Post-Game Talk: GAME 19 - Extra, Extra, Read all about it! Blues 3 Bruins 2 (OT)

[hrdpuk]

If we are going to lose games do it with youth.
Make trades bring in some young players.

prospects rookies

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

Ten more home games like this and seats will be selling half price.

Already happening, Three games this season I was not able to even GIVE them away.

Myself? I rarely missed a game on tv in 50 years. This year missed many, can't be bothered.

Terrible product, unlikable team. They are an embarrassment to the crest on the jersey.

Better do something quick.

 

[JAD]

I can not tell you how frustrated I am with the play of this team.
Since the first playoff series against Florida two years ago and even last season with certain players having career years I began to notice a breakdown in team defensive structure.
Go ahead and look back at some of my posts from around January 24 where I mentioned the team drifting away from their defensive identity.

Unfortunately this only begins at the top where the coach gives instruction for his game plan and vision of it's execution.
Team structure, identity, motivation and execution all begin with the coach regardless of the amount of talent on the team.
If it were just motivation and execution then we could conclude that it is a player and talent problem.
But when it also includes team structure and identity that is a coaching issue.

Right or wrong the easiest solution is to change the coach(es) or the coach has to change his philosophy and approach to team structure.
Past experience dictates coaches seldom if ever change their approach.

The choice lies with upper management, ride out the season hoping the coach(es) make enough adjustments and things improve, or make a change in coaching.
The danger in riding out the season is compromising player’s already fragile confidence in themselves, continuation of developing bad habits, and a lowering of players trade value ( selling low = poor asset management).
If things remain the same at some point upper management will have to make a choice.

As things appear now, the best and simplest move is to change the coach, even if the position is filled temporarily, with additional charges or final appointment at season's end.
Additionally, once a coaching change is made upper mangement has to address the team (players) in a closed door meeting putting the team on notice that no one's job is safe, that if they want to remain a Bruin they have to prove it on the ice. Unimpressive play means more chages will be made.

The new coach has to have private meetings with each individual player explaining his expectations for that player and the role that player will have on the team and within his system.
Players have to be put on notice that the status quo is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, taking a hard line but with obtainable goals.

Teach and practice what is preached.
Instill confidence in the new system, create a team identity and brotherhood restoring confidence in each other as a team, not as a group of individuals.

I believe it can be done and that team play and moral will improve dramatically regardless of talent level.
It doesn't matter that these players are paid professionals, it is human nature to desire and follow a leader who inspires and has a clear vision.
Montgomery has gone from encouraging and giving players creative freedom to casting blame and being short on answers.
It's gone from trust and confidence to indecisiveness.

My feeling is it is time for change.
The question is, what is the direction going forward? And that answer lies entirely with upper management.

 

[bruins4thecup65]

Is Blake Wheeler available?

Got to be better than Tyler F Johnson

 

[BTO]

Wildcard 1 or 2 is my prediction.

Unless both wcs come from the metro this year.

 

[DaStinger]

Is Blake Wheeler available?

Got to be better than Tyler F Johnson

God no, cut parts go with youth, get draft picks.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Pastrnak is absolutely on Kucherovs level. Now we are being a little over critical on our own players.... Kucherov is still on a loaded yet declining roster with the likes of Point, Herman.

Pastrnak is without debate a top 5 forward in the NHL.

McAvoy is a top 5 defenseman as well but sliding towards top 10 with this season showing he cannot carry an inferior roster as we had hoped.

Need to add to a Pastrnak at whatever cost not trade him for a lateral winger or worse.

You clearly don't watch the NHL. There are absolutely more than 5 F better than #88.

Right now there are 5 Wingers I take over #88 in terms of impact. Kucherov is the most dominant wing in the NHL by quite a bit. Panarin, Ranheim, M. Tkachuk and Rantanen are as impactful if not more. Then go to C and McDavid, Mackinnon, Drai and Matthews are better. more impactful.

McAvoy same thing as Makar, Fox, Heiskanen, Josi, Forsling, Morrissey and Hedman are better than McAvoy. Take the fan in glasses off.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

Yes, on the worst offensive team in the league the real problem is the only guy scoring with any sort of consistency.

Yes by that note, the Blackhawks have to dump that bum Bedard. Team keeps losing. That kid has no heart.

 

[HHHH]

To be completely honest, I had not realized that there was a B's game yesterday until it was over...I have been a B's fan for decades, but I am just not finding this year's squad to be very interesting to watch at all.

I know my interest will pick up again, but the early part of this season has been a slog

 

[KillerMillerTime]

How bad are the Bruins?

Right now there is only one team in the entire NHL that is in the bottom 10 in GF/game, GA/game, PK and PP effectiveness.

