Boston Globe KPD - The Bruins are playing passionless, mediocre hockey, and it’s getting tough to watch

[Fenway]

The Bruins are playing passionless, mediocre hockey, and it’s getting tough to watch - The Boston Globe

With two points to be had, the score at 2-2 after 40:00, the hometown team produced a bagel on home ice with zero shots for the final 20:00.

www.bostonglobe.com

FULL ARTICLE ATTACHED

For those of us who’ve witnessed upward of two-thirds of Bruins hockey history — the good, the godly, the bad, the ugly — this win-one, lose-one model is taking on the feel of the early- and mid-’60s Boston brand. That was the pre-Bobby Orr, pre-Channel 38, pre-Jeremy Jacobs, pre-Jumbotron iteration.

They were not good times, including a franchise-record eight consecutive playoff DNQs, the last of those including Orr’s 1966-67 rookie season (reminder: even the sainted No. 4, then only 18 years old, couldn’t lift the deadweight on that roster).

Oh, those days were damned entertaining, absolutely, because of standard Original Six mayhem: big fights, bucket-of-blood donnybrooks, the ice sheet covered in abandoned sticks, gloves, and sweaters. Those days are gone for good — for reasons good, bad, and political — but the passion around the play had a way of making up for the mediocre, sometimes passionless play of bad Bruins teams.

We’re seeing far too much of the mediocre and passionless right now in 2024. It’s a disturbing retro look. The 20:00 bagel on Saturday felt like a defining moment.

The final word on the latest loss — their ninth in 16 outings (7-7-2) to date — belonged to coach Jim Montgomery:

“We just weren’t good enough.”

Follow-up podcast with KPD talking to Jimmy Murphy and Pierre McGuire

Click to read more...

 

[TheReal13Linseman]

The Bruins are playing passionless, mediocre hockey, and it’s getting tough to watch - The Boston Globe

With two points to be had, the score at 2-2 after 40:00, the hometown team produced a bagel on home ice with zero shots for the final 20:00.

www.bostonglobe.com

FULL ARTICLE ATTACHED

For those of us who’ve witnessed upward of two-thirds of Bruins hockey history — the good, the godly, the bad, the ugly — this win-one, lose-one model is taking on the feel of the early- and mid-’60s Boston brand. That was the pre-Bobby Orr, pre-Channel 38, pre-Jeremy Jacobs, pre-Jumbotron iteration.

They were not good times, including a franchise-record eight consecutive playoff DNQs, the last of those including Orr’s 1966-67 rookie season (reminder: even the sainted No. 4, then only 18 years old, couldn’t lift the deadweight on that roster).

Oh, those days were damned entertaining, absolutely, because of standard Original Six mayhem: big fights, bucket-of-blood donnybrooks, the ice sheet covered in abandoned sticks, gloves, and sweaters. Those days are gone for good — for reasons good, bad, and political — but the passion around the play had a way of making up for the mediocre, sometimes passionless play of bad Bruins teams.

We’re seeing far too much of the mediocre and passionless right now in 2024. It’s a disturbing retro look. The 20:00 bagel on Saturday felt like a defining moment.

The final word on the latest loss — their ninth in 16 outings (7-7-2) to date — belonged to coach Jim Montgomery:

“We just weren’t good enough.”

Follow-up podcast with KPD talking to Jimmy Murphy and Pierre McGuire

“Pretty good roster” on paper, Kevin?

Cmon man.

Sweeney owns this American League roster. They’ll fire the coach because that’s the easy way out. But we all know that the reason we suck is our talent level.

Too bad nobody has the balls at the top to hold him accountable.

 

[Gordoff]

“Pretty good roster” on paper, Kevin?

Cmon man.

Sweeney owns this American League roster. They’ll fire the coach because that’s the easy way out. But we all know that the reason we suck is our talent level.

Too bad nobody has the balls at the top to hold him accountable.

Not convinced that the Jacobs don't have the balls, they don't have the reason to can Sweeny.
He keeps them in contention and he's raking in the dough.
For JJ, life is good, what's not to like?!?!

