Everyone else is serving up a "hot take" so I figured why not me. You can find these posts in the PGT, but I figure they might get lost so I made a thread. Sue me.
Anyone suggesting we needed to play more physical obviously hasn't watched a single regular season game this year. We don't and can't play that style. We are successful because of speed and skill. It is as simple as that.
Not only do we not play that way, but when we try, we are terrible at it. We lose our cool and end up in the box half the game. People don't realize that playing that brutal Bruins style requires a talent of sorts, in such that you have to know how to "control" the physicality, if that makes any sense. They play right on that line, and that in itself requires skill. It's the dirty **** where the player appears to not have intended it. It's the hit from behind that didn't seem intentional. Here is the best way I can explain it.
Refs are humans, and they tend to more often call penalties on retaliation to contact, even illegal contact rather than the initial infraction. That doesn't seem fair, but that is the way it is, and how it always has been. The reason for it is not some grand conspiracy against the Leafs or teams like the Leafs. Simply, refs are swayed by the "intention" of the contact. Retaliation is often done in anger and frustration, and so it looks worse than illegal contact that happens in the flow of play. So with this being said, here is where teams like the Bruins and the Jets have an advantage if you try to play their game. They don't goon it up in angry more "obvious" way. It's just part of the way they play. They want you to lose your cool. How else do you explain Marchand kissing Komarov on the cheek.
The answer is simple. Don't engage. Don't try and play their game, because we are not "good" at it, and we end up imploding with frustration. Don't cry about obvious penalties not being called. Don't let it bother you. The call will eventually come. Just keep pushing speed and skill (which IS our strength) and eventually the refs will have to call penalties. Make THEM chase US. Once they start getting frustrated, that "skill" of playing on the edge will slowly slip over into stupid penalties. That's how we got those two power plays in the 2nd. They couldn't goon us because they couldn't catch us, so they had to use their sticks rather than their bodies. Stick penalties are more obvious and more likely to be called. So basically, think you got elbowed and didn't get a call, get up and shut up. Again, don't engage.
This is why Boston wins. We will lose in 4 games if we think this way.
The refs were not calling those penalties. So what? How did that effect the game, other than that it isn't fair. You know what did effect the game? Retaliation. Refs control the game, not the players. This isn't 1984. The league does not allow players to police themselves any more.
A team that plays like Boston should be at least top 5 in penalties called in the regular season right? NOPE. 14th overall in penalties called. It's like when a player complains about a penalty not being called to the ref. Is the ref going to suddenly penalize the player after the play is dead? NOPE. The reality is, the Bruins play dirty, and don't get called for it. Plain and simple. That will not change. Emailing the office, whining to officials, nothing will change that. It's been like that since they won the cup against Vancouver.
It's called composure, it's called keeping your cool, and teams like Boston thrive on their opponents not keeping their cool. That is how they win. Don't like the lack of calls. Suck it up, and definitely don't retaliate.
Truth is, the refs didn't suddenly stop calling obvious penalties on the Bruins last night. They've been doing it all year, and for years. It might not seem fair, but there is nothing we can do to change it other than not falling into the trap. Why do you think Boston has won 3/4 of their games in the last half of the season? IT'S A TRAP.
There's my "hot take". So if I'm Babcock, keep playing Polak, because Dermott helps him with his lack of speed, but remove anyone who doesn't play fast or skilled. No Komarov, no Plekanec, no Martin. And STOP playing Hainsey so much, and have faith in the d-man who appears to be our second best defender in Dermott. And if Kadri continues to be a hot head and retaliate, bench him until he stops.
