Pre-Game Talk: Bruins @ Tampa Thu. 11/3, 7:30 p.m. NESN

[toasterjam]

Predicting as usual...a Jimmy Hayes hat trick tonight.

It's gonna happen.

yeaaaaaa

#VoteYESonProp4

 

[BruinsPortugal]

They both need to sit, hopefully for good since they don't add absolutely nothing to the team. But the fact that Beleskey is actually scratched first is hilarious.

 

[BNHL]

Why Kuraly?

 

[DoubleAAAA]

TAMPA — After saying earlier this week that he felt he had no options but to keep his non-performing No. 3 line intact, Bruins coach Claude Julien Thursday morning pulled Matt Beleskey off the trio and tapped Sean Kuraly to make his debut there tonight against the Lightning.

“[Beleskey] certainly hasn’t found his game,’’ said Julien, who easily could have said the same of Beleskey’s linemates, Riley Nash and Jimmy Hayes. “Right now we need better from him.

“We’ve done everything we can to help him out there. So right now I feel it’s not a bad thing to take a step back and watch a game, and hopefully regroup in his mind and come back with the intention of being in there every night. He’s a good player.

“Right now I think we are getting a little bit more out of our role players than we are from him, so . . . this is a decision based on non-performance. This is what I am going with.’’


Beleskey also took a nasty tumble into the net late in Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Florida. He sustained what he would label only as an upper-body injury (likely a forearm, based on the fall), but it did not prevent him from being put through an exhaustive workout after the club’s morning practice at Amalie Arena. It could be that the injury added to Julien’s reasoning in pulling him out of the lineup



http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/b...sean-kuraly/zdZUyVGb0BSCQp2jDCMTGI/story.html

I don't have a problem with Beleskey sitting, but I'm not entirely sure I agree with that one. I'm pretty confused as to why he's just left those combos for the most part in tact. The entire middle 6 has been dreadful and he's just kept rolling them out as is. Injuries obviously play into it and it is his M.O. to be patient with his lines, but it's been pretty obvious there isn't much chemistry out there.

 

[BruinsPortugal]

Why Kuraly?

That's another great question when you have Cejlarik putting up points. I guess we can't play skilled guys on the third line.

 

[sarge88]

If each of the guys on the third line gets a point tonight, they will only need one more point each to catch Tuukka in scoring.

 

[Therick67]

That's another great question when you have Cejlarik putting up points. I guess we can't play skilled guys on the third line.

Apparently they have a quota for skilled players in the lineup, can't have too many at the same time.

 

[Therick67]

If each of the guys on the third line gets a point tonight, they will only need one more point each to catch Tuukka in scoring.

Assuming Tuukka doesn't get some time on the PP tonight

 

[Hali33]

If each of the guys on the third line gets a point tonight, they will only need one more point each to catch Tuukka in scoring.

My god.

 

[Absurdity]

Hayes gets a lot of flack, but in my opinion he has looked better than Beleskey. Sure they both can't score, but you at least see some effort out of Hayes. With Beleskey, it's almost like he borrowed Nathan Horton's invisibility cloak. He's just there and goes through the motions. That's not to say Hayes is 10x better than Beleskey, or he will score a hat trick now because a "plug" like Beleskey is off his line now. Hayes is also a bit more tradable given his contract so scratching him would only tarnish what little value he currently has. Beleskey is better than what he has shown so hopefully this scratch will get him going when he's back in the lineup.

 

[Therick67]

IMO Belesky stands a better chance of taking being scratched and picking up his play. I
have no idea how Hayes would react, but I doubt it would be good.

 

[Blowfish]

Hayes gets a lot of flack, but in my opinion he has looked better than Beleskey. Sure they both can't score, but you at least see some effort out of Hayes. With Beleskey, it's almost like he borrowed Nathan Horton's invisibility cloak. He's just there and goes through the motions. That's not to say Hayes is 10x better than Beleskey, or he will score a hat trick now because a "plug" like Beleskey is off his line now. Hayes is also a bit more tradable given his contract so scratching him would only tarnish what little value he currently has. Beleskey is better than what he has shown so hopefully this scratch will get him going when he's back in the lineup.

Tarnish the value he already has? Please share what exaxtly that is?

 

[Absurdity]

Tarnish the value he already has? Please share what exaxtly that is?

Little value, maybe a 5th-7th round pick. Right now, his contract makes him a lot more moveable than Beleskey.

 

[Sheppy]

I think Beleskey has been better than Hayes.

