Speculation: Is this the best Bruins team of your lifetime?

[22Brad Park]

I'm a bit younger but the 2004 game 7 loss to the seats has a brainstain for me.

Yea some losses seem to stick more then winning.God I hope the boys can take this home or never hear end of it as chokers even though that would be a false narrative.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

Yea some losses seem to stick more then winning.God I hope the boys can take this home or never hear end of it as chokers even though that would be a false narrative.

Yep so true about certain games remembered. I just remember about to go into high school later that year and my innocent dumbass 14yo self thought the Bruins were going to go all the way that year and then it was my first experience of the Bruins losing to the seats. I guess we all had to experience it.

 

[Ivo]

I was born in 87, so the 70s were not in my lifetime and I was too young to watch the early 90s Bourque/Neely teams.
So for me it is just a comparison between this team and the 2011-2014. Let’s pick 2011, since they won the Cup.

Forwards
Zacha Krejci Pastrnak v. Lucic Krejci Horton (Tough call, Pasta is by far the greatest star here, but I think young Krejci might have been better than the current one, and the 2011 wingers were his perfect complements)

Marchand Bergeron DeBrusk v. Marchand Bergeron Recchi (advantage 2023, I prefer DeBrusk over 43 years old Recchi and current Marchand over rookie Marchand, Bergy is Bergy)

Hall Coyle Bertuzzi v. Peverley Kelly Ryder (advantage 2023, the 2011 line were important contributors, but I think the 2023 line has much more skill)

Frederik Nosek Hathaway v. Merlot (I can’t pick one)

Extras Foligno (assuming he gets healthy) v. Seguin (as much as I like Foligno and appreciate what he brought this season, I don’t see him coming in and singlehandedly winning us a game, which Seguin did in game 2 against Tampa).

Defense
Orlov McAvoy v. Seidenberg Chara (slight advantage 2011)
Lindholm Carlo v. Ference Boychuk (clear advantage 2023)
Gryz Clifton v. Kaberle McQuaid (about equal since Boston Kaberle was not the same as Toronto Kaberle)

Goalies
Ullmark v. Thomas (about equal in the regular season, obviously Thomas delivered in the playoffs and Ullmark still has to prove himself)
Swayman v. Rask (about equal too)

Putting them side by side like this (and without the hindsight of knowing how each of their playoffs goes), I would pick the 2023 team without hesitation.

 

[EvilDead]

If they win the Stanley Cup, then undeniably yes. If they don't, then 2010-11 will still be the best Bruins team I have ever seen.

 

[LouJersey]

Going into the playoffs I think there is no question this is the best team we have ever seen (born in 1970 or later). I really hope they take it home. This team deserves to be remembered as the best ever, all time and not a footnote. There has never been a more likable team as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Dellstrom]

Even if they lose 1st round they’re still the best hockey team I’ve seen in my life. So few, if any weaknesses on this team. The mix of personalities has also probably made it the most fun.

Any end to the season that’s not a cup is a disappointment, but I don’t think there will be another season like ours for a long time.

 

[SImpelton]

This is the best Bruins team of anyone's lifetime. But if they don't win the cup you'll always hear arguments in favor of 2011

 

[FrankerC]

Something crazy is that regardless of the wins and records, the only individual reward that a Bruin will see is a Vezina. Crazy times in the NHL. Any other season and Pasta is a shoe-in for MVP.

Also tells you how deep this team is. So many people shined at different parts of the season. From Greer and his awesome start to the seaaon, to Lindholm looking like a Norris winner in the first 30.

 

[SImpelton]

. Thing is, there were far fewer teams in the league in the early 70s. The talent wasn't as diluted.

Doesn't follow. The talent pool in the 70s was way, WAY smaller. European sources of talent were only just starting to enter the market Most of the US was untouched wilderness as far as ice hockey goes. Russia was still behind the Iron Curtain, as were other hockey nations like Czechoslovakia.

I think people underestimate just how much the 1980 olympics in particular opened the NHL to the USA. After the Miracle whole generations of American kids started playing ice hockey. The Miracle also opened new possibilities to expand into new hockey markets, which the WHA had just forced the NHL to finally consider doing anyway.

