Post-Game Talk: GAME #21 - Flames extinguish BRUINS 2-1 - Now 4-5 at home :(

[LSCII]

Remember when this team had toughness? God damn, "but the game is changing" - Did the game change when Boston decided to bully the **** out of the Canucks to win the cup? You remove guys like Shawn Thornton, Rinaldo (who drew a lot of calls) Randell, who outscored the entire 4th Line last year in less games.

"hey guys, welcome to Boston! We were once tough... when we were competitive.

The game is changing, and 2011 was 5 years ago. The issue isn't that the B's are soft, it's that they don't have much talent AND they're soft. If you want to cling to an old identity, then do it. But the issue is they've only gone halfway. Halfway in a rebuild. Halfway with the kind of players they want. The team is full of tweeners. They're not good enough skills wise to compete with more skilled teams and not physical enough to bully them.

 

[ODAAT]

The game is changing, and 2011 was 5 years ago. The issue isn't that the B's are soft, it's that they don't have much talent AND they're soft. If you want to cling to an old identity, then do it. But the issue is they've only gone halfway. Halfway in a rebuild. Halfway with the kind of players they want. The team is full of tweeners. They're not good enough skills wise to compete with more skilled teams and not physical enough to bully them.

exactly, and tough or otherwise, you still have to score more than your opponents and this team isn`t doing it and as much as I too have piled on Hayes, this is about 3 lines doing next to nothing offensively and I`m looking directly at those wearing a letter on their jersey`s as players I`m disappointed in at this time.

 

[oreillyisgod]

They'd get more power plays, and with Sacco gone too, they might actually be effective...

But seriously, I like Julien, I respect him. I'm not one of those "he hates the kids," but he had a much better roster last season, and choked down the stretch, an even better roster the year before, and choked down the stretch, and even better roster the year before and choked in the 2nd round. I think his time has run its course, and his rigid system is wearing on the players. They play tight, afraid to make mistakes, then make even more. They start off by playing a more uptempo game from the D out, then if there are any missteps, right back to D to D and force it up the boards to a stationary winger.

He brought me a cup win I didn't think was coming, and am forever grateful, but the game has changed so much in 5 years. And there's a cloud of frustration around this team that they just can't skate through. I firmly believe it would be a breath of fresh air in the room. He is too tight and rigid. Nothings going to change otherwise.

Julien isnt going anywhere. JJ likes and respects him and so does Mrs. Jacobs who has more influence that people think. Also JJ is never again going to pay two coaches at the same time. Neely and Sweeney will be gone first.

Nothing is going to change anytime soon, strap yourself in for a whole lotta mediocrity

 

[Braunbaer]

But are the Bruins the real deal?

 

[Blowfish]

exactly, and tough or otherwise, you still have to score more than your opponents and this team isn`t doing it and as much as I too have piled on Hayes, this is about 3 lines doing next to nothing offensively and I`m looking directly at those wearing a letter on their jersey`s as players I`m disappointed in at this time.

I agree with the above posters RE vets not performing and this post however let's not forget Hayes was paid for goal scoring so yes he very much deserves to be lumped with the top 3 lines under performing. At this stage Hayes is beyond stupid and just taking up valuable training ice time from younger developing prospects. He's horrible and he should receive the first message and sent directly to the AHL.

My issue lies with either the coaches or management. I'm so frustrated watching the Spooners C Millers and Morrows being used as scapegoats...any form of punishment ALWAYS goes to those under $2 M and those with less experience versus the core veterans. It's killing any hope for those young prospects to develop consistency and confidence.

I can't tell you how angry I was watching Spooner on the 4th line.

I want to add Schaller looked pretty good on the power play lol....

Something has to change!

 

[TheBigZ]

Julien isnt going anywhere. JJ likes and respects him and so does Mrs. Jacobs who has more influence that people think. Also JJ is never again going to pay two coaches at the same time. Neely and Sweeney will be gone first.

Nothing is going to change anytime soon, strap yourself in for a whole lotta mediocrity

One thing wrong with your statement: IF they fire Sweeney and Cam first, whoever the new GM/president is will want to hire and start fresh with there own guy behind the bench. Otherwise there firing is just PR, because the real leader of the team will still be standing.

