Boston Bruins: 2011-2012

[Steve_v3 289]

The refs let the game get out of control. No clue why they would eject Marchand. Could have been a good game if they were able to play the last 8 minutes.

At the end of a scrum he gave someone a little jab to the face. Unfortunately he did right in front of the ref.

The only penalty at the end I agreed with was the one on Siedenberg. Chara turned around & his hands ran into Skinner. What is he supposed to do if the opposing player is have his size??

[Joshison 1]

Since when do you get thrown out of a game for giving someone a jab in or after a scrum? If anything a roughing call.

[chippa13 1844]

When you do it at the end of a scrum the odds are that a ref will give you a 10 minute misconduct because then you're just being a $#!t disturber and trying to stir up the mess all over again.

[Jason Harris 31]

That was last year's team tonight. Even ten minutes into it, I was going to say something was off with their spacing, because they just weren't connecting with their passes and were not maintaining pressure in the offensive zone. Then they suddenly started clicking and looked like the team from last year that would hold onto the puck with cycling or pick off passes to keep the puck in the zone.

I have no idea whether the new line combinations were any better, but I think just the fact they were so dramatic lit a fire under certain players, particularly Lucic.

Finally, after the first game, I said Seguin would surprise some people with a breakout season. Now I think he might surprise all of us with 65+ points. Unless he starts to play sloppy defense and loses ice time, there's no reason to think he won't keep this us. I think he has the best hands on the team -- often stealing pucks -- and he's the best passer. This really should turn into "Thank you, Kessel!"

[trevor13478 1]

Good to see Lucic throwing his weight around and really simplifying his game last night. Cam Neely was on the sports hub the other day talking about getting Lucic to go back to his roots and not forget what made him successful in the first place. That north-south power game, using his size and strength to make things happen is when he is at his best, not trying to make finesse plays that just aren't the type of player he is. He needs to remember that he is a bruiser who can score, not a scorer who can bruise.

Also, I think the Kessel booing is asinine and just makes B's fans look ignorant and stupid. Booing Johnny Damon when he comes back to Fenway in pinstripes: ok, I get that. But Kessel got traded, he didn't walk away for more money, he didn't demand a trade. Chiarelli re-upped Krejci and signed other guys and didn't leave cap space for Kessel. Bruins fans are holding a grudge against Phil for not taking a hometown discount on his first real contract when management had clearly shown that their priorities lay elsewhere? Thats just stupid. You should be thanking him for netting Seguin, Knight and Hamilton, 3 of the organizations best prospects. On the broadcast last night either Jack or Brick were saying how it's great that the trade worked out for both sides, the leafs got the league's hottest scorer and the B's got 3 picks to build the future around. Sure, the Bruins could have used Kessel's 30+ goals the past 2 years, but as Neely said when asked if he regretted giving up so much for Kaberle, "we won the cup, so I'm not complaining." Time to move on and wish him the best of luck for his next time, just like when Joe Thornton, Ray Bourque and Bobby Orr left town (not putting Kessel on the level of those guys, and I understand totaly different circumstances on all 3, but just examples, all got traded and they didn't get booed when they came back), it sure seems like Phil has, the way he's started the year. End of rant, just sick of Boston sports fans turning on every single guy that leaves town, regardless of circumstances leading to that departure.

[chippa13 1844]

To be honest, I'm still a little sour about Bourque asking out. The Thornton trade shocked everybody and that was just O'Connell reading one too many of KPD's articles. Orr was stolen from the B's by Eagleson because Eagleson could make more if Orr signed with Chicago. Orr never knew about the Bruins offer which included a stake in ownership (oh, how that could have changed the last 39 years).

[Steve_v3 289]

Also, I think the Kessel booing is asinine and just makes B's fans look ignorant and stupid.

just sick of Boston sports fans turning on every single guy that leaves town, regardless of circumstances leading to that departure.

I couldn't agree more.

