2016 World Cup of Hockey

[BluesTraveler]

I'm not gonna worry too much about Chara's play right now considering the Bruins roster, as shaky as it is, is better than Team Europe top-to-bottom.

 

[ap3lovr]

I'm not gonna worry too much about Chara's play right now considering the Bruins roster, as shaky as it is, is better than Team Europe top-to-bottom.

You might be the only one. I never thought someone in his shape would see a decline in play so steep in his final years. He can't handle speed right now, and it is very obvious. He literally isn't moving out there at all, and that scares the hell out of me. He is an embarrassment out there right now.

 

[PlayMakers]

I was really impressed by the defenseman Nakladal on the Czech Republic.

RH'd defenseman, played limited minutes for Calgary last year, good size and mobility.

Currently a UFA.

 

[Fossy21]

McDavid with a giveaway, then steers Bellemare into Gibson so Team Europe can score.

I was really impressed by the defenseman Nakladal on the Czech Republic.

RH'd defenseman, played limited minutes for Calgary last year, good size and mobility.

Currently a UFA.

See him a lot in international tournies (European Hockey Tour and the like) and he's usually good for them. Not sure if he's a fit at the NHL level or for this team - someone else might.

 

[Sheppy]

I understand that people love Chara, and think he may bounce back... I love Z as well, but right now, at this particular moment he is god awful. He has been for the last two seasons too...

 

[Sheppy]

He's barely a top 4 d-man if at all.

 

[Blowfish]

Not liking the reports in chara. If it's this bad the Bruins will need to force him to very limited minutes.

 

[BB88]

Not liking the reports in chara. If it's this bad the Bruins will need to force him to very limited minutes.

When u23 has been playing he's been really, really bad,

After 20mins of powerplay u23 stopped playing which is teaching them bad habits, these games against team Europe are starting to be negative for them, the top teams will make them pay for those mistakes at the World Cup.

 

[ReggieMoto]

You'll hear others rush to his defense, but he is failing the eye test. He doesn't look good.

 

[BruinsBtn]

You might be the only one. I never thought someone in his shape would see a decline in play so steep in his final years. He can't handle speed right now, and it is very obvious. He literally isn't moving out there at all, and that scares the hell out of me. He is an embarrassment out there right now.

Josi has been markedly worse than Chara.

 

[ReggieMoto]

Josi has been markedly worse than Chara.

Josi isn't a Bruin nor is he supposed to be anchoring the Bruins' defense.

 

[moonshot summit]

Josi isn't a Bruin nor is he supposed to be anchoring the Bruins' defense.

But Chara will have a better partner than him this year. Josi is a garbage defender. Doesnt help his partners at all in his own zone.

 

[ReggieMoto]

But Chara will have a better partner than him this year. Josi is a garbage defender. Doesnt help his partners at all in his own zone.

Sure. Whatever works for you. Chara has not looked good the entire pre-tourney, regardless of who he's been paired with. I'm concerned that the team might continue to use him as a top-pairing d-man. If so, it will be difficult to see how the team makes the playoffs. My opinion.

 

[Fossy21]

But Chara will have a better partner than him this year. Josi is a garbage defender. Doesnt help his partners at all in his own zone.

I think he's becoming slightly overrated, but he's not garbage.

 

[Hamilton Brian]

Not liking the reports in chara. If it's this bad the Bruins will need to force him to very limited minutes.

I think many of us have been saying this for a few years now. I was particularly cognizant of it in the year following the Cup win. I charted the loss to Washington in the first round to the Cup hangover, and having all those extra games to play into June. However, Chara appeared to be down a step. Limit his time, limit his time, has been a frequent refrain. At this point though, limit his time...who gets those extra minutes?

 

[Fossy21]

Just hope he uses his body more efficiently.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

But Chara will have a better partner than him this year. Josi is a garbage defender. Doesnt help his partners at all in his own zone.

Barring a good trade, I don't see how that is possible.

Am I missing someone? Krug, McQuaid, the Millers... Liles? Surely not one of the kids who will fight for a spot at camp?

 

[talkinaway]

Barring a good trade, I don't see how that is possible.

Am I missing someone? Krug, McQuaid, the Millers... Liles? Surely not one of the kids who will fight for a spot at camp?

This has been my beef with the B's management for the past 4, 5 months. WE NEED D! There's nobody here. There's nobody coming up. Looking at the roster, we have 7 defensemen who have significant NHL experience. Of course, I'm not counting Dr. Cross, but I am counting Krug (out until our home opener IIRC) and both Millers.