 

[ODAAT]

I agree with the above posters RE vets not performing and this post however let's not forget Hayes was paid for goal scoring so yes he very much deserves to be lumped with the top 3 lines under performing. At this stage Hayes is beyond stupid and just taking up valuable training ice time from younger developing prospects. He's horrible and he should receive the first message and sent directly to the AHL.

My issue lies with either the coaches or management. I'm so frustrated watching the Spooners C Millers and Morrows being used as scapegoats...any form of punishment ALWAYS goes to those under $2 M and those with less experience versus the core veterans. It's killing any hope for those young prospects to develop consistency and confidence.

Something has to change!

IMHO, 99.99% of coaches would sit a younger player before a vet if both were struggling in the same manner

I don`t get the Hayes thing either, nor do I think, for one moment, having someone in his place would change the scoring woes of those mentioned above. I also don`t think the 3 you mentioned are being used as scapegoats. Morrow had a horrible game in Ottawa and played last night where, in the past, a game like Ottawa would have had Morrow on the bench for another long stretch.

The boys have scored how many goals in the last few weeks? Brutal, surprisingly, the D, outside of a bad 5-6 minute stretch vs the Blues has been ok. I look at the vets to bring the team out of this and they`ve been almost putrid in recent games.

Bottom line for this fan, this team has been playing recently as I expected, look good for a few games, not able to beat the top teams in the league but on most nights, are able to squeak out a win vs opponents on the same level as they are.

Many out there screaming for top 2-4 D-man in the summer (hey, I`d have liked that too) but the reality is, anyone else see big movement by teams handing over a top 4 D-man to other teams? I didn`t and it`s pretty obvious that every GM knew DS was in a position of weakness, tis not like he was looking to add a complimentary piece, he was in search of a top 4 guy, not likely a GM would have offered him a nice cushy deal.

Now the boys have no scoring, not the D`s fault, they`ve played ok outside of some mistakes here and there.

Like I said, the team is pretty much where I expected, fighting to stay in the hunt for one of the final playoff spots. Frustrating? Sure, but to say Julien is using Spoons/Morrow/C Miller as scapegoats isn`t accurate, but it`s absolutely disgusting that #11 still pulls the spoked B over his head and IMO, this is where DS needs to step in and exclaim enough is enough

 

[smack66]

Klefbom to Larsson in last nights Edmonton game pretty much sums up everything the Bruins D. Can't do.

 

[LSCII]

In fairness, it was their second game in two nights and third game in four days. I mean I know that's a valid excuse because I hear Claude reference it so often.

 

[Spanky185]

100% this. Hayes's thread will get the most posts because he is an easy target, but he is not even close to the biggest issue with this team.

1. Chara injury
2. Bergeron
3. Goalies not named Rask are horrendous
4.-6. Krejci, Krug, Backes (I feel these all fill around the same range of importance)
7. The PP is abysmal

Sure, Hayes would be the easiest fix, but by far the least impactful.

If |..................................................| is the overall size of the bruins problems. |.|, that's how much smaller replacing Hayes would be.

Now, this is no means a defense of Hayes or even that he should be playing at the moment. But he isn't the reason the Bruins are playing so poorly right now, it's all those big names up front making all the money not producing.

When a bunch of stuff is broken all at once, fix the easy stuff first.

That's why hayes gets all the flak, he may not be the biggest problem, but he's the easiest one to get rid of.

 

[BruinDust]

I actually just had a 3 page long rant about Julien and his inability to make adjustments and how it's contributed to this team's failure since 2014, and it took me so long to write it the system logged me out.

Maybe one of these days I'll share it, but after writing it and thinking back on the failures of this team in 2014, 15, 16 up to today, one thing is clear.

Julien has to go. And he should of been fired after the collapse of 2015.

 

[BruinDust]

Julien is fine.


Assistant coaches are a joke. Pandawful, Sacco, and Cassidy all suck. I don't think we wanted to hire anyone who wasn't local you have to help them with housing and **** and Newton MA near the practice facility is not cheap.


