6/9–Bruins at Islanders Game 6–Not Done Yet
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
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Islanders played great tonight. This is the kind of road playoff game you just get beat in once every series or so.
But the Bruins should have won two earlier ones that they lost. If they hadn’t blown those, they would have already advanced and would be resting and healing up right now instead of getting humiliated.
But the Bruins should have won two earlier ones that they lost. If they hadn’t blown those, they would have already advanced and would be resting and healing up right now instead of getting humiliated.
Wouldn't any team be lacking depth on defense with this many injuries? It's like saying the Cs lacked a bench when the bench became the starters all year.
I don’t mean this towards you personally but I could give a shit what a guy does in the regular season if he plays like a ghost the majority of the playoffs
He hired the GM. They canned the last guy (which I was all for) and he brought in his guy, and the team isn’t really any better.
It was more like THREE first round picks. And the next three guys are damned good.
If we must fire someone, Sweeney is the guy. It’s been the same problem for last 5 years. The core is one he inherited with the exception of McAvoy.
I think the Bs were better through game 3, then we collapsed. Series seemed to turn on the missed open netter, and when we didn’t cash in on the PP following the upheld goal. Didn’t bury them when we had the chance, and credit to the Isles for clawing back then thumping us.
He was great vs Washington, seems pretty likely we're going to find out tomorrow he's been playing hurt for about a week or so.
Don’t rely on injury prone guys like Miller and Carlo? It seems like the Bruins lose a shit ton of defenseman every year, maybe bring in guys that can stay on the ice.
A week ago was well into the playoffs, not the regular season. Hall was really good and then something seemed to happen over the past few games.
The series changed when Carlo’s head went into the boards.
I’m not sure Sweeney is the guy to make the necessary changes that are needed. I’d see if Jeff Gorton wants to come back to Boston and run hockey ops. He did a great job rebuilding the Rangers back up.
I’m not sure Sweeney is the guy to make the necessary changes that are needed. I’d see if Jeff Gorton wants to come back to Boston and run hockey ops. He did a great job rebuilding the Rangers back up.
I’m all for that. I doubt Cam will do it though. The wheels will keep spinning for another year.
We aren’t the Sabres. This isn’t a rudderless change directions every year ship. They’ve been a good to great team under Sweeney. I can see making a GM change, but firing Neely for hiring a guy that has led them out of the first round of the playoffs in 4 of 6 season is crazy.
Cam does a lot of business work, his hands aren’t in hockey ops as much as people perceive
This sucks.
We're not going to get too many more playoff games where we see Marchand and Bergeron being near their peak. It blows to have this season end like this.
We're not going to get too many more playoff games where we see Marchand and Bergeron being near their peak. It blows to have this season end like this.
This team's been the same thing except for the one year where they got Columbus and Carolina in the second and third rounds. Only one line that can play consistently well, one bonafide top-pairing defenseman, and good goaltending (when Tuukka is healthy). They rip through teams in the regular season because they're a special teams force but that doesn't do much good for them in the postseason.
It's time to make some big decisions.
It's time to make some big decisions.
I don’t get the Cassidy hate. He seems like a straight shooter who the players respect and play hard for.
If a change is needed to shake things up, I’d look at Sweeney. He has failed to find a way to ride the top line in hockey to a championship, and the 2015 draft really was an egregious fuck up
If a change is needed to shake things up, I’d look at Sweeney. He has failed to find a way to ride the top line in hockey to a championship, and the 2015 draft really was an egregious fuck up
If he’s willing to look past Sweeney being his friend and make a hard decision with him, then great, keep Neely. I just don’t want to be in this cycle of 1-2 rounds for the next decade, then have to rebuild anyway. Just get someone in here that can draft.
I don’t want them to flip into being a goon team but they absolutely need a “heavy” line that will punish people. Coyle and Ritchie are big but nobody is confusing them for a wrecking crew. Doubly needed if the bottom 6 isn’t creating scoring chances anyway.
Theoretically not one of the more expensive adjustments to make.
