That idea is probably a relic of old Bruin teams that were filled with defensemen who could only gasp in despair whenever a Hab waltzed around them with shocking ease. B's are a lot more mobile now. Of course there are still plenty of ways to lose.Greg29fan said:I didn't really see this supposed speed advantage Montreal has tonight; the Bruins had great puck possession all night.
I thoght that, too. The irony is that it was the lack of size from Bartkowski that killed them.Greg29fan said:I didn't really see this supposed speed advantage Montreal has tonight; the Bruins had great puck possession all night. It looked like the old opportunistic Canadiens, though. The other team dominates play for long stretches but they get one power play or one good shift and bury it. I saw enough of that in 2010.
Yeah, and their other speedy defenseman, Krug, had a couple of key turnovers, one of which led directly to a goal.Ed Hillel said:I thoght that, too. The irony is that it was the lack of size from Bartkowski that killed them.
Smiling Joe Hesketh said:Yeah, and their other speedy defenseman, Krug, had a couple of key turnovers, one of which led directly to a goal.
My initial reaction on that play was that Boychuk needed to make a better pass. He was not under any type of distress (exiting the zone) prior to the cross-ice feed, and the puck ultimately ended up in Krug's skates.Smiling Joe Hesketh said:Yeah, and their other speedy defenseman, Krug, had a couple of key turnovers, one of which led directly to a goal.
Plus he has turned the PP from mediocre to below average to one of the tops in the league. That's not an easy thing to achieve when the only personnel changes were essentially Iginla for Horton and putting Chara in front.Dummy Hoy said:He just turned 23 with just over a years experience in the NHL. He's an offensive force and shows a ton of potential towards being a top 4 puck moving defenseman. He'll never be a shutdown guy, but that doesn't mean you get rid of him because he has a rough game. Keep the reactionary BS to the game threads.
Dummy Hoy said:He just turned 23 with just over a years experience in the NHL. He's an offensive force and shows a ton of potential towards being a top 4 puck moving defenseman. He'll never be a shutdown guy, but that doesn't mean you get rid of him because he has a rough game. Keep the reactionary BS to the game threads.
Plus he has turned the PP from mediocre to below average to one of the tops in the league. That's not an easy thing to achieve when the only personnel changes were essentially Iginla for Horton and putting Chara in front.
Krug's very effective when deployed properly which Julien does. His even strength Corsi and Fenwick numbers are at about 55% which are excellent, but he does play very sheltered minutes. 65% o-zone start is 2nd on the whole team behind just Thornton (closest Dman is Hamiltom at 51%), and Krug also faces the weakest opposition from the other team. Things happen when you get into overtime. Julien gave him a little more rope than usual last night in hopes of getting a goal in the 3rd and OT, and I have no problem with it. I thought Krug played pretty well overall. The downside to him is that as much as he can battle, he lacks size and it can be an issue when they get hemmed in, like the Bouillon goal.
Ed Hillel said:
Please, this isn't reactionary. He's had defensive lapses all year, especially in his own zone, and he'll never have the size to compete down low. He's young, so there's room for improvement with his decision-making, but I don't think there's going to be any point where he's actually top 6 defensive D-man in this organization. He's going to have to make up for that with his offense, which he may well do, but I'm not really sure he offers enough to offset what a plus defeseman with size and average puck-moving skills can offer. Especially given that they already have some D-men that can add to the offense and the powerplay. I'm not really sure that I'd take someone with his skill set over another Miller, for example. If they went that direction I wouldn't be all that upset and, as I said, if they kept him at a reasonable deal I wouldn't be all that upset either. I just think he gets a bit overrated because he's fun to watch and extremely likeable.
Don't overlook Hamilton. He offers a lot of what Krug can offer on the power play, although having them both is certainly a plus in the PP department.
That's kind of the problem, though. If there was one extra slot on the roster, Krug would be an absolutely perfect fit. The problem is that he does have to be sheletered because of his defensive issues, which wears on the rest of the team. I'm just struggling to grasp the overall net worth of the guy. He's obviously a PP stud, but he's almost like a 13th forward, and the D is playing short-handed. When you have a Chara and a Seidenberg on the roster, I'm not sure you can afford to have one of your young D-men lacking size and playing limited minutes on D. I wonder if there's any chance the kid could be converted to a forward, or if it's just too late at this point in his career.
Ed Hillel said:
Please, this isn't reactionary. He's had defensive lapses all year, especially in his own zone, and he'll never have the size to compete down low. He's young, so there's room for improvement with his decision-making, but I don't think there's going to be any point where he's actually top 6 defensive D-man in this organization. He's going to have to make up for that with his offense, which he may well do, but I'm not really sure he offers enough to offset what a plus defeseman with size and average puck-moving skills can offer. Especially given that they already have some D-men that can add to the offense and the powerplay. I'm not really sure that I'd take someone with his skill set over another Miller, for example. If they went that direction I wouldn't be all that upset and, as I said, if they kept him at a reasonable deal I wouldn't be all that upset either. I just think he gets a bit overrated because he's fun to watch and extremely likeable.
Don't overlook Hamilton. He offers a lot of what Krug can offer on the power play, although having them both is certainly a plus in the PP department.
That's kind of the problem, though. If there was one extra slot on the roster, Krug would be an absolutely perfect fit. The problem is that he does have to be sheletered because of his defensive issues, which wears on the rest of the team. I'm just struggling to grasp the overall net worth of the guy. He's obviously a PP stud, but he's almost like a 13th forward, and the D is playing short-handed. When you have a Chara and a Seidenberg on the roster, I'm not sure you can afford to have one of your young D-men lacking size and playing limited minutes on D. I wonder if there's any chance the kid could be converted to a forward, or if it's just too late at this point in his career.
