night. He's played better the past three games, which is obviously cause for optimism, but there still are too many times when the B's seem to be skating complacently. Overall, they've been out-skated by their opponents this season, which is noticeably different from last year's team.
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Yes, it could be post-trade jump, but he scored 12 goals last year and 19 the year before that. I've read they think of him as a strong defensive player, so if he reaches double digits in goals, I think they would be ecstatic.
Bruins 2009-2010
in NHL Discussions
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They outshot the Habs 47-25, including 7 to 10 pointblank shots. Rask had no chance on the first goal, although he possibly misplayed the second goal. That's hard to say, however, because it's a leap of faith of which way to look when the goalie is being screened. Rask leaned right, while the shot went to his left.
The point I'm making is everything gets magnified during a losing streak. If they were in the midst of a .600 run, you be referring to last night as a tough loss because Halak was unreal. Instead it's, "Is anyone even trying??????"
The truth is a lot of their players would be above average complementary players for a team with pure goal scorers; without the pure scorers, they have to rely on their goalies being stone walls.