Why is Boston such a good organization?

[ManofSteel55]

Well, they get a freebie in the first round of the playoffs most years...

 

[SImpelton]

Oooh I forgot about the Kessel trade. Maybe more addition by subtraction given how polarizing he is in the locker room. Even though he won three cups (though as a complementary rather than core piece, the distinction does matter).

Also just looked it up, those draft picks became Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton (!!!), both traded away for what ended up being nothing as well -- Dougie was traded away for one of those 2015 1st rounders that missed, Seguin for Loui Eriksson who at the time was a good player but subsequently didn't produce on the Bs.

And re: @PatriceBergeron fan, forgot about Savard too, that guy was amazing, thx for that. Not a lot of teams can lose a point-a-game 1C due to injuries and stay good as well, if anything we should probably give this team even more credit than we already are.

Good team over there

They won a playoff series the year Savard got decked in the head. Savard even scored a game winning goal that series although that was pretty much the end of his career after that point due to severe PCS.

 

[zombie kopitar]

But they aren't good anymore, so it isn't a constant high. The Pats are probably in worse shape than the Sox but I don't think either are making the playoffs for a few more years at least

I think fans of damn near every NA sports team would trade the success of ether of those franchises if it meant sucking for a little while

 

[SImpelton]

1. Culture
The Bergeron/Chara culture of inclusion has made for many tight locker rooms which leads to accountability from your peers, which is more sustainable than relying on the coach. Which leads into…

2. Focusing on two way players that offer a better $ to cap hit value than more one dimensional scorers
They get guys that buy in (and ship them out if they don’t, even if they are very good players like Thornton, Kessel, or Seguin). That buy in leads to teams that are consistently greater than the sum of their parts.

The flip side of 1+2 is that they often don’t have another level to elevate to in the post season. They tend to overachieve in the regular season relative to their talent.

3. Goaltending
Thomas to Rask to Ullmark to Swayman is insane. The structure of the D certainly helps. And so does Bob Essensa, who should have more recognition across the league as a difference making coach.

4. Pulling stars out of their ass later in the draft
This feels like luck. The Bruins run from 2006-2013 mirror those of most top tier contenders. Have a few really good drafts, build up talent, make some runs, and have guys start to age out. Not sure if things would have gone differently against Chicago if Bergeron and Chara didn’t get hurt, but Chara was never a real Norris guy again after he f***ed his knee. Looked like the end there. And then the Seguin trade blew up in their face.

But then they got lucky getting elite talents like McAvoy and Pasta in the mid to late 1st and were able to make another go at it with the Bergeron/Krejci/Chara backbone with an upset loss to STL. Over the years made some picks and deals and were able to transition almost seamlessly from an elite D lead by Chara, Boychuk, Seidenberg to an elite D led by McAvoy, Lindholm and Carlo.

They have just done a brilliant job on keep the defense and goaltending elite. And Lorhei looks like he could be the next step in keeping the D going when Lindholm slows down.

Up front? Well, it looks like they had a nice reclamation project go their way in Zacha. And Poitras looks like a surprise top 6 C with an unknown ceiling, but they are going to have to find another high end talent up front somehow to turn over to this post Bergeron/Krejci forward core.

They will have a lot of money next summer. We will see.

I've been wondering if the Leafs might risk another trade with boston and deal Marner or Nylander to the Bruins who can take the cap hit, and exchange Boston taking the WHOLE hit rather than demanding a big return in talent, freeing Toronto up to restructure. It's a possible solution that might benefit both sides.

 

[SImpelton]

The salary cap is required to make Boston a good organization. Without it they would be so far down in spending nothing else would matter.

What the hell are you talking about? Boston has never been a poorhouse team. The Red Sox have never lacked for payroll and they're about the closest to an uncapped team there is and they're usually in the top 5 in player spending in their league.

