2018-19 Stanley Cup - Bruins vs Blues

[fair catch fryar]

Here's a cheat sheet for ya: Home team has the last change. Being at home enables Cassidy to be strategic with matchups whether that be putting the scrappy/defense-first 4th line on the Tarasenko line or putting the Bergy line against their weak/slower 3rd line. Happens every single game.

It's funny because I was just trying to explain this to a friend of mine that is a local HS football coach and was asking about the X's and O's of hockey. When I explained a lot of the strategies behind special teams of hockey, matching skill sets of various players to opposing teams, +/- ratios etc...and compared it to that of the NFL he has since become a hockey geek and a rabid Bruins' fan.

I recommended this as a good read to really start to understand the intricacies and genius behind one of the greats:

Herb Brooks: The Inside Story of a Hockey Mastermind by John Gilbert

 

[Dorito Dink]

I'm on Deus' ignore list too and my experience on this board improved by a factor of 8.

Well gee I didn't know it was such an elite club. I'm going to wear this badge with honor. Shall we make some letterman jackets?

 

[maust]

It's funny because I was just trying to explain this to a friend of mine that is a local HS football coach and was asking about the X's and O's of hockey. When I explained a lot of the strategies behind special teams of hockey, matching skill sets of various players to opposing teams, +/- ratios etc...and compared it to that of the NFL he has since become a hockey geek and a rabid Bruins' fan.

There's so much the average sports fan doesn't understand about hockey. It's a shame too because once they get an even rudimentary understanding of the game most of them love it. I've educated a lot of folks about the game and seen them become rabid for it. Football fans in particular take to hockey very well, once they understand it's not just chaos on skates the continuous action really hooks them.

 

[maust]

Well gee I didn't know it was such an elite club. I'm going to wear this badge with honor. Shall we make some letterman jackets?

Hardly elite, there's probably more of us on it than off it.

 

[fair catch fryar]

There's so much the average sports fan doesn't understand about hockey. It's a shame too because once they get an even rudimentary understanding of the game most of them love it. I've educated a lot of folks about the game and seen them become rabid for it. Football fans in particular take to hockey very well, once they understand it's not just chaos on skates the continuous action really hooks them.

I always found the similarities between the personalities and thinking of Bill Belichick and Herb Brooks to be uncanny.

 

[Dorito Dink]

It's funny because I was just trying to explain this to a friend of mine that is a local HS football coach and was asking about the X's and O's of hockey. When I explained a lot of the strategies behind special teams of hockey, matching skill sets of various players to opposing teams, +/- ratios etc...and compared it to that of the NFL he has since become a hockey geek and a rabid Bruins' fan.

I recommended this as a good read to really start to understand the intricacies and genius behind one of the greats:

Herb Brooks: The Inside Story of a Hockey Mastermind by John Gilbert

Thanks for the reference! I'll have to check that out. Hockey is such an enjoyable sport whether you're a hockey novice or an expert. It's not only entertaining to watch these guys fly down the ice and be physical, but when you start to understand the game and how much strategy goes into every play you develop a newfound enjoyment.

Just look at the difference in strategies between Julien and Cassidy beginning in the 2016 season. Same team but they looked so much different down the stretch because of the way the two coaches systems were designed (Julien was fired in February). It's not to say Cassidy is a better coach (Julien was great in his own right), but he's a lot more aggressive and allows his D to both rush the puck and pinch. The strategy is a lot riskier obviously because everybody has to be on the same page (Clifton rushes the puck in, 1 forward should drop back along with the 2nd D-man) whereas Julien's system was so conservative (especially with Forwards) which made goals hard to come by.

There are actually a lot of similarities between hockey and football when it comes to strategy and different offensive/defensive schemes. Belichick would have been a great hockey coach if football (and Lacrosse ) were never invented.

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

I always found the similarities between the personalities and thinking of Bill Belichick and Herb Brooks to be uncanny.

YOU GUYS LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF MONKEYS HUMPING A FOOTBALL!!!

 

[RobertWeathers]

Well gee I didn't know it was such an elite club. I'm going to wear this badge with honor. Shall we make some letterman jackets?

Yea he had some BS take on SB52 and I challenged him on it. He started with the "you are clowning yourself" because he had a crap rebuttal routine and I unloaded on him. He took his ball and went home

 

[venecol]

Krug's borderline hit sparks Twitter divide

 

[fair catch fryar]

Krug's borderline hit sparks Twitter divide

"Experts" is debatable. He was beelining towards the puck in St. Louis' zone and Thomas just happened to line himself up perfectly for Krug to lay down the hit. There really isn't much to debate about it. Thomas played the puck so the strides that Krug took were negated and his feet never left the ice.

