2011-2012 Boston Bruins (Offseason)

[BDL]

Ok... I'm officially worried now. Not only are the Bruins 2-4-0=4, But now 15% of the team is getting ejected? Including the coach (which the refs say later they repealed, but that doesn't help). But there are other issues too. There are only 2 B's that have more the 1 goal (2nd liners Peverley and Marchand). Our defensman with the most pts (3) is also a -3. The refs and linesmen seem to have the whistle ready at the slightest contact (like every opposing player is a QB in the NFL). And the power play is as anemic as a swimsuit model before the Sports Illustrated photo shoot.

Tonight, the Bruins face (and it kills me to say it) the Northeast div. leading Toronto Maple Leafs. Kessel (booooooooooo!) and Lupul are practically scoring at will. Reimer is making Thomas-esque saves. And Phaneuf is playing like it's 5 yrs ago. The only positive here, is that the 4 players I just mentioned are the only Leafs that have any stats on the team.

But, the B's have acknowledged their short comings. They are started to shuffle the lines. I'm not sure that i agree with how, but no one ever paid me to coach an NHL team either. They gotta get something done. I had so much hope when they spanked the Bolts. Now, they have 10 G's in 6 games and have let up 13.

I hope the can find the right line combos and tandems.

As for this previous posting... Yeah... You can forget about it. Watching the game last night was like if Claude Julien was at home scanning the disboards found this posting and used it as bulleting board material and said (in his French Canadian accent) "Take that BDL!". I assure Claude, I am a huge fan of the B's. Season ticket holder in fact.

But seriously, The Bruins last night took that whole first paragraph and flipped it on it's ear. Starting off the game 2 for 2 on the PP. After last night, there are now 5 Bruins with multiple goals (4 Bruins had 3pts each last night). And now our lead scoring D-man is a +1.

The Bruins played tough without having to fight every time. Granted Shawn Thonton had a good tet a tet with Colton Orr, but the rest was good hard nosed hockey. Just ask Mikhail Grabovski.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNRSHUc8fDU

Though seeing Grabovski play is amazing to watch. He does have speed and great puck handling skills.

Now, before the nay sayers chime in "Well, that was the Leafs backup in net." True. But the Leafs made the call to put him in there for their first away game this year, against a team that HAD TO get back on the rails. And they have another such game on Saturday against the Habs (Ole').

In closing, I have 2 points to make.

1) How awesome was the 18,000 people "Thank you Kessel" chant after Seguin's goal?

2) Marchand's puck handling skills are really great to watch. I think 1 of the callers into Gresh & Zolak on 98.5 this morning put it best. "He's like the red neck kid from the Mighty Ducks". I laughed out loud in my office when I heard that . Dwayne, you got competition now.

Let's just hope last night carries over to the SJ game tomorrow.

 

[BDL]

Thank you all for following the thread for 1000 views. Hopefully, The next 1000 views will be more positive. Also, congratulations to former Bruin Joe Thornton on 1000 NHL games too. I have boo'd him like many other B's fans, in the past, but it was nice of the ENTIRE Garden to give him a standing ovation with that announcement and the montage of his drafting and highlights from his Boston career.

Back to the Bruins thread, and I am sorry that I don't have a more uplifting post for your Monday morning.

A quick question for everyone... Who, in the world, taught the San Jose Sharks to play defense? Oh, that's right... The Bruins. I should've seen this coming with all the off-season moves that the Sharks made after the B's showed the Western Conference how to beat the Canucks. Why else trade a rising star like Devin Setagucci for a defenseman whose best career stat is his +/-. You bring him in to mentor the D's. And he must've done a heck of a job in the pre-season. It seemed like the Sharks were getting a stick, skate or knee pad on at least 30% of the B's shots. And Niemi showed the flash that helped Chicago on the way to their Stanley Cup 2yrs ago. In the 1st period, he was all over the place. Stopping volley after volley of Bruins shots, that did make it through. Turning away rebounds and 2nd and 3rd opportunities. It was impressive.