 

[BruinDust]

“We need better from him,†Julien said, per CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty. “We’ve done everything we can to help him out. I feel it’s not a bad thing to take a step back and watch a game, hopefully regroup in his mind and come back with the intentions of being in there every night.â€

Beleskey, who signed a five-year deal worth $19 million prior to last season, tallied 15 goals and 22 assists in 2015-16, setting a career high in games played and posting the second-highest point total of his career. But the points have been hard to come by for Beleskey, along with linemates Jimmy Hayes and Riley Nash, to start the 2016-17 campaign.

“He’s a good player, and right now I think we’re getting a little bit more out of our role players than we’re getting out of him. So this is a decision based on performance, and this is what I’m going with,†Julien said.

So by putting him on a line mostly with Nash and Hayes is "doing everything they can to help him out"?

What is wrong with this coaching staff? For years getting Claude to change his lines due to some obsession with chemistry, would be like pulling teeth.

Meanwhile, Belesky produce enough to justify his salary for the first 2/3 of last season with Krejci.

He gets separated from Krejci, and his production goes in the toilet.

Now I'm not saying Belesky doesn't deserve some of the blame. Far from it. Some of this is on him no doubt.

But most can see he's a complimentary player that in order to get the amount of production required to even come close to justifying what your paying him, he needs to play with better players. Period.

 

[BruinDust]

That's another great question when you have Cejlarik putting up points. I guess we can't play skilled guys on the third line.

Kuraly had a better preseason/camp. He wasn't far off making this team, went down to the wire.

Cehlarik was demoted a while before Kuraly.

I think it's a simple as that. Even though production-wise Kuraly hasn't come close to Cehlarik.

 

[MetM]

Not saying Beleskey deserves it but....


Why not try him on the 2nd line with Krejci while Backes was hurt?
Then you could say "we did all we can to help him", the guy did score some goals last year, I think he could have been as good as Spooner or Heinen there.

 

[Absurdity]

So by putting him on a line mostly with Nash and Hayes is "doing everything they can to help him out"?

What is wrong with this coaching staff? For years getting Claude to change his lines due to some obsession with chemistry, would be like pulling teeth.

Meanwhile, Belesky produce enough to justify his salary for the first 2/3 of last season with Krejci.

He gets separated from Krejci, and his production goes in the toilet.

Now I'm not saying Belesky doesn't deserve some of the blame. Far from it. Some of this is on him no doubt.

But most can see he's a complimentary player that in order to get the amount of production required to even come close to justifying what your paying him, he needs to play with better players. Period.

Spooner on the 3rd line wastes his talent too. They need to rework that 3rd line and make some trades.

 

[Gee Wally]

I think Beleskey has been better than Hayes.

Me too.
He at least was finishing his checks.

 

[Slapshot18]

It's comical/sad 9 games in Tuukka has the 5th highest points per game on the team

 

[BruinDust]

Spooner on the 3rd line wastes his talent too. They need to rework that 3rd line and make some trades.

I don't really care about 2nd line vs. 3rd line, provided the lines have the right mix of players.

But your right about Spooner in a way.

He's a skilled guy who isn't good enough for whatever reason to be able to carry a line on his own. He's a skilled complimentary player in a sense.

It's almost shameful how Julien keeps Pasta and Spooner far away form each other despite the fact that each probably had their best chemistry with the other. Production wise shows that at least.

 

[Sheppy]

It's comical/sad 9 games in Tuukka has the 5th highest points per game on the team

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

I don't really care about 2nd line vs. 3rd line, provided the lines have the right mix of players.

But your right about Spooner in a way.

He's a skilled guy who isn't good enough for whatever reason to be able to carry a line on his own. He's a skilled complimentary player in a sense.

It's almost shameful how Julien keeps Pasta and Spooner far away form each other despite the fact that each probably had their best chemistry with the other. Production wise shows that at least.

Clodes trying to keep his best wingers with his best centers, hoping they gain chemistry together, I would imagine.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Given what Claude is saying, it really does feel like the Jordan Caron situation all over again. Jimmy is going to keep getting his chances, and the best we can hope for is him being traded at the deadline in the final year of his contract.

At worst, he'll get those famous "1 year, league minimum" extensions a couple of times just like Caron.

This is why I can never fully be on board with Claude Julien. The guy adheres to some standard that isn't about effectiveness, NHL skill, etc. It's about some sort of alterior effort that no one but him can decipher. Incredilbly frustrating to watch as a fan.

Jimmy Hayes is contributing MORE than Beleskey? I'll admit, Beleskey is doing next to nothing, but Jimmy Hayes is doing NOTHING AT ALL. Looks like he should be in a Dorchester beer league.

 

[BostonBob]

No Drouin tonight

And no Bishop either.