Management Don Sweeney - State of the Bruins - 2/23/25

[DKH]

He did find swayman lohrei poitras McAvoy carlo through draft and got Coyle and zacha for basically nothing. Those are some solid foundational pieces.

Ahhhhm……Morgan Geekie & Mark Kastelic

Vezina trophy winner ring a bell

Hampus for Vaakanainen

Air Fryer Zucchini

I usually just use Italian seasoning instead of basil and oregano separately. A good general rule is to always use grated Romano over parmesan when you can. (Though this is still excellent with parm.)

We also make this with feta cheese sometimes and it is just as great. You can pretty much substitute whatever breadcrumbs you like/have (panko are the best for this).

The best advice I never take is to really let the zucchini dry out so they get real crispy when you cook.

I’ll share this with Joe - I’m all over it

Thanks

 

[The don godfather]

Ahhhhm……Morgan Geekie & Mark Kastelic

Vezina trophy winner ring a bell

Hampus for Vaakanainen


I’ll share this with Joe - I’m all over it

Thanks

Yes that linus trade was pure genius. Hopefully that Leternaeu kid who Donny got with kastelic korpi trade pans out . Kinda worried about him.

 

[Blitzkrug]

He did find swayman lohrei poitras McAvoy carlo through draft and got Coyle and zacha for basically nothing. Those are some solid foundational pieces.

Except most of those are not.

Poitras isn't an anything yet. Promise is there but he hasn't played nearly enough to make a call going either way. Lohrei has been hot trash this season and while i will acknowledge the development curve for defenseman can be brutal, he also hasn't done enough to earn that label. Zacha is whatever, i hardly think he's some irreplaceable piece.

The rest of those names i already pointed out as wins but i guess reading is hard.

Ahhhhm……Morgan Geekie & Mark Kastelic

Vezina trophy winner ring a bell

Hampus for Vaakanainen


I’ll share this with Joe - I’m all over it

Thanks

I'm sorry, you appear to be implying Mark Kastelic, a bottom 6 forward is a foundational piece? Does that not say how down bad this team is? Let's call it like it is; he's a nobody on most teams in the league but because he has something resembling a pulse, he's somehow now irreplaceable? Is that not an indictment on Sweeney?

And then giving him credit for signing Ullmark, a goalie that damn near every insider/pundit went "hey i bet this guy f***s on a team not named the Buffalo Sabres" at that time is frankly pathetic.

 

[Hookslide]

You might be right about Monty, but I truly believe there are more than one guilty party to this mess, and it all started offseason festered its way into camp and then regular season.

The team he built has so little skill. Seems to be trying to plug a square peg into a round hole.
Sacco sucks, hope he's gone in the offseason.
I get they've missed Hampus pretty much all season but he's not going to solve the lack of scoring.

Still baffles me Lysell or Merk haven't been given an extended opportunity with how bad this team is to watch.

Has anyone enjoyed watching a Bruins game this season? I find them oh so boring yet still tune into 90% of them.

I agree these games lack a lot. I in all serious do not believe, in the Buin's prospects, there best young player is Loheri, and I at times even wonder about him. Maybe they should give Merk and Lysell a look you might be right, but you also risk depreciating their value even more. Lindholm is a player I have always liked, but lets be honest this team was struggling before his injury.

 

[The don godfather]

Except most of those are not.

Poitras isn't an anything yet. Promise is there but he hasn't played nearly enough to make a call going either way. Lohrei has been hot trash this season and while i will acknowledge the development curve for defenseman can be brutal, he also hasn't done enough to earn that label. Zacha is whatever, i hardly think he's some irreplaceable piece.

The rest of those names i already pointed out as wins but i guess reading is hard.

I'm sorry, you appear to be implying Mark Kastelic, a bottom 6 forward is a foundational piece? Does that not say how down bad this team is? Let's call it like it is; he's a nobody on most teams in the league but because he has something resembling a pulse, he's somehow now irreplaceable? Is that not an indictment on Sweeney?

And then giving him credit for signing Ullmark, a goalie that damn near every insider/pundit went "hey i bet this guy f***s on a team not named the Buffalo Sabres" at that time is frankly pathetic.

Keep sniffing your own farts in your Sweeney defense force group chat because this is pathetic at worst and delusional at best.