In the 70s you could pretty much ask NHL players which part of Canada they were from and usually get an answer rather than a funny look. Now you'd be asked what the hell you were talking about in at least half a dozen languages in any one locker room. The talent is NOT more diluted today, the talent pool has grown enormously. This is evident from the fact that 2 different expansion teams were able to leverage their expansion drafts into playoff berths very quickly.

If the talent pool was in any way diluted teams could protect their genuine NHL talents and expansion teams would be left with scraps that should be in the A, that's very clearly not what's happening. In fact nearly every team has a handful of guys in the A who could contribute if given the chance, that's not what dilution looks like -- at all.

This narrative is myopic and obsolete, as proven by the Knights and the Kraken. We really need to stop pretending otherwise.

 

[Bruinaura]

Something crazy is that regardless of the wins and records, the only individual reward that a Bruin will see is a Vezina. Crazy times in the NHL. Any other season and Pasta is a shoe-in for MVP.

Also tells you how deep this team is. So many people shined at different parts of the season. From Greer and his awesome start to the seaaon, to Lindholm looking like a Norris winner in the first 30.

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

My technically correct answer is no. I was 4 months old when they won the cup in 1970, and a toddler in 1972. Those early '70s teams to me are still tops.

Having said that, for the teams I recollect this is the strongest group from top to bottom. The late '80s teams were a blast and had top talent but not as much depth as this team. The 2011 team compares but up and down the lineup I take this team over 2011 by a nose.

This has by far been the team that has surprised me the most, and I have enjoyed this season immensely. My only comparison is the '87-88 team that finally showed that they could dominate the Habs and proved in in a 4-1 gentleman's sweep (that I will confess, never felt comfortable until the 3rd period of game 5).

 

[FrankerC]

View attachment 686611

Oh right, I forgot the Bergeron Award

 

[17of26]

Doesn't follow. The talent pool in the 70s was way, WAY smaller. European sources of talent were only just starting to enter the market Most of the US was untouched wilderness as far as ice hockey goes. Russia was still behind the Iron Curtain, as were other hockey nations like Czechoslovakia.

I think people underestimate just how much the 1980 olympics in particular opened the NHL to the USA. After the Miracle whole generations of American kids started playing ice hockey. The Miracle also opened new possibilities to expand into new hockey markets, which the WHA had just forced the NHL to finally consider doing anyway.

In the 70s you could pretty much ask NHL players which part of Canada they were from and usually get an answer rather than a funny look. Now you'd be asked what the hell you were talking about in at least half a dozen languages in any one locker room. The talent is NOT more diluted today, the talent pool has grown enormously. This is evident from the fact that 2 different expansion teams were able to leverage their expansion drafts into playoff berths very quickly.

If the talent pool was in any way diluted teams could protect their genuine NHL talents and expansion teams would be left with scraps that should be in the A, that's very clearly not what's happening. In fact nearly every team has a handful of guys in the A who could contribute if given the chance, that's not what dilution looks like -- at all.

This narrative is myopic and obsolete, as proven by the Knights and the Kraken. We really need to stop pretending otherwise.

I agree with everything here. The core problem is that some people equate parity with dilution, when in fact the opposite is true.

People will look at the top scorers from the modern years and see that their scoring rates are lower than we saw in the 70s/80s. They then think this means there is less talent in today's league than in past years.

The reality is that there wasn't enough NHL level talent playing in the league in the 70s and 80s, so the league superstars had plenty of scrubs to skate circles around and rack up points against.

If you pick a random game from the 80s to watch and then compare it to a game from this year, it's clear that, across the board, the overall talent level of everyone involved is much much higher now.

 

[smithformeragent]

Was the 2013-14 team better than 2010-11?

Serious question.

 

[rfournier103]

Was the 2013-14 team better than 2010-11?

Serious question.

No.

 

[Bradely]

Best regular season.... yes. Numbers are there.
Now the PO... let's see how they will manage that savage animal!

 

[Roll 4 Lines]

Here’s why I believe we win the cup. Ullmark lost 6 games in 48 this year. He won’t loose 4 in 7. No way. I have so much faith in this team. This team hasn’t had an important game in months yet win almost all the time. I can’t Waite until Monday. This team is on a mission to win and win they will.

It's the bolded that concerns me. How will they respond to pressure?

I think they should be fine, but this is why the playoffs are a whole 'nother animal.

Sometimes it's the teams with nothing to lose, that actually win.