Is the Bruins loss the biggest choke job ever?

[ITM]

Weren’t there injuries?

As for the record setting season, remember, Bowman’s RedWings did the same thing. Next regular season was much more modest but in turn they won the Stanley Cup.

I could easily see Bergeron saying run it back one more time because of the regular season promise and because the playoffs ended as they did.

 

[YukonCornelius]

The Lightning didn’t choke - they just flat out got their asses kicked. They were outplayed from start to finish that series by a more physical, harder-working team. They then took the lessons they learned from that series loss, completely revamped their style of play, and used the Tortorella blueprint themselves to win back-to-back championships. Boston, on the other hand, just choked away a series that they were in a clear position to win, and will likely be nowhere near as strong next season. Both were embarrassing, but this is definitely more of a choke job.

Such weird logic. Tampa sets an NHL record, and then collapses to the point of not winning a single playoff game = not choke job. Boston getting outplayed most of the series (to the prior season President‘s Trophy winner), but ultimately losing in game 7 OT = choke.

 

[goeb]

I think CBJ sweep of TB was worse. Not that CBJ was bad or anything, but damn, for TB not to have even won a game in that series is still baffling to me. Even worse, they didn't make it out of the 2nd round.

It is tough to judge how big of a choke job this is by Bruins until we see how Florida plays in round 2.

Furthermore, Panthers were the best regular season team last year and and despite an underwhelming regular season, they still have a ton of talent and offensive depth.

Bruins offense looked pretty good but they just could not get decent goaltending at the end of the day. I will give them credit for even coming back from being down 2-0 in game 7. Ullmark kind of turned into Jim Carey in that series after a phenomenal season, but that game 5 blunder really changed the momentum in the series.

Also, not sure what Montgomery was doing leaving Ullmark in for all of Game 6. If the Bruins score 5 goals in a game it is usually a wrap at that point. The Bruins players definitely didn't lay down like the Leafs did against the Habs or anything, but just seemed like the wheels just came off in their own end.

So I would put this 'choke job' somewhere between the 2019 Lightning and the 2010 Capitals. 2019 Lightning were just awful overall and the 2010 Capitals played fine but just ran into a one-in-a-lifetime Halak performance.

This upset is just strange though. There was no miraculous goaltending that the upset could be attributed to, or even some bad luck. Panthers played pretty well and Boston's goaltending/defence was atrocious in games 5 to 7.

 

[HF007]

Depends if Florida wins the cup imo, not really sure how good they are

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

With the Bruins eliminated, the Habs still hold the record for most regular season points by an eventual Stanley Cup champion, much to their fans' delight, as the Bruins are the Habs' arch-rivals.

It also continues the drought of Eastern Conference President's Trophy winners not being able to win the Cup since the 1994 Rangers, and never by a team not owned by a big corporation - the 1993-94 Rangers started the season owned by Paramount Communications (the former Gulf+Western that was renamed after Paramount Pictures), and ended it owned by Viacom. Ironically the Bruins themselves are owned by a big corporation, Delaware North. The most recent Eastern Presidents' Trophy winner not owned by a big corporation was last season's Panthers.

 

[Voight]

Said for months they were a paper tiger. Good roster sure, but only two guys scored 60+ points. They werent as talented as some people thought IMO.

 

[ShippinUpToBoston]

Anyone who thought Boston was just going to steamroll their way through the playoffs and win a Cup obviously didn’t watch them enough. They had a road trip down the stretch where they lost three straight games to Florida, TB and Carolina. Those games showed that they were going to have a tough time in the playoffs. I guess being up 3 games to 1 made it somewhat of a choke but simply losing to Florida shouldn’t have come as that big of a surprise. They’re a solid team.

 

[ShippinUpToBoston]

Said for months they were a paper tiger. Good roster sure, but only two guys scored 60+ points. They werent as talented as some people thought IMO.

Exactly. Skill wise they’re as good, if not better than any team in the league but there’s no toughness, mental or physical.

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

It's a pretty big choke, but Florida is being seriously underestimated here.

 

[CheerstoBeers]

Not really. That 2013 Leafs team was a glorified AHL team who had no business being in the playoffs let alone taking Boston to game 7.

These are not equivalent scenarios at all

Doesn't matter how they got there. The fact is they were there in the moment, in game 7 and leading 4-1 with ten mins left. They hadn't won a playoff series in a decade. It was a pretty gigantic choke job no matter how ya wanna spin it

 

[Hank Plank]

View attachment 701155
History in the making. Stupid poster from espn sycophants.

 

[AndreRoy]

Such weird logic. Tampa sets an NHL record, and then collapses to the point of not winning a single playoff game = not choke job. Boston getting outplayed most of the series (to the prior season President‘s Trophy winner), but ultimately losing in game 7 OT = choke.

It’s not weird logic at all. Boston had a commanding lead in their series and choked it away; Tampa was never competitive in their series to begin with which to me doesn’t equate to a choke. Perhaps you define it differently.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Incase anyone forgot, the B’s won it all the next year after their 3-0 series choke.

You can say a lot about how bad they choked this playoffs, but they’ll be back. They won’t win the prez trophy (who wants it) but they’ll be back.

What you do the following year has literally zero bearing.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

I could easily see Bergeron saying run it back one more time because of the regular season promise and because the playoffs ended as they did.

Easier said than done if all this is true (I didn’t write or research it):

The Bruins really went on a spending frenzy what might be Bergeron's last season. This offseason, the bill is due.

