EverettMike
FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
Ultimately how many Hall of Famers do we think Don Sweeney inherited?
At least 3 and maybe 4?
Ha. Lou.
At least 3 and maybe 4?
Ha. Lou.
Management TEN YEARS AFTER
- Thread starter Fenway
- Start date
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LouJersey
Registered User
I agree on 2019 but remember you had a 6 million dollar player sitting in the pressbox while you had Karson Kuhlman on line 2 in a winner take all. That is definitely on Sweeney.
- Oct 31, 2007
- 19,130
- 20,039
There is not a GM in the league that wouldn't seriously consider giving up their left testicle for that roster.
-Strong as hell up the middle -- literally a 1A/1B Center duo
-Strong goaltending.
-A nasty D corp (add in Der Hammer by the way) that could hold the fort while Torey Krug and Doug Hamilton moved the puck (I refuse to refer to any grown man as "Dougie" by the way).
-An 18 year old superstar to be in David Pastranak.
-A team that could bully anyone if needed (Lucic, Miller, McQuald, Chara)
I could have GM'd that team to reasonable success. How? By simply not doing my job. Sit back and work on the Pensky file and hope no one notices me.
LouJersey
Registered User
Yeah I guess if you aren't the 70's Habs or 80's Oilers and Islanders you don't have insane talent.
LouJersey
Registered User
Boston Bruins 2014-15 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com
The roster, scoring and goaltender statistics for the 2014-15 Boston Bruins playing in the NHL.
www.hockeydb.com
Imagine thinking a GM that inherited that team didn't win the lottery. I wonder which will be better, that one of the team Sweeney leaves the next guy with?
GloryDaze4877
Barely Irrelevant
Pretty simplistic…and wrong.
Zboril (along with Chabot) was widely considered to be a Top 20 pick and one of the D just behind the Big 3 (Hanifin, Provorov, Werenski).
DeBrusk was a Top 25 pick. Maybe taken 8-10 picks early.
Senyshyn was the only real reach.
Looking at it like that and it makes you wonder why they didn't achieve more. I am not sure how we blame Sweeney for that (though I am sure someone can find a way).
- Oct 31, 2007
- 19,130
- 20,039
I mean this kindly, because I've been there.
You've taken a stance that may not be the strongest. It happens -- certainly to me it does.
However, now is the time to back up, give a little wave and a "my bad", and live to fight another day. No one will judge you, we all do it sometimes. Ready, Fire, Aim kind of thing.
But this is NOT a hill you want to die on. Call it a day. And I mean that sincerely, not in a snarky/dick way.
It happens.
EverettMike
FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
What? This is exactly why I think Sweeney's tenure has been a failure.
And if not for Nazem Kadri and his ten cent brain they lose in round 1 to the Leafs in '19.
smithformeragent
Moderator
There’s no going back and replaying those playoff series.
What’s done is done.
They won the one Cup in my lifetime, which is more than I believed they ever would having seen them win a measly two playoff series over the course of my first 15 years as a fan.
They underachieved. No other way to put it.
You make your runs. You load up and take your swings when you’re in the batter’s box.
They whiffed.
I had been calling for the tear down for the past 3-4 years and they proved me wrong multiple times.
We got a few extra years of entertainment out of it.
I got burned in 2003-04 when they loaded up for the first time in my lifetime and lost in the first round to Montreal then let all those guys walk.
The regular season means very little in this league when it comes to contending for a Cup, other than finishing above the line to qualify.
I’ll no longer get excited over the possibility of a Cup unless they’re in the conference finals.
I’ve just been burned too many times.
I’ll watch win or lose. I’m curious to see what comes next.
It’s all entertainment.
What’s done is done.
They won the one Cup in my lifetime, which is more than I believed they ever would having seen them win a measly two playoff series over the course of my first 15 years as a fan.
They underachieved. No other way to put it.
You make your runs. You load up and take your swings when you’re in the batter’s box.
They whiffed.
I had been calling for the tear down for the past 3-4 years and they proved me wrong multiple times.
We got a few extra years of entertainment out of it.
I got burned in 2003-04 when they loaded up for the first time in my lifetime and lost in the first round to Montreal then let all those guys walk.
The regular season means very little in this league when it comes to contending for a Cup, other than finishing above the line to qualify.
I’ll no longer get excited over the possibility of a Cup unless they’re in the conference finals.
I’ve just been burned too many times.
I’ll watch win or lose. I’m curious to see what comes next.
It’s all entertainment.
EverettMike
FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
There were a lot of people, not even fans but scouts and experts, who thought Zboril was a really risky pick even before the draft.
But even then, managing to pick one of the few first round duds in that draft is still a big black mark on Sweeney.
(I really don't give a shit about the 2015 draft anymore, but it came up, you know?)
GloryDaze4877
Barely Irrelevant
GM’s acquire the players, coaches make the lineup decisions. If you want to blame Sweeney for not having better options, that’s fair. However, Backes not playing is on Cassidy.