 

[GordonHowe]

The Bruins are playing passionless, mediocre hockey, and it’s getting tough to watch - The Boston Globe

With two points to be had, the score at 2-2 after 40:00, the hometown team produced a bagel on home ice with zero shots for the final 20:00.

www.bostonglobe.com

FULL ARTICLE ATTACHED

For those of us who’ve witnessed upward of two-thirds of Bruins hockey history — the good, the godly, the bad, the ugly — this win-one, lose-one model is taking on the feel of the early- and mid-’60s Boston brand. That was the pre-Bobby Orr, pre-Channel 38, pre-Jeremy Jacobs, pre-Jumbotron iteration.

They were not good times, including a franchise-record eight consecutive playoff DNQs, the last of those including Orr’s 1966-67 rookie season (reminder: even the sainted No. 4, then only 18 years old, couldn’t lift the deadweight on that roster).

Oh, those days were damned entertaining, absolutely, because of standard Original Six mayhem: big fights, bucket-of-blood donnybrooks, the ice sheet covered in abandoned sticks, gloves, and sweaters. Those days are gone for good — for reasons good, bad, and political — but the passion around the play had a way of making up for the mediocre, sometimes passionless play of bad Bruins teams.

We’re seeing far too much of the mediocre and passionless right now in 2024. It’s a disturbing retro look. The 20:00 bagel on Saturday felt like a defining moment.

The final word on the latest loss — their ninth in 16 outings (7-7-2) to date — belonged to coach Jim Montgomery:

“We just weren’t good enough.”

Follow-up podcast with KPD talking to Jimmy Murphy and Pierre McGuire

No shit Sherlock.

 

[Fenian24]

The Bruins are playing passionless, mediocre hockey, and it’s getting tough to watch - The Boston Globe

With two points to be had, the score at 2-2 after 40:00, the hometown team produced a bagel on home ice with zero shots for the final 20:00.

www.bostonglobe.com

FULL ARTICLE ATTACHED

For those of us who’ve witnessed upward of two-thirds of Bruins hockey history — the good, the godly, the bad, the ugly — this win-one, lose-one model is taking on the feel of the early- and mid-’60s Boston brand. That was the pre-Bobby Orr, pre-Channel 38, pre-Jeremy Jacobs, pre-Jumbotron iteration.

They were not good times, including a franchise-record eight consecutive playoff DNQs, the last of those including Orr’s 1966-67 rookie season (reminder: even the sainted No. 4, then only 18 years old, couldn’t lift the deadweight on that roster).

Oh, those days were damned entertaining, absolutely, because of standard Original Six mayhem: big fights, bucket-of-blood donnybrooks, the ice sheet covered in abandoned sticks, gloves, and sweaters. Those days are gone for good — for reasons good, bad, and political — but the passion around the play had a way of making up for the mediocre, sometimes passionless play of bad Bruins teams.

We’re seeing far too much of the mediocre and passionless right now in 2024. It’s a disturbing retro look. The 20:00 bagel on Saturday felt like a defining moment.

The final word on the latest loss — their ninth in 16 outings (7-7-2) to date — belonged to coach Jim Montgomery:

“We just weren’t good enough.”

Follow-up podcast with KPD talking to Jimmy Murphy and Pierre McGuire

Blind squirrel finds nut.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

Thank God we have him around to tell us these things

 

[BigGoalBrad]

Yeah awful group I know they are all chummy off the ice but way too soft and entitled. I don't think getting a Moke Keenan type coach will work either you gotta just trade some of them.

 

[jgatie]

Funny, passionless and mediocre is how I describe KPD's writing for the last decade or so.

 

[22Brad Park]

If the Bruins can get that powerplay going it should help bigtime.They lost some games that could have flipped to wins if clicking.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

If I had to make a sweeping generalization, I think the franchise has fallen into somewhat of an inevitable trap that they managed to avoid for a long time.

Years of consistently good regular seasons have led many players on the roster to deserve long term commitments/contracts. But what happens when the staples of those consistently good teams either retire or begin falling off (Bergeron, Marchand, etc). You’re left with players that are merely okay in the absence of higher talent that still are tied into long term commitments. I like Pastrnak, McAvoy, Coyle, etc. But it also just seems to be assumed that they’re going to be able to take over a “cultural”/driving role that they just may not be suited for. It’s not that they didn’t earn those contracts. But their earning them didn’t happen in a vacuum.