They're walking into the season with 4.5 million in cap penalties from performance bonus overages

Pastrnak and Zacha's extensions kick in, increasing their cap hit by 5.83 million

They have 14 contracts active, and about 6 million in cap space (10.5 mill - 4.5 mill penalties) to work with. They can't even get to a roster of 23 players with 9 league min contracts, and that's assuming all their RFAs/UFAs who want to make above 750k leave.

They obviously will want to keep a few UFA/RFAs who will demand more than 750k, so someone has to leave. Most of their big earners have some sort of NTC or NMC. Debrusk, Zacha, McAvoy, Carlo, and Grzelcyk are the players that can be traded with no restrictions.

Orlov and Bertuzzi cannot no longer be afforded with the salary retention running out

The hardest thing is goaltending. Swayman is a arbitration eligible RFA. Statistically, Swayman was a top-4 goaltender this season, and a lot of teams would love to lock up a player like that with an offer sheet (the Devils are a great example). Arbitration is difficult since players like this are so rare, but if Jack Campbell got 5x5, I can't imagine Swayman would get less. Boston can't afford to pay that - they could probably offer a 2 year cheap bridge deal (depending on who they trade away from the above list). Therefore, Swayman staying would likely require him to be willing to give up 20 million or more in guaranteed money. It's really hard to spend more on goaltending with the penalties and extensions. At that point, the temptation might be to trade Ullmark, but he has a NMC, so it might be hard if he doesn't want to move.

Trent Frederic is arbitration eligible. Using other forwards as a benchmark, he's likely due 1.5 - 3 million, depending on contract term (longer=more money). I would guess shorter term, lower side of that range, but still a bit more than league min.

They have 1 pick in the top 64 in the next 3 drafts, and their prospect pool has been rated as one of the worst in the league.

There is going to be some hard decisions coming before the start of the next season.

 

[Panteras]

There’s 2 aspects to consider with a choke job. The actual lead that was given away and the story behind it all.

Strictly speaking, within the context of the playoffs, there’s no bigger choke than being up 3-0 and losing that. Then 3-1, then 2-0 etc… so there’s levels there.

Then, you have to consider the story behind it, which team gave it away and to whom?

Therefore, if we examine the Tampa and Bruins series, Tampa never had an actual series lead to “choke” away….therefore, that’s simply just an outright upset. But the sweep is what made it so epic. But also the Bruins and an actual lead, 3-1.

Then if we consider the stories behind it, both president’s trophy winners, but Bruins were not just any president’s trophy winner, they were the one with most wins and points in regular season history! Not to mention CBJ that year had more points than Florida this year.

The only thing going for Tampa is that it was a sweep so that was very surreal. Meanwhile, the Bruins had actual lead to choke which they did and the story behind it trumps the Tampa loss. Historic team and less probable team upsetter.

 

[Pink Mist]

Doesn't matter how they got there. The fact is they were there in the moment, in game 7 and leading 4-1 with ten mins left. They hadn't won a playoff series in a decade. It was a pretty gigantic choke job no matter how ya wanna spin it

Was it a choke job? Yes, in that they were leading the game and f***ed up.

But they were an AHL team who lucked themselves into the playoffs and managed to push to game 7, not The Greatest Regular Season Team in NHL History. Context matters greatly here and its nothing compared to the choke job done by Boston this year

Anyway keep coping

 

[MetalGoalie35]

Bruins choked in the most unimaginable way (woooohoooo!!!!), Leafs pulled off a miracle, Kraken did the unthinkable to last year's champs, Devils ended the Rangers, Oilers finished the Kings......man, I am seriously loving this! The 2023 playoffs are off to a phenomenal start!!!!

 

[Pebble live]

The Bruins because of the asset cost. They went all in on multiple rentals that they can't afford to even consider bringing back and save a little face next year.Their cap structure next year, with the players currently signed, probably means a big name or two is on the move.

Tampa was able to re-group and go on their run because of asset control. This was the end of an era type loss for Boston. They recognized this was probably the ast kick at it with this group so I can understand why they went for it. But they probably could have found some sort of balance in terms of asset management for this years run.

Opportunity cost is a bitch.

 

[BlueSeal]

That poster should now show Pastrnak falling down the stairs.

Pasta being eaten by a Panther.

 

[tucson83]

what the problem is that you dont have a top 2 defenseman, ever since torey krug left the bruins, they havent been the same since, letting him go was malpractice.

 

[sr edler]

Leafs choke in 2013 is only a choke in how they blew that Game 7 lead, but they were never a better team than that Boston group (and shouldn't have been up 4-1 anyways). Not in the 12–13 regular season and not on paper. They had one star player in Kessel (who produced okay that series) and a bunch of okay-ish support players. I think they had Cody Franson on the top pairing and also Ryan O'Byrne on D who never played another NHL game after that series. If anything, Boston almost choked that one too.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Doesn't matter how they got there. The fact is they were there in the moment, in game 7 and leading 4-1 with ten mins left. They hadn't won a playoff series in a decade. It was a pretty gigantic choke job no matter how ya wanna spin it

Yup they chocked that away. This one is much much grander though.

 

[Petrus]

Pasta being eaten by a Panther.

 

[TSBruins13]

Yeah, pretty big choke. Before the season started, no one expected the Bruins to have a good year and they went on a tear. Was fun to watch until the playoffs.

I have to think the absurd season that the Ullmark/Swayman tandem put in covered up A LOT of flaws that this team had. Once Ullmark was off his game (which sounds like was due to a somewhat serious injury) those flaws were exposed and we got bounced. Unfortunate ending. Hurts now, but we'll get over it. Just not sure what the next decade will look like.

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

My favourite part is every panel boasting the absolutely outstanding leadership in the core before the last 3 games.

How did these experts not notice Tim Thomas hasn't been on the team in years?!