zman77
Registered User
- Oct 1, 2015
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Pre-Game Talk: carbos
- Thread starter Navin R Slavin
- Start date
zman77
Registered User
- Oct 1, 2015
- 14,402
- 35,963
zman77
Registered User
- Oct 1, 2015
- 14,402
- 35,963
If completing a pass with his hand helps him with the puck on his stick great.. otherwise well it doesn't matter much.. not like thinking peeps games.
Trap Jesus
Registered User
- Feb 13, 2012
- 28,686
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I love the Bruins blueline as they looked in the regular season, but it's not what we saw at all in the round robin. If they all of a sudden rebound, this is what the Bruins D is:
McAvoy is an all-around beast. I think sometimes he lacks awareness in the defensive zone missing assignments and he doesn't have the best offensive instincts, but his ability to transition the puck up the ice and evade the opposition with the puck in his own zone is the best I've seen in Boston in I don't even know how long. He also has the perfect blend between physical play and an active defensive stick. To me, his game is almost identical to early-career Drew Doughty except without the offensive tools that Doughty had. He absolutely has to be at his best for the Bruins to be successful in this series considering the Canes create so much off the forecheck. So far though, he looks way off.
Chara still has that great reach that can make up for his lack of foot-speed a lot of times, but then again sometimes he'll just get burned. After all these years he's still excellent on the PK. The lack of foot-speed really is a detriment, but playing with McAvoy makes up for that a lot of times. If the puck gets dumped in and there's even a remote possibility of McAvoy switching sides to retrieve it, the Bruins do that every chance they get, and Chara will try to run the subtle interference.
Krug is a funny one. So many Bruins fans hate his defensive play. He puts a lot of effort in but he definitely lacks the tools to defend properly. He can get pushed around and has some abysmal defensive lapses. But to me he more than makes up for it with his offensive instincts. He just has an amazing knack for seeing plays develop, and to me he's always been the key to the Bruins PP. His decision making with the puck in the O-zone is lightning-quick and his passes are precise. He's just such a smart player though, here's an example of a pass that shows how he can think the game at a high level:
Carlo to me has looked really bad in the RTP, but when he's on he's excellent defensively. He's just so big and rangy, and is actually a surprisingly effective skater for his size.
Defensively, I think he's a bit of a poor-man's Colton Parayko. He's not physical at all, but that's fine to me. He legitimately has zero offensive upside, but he's OK in transition in a pinch. Krug handles the majority of that though. Apparently he put on a lot of "good weight" during the break, but he absolutely looks slower to me, and he's bobbling the puck a ton.
I think Grzelcyk is easily the most underrated Bruin. He's undersized, but unlike Krug his defensive instincts are sound and he has a good stick to be involved defensively. Easily his biggest attribute is his transition play though. He's just so skilled at bringing the puck up the ice.
Lauzon doesn't have the most experience, but in the brief time he's been in Boston I think he has really good defensive instincts, and mixes in physical play with a good defensive stick. It puts two lefties on the 3rd pair when he's in though.
Clifton is the other D-man Bruins used a lot last year, but he's currently the #7. He has decent wheels and is pretty physical. No real offensive upside though. To me he's a safe bottom-pairing guy, I think he brings a lot of stability when he's in the line-up. Lauzon does too though.
Moore is the other guy they may use. He's definitely NHL-level but he still kind of sucks. He's that guy that you'll throw your hands up multiple times per game and say "WTF are you doing???" His biggest credit is that he doesn't hesitate to throw it on net I guess. He has decent skating ability to bring it up.
Overall, I think on paper the Bruins D is excellent. They have 5 defensemen that have been playing the same roles for the last 3 seasons. They never waver from this set-up:
Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Grzelcyk-X
Way back they had Chara with Carlo, but since McAvoy and Carlo both became regulars in 2017/18 they always go back to these pairings as long as there are no injuries. So you always have a good puck-carrier with more of a defensive presence, and all the pairings have so much familiarity with one another. But they're out of sync at the moment for sure, like I said none of them look even "OK" right now.
raynman
Registered User
- Jan 20, 2013
- 4,957
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I’ve been here a little while now and I think this is officially the worst post I’ve read.
- Feb 23, 2014
- 26,832
- 83,619
The ones wanting to trade Aho when his value is highest were worse.
VAcaniac
SHOOT THE PUCK
cant remember the last time i watched a game that late.
im not really stressed. This team probably aint winning the cup so im here for the ride. A couple upsets would be nice.
2006 was stressful — I was going to be irate if we didnt win the cup.
Stickpucker
Playmaka
- Jan 18, 2014
- 15,306
- 36,882
now now....that sounds a bit like jealousy to me. some snakes are land snakes and some are water snakes....that is just the way nature deemed it.