The idea that the revenue isn't there for Boston to spend past the cap if it was allowed is simply weird. Boston isn't the largest sports market in numbers of people, but the region has a very high per capita income and there's DEFINITELY plenty of revenue flowing into the team. It might struggle to keep up with the Torontos, Montreals and New Yorks of the league but Boston is normally right behind them in the second rank of upmarket teams when allowed to spend freely.

I can't think of the last time a New England based team has failed to spend to the cap.

 

[nbwingsfan]

50 years with 1 cup is the height of mediocrity, I'd say. Invert it and realize how stubborn and inept you have to be to get so close and never get it done. And there are tangible reasons for that.

Philly has been consistently competitive as well and ask their fans how they feel the last 30 years.

Franchises like CHI, PIT and NJ, despite their dark periods, are much more legendary and admirable because they won it all multiple times.

Since the cap came into existence Philly has:
Finals once
0 Cup
Missed the playoffs entirely 8 times

Boston in theatre same time frame has:
3 finals
1 Cup
Missed the playoffs 4 times
Are currently in the 2nd round
* also set the record for best regular season record of all time

Their resumes aren’t remotely similar.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

They're willing to make hard decisions and move on from good, effective players to acquire Bruins. It's a culture of buy-in.

 

[SImpelton]

Helped by the fact the leafs traded them seguin, hamilton AND rask to help them win a cup and maintain competitiveness.

Of those 3 players, exactly 0 of them contributed significantly to a Cup run. Thomas was the goaltender for the Cup run so Rask didn't play, Seguin mostly sat in the press box, and Hamilton I don't think was even on the roster yet.

 

[Reality Czech]

1 cup since the early 70s, they ain't that great.

 

[PettersonHughes]

Everyone knows of the core they drafted (Marchand, Pasta, McAvoy, Swayman as a 4th round pick and Ullmark from Buffalo). As others said though, buy-in definitely goes a long way, and the role players probably know their roles well enough to form a strong cohesive unit behind the stars.

 

[SImpelton]

Well, they get a freebie in the first round of the playoffs most years...

That's about the literal opposite of the thing that happens.

Almost every time they get out of the first round at all, it's in 7 games.

I think the vast majority of our round 1 losses have also gone 7 but I'd need to look that up to be sure. I know of at least 3 that did, 2 against Montreal and the recent one against the Kitties.

The last time one of our first rounds didn't have a game seven was 2010 against the Sabres. Which went to game 6.

Ever since then, including the 4 Leafs series and 2 against Montreal, it's always gone 7, and very frequently to an overtime in game 7.

 

[wintersej]

What the hell are you talking about? Boston has never been a poorhouse team. The Red Sox have never lacked for payroll and they're about the closest to an uncapped team there is and they're usually in the top 5 in player spending in their league.

The idea that the revenue isn't there for Boston to spend past the cap if it was allowed is simply weird. Boston isn't the largest sports market in numbers of people, but the region has a very high per capita income and there's DEFINITELY plenty of revenue flowing into the team. It might struggle to keep up with the Torontos, Montreals and New Yorks of the league but Boston is normally right behind them in the second rank of upmarket teams when allowed to spend freely.

I can't think of the last time a New England based team has failed to spend to the cap.

You are totally right about everything you say about the Boston metro area.

You must not be familiar with Jeremy Jacobs. In the couple decades leading up to the cap (which Jacob's spearheaded, mind you) the Bruins were an average to below average spending team.

By the end of the cap era, teams like Philly, Dallas or STL were spending 50% more in salary and teams like the Rangers or Wings getting up to over a 60% higher payroll than the Bruins. In the 02/03 season the Rangers and Detroit almost spent *double* what the Bruins were spending.

 

[SImpelton]

You are totally right about everything you say about the Boston metro area.

You must not be familiar with Jeremy Jacobs. In the couple decades leading up to the cap (which Jacob's spearheaded, mind you) the Bruins were an average to below average spending team.

By the end of the cap era, teams like Philly, Dallas or STL were spending 50% more in salary and teams like the Rangers or Wings getting up over 60% higher payroll than the Bruins.

