Congrats to Vegas and Bruce
- Thread starter bruinmann77
- Start date
goldnblack
Registered User
- Jun 24, 2020
- 3,395
- 6,437
If there is one thing I hope the Bruins learn from VGK is to never get infatuated with your own stars. Cores get stale
Have to admit I am happy for Bruce. Listening all year how great the Bruins are and they made the right decision bringing Monty in.
This Vegas team peaked at the right time and the finals was not even close.
This Vegas team peaked at the right time and the finals was not even close.
Therick67
Registered User
The problem is, when they do trade a star they settle for pennies on the dollar..
I think we can dispel with the whole "Cassidy coaches soft hockey" narrative as well.
Just ask Matthew Tkachuk.
Just ask Matthew Tkachuk.
Therick67
Registered User
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
The Bruins were great all year. And they made the right decision bringing in Montgomery. Cassidy's time was up here.
But now we know just how good a coach Bruce is and I'm happy for him too.
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
remer
Registered User
- Oct 18, 2005
- 5,850
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Lots to unpack with the Bruins.
1. Yes, this should have been their year. Sweeney did his job and loaded the team for a long playoff run. The consequences for that is now they have no money, no draft picks and limited ability to improve the team.
2. The players are simply to blame. They didn't play playoff hockey. Injuries happened at the most inopportune time. Certain players didn't step up. You need to play tough hockey when it comes to the playoffs. Too many soft players on this roster.
3. Monty got outcoached. The same can be said in 2019 when Berube outcoached Bruce. Monty tried to be too nice of a coach and it backfired to some degree. Players needed to ramp up their intensity and it didn't happen.
4. Construction of the team still lacks a big mobile defense. This has been the issue for some time with the likes of Krug, Grez, Cliffy, etc. Too small of defenseman and not nasty enough. Lindholm and Carlo are not tough playoff warriors.
5. The need for tough Canadian players. Look at Vegas with 18 Canadian players. The desire to win.
6. Goal scorers need to seize the moment. Your top players need to be the difference makers. The Bruin stars didn't really perform at that level. Tkachuk, Marchessault, Stone, Eichel, Draisaitl, McDavid and Hintz were big playoff performers.
7. This was the Bruins chance to try to win it all and they fell flat on their faces. Unfortunately, as a Bruin fan it's difficult. The disappointment of 2013, 2019 and 2023 have lasting scars. For those a bit older you will remember 1974, 1977 and 1978 as difficult times as a Bruin fan as well. Disappointing results in the finals.
1. Yes, this should have been their year. Sweeney did his job and loaded the team for a long playoff run. The consequences for that is now they have no money, no draft picks and limited ability to improve the team.
2. The players are simply to blame. They didn't play playoff hockey. Injuries happened at the most inopportune time. Certain players didn't step up. You need to play tough hockey when it comes to the playoffs. Too many soft players on this roster.
3. Monty got outcoached. The same can be said in 2019 when Berube outcoached Bruce. Monty tried to be too nice of a coach and it backfired to some degree. Players needed to ramp up their intensity and it didn't happen.
4. Construction of the team still lacks a big mobile defense. This has been the issue for some time with the likes of Krug, Grez, Cliffy, etc. Too small of defenseman and not nasty enough. Lindholm and Carlo are not tough playoff warriors.
5. The need for tough Canadian players. Look at Vegas with 18 Canadian players. The desire to win.
6. Goal scorers need to seize the moment. Your top players need to be the difference makers. The Bruin stars didn't really perform at that level. Tkachuk, Marchessault, Stone, Eichel, Draisaitl, McDavid and Hintz were big playoff performers.
7. This was the Bruins chance to try to win it all and they fell flat on their faces. Unfortunately, as a Bruin fan it's difficult. The disappointment of 2013, 2019 and 2023 have lasting scars. For those a bit older you will remember 1974, 1977 and 1978 as difficult times as a Bruin fan as well. Disappointing results in the finals.
