I have to comment on the Bourque hype machine that seems to be rolling into 5th gear. Admittedly, I am NOT a Chris Bourque fan...and that's putting it mildly. So, I made a point to really try to be objective when I was watching him on the top line with O'Sullivan and Stafford.
First, the goal he had, where he knocked the puck out of the air and into the net, was awesome. Good job on that, for sure.
However, I have to say that his inability to pass the puck to a moving target is being completely overlooked around here. Did anyone even notice this? I f you recorded that game, I hope you'll go back through and look for it...so you'll see that I'm not just being persnickety or picayune due to my unbounded loathing of Ray, Jr.
He seems to be able to hit the net with a good shot, so I'm not saying he's totally useless. [And that's an improvement in my opinion of him]. But, on at least 3 opportunities in his attempt to pass the puck back to O'Sullivan, his pass was so far off the tape, there was just no way that Patrick could have reached it...and it wasn't as if O'Sullivan was out of place or not paying attention - these were puck passing errors solely belonging to Bourque. I used to think the kid was a little puck-hogging goal suck. But, maybe he just realizes his passing skills are nearly non-existent so he chooses to keep the puck rather than send a flying puck 10 feet away from it's intended receiver.
Furthermore, I think there wasn't nearly as much "chemistry" between that top line as many are reporting. I think O'Sullivan and Stafford played well together, and there were times that Bourque also played well on that line - so, I'm not trying to say that the line sucked. I just don't think there was as much chemistry between Bourque and O'Sullivan as people are saying.
And lastly, although he was kind of quiet - I think O'Sullivan's playmaking didn't receive the attention it deserved. I thought he made some outstanding passes. Although the goal scorers usually get all the flash for that, and I'm not saying they shouldn't....just that without his ability to put the puck on someone's tape the way he can, I think a lot of people wouldn't have made the impressions they did - namely, Chris Bourque. And I sincerely am not trying take away the fact that Bourque did a good job. Because, I think he played fairly well - better than I thought he would. [And you'll never know how much it pains me to say that...]. But I just think that although O'Sullivan might have been "quiet" as far as points - he was pretty damn effective in centering that line.