Your Boston Bruins.

There are six teams in the bottom 10 in 3 out of 4 stats. The Bruins have played 4 games now against these teams and they are 1-1-2 in those games. 3 of the 4 games went to OT and the other, the only win, took miraculous 3rd period comeback.

Anaheim
Islanders
Calgary
Utah
St. Louis
San Jose

Pretty sure they are 2-1-1

 

[BamBamCam]

Charlie would be a first pairing D on every team in the league, learn hockey

Not in Winnipeg or Colorado

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Not in Winnipeg or Colorado

Who does Winnipeg have? Makar of course on Colorado.

You clearly don't watch the NHL. There are absolutely more than 5 F better than #88.

Right now there are 5 Wingers I take over #88 in terms of impact. Kucherov is the most dominant wing in the NHL by quite a bit. Panarin, Ranheim, M. Tkachuk and Rantanen are as impactful if not more. Then go to C and McDavid, Mackinnon, Drai and Matthews are better. more impactful.

McAvoy same thing as Makar, Fox, Heiskanen, Josi, Forsling, Morrissey and Hedman are better than McAvoy. Take the fan in glasses off.

Reinhart over Pastrnak? Tkachuk? Easily debatable.



That is a wild opinion. Josi, Forsling over McAvoy?

As I said, we fans are trying too hard to be critical of the few elite players we have. Relying on grass is always greener, clearly.

 

[BruinDust]

The question is, what is the direction going forward? And that answer lies entirely with upper management.

They have three paths in front of them.....

1) Full rebuild

2) Admit this season is a write off, sell off as many UFAs/players with 1 year left as you can, and try to reinvent this team (specifically the Forward group) over the next couple years.

3) Try to salvage this season with band-aid type solutions.

#1 is not happening. How do you tear a team down when you have almost 300 million committed to these 6 players over the next 6 years. (Pasta/Elias/McAvoy/Hampus/Zadorov/Swayman)? Their combined cap hit per year is a staggering $48.250 million per year. 3 of those players (Elias, Hampus, Zadorov) are basically untradeable right now. They made their bed and there is no real viable way out of this.

The numbers say #3 is a complete waste of time, money and assets. This is a bottom tier team that should be picking Top 5 in the draft in June. One trade won't fix it. Neither will a coaching change. It would however likely give them enough of a bump defensively to fall back into the 6-14 range of the draft which is counter-productive. They still won't make the playoffs. Even if they did, I think there is clear separation between the Top 7 teams in the East and the rest. 1st round fodder for a true contender.

The path to me is clear. It's No. 2.

Question is, do Sweeney and Neely have guts to admit their mistakes? Should they even get a chance to re-tool this team? It's been there show here now for 10 years.

Instead like has been suggested, we are likely looking at more of the same vision with Mike Sullivan coming in this off-season. And people think the Bruins are soft now? Like a time warp back to 20 years ago with Sullivan at the helm, a couple nitwits in the front office (Sinden/MOC = Sweeney/Neely) and a perverse fascination to build a roster full of mid-tier hockey players and no real interest in acquiring true game-breaking talents.

 

[BamBamCam]

Who does Winnipeg have? Makar of course on Colorado.

Morrissey:
Playing in Winnipeg often means you are overlooked, but if you watched Josh Morrissey play every night, you'd think he was a perennial shoe-in for the Norris Trophy. His offensive game is impressive: his slap shot packs a wallop, he can run a power play, and he can carry the puck on the breakout. Defensively, he is even more impressive. He's incredibly physical, blocks shots, and frequently disrupts passes.

 

[TP70BruinsCup]

They have three paths in front of them.....

1) Full rebuild

2) Admit this season is a write off, sell off as many UFAs/players with 1 year left as you can, and try to reinvent this team (specifically the Forward group) over the next couple years.

3) Try to salvage this season with band-aid type solutions.

#1 is not happening. How do you tear a team down when you have almost 300 million committed to these 6 players over the next 6 years. (Pasta/Elias/McAvoy/Hampus/Zadorov/Swayman)? Their combined cap hit per year is a staggering $48.250 million per year. 3 of those players (Elias, Hampus, Zadorov) are basically untradeable right now. They made their bed and there is no real viable way out of this.

The numbers say #3 is a complete waste of time, money and assets. This is a bottom tier team that should be picking Top 5 in the draft in June. One trade won't fix it. Neither will a coaching change. It would however likely give them enough of a bump defensively to fall back into the 6-14 range of the draft which is counter-productive. They still won't make the playoffs. Even if they did, I think there is clear separation between the Top 7 teams in the East and the rest. 1st round fodder for a true contender.

The path to me is clear. It's No. 2.