You must be joking if you think Bruins fans would tolerate Jacobs' cheapness in an uncapped league. One of the big reasons for the turnaround starting in 06 is that Bruins fans BOYCOTTED large parts of the 05 and 06 season. They ABANDONED the team. And they did so because Jacobs had utterly earned their contempt for the way he'd handled team between 01 and 05. Fans had enough and they voted with their feet and wallets.

There's simply other options for a Boston sports fan in winter and Jacobs was forced to come to terms with that. Jacobs needed us more than we needed Jacobs. That was the last time he dared spend seriously below the cap. He knows that if he tries it again, we'd do it again.

So take that as one of your contributing factors to the OP's question. BOSTON FANS HAVE STANDARDS. We don't happily swallow any BS coming from the owner. you disrespect us beyond a certain point, we simply won't be there some day.

Fortunately Jacobs figured that out because he might be a skinflint but he's not actually an idiot, so he brought in some good hockey people like Sweeney and Chiarelli (yes Chiarelli was a good GM for a long time here before it went sour for him) and stepped aside. He learned his lesson, which is why he has very admirably shut up and paid up for a great many years now.

 

[wintersej]

You must be joking if you think Bruins fans would tolerate Jacobs' cheapness in an uncapped league. One of the big reasons for the turnaround starting in 06 is that Bruins fans BOYCOTTED large parts of the 05 and 06 season. They ABANDONED the team. And they did so because Jacobs had utterly earned their condempt for the way he'd handled team between 01 and 05. Fans had enough and they voted with their feet and wallets.

There's simply other options for a Boston sports fan in winter and Jacobs was forced to come to terms with that. That was the last time he dared spend seriously below the cap. He knows that if he tries it again, we'd do it again.

So take that as one of your contributing factors to the OP's question. BOSTON FANS HAVE STANDARDS. We don't happily swallow any BS coming from the owner. you disrespect us, we simply won't be there some day.

Boston Bruins yearly attendance at hockeydb.com

A historical graph of the yearly attendance for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League.

www.hockeydb.com

Guess the "boycott" lasted until 2009

 

[SImpelton]

Boston Bruins yearly attendance at hockeydb.com

A historical graph of the yearly attendance for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League.

www.hockeydb.com

Guess the "boycott" lasted until 2009

Trust once broken is hard to regain. yes, it took awhile for fans to realize that Jacobs was actually serious. Some are still bitter about the way guys like Ray Bourque, Glen Wesley and Andy Moog were treated.

fans were still highly skeptical until our run of playoff appearances started in 2008. that was the first year we really began to try to take the fight to the Canadiens again, and we didn't win, but we pushed them to 7 games as the 8th seed. That's when the healing began. Not surprising it took another year or so to really get the fans back to full strength.

the next year we BEAT the Habs in the first round before losing to Cam Ward and the Canes, so returning in full strength in 09 sounds about right to my memory. At that point it was a rivalry again, and that meant it was fun again. jacobs wasn't really forgiven, but we got a watchable team from that point on and could ignore the owner and focus on the on ice product. Having likeable stars like Bergeron, Savard (*cries*), Lucic, and Thomas definitely helped matters..

 

[NeelyWasAWarrior]

I can't believe nobody said it yet.

It's the dirty water.

 

[mrhockey193195]

good culture from strong leadership and a semi-recent history of winning. how lucky were the bruins to have both chara and bergeron.

i think they will falter this season tho. their goaltending and defense are very good but i dont think they have enough depth to their offense.

