Boston Bruins: 2016-17

[Jason Harris 31]

If Marchand has a bout of muscle memory and gets suspended this year, I'm going to be pissed!

Excellent game by that line.

[crazyhick 19]

That line was unreal last night. What are they going to do when Bergeron comes back?

Tuukka looked real shaky early on, but settled in. Carlo and O'Gara looked ok, just a bit nervous, but they could easily push out K miller and Mcquaid if they keep on improving

[chippa13 1844]

They're going to put Backes or Pastrnak up with Krejci and balance things out. We already know that Bergeron/Marchand works against even the world's best. One quality game doesn't change that.

[chippa13 1844]

15 hours ago, Jason Harris said:

If Marchand has a bout of muscle memory and gets suspended this year, I'm going to be pissed!

Excellent game by that line.

I wouldn't bet the mortgage on it not happening.

[Steve_v3 289]

Good Start, hopefully Sweeney can add a legit top pairing defensemen (I know, not easy) this season.

I like having the two rookie defencemen in the lineup. They will make some mistakes, but is that really any worse than McQuaid and K Miller?

 

[adam14 182]

I honestly don't think there's worse value on the blueline than Mcquaid. 

[chippa13 1844]

I hate watching games like Saturday night where you can just see they don't have a chance of winning.

[chippa13 1844]

They did it backwards. It is always supposed to be the bad win followed up by a bad loss and not the other way around.

[chippa13 1844]

Ok, this whole lackluster performance against the Habs at home thing has to stop.

[start_today 770]

Rask's mediocre season last year and injury problems this year make me wish the Bruins could somehow land a young, quality goaltender with a relatively cheap contract like Martin Jones. San Jose is really lucky to have him just fall in their lap. 

[chippa13 1844]

Rask's contract makes it hard to have a young, NHL ready guy waiting in the wings. Unless he comes back and plays phenomenal there is no way the Bruins will get out from under his deal.

I think we can officially call it quits on the Malcolm Subban experiment. Athleticism with zero crease awareness doesn't cut it in the NHL and doesn't appear to be even cutting it in the AHL.

[Jason Harris 31]

I think the B's reading of the tea leaves has gone too far to the "smaller, quicker, more skilled NHL," because they now have too many Smurfs.

If you're small and skilled, you'd better also be tough and sturdy, and be willing to use it. Compare Marchand versus Spooner.

[Jason Harris 31]

Interesting quote from Claude, because the fact that it's public suggests he's talking to upper management as much as us.

"....speed is always a big part of it. Skill is always a big part of it. But you can’t overlook size. If you’re looking for just speed and all small players, I don’t think that makes it through this league. It’s too much of a grind to expect to win with too many small players. Do small players have their place? Absolutely. If they’re surrounded well, they have their place in it.”

I think a lot of people today confuse a desire for size with a desire for fighting, but it's not at all that. I just think bigger teams wear down smaller teams over the course of a game. Unless of course it's the B's against Montreal......

[Kgbeast 195]

You making it sound as if they stacked with Johnny Gaudreau size guys. They are pretty hefty cornfed boys there, I'd say, on par with most other teams. Winnipeg Jets are pretty beefy team, but their standing has been towards the bottom in their division all season long.

[chippa13 1844]

Not sure where you're seeing all this beef on the Bruins forward lines. The only real size they've got is Backes, Hayes (spends more time on his chest than his skates), Beleskey (plays bigger than he is) and Schaller.

[Jason Harris 31]

It took me a while to find this again, but it's not my imagination — some guy is tracking it. The Bruins are the sixth lightest team and eighth tallest. 

http://mirtle.blogspot.ca/2016/10/2016-17-nhl-teams-by-height-weight-and.html

[Kgbeast 195]

So if we to believe this chart,

Blackhawks is basically the lightest team and is currently 2nd in their division and has been performing pretty good for last 2 months. Avalanche is one of the heaviest teams and it has been no cigar for them this season, last in the league actually and not by a game or two.

But on more serious note, based on that table weight or size contribute probably as much as the brand of sticks they use. I can hear the "but if they had Andrey the giant on the blue line..." conversation or whatever, I can also see on progress of my own NHL team, not going to say the name in order to avoid rolling-up eyes. They started struggling for a couple of games, then they kicked the league ass for 2 month, then now they suck as much as Boston. They did not loose size, nor did they loose any skills, what they gained and then lost, and hopefully on the road to regaining, is team chemistry and believe that they are better of as a team than a group of individuals. IMO It is a trade deadline approaching and budget streamlining time for promising picks. So in a way every man is for themselves. If it is not my day today, I do not need to help it to be someone else's. If i feel like i can not do anything for my team tonight, i still need my minutes. Even mighty Penguins and Canadiens are showing a little bit of "ah, f*ck it" attitude here and there.

 

[Jason Harris 31]

What Julien was saying, and what I've been saying, is the pounding wears down everyone, particularly smaller players. So if your smaller players are average to slightly above average i skills, and they lack fight — see Spooner — they come and go throughout the season; if they have superlative skills, they generally can produce more consistently, although I wouldn't suggest a whole team of smaller guys.

It's no different than lineman in football. If they lack weight, they'd better be outstanding athletes; otherwise, they'll get pushed around.

[chippa13 1844]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Czarnik take over Spooner's spot after this season.

[the_game 452]

bye claude

[chippa13 1844]

They love doing these kind of things when they're buried behind some other big Boston sports event.

[Jason Harris 31]

I've often felt Claude's system is too predictable, but I think he's the scapegoat for this. The roster has too many holes.

Worse, they had the chance last year to trade Eriksson for futures, then use those and the other draft picks to replenish the system; instead, they traded for nobodies and diminished the haul from the previous summer.

[chippa13 1844]

2 hours ago, Jason Harris said:

I've often felt Claude's system is too predictable, but I think he's the scapegoat for this. The roster has too many holes.

Worse, they had the chance last year to trade Eriksson for futures, then use those and the other draft picks to replenish the system; instead, they traded for nobodies and diminished the haul from the previous summer.

I thought it was foolish to not wheel Eriksson at the deadline last season. They weren't going anywhere even if they did make the playoffs.

[stick9 890]

12 minutes ago, chippa13 said:

I thought it was foolish to not wheel Eriksson at the deadline last season. They weren't going anywhere even if they did make the playoffs.

One of the dumber things they've done, and that's saying something cuz their is plenty to choose from.

The ineptitude over there is tiring.

[the_game 452]

They need to clean house, Neely included. I never thought sweeney was a good choice and he proved it today if you listened/watched his press conference.