Boston Bruins: 2013-14

[chippa13 1844]

Stole another game after getting heavily outplayed in the second.

[chippa13 1844]

Does Krug finally enter the rookie of the year conversation?

[Jason Harris 31]

Given I was going to type the same thing, I'd say yes.

He's the only defenseman in the top ten, although I think it would help his cause if his plus-minus improves over the second half. Only Lack would be in the conversation among goalies, but he won't get enough starts with Luongo playing well enough.

[Jason Harris 31]

I know there were still holes defensively that had been tightened up for nearly the month before the break, and there's no way that Claude could be happy with the back-and-forth pace, but that was a fun game to watch yesterday.

[chippa13 1844]

Tuukka saved their bacon last night.

[Jason Harris 31]

I will admit now that I've gone from being against the Seguin trade to becoming torn whether it was a good trade. Seguin just had his second five-point game of the season -- four others have had one -- and he tied the Stars record with his third hat trick of the season. And his plus-minus of 14 is decent for a team that is only plus 5.

Conversely, Eriksson and Smith have combined for just a couple of points more than Seguin, although they'd likely be about 15-20 ahead if Eriksson didn't have the concussions. I have no idea how Fraser or Morrow will work out.

The question is whether Seguin received his wake up call after last year's Finals or after the trade? If he grew up after seeing what Bergeron sacrificed to play, then maybe they'd be better off with him and possibly Spooner on the team. If he needed the shock of the trade to inspire himself to focus better, then I guess I need to admit that Eriksson, Smith and cap room probably will end up being more advantageous for the B's.

[chippa13 1844]

Two of those Seguin games have come against Calgary and Vancouver. When he does it against real NHL goalies and teams not in shambles then maybe I'll miss him. The celebrity status he had in Boston after winning the Cup in his rookie year probably didn't help his effort and maturity. He likely would have floundered if he stayed in Boston.

[start_today 770]

The Stars have a more offensively oriented system, so you can't make a direct comparison. I assume anyone in the Bruins' top 6 would have more points playing on almost any other team.

[Jason Harris 31]

SEVENTH PLAYER AWARD?

To reiterate to the young'ns, the Seventh Player is not for the best player or fan favorite, but for the player who far exceeded expectations, kinda like a 199th draft pick.....

With such a deep core, it's hard for any of the existing players to wow us beyond what we were expecting, while some of the new guys may be playing great but nothing beyond their previous seasons, so I think it comes down to these three players:

Torey Krug: 19th in the league for scoring among defensemen, and fifth in goals, with a decent plus-minus of 13. The thing that hurts him for the SPA is his breakout performance in last year's playoffs.

Carl Soderberg: It seems he's starting to really come on, although his stats actually are fairly consistent month to month. I love his passing, but he's probably playing to what the B's were expecting.

Reilly Smith: His goal scoring has tailed off, but not his effort. Tied for fifth on the team in scoring, I think he's surprised everyone this season except for the guy on Page 1 of this thread who said he wanted to see Smith skating on the second line.....

[mojo122 535]

Could easily go to either to Tory Krug or Reilly Smith. Krug played great in the playoffs last year, but no one really knew how he would fair over a full season. I really didn't know what to expect from Reilly Smith, so currently being one goal shy of twenty for the season, along with being tied for fourth for team scoring and a +/- of +19. he played above expectations for me. For those reasons along with his 2-way play I gave him my vote.

[stick9 892]

The 7th player award has become a popularity contest, which is a shame. If you are voting for players who epitomize what the award is about, I think it has to go to Smith.

My gut says, Iginla gets it. Which wouldn't be a terrible choice, he's doing better than I expected.

[chippa13 1844]

I agree that Smith really fills the bill when it comes to the spirit of the 7th Player award. Krug would be next on my list because there was the flash in the pan question. Could he do it over the course of a full season. My darkhorse is Kevan Miller. I don't think Soderberg should get it because Chiarelli has been telling us for years, "don't worry, when he finally comes over he will be worth the wait."

[crazyhick 19]

my dark horse has been Pallie for a few years now. Always works hard and is a real threat when he is out there. I bet if he put a few more in, he'd be an auto-lock

[Jason Harris 31]

He might have made a nice move to lead to Bergeron's goal tonight, but I'm not yet sold on Meszaros defensively.

[chippa13 1844]

Somebody is going to do something stupid to Subban someday.

[thejackal 46]

Same for lucic or marchand. Some players just get underthe other team's skin with what they do. Comes with the territory

[Jason Harris 31]

Lucic generally just checks players with authority. Marchand and Subban, on the other hand, are surprisingly punkish for two guys who have plenty of skills.

[stick9 892]

Bah, streaks over. Shame it had to come at the hands of the dreaded Habs. Impressive run none the less.

chippa, Subban invites it. I'm surprised it's taken this long.

[goblue9280 33]

I don't really follow the bruins, so excuse my ignorance but is there some sort of history between Lucic and Emelin? I like Chara and Lucic but that looked like a beautiful and clean hip check last night... don't really understand why they felt the need to go after Emelin. The chicken comments to the press by Lucic are rather bizarre, when did dropping the gloves become a requisite of delivering a big hit?

[chippa13 1844]

Nobody likes when guys go low anymore and in Boston folks are extra sensitive to it due to Neely's history. As for Lucic and Emelin, they seem to go at it pretty good because Emelin seems to be matched up with Lucic a bit. He is one of the Habs defensemen who actually has the size and mobility to defend against Lucic.

I don't think Lucic was saying Emelin had to drop the gloves but that Emelin should hit him straight up instead of going low. He knows most opponents, even many guys who fight, are scared to drop with him.

[thejackal 46]

30 minutes later

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/324343/845347396.gif

[chippa13 1844]

Stuff like that happens all the time, just that when it usually happens the victim doesn't curl up in a heap.

[Larry54 243]

Nobody likes when guys go low anymore and in Boston folks are extra sensitive to it due to Neely's history. As for Lucic and Emelin, they seem to go at it pretty good because Emelin seems to be matched up with Lucic a bit. He is one of the Habs defensemen who actually has the size and mobility to defend against Lucic.

I don't think Lucic was saying Emelin had to drop the gloves but that Emelin should hit him straight up instead of going low. He knows most opponents, even many guys who fight, are scared to drop with him.

Low would be in the knees. This definitely was not. It was a beautiful classic legal hip check. Lucic was just humiliated and had to find something wrong with it to save face, especially to "justify" spearing Emelin in the nuts afterward.

[chippa13 1844]

Really? That is what we're calling a spear now?

[fcalog 58]

Really? That is what we're calling a spear now?

How would you define it?