Nobody has to look over their shoulder against this team anymore while we are constantly breaking down late. Obviously missing two big defensemen just crushed them in this series. But shit, I think Marchand threw more big hits in this series than anyone else on the roster. You don’t have to sacrifice all the skill to get it done. And frankly, while they are skilled, they aren’t particularly fast, which is another thing that has come into play with the bottom 9 forwards when games get tight.
While there is an alternate history where they coast in this series with a healthy D, I thinkthe issues still show up again against Tampa.
Edit: Hall probably hurt his hand in the pointless fight a few games ago or some shit.
Theoretically not one of the more expensive adjustments to make.
Nobody has to look over their shoulder against this team anymore while we are constantly breaking down late. Obviously missing two big defensemen just crushed them in this series. But shit, I think Marchand threw more big hits in this series than anyone else on the roster. You don’t have to sacrifice all the skill to get it done. And frankly, while they are skilled, they aren’t particularly fast, which is another thing that has come into play with the bottom 9 forwards when games get tight.
While there is an alternate history where they coast in this series with a healthy D, I thinkthe issues still show up again against Tampa.
Edit: Hall probably hurt his hand in the pointless fight a few games ago or some shit.
that’s fair - I just don’t get the Cassidy hate. He doesn’t seem like the problem
They have had issues against bigger, physical teams for years now in the playoffs. When is this going to change?
I think the B's need to play cap games like Tampa to create playoff depth - or the league needs to step in and put an end to their cap manipulation. I still hope the Islanders get swept out of the playoffs by the Lightning - and leave a few bodies scattered across the "old barn" as well.
I think Pasta was playing with a broken hand, I think Hall also has an injury in/around the hands - he wasn't shooting. I think the Bs play sagged when Carlo went down...
I haven't decided how I feel about Rask returning as a #1, I think at best it has to be a #1b as others have stated. I'm hopeful they bring Reilly back. Smith as well (don't recall his contract). Would have been nice to have seen Kase in the playoffs.
I hope they bring back Hall (if I'm not mistaken, this is the most playoff hockey he's played in his career - or damn close). I hope he wants to come back as well.
I can't see Debrusk returning. I think they need to finish the transition to the young D core, heavy minutes to the kids again in the early part of next season. Lauzon had some high visibility failures, but came a long way for the Bs, this year.
And the sucky part... I think #37 is going to call it done.
Feel free to crush me...
I think Pasta was playing with a broken hand, I think Hall also has an injury in/around the hands - he wasn't shooting. I think the Bs play sagged when Carlo went down...
I haven't decided how I feel about Rask returning as a #1, I think at best it has to be a #1b as others have stated. I'm hopeful they bring Reilly back. Smith as well (don't recall his contract). Would have been nice to have seen Kase in the playoffs.
I hope they bring back Hall (if I'm not mistaken, this is the most playoff hockey he's played in his career - or damn close). I hope he wants to come back as well.
I can't see Debrusk returning. I think they need to finish the transition to the young D core, heavy minutes to the kids again in the early part of next season. Lauzon had some high visibility failures, but came a long way for the Bs, this year.
And the sucky part... I think #37 is going to call it done.
Feel free to crush me...
I went to the Stone Meadow range last July OT sometime post B’s losing last year. Sweeney (or someone who looked like him and had a 34 or whatever his number was on his bag) was in a stall next to me. He was wearing an MLB or and MLB Umpire logo hat a la Rob Lowe and the NFL hat. Wish he were fired for that.
Bergeron has another year on his deal. I expect he’ll sign a 2-3 year extension.
Seven goals from draft picks since 2016, other than McAvoy. And as for recent drafts that are unlikely to produce NHL stats, the system is ranked in the bottom fourth.
https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr00004919.html
https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr00004919.html
I feel like he's a really good regular season coach. I feel like he's consistently out coached in the playoffs.
Neely is going nowhere; he has Jacobs' trust. That's been made abundantly clear.
Will Neely fire Sweeney? I don't see it happening, to be honest. And the replacement could easily be far worse (still scarred by the Mike O'Connell experience). But the lack of farm depth is on him, and that could end up closing the window far earlier than we had hoped.