KnightofBoston
Registered User
Nothing happens in a vacuum
Bruce is a bruins fan and has a home here. He f***ed up in 2019, paid for it, and won after a multi decades long career of being a relative nobody
Hats off and hope he enjoys his summer
Bruce is a bruins fan and has a home here. He f***ed up in 2019, paid for it, and won after a multi decades long career of being a relative nobody
Hats off and hope he enjoys his summer
- Jun 14, 2010
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rocketdan9
Registered User
- Feb 5, 2009
- 20,415
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Rarely happens in sports
But...must be a sweet revenge for the coach
Mcphee pulled all the right strings after missing the playoffs
Why? The last thing is.... blame towards him for that finals run.
Game 7... a few players decided to have a poor outing (wrong time). Thats how we lost...
Trizz617
Registered User
Truth. Anddd, we can still be fans of our team without wearing blinders to this fact.
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
The consensus here seems to be that whenever the Bruins lose a playoff series they were outcoached.
It's a simple conclusion that can lay blame with no analysis at all. And then of course, it goes to the dumb GM that hired the coach. And he stays in his job because of Mr. Burns.
LouJersey
Registered User
“The Cup is going to the Cape!” former Bruins and current Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy told multiple media outlets after he and the Golden Knights won the 2023 Stanley Cup with a 9-3 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 5 Tuesday night.
LOL you go Bruce
LOL you go Bruce
He's not the GM
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
I really like #2.
And #5.
1974, 1977, 1978 difficult times as a Bruins fan? Yes, it was really hard having to watch Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. Or Don Cherry's lunchpail gang outhitting and outplaying every more talented team except for Montreal. Too bad I couldn't have been a Red Wings fan in those dark days.
MarchysNoseKnows
Big Hat No Cattle
- Feb 14, 2018
- 9,836
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That's a strawman. There's plenty of analysis about the poor coaching. Not going to Swayman. Playing Derek Forbort over Grizz against a heavy forecheck. Shuffling the lines for Game 5 for no reason. Going away from a line that worked really well (Hall-Coyle-Frederic). Not pressuring the Florida defense properly.
Plenty of blame for the players too. But to say it's a situation of blaming the coach with no analysis is a poor take.
UncleRico
Registered User
- May 8, 2017
- 9,326
- 12,149
They had to go away from Frederic on the 3rd line in the playoffs. You can only muff so many shots on odd man rushes before the coach puts someone else in. He was ruining plays and not playing physical.
...you forgot to add the part about the referees always screwing us.
Good for Bruce, obviously a good coach when his message is being received, and from what beat reporters have said about their interactions with him he seems like a good dude too. Even with hindsight I'm still ok with the bruins moving on from him, sometimes teams just need a new voice. But I'm glad he had success elsewhere.
missingchicklet
Registered User
- Jan 24, 2010
- 36,589
- 34,464
I still love Kessel. Never forget:
One thing that struck me about Vegas' run this year is that it overturned a few common beliefs regarding Cassidy's coaching, such as:
1. Cassidy relies too much on his star players to get results, as in going to the 'perfection line' too often and not working hard enough to find secondary scoring. Not a bit of it in Vegas. The number one hallmark of the Knights' postseason was their depth, the way they shared the goals and talent around the whole team, and the fact that all 4 lines were important and did their jobs.
2. Cassidy neuters his players and doesn't allow them to play tough, physical hockey and play the body when the opportunity presents. Again, clearly not the case with the VGK. Big tough team that never takes a backwards step, punishes opponents wherever possible and hits to hurt. Florida had outmuscled all the teams in the east but against Vegas they ran into a brick wall. Gudas and Tkachuk in particular had been bullying other teams at will, but the Knights put both on the shelf for periods of time and made all their opponents accountable.
3. Cassidy's defensive system hampers offense and limits offensive production from the back end. Nope. Vegas had little trouble scoring all postseason, despite having comparatively limited outright offensive talent at their disposal. Not a huge amount of points amongst the defenders, it's fair to say, but they did their bit and contributed plenty in transition all the same.
4. Cassidy has a habit of getting outcoached in playoff series. Not this year. The Jets were fairly ordinary and then further weakened by injury so were relative easy beats, but the Oilers, Stars and Panthers were all very good teams coached by capable if not outstanding people who all presented different types of challenges. Bruce and his players dispatched them all with fairly little fuss and it never felt like Cassidy was losing the tactical battle. The Oilers probably did best at getting things on their terms for periods of time, largely through the sheer talent of McDavid and Draisaitl, but they couldn't sustain it for long.
