Round 3: Bunch of Jerks - The Return of the Dougie
- Thread starter TSC
- Start date
So Kampfer played nearly 15 minutes and the other 5 defensemen were between 18 and 21:23 which is really good. He was able to mostly take normal workload which is more than we could have asked. Really great job by him even excepting the goal .
The defensive workload was the most surprising thing for me. I wasn't alone thinking McAvoy and the extra day off meant 25+ for one or more of them. I suppose it might have if any of them deserved minimal time, but none did.
Since Game 6 on the Toronto series, the Bruins are outscoring opponents 15-4 in the 3rd period+OT. They have given up more goals only once - the CBJ 2nd OT win in game 2. They've had the advantage in 5 out of the 8 games.
Not to mention the two CBJ third period goals in Game 1 were of the fluky variety.
Before the game the lady said something to the effect of "I don't really have feelings for this team. Other than Yankee fan Cam Ward I don't have much reason to hate them."
My reply? "Give it a game or 2, we didn't hate Vancouver either."
Great minds...
Why is Game 2 not on Saturday? Going head to head with the NBA on Mother's Day when a lot of us won't be watching. I really wanted to go but I'm not ditching my mom and wife on Mother's Day.
It does appear that Don Sweeney really nailed it with the Coyle and Johansson acquisitions. Despite their having no chance to get by Tampa in the playoffs 
I'm with you. I'm sure it will grow as the series wears on, but Taranna is full of shitheads and CBJ was extremely physical. Canes seem like a watered down version of both, with a better D.
DuBois is still my most-hated player in the playoffs so far.
Dougie would be climbing the list but he took two moronic penalties last night that led immediately to goals, so I got considerably more joy than rage there.
Dougie would be climbing the list but he took two moronic penalties last night that led immediately to goals, so I got considerably more joy than rage there.
I'd be stunned if this changes. I mean, I guess I didn't expect that from him, so anyone else could pop up, but he was a special kind of shitbag.
Nit pick but only 1 of Hamilton’s penalties resulted in a goal. The Johansson goal was scored on the Staal boarding power play.
Agreed, he was the guy I singled out from last night that put me on board with Don Cherry's line of though.... started with his dirty play on Krug on their first shift.
The don't want to be playing the same night of the WCF? That's my guess (to lazy to see if any other dates overlap)
My two balcony (317/6) seats are available for game 2. Face value $396. Email tonysalamone19@gmail.com
cross posted
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/fs-ecf-game-2-bruins-canes-tickets.27185/
cross posted
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/fs-ecf-game-2-bruins-canes-tickets.27185/
Game of Thrones is what I think they are trying to miss, too.
What have the 'Canes been up to for two off days in Boston? Anyone seen Fernald at Fenway? Hamilton on a Harbor cruise? Slavin at Strega?
What amazes me is that in the postgame conference, Brind’Amour was asked whether he considered pulling Mrázek and he said he did, but Mrázek didn’t want to come out because he’s a fighter. Unless you’re talking about a Roy/Tremblay-type situation, what NHL goalie says, “You know what, coach? I don’t have it tonight. Put someone else in.”? Brind’Amour has to be the one to make that decision and it sounds like he punted.
In fairness, I’m not sure there was a right choice for Brind’Amour to make. The game was pretty much lost at 4-0 after 2. If he puts in McElhinney to start the period and McElhinney gets lit up, then what does he do going into game 3? McElhinney played against the Isles so he hasn’t been idle for a month like Halak on our side, so I don’t think they needed to get him in to shake off any rust. I think Brind’Amour played it right. The 3rd period was an audition for Mrazek to see if he could find something and gain some confidence. Nowhe can put in an unseen and confident McElhinney for game 3 if he so chooses. I suspect that’s what will happen and we’ll see McElhinney tomorrow.
Chara has *looked* bad, as many have talked about in game threads. I even suggested giving him a game off. But his goal numbers and underlying metrics have been great and pretty good, respectively. There's a lot to be said for being 6'9 and knowing where you're supposed to be, even if it takes a while to get there. I'm sure he's been carried by Bergeron/Tuukka/McAvoy some. It doesn't seem like he's been hurting them though.
I was thinking about this while watching the last couple of games. Even when he gets "beat" in a particular aspect of a play, he usually recovers and remains in the play enough to keep the beating from resulting in the maximum negative result. Someone else might be able to describe this better, but the uh-ohs haven't been turning into oh-shits nearly as often as it appears they should.
I honestly think he has a hand/arm injury of some sort, which has led to him being unable to handle the puck well. As a result he's playing a touch tentative, especially with the puck, which has made him look awful. It was noticeable yesterday how he was always using one hand on his stick unless absolutely necessary, and there were many times where he just couldn't get any velocity on passes/clears/handles.
He also seems much more conservative with his gap control, to my eyes. But again, he's 6'9 so even if he's letting people gain the zone easier than usual, there's still a 6'9 monster between them and the net. Plenty of lesser defensemen have had effective careers with bad gap control.
I missed the first 2 periods due to the bar I work at not having TVs and hid under the stairs to watch the last period on my phone after I got cut. But from watching the third the team seems to be playing really, really well as a group. Rask is playing great sure but the forwards are closing quickly on the points, sticks are in the passing lanes and everyone is going balls out after loose pucks, people are rarely out of place, and the first two lines are “quiet”. If they can maintain bottom 6 play and get the first 2 going more? They should be the toughest out left