On the flip side. What's up with The B's having a little tribute to Thornton during the game. I don't mind mentioning that he played his 1,000 game. But the video tribute? What are they becoming the Red Sox. You win a championship & become all happy with every ex-player. He certainly left on good terms just seems like they went a little overboard.

[chippa13 1844]

Thornton was a fan favorite in Boston and, to be honest, I'm not so sure he left on good terms. He was run out of town by a bitter columnist and a hair-trigger GM. He always speaks highly of the fans, city, and Burns.......not so much about the last management team. They honored a former favorite adopted son and a great accomplishment. My bet, there will be something similar done when Hal Gill comes to town this week. This management group seems to get what it means to treat their players, present and former, right. That is something that can't be said about the Sinden/O'Connell regime where every player was denegrated the moment they stepped out the door and many while there were still Bruins.

[Jason Harris 31]

While I agree the booing is foolish, I understand why the pea brains in the rafters feel like jilted lovers. If I remember correctly, Kessel effectively asked out of Boston. He was a restricted free agent, and I believe the story went somewhere along the lines of: he wanted $5M for his scoring prowess, word got out that they were unhappy with his defense and wanted to pay him around $3.5M to be more in line with Krecji and less with Savard, negotiations became more contentious, and he finally let it be known that he would never re-sign with Boston.

My guess is Kessel was like a lot of young players who were stars at lower levels, where their talent was so much greater that they could be +2 even if they were on the ice for two goals against. They go up a level to where the quality of players is more even and the stakes are so much greater because of the money involved, and they bristle about having to play with a yoke attached. It's even worse under a coach like Julien, because he stresses defense first. However, based on a few snippets from players after the trade, I don't think it was just management pestering him to play defense, so I have a feeling that Kessel was just tired of everyone trying to turn him into someone he wasn't, because he probably felt it was his offensive flash that got him that far.

So it was the word getting out about Kessel not willing to re-sign in Boston that's leading to the drunk skunks booing, because if there's one thing I've noticed about Boston sports fans, they're a bit like the mafia -- nobody gets to leave without permission.

[trevor13478 1]

Hopefully this long break can get these guys playing the way they need to. I thought they had something good going after the Toronto game and they looked pretty good for stretches during the San Jose game but it seems like every time they get into the swing of it, they let up a bad goal or take a penalty or something kills momentum. Also, Claude has apparently canceled tomorrows practice and Chiarelli has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow night. Don't know what any of that means but it could be an announcement about Krejci's extension or something of that ilk.The canceled practice seems odd though, who knows

[chippa13 1844]

The cancelled practice is probably just taking advantage of a break in the schedule to get a rest day in. There aren't too many times during the season when you can fit in a day off. Could the press conference possibly be about Claude's contract status, is he in the last year of his deal?

[Jason Harris 31]

That probably was a good use of a press conference by Chiarelli, knowing how vampiric the media can be in Boston. It seemed like he wanted to defuse the pressure on the players before it had a chance to become overwhelming, while not denying that the team needs to improve its play.

[Jason Harris 31]

I have to disclose that I wasn't able to start the game until 10:45 last night, so I was drifting in and out of sleep during its second half, but I can't agree with the Globe's assessment that last night's game was finally a well played defensive game on the B's part. Too many bad passes in the defensive zone that are being intercepted, leading to everyone scrambling to get back into position, before finally leading to Timmy and Tuukka looking bad.

They need to tighten up in the D zone.

[Steve_v3 289]

I have to disclose that I wasn't able to start the game until 10:45 last night, so I was drifting in and out of sleep during its second half, but I can't agree with the Globe's assessment that last night's game was finally a well played defensive game on the B's part. Too many bad passes in the defensive zone that are being intercepted, leading to everyone scrambling to get back into position, before finally leading to Timmy and Tuukka looking bad.

They need to tighten up in the D zone.

They certainly controlled the play most of the night. But they also looked very unsure of themselves at times. They looked dreadful on Ottawa's first two goals. When they lose there confidence they tend to revert to forcing plays and committing a lot of turnovers.

