What is the cause of the Bruins mediocrity?

[Oates2Neely]

Have you seen the standings?
This team is average, mediocre.

Why do you say just healthy Bruins? Bruins aren't the only team that has been dealing with injuries.

Let's look at the division.
Montreal, Galchenyuk has played 25 games, Markov has missed games, Shaw, Lehkonen, Beaulieu have missed games.

Tampa, Stamkos has played 17 games, Kucherov, Drouin, Palat& Stralman have missed games and so on.

Florida, Barkov, Jokinen, Ekblad, Petrovic, Bjugstad have been dealing with injuries, Huberdeau has played 0 games this season.

Buffalo, none of ROR, Eichel, Kulikov, Bogosian have seen a healthy day, add Kane& Larsson injuries.

So again blaming their success this season on injuries would be awfull, a bad excuse.
This is the same thing we are seeing 3rd year in a row. With games tied they are probably outside a playoff spot.

Yes I have. The Bruins currently sit 8th in the East in points. That's with Bergeron & Krejci shell of themselves due to injury. Markov? Lehkonen? Beaulieu? I'm talking key players.

In a 7 game playoff series I don't see Toronto Buffalo Philly Florida Carolina beating the Bruins.

 

[JAD]

Have you seen the standings?
This team is average, mediocre.

Why do you say just healthy Bruins? Bruins aren't the only team that has been dealing with injuries.

Let's look at the division.
Montreal, Galchenyuk has played 25 games, Markov has missed games, Shaw, Lehkonen, Beaulieu have missed games.

Tampa, Stamkos has played 17 games, Kucherov, Drouin, Palat& Stralman have missed games and so on.

Florida, Barkov, Jokinen, Ekblad, Petrovic, Bjugstad have been dealing with injuries, Huberdeau has played 0 games this season.

Buffalo, none of ROR, Eichel, Kulikov, Bogosian have seen a healthy day, add Kane& Larsson injuries.

So again blaming their success this season on injuries would be awfull, a bad excuse.
This is the same thing we are seeing 3rd year in a row, 3rd year in a row where we haven't seen any signs of consistency. With games tied they are probably outside a playoff spot.

With all due respect ... all the teams you mentioned above with injuries have been playing like teams with injuries. Even Montreal once the injuries hit have been hovering at .500.
If all teams were injury free (including the bruins) it sure would be interesting. And I suspect the Bruins would be contending - in the thick of it.

 

[TMac21]

Seguin trade
Poor drafting under Chiarelli

 

[Fenway]

All due respect, just stop with the Milbury stuff, please. Not the first time you've floated him out there.

I am not suggesting the Bruins hire Milbury, I was suggesting that Cam is more incompetent than Mike in running a team.

Cam was originally hired to wine and dine the corporate crowd and he was a success at that. He was also to be the face of the franchise for the media and public and when things were going good there wasn't a camera or microphone he didn't like. Now he is avoiding the media.

 

[BB88]

Yes I have. The Bruins currently sit 8th in the East in points. That's with Bergeron & Krejci shell of themselves due to injury. Markov? Lehkonen? Beaulieu? I'm talking key players.

In a 7 game playoff series I don't see Toronto Buffalo Philly Florida Carolina beating the Bruins.

That's with the most games played in the East, hurraa.
Stamkos, Kucherov, Stralman, Barkov, Ekblad, Huberdeau, ROR, Eichel, Galchenyuk aren't key players?

This is 3rd year of the same, no signs of consistency.
This team lacks talent, but if we blame this on injuries nothing will change, again which would be horrible.

Defense is so damm important in the playoffs, and I can't see this defense with Chara, Kevan and McQuaid do that well against great teams.

With all due respect ... all the teams you mentioned above with injuries have been playing like teams with injuries. Even Montreal once the injuries hit have been hovering at .500.
If all teams were injury free (including the bruins) it sure would be interesting. And I suspect the Bruins would be contending - in the thick of it.

Depends how many contenders are there, 6-8 in the East?
More like 4, group that even the healthy Bruins aren't in.

