We'll find out tonight who the Bruins play.
FWIW, McAvoy and Cross were healthy scratches for Providence today.
FWIW, McAvoy and Cross were healthy scratches for Providence today.
I took this whole week off. I am so glad I did, 'cause I am gonna get drunk as fuck.Marathon Monday playoff game...Jesus that crowd is going to be wild.
Big improvement for Canada over last year, eh?So begins the strange ritual of Canada during the playoffs. Other than the Habs few older fans cheer for Canadian teams. So we get a weird situation where older conservative Don Cherry fans cheering for original 6 teams look down on those cheering for Oilers, Sens, Flames.
TSN is in rapture now with so many Canadian teams in.
This may be a dumb question but if he doesn't get into a game is the ELC year burned even if he practices with the team? I understand him being up there for precautionary reasons in case Carlo/Krug can't go.Yea, McKenzie is reporting that the Bruins are going to burn the first year of his ELC.
Looks like Krug/Carlo aren't doing well, and Sweeney et al see the value in a PMD against the 1-3-1.
I understand the intent, but I worry this is shortsighted. The Bruins aren't winning the Cup this year. I understand getting him experience...but man, talk about getting thrown into the fire.
McKenzie is tweeting about it now, but I don't think it is that big of a deal. This doesn't affect his service time towards free agency or arbitration, and when he comes out his this contract in 2 years he won't have accrued enough games to be eligible for an offer sheet. He gets a raise sooner, but that's about it. If they think he can help, then I'm OK with it. The depth chart is pretty thin. Morrow has barely played and it seems they don't want to throw him in there as cold as he is. Then we're down to the Providence guys. Grzelyck, Cross, McAvoy. Charlie is a righty and would fit in where Carlo was, and he has the highest ceiling.Yea, McKenzie is reporting that the Bruins are going to burn the first year of his ELC.
Looks like Krug/Carlo aren't doing well, and Sweeney et al see the value in a PMD against the 1-3-1.
I understand the intent, but I worry this is shortsighted. The Bruins aren't winning the Cup this year. I understand getting him experience...but man, talk about getting thrown into the fire.
I would think that no matter what they go with, at least one pair will have significant trouble moving the puck up ice (unless Krug comes back healthy).Chara - McQuaid
Miller's
Liles - McAvoy
I hate pairing McQuaid and Chara right out of the gate. I'm fine with it if they are defending a late lead, but I think that pairing too immobile and worry about them moving the puck up ice.
Safe to bet games not on NBC proper will also be on NESN?
Fluto just uses the term "unlikely", but it appears he seems to mean Game 1 as well.Is Amelie reporting Sweeney incorrectly? She tweeted that Krug was unavailable for the start of the series, not that he was out for the entirety.
Huge loss, if true.
http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/...ie-mcavoy-torey-krug-likely-brandon-carlo-outDon Sweeney said that defenseman Torey Krug likely won't play in Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. He suffered a lower-body injury against the Senators last Thursday and was seen using crutches on Saturday.
Rookie blueliner Brandon Carlo is definitely out Wednesday, Sweeney said. He suffered an upper-body injury during the regular-season finale against the Washington Capitals on Saturday and was listed as day-to-day.
Yes this is true. Every game with the probable exception of Game 2 will be on NESN.Safe to bet games not on NBC proper will also be on NESN?
I posted this in the game thread, but this thread is probably a better home for it. Fluto put together a nice little article documenting the workings of the 1-3-1.Sadly that would probably be a delay of game penalty now.
The Bruins should be familiar enough with the 1-3-1 given that Boucher used it in the Conference Finals back in 2011. Yeah that was 7 years ago but the concepts are still pretty much the same.
Funny, I was just talking to someone on my team about this game on Sunday night.How to beat the Sens 1-3-1
I don't like McAvoy with Chara.McAvoy with Chara today.
2nd day without Krejci. Not sure what's up there, I don't believe the team said anything about his absense yesterday. He played 18 min on Saturday and took the late double minor for high sticking, so nothing jumps out as out of the ordinary.
They'll probably go with Chara-McQuaid with a lead in the 3rd, yes?I don't like McAvoy with Chara.
Chara-McQuaid at least gives you a big, strong and mean pairing of stay-at-home D men. Neither of them is going to carry the puck through the neutral zone, but Chara is very good at moving the puck up to forwards. And that pair would bury Ottawa's forwards.
McAvoy shouldn't be getting 20 minutes. Pair him with Liles, a smart veteran who can talk to the kid through the game.
I was thinking that Cassidy could juggle his defensive pairings based on face-off zone, line matchups, and score. With 2 of his top 4 D men out, creativity would help.They'll probably go with Chara-McQuaid with a lead in the 3rd, yes?
This has been mentioned a few times in various places, but the short version of this is that the analytics community is very high on the Bruins and very low on Ottawa. The Bruins analytical profile is that of a very good team. Add in the get to play out of the Atlantic and most models are high on the Bruins chances overall.The Bruins are the second biggest favorite in Vegas to win first round... behind only the Capitals
That... seems strange.
How much of the analytics dislike is because Ottawa is content to play the 1-3-1 when no one else is using it that much?This has been mentioned a few times in various places, but the short version of this is that the analytics community is very high on the Bruins and very low on Ottawa. The Bruins analytical profile is that of a very good team. Add in the get to play out of the Atlantic and most models are high on the Bruins chances overall.
Here's an article from last week about the Bruins possibly being a dark horse. Make of it what you will.
http://www.tsn.ca/a-lower-seeded-team-that-may-surprise-in-nhl-playoffs-1.717100
This was written before the Krug injury. His injury and how long he is out will play a huge factor in their chances overall.
Even ignoring "analytics", they gave up more goals than they score this season. That something bad teams do, end of story. They are one of the worst playoff teams in the past few years. I mean just look at their roster, they are not good.How much of the analytics dislike is because Ottawa is content to play the 1-3-1 when no one else is using it that much?
You don't see high scoring games much with the them, you don't see them giving up much by way of odd man rushes. They aren't aggressive forecheckers. I can see why the numbers don't jump off the page at you.
I can see the 1-3-1 working against them the longer a series goes (for your reasons), but the Bruins best PMD isn't going to be on the ice to start the series. He is pivotal to them beating the 1-3-1 and it's variants.Even ignoring "analytics", they gave up more goals than they score this season. That something bad teams do, end of story. They are one of the worst playoff teams in the past few years. I mean just look at their roster, they are not good.
I also think the 1-3-1 works against them in the playoffs, in the regular season it's something teams don't see much of, and don't often have any time to prepare for. It's not like the NFL where you get multiple practices to prepare for your next opponent.
Anything can happen in a 7 game series, but the Bruins should win this one and I'll be extremely disappointed if they don't. When did this board turn into a "just happy to be in the playoffs" crowd?
what he saidWhen did this board turn into a "just happy to be in the playoffs" crowd?
When the Bruins missed two years in a row and fired the most successful coach in their history in the middle of the season. Because when Claude can canned I had no expectation they'd make the playoffs. They looked to be completely adrift.
McAvoy isn't playing tonight?but the Bruins best PMD isn't going to be on the ice to start the series. He is pivotal to them beating the 1-3-1 and it's variants.
That was either done as an incentive to get him to sign, in which case their only alternative was to send him back to BU, or it reflects shortsightedness (i.e., they thought he could help them before he signed, but gave up on that notion after half a dozen NHL shifts.Interesting to me that they burned JFK's first year but didn't use him last night, not even when Krejci when down