- Sep 22, 2011
- 11,376
- 11,799
Dear God do I hate the f***ing Leafs!
It's more that losing Bozak and JVR is a huge defensive upgrade and basically all of the points they produced are replaced by JVR + replacement level player.
The B's lost a lot of their depth and added an actively bad and negative player, that's why he rated it that way.
4th line is whatever, players come and go all the time on the bottom line on every team. That being said, Schaller actually brought some legit skill to that line.“Lost a lot of their depth”?
“Added an actively bad and negative player”?
They “lost” Riley Nash, who up until this past season, nobody gave two ****s about. Schaller will be replaced by the cheaper Nordstrom/Wagner options. Wagner in particular should bring a much-needed sandpaper element to the 4th line.
Rick Nash may or may not be back, but the B’s managed to put up a lot of points without him for most of the year. They replaced Khudobin with Halak and added some size and skating ability with a 4/5 D in Moore.
Who is the actively bad and negative player? Nordstrom? I missed the part where he was a dressing room cancer? And if you mean “bad” from a talent standpoint, I disagree, and am confident that he can handle his 12/13th F responsibilities. It’s not like they are sticking these guys on the top line.
Confused - how does losing Bozak and JVR constitute a “huge defensive upgrade”, am I reading that wrong?
I dig deep - made calls, exchanged emails, met people at park benches in both Boston Common and London Ontario using only passwords to identify.Since this article didn't shine a positive light on the Bruins, I am going to discredit the author as well.
4th line is whatever, players come and go all the time on the bottom line on every team. That being said, Schaller actually brought some legit skill to that line.
I think the problem with the 2RW and the 3C is that it really stretches the team thin. As it stands right now, it looks like Kuraly could be the 3C. Like him as the 4C, but as the 3C? No thanks.
Donato should be able to plug one of those holes, but it's just about finding the right fit. Don't know if he's able to handle the responsibilities of the center position, and he'd be on his off-wing with Krejci.
Even if you weren't a fan of Riley, you have to admit that he brought stability. Defensive stalwart that could hold his own offensively. When Heinen-Nash-Backes was going, it was a huge reason for the Bruins success.
In my opinion, Bruins are the same, Leafs got better.So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?
Same question for the Leafs.
Nash had a breakout year, but he had shown signs of dominant defensive play the year before. Some questioned the Bruins protecting him for the expansion draft, but he had shown flashes the year before and the Bruins clearly saw something in him. We're going from stability to uncertainty on the 3rd line, and that can bleed through to different lines if they have to start restructuring the different lines' roles (ie. maybe they have to start using the Bergeron line more defensively again).It’s not that I’m “not a fan of Riley”. I just think the tendency on this site is to look at these moves in as negative a fashion as possible.
Heading into last season, there was a lot of negativity about how the B’s would do and players like Nash and Schaller were dismissed as 4th line fodder. Now I’m reading about how it was justified to grade the B’s offseason thus far a D because they lost those same guys that people were trashing last summer.
It’s ****ing hilarious.
Would I be more comfortable with a proven mid-20’s scorer on the 2nd line RW?
Absolutely.
However, I also realize that the B’s had 112 pts last season, despite quite a few injuries (which is what moved Riley Nash up in the lineup). They did that without Rick Nash, who played all of 11 games for the B’s. Now that he hasn’t returned, guys like the one who wrote the article act like he was this huge loss for Boston.
Third line C is my biggest concern for the team heading into this season, but wasn’t it a concern last year as well? I’m asking honestly, I don’t remember. It believe it was 37, 46, and then it was thought it might be Backes, but it turned out to be Nash, and Kuraly anchored the 4th line. Before last season Nash’s career high was 25 pts. He was three years removed from that and was coming off a 17 pt season for Boston the year before.
I think between Kuraly, Backes, Donato, Frederic, JFK, Studnicka, (maybe Heinen), the B’s can find themselves a 3rd line C. Like you, I’m skeptical about Kuraly’s ability to make the leap to 3C, but is he any worse a candidate than Nash20 was last year?
Even if they aren’t happy with any of those candidates, they have the ammo to go get one.
So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?
Same question for the Leafs.
So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?
Same question for the Leafs.
We lost Nash but this time last year Riley was considered a bumSo as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?
Same question for the Leafs.
That might not be a bad thing, all he did in the playoffs is spin off the boards and flick the puck into the goalie.Our core is another year older, our #1 D could have the wheels fall off this season. We lost a top 6 RW that played a style no one else on the roster can replicate.
I'd say we are worse, or best case if all the young guys get better and have no dropoffs, we are the same.
Leafs took a boatload of pressure off AM34 by getting Tavares. Their core is on the young side, and have high end talent. I'd bet on them progressing vs regressing.
I'd say they got better.
And they were already good enough to push us to a game 7 3rd period lead after being down 3-1 in the series.
Did you not watch our series against one another last spring? JVR looks like Jason Allison on the back check and Bozak lost every single battle no matter which line he was up against. We simply couldn't shelter those guys against you, or any deep team for that matter.
So you think the defense is better for the leafs solely because Bozak and JVR are gone?
What’s that D word us bruins fans use for leafs fans a lot again?
So as of right now at this moment in the off-season, do people think the Bruins roster is worse, better, or the same as it was last season?
Same question for the Leafs.
When you replace minus defensive players with mediocre or plus defensive players, then yes. I expect defence to get better. You can improve team defence in more ways than adding actual defencemen.
You should see what we do to his action figure.people want to wear a cool robe and hold candles burning pictures of Josef Stumpel.
Typical.Since this article didn't shine a positive light on the Bruins, I am going to discredit the author as well.
Save your money. It’s all the same writing except now they are all on the Athletic. I would take your writing over any national guy. These articles are just opinions. Most informed fans have a better idea of their own teams standing. Deep down inside weather they are rah rah fans or the more steady fans, they know. I stay away from summer articles. Didn’t all of them have the Bruins missing the playoffs last year?I can’t read the entire article without a subscription to the Athletic, but hopefully the thought and effort put in were better than what another Leaf writer, Luke Fox put forward in his article.
That might not be a bad thing, all he did in the playoffs is spin off the boards and flick the puck into the goalie.
What a ****ihn surprise the author is a Leafs blogger
I hate hate hate the Leafs - I hope Montreal sweeps them in regulation