Bruins 2021 Season Thread

cshea

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Kase and Smith both absent from practice today. Yay. Always fun being down your top 3 RW.

Marchand - Bergeron - DeBrusk
Ritchie - Krejci - Studnicka
Bjork - Coyle - McKegg
Frederic - Kuraly - Wagner

lol. Hopefully Smith is just a maintenance day and he can go tomorrow. Obviously, Kase’s injury is concerning. Looked like a possible concussion.
 

Haunted

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Was it a wrist injury? I only caught the end of the game (signing up for Fubo took longer than it ought to have).
 

Cotillion

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Concussion or broken jaw.
It helps that no one really called out (also Ref not calling the crosscheck or high stick) or remembered him getting the crosscheck to his face during the game, and then they kept calling it an "upper body injury".
 

cshea

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Just a quick reminder that a player going on IR doesn't indicate severity. It's just a way to create a roster spot, he can be activated within a few days. I think in the past you had to miss 3 games, not sure if that's been adjusted with the shortened schedule.

Given Kase's history it's obviously not good.
 

cshea

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It's early and he hasn't played in 2 years, but Kevan Miller has been pretty bad,.

38 minutes, 82% Ozone start. 45% CF, 41% SCF, 31% xGF

Those are pretty ugly given his usage, though the caveat is it's a small sample size. The Grzelyck injury may force some changes on the back end, but I'd give Clifton or Moore a look for Miller on Thursday either way.
 

burstnbloom

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That passes the eye test to me. He's looked pretty bad and they get hemmed in more with him out there than any other group. I don't have a lot of hope they will sit him though.

That Gryz injury looked bad and given how well he's played that's quite scary.
 

cshea

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Yeah, Grzelyck being out long term would be a big problem. Not sure if the team is practicing today so we may not know anything until tomorrow or Thursday.
 

burstnbloom

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The drop off from Gryz to John Moore is precipitous. I am concerned.

It's been a really frustrating start with dominant puck possession being undermined by very little high danger chances. One would think the 5 on 5 scoring will come if they keep this up but 3 games with very little sustained pressure is certainly alarming. You can certainly see the rust when it comes to chemistry on the lines. Cassidy's tinkering isn't helping with that, in my opinion. He's done a great job as a coach here but that one thing drives me nuts.

Thursday and Saturday will tell us a lot about this team.
 

Jordu

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A shot to the jaw will do that to you. He appeared very woozy when he got back to the bench. I’m holding out hope it’s something else because Kase has been on the IR with concussions in 2015 in the AHL and 2017 and 2018 with the Ducks.
 

cshea

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Also, Pasta's been back all week. Apparently the plan is for him to shed the no-contact jersey next week and then they'll go from there. Seems if all goes well he could be back fairly soon, maybe another week?
 

BostonFanInCanesLand

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Love Frederic’s chirping. I think he should get a shot at 4th line center once Pasta and Kase return.

I wish Kase had been on the ice when the Bruins started scoring 5v5 goals. [insert Koji Soon gif].

As for Bjork, the writing on the wall is getting hard to ignore:

. “Young guys come in and pass him, that’s also the circle of life,” Cassidy said. “We’ve seen that in a lot of different positions here. That’s kind of where we’re at right now. With bigger bodies like a Frederic, if that’s the way the game’s going and we need to play that way, then that’s what we’ll look at. But I still think it’s early. There’s time for Anders to get his game where it needs to be. And there’s time to see if Freddy and Studs, for that matter, can handle being in the lineup every night in the NHL. It’s not easy to do night after night. But I give those kids credit. They’ve been consistent in training camp and through the first four games.”
Cassidy has acknowledged the difficulty of what he’s asking Bjork to do. He was supposed to start the season as the No. 4 left wing next to Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner. An injury to Craig Smith bumped Bjork up one line and over to the right side. When Cassidy scratched Jack Studnicka after one game, he gave Bjork a top-line right-wing ride with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron.