(yes I'm doubling down, what do you expect)
also do I get some kind of reward for "worst post on HF"?
I don’t give the Bruins a pass for their play in the round robin games. After 5 months off, they had an opportunity to knock the rust off and get up to speed against quality opponents, and instead just looked like they were going through the motions. I don’t care how they looked back in March. All that matters is how they’re playing now.
Cassidy coming out kinda fiery here, not typical “yeah they do a good job” kinda thing:
AD Skinner
Registered User
So they didn't have any will to play hard in the round robin games? I can buy that but it doesn't seem super professional or super conducive to turning the switch on any time
- Dec 6, 2011
- 12,351
- 39,336
I don't give them a full pass either, but it's just differences in approach for the round robin. Philly played super hard and looked great, but they are the upstart team that hasn't been here before as a top contender in their current form. Teams like Washington and Boston who have been there and done that didn't look like they tried particularly hard. Tampa was somewhere in between as a team that's certainly been around, but also has been a failure.
Boston certainly may come out with a whole different look than what they just showed. Even though we killed it after 4.5 months off, doesn't mean we won't have trouble getting it going at the same level after a week off.
Boston was a great team in the regular season because they are a very talented, veteran group. I do hope we are able to jump on them early given the situation, but nothing will surprise me. And Rask can win them games even if they don't have it going from the start.
DaveG
Noted Jerk
To be fair we weren't ineffective last year. We got the ultimate reffing screw job in game 1 when we were up 2-1, and then got extremely unlucky in a game 3 that we dominated, mind you full respect to Rask for stealing the game in that one.
Boom Boom Apathy
I am the Professor. Deal with it!
- Sep 6, 2006
- 48,357
- 97,918
The Round Robin games might be looked at a little like pre-season to some extent. Veteran teams just using it to get their legs under them and not get hurt as they wait for the post season is a lot like veterans/veteran team in pre-season. Younger teams, young guys trying to make the team and get noticed and/or a team trying to form a team identity play harder in pre-season.
Flyers (new to being a top seed), Colorado (young team), and TBL (embarrassed about last season), all played pretty hard. Some of the Vet teams that have been in the cup/won the cup in the last 2 years (Boston, Caps, and STL) didn't look so great and are all 3/4 seeds.
I'm not sure I'd put too much stock in how they played in the round robin. How quickly they can turn it on is a question to be answered, but I'll be surprised if they don't turn it on.
Flyers (new to being a top seed), Colorado (young team), and TBL (embarrassed about last season), all played pretty hard. Some of the Vet teams that have been in the cup/won the cup in the last 2 years (Boston, Caps, and STL) didn't look so great and are all 3/4 seeds.
I'm not sure I'd put too much stock in how they played in the round robin. How quickly they can turn it on is a question to be answered, but I'll be surprised if they don't turn it on.
I’m still salty about that Dougie ‘elbowing’ penalty. I wouldn’t even care that much if it didn’t happen right as Svech got trucked from behind in the neutral zone with no call.
Even the announcers thought Boston was going on the kill, but nope. Come back from commercial and Hamilton is in the box for bracing for a hit by Nordsuck.
Lucky Lindy
Registered User
A hurricane usually wins against a bear?
- Aug 24, 2006
- 7,512
- 18,876
Great post, thanks. I'd be interested to hear your perspective as the series moves along, maybe in our pregame threads (the GDTs can be a shit-show).
- Dec 6, 2011
- 12,351
- 39,336
I'm picturing a much better version of Sharknado here.
I have a strong suspicion that the narrative in the event of a Canes series win will be a hangover.
On that note, interestingly, post-lockout, the loser of the prior cup finals has missed the playoffs 2 times (Edmonton, New Jersey), lost in the 1st round 5 times (Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver, San Jose, Vegas), lost in the 2nd round 4 times (Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston, Nashville), lost in the 3rd round 2 times (New York, Tampa) and won the cup once (Pittsburgh).
This is dumb and I'm not saying Boston is doing this (that's for you, lurking Boston fans), this is just a general thought.
But as far as "getting up to play", I wonder if there's an element of veterans being more likely to have families back home and less likely to enjoy being in a hotel with all of your friends for 1-2 months. I imagine Andrei Svechnikov is far more likely to be having the time of his life right now than James Reimer or Jordan Staal.
But as far as "getting up to play", I wonder if there's an element of veterans being more likely to have families back home and less likely to enjoy being in a hotel with all of your friends for 1-2 months. I imagine Andrei Svechnikov is far more likely to be having the time of his life right now than James Reimer or Jordan Staal.
Nikishin Go Boom
Russian Bulldozer Consultent
- Jul 31, 2017
- 21,913
- 51,195
Hamilton is “likely” for this series and is practicing. But no confirmation and you know how injuries can be.
Pesce is definitely out for this round and I would think for probably at least the next.
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