Post-Game Talk: Game #74 - Deja Vu All Over Again - Tampa Bay 6 BRUINS 3 F

[DarrenBanks56]

your more optimistic than I am, to be honest, wouldn`t sleep on those Bolts, injuries and trade many off the roster, have gone 6-3-1 in last 10

cooper is my coach of the year if tampa gets in.
we play them again.

our schedule is pretty easy coming up. we can easily win these next 4. just gotta get this first win.
lines need to be juggled. cehlarik should be bsck in w krejci and pastafor starters.

id put stafford w marsh and bergy

 

[bruinmann77]

Good question, but I'm sick of the annual 'Tuukka is tired' and missing the playoffs crap.

You can miss the playoffs with a guy making a lot less than 7.5 million.

I'm sure Marchand, Bergeron, etc get tired also.

and they are playing with more Nickes and bruises than Rask

 

[ReggieMoto]

I'm sure as hell not gonna defend Rask for last night. Played like poop. Even he says so.


But................always a but........................lets assume they move him...........who's next in line for annual collapse blame?

Just asking.

I don't think they/we know yet. And he won't be let go until they know, whether we know or not. I think AK is a capable backup but no one currently resident in the Bruins stable is in line (in my opinion) for the starter role.

 

[bruinmann77]

I rather see them go with the youngster and take their lumps that this team that on the ice

 

[CDJ]

and they are playing with more Nickes and bruises than Rask

I don't think that's necessarily true at all, Rask ****ed up his leg earlier this year and played on it because we were trotting out automatic L's behind him. That said while he was absolutely terrible last night his performance has been fine for most of the year so I doubt it's killing him. He just needs to play better- i think he will. Tough to be worse than last night


As an aside- yeah I'm in panic mode. I like to think I'm pretty optimistic but gd this feeling is all too familiar

 

[BruinDust]

I still don't get the big deal about your highly paid, number one "elite" goalie playing in back to backs down the stretch. It's not a new phenomenon. Goalies have done it forever and didn't have near the creature comforts, nutrition or transportation they have now.

Well it wasn't the B2B that killed him, it was the 3rd game in 4 nights.

I don't care how much a guys cap hit is. You have to manage your minutes for all players, including goaltenders.

Since the Xmas break, Rask has appeared in 33 of Boston 38 games, or 86.8% of games.

That's a 71 game appearance pace over a full season. That's simply too much for any goaltender, regardless of paycheck.

 

[LouJersey]

Well it wasn't the B2B that killed him, it was the 3rd game in 4 nights.

I don't care how much a guys cap hit is. You have to manage your minutes for all players, including goaltenders.

Since the Xmas break, Rask has appeared in 33 of Boston 38 games, or 86.8% of games.

That's a 71 game appearance pace over a full season. That's simply too much for any goaltender, regardless of paycheck.

Minutes wise he played the equivalent of 7 1/2 games in the ENTIRE month of February. Facing on average 30 shots a game. Not sure what he did on all those off days but increasing his stamina certainly wasn't one of them.

All that time off during that month and he still posted a .895 save percentage.

No excuse for him to not be fresher than ever for March.

 

[KrejciMVP]

It's not about fatigue with Rask it's about mental toughness and being afraid of the big moments. He is petrified out there

 

[Therick67]

Well it wasn't the B2B that killed him, it was the 3rd game in 4 nights.

I don't care how much a guys cap hit is. You have to manage your minutes for all players, including goaltenders.

Since the Xmas break, Rask has appeared in 33 of Boston 38 games, or 86.8% of games.

That's a 71 game appearance pace over a full season. That's simply too much for any goaltender, regardless of paycheck.

They did also have a week off in February also. While that work load may not be optimal, it's not unprecedented.

Maybe had we not seen collapses at the end of last two seasons along with being embarrassed by the Canadiens the last time they made the playoffs - he'd get more benefit of the doubt.

 

[BruinDust]

Minutes wise he played the equivalent of 7 1/2 games in the ENTIRE month of February. Facing on average 30 shots a game. Not sure what he did on all those off days but increasing his stamina certainly wasn't one of them.

All that time off during that month and he still posted a .895 save percentage.

No excuse for him to not be fresher than ever for March.

I'm not sure that 6 day break did a whole lot to reduce the cumulative effect of too many minutes of the course of the season. Hard to say each athlete is different.

I don't disagree in that his conditioning needs work to reduce the fatigue factor. I agree totally on that and that's on Rask.

But what we are seeing now and have seen the last 3 months or so to me is a result of fatigue, not a bad goaltender. Which I also pin on Sweeney, I pin on Claude, and now Cassidy for the ridiculous assumption he would get top shelf performances out of Rask with 3 games in 4 nights at this point in the season.

 

[Killer B]

To easy to game plan against this team. Shut down 63-37 line and you win the game. Need to do something to generate more secondary scoring...

63-37-19
83-46-88
72-51-42
39-28-11

DO IT!!!!

 

[BruinDust]

They did also have a week off in February also. While that work load may not be optimal, it's not unprecedented.

Maybe had we not seen collapses at the end of last two seasons along with being embarrassed by the Canadiens the last time they made the playoffs - he'd get more benefit of the doubt.

Actually it's the way those collapse took place that should give him the benefit of the doubt, as he was over-worked/over-played in all of them.

The Habs series loss in 2014 I don't pin on him at all. Offensively the team didn't get the job done. Even with that team's struggles to produce offense against Montreal he got them to game 7.