LouJersey
Registered User
yeah point is Backes sucked that bad. That is on the GM.
I also have to wonder if the HC truly gets to make the calls 100%
Sorry, can't agree. Sweeney doesn't play the games. Talent like that on the ice and they DNQ two years in a row then flame out in the POs year after year(save for 19)? When is it on the players? Lou was right, two HOFers in Chara and Bergeron, another likely candidate in Brad, Bruins HOFers in Krejci and Rask,a still prime Looch etc etc. How is that on Sweeney that they couldn't do better?
I'll add that what he's done since has not been the greatest, but that talent he inherited was better than what they ended up playing like.
GloryDaze4877
Barely Irrelevant
Obviously, everything looks worse in hindsight given the other guys drafted in that vicinity
All I was saying is the Zboril was considered by most people to be a Top 20 pick and not a big reach.
LouJersey
Registered User
I think it has to do with always being a top 6 guy short for Krejci other than 2023. Maybe his marriage to this core of players. Sometimes you need to make tough decisions and not run the same group out there when they generally choke time in and time out. He had a 1st pair LD for alot of it who they wouldn't even play in the playoffs. Team doesn't just have the "it" factor and the designer should take the brunt since the players have changed and also the coaches. He's on his fourth coach, he has run out of people to blame
EverettMike
FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
I am not absolving the players. At all.
But Sweeney left this team with huge holes year after year. We were all calling that out year after year on here.
GloryDaze4877
Barely Irrelevant
Come on. At that point in the season you have no roster limit, Black Aces, etc.
You really think Sweeney told Cassidy to sit Backes in a Game 7 vs his former team? If anything, it would have been the opposite
He should for what we have now and over a good part of his tenure, but at the same time, if he inherited that much talent to start with then it isn't so much on him when that talent does not play up to expectations. As people love to point out, he didn't build that team, so it seems a little unfair to blame him when they didn't live up to their abilities. Fast forward that a few years to the point where he fully owns the roster, and yeah, he could have and should have done better.
No argument from me, my reply above to Lou is how I feel about it: Yeah for the past at least five seasons, if not longer, Sweeney has been a day late and dollar short in spite of his best efforts. I am all for making a change in the FO.
LouJersey
Registered User
So why is the stupid one the guy who has won a cup as a head coach? Kuhlman scored a goal in game 6. I do agree with the premise the GM would want his 6 mil per player in there though, but I would imagine the HC doesn't get 100% autonomy in selecting a lineup and that is what they came up collectively?Come on. At that point in the season you have no roster limit, Black Aces, etc.
You really think Sweeney told Cassidy to sit Backes in a Game 7 vs his former team? If anything, it would have been the opposite
EverettMike
FIRE DON SWEENEY INTO THE SUN
Come on. At that point in the season you have no roster limit, Black Aces, etc.
You really think Sweeney told Cassidy to sit Backes in a Game 7 vs his former team? If anything, it would have been the opposite
I genuinely don't think anyone told Bruce who to play or not in that game, so Cassidy owns that call.
But Backes f***ing sucked in that series, and he was a pretty useless player at that point in general, as some of us predicted the day he signed his shitty deal. Sweeney f***ed up that free agent signing---like he has most of his big free agent signings---and it came back to bite them at the worst possible time.
GloryDaze4877
Barely Irrelevant
Sweeney did enough in 2019. In 2023, he set them up for success and the players and coaches pissed it away.
That said, it’s time to retool/rebuild and imo he (and others in the current FO) should not be in charge of that.
I am 100% with you on that. I think there is an argument to make that in both those years Sweeney did not get the player mix right, but I don't care to make it, I just get it from those that feel that way. But now here we are and I am ready for the club to go in a different direction in restructure mode and do it with a different vision in place.
This, probably more than anything, is why I want no part of forking over needed assets (there aren't many and they are all precious) for JT Miller (or anyone of that vintage). I also would like to see a different management team decide how to use those meagre assets.
Babajingo
Registered User
Simple Math:
Started the 10 years with Chara, Rask, Bergeron, Marchand, Krecji, Pasta and 3 1st rnd picks in a deep draft
Ending the 10 years with Marchand, Pasta and McAvoy, (Swayman TBD)
They should've won in 2019. Its partly Sweeney's fault because his team go dummied by a much tougher team. Oh and same thing happened the last two years. Hmmm I see some commonality there.
Also, if anyone gives him credit for two years ago, ugh. Bergeron and Krecj should get most of the credit.
Started the 10 years with Chara, Rask, Bergeron, Marchand, Krecji, Pasta and 3 1st rnd picks in a deep draft
Ending the 10 years with Marchand, Pasta and McAvoy, (Swayman TBD)
They should've won in 2019. Its partly Sweeney's fault because his team go dummied by a much tougher team. Oh and same thing happened the last two years. Hmmm I see some commonality there.
Also, if anyone gives him credit for two years ago, ugh. Bergeron and Krecj should get most of the credit.