Why are those 3 our assistant coaches? Clear cut cheapest options. Have you seen an interview with Pandawful he looks like he will fall asleep. He played with half the team too and was the worst player I've ever seen made Hayes look good.

The teenage version of HF Boards is that way >>>>>>>>>

 

[bob27]

Team still has the best CF% in the league which gives me hope. Last year around this time San Jose was holding a top-5 draft pick with similar underlying numbers and they went to the Stanley Cup finals. I'm in favor of showing the door for Claude at the end of the season if we do not make the playoffs, but it would be a rash decision to fire him now. Aside from Pastrnak, the players aren't hitting a barn door. Defence also needs quality reinforcements.

 

[LSCII]

Team still has the best CF% in the league which gives me hope. Last year around this time San Jose was holding a top-5 draft pick with similar underlying numbers and they went to the Stanley Cup finals. I'm in favor of showing the door for Claude at the end of the season if we do not make the playoffs, but it would be a rash decision to fire him now. Aside from Pastrnak, the players aren't hitting a barn door. Defence also needs quality reinforcements.

And this post shows you why advanced stats are useless. They have a good CF% so they'll be okay? Anyone with eyes can see that this team is hot garbage. No advanced stat is going to change that. Up front they have 2 skill players and a bunch of 3rd and 4th line trash. They have arguably the worst defense in the league. But hey, their corsi for is still sweet...

 

[BruinDust]

You don;'t get pissed off when Sarah Davis interviews an assistant coach who is about to fall asleep and played for us at our peak in 2013 and was the worst player on the ice by a long way?

Nope, could care less actually.

And Pandolfo's capabilities as a player have zero relevance to whether ir not he's an effective coach. To be honest I have no idea about him one way or the other.

 

[the overrated]

You guys can make all the excuses you want, the Bruins play their best hockey when they're nasty.

No, they played their best hockey when they were skilled AND nasty. Just being nasty isn't going to win you games, but just being skilled can win you some.

The B's you are thinking of had many "nasty" players, but they also had a ton of skilled players that actually put pucks into nets. This current team lacks the latter, which is costing them more wins than any lack of toughness is.

 

[JAD]

Bruins dump in without the chase makes that pretty easy ..

They have been doing that for years, I made a comment about it back in 2010 - 2011 about how they dump it in and then peel off for a line change without anyone pursuing the puck. Giving up possession - can't win games that way. What do I know, they went on to win the cup in the spring, covers a multitude of sins.
Same year people were complaining the team sucks when in the middle of, I think, a 7 game winless streak in February.

This is what the second year of three on Claude's contact?

The first move should be to fire Sacco, it may be coincidence, but the team has really sucked ever since he came aboard. Might wake the team up.

If not need to look back to games 6 and 7 against Montreal 3 years ago because there seems to be an underlying problem of lack of motivation / urgency / the do what ever it takes mentality to win that is lacking made evident that has continued. If not the players with the change over (never mind lack top tier talent to finish consistent) then need to look elsewhere.

I hate to say it cause the Bruins are my heart and soul, but something needs to change. Losing without a give all effort is unacceptable. Sometimes you can't just skate your lanes adherence without wavering to the system, sometimes you have to take risks and force the play to the other team. Through the years I have seen many bad teams (opponents) play with far greater determination, urgency and emotion then I have seen from this Bruins team under Claude's regain - even when he had the horses. Too often they just come out flat ( a reflection of their coach? ). I want that "give all" effort, if they still lose - fine, but show that they care and actually hate losing. Not this seaming shrug of the shoulders and move on to the next game.

 

[pierre gagnon*]

Oh, Here's something for you. The last time The Bruins played Pittsburgh in the post season Boston completely trampled them. They tried to be physical, Boston completely plastered then around the rink. Pittsburgh was terrified to go into the corners with Boston. That said, hey, gotta change the style all of a sudden...

