Game 5 - Bruins v. Blues

j44thor

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Aug 1, 2006
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How does Mike Rupp have a fucking job. He is a complete embarrassment. He really just said he thinks Gryz could have played tonight but Cassidy chose Chara instead.
Gryz isn't out of the concussion protocol you neanderthalic fuck.
 

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
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How does Mike Rupp have a fucking job. He is a complete embarrassment. He really just said he thinks Gryz could have played tonight but Cassidy chose Chara instead.
Gryz isn't out of the concussion protocol you neanderthalic fuck.
Yeah Bruce literally said he was not medically cleared to play. Rupp has taken too many hits to the head.
 

lars10

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Jul 31, 2007
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Hilarious considering he was pleading his case with the referee as he thought he was going to the box.

'he was down' and 'yeah we'll take it' are two things that someone who got away with something and knows it would say.

edit: he literally stopped skating and put his hands up expecting the call.. and also on replay it showed he not only went through both legs with the stick but also stuck out his knee. This Blues team has the Dwayne Wade..who me? look down.
 

kenneycb

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Dec 2, 2006
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I love statements that merely restate what happened without making a value judgment. ‘The official didn’t call it a penalty because he didnt see evidence of a penalty.’

I guess it’s better than ‘he had money on the game’ or ‘he didn’t feel like calling any penalties’
It would be mildly amusing if Sutherland had the Blues but on the puckline.
 

Marciano490

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Nov 4, 2007
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The thing I don’t get is where the fire is, the retribution. Has the team always been this put your head down and beat them with skill? I just can’t imagine seeing teammates taking concussions and various other headshots and not eventually doing some enforcing. I respect the discipline, but it’s not working out so well, and I think it’s hard to play straddling the line of playing aggressive enough to win but not so aggressive as to fight back.

To me, the tentativeness on shooting ties in to this as well.
 

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
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The thing I don’t get is where the fire is, the retribution. Has the team always been this put your head down and beat them with skill? I just can’t imagine seeing teammates taking concussions and various other headshots and not eventually doing some enforcing. I respect the discipline, but it’s not working out so well, and I think it’s hard to play straddling the line of playing aggressive enough to win but not so aggressive as to fight back.

To me, the tentativeness on shooting ties in to this as well.
Thing is, you ask any non-Bruins fan, and the B's are one of the dirtiest teams in the league. I don't get it.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
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Dec 12, 2004
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They got neutered tonight by that hysterically bad 'slashing' call on Marchand. The stakes are too high to voluntarily take an extra two, no matter how big the message is
 

mwonow

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Sep 4, 2005
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The thing I don’t get is where the fire is, the retribution. Has the team always been this put your head down and beat them with skill? I just can’t imagine seeing teammates taking concussions and various other headshots and not eventually doing some enforcing. I respect the discipline, but it’s not working out so well, and I think it’s hard to play straddling the line of playing aggressive enough to win but not so aggressive as to fight back.

To me, the tentativeness on shooting ties in to this as well.
Yeah, this. I know RMPS has a bias towards speed and away from violence, but at some point, a team needs to live its identity.

I know that in the finals against the Canucks, I was really happy that the team I rooted for responded, hard, when the Canucks played dirty - and played hard, period, throughout the series. For most of these finals, though, it seems like the Bs have been very loathe to meet force with force.

We aren't talking about the Canucks or the Habs - these are the Bruins. They haven't (at least, as long as I've been a fan) been a team that's skittish. Here's hoping they revert to a shoot/hit/try to impose their will style...
 

MiracleOfO2704

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Jul 12, 2005
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The thing I don’t get is where the fire is, the retribution. Has the team always been this put your head down and beat them with skill? I just can’t imagine seeing teammates taking concussions and various other headshots and not eventually doing some enforcing. I respect the discipline, but it’s not working out so well, and I think it’s hard to play straddling the line of playing aggressive enough to win but not so aggressive as to fight back.

To me, the tentativeness on shooting ties in to this as well.
Yeah, this. I know RMPS has a bias towards speed and away from violence, but at some point, a team needs to live its identity.

I know that in the finals against the Canucks, I was really happy that the team I rooted for responded, hard, when the Canucks played dirty - and played hard, period, throughout the series. For most of these finals, though, it seems like the Bs have been very loathe to meet force with force.

We aren't talking about the Canucks or the Habs - these are the Bruins. They haven't (at least, as long as I've been a fan) been a team that's skittish. Here's hoping they revert to a shoot/hit/try to impose their will style...
The 2011 team was probably the beginning of the end of teams with that style of play. With only a handful of changes, they went to the Final in 2013, won the Presidents Trophy in 2013-14, then broke down. The few Bruins left from those heavy metal teams (Chara, Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci, Rask fro 2011, and tack on Krug from 2013) just aren’t the guys to continue that legacy, and honestly, that’s good generally. The NHL, it theory, is litigating that style of play out of existence. Hall of Fame defenceman Scott Stevens would have the career arc of Trevor Gillies if he were drafted today, assuming he’d be drafted at all. That they can’t enforce their own rules consistently with the current crop of officials doesn’t mean that they aren’t at all.
 

Al Zarilla

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What I also thought was bizarre was that the NBC announcers finally picked up on a bad no call and went on at length about it as if it were the only bad call/no call of the game. They picked that hill to die on when there were a dozen others which were not as blatant but still absolutely had to be mentioned.
 

TheoShmeo

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Agree with the sentiments re the officiating. Bruins got fucked up the ass, with the slew foot play being the worst and most obvious, but far from the only horrific call and non call.