Question is, do Sweeney and Neely have guts to admit their mistakes? Should they even get a chance to re-tool this team? It's been there show here now for 10 years.

Instead like has been suggested, we are likely looking at more of the same vision with Mike Sullivan coming in this off-season. And people think the Bruins are soft now? Like a time warp back to 20 years ago with Sullivan at the helm, a couple nitwits in the front office (Sinden/MOC = Sweeney/Neely) and a perverse fascination to build a roster full of mid-tier hockey players and no real interest in acquiring true game-breaking talents.

Excellent breakdown! I agree with it all and yes I don’t think we see the front office admit this is a lame roster and it needs major fixes for this year but as you say to be better in the future. No way they admit they have built a poor roster and overpaid on some players. You’re right in saying to change the coach does little and do we really want to see them make the playoffs only to lose in round one yet again? No thanks. I’d rather miss a year or two and then see them have a better team and futures Blow it up as best you can now and no matter who they do trade at any point make sure you get draft choices back. That’s a must. No more missing out on drafting in the first few rounds or trading draft choices at the deadline for ‘more so called secondary scoring that never works out’

 

[BruinDust]

Excellent breakdown! I agree with it all and yes I don’t think we see the front office admit this is a lame roster and it needs major fixes for this year but as you say to be better in the future. No way they admit they have built a poor roster and overpaid on some players. You’re right in saying to change the coach does little and do we really want to see them make the playoffs only to lose in round one yet again? No thanks. I’d rather miss a year or two and then see them have a better team and futures Blow it up as best you can now and no matter who they do trade at any point make sure you get draft choices back. That’s a must. No more missing out on drafting in the first few rounds or trading draft choices at the deadline for ‘more so called secondary scoring that never works out’

One way or another they absolutely must find more primary scoring. You won't find it during the season. It may not even be there next off-season. But that needs to be the main focus of their re-tool, anything less is a waste of time/assets, just more half-measures like giving expensive long-term deals to Elias, Zadorov, Hampus, etc. or trading 1st rounders for Orlov's and Bertuzzi's.

 

[Therewolf31]

I can not tell you how frustrated I am with the play of this team.
Since the first playoff series against Florida two years ago and even last season with certain players having career years I began to notice a breakdown in team defensive structure.
Go ahead and look back at some of my posts from around January 24 where I mentioned the team drifting away from their defensive identity.

Unfortunately this only begins at the top where the coach gives instruction for his game plan and vision of it's execution.
Team structure, identity, motivation and execution all begin with the coach regardless of the amount of talent on the team.
If it were just motivation and execution then we could conclude that it is a player and talent problem.
But when it also includes team structure and identity that is a coaching issue.

Right or wrong the easiest solution is to change the coach(es) or the coach has to change his philosophy and approach to team structure.
Past experience dictates coaches seldom if ever change their approach.

The choice lies with upper management, ride out the season hoping the coach(es) make enough adjustments and things improve, or make a change in coaching.
The danger in riding out the season is compromising player’s already fragile confidence in themselves, continuation of developing bad habits, and a lowering of players trade value ( selling low = poor asset management).
If things remain the same at some point upper management will have to make a choice.

As things appear now, the best and simplest move is to change the coach, even if the position is filled temporarily, with additional charges or final appointment at season's end.
Additionally, once a coaching change is made upper mangement has to address the team (players) in a closed door meeting putting the team on notice that no one's job is safe, that if they want to remain a Bruin they have to prove it on the ice. Unimpressive play means more chages will be made.

The new coach has to have private meetings with each individual player explaining his expectations for that player and the role that player will have on the team and within his system.
Players have to be put on notice that the status quo is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, taking a hard line but with obtainable goals.

Teach and practice what is preached.
Instill confidence in the new system, create a team identity and brotherhood restoring confidence in each other as a team, not as a group of individuals.

I believe it can be done and that team play and moral will improve dramatically regardless of talent level.
It doesn't matter that these players are paid professionals, it is human nature to desire and follow a leader who inspires and has a clear vision.
Montgomery has gone from encouraging and giving players creative freedom to casting blame and being short on answers.
It's gone from trust and confidence to indecisiveness.

My feeling is it is time for change.
The question is, what is the direction going forward? And that answer lies entirely with upper management.

Well written.

 

[PlayMakers]

Already happening, Three games this season I was not able to even GIVE them away.

Myself? I rarely missed a game on tv in 50 years. This year missed many, can't be bothered.

Terrible product, unlikable team. They are an embarrassment to the crest on the jersey.

Better do something quick.

Hopefully more people stop going/watching and it puts some pressure on them.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

Hopefully more people stop going/watching and it puts some pressure on them.