Pittsburgh won the cup going to an all out up tempo game with speed and added guys for that and got a coach with a vision, they did not get tough. So what did that toughness do for the Bruins in the end of the season stretch when it counted. If the team is not tought then why have Kevan, McQuaid, Beleskey and Backes skating around the ice eating up a 15 million cap hit. Last guy to fight was Hayes, last big hit was Marchand and Pasta. They do not have those players to play the 2011 game of interference, clutching and grabbing, rules changed other teams changed except us. Staged fighting partners are gone, its down and is going get a lot lesser. This team is not skilled either so do not say they are. They are a team built on free agents and cast offs that play a defensive soccer game, Claude style it has not changed at all.

Someone mentioned Boychuk leading the Isles, lol look at the standing, Lucic that contract will get old fast, like Backes who turns 33 this season. Those assistant coaches that were fired had thier chance the last 3 years and failed, unless missing the playoffs was the goal. I do not need to read what they did in the past the audio interviews test the last little while told me they were not going change. I still say keep one of McQuaid or Kevan and Beleskey can still be an effective 3rd line guy but they have to play more open minded, Colin was not so bad afterall, either was O'Gara

 

[JRull86]

You don;'t get pissed off when Sarah Davis interviews an assistant coach who is about to fall asleep and played for us at our peak in 2013 and was the worst player on the ice by a long way?

What does his accomplishments as a player have anything to do with him being a good or effective coach? Example #1 of that is Claude. 14 NHL games with a whopping ONE point.

Pandolfo was a very very good defensive forward in NJ, and he's been good in his development roles in the organization since retiring. Zero problem with Jay.

 

[Spanky185]

I actually just had a 3 page long rant about Julien and his inability to make adjustments and how it's contributed to this team's failure since 2014, and it took me so long to write it the system logged me out.

Maybe one of these days I'll share it, but after writing it and thinking back on the failures of this team in 2014, 15, 16 up to today, one thing is clear.

Julien has to go. And he should of been fired after the collapse of 2015.

Agreed, he should have gone out the door with Peter.

 

[wintersej]

Team still has the best CF% in the league which gives me hope. Last year around this time San Jose was holding a top-5 draft pick with similar underlying numbers and they went to the Stanley Cup finals. I'm in favor of showing the door for Claude at the end of the season if we do not make the playoffs, but it would be a rash decision to fire him now. Aside from Pastrnak, the players aren't hitting a barn door. Defence also needs quality reinforcements.

The Corsi is good but too many of the shots for are low danger perimeter shots, as shown by the xGF chart below. Not enough skill up front. Only Pastrnak and Moore are exceeding expectations. Marchand is about on par. Everyone else is punching below their weight. The defense (as a 5 man unit) has done an exponentially better job at defending 5 on 5 compared to last season. Can the forward group turn it around and start scoring some more goals? Sure. Does it feel the same as the last couple seasons where you are begging for X, Y, and Z to come together but it just doesn't? Yes.

 

[Blowfish]

Agreed, he should have gone out the door with Peter.

Was Peter the problem???? Already has his team leading the Pacific with some pretty bold moves to say the least. I still believe it was Neely playing GM that saw the likes of Seguin and Boyton vanishing.

 

[JRull86]

Was Peter the problem???? Already has his team leading the Pacific with some pretty bold moves to say the least. I still believe it was Neely playing GM that saw the likes of Seguin and Boyton vanishing.

Chiarelli inherited a team with a few decent pieces and lucked into McDavid. Yeah he made a few signings, and that Hall for Larsson trade looks good on him, but overall let's pump the brakes on him turning that team around.

 

[Spanky185]

Was Peter the problem???? Already has his team leading the Pacific with some pretty bold moves to say the least. I still believe it was Neely playing GM that saw the likes of Seguin and Boyton vanishing.

Sentimentality for the '11 Cup players was his downfall with the contracts he was handing out.

 

[Blowfish]

Chiarelli inherited a team with a few decent pieces and lucked into McDavid. Yeah he made a few signings, and that Hall for Larsson trade looks good on him, but overall let's pump the brakes on him turning that team around.

Wow...he did the same for the lifeless bruins team and seems to have done it for another team. I would say he's a pretty darn good GM saying otherwise is a little short sighted.