 

[xStanleyCupsFor]

I would say a combination of the 3:

60% supporting players
25% core players
15% coaching

 

[Ryan77]

With all due respect ... all the teams you mentioned above with injuries have been playing like teams with injuries. Even Montreal once the injuries hit have been hovering at .500.
If all teams were injury free (including the bruins) it sure would be interesting. And I suspect the Bruins would be contending - in the thick of it.

I don't mean this to come off ass rude but if you think the Bruins could "contend" this year you are crazy. This team is so far off from that it's crazy.

 

[Rumpy]

Bad drafting

 

[BruinsBtn]

Everything comes from the defense's ability to get the puck up the ice quickly and their inability to get point shots through.

 

[Fenway]

I don't mean this to come off ass rude but if you think the Bruins could "contend" this year you are crazy. This team is so far off from that it's crazy.

The Bruins are contending for a playoff spot but certainly can not be considered as a Cup contender. The frustrating thing is they had played better at home they would be near the top of the conference.

 

[xStanleyCupsFor]

It is the players.It got to this point because Chiarelli really screwed things up with his horrible drafting and trades to try and keep as much of the cup winning team together as possible. The problem with that is that he gave a contract to a clearly declining Dennis Seidenberg and traded Boychuk as he was hitting his peak and for a bad return for him and Seguin and left a massive salary cap mess because he did things like signing Iginla to a deal that took $5 million off the cap the next season.

I understand why Chiarelli did what he did it may have worked out if he had any decent drafts but he didn't even have one until his final one.

Just look at this team compared to the cup team

Lucic-Krejci-Horton
Marchand-Bergeron-Recchi
Peverley-Kelly-Ryder
Paille-Campbell-Thornton

Chara-Seidenberg
Ference-Boychuk
Kaberle-McQuaid

Thomas
Rask

What position are they equal or better in compared to then? Maybe Marchand, Pastrnak, and if they put Backes as the 3rd line center? Maybe Carlo is almost as good as Seidenberg was? Besides that every position has a lesser player at it.

Damn. When you look at those slots compared to today's lineup. Prime Chara/Seids, prime Boychuk. Veteran scoring depth. It's not even close. They all aged and were never replaced. Sweeney is responsible for his own hits and misses to be sure. But Chia's poor drafting/developing and misplaced trades decimated this team.

 

[JCRO]

Management.

And it goes beyond the Sweeney era. However, the Don has somewhat contributed to the issue. We have seen the need for a fix to this D core as well as better drafting and all that has been done is acquire bottom pairing d men to place bandages on it until the kids are hopefully ready that have been drafted...

Drafting looks to have improved a lot (time will tell). But the drafting prior was poor and continue to effect this team. And the lack of acquiring the correct personnel hasnt helped either. Not saying theres a boat load of top 4 d men in this league available or even available at a fair price, but this team has let two of them leave without filling the void and continues to stride along with an unproven D core. They need HELP.

I point to the D core mostly and even dare to say its the reason why these back up goalies continue to fail. Rask has played out of his mind to this point in the season and without him... Well...

I have started to come around to the idea that Claudes message is becoming stale, but still firmly sit behind the fact that well... Look what he has to work with! And thats were supporting players comes in but thats a song for another time as I have ranted enough.

 

[Rumpy]

I would say a combination of the 3:

60% supporting players
25% core players
15% coaching

I agree, and the supporting players is due to bad contracts (Hayes Belesky Backes Miller or McQuaid) and horrible drafting for years. Putting Lipstick on a pig...

 

[Oates2Neely]

That's with the most games played in the East, hurraa.
Stamkos, Kucherov, Stralman, Barkov, Ekblad, Huberdeau, ROR, Eichel, Galchenyuk aren't key players?

This is 3rd year of the same, no signs of consistency.
This team lacks talent, but if we blame this on injuries nothing will change, again which would be horrible.

Defense is so damm important in the playoffs, and I can't see this defense with Chara, Kevan and McQuaid do that well against great teams.




Depends how many contenders are there, 6-8 in the East?
More like 4, group that even the healthy Bruins aren't in.

