What Harry Sinden thinks of these record-setting Bruins, and other thoughts - The Boston Globe
Sinden is the godfather of the Spoked-B, a man who came to the Bruins in 1961. He likes the chances for this year's squad.
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▪ The Bruins are favorites to win the Stanley Cup. They have four regular-season games remaining and a shot at the NHL’s all-time records for wins and points. They have a chance to go down in history as the greatest NHL team of all time.
Time to check in with Harry Sinden.
Harry is the Bear in Winter, the godfather of the Spoked-B, a man who came to the Bruins in 1961. He was Bruins head coach when 18-year-old, wiffle-haired Bobby Orr first played in Boston in 1966. Together, they won the Cup in 1970.
Harry will turn 91 in September, has been married to Eleanor for 70 years, and is still on the Bruins masthead as “Senior Advisor to the Owner and Alternate Governor.” He is the man who drafted Don Sweeney in 1984, and traded for Cam Neely two years later.
Reached on the phone at his Massachusetts home this past week, Sinden was happy to share his thoughts on this year’s Bruins.
Like a lot of fans, Sinden was surprised when the B’s abruptly fired coach Bruce Cassidy last June.
“At the time of the change, I had a little difficulty comprehending it,” Sinden acknowledges. “To be honest, it was a little confusing. But I didn’t question it, because it’s none of my business to question it.”
Local buzz held that Cassidy had been hard on the lads and they wanted a new voice.
“There were some things written about [Cassidy] that were probably a little exaggerated,” said Sinden. “It gave everybody a reason to explain why they changed coaches, and I was a little surprised at it. But players come first and I’m very happy to see how Jim Montgomery operates.
“Jim and I talk quite a bit. Nothing really to do with strategy or anything like that. He’s very knowledgeable and he’s been through it all. He was a good replacement. It’s all about results and we always take the side of winning. So, I guess Bruce was too hard on ‘em.
“What I like about Montgomery is that he understands how important checking is. He knows that what matters — 75 or 80 percent of the time — is who wins the battles along the boards. Two guys go for the puck — do you come out with it more than they do? If you can control that and understand how important that is, you have a good team. It’s hard to get that across, but it’s just as important as scoring or passing. Jim understands that and applies it to his team. You’ve got to have a pretty good coach to get that across.”
What about the notion that GM Sweeney has drafted poorly?
“Everyone beats the hell out of Don for the 2015 draft,” said Sinden. “Don had zero to do with the 2015 draft because he was general manager of Providence. He didn’t join the team until late May and the draft was a week later. He got blasted for that draft, but it didn’t turn out that bad. [Jake] DeBrusk was part of it, and [Jakub] Zboril, too . . . This is a decent team because Don has built up the areas where we were weak.”
Sinden believes that in playoff hockey, a team needs an edge in three areas: goaltending, power play, and officiating.
1. Goaltending: “When I was coaching, we had [Gerry] Cheevers and Eddie Johnston. They were good, and Cheevers was the dominant of the two. Here, it’s very close and the kid [Jeremy Swayman] has really improved this season. That’s probably the biggest reason for us having the season we are. We have a really good goaltender [Linus Ullmark] and one that’s almost as good. In other years when we won the Presidents’ Trophy and didn’t win the Cup, we didn’t have the goaltending that we have now. It’s like having the quarterback in football.”
2. Power play: “I don’t think we’re getting as much out of the power play as we should. You need six or seven clever players to make a power play work. We have those players, but we’re not getting the results out of it. It does go in spells where it’s great for a while and then all of a sudden you can’t score anymore.”
3. Officiating: “It’s like in football. Ninety percent of the calls could go either way. You’ve got to get the officials to go your way, and it becomes a part of the playoffs. A penalty here or there and you’re out.”
“I like our team,” Sinden added. “We have a very strong defense, two goaltenders, and a game-breaker at any time in [David] Pastrnak. He can score at any time.”
What about the sports-talk-radio notion that Pasta gives up the puck too much?
“That’s probably true,” Sinden acknowledged. “There is something to that. In his own end, he sometimes kind of thinks he’s in their end. But you have to put up with certain faults in some players, because they are so strong in other areas. You have to put up with it and hope it’s not too bad.
“I don’t see a definite weakness with our team. But if you don’t check in the playoffs as well as you did during the regular season, you’re going to be out. All the other team has to do is out-check you. Puck possession is something that slips on teams and this coach is very aware of that.”
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