None of this promotes stability. But Bjork, at the same time, has fallen short of fulfilling any of those roles with anything resembling clear identity. The result is a 24-year-old with misfiring confidence, little sense of what he is and a fading grip on his coach’s trust
https://theathletic.com/2340110/2021/01/22/anders-bjork-boston-bruins/
 

Ferm Sheller

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No surprise. Late fifth round pick and has never really been a scorer at any level (except maybe Pee Wee or Squirt).
 

Ferm Sheller

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eh? His junior year at ND he had 21g and 31a in 39 games, which was good for the 7th highest GS in the NCAA that year.
Yeah, I knew someone would call me out on that -- I tried to qualify my statement with "really" to account for that season. I think he was a late 5th round pick for a reason.
 

BostonFanInCanesLand

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I still think Bjork can be a useful player (probably 3rd line). But his coach clearly wants something different than what Bjork is currently showing.

If he plays with a little more jam on the 4th line maybe he gets a chance to stick once Pasta (and eventually Kase) return. He’s got more offensive skills than Kuraly and Wagner so maybe if he ups his defensive game he can at least rotate with them when it becomes a numbers game.

I’d be surprised if he makes it through waivers to get on the taxi squad so I hope they keep him on the active roster.
 

cshea

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At this point, Bjork is kind of a poor-man's Heinen. He can play almost anywhere, but never really sticks in one location. It's nice to have someone like that around to cover for short term injuries. Heinen gave them a little more offense.

When the Bruins are healthy, there's no role for Bjork. He's already been passed by Frederic and Studnicka on the depth chart. Pasta is due back relatively soon so Bjork is likely the guy that comes out when that happens. . If Kase ever comes back, three's another player ahead of Bjork.

I think they'll keep him around through the season. Like I said, he's nice to have around to cover for injuries, which is important during a short, condenses season being played in a pandemic. After the season though he's probably Seattle/trade fodder.
 

cshea

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In other news. Zboril continues to impress. It's only been 5 games but the early returns are very good. He's played the 2nd most 5x5 minutes on the team. 59% CF, 66% SF, 57% SCF, 57% xGF. He is a bit sheltered and is getting a ton of Ozone starts, but he still looks really good so far.

Lauzon is struggling a bit with the top pairing. Both are still settling in and I don't want to jostle things around too much, but at some point I'd like to see Zboril paired with McAvoy. I think Zboril's skillset is more suited for the top pair than Lauzon's.
 

cshea

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Pastrnak shed the no-contact jersey today and was a full participant. He's getting pretty close. I'd guess he doesn't play in either Pittsburgh game but maybe the Washington series is a reasonable target?
 

Salem's Lot

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Pastrnak shed the no-contact jersey today and was a full participant. He's getting pretty close. I'd guess he doesn't play in either Pittsburgh game but maybe the Washington series is a reasonable target?
I think Cassidy said a week of contact practice so if everything goes well he gets in Monday night 2/1 vs Washington? That would be a nice boost.
 

TheRealness

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At this point, Bjork is kind of a poor-man's Heinen. He can play almost anywhere, but never really sticks in one location. It's nice to have someone like that around to cover for short term injuries. Heinen gave them a little more offense.

When the Bruins are healthy, there's no role for Bjork. He's already been passed by Frederic and Studnicka on the depth chart. Pasta is due back relatively soon so Bjork is likely the guy that comes out when that happens. . If Kase ever comes back, three's another player ahead of Bjork.

I think they'll keep him around through the season. Like I said, he's nice to have around to cover for injuries, which is important during a short, condenses season being played in a pandemic. After the season though he's probably Seattle/trade fodder.
It's pretty clear Bjork will be sitting, but isn't a better question what to do with DeBrusk? Ritchie has been playing well with Krejci and Studnicka, so he shouldn't go back there. With Frederic looking great with COyle and Smith, do you break that up to shoehorn DeBrusk in? If not, he's on the 4th line then.

