Boston Bruins Cup or Bust?

[BruinsFan37]

I'll only think it's a bust if they lose in the first and maybe the second round.

Before Bergeron re-signed it was not... looking... good.

Marchand, McAvoy and Grelzyck out long term to start the season. A new coach. Bergy contemplating retirement. Krejici playing in Czechia. I had the Bruins pegged at contending for a wild card at best, with a slightly better than 50% chance of making it. A lot of people on the main boards were relishing the demise of the Bruins and picking them to finish last (nothing but blind hatred, but still).

The Bergy re-signed, and it all snowballed from there.

I can't say that anyone in the organization (players/coaches/management) is holding back. Every aspect of this team is definitely "all in" in what is almost certainly Bergeron's last best chance to win a cup.

If they fall short, yes it will be a monumental disappointment, but I can't call it a "bust" since they've exceeded expectations by so much it's not even funny, since what I expected to be the highlight of the year was Bergy's 1000th point.

So at this point, it's only a "bust" to me if it feels like they don't try to win in the playoffs. They're having a season for the ages, and dangit I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it till the last horn sounds.

 

[TD Charlie]

It should be the goal of every team, every year to win the cup. There's no 2nd place.

Now if the question is more fishing for my expectations/level of satisfaction, it becomes a little different. I never expect to win, it's just a lot more fun when they do. I'm always disappointed to some degree when the Bruins season ends (even after they won the cup, I was sad it was over!) but some years are worse than others. It depends on the circumstances I suppose

Just a long way of saying, "I'm enjoying the ride for as long as I'm allowed on it."

 

[RoccoF14]

If we don't win a Cup this year, I'll be disappointed..........for about 2hrs.

When I was in my 20s it might have bothered me for a while, but I eventually realized that this shit isn't life and death....

 

[JOKER 192]

It's obviously an all in season, Cap issues win rise to the top next season. With a thin prospect pool and few draft choices they are going to have to find creative ways to build a roster going forward.

The only thing that I can see derailing this team are injuries. If Hall and/or Foligno can make it back for the PO's they should be good to go. Should even have enough to compensate for some bad officiating.

 

[DaBroons]

I voted ‘no’.

Here’s why. As deep as they are and as great a TDL Sweeney had I’ve lived long enough to know that it takes even more to get the Cup. That being health, a degree of luck, hot goaltending and to an extent officiating.

And sometimes the best team doesn't win, but the freshest team wins. Some years, I can tell early in the finals that one of the teams is simply exhausted and won't win. Sometimes injuries play a large role in that. 2013 is a great example. If Krug doesn't pass the puck across his own blue line coming out of the zone in Period 3 of Game 1, with da Broons up 3-1 and in total control of the game, they would have swept Chicago. Even if K-Dawg had scored in the 3rd OT, it would not have mattered. It was playing 3 OTs that killed the team, and then playing 2 OTs (IIRC) in Game 2 (winning), and another OT in Game 4. That was almost 2 extra games and it took an enormous toll on the team, especially Chara, Seids, and Bergy. The two late goals in Game 6 saved the team from an embarrassing Game 7 loss.

This may be my last good chance to see another cup winner, given that this team goes 3-4 decades between cups. 1941 to 1970, then 1972 to 2011. What is that, 3 cups in 82, 83 years?

Look at my projected lineup for next year:

G	Ullmark 35	Swayman 1
LD	Grzelcyk 48	Lindholm 27	Forbort 28	Lohrei
RD	McAvoy 73	Carlo 25	Zboril 67	Reilly 6
LW	Hall 71	Marchand 63	Frederic 11	Greer 10
C	Zacha 18	Coyle 13	Beecher 19	Kopanen 45
RW	Pastrnak 88	DeBrusk 74	Lysell	McLaughlin 26

Win or Bust.

 

[RoccoF14]

And sometimes the best team doesn't win, but the freshest team wins. Some years, I can tell early in the finals that one of the teams is simply exhausted and won't win. Sometimes injuries play a large role in that. 2013 is a great example. If Krug doesn't pass the puck across his own blue line coming out of the zone in Period 3 of Game 1, with da Broons up 3-1 and in total control of the game, they would have swept Chicago. Even if K-Dawg had scored in the 3rd OT, it would not have mattered. It was playing 3 OTs that killed the team, and then playing 2 OTs (IIRC) in Game 2 (winning), and another OT in Game 4. That was almost 2 extra games and it took an enormous toll on the team, especially Chara, Seids, and Bergy. The two late goals in Game 6 saved the team from an embarrassing Game 7 loss.