Will Neely fire Sweeney? I don't see it happening, to be honest. And the replacement could easily be far worse (still scarred by the Mike O'Connell experience). But the lack of farm depth is on him, and that could end up closing the window far earlier than we had hoped.
Another thing to keep in mind is that next season, it's back to the original divisions, which means swapping out the Devils, Rangers, Flyers, Penguins, Islanders and Capitals for Ottawa, Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, Tampa, and Florida. Maybe Montreal got really lucky with their division, but they still got out of it in the playoffs. Toronto's not just going away, flaws and all. Florida and Tampa are going to be tough. There's a chance that they're going to have a real tough time making the playoffs in the Atlantic for a while, and if Studnicka, Lauko, Lohrei, Swayman, et. al. don't all hit, it could get worse going forward.
Very little physicality (except Freddy) and even more injuries in that group
I agree, and it showed late in this series. I don't want to root for a goon team, but there wasn't a single point in this series where they made the Islanders players feel uncomfortable. Barzal especially, showed that he doesn't like to get hit when he took a penalty for cross checking a guy as he was trying to check him... and then nothing. I don't think he took a single hit the rest of the series. Because of that, the Islanders looked incredibly comfortable the entire series, never had to rush plays, and were able to finish their chances because they knew that no hit was coming.
In the meantime, the Islanders finished checks, many of them borderline late, but those don't get called in the playoffs, and as the series went on the Bruins players liked like they had to rush everything, even if they had time. There were a ton of blind passes to nobody, and when the Islanders did make mistakes, the Bruins couldn't convert because they rushed their chance and flubbed it.
The Bruins who do hit for some reason just.... never did. They didn't finish checks at all, and backed off the second an Islander player got rid of the puck the entire series. Ritchie was useless. Debrusk was barely less so. Wagner looked like he was trying hard to make something happen there, but just isn't big enough to be a factor in that part of the game. Carlo and Miller, as said above, would have made a huge difference here, but nobody else stepped up. The Islanders got to skate like they were playing an exhibition game for the last 4 1/2 games of the series.
I don't know what the answer is. The Islanders aren't getting worse next year. The Lighting will fuck with the salary cap to ensure they are a wagon for the playoffs. Carolina is likely to take a step forward as their young core matures. I think the Bruins are in a lot of trouble over the next few years, and it feels like Game 3 of this series may be the end of the Bergeron window to me. Part of this is post series defeat overreaction on my part, obviously, but it sure does feel like this team is going to be a middle of the pack team for the next couple seasons.
He hung them out to dry tonight. Nice guy, good coach. This is a big red X on his record. Getting played in the media AGAIN is a tough look as well.
They’re still a playoff team in their regular division. They’re a very good regular season team.
The real problem is their defense is too soft. I just don't know how they fix that. At the very least, they need an in-his-prime Johnny Boychuk.
It might be the way the Islanders played him. They are fantastic forecheckers and have a solid d.
I was sitting next to a lady at a bar who asked if the B’s had a heavy to go after Palmeri. I had to sheepishly say no given Miller was out.
They got nothing from the bottom 6. 0-fer for Kuraly and Wagner for the playoffs. Coyle did one thing. DeBrusk did two things a while back. Ritchie elbowed a guy in the head.
They got nothing from the bottom 6. 0-fer for Kuraly and Wagner for the playoffs. Coyle did one thing. DeBrusk did two things a while back. Ritchie elbowed a guy in the head.
You guys yearning for the Bruins to go get some bangers are ignoring the 15 year pattern of the Bruins getting called for more penalties than their opponents.
You can’t go out and hit guys if you know the game will be called biased against you.
You can’t go out and hit guys if you know the game will be called biased against you.
Honest question, then: at what point does it become obvious that there's something wrong with the way the team's built that, every year, we're convincing ourselves that Krejci is one winger away from making the middle 6 dangerous again?
I honestly have no idea where they go from here. No clue how they get any better.