Timmy on the other hand, did not have his best night. He didn't have a bad night, but he also did not get a lot of help on SJ's 1st 2 goals. Both were in a break away fashion. Either 1 on 0 or 2 on 1. I think the loss of McQuaid is hurting the B's more than they are letting on. The lone brights spots of the night happened 29 sec apart. Lucic and Seguin banged home goals to tie the game up. Unfortunately, the hope was short-lived. 5 min later, the Sharks re-took the lead for good.

As for the fan experience, I haven't been to the Garden for Saturday game in a while. And it is a totally different crowd than on the weeknights. Not necessarily bad (aka full of pink hats), but it was definitely more of a date night and/or family crowd. It was cool watching parents teaching their kids about the nuances about the game. And seeing men and women explaining to their significant others about icing. Isn't it amazing that kids have a better grasp of hockey than grown-ups that catch on late?

Coming up later this week... A "Home and Home" series against the Habs. This will be a huge series for both teams. As history shows us, if you are not in the top eight by Nov. 1st, it is almost impossible to make the playoffs. The B's are 2pts out and the Habs are 4pts out (but have a game in hand right now). Should be an interesting week.

 

[BDL]

Here it is...

The biggest weekend of the season so far. The 3 day stretch that has every bus station between Boston and Montreal having sold out busses. The weekend where Boston guys ask each other "Do you have any priors?" before their road trip to Montreal. No one wants to get to the border and then turned away (of course my buddies left 1 guy at the border and still caught the game). This is the time when the "Ole'" chant or singing "Dirty Water" is that much sweeter.

I'm talking, of course, about a B's/Habs home and home series.

As I said in a previous post, this is the last push these teams have before the dreaded Nov. 1st top 8 cut off. But more importantly, for Hab fans, this could be the last chance that Martin has to save his job (read puck daddy here http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/pu...=AheMbc6gdCP3obR6XSSPnKp7vLYF?urn=nhl-wp15705 ) .

32 1/2 hrs to go people.

 

[mommasita]

 

[Bay Hill]

What a great game.

Boston in last place in the East.

 

[BDL]

You know, Disboards should really expand their emoticons. This morning I need a "sobbing openly, ripping my hair out, cursing a blue streak" emoticon. That game was rough to watch last night. In the 1st period alone there were 3-5 blown scoring opportunites, either with an open net, Price out of position or with a forward out of position to not bang home the rebound (insert "sobbing openly, ripping my hair out, cursing a blue streak" emoticon here) . Then the rest of the game the B's were shooting like they get bonus points for hitting the C on Price's sweater (insert "sobbing openly, ripping my hair out, cursing a blue streak" emoticon here).

The only highlights from my point of view were tha fact that I got to see Plekanec have a multi-goal game (1 for the Habs, 1 for the B's) and finally saw Subban drop the gloves. It was actually quite refreshing seeing him fight someone........... who is 30 lbs less than him.

Round 2 tomorrow night.

Let's go B's!!!

 

[declansdad]

Woohoo! Round 1 to the Habs.

 

[mommasita]

You know, Disboards should really expand their emoticons. This morning I need a "sobbing openly, ripping my hair out, cursing a blue streak" emoticon. That game was rough to watch last night. In the 1st period alone there were 3-5 blown scoring opportunites, either with an open net, Price out of position or with a forward out of position to not bang home the rebound (insert "sobbing openly, ripping my hair out, cursing a blue streak" emoticon here) . Then the rest of the game the B's were shooting like they get bonus points for hitting the C on Price's sweater (insert "sobbing openly, ripping my hair out, cursing a blue streak" emoticon here).

The only highlights from my point of view were tha fact that I got to see Plekanec have a multi-goal game (1 for the Habs, 1 for the B's) and finally saw Subban drop the gloves. It was actually quite refreshing seeing him fight someone........... who is 30 lbs less than him.

Round 2 tomorrow night.

Let's go B's!!!