I think, quite honestly, the franchise is due for some serious mediocrity. I’m not talking great regular season, early playoff exit mediocrity. I’m talking serious possibility of missing playoffs for multiple years mediocrity. It’s what I grew up seeing in the mid to late 90s (okay, hopefully it doesn’t get that bad) and I kind of feel like it’s “due”.

I’ll take the good with the bad. It’s been many, many years since I could log on to second hand ticket sites on a weekday and see balcony seats for around 40 bucks. I’ve got a new son that I want to introduce to hockey ASAP and I’d rather do it at that price than what was required a few years back.

 

[PlayMakers]

“Pretty good roster” on paper, Kevin?

Cmon man.

Sweeney owns this American League roster. They’ll fire the coach because that’s the easy way out. But we all know that the reason we suck is our talent level.

Too bad nobody has the balls at the top to hold him accountable.

What was your pre-season prediction for where Boston would finish?

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

If I had to make a sweeping generalization, I think the franchise has fallen into somewhat of an inevitable trap that they managed to avoid for a long time.

Years of consistently good regular seasons have led many players on the roster to deserve long term commitments/contracts. But what happens when the staples of those consistently good teams either retire or begin falling off (Bergeron, Marchand, etc). You’re left with players that are merely okay in the absence of higher talent that still are tied into long term commitments. I like Pastrnak, McAvoy, Coyle, etc. But it also just seems to be assumed that they’re going to be able to take over a “cultural”/driving role that they just may not be suited for. It’s not that they didn’t earn those contracts. But their earning them didn’t happen in a vacuum.

I think, quite honestly, the franchise is due for some serious mediocrity. I’m not talking great regular season, early playoff exit mediocrity. I’m talking serious possibility of missing playoffs for multiple years mediocrity. It’s what I grew up seeing in the mid to late 90s (okay, hopefully it doesn’t get that bad) and I kind of feel like it’s “due”.

I’ll take the good with the bad. It’s been many, many years since I could log on to second hand ticket sites on a weekday and see balcony seats for around 40 bucks. I’ve got a new son that I want to introduce to hockey ASAP and I’d rather do it at that price than what was required a few years back.

Bruins missed the playoffs once in the 1990's. They came in last and drafted Jor Thornton, so I see that as a miss by design.

They did miss the playoffs 4 times in the next decade. But some franchises would see that as a successful decade. (See Sabres, Buffalo for starters)

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Bruins missed the playoffs once in the 1990's. They came in last and drafted Jor Thornton, so I see that as a miss by design.

They did miss the playoffs 4 times in the next decade. But some franchises would see that as a successful decade. (See Sabres, Buffalo for starters)

I think getting repeatedly and easily bounced in the first round went into my memory bank as missing the playoffs entirely.

Regardless, even as a young fan, they always seems like purely hopeless teams.

 

[smithformeragent]

The product stinks.

 

[22Brad Park]

If I had to make a sweeping generalization, I think the franchise has fallen into somewhat of an inevitable trap that they managed to avoid for a long time.

Years of consistently good regular seasons have led many players on the roster to deserve long term commitments/contracts. But what happens when the staples of those consistently good teams either retire or begin falling off (Bergeron, Marchand, etc). You’re left with players that are merely okay in the absence of higher talent that still are tied into long term commitments. I like Pastrnak, McAvoy, Coyle, etc. But it also just seems to be assumed that they’re going to be able to take over a “cultural”/driving role that they just may not be suited for. It’s not that they didn’t earn those contracts. But their earning them didn’t happen in a vacuum.

I think, quite honestly, the franchise is due for some serious mediocrity. I’m not talking great regular season, early playoff exit mediocrity. I’m talking serious possibility of missing playoffs for multiple years mediocrity. It’s what I grew up seeing in the mid to late 90s (okay, hopefully it doesn’t get that bad) and I kind of feel like it’s “due”.

I’ll take the good with the bad. It’s been many, many years since I could log on to second hand ticket sites on a weekday and see balcony seats for around 40 bucks. I’ve got a new son that I want to introduce to hockey ASAP and I’d rather do it at that price than what was required a few years back.

I would rather just tank for lottery picks then be mediocre. I want to see that powerplay going first and see if that brings pts.Not doing bad with no pp at all.