Exactly. Winning breeds winning. Even though they're not on the team anymore, this recent success of Boston with an unspectacular looking roster continues to add to the legacy of Chara & Bergeron. You're witnessing the aftereffects of their leadership and brilliance.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Trust once broken is hard to regain. yes, it took awhile for fans to realize that Jacobs was actually serious. Some are still bitter about the way guys like Ray Bourque, Glen Wesley and Andy Moog were treated.

fans were still highly skeptical until our run of playoff appearances started in 2008. that was the first year we really began to try to take the fight to the Canadiens again, and we didn't win, but we pushed them to 7 games as the 8th seed. That's when the healing began. Not surprising it took another year or so to really get the fans back to full strength.

the next year we BEAT the Habs in the first round before losing to Cam Ward and the Canes, so returning in full strength in 09 sounds about right to my memory. At that point it was a rivalry again, and that meant it was fun again. jacobs wasn't really forgiven, but we got a watchable team from that point on and could ignore the owner and focus on the on ice product. Having likeable stars like Bergeron, Savard (*cries*), Lucic, and Thomas definitely helped matters..

I'm guessing the Thornton trade pissed a bunch off due to the return being underwhelming.

 

[SImpelton]

Exactly. Winning breeds winning. Even though they're not on the team anymore, this recent success of Boston with an unspectacular looking roster continues to add to the legacy of Chara & Bergeron. You're witnessing the aftereffects of their leadership and brilliance.

Can't just be that though because that's not sustainable. what we're seeing is that some of the young guys brought into the league by Chara and Bergeron have learned their ways and are passing it forward. Especially guys like MacAvoy, Carlo and DeBrusk.

They managed to actually get their leaders to train the next generation of leaders. That's almost unheard of in professional sports where everyone has an ego the size of Neptune. but it's what they've accomplished.

 

[SImpelton]

I'm guessing the Thornton trade pissed a bunch off due to the return being underwhelming.

Actually no. There was a rebellion against it initially but it was pretty clear that Thornton had been traded because he was not part of the future of the team. And it was not hard to see that for the first time, with the hiring of Chiarelli, there WAS a future for this team. Guys came and went but it was easy to see a core assembling built around Savard, Bergeron, and Chara -- and later, once they realized what they had, Krejci and Thomas.

Those guys held the rest accountable, and guys who weren't a fit into the culture they wanted to build, like Kessel, Seguin, Wheeler, hamilton, guys who would go on to be stars on other teams, were unceremoniously sent elsewhere in favor of guys who were ready to make it work here.

Disciplinee and accountability were enforced, not by the coach, but by the players. That's hard to pull off. But it's why they were able to weather the loss of a super important core player like Marc Savard and keep moving forward. It's why they were able to do the same with it was Chara's time, and then Bergeron's The new players would come in, adapt to the culture, and then enforce it for the next wave of newcomers. Some wouldn't fit, but enough have to keep the team competitive because the players' standards are reasonable and fair.

It's a rare alchemy and it WILL break down some day, but so far so good.

 

[Oak]

If you look how they build their roster most of their guys are of a similar mold. Hard working two way guys who play a simple game. No high skill mosquitoes who don't play defense. No regular season superstars who disappear in the playoffs.

Even Pasta who is their top skill guy will grind and go to the dirty areas. Marchand has always been that way for a little skill guy.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Can't just be that though because that's not sustainable. what we're seeing is that some of the young guys brought into the league by Chara and Bergeron have learned their ways and are passing it forward. Especially guys like MacAvoy, Carlo and DeBrusk.

They managed to actually get their leaders to train the next generation of leaders. That's almost unheard of in professional sports where everyone has an ego the size of Neptune. but it's what they've accomplished.

100%. I was being a bit hyperbolic and certainly too reductive with my post, but what you posted is exactly how I feel and what I really meant. We saw the same thing with NJ in the 90s into the 2000s. I don't think Rafalski, John Madden, Jay Pandolfo, Paul Martin, etc. become the players they do without the leadership and winning culture put in place by Stevens, Brodeur, Niedermayer, Elias, etc. And then look what those guys went on the accomplish on other teams and the leadership they imparted on those teams.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

It's the Sam Adam's and the Chowdah

 

[lawrence]

1 cup since the early 70s, they ain't that great.

yea but look at their standings the last 13 years. That's pretty damn good if you ask me, love em or hate em.

 

[TheBeard]

Their scouting is top notch since it seems every game there’s a new rookie unknown making big plays.