I suspect they will put him with Coyle and Smith, but I do think his opportunities are going to start drying up much faster this year if he can't put it together.
 

cshea

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I suspect they will put him with Coyle and Smith, but I do think his opportunities are going to start drying up much faster this year if he can't put it together.
[/QUOTE]

I think Jake has been fine. probably better than Ritchie at ES. DeBrusk's underlying's are pretty good, comparable to even better than Ritchie. DeBrusk doesn't have the points like Ritchie, but Ritchie is getting run on the top PP and the points are piling up (which is a credit to him). They each have an assist at even strength.

I bet DeBrusk goes back to Krejci's LW. That bumps Ritchie to Coyle's LW and Frederic down to the 4th line. Frederic has been great, but no harm in leaving him on the 4th line. His game is suited for it. Another option is pulling Studnicka out and shifting Ritchie to Krejci's RW. Everything else would stay the same. Stud has been better than Bjork though so I think to start he stays in the lineup, but that could be somethign that is juggled around.
 

McDrew

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Frederic down to the 4th is not a move I'm opposed to. Wyshinski pointed out that W-K-F is one of 15 lines in the NHL that has plaed >30 min together and has not allowed a 5x5 goal.
 

Deathofthebambino

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I don't post in this forum very often, but wanted to call out the Bruins organization (and thousands of other folks and communities) rallying around AJ Quetta and his family. AJ plays high school hockey and suffered a spinal cord injury in a game on Tuesday night. My wife is a Feehan grad, and her mother worked there for decades. The injury is really, really serious. The family started a Gofundme, and have raised almost 500k (they were asking for 10k), for medical expenses, and the Bruins donated 100k on top of that with additional money coming from 50/50 raffles and auctions (Kraft also called in to Greg HIll and said he'd match all donations up to 25k, the Greg Hill Foundation has also raised over 100k).
Anyway, a truly tragic story, but good on the Bruins and Charlie Jacobs for stepping up. Patrick Chung, Stephen Ghostkowski and many others on the list of donors as well. Bishop Feehan returns to the ice tomorrow night against Austin Prep (my son's current school) tomorrow night, and it will be streamed live. Before tonight's game, Marchand hung Quetta's #10 jersey from the Bruins bench:

Bruins Pledge Minimum $100,000 Donation To Support A.J. Quetta (nhl.com)


Injured Bishop Feehan hockey player A.J. Quetta undergoes surgery at Mass General Hospital - The Boston Globe
 

cshea

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I don't post in this forum very often, but wanted to call out the Bruins organization (and thousands of other folks and communities) rallying around AJ Quetta and his family. AJ plays high school hockey and suffered a spinal cord injury in a game on Tuesday night. My wife is a Feehan grad, and her mother worked there for decades. The injury is really, really serious. The family started a Gofundme, and have raised almost 500k (they were asking for 10k), for medical expenses, and the Bruins donated 100k on top of that with additional money coming from 50/50 raffles and auctions (Kraft also called in to Greg HIll and said he'd match all donations up to 25k, the Greg Hill Foundation has also raised over 100k).
Anyway, a truly tragic story, but good on the Bruins and Charlie Jacobs for stepping up. Patrick Chung, Stephen Ghostkowski and many others on the list of donors as well. Bishop Feehan returns to the ice tomorrow night against Austin Prep (my son's current school) tomorrow night, and it will be streamed live. Before tonight's game, Marchand hung Quetta's #10 jersey from the Bruins bench:

Bruins Pledge Minimum $100,000 Donation To Support A.J. Quetta (nhl.com)


Injured Bishop Feehan hockey player A.J. Quetta undergoes surgery at Mass General Hospital - The Boston Globe
Smith gave the game puck to AJ, and they had a stall set up for him in the dressing room.The hockey community is really a special place.

View: https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1355000900893478918?s=20
 

DourDoerr

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