Donny a win away from cup and had the best regular season team in history under his belt and years of playoff showings. Not many GM have that kind of resume under their belt. Donny has his fault no doubt especially his draft record but he has done some wonderful transactions too helping this team to be very competitive year after year .

 

[smithformeragent]

The fanbase is clearly split.

For me, things feel a bit too comfortable for a club that’s seemingly on the wrong side of the bell curve.

I’d like the heat turned up, please.

And I personally couldn’t care less whether or not certain plays was “want” to stay.

You do what’s best for the organization in terms of rebuilding it, with the goal of winning the Cup again as soon as humanly possible.

Otherwise, what are we doing here? It’s the Dan Duquette Red Sox.

Hang a banner for most regular season wins over the past 15 seasons.

 

[Hookslide]

grouchy
What ? Ok, I’ll keep it simp…..irl

This place is becoming a young persons message board. Most started following April 2011

My yutes tell me you want to converse on HF now you got to get with it

They also said stop defending Donny he’s old anyone under 40 isn’t going to dig his swag on HF - and those over 40 are just grouchy

I am way over 40, so I guess that means I fall into the "GROUCHIEST" category, and I am comfortable with that.

 

[smithformeragent]

Stay on topic and don’t make it personal.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Just in. A personal message from Don Sweeney in reference to this post:

"I've been made aware of @Aussie Bruin 's recent comments regarding my recent comments.

I'm not sure what you mean. And by that, what I'm referencing is a general lack of knowledge as to exactly what your words mean when strung together in a sentence. Or should I say a group of words grouped together and generally consisting of a some nouns, a few verbs, and in some cases perhaps an adverb or two. However, I'd also like to point out that an adverb is not at all a prerequisite for verbal communication. Or written communication, for that matter.

Still, I think you get the point. At least I hope you get the point - or the general gist - of what I'm trying to say.

And if so, I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know what my point is. I seem to have misplaced it. Lost my train of thought, so to speak.

And when I use the word train, I use it as an euphemism for the general sense of what I was talking about. I don't mean an actual train as that would be silly. Although I do like trains. I have a set in my office that goes choo choo as it chugs around the desk. It's not a real train, as that too would be silly. It's just a little train which I drive cautiously. Not too cautiously. Just a little cautiously. But that could change. Tomorrow, next week, or even later today. I could drive it much more aggressively - it's definitely within my skill set. However, there's no timetable to that decision. If I'm honest, I'm trying to wrestle with the takeout menu for lunch today. The menu for lunch that I will purchase and then "take out" -- or should I say "take back" -- to my office. To do my job - which as you can clearly see, I am doing.

I hope I've addressed your concerns - that is, assuming, that I correctly interpreted your words as concerns. If they were just a comment, please disregard this message as it probably isn't germane to what you were getting at.

I hope that clarifies things."

LOL, excellent.

 

[Bruin4]

Donny a win away from cup and had the best regular season team in history under his belt and years of playoff showings. Not many GM have that kind of resume under their belt. Donny has his fault no doubt especially his draft record but he has done some wonderful transactions too helping this team to be very competitive year after year .

Great regular season the best in history unfortunately led to losing in round one of the playoffs that year. A complete travesty can’t blame Sweeney there but still that team didn’t win when it mattered the most,

Same with the one win away from a cup Bruins should of could of, but boy things were going their way that playoff year until they weren’t, again can’t blame Sweeney he was aggressive at the deadline and brought in additions.

The one win away from the Cup though to me happen in 1979 and it resulted in one of the best coaches in Bruins history being fired. And his resume was impeccable leading the team to four division titles and two appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals in 5 seasons. Everyone has a shelf life and no doubt Sweeney is nearing his.

 

[mjhfb]

Except most of those are not.

Poitras isn't an anything yet. Promise is there but he hasn't played nearly enough to make a call going either way. Lohrei has been hot trash this season and while i will acknowledge the development curve for defenseman can be brutal, he also hasn't done enough to earn that label. Zacha is whatever, i hardly think he's some irreplaceable piece.

A young defenseman currently 3rd in assists (in 5 less games) playing on a terrible offensive team is "hot trash"?
I have watched this kid since college and while he needs to better defensively position himself at times I would never describe a developing 6'5" defenseman with good hands and vision putting up points as "hot trash".