Yes.Ed Hillel said:It's quite possible I am underestimating what he brings to the table offensively and how much that offsets his issues defensively.
TheShynessClinic said:Yes.
Sorry if I didn't look around enough, but is there really not a single post about the volume of racist tweets sent subban's way? I'm honestly having trouble today caring about this series knowing there are so many ignorant Bruins fans still. I know those assholes don't represent everyone but it still turns me off an incredible amount. Like, I care more that those Fucking idiots are unhappy more than I want myself to be happy.
Yup. There are idiots and racists in every fan base. St. Louis being a recent example. The BestFansinBaseball twitter account had tons of racist shit directed at Red Sox and Cardinals players alike.Ed Hillel said:
It's bad, but that's Twitter. I think you'll find a bunch of idiots for every fanbase if you really looked hard enough to care. It fits with Boston because of the past issues, so it remains a media focus, but if you even look at a city like St. Louis and they had a bunch of fans spouting racist insults when Wong got picked off. I don't run around searching Twitter, but I suspect it happens more than you'd want to know.
There are undersized defensemen who have good NHL careers (and would not even be thought of as "offense-only" players). Don Sweeney. Brian Rafalaki. Andrew Ference. Just to name a few.Ed Hillel said:You guys are probably right, and there's no question the guy is a great offensive player, but I don't have much confidence in the guy developing too much defensively because he doesn't have the physical tools that most NHL defensemen have, so I don't think you can compare him to Chara, Boychuck, etc. He's never going to have the size, he's never going to have the length, so he's going to have to rely on his speed and he's going to lose a ton of puck battles and get shoved around in front of the net (which is what I was referencing moreso than turnovers). I don't think any of that is ever going to change. It's quite possible I am underestimating what he brings to the table offensively and how much that offsets his issues defensively.
You're rooting against the Bruins because a tiny minority of fans are assholes? Will you be rooting against Montreal as well then? Every team south of the Mason-Dixon Line? Every team? Every fan base has racist assholes, just because some of them have twitter accounts shouldn't require you to plunge your sword of forgiveness into your stomach as some sort of penance because these assholes happen to be Bruins fans.smastroyin said:Sorry if I didn't look around enough, but is there really not a single post about the volume of racist tweets sent subban's way? I'm honestly having trouble today caring about this series knowing there are so many ignorant Bruins fans still. I know those assholes don't represent everyone but it still turns me off an incredible amount. Like, I care more that those Fucking idiots are unhappy more than I want myself to be happy.
kenneycb said:I remember this coming to light two years ago after the Joel Ward goal. Of course those sand stories weren't as widely reported when DC had a similar reaction to a Joel Ward penalty against the Rags (high stick in OT IIRC) led to a GWG. It just fits the national narrative of "Boston's still racist" too easily. It pops up every couple of years and gets idiots like my brother to buy into it and make snide comments about Malcom Subban ever being accepted by the city.
Now about Tyler Seg... Nah, I'll quit while I'm ahead.The Four Peters said:I agree with every word EJ posted. Kumbaya!
TheRealness said:You're rooting against the Bruins because a tiny minority of fans are assholes? Will you be rooting against Montreal as well then? Every team south of the Mason-Dixon Line? Every team? Every fan base has racist assholes, just because some of them have twitter accounts shouldn't require you to plunge your sword of forgiveness into your stomach as some sort of penance because these assholes happen to be Bruins fans.
drleather2001 said:Out of curiosity, what are those reasons?
He's a diver, kind of dirty, chirpy. And its kind of frustrating to me as a hockey fan because he's a pretty amazing player and I want to like him...I hope he outgrows some of that stuff. Plenty of time, he's a young player.drleather2001 said:Out of curiosity, what are those reasons?
This is exactly how I feel about him. He is a really talented player, but resorts to so much of the crap that you see fringe players resort to in order to get things to go his way. It's the same reason I can't stand Sydney Crosby... these guys don't have to pull this shit to be awesome, and yet they keep doing it, and it is aggravating as hell.MoGator71 said:He's a diver, kind of dirty, chirpy. And its kind of frustrating to me as a hockey fan because he's a pretty amazing player and I want to like him...I hope he outgrows some of that stuff. Plenty of time, he's a young player.
I'd love him on the Flyers.
MoGator71 said:Fair point about Sid, and to his credit he's really toned down a lot of the stuff that made him a pretty unlikeable player. He will still embellish some, and he complains a bit still, but as annoying as that stuff is at the heart of it he's just trying to gain an edge and win games. And he's not nearly the worst offender in the league.
Christ, I just defended Sidney Crosby, shame on me.
As for PK, I wonder how much shit he's had to put up with as a black player in a largely white sport. He seems to play with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
Wait, did Darren Pang actually SAY that?Spacemans Bong said:
PK is very special, and he's really the first black player who plays hockey like he learned it at Rucker Park instead of small-town Ontario. I also get the sense he doesn't much care for people less talented than him (which is, like, everybody) telling him how to play the game. That's going to rub people the wrong way, especially those who think people with his skin color should know their place. Play the white way, as Darren Pang said.
MoGator71 said:Wait, did Darren Pang actually SAY that?
He was a disaster out there for most of the game, for sure. But he did come to life briefly, and critically, in the third.Stitch01 said:If Marchand is sick or hurt a game off isn't a bad idea IMO. If it's just a slump its one thing, but he was awful again