I think all of these past criticisms of Cassidy had some merit - I'm not trying to pretend that he's never had any flaws. All coaches do. Rather what I think we've seen is a combination of some of these beliefs being shown to be overblown or context-specific, plus clear evidence that Cassidy has learned and improved as a coach over the years and has worked to overcome some previous errors and deficiencies. It's not one or the other - it's both. Equally I don't think it can be argued that Bruce 'proving himself' this year allows more blame to be shifted to the Bruins' players for past defeats. It's not as simple as that. It does perhaps give some cause for reflection though on some of the perceptions held regarding those years, for those so inclined.
But that's by and by. For now, good on Butch. Good on Vegas. Good on Stone and Eichel and Marchessault and Hill. The whole team played an excellent, textbook postseason and thoroughly earned their Cup. Whatever the circumstances and advantages behind their origins as an expansion team, no-one is handed a trophy and the current group have worked damn hard to achieve the ultimate success. Perhaps they were a tad lucky to meet 8th seed Florida in the finals, but the Panthers had dispatched the best in the east and I honestly don't see any of those other teams beating the Knights anyway given the form they were in. They were best and fittest when it mattered most, and that's all that need be said.
For the rest of us, there's always next year...
1. Cassidy relies too much on his star players to get results, as in going to the 'perfection line' too often and not working hard enough to find secondary scoring. Not a bit of it in Vegas. The number one hallmark of the Knights' postseason was their depth, the way they shared the goals and talent around the whole team, and the fact that all 4 lines were important and did their jobs.
2. Cassidy neuters his players and doesn't allow them to play tough, physical hockey and play the body when the opportunity presents. Again, clearly not the case with the VGK. Big tough team that never takes a backwards step, punishes opponents wherever possible and hits to hurt. Florida had outmuscled all the teams in the east but against Vegas they ran into a brick wall. Gudas and Tkachuk in particular had been bullying other teams at will, but the Knights put both on the shelf for periods of time and made all their opponents accountable.
3. Cassidy's defensive system hampers offense and limits offensive production from the back end. Nope. Vegas had little trouble scoring all postseason, despite having comparatively limited outright offensive talent at their disposal. Not a huge amount of points amongst the defenders, it's fair to say, but they did their bit and contributed plenty in transition all the same.
4. Cassidy has a habit of getting outcoached in playoff series. Not this year. The Jets were fairly ordinary and then further weakened by injury so were relative easy beats, but the Oilers, Stars and Panthers were all very good teams coached by capable if not outstanding people who all presented different types of challenges. Bruce and his players dispatched them all with fairly little fuss and it never felt like Cassidy was losing the tactical battle. The Oilers probably did best at getting things on their terms for periods of time, largely through the sheer talent of McDavid and Draisaitl, but they couldn't sustain it for long.
I think all of these past criticisms of Cassidy had some merit - I'm not trying to pretend that he's never had any flaws. All coaches do. Rather what I think we've seen is a combination of some of these beliefs being shown to be overblown or context-specific, plus clear evidence that Cassidy has learned and improved as a coach over the years and has worked to overcome some previous errors and deficiencies. It's not one or the other - it's both. Equally I don't think it can be argued that Bruce 'proving himself' this year allows more blame to be shifted to the Bruins' players for past defeats. It's not as simple as that. It does perhaps give some cause for reflection though on some of the perceptions held regarding those years, for those so inclined.
But that's by and by. For now, good on Butch. Good on Vegas. Good on Stone and Eichel and Marchessault and Hill. The whole team played an excellent, textbook postseason and thoroughly earned their Cup. Whatever the circumstances and advantages behind their origins as an expansion team, no-one is handed a trophy and the current group have worked damn hard to achieve the ultimate success. Perhaps they were a tad lucky to meet 8th seed Florida in the finals, but the Panthers had dispatched the best in the east and I honestly don't see any of those other teams beating the Knights anyway given the form they were in. They were best and fittest when it mattered most, and that's all that need be said.
For the rest of us, there's always next year...
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