So assuming all teams are healthy, who are the 8 teams in the East who you feel best the Bruins in a 7 game series

 

[SPLBRUIN]

It's really a bit of everything. Sweeney's has stocked the cupboard full of prospects, but his moves for today haven't really helped much. The core guys like Bergy, Marchand and Krejci have underperformed, especially Bergy. Julien has to take blame for not having his team prepared at the opening whistle as well as stubbornly dressing both K. Miller and McQuaid to the detriment of the team when both are healthy. His love of untalented grinders never ceases to amaze me, Riley Nash at times playing on our top line and at other times centering our 3rd line, the goalless Acciari still managing to get in the lineup on a fairly regular basis.

 

[Spanky185]

All of the above, but the easiest issue to fix is coaching (well I suppose waiving players is easier). It's been the same thing for three years, 2 GMs, and adding and subtracting players. There's a common thread and that's Claude Julien.

Pittsburgh and Columbus put new voices behind their benches last year and have seen great benefit. Let Claude go coach Vegas.

 

[BruinDust]

So assuming all teams are healthy, who are the 8 teams in the East who you feel best the Bruins in a 7 game series

Bruins have the most regulation losses in the Eastern Conference.

I'd wager there are more than 8 teams who can beat them in a 7 game series.

Forget the standings, Bruins have 40 games played where many teams are in that 36-37 range.

The only teams I'd feel comfortable against in a playoff series are Buffalo and NJ. I think even NYI and Carolina give this Boston team a hard time.

The rest of the conference I don't see them having a chance winning a 7 game series.

 

[BruinsPortugal]

Seguin trade
Poor drafting under Chiarelli

This. Management is a problem but the core is getting old and the inability to make the transition is hurting this team seriously. And that is why we need to wait for the recent drafts to develop into something.

I understand people want to be competitive and win now and have a bunch of trades but eventually this team needed to make the transition and without good drafting its almost impossible.

I dont necessarly have a problem with what they are doing right now even though i disagree with some decisions. Mediocrity is to be expected and its gonna be a rough couple of years.

 

[BergyWho37]

I think it was Mike that said it last night. Effort to win puck battles and too get cycles down low is not their.

No identity comes into it coz who are we ? A team that plays to other teams level then makes a 5 min push ?

I rather them push the pace and find out what there made of.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

The roster is mediocre.

 

[Tim Vezina Thomas]

I think its all of the above. Julien is a great coach, but even Nick Saban will wear out his welcome at Alabama.

I think the top six is fine, and Chara/Carlo as a top pairing is acceptable, but the rest of the roster is below average.

 

[Fenway]

The business side of the franchise is in trouble. Several major sponsors have left including one that had been advertising on the boards since the Garden. A friend who works in the club level says food and beverage sales are way down and so are the tips. Jacobs does not look at people who attend games on Level 5 and 6 as fans, he views them as clients.

The renovations went way over budget and not having playoff income from home games is a killer. The Celtics early exit last year didn't help matters either.

Of course all the above problems go away if the team wins.

 

[mjhfb]

The problem is that by the time the draft picks play out (if they play out) the core will be older. Think about how Detroit slid with an aging 1-2 core of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, even with new youth. Will that be the B's in a few years?

 

[TheBigBadB]

Complacency from top to bottom. Management complacent with the on ice product. Coaching staff complacent with the team, and veteran leaders complacent on the ice. As much as they'll interview that they aren't, I just don't believe it.

Team will have a couple of losses, they'll try hard for a few games, then go back into cruise mode after they think the criticism has died down. Its like groundhog day played over and over again for the past 3 years..

 

[BNHL]

I am not suggesting the Bruins hire Milbury, I was suggesting that Cam is more incompetent than Mike in running a team.

Cam was originally hired to wine and dine the corporate crowd and he was a success at that. He was also to be the face of the franchise for the media and public and when things were going good there wasn't a camera or microphone he didn't like. Now he is avoiding the media.

Milbury made mistakes but he'll tell you that he had to do what Wang wanted,against Milbury's advice. Probably what happened with Seguin,Jacobs said he's out and Chiarelli looks like the dope,until you dig deeper.