OT: Bruins vs Zebras...er...Lightning Game 5

[Brady_to_Moss]

Dustin Byfuglien should be here. He personifies Bruin.

Him and Simmonds in Philly

 

[PatsDeb]

After doing so well all season, the Bruins finished on a disappointing note, but things are looking good for the future. Not sure Tuuka is the answer going forward. I hope they can find a young good goaltender to go with their young talent. Chara was showing his age in the last two games, but I still think having him back next year helps with stability for the team.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

The bruins have a lot of good youngsters, but the problem going forward is Chara’s age. The window to win another cup with Chara is tiny.

 

[maust]

Of course the window with Chara is short, he's 41 and his contract extension runs through next season but the future of this team doesn't rest with him. The outlook for this team is very good. If we are going to look seriously at the veteran issues rather than Rask bashing and Chara watching a look at Krecji and his no movement $7m+ contract is where I start. He still has outstanding play making ability and might be a #1 center on another team but on this one that job is taken. A 1 contract for a 2nd line center is problematic against the cap. Chiarelli screwed the pooch with a few deals here but coughing up the length of term he did on Krecji's contract was among the biggest mistakes he made when 'keeping the band together.'

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Different era, too. Ovechkin, who put up what's pretty eye popping for this era 49 goals this season, would have only been the 11th leading goal scorer in 1982, say. Patrik Laine, with 44, would have tied for 14th with guys like Barry Pederson.

Butterfly goaltending changed the game. Defense got better, too, especially the willingness to block shots.

1982 Gretsky doesn't put up 92 goals in 2018.

Regards,
Chris

 

[PP2]

Charlie in the playoffs was BAD...but his injury didn't help as he didn't look himself and it's funny. The D started to crumble when Carlo went down..that was a bigger loss than people think

All the more reasons to expect that things will be better next season. Carlo returns, players have more experience.

McAvoy is a freaking rookie. Give him a break, and no, last season doesn't count. I think he hit the rookie wall.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Of course the window with Chara is short, he's 41 and his contract extension runs through next season but the future of this team doesn't rest with him. '

Yeah, but who is going to replace Chara? That was my point. No one else on the roster strikes me as a number 1 d-man.

 

[primetime]

Butterfly goaltending changed the game. Defense got better, too, especially the willingness to block shots.

1982 Gretsky doesn't put up 92 goals in 2018.

Regards,
Chris

Goalies got better and their pads got much bigger. You also had the invention of the trap and other shot suppression.

 

[captain stone]

Charlie in the playoffs was BAD...but his injury didn't help as he didn't look himself...and it's funny, the D started to crumble when Carlo went down..that was a bigger loss than people think.

Not really.
The defencemen who were making the most errors - McAvoy, Grzelyck, Krug, Chara - were those whom Carlo was not going to replace anyway. In other words, almost all of those turnovers were going to happen whether Carlo was playing or not.

 

[maust]

Goalies got better and their pads got much bigger. You also had the invention of the trap and other shot suppression.

Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner. Just before the playoffs my grandson was talking about goaltenders using all the BS metrics they use now and telling me all the goalies I remember from 'the dark ages' couldn't have been as good as I remember. I sent him representative pics of goalies & equipment through the decades and waited for him to sheepishly respond (which to his credit he did) before I told him with all that bulked up equipment making goalies effectively 30% bigger the thing that hadn't changed is there's still only 24 square feet of goal front for them to defend.

In addition to the trap, the advent of improved defensive equipment, mandatory helmets and shields has ramped up the shot blocking big time.

 

[Ivan]

Yeah, but who is going to replace Chara? That was my point. No one else on the roster strikes me as a number 1 d-man.

Charlie McAvoy is a #1 defenseman.

 

[Ivan]

All the more reasons to expect that things will be better next season. Carlo returns, players have more experience.

McAvoy is a freaking rookie. Give him a break, and no, last season doesn't count. I think he hit the rookie wall.

Yep.

McAvoy, is the guy you want anchoring your defense going forward. It’s going to be an interesting off season.

 

[Ivan]

The bruins have a lot of good youngsters, but the problem going forward is Chara’s age. The window to win another cup with Chara is tiny.

They can’t look at it that way, they have to look at it as contending for year’s and getting the chance for Cup’s out of it.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Not really.
The defencemen who were making the most errors - McAvoy, Grzelyck, Krug, Chara - were those whom Carlo was not going to replace anyway. In other words, almost all of those turnovers were going to happen whether Carlo was playing or not.

If Carlo was healthy..he would have been playing

 

[captain stone]

If Carlo was healthy..he would have been playing

Yes he would...but almost all of those turnovers would still have been committed anyway, because those players who committed almost all of those turnovers - McAvoy, Grzelcyk, Chara, Krug - would ALSO have been playing besides Carlo (& Miller).

Basically, Carlo would've replaced McQuaid, who wasn't nearly as proficient at giving the puck to the other team as the other 4 were, so any positive difference Carlo would've made by replacing McQuaid is really negligible.

 

[SilverSeven]

Butterfly goaltending changed the game. Defense got better, too, especially the willingness to block shots.

1982 Gretsky doesn't put up 92 goals in 2018.

Regards,
Chris

To add to this, shorter shifts (Mike Keenan's Flyers introduced this and were pretty much the only team in the 80's to do this for example), modern nutrition, skating and fundamentals with depth players has never been better, standardized rink sizes across the league. Tons of changes to the game that has made it what it is nowadays.

I find it funny that folks romanticize the Soviet game (with good reason mind you, they played beautiful hockey) but disparage modern NHL play. The two are greatly connected, and the league being a Canadian-Soviet hybrid of styles can't be overlooked.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Joe Juneau, who is a legitimate rocket scientist (same school, better grades than Matt Patricia; 3.96 GPA in aerospace engineering at RPI while finishing his degree in 3 years after he arrived unable to speak English all while playing on a national championship hockey team)

outa my way, dummy