If they play like that on Saturday against the Leafs They will probably lose.

[trevor13478 1]

I think the only way that game could be viewed as a step in the right direction for the defense is that all 3 of the Senators' goals were kind of flukey plays, not directly anybody's fault as a result of blown coverage or giveaways. Chara looked terrible in his own end though, the media was praising his 2 assists and that garbage, but I was at the game and he just looked like he was bumbling around in the defensive end and had one or 2 blatant giveaways that he got bailed out on. I wasn't impressed with anyone other than that Seguin-Bergeron-Marchand line, Seguin has really been flying; just crazy the way that kid creates offense. I did notice the overall energy level seems to be getting better through all 4 lines. I will say I didn't even notice Krejci or Horton out there, other than Horton's boarding penalty (stupid). Those guys really need to get going, you can't expect a 19 year old kid to carry this team's offense the whole season regardless of how he's played to start the year.

[Steve_v3 289]

Wow! Where has that been hiding. Other than a few moments in the first they looked very strong tonight. And against one of the hotter teams as of late.

Hopefully this kind of effort will continue.

[Jason Harris 31]

Agreed, but for some reason they seem to be scrambling in the defensive zone more than they did last year. If they can tighten that up, I think there will be plenty of offense to spur a sustained run of winning games.

[Jason Harris 31]

What a difference four games make! I'm not positive, but I think they were last in the league in scoring after ten games. Four games later, they're now third in goals per game. They kept saying that playing better defense and simplifying their game with shorter passes would solve their ills -- and maybe that's true -- but I'm still seeing defensive zone breakdowns compared to last year.

There are two ways of looking at it, but I'll take the optimistic view that this team still isn't playing its best.

[chippa13 1844]

Let's keep in mind who this streak has been against, 2 teams of young upstarts that will have their ups and downs and 2 anticipated cellar dwellars (Isles are already there). What I am pleased about is that they beat teams who fall in the "teams that they should beat" category and they beat them handily. I hope they can keep it rolling because looking at the schedule and standings, the B's should be able to make some serious moves up the standings for the rest of this month.

[jbss71 1]

i agree, there is no reason why they cant go 7-2 the rest of the month. Tuukka seems on the ball, not that it matters if they keep scoring.

[Steve_v3 289]

What's everyone opinion on Lucic's hit on Miller?

I think he should have held back. It looked to me that he followed through on the play to make sure he got him good.

It's one thing to bump him but I think it was a unnecessary play. What was more surprising that there wasn't much of a response from Buffalo.

I figured they would've gone after Lucic or Thomas. Should be interesting when they travel to Buffalo in a couple of weeks.

[Chadd 916]

It should have been more than a minor penalty. And for Buffalo, I don't care if you're going to get your ass kicked, you have to stand up when someone does that to your goalie. Even if you have to be third man in to bail out your teammate for sticking up for the goalie, you do it. It's not about having one meathead on your team to make you tough. It's everyone willing to do what it takes to win and to stand up for each other.

[sharks25 9]

It definitely looked like a dirty hit, especially in slo mo. I definitely think that Buffalo should have done a better job at showing that a play like that is unacceptable.

[Powerfibers 8]

It should have been more than a minor penalty. And for Buffalo, I don't care if you're going to get your ass kicked, you have to stand up when someone does that to your goalie. Even if you have to be third man in to bail out your teammate for sticking up for the goalie, you do it. It's not about having one meathead on your team to make you tough. It's everyone willing to do what it takes to win and to stand up for each other.

Exactly, and when you see that Gaustad was in the ice, it was a huge surprise that he did not just start throwing down. Gerbe was the only one who throughout the game seemed to have a pair. Huge disappointment for my Sabres. Huge win for the Bruins.

[jbss71 1]

2 minutes, 4 would've been okay too. The real issue is buffalo not caring. Try that to a b's goalie and shanahan would be very busy man today.