It's not coincidence the Bruins last playoff appearance coincides with the last season they had a quality back-up goaltender. Rask played 58 total games in 2013-14 and won a Vezina. Better team in front of him? Yes, but let's not act like that 2013-14 team and the team's we seen the last few years had massive differences in terms of Talent level.

 

[Therick67]

Actually it's the way those collapse took place that should give him the benefit of the doubt, as he was over-worked/over-played in all of them.

The Habs series loss in 2014 I don't pin on him at all. Offensively the team didn't get the job done. Even with that team's struggles to produce offense against Montreal he got them to game 7.

It's not coincidence the Bruins last playoff appearance coincides with the last season they had a quality back-up goaltender. Rask played 58 total games in 2013-14 and won a Vezina. Better team in front of him? Yes, but let's not act like that 2013-14 team and the team's we seen the last few years had massive differences in terms of Talent level.

I don't know, that's the life of a number one goalie. You need to answer the bell when your team needs you. I certainly don't pin it all on him, but I'm not going to let him off the hook either.

I'm sure Bergeron, Marchand, Chara and others are tired and beat up.

 

[Bruinfanatic]

Actually it's the way those collapse took place that should give him the benefit of the doubt, as he was over-worked/over-played in all of them.

The Habs series loss in 2014 I don't pin on him at all. Offensively the team didn't get the job done. Even with that team's struggles to produce offense against Montreal he got them to game 7.

It's not coincidence the Bruins last playoff appearance coincides with the last season they had a quality back-up goaltender. Rask played 58 total games in 2013-14 and won a Vezina. Better team in front of him? Yes, but let's not act like that 2013-14 team and the team's we seen the last few years had massive differences in terms of Talent level.

Rask spends 90% of a game on his knees,how tiring can it be.

 

[BruinDust]

I don't know, that's the life of a number one goalie. You need to answer the bell when your team needs you. I certainly don't pin it all on him, but I'm not going to let him off the hook either.

I'm sure Bergeron, Marchand, Chara and others are tired and beat up.

No doubt, and like I said to WBCB, the fact that fatigue seems to be such a heavy factor in Rask's performance (or lack thereof) is also on him as a athlete.

But Bergeron/Marchand/etc. aren't playing 60 mins either.

 

[BruinDust]

Rask spends 90% of a game on his knees,how tiring can it be.

You'd probably be surprised how exhausting it is playing goal unless your team is spending significant time in the opposing teams end.

 

[NDiesel]

Rask spends 90% of a game on his knees,how tiring can it be.

I've played hockey as forward/defenseman for 24 years.....I've tried goalie dozen times, and it is 100x more tiring, not to mention you are wearing a lot more and heavier equipment on you as a goalie.

 

[LouJersey]

I'm not sure that 6 day break did a whole lot to reduce the cumulative effect of too many minutes of the course of the season. Hard to say each athlete is different.

I don't disagree in that his conditioning needs work to reduce the fatigue factor. I agree totally on that and that's on Rask.

But what we are seeing now and have seen the last 3 months or so to me is a result of fatigue, not a bad goaltender. Which I also pin on Sweeney, I pin on Claude, and now Cassidy for the ridiculous assumption he would get top shelf performances out of Rask with 3 games in 4 nights at this point in the season.

So say all this is true...why is he here? If he can only play 58 games a year, what about the play-offs? Will he all of a sudden get a burst of energy for the first time in four years? How come other teams goalies don't get so winded at the 55 game mark?

 

[NDiesel]

So say all this is true...why is he here? If he can only play 58 games a year, what about the play-offs? Will he all of a sudden get a burst of energy for the first time in four years? How come other teams goalies don't get so winded at the 55 game mark?

I don't believe physical fatigue is his issue one bit. I'm tired of being a Rask apologist only to see him fade down the stretch year after year. He has been mentally fragile since the game 6 collapse against the Hawks IMO, and if I were his goalie coach I would suggest he visit a sports psychologist.

He deserves as much blame as the rest of the team for how they play at the end of the season.

 

[Hali33]

So say all this is true...why is he here? If he can only play 58 games a year, what about the play-offs? Will he all of a sudden get a burst of energy for the first time in four years? How come other teams goalies don't get so winded at the 55 game mark?

Seriously. If he's still here next year I hope to god they seriously change it up with Rask. New goalie coach, therapy and put a big focus on conditioning. He runs on fumes pretty quick, how can you expect him to handle a playoff run if that's his stamina.

 

[Sheppy]

I call BS on the physical fatigue. They don't even play physical.

 

[jgatie]

Rask has admitted in the past that management and coaches have recommended he work out more in order to increase stamina over the course of a season. His reply to those wishes reminded me more of Phil Kessel than Zdeno Chara. Now goalies are whackadoodle crazies about everything and I've seen pretty out of shape guys have Vezina seasons, so you can take that anyway you want. However, one thing is true, he's not exactly a physical specimen.

 

[Hali33]

Also probably doesn't help he's like 100 lbs.

 

[chizzler]

Also probably doesn't help he's like 100 lbs.

Case in point.

 

[Otherworld]

I've played hockey as forward/defenseman for 24 years.....I've tried goalie dozen times, and it is 100x more tiring, not to mention you are wearing a lot more and heavier equipment on you as a goalie.

It is funny how players say that goaltending is easy when they take 45 second shifts and go have a drink while sitting on the bench while the goalie plays the entire game.

I have played both, as a player and a goalie for a long while. Playing in net is way more taxing. You have to learn how to conserve energy while you play in net. It is the only way you can get through games where you get 35-45 shots.