 

[BMC]

Too often they take time off, which is a mortal sin in my hockey bible.

Nobody can win all the time but damn it all you can try all the time. There is no excuse for the lazy, stupid penalties they commit (it isn't all the fault of the officials, let's be real here) and the general listlessness that has afflicted the players all season long. They're professionals and they need to play like it.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

KPD does have a point, if you are going to suck at least previous decades there was message sending. Hockey was the one sport to not shut off in a blowout because you could see some crazy shit. Not they just face wash each other. Crappy team that is boring as well!

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

KPD does have a point, if you are going to suck at least previous decades there was message sending. Hockey was the one sport to not shut off in a blowout because you could see some crazy shit. Not they just face wash each other. Crappy team that is boring as well!

I'm finding that to be more and more true across the league. Last night the Kings - Flames and the Hurricanes - Knights were decent matchups on paper. The other games had no appeal to me.

Two very promising matchups tonight (Jets-Rags and Devils-Panthers), and the rest are so-so at best. Overall, the talent level seems dilouted and the games are largely mundane for significant stretches.

 

[BruinsJoe]

They need a new voice, new system, need more chemistry, need constancy, less stupid decision and especially less line changes,

 

[BigGoalBrad]

If I had to make a sweeping generalization, I think the franchise has fallen into somewhat of an inevitable trap that they managed to avoid for a long time.

Years of consistently good regular seasons have led many players on the roster to deserve long term commitments/contracts. But what happens when the staples of those consistently good teams either retire or begin falling off (Bergeron, Marchand, etc). You’re left with players that are merely okay in the absence of higher talent that still are tied into long term commitments. I like Pastrnak, McAvoy, Coyle, etc. But it also just seems to be assumed that they’re going to be able to take over a “cultural”/driving role that they just may not be suited for. It’s not that they didn’t earn those contracts. But their earning them didn’t happen in a vacuum.

I think, quite honestly, the franchise is due for some serious mediocrity. I’m not talking great regular season, early playoff exit mediocrity. I’m talking serious possibility of missing playoffs for multiple years mediocrity. It’s what I grew up seeing in the mid to late 90s (okay, hopefully it doesn’t get that bad) and I kind of feel like it’s “due”.

I’ll take the good with the bad. It’s been many, many years since I could log on to second hand ticket sites on a weekday and see balcony seats for around 40 bucks. I’ve got a new son that I want to introduce to hockey ASAP and I’d rather do it at that price than what was required a few years back.

It's mind blowing how expensive the Bruins have been and the secondary market bears it despite hockey plummeting in popularity. It now takes 4-5 large high schools to pool together and ice a team.

Last playoffs the Celtics were honestly half the price or less prior to the finals.

I'm 2-0 probably should start going more. I know we beat Calgary but I'm thrilled I skipped it because blowing the 2 goals lead and going to OT would have meant missing the 950 train I need to be on.

 

[DKH]

It's mind blowing how expensive the Bruins have been and the secondary market bears it despite hockey plummeting in popularity. It now takes 4-5 large high schools to pool together and ice a team.

Last playoffs the Celtics were honestly half the price or less prior to the finals.

I'm 2-0 probably should start going more. I know we beat Calgary but I'm thrilled I skipped it because blowing the 2 goals lead and going to OT would have meant missing the 950 train I need to be on.

You should thank me for the time change to 9:50

I’m behind it

#thankyoudan

 

[wintersej]

“Pretty good roster” on paper, Kevin?

Cmon man.

Sweeney owns this American League roster. They’ll fire the coach because that’s the easy way out. But we all know that the reason we suck is our talent level.

Too bad nobody has the balls at the top to hold him accountable.

In: Lindholm, Zadorov, Korpisalo
Out: DeBrusk, Gryz, Ullmark

The team was in the running for the President's trophy until two weeks left in the season. It's clearly missing another offensive forward, just like it was last season. But, the team shouldn't have gone from being one of the top teams in the league to being a bubble team based on the players coming in and out.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Thank God we have him around to tell us these things

At least it is some type of pressure on the Bruins.

 

[Over the volcano]

The product stinks.

Feels true across the league

 

[Therick67]

I rarely turn the channel, but I've done it 4 or 5 times already this season. These games aren't real exciting..