 

[venecol]

I'm one of the guys that doesn't know what he is talking about but I thoroughly enjoyed the game. It seemed the Bruins had many scoring chances in the 1st period but definately dominated the last two.

When I played hockey in HS it was on an asphalt futsal court with roller blades, field hockey sticks, taped up baseball for puck, futsal goals, and goalie wearing catchers gear. There were no boards or padding. It was a lot of fun but brutal. Not the same game but ice was kinda short, lol.

 

[RedSleevesPinkStripes]

I'm one of the guys that doesn't know what he is talking about but I thoroughly enjoyed the game. It seemed the Bruins had many scoring chances in the 1st period but definately dominated the last two.

When I played hockey in HS it was on an asphalt futsal court with roller blades, field hockey sticks, taped up baseball for puck, futsal goals, and goalie wearing catchers gear. There were no boards or padding. It was a lot of fun but brutal. Not the same game but ice was kinda short, lol.

Some of my favorite times as a kid was dead end street hockey with my buddies.. man I miss those times. Being an adult kinda sucks.

 

[maust]

Just look at the difference in strategies between Julien and Cassidy beginning in the 2016 season. Same team but they looked so much different down the stretch because of the way the two coaches systems were designed (Julien was fired in February).

Claude's strategies were devised to win 1-0, 2-1 games. You either really need to have a veteran roster tailor made for it, an unreal goaltender or both to win a championship with that type of game plan. He was death on the young guys. Now that hockey has a hard cap Claude's desired type of roster just isn't sustainable. Cassidy is Sweeney & Neely's type of guy, he coaches to the talent in so far as he can while maintaining his system. McAvoy or Clifton jumping up the way they did the other night wouldn't have happened when it was Claude's team whereas not doing it on a Cassidy team would be more likely to get them an earful.

 

[PP2]

Krug's borderline hit sparks Twitter divide

 

[maust]

Krug's borderline hit sparks Twitter divide

The divide in that snippet exists between the analysts/stat geeks and the guys that have actually played the game. It should come as no surprise the players all felt it was a clean hit. The best evidence of all was in the game itself, no one on the Blues beat the snot out of Krug despite the fact he is the smallest guy on either team.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Some of my favorite times as a kid was dead end street hockey with my buddies.. man I miss those times. Being an adult kinda sucks.

We used to take over the tennis courts with 8 foot fences in the park near our house. Pretty tough to beat when you didn't have to chase the ball, retrieve from underneath parked cars, stop for traffic and stuff your buddy into the chain link fence every once in a while. We weren't very popular with some of the old fart tennis players though...

 

[captain stone]

There's so much the average sports fan doesn't understand about hockey. It's a shame too because once they get an even rudimentary understanding of the game most of them love it. I've educated a lot of folks about the game and seen them become rabid for it. Football fans in particular take to hockey very well, once they understand it's not just chaos on skates the continuous action really hooks them.

Not enough "data" and "stats" for the balls 'n sticks and the basset-ball gweeps.

 

[maust]

Not enough "data" and "stats" for the balls 'n sticks and the basset-ball gweeps.

No out of bounds for them to hide in either.

 

[captain stone]

...There really isn't much to debate about it. Thomas played the puck so the strides that Krug took were negated and his feet never left the ice.

Yep...If Thomas doesn't touch the puck, then Krug goes to the box...but he did, so Krug didn't.

 

[captain stone]

When I played hockey in HS it was on an asphalt futsal court with roller blades, field hockey sticks, taped up baseball for puck, futsal goals, and goalie wearing catchers gear. There were no boards or padding. It was a lot of fun but brutal. Not the same game but ice was kinda short, lol.

Some of my favorite times as a kid was dead end street hockey with my buddies.. man I miss those times. Being an adult kinda sucks.

We used to take over the tennis courts with 8 foot fences in the park near our house. Pretty tough to beat when you didn't have to chase the ball, retrieve from underneath parked cars, stop for traffic and stuff your buddy into the chain link fence every once in a while. We weren't very popular with some of the old fart tennis players though...

Street hockey league games at the "girls" recess yard at the Thomas J Kenny School in Dorchester MA baby!
Still had to chase the orange Phil & Tony Esposito-approved street hockey balls whenever they were shot through the iron fenceposts, unfortunately.