None of them were added recently save Liles, who isn't quite what we need. Other than that, our roster's been pretty stagnant. Oh, except for that one change two years ago when we traded Boychuk for the approximate equivalent of one year of cap relief and one year of Brett Connolly.

I have no idea if we'll have a trade for D by opening day. Frankly, I'm not even sure if signing Marchand is worth it if we don't; hell, just trade him at the deadline for picks and prospects, and watch the city burn. (Half of me is kidding about that.)

Didn't watch the second Euro game, but I saw a bit of the first one, and Chara looked S L O W. I hope he's dealing with some nagging injury or something. I hope somehow he's maybe playing with a little less passion for "Team Euro" than he would for Slovakia or the Bruins. But given last year, I'm not that hopeful. The trend is downward.

 

[BruinDust]

Folks a 39 year old D-man has played what, 40 mins of hockey now since last April and this without a even a full-training camp.

And he's been up against arguably the fastest team ever assembled.

Just chill.

 

[pierre gagnon*]

Folks a 39 year old D-man has played what, 40 mins of hockey now since last April and this without a even a full-training camp.

And he's been up against arguably the fastest team ever assembled.

Just chill.

Very well said and I agree but I hope his pride does not get in the way of hurting the team this year. Time erodes skills but pride gets in the way of a lot of great athletes in the end. I hope he makes it to the end of the year and calls it a night. We better let at least one of Miller or Morrow play a lot and make a choice. Should have happenened last year. Again pride by the ownership and coaching staff took away from the future vision and got us nowhere.

 

[Blowfish]

Very well said and I agree but I hope his pride does not get in the way of hurting the team this year. Time erodes skills but pride gets in the way of a lot of great athletes in the end. I hope he makes it to the end of the year and calls it a night. We better let at least one of Miller or Morrow play a lot and make a choice. Should have happenened last year. Again pride by the ownership and coaching staff took away from the future vision and got us nowhere.

. Well said. It was a useless year last year and the leadership team failed to give all kids the opportunity to learn on the ice. It was perfect timing. If we start the year with leadership selling fans on mistakes will be made by young D lessened chara minutes are the reason for struggles and or patience needed many won't be happy with the excuse. Last year was the year to develop the kids for this year. Missed opportunity.

 

[s3antana5757]

. Well said. It was a useless year last year and the leadership team failed to give all kids the opportunity to learn on the ice. It was perfect timing. If we start the year with leadership selling fans on mistakes will be made by young D lessened chara minutes are the reason for struggles and or patience needed many won't be happy with the excuse. Last year was the year to develop the kids for this year. Missed opportunity.

I was screaming that all last year. We were kidding ourselves thinking we were a play-off team. You watched the first 3 games of the year and knew that. So instead of letting C. Miller and Morrow take their lumps, we played K. Miller and McQ and M. Irwin. So they between those they have half the experience they should have and are expected to make contributions this year.

And don't even get me started on Loui E. Would've been great to have some more young guys either via trade or picks.

This team is not a serious contender this year and isn't going to be until the D gets fixed. I think it's coming and I'm very excited about McAvoy, C. Miller and Carlo on the RH side. But we're a few years away.

 

[DoubleAAAA]

I was screaming that all last year. We were kidding ourselves thinking we were a play-off team. You watched the first 3 games of the year and knew that. So instead of letting C. Miller and Morrow take their lumps, we played K. Miller and McQ and M. Irwin. So they between those they have half the experience they should have and are expected to make contributions this year.

And don't even get me started on Loui E. Would've been great to have some more young guys either via trade or picks.

This team is not a serious contender this year and isn't going to be until the D gets fixed. I think it's coming and I'm very excited about McAvoy, C. Miller and Carlo on the RH side. But we're a few years away.

You could tell in the first 3 games they would miss the playoffs tied for the last spot and due to a tiebreaker? That's impressive

 

[ReggieMoto]

This is Ryan Lambert, so go into this knowing that.

What We Learned: Team North America is future of NHL

In a lot of ways, this is an issue of economics. Young players tend to be cheaper than older ones, and with more middle-aged players (that is, those in their early- to mid-20s) getting bigger contracts all the time, teams have to make cap-related adjustments.

Nonetheless, this is still a league that values 30-plus players more than it probably should, with nearly 1 in every 4 players (23.3 percent) to get at least one game with an NHL club last season coming from this age group. By comparison, a little fewer than 1 in 3 were under the age of 23, mostly by necessity.

 

[BruinLVGA]

Folks a 39 year old D-man has played what, 40 mins of hockey now since last April and this without a even a full-training camp.

And he's been up against arguably the fastest team ever assembled.

Just chill.

I subscribe to this.