This may be my last good chance to see another cup winner, given that this team goes 3-4 decades between cups. 1941 to 1970, then 1972 to 2011. What is that, 3 cups in 82, 83 years?

Look at my projected lineup for next year:

G	Ullmark 35	Swayman 1
LD	Grzelcyk 48	Lindholm 27	Forbort 28	Lohrei
RD	McAvoy 73	Carlo 25	Zboril 67	Reilly 6
LW	Hall 71	Marchand 63	Frederic 11	Greer 10
C	Zacha 18	Coyle 13	Beecher 19	Kopanen 45
RW	Pastrnak 88	DeBrusk 74	Lysell	McLaughlin 26

Win or Bust.

Since '72 (my earliest childhood memory), we've been to 9 Stanley Cup Finals....and have gone 2-7.

We've had plenty of chances over the past 50 years......To @Gee Wally 's previous point. Its hard to do, and the world isn't gonna come to an end if we don't.

By the way, this team isn't going to implode after this season either, or after #37 & #46 retire.......Yeah there'll be a step back, but we aren't going to suddenly turn into the Chicago Blackhawks...

 

[Deal Law]

Cup. That's it. They have to win the whole f***ing thing. They're setting records on a nightly basis with a roster that had no glaring weaknesses before the deadline and they only improved upon it. Good chance you lose a large swarth of players from this team next year. This has to be it.

 

[LouJersey]

Been a fun season but there is no other answer except yes, unless you like wearing Presidents trophy T-shirts

 

[LouJersey]

omg yes.
If they dont win the Cup this year, or at least get to the finals. I will probably never watch another reg season game in my lifetime.

I have no interest in being the 1971 Bruins part deux. You can’t be the best regular season team ever and not win the cup and it be called a success.

Expectations change as the season goes. I didn’t expect a world champion in 2019 but when they kept winning and were favorites to take it all it was a failure of a season.

 

[bruinsfan1970]

Well, I did not expect the Bruins to have this great of a season so I would say no but I honestly believe they will hoist.

 

[DaBroons]

Since '72 (my earliest childhood memory), we've been to 9 Stanley Cup Finals....and have gone 2-7.

We've had plenty of chances over the past 50 years......To @Gee Wally 's previous point. Its hard to do, and the world isn't gonna come to an end if we don't.

By the way, this team isn't going to implode after this season either, or after #37 & #46 retire.......Yeah there'll be a step back, but we aren't going to suddenly turn into the Chicago Blackhawks...

It will be a large step back from cup favorites to cup pretenders. Center ice will be huge problem.

I've had quite enough of mediocrity from the 80s, 90s, and the early 2000s. They did have a good run from 88 to 92, with 2 cup finals and 2 conference finals in 5 year. But they ran into the Oilers and Pens. They also had two excellent teams during the Islanders run.

 

[Boston Bandit]

Button: ‘Don’t See Anybody That’s Close’ To Boston Bruins

“It’s like the old cartoons with the Coyote and the Roadrunner where the Coyote thought he was catching up to the Roadrunner, and all the teams in the East thought they were catching up to the Roadrunner and the Boston Bruins said ‘Well, I don’t think so.’ You might think you’re close, but the road might run out for you. I don’t see anybody at this point that’s close to the Bruins. I don’t think that any [Eastern Conference] teams have closed the gap in any way, shape or form. Some teams made themselves better, so did the Boston Bruins.”

 

[Fenway]

Pretty simple, boys and girls.

Do the Bruins need to win the Cup in order for you to consider this season a success?

I’m actually going to say “No”.

I did not expect them to have this level of success. I was ready for a full on rebuild, the sooner the better.

This has been a hell of a ride and I’ve enjoyed it no matter what.

I agree with you but I also have to concede Gaspar is correct

If the Bruins don’t win the Stanley Cup, they will be the 2007 Patriots - The Boston Globe

It's unfortunate and unfair, but history does not celebrate regular-season success unless it's followed by a championship.

www.bostonglobe.com

By almost any measure, this season for the Bruins has been a remarkable and glorious success. Currently riding a 10-game winning streak, the Bruins are cooling their skates with a regulation-loss number matching club president Cam Neely’s famed sweater (8), incredible for a campaign sur glace that started Oct. 12.