That said, I don’t think that call will cost them the series. The Blues are a .500 team at home in the playoffs and the Bruins remain the better team. Like in the first series, coming back down 2-3 is manageable and I expect it to happen.

I also note that it’s bad karma to be so gifted a game before the last game. Look at the Rams NFCCG example. Cassidy and Neely should do a lot of yelling, Berube style. And while he may be the Neanderthal some say he is, he also has managed to work the officials way better than anyone I’ve seen in recent years.

Ultimately, as much as the refs truly did fuck them last night, the Blues Netminder was awesome. And while the move to 7 D made sense, as a hedge against Chara not being able to go and in light of Backes’ ineffectual play, I think the forward lines, all jumbled up at times, were choppy as a result.

Bruins need to go 12/6 next game and let it ride.

Game 7 in Boston is going to be epic.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
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Still pissed off, but on the bright side I am also completely exhausted!

Feel very strongly this is coming back to Boston. This team may not be the physical force of nature it used to be, but they sure as shit aren’t one to go quietly.
 

Steve Dillard

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Oct 7, 2003
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All the talk about headshots but the biggest impact is the late hits (finishing the check) that is being allowed. It is pure interference and takes the skilled guys off the play. When combined with the multiple strides to get there (which is usually why the hit is late) it disrupts by slowing the game and also imperiled player safety when the follow through is up high.

Watch how long after a guy gets rid of the puck they are then hit.

The NHL loves the glass rattling checks in the playoffs to sell the "intensity" angle. But it dramatically changes the game, because in the regular season players don't follow through as late and with the same vigor.

It is the old NFL of allowing qb hits when the defender could pull up, and the also allowing pile driving.

You could tell the game was not going to be great when the refs allowed the Blues to hit Chara late, to test him. Once the Blues know the delay will be allowed, it's their game because you've taken the player out of the next play, so any breakout is eliminated, and no odd man rushes.
 
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j44thor

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Aug 1, 2006
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All the talk about headshots but the biggest impact is the late hits (finishing the check) that is being allowed. It is pure interference and takes the skilled guys off the play. When combined with the multiple strides to get there (which is usually why the hit is late) it disrupts by slowing the game and also imperiled player safety when the follow through is up high.

Watch how long after a guy gets rid of the puck they are then hit.

The NHL loves the glass rattling checks in the playoffs to sell the "intensity" angle. But it dramatically changes the game, because in the regular season players don't follow through as late and with the same vigor.

It is the old NFL of allowing qb hits when the defender could pull up, and the also allowing pile driving.

You could tell the game was not going to be great when the refs allowed the Blues to hit Chara late, to test him. Once the Blues know the delay will be allowed, it's their game because you've taken the player out of the next play, so any breakout is eliminated, and no odd man rushes.
This I disagree with strongly, it is called playoff hockey and why playoff hockey is unlike any other sport on the planet. The intensity gets cranked up to 11 in the playoffs. Those hits aren't interference 99% of them are completely legal.

You are correct players don't do that as much in the regular season but not because it is a penalty, simply very few can do that for 82 games.
 

Haunted

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Aug 23, 2006
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Jesus. The comments section on ever article about the officiating (I know, I know) is completely filled with angry Toronto fans. Hilarious.
 

RetractableRoof

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I think part of the reason the Bs don't respond the way teams of yesterday would have is the character of the players they have and the style of player they have constructed the team to be.

The Bruins have a pretty significant concussion history with their players - the obvious being Savard, but also including Bergeron, Krejci, Gryz, and others. I think they are intentionally not a headhunting team (which is clearly good except in this series) - if for no other reason than they know how dangerous it is. Of the veteran core of this team, it isn't their identity to be a cheap shot team - with the exception of Marchand and the league has handcuffed him to the point where he's playing pretty vanilla. The only real exception I can think of was lasst night's low hit late in the game. Honestly, they've needed that player all series - but as most everyone here has pointed out, the Bruins are getting penalties for very little, and the Blues are committing so many penalties (not including the dirtiness factor) they can't all be called. Once Berube called out the officiating, they went were golden to continue and even ramp up the style of play including over the line towards more dirtiness. It is and has been the neutralizing factor. Chara is willing to hit as much as anyone - but it isn't the gratuitous cheap shot, intent to injure stuff, it's more of a heavy hit, or you hit us we hit you type. The team plays to the identity of its leaders (mostly for the good), and 'getting even' by hitting them late and taking intentional head shots isn't their style.
 

RG33

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Nov 28, 2005
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Bruins are too good to lose 3 games in a row to these stiffs.

Momentum shift takes place on Sunday.

Nobody is beating us in game 7 at the Garden.

WIN.
 

IdiotKicker

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Nov 21, 2005
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Bruins are too good to lose 3 games in a row to these stiffs.

Momentum shift takes place on Sunday.

Nobody is beating us in game 7 at the Garden.

WIN.
This is true. As frustrating as the last two games have been, the Bruins are not losing three straight games to the St. Louis Fucking Blues.
 

RIFan

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Jul 19, 2005
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Can there be league discipline for a slew foot? Not that that will happen, but curious. Especially if he’s concussed.
Yes, Marchand got 2 games for a slew foot. Of course, he had a history and had previously been fined for slew footing. I think if the league was run in any form of consistent manner that actually considered player safety there would be a hearing for that play. It's not a hockey play and it's a very dangerous play with the normal result of a player banging his head off the ice. The NHL is not run in a consistent manner and is obviously not concerned about player safety or game integrity so I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that 1 of the 3 hearing worthy plays actually is getting hearing. If they played this straight and applied appropriate discipline I think Barbeshev gets the rest of the series off, Sanford would get a game and Bozak gets a fine. That will never happen obviously.