 

[The don godfather]

Great regular season the best in history unfortunately led to losing in round one of the playoffs that year. A complete travesty can’t blame Sweeney there but still that team didn’t win when it mattered the most,

Same with the one win away from a cup Bruins should of could of, but boy things were going their way that playoff year until they weren’t, again can’t blame Sweeney he was aggressive at the deadline and brought in additions.

The one win away from the Cup though to me happen in 1979 and it resulted in one of the best coaches in Bruins history being fired. And his resume was impeccable leading the team to four division titles and two appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals in 5 seasons. Everyone has a shelf life and no doubt Sweeney is nearing his.

Donny set up Cassidy 2019 with the Coyle mojo moves and Monty with orlov and bertuzzi. They both failed. Donny did his job and should have gotten 1 ring at least. Pure bad luck.

 

[Bruin4]

Donny set up Cassidy 2019 with the Coyle mojo moves and Monty with orlov and bertuzzi. They both failed. Donny did his job and should have gotten 1 ring at least. Pure bad luck.

Don’t forget the Backes signing he set Cassidy up with as well, but if that penalty gets called in game 5 on Bozek, thanks Kelly Sutherland this conversation isn’t taking place. Dam shame !!

 

[GordonHowe]

Hey Mark I’m going tomorrow I’ll drop by and say hello - not sure if they have any Pups calendars my kid looking for one

Maybe Jacobs will give me a 2 month discount


He loses 2-3 games but Celtics could if can beat Cleveland get a dozen

Do stop by I believe we still have the Pups calendars, at the registers. I think they are like $20 or something like that.

 

[bwunderlich]

Watching and reading several times, the "competative juices" part was interesting.

Thinking SweeNeely can't believe the team has not turned a bit around the corner and got on a small heater at least. He actually noted how most on the team have regressed in 2025 (EL and Pasta as exceptions) . . .and as a team, regressed in all aspects of the game.

They just can't be this bad - that is the deep dive for mngt. Coaching and/or locker room.

If Brad can bring in anything for a few weeks being away the organization needs every asset they can garner. Also, going forward, 1-year deal(s) for Brad.

I think mngt sees P-Bruins as capable of a good playoff run and have left several players glued to the busses. Matty P will join them as soon as team is eliminated. Great experience for the yutes.

 

[TheReal13Linseman]

After years of win-now moves, Don Sweeney and the Bruins seem ready to wave white flag

After years of win-now moves, it looks as though the bill is about to come due for Don Sweeney and the Bruisn this season.

www.boston.com

…Those efforts resulted in names like Lee Stempniak, Drew Stafford, Rick Nash, Charlie Coyle, Marcus Johansson, Ondrej Kase, Taylor Hall, Hampus Lindholm, Dmitry Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Patrick Maroon all donning black-and-gold sweaters.

Some did little to reverse Boston’s fortunes, like Stempniak in 2016. Others, like Johansson, played key roles in getting the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.

Several became lineup regulars like Coyle and Lindholm, while Orlov and Bertuzzi bolstered a record-setting roster in 2023.

But those efforts did not end with Chara or Bergeron hoisting hockey’s greatest prize beyond that one fateful night in Vancouver.

And as admirable as those attempts were to push Boston toward another Stanley Cup, the bill was inevitably set to come due — with years spent cashing out on first-round picks and whiffing on what few selections they had leaving the team’s prospect pool barren….

The Bruins, as currently constituted, have a solid foundation in place with a 60-goal winger in David Pastrnak, top-pairing defenseman in Charlie McAvoy, and a promising netminder in Jeremy Swayman all in their prime and signed to long-term deals.


But the rest of Boston’s depth chart is encumbered with so much bloat, underperforming assets, and a dearth of young talent, that whatever promise resonated with this team in September has regressed into a miserable product on the ice.

Changes need to be made, and draft capital must be recouped (and most importantly, properly utilized).

lol. 3 players is not a “solid foundation”

 

[TheReal13Linseman]

In fairness to me I was grouchy in my 30s, too

Yeah, and I was born grouchy. How ya like that, DKH!?!

Oh, and GET OFF MY LAWN!