Every game, it seems, the Black and Gold find a way to further bedazzle a sparkling season. Only Zambonis enjoy rides this smooth. But there is only one measurement the 2022-23 Bruins will be historically recorded by — their names carved on the Stanley Cup. The more the Bruins court history, the more all-or-nothing success becomes.

If they don’t cart the Cup around the ice, there would be nothing behind the B or this sublime season except emptiness and lamentation. They would be the 2007 Patriots on skates. Sadly, that’s the way sports have evolved. Win it all or your regular-season accomplishments were a waste of time and are dumped by the wayside.

NO BRUINS TEAM IN MY LIFETIME HAS HAD THE SEPARATION FROM THE REST OF THE NHL THAN THIS TEAM.

Even the Big Bad Bruins of the early '70s had to deal with excellent teams in New York, Chicago, and Montreal.

Look we all know the drill - A team winning the President's Trophy only gets one perk - win all your home playoff games and the Cup is yours.

@smithformeragent The Old Man in the Cave DID see the Bruins win the Cup at home

I want @Ladyfan @DKH and countless others to experience that.

I don't want to see a repeat of 1977, 1978, 1990, 2013 and 2019 when the Cup was won in Boston by the visiting team and I saw all of them.

We can't complain about ownership not going all out to win this Cup in this salary cap world.

They currently have a 10 game winning streak and with the exception of Vancouver all the teams they faced were desperate for points.

Sat, Feb 11	vsWashington	L2-1	39-8-5	Swayman
Tue, Feb 14	@Dallas	W3-2 OT	40-8-5	Ullmark
Thu, Feb 16	@Nashville	W5-0	41-8-5	Swayman
Sat, Feb 18	vsNew York	W6-2	42-8-5	Ullmark
Mon, Feb 20	vsOttawa	W3-1	43-8-5	Ullmark
Thu, Feb 23	@Seattle	W6-5	44-8-5	Swayman
Sat, Feb 25	@Vancouver	W3-1	45-8-5	Ullmark
Mon, Feb 27	@Edmonton	W3-2	46-8-5	Swayman
Tue, Feb 28	@Calgary	W4-3 OT	47-8-5	Ullmark
Thu, Mar 2	vsBuffalo	W7-1	48-8-5	Swayman
Sat, Mar 4	vsNew York	W4-2	49-8-5	Ullmark

In our GDT's we have have focused on Looney Tunes GIFs but in the end the Looney Tunes anthem is our mantra

 

[LouJersey]

Isn’t it Cup or bust every year though? Certainly around here it is.

pretty much, but nobody expected them to be overly great last year and they weren't.

This season is a disaster if they don't win it all. They rightfully went all in, I applaud the organization for pushing their chips in, now it's up to the players to not choke. The GM did his job.

 

[LouJersey]

Cup or bust. This isn't a young, building team. It's got some young pieces and Sweeney's done a better job than I expected at improving the team on the fly, but its top 2 centers are 36-37, one of whom happens to be a generational, culture-setting captain, and as others have noted, the cap is going to bite next year one way or another. I think the team can still be very competitive next season, but this right now is its best chance. This is the best roster they're going to have for quite some time, this is the year they've loaded up before the deadline to an extent that they're simply not going to be able to repeat in 2024, this is the year they've put all their chips in the 'win now' bucket.

As I've said in another post, much as Sweeney's obviously given up some of the team's short-term future for this run, I don't think he's yet placed it in too deep a hole in regards to its competitiveness going forwards. The team is not facing Blackhawks territory and has done considerably better at riding through the end of an aging core and into the next era than the Pens. But in the end this year is still as good as it's going to get and when you've had a regular season this dominant and when you look at all that's taken place and all the decisions made, then there can be only one outcome that's regarded as a success. We as fans know it, and more importantly the players know it. They are either going to attain the ultimate glory, or one of the most bitter of defeats. Hopefully it's the former.

I think you can have the opinion this season is a disaster with no cup and still say they won't fall off a cliff.