Yeah, it must have been frustrating. I agree for the most part. You know Subban and Marchand are actually friends. They played junior together, and hang around each other still. I'm not sure it was than frustration really.

 

[Bay Hill]

>>You know Subban and Marchand are actually friends<<

PK said to Marchand....nice tattoo.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Brad-Marchand-confirms-his-Stanley-Cup-tattoo-wa?urn=nhl-wp13420

 

[mommasita]

2 thumbs for the SWEEPPPPPPPP!!

 

[declansdad]

Here is the problem, Marchand thinks he is Prince Charming and Chara is a big, pink bunny.

 

[mommasita]

Here is the problem, Marchand thinks he is Prince Charming and Chara is a big, pink bunny.

They showed this at the game last night

The game, BTW, was a great game to attend. For one of the first times, I am not quite sure who had more fans.

 

[BDL]

Sorry for my late response. I wasn't ducking you Habs fans. It's just that the B's play in those 2 game made me ill. Actually, it was the flu that made me ill, but the Bruins didn't help.

Also, the fact that the TV went black, because of the snow taking out the power, just as Thornton landed his 1st punch sent me through the roof. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

From then on in, I only get text notifications. The only silver lining (more like bronze lining) is that Seguin is keeping his scoring spree going. I'm so glad I picked him up as a FA on my fantasy team after our draft.

Here is the problem, Marchand thinks he is Prince Charming and Chara is a big, pink bunny.

And here's 1 for everyone to get a chuckle at. Yes, Chara does look like Ralphie on Christmas morning. But wait Marchand's costume, that locker room has started calling him Brad Marchingband.

Let's hope that tonight's Ottawa game can turn things around.

 

[BDL]

They showed this at the game last night

The game, BTW, was a great game to attend. For one of the first times, I am not quite sure who had more fans.

I find that shocking. 2-3 yrs ago, I used to say the same thing at the Garden.

 

[BDL]

FINALLY!!!!

A mostly positive post (YAY!!! ).

On Tuesday we got to see what the Bruins can do with a full 60 minute effort. The passing, the shooting, the hitting, the face-offs, the break aways and the clean line changes. It was all there. From the coach to the 4th line (btw, how awesome was that pass from Thornton to Paille?). There were 12 Bruins with points. But what the stat sheet doesn't tell you is the little things. Like how Peverly took the grand tour of the offensive zone before setting up Kelly for the one-timer. Lucic screening Anderson to help Boychuk's blast get through. Seguin making the subtlest of movement to clear the passing lane to feed Bergeron. All of those people had at least 1pt that night. Then there's Jordan Caron who did not make the stat sheet but did all the little things like going in the corners, clearing the lanes and screening the goalie. It's just rough that we have to wait til Saturday to see if they can build on it.

Last night was the season ticket holder meet and greet. 2hrs of waiting in the cold and we finally got through. Even though a majority of the people that attended (myself included) thought that the way the Bruins management handled the event AWFULLY, it was still nice to see the players and have them sign autographs for the fans. We were at the EAST ENTRANCE. On our side, we had Caron, Bergeron, Ferrence, Kelly, Peverley, Marchand, Thomas and McQuaid (Mcquaid and Ferrence were sporting stitches and facial contusions). I don't know who was on the WEST ENTRANCE side. If anyone else went through that line, please let me know. Or if you attended the event, what did you think?

Well, starting Saturday, the B's have 11 games in 22 days. Should be interesting.

 

[Ryan1989]

It was nice to see the Bruins actually score for a change the other night! I heard Patrice Bergeron on the radio after the win say they are playing a lot harder now because the players know their jobs are at stake if they dont start winning! They gotta keep the goals coming!!!!

 

[BDL]

THANK YOU KESSEL (clap... clap... clap clap clap)!

THANK YOU KESSEL (clap... clap... clap clap clap)!

THANK YOU KESSEL (clap... clap... clap clap clap)!