I have been an avid watcher online since 2010. Rarely missed games, this product is very uninspiring with no real leadership from vets or management. The days of the culture and taking a pay cut for the team are over. Sway killed that, he cared more about the goalie union. Drafting and trades have been average at best and in this salary cap era its hard to compete. This is a .500 team skillwise and that is it. (PS it sucks)

 

[PlayMakers]

They have three paths in front of them.....

1) Full rebuild

2) Admit this season is a write off, sell off as many UFAs/players with 1 year left as you can, and try to reinvent this team (specifically the Forward group) over the next couple years.

3) Try to salvage this season with band-aid type solutions.

#1 is not happening. How do you tear a team down when you have almost 300 million committed to these 6 players over the next 6 years. (Pasta/Elias/McAvoy/Hampus/Zadorov/Swayman)? Their combined cap hit per year is a staggering $48.250 million per year. 3 of those players (Elias, Hampus, Zadorov) are basically untradeable right now. They made their bed and there is no real viable way out of this.

The numbers say #3 is a complete waste of time, money and assets. This is a bottom tier team that should be picking Top 5 in the draft in June. One trade won't fix it. Neither will a coaching change. It would however likely give them enough of a bump defensively to fall back into the 6-14 range of the draft which is counter-productive. They still won't make the playoffs. Even if they did, I think there is clear separation between the Top 7 teams in the East and the rest. 1st round fodder for a true contender.

The path to me is clear. It's No. 2.

Question is, do Sweeney and Neely have guts to admit their mistakes? Should they even get a chance to re-tool this team? It's been there show here now for 10 years.

Instead like has been suggested, we are likely looking at more of the same vision with Mike Sullivan coming in this off-season. And people think the Bruins are soft now? Like a time warp back to 20 years ago with Sullivan at the helm, a couple nitwits in the front office (Sinden/MOC = Sweeney/Neely) and a perverse fascination to build a roster full of mid-tier hockey players and no real interest in acquiring true game-breaking talents.

They will choose Option 3.

1000%

 

[BruinDust]

They will choose Option 3.

1000%

1000000% I'd put money on it.

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

Not in Winnipeg or Colorado

Matter of opinion

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Who does Winnipeg have? Makar of course on Colorado.



Reinhart over Pastrnak? Tkachuk? Easily debatable.



That is a wild opinion. Josi, Forsling over McAvoy?

As I said, we fans are trying too hard to be critical of the few elite players we have. Relying on grass is always greener, clearly.

I'm not being critical at all. You made a declarative statement of #88 being a top 5F in the NHL

I didn't even mention Kaprizov, Barkov, Eichel, Forsberg, Point, Hughes, Hischier and Aho up front. There are at least ten impact forwards around #88 level.

McAvoy has been significantly outplayed by Forsling and Montour last two PO. He as regressed the last two seasons and its noticeable.

 

[PlayMakers]

You clearly don't watch the NHL. There are absolutely more than 5 F better than #88.

Right now there are 5 Wingers I take over #88 in terms of impact. Kucherov is the most dominant wing in the NHL by quite a bit. Panarin, Ranheim, M. Tkachuk and Rantanen are as impactful if not more. Then go to C and McDavid, Mackinnon, Drai and Matthews are better. more impactful.

McAvoy same thing as Makar, Fox, Heiskanen, Josi, Forsling, Morrissey and Hedman are better than McAvoy. Take the fan in glasses off.

I don't know, it feels like you are just looking at the last 18 games.

In the previous 2 years, Pasta is 2nd in the NHL in goals.
In the previous 5 years, Pasta is 3rd in goals in and 6th in points.

And it's not like Pasta is the 2nd best player on his team like Draisaitl, Rantanen and Tkachuk. He doesn't even really have a spectacular offensive running mate like Crosby/Malkin or Matthews/Marner. He has to carry this team offensively. In the last 2 years, Pasta has 86 more points than the 2nd leading scorer on our team.

I will agree that he currently looks like a shell of his former self. He looks tired, and like he's not having fun. Right now he's not a top10 forward, but I'd like to think that this is a funk. That inside he still has top5 skill, creativity and passion. He's only 28 for crying out loud.

 

[BruinDust]

I'm not being critical at all. You made a declarative statement of #88 being a top 5F in the NHL

I didn't even mention Kaprizov, Barkov, Eichel, Forsberg, Point, Hughes, Hischier and Aho up front. There are at least ten impact forwards around #88 level.

McAvoy has been significantly outplayed by Forsling and Montour last two PO. He as regressed the last two seasons and its noticeable.

The fact that their are a lot of great elite forwards in the NHL today doesn't make Pasta any less of an elite forward.

I'm onboard with your take on McAvoy. I think his game has regressed bit by bit since Cassidy left. I'd like to see what an entirely new coaching staff could do with him.