I would say I'm shocked, but I'm not that people seem to be trying to sugarcoat the absolute choke job this would be if they don't win. This is one of the greatest teams in history at this point, how does someone not feel this season (not next year, not the future) would be a cluster**** if they don't bring it home?

 

[Fenway]

erpretty much, but nobody expected them to be overly great last year and they weren't.

This season is a disaster if they don't win it all. They rightfully went all in, I applaud the organization for pushing their chips in, now it's up to the players to not choke. The GM did his job.

It is a disaster IF they don't make it to the SCF

Whatever team they play in Round 1 is already playing playoff hockey -

Assuming they advance you are dealing with Toronto or Tampa -

Survive that if you have the Metro winner in Round 3

 

[LouJersey]

And even the rosiest probabilities like Dom at the Athletic or 529 has the Bruins chance of winning the Cup at 35% or so.

Be Han Solo for once, not C3-PO. They will be 100 percent favorites to win every series they play. We got this!

 

[Aussie Bruin]

I think you can have the opinion this season is a disaster with no cup and still say they won't fall off a cliff.

I would say I'm shocked, but I'm not that people seem to be trying to sugarcoat the absolute choke job this would be if they don't win. This is one of the greatest teams in history at this point, how does someone not feel this season (not next year, not the future) would be a cluster**** if they don't bring it home?

I think it's a mindset - some folks refuse to judge a season on a single factor, regardless of circumstances, largely on the basis that the NHL playoffs are so damn hard to survive. Some don't want to be seen to detract from such a unique, record-setting season by requiring that final judgement of it be staked solely on whether or not the ultimate goal is obtained. I think both positions are problematic in the context of where this team is at, but everyone's going to have their own approach and that's fine.

The one mitigating consideration that I personally feel is valid in perhaps tempering the stance of 'Cup or disaster', apart from the occurrence of significant injuries, is that there are 5 other teams in the east that all have valid claims to being potential worthy conference champs. Carolina, Tampa, Toronto, NYR and arguably NJ are all very good teams. They all have their flaws and issues, and I don't think any are as strong as the Bruins, but they are good enough to be considered legitimate contenders. The first 3 of those teams have already demonstrated this season that they can press Boston hard and on their night can beat them. The Canes for me remain the eastern team that is built better than any other to take on and negate the Bruins, but the others aren't without their merits either.

The Bs absolutely can and with the possible exception of Carolina I would say should beat all of them. On that basis for me it remains the case that the expectation from here can be no less than a finals appearance (and then the quality of who comes through from the west is a different and probably slightly trickier discussion). But it probably will not be easy and in the midst of a tough series against a high quality opponent all the regular season success and records will be utterly meaningless. So I acknowledge the scale of the challenge ahead. But still, it's a historic year, backed by management that is treating it as such. And on the back of that anything less than a Cup really won't suffice.

 

[Ladyfan]

#1 on my bucket list is seeing the Bs win the cup on Boston ice while I can still afford to go and can still drive to and from NH.

I am 70 so they had better hurry up.

 

[DKH]

I want to see the Bruins get a 130 points and then lay waste to everyone in their way to the Cup winning game 5 at home and be known for generations as the equivalent of the 86 Bears

 

[Guelph Bruin]

I'm guessing each player on the Bruins and each member of the Bruins office would say "Cup or Bust" this year...yes every year they might mouth the same words, and in some years believe it, but this year above other years everyone 100% believes the words due to otherworldly performance, leaders taking drastic paycuts, and the "all in" trade deadline approach.

I've seen them win, lord knows I've seen them lose (I'm in my 50s) .... so I have couched expectations but it's Cup or Bust to me in 2023.

 

[PB37]

Bruins management bet everything on black.

It's all about the Cup. As good as this team has been, there's going to be a ton of pressure on them to perform this spring or else this season will feel incomplete.

 

[LouJersey]

I want to see the Bruins get a 130 points and then lay waste to everyone in their way to the Cup winning game 5 at home and be known for generations as the equivalent of the 86 Bears

Let’s pull an islanders early 80s playoffs and go 16-5 and lay waste to everyone. Carnage!

 

[DKH]

Let’s pull an islanders early 80s playoffs and go 16-5 and lay waste to everyone. Carnage!

That’s it

 

[TP]

We should steam roll (barring injuries)

So yes... CUP OR BUST!