Incredible game by 2nd yr Tyler Seguin. Some people like either the first or the third goal best, for their pin point accuracy. But for me, I like the second goal and how he "doink"ed it over the goalie. Granted there was little the goalie could do, and it was also partially luck that it went in, but it was still great to see.

Besides, Seguin, the whole team stepped up. In back to back wins, there were double digit Bruins with points (3 of them with 3 pts each). Krecji and Lucic seemed to wake up this game. And once again, the 4th line appears on the scoring sheet. But the fact that they were scoring, is only half the story. The other half is that three of the times the B's scored, within 30 sec, they scored again each time. I thought Jack's head was gonna explode the 2nd time this happened. When it happened the 3rd time, he and Brick were just laughing at how out of hand the game was getting.

Not to be over-shadowed, Timmy stone walled the division leading Leafs. No matter how many passes they made, Thomas was always right there. Whether he was propped and ready or had to recover at the last nano-second.

Tonight is the hot and cold NY Islanders. A young team that can score on anyone and from any where. Their major weaknesses are D-men that will not get in front of shots and a revolving carousel at goalie.

How's that Di Pietro contract looking now?

Well, let's hope that the B's can win tonight. In the immortal words of coach Lou Brown:

"We won a game yesterday. We win today, that's 2 in a row. We win one tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It HAS happened."

 

[Ryan1989]

Another great win by the B's!
The offense just exploded again tonight as they finally gave Tuukka some support. Great to see Seguin continue his scoring and to see Horton finally have a good game. Lets hope he keeps the goals coming!
3 in a row! Lets make it 4 in a row Thursday against the Oilers!

 

[BDL]

See it with me people...

WINNING STREAK

Yes!!!!

3rd straight WIN

3rd straight game with at least 10 Bruins with at least 1 pt

3rd straight games with at least 1 goal for Lucic

7th straight game for Bergeron with a point

I'm not 100% ready to forgive the October that they had, but the last 3 games have come close. The hat trick by Seguin. The awakening of Krejci. And the fact that Lucic is throwing his weight around again instead of being a finesse player.

I only had 2 problems with Monday's game.

1) Could someone... ANYONE please tell or show Tuukka how to raise his left shoulder? I know that 1 of the goals was a fluke deflection. But I think word is out around the league that Tuuk is weak high glove side.

2) I was denied a moment. A moment I have been waiting months for. A moment that I have been waiting patiently for since July 1st. I wanted to hear the most outlandish of Edwards-isms when Pouliot (who during the playoffs Jack called the biggest waste of talent in NHL history) scored his 1st goal as a Bruin. Instead, I got the kind of commentary I'd expect from an empty net goal in a division III college hockey game. I was robbed!

Enough of the Bruins. I have a bone to pick with ESPN. How do you justify that your flagship show (SportsCenter) offers practically the same amount of coverage for 1 exhibition basketball game featuring some locked out NBA'ers as you do for ALL of the high powered NHL games last night? Priorities people.

To leave on an upnote, the Habs lost last night. So even though the B's and Habs have the same points total, the B's are ahead on percentage points.

Take THAT!!! declansdad!

 

[BDL]

4 in a row. Back to .500. The top 6 forwards are playing like top 6 forwards. The D's are putting the puck on net either for a slap shot or deflection (see Joe Corvo). Chara made Hall look like a bug on a windshield. And the B's have outscored their opponents 24-8 in the past 4 games. Edwards is losing his mind. When he was shouting "He's so hot he's SMOKING!!!" after Seguin's goal all I could picture was Jim Carey in The Mask.

But there are some things to be worried about. Do the Bruins have enough help on the farm to step in for Ferrence and Paille, for however long they might be out?

And I put it to you Bruins fans... Even though we'll be facing Pominville, Vanek and the always dangerous Ryan Miller, is it too early to start trash talking about other teams? I have combed the disboards to find threads dedicated to any other team and couldn't find any, so that I could brag about my beloved Bruins. I feel wronged ever since the Habs won that home and home series and I couldn't say anything to their fans but "Yep. You're right."