Management Don Sweeney III

[Aussie Bruin]

Canada is a really nice place.

I agree. I've been there and the small parts I've seen so far were wonderful. I'm sure Calgary is nice too. But it could be Paris or whatever else is Rask's picture of a perfect city and I still don't see him going there. It's not about the destination, it's about uprooting 4 other family members for no real purpose, only to then have to move again in 12 months or however long it ended up being.

I may have read Rask's personality wrong, but I just can't see him having any interest in it.

 

[The don godfather]

Donny is a solid general manager and was one game away from being a hero. Donny has my vote of confidence.

 

[Pia8988]

Objectively, lack fo size will lead to lack of scoring chances 5 on 5, but not necessarily PP. Which is exactly the dynamic we’re seeing from the Bruins


But I also think the bruins lack skill


They need one or two guys with size that can actually skate, but we reaaaaaally need someone in the top 6 that’s more of a threat

especially when, as we can see, Pastrnak is not 100%

Talent would allow them to score more, not just size.

 

[Deuce17]

We don't know what the Bruins offered him. I doubt that we'll ever know. My gut says that the Bruins told him that if he comes here he'll have a better chance at getting his name on the cup etc. and then offered him less than the Leafs and I can't remember the 3rd team vying for him.

San Jose who reportedly offered more then Toronto

 

[Tbaybruin]

I'm addressing the same subject, that's what I saw. In the Bruins zone small/tough guys taking liberties on our small/soft defense. In the Tampa zone I saw big defensemen taking liberties on our small/soft forwards. It's a generalization but that's pretty much what I watched.

I also saw Hedman. This guy is a BEAST. He was so dominant at both ends of the ice. Hard to beat a good team with a guy like that on the back end. He does it all

 

[KnightofBoston]

Talent would allow them to score more, not just size.

that is, literally, what i said.

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

Why not?

I'm sure there are many people living in the states that would be happy to move to a Canadian city right now.

And I’m going to go out on a limb that a guy like Rask would rather stay in Boston or return to Finland before he bee-bops off to Calgary.

 

[JOKER 192]

I also saw Hedman. This guy is a BEAST. He was so dominant at both ends of the ice. Hard to beat a good team with a guy like that on the back end. He does it all

You mean that 6'6" guy?

 

[mjhfb]

I also saw Hedman. This guy is a BEAST. He was so dominant at both ends of the ice. Hard to beat a good team with a guy like that on the back end. He does it all

Great combination when you have guy that is huge like Chara, but 14 years younger and skates like Ray Bourque.

 

[Dr Hook]

I also saw Hedman. This guy is a BEAST. He was so dominant at both ends of the ice. Hard to beat a good team with a guy like that on the back end. He does it all

He is to TB what Chara used to be for the Bruins.

 

[Tbaybruin]

You mean that 6'6" guy?

Who can skate and jump up on the play as well as any Dman in the league

 

[member 96824]

Well, there is some truth to that but they were outscored 13-4 in the last 10 periods of hockey they played. I get not scoring goals but how do explain the 13 goals against then?

The Tampa D was to big for the Bruins. The Bruins D wasn't to big for Tampa even though they're not particularly big. When you have guys like Krug , Grizz and even Carlo who plays way smaller than his size it easy pickings for skilled forwards.

Didn’t they out score St. Louis last year? The team with size that half this board still checks under their bed for before they go to bed every night? With that D? Hasn’t Tampa’s best player been a guy who’s 5’10 only on a generous tape?

Tampa’s just a flat out better team, on a mission to prove themselves after being embarrassed. No narratives needed.

 

[member 96824]

1A/1B centers playing like #1 centers, goaltender standing on his head, role players contributing, relative health, a lot of luck

That’s my cup roster requirements looking back through history. Most of the rest is just noise and fetishes.

I think Sweeney can put a team together to do that...but off the bat, Krug out, Chara out...2 of Moore, Zboril, or Lauzon in full time isn’t the best start

 

[JOKER 192]

Didn’t they out score St. Louis last year? The team with size that half this board still checks under their bed for before they go to bed every night? With that D? Hasn’t Tampa’s best player been a guy who’s 5’10 only on a generous tape?

Tampa’s just a flat out better team, on a mission to prove themselves after being embarrassed. No narratives needed.

Gotta get both the goals and the wins. Goals without the wins are just stats.

 

[JOKER 192]

1A/1B centers playing like #1 centers, goaltender standing on his head, role players contributing, relative health, a lot of luck

That’s my cup roster requirements looking back through history. Most of the rest is just noise and fetishes.

I think Sweeney can put a team together to do that...but off the bat, Krug out, Chara out...2 of Moore, Zboril, or Lauzon in full time isn’t the best start

Well what are we doing here then ? Might as well shut down these boards then if that's the case.

 

[member 96824]

Gotta get both the goals and the wins. Goals without the wins are just stats.

Well duh of course, but that wasn't your point. Your point was

they were outscored 13-4 in the last 10 periods of hockey they played.

and then you claimed that was because of size. So I pointed that the Bruins (with the same D you're talking about being soft there) outscored St. Louis, who most use as the pinnacle of "size beat Boston last year".

now it's about wins and not getting outscored in 10 periods of hockey. Okay I guess..

Well what are we doing here then ? Might as well shut down these boards then if that's the case.

Most are just finding new ways and opportunities to push the same narrative they have been for 10 years. Typing the same thing over and over. It's a great question...what are we doing here. I do always appreciate the creativity though. Tampa skated circles around us and made us look like a bantam team playing in the NHL while our starting goalie left and we played Jaroslav Halak instead. I didn't expect the size fetish to be the excuse. Should have seen it coming though, that's on me.

 

[JOKER 192]

Well duh of course, but that wasn't your point. Your point was



and then you claimed that was because of size. So I pointed that the Bruins (with the same D you're talking about being soft there) outscored St. Louis, who most use as the pinnacle of "size beat Boston last year".

now it's about wins and not getting outscored in 10 periods of hockey. Okay I guess..




Most are just finding new ways and opportunities to push the same narrative they have been for 10 years. Typing the same thing over and over. It's a great question...what are we doing here. I do always appreciate the creativity though. Tampa skated circles around us and made us look like a bantam team playing in the NHL while our starting goalie left and we played Jaroslav Halak instead. I didn't expect the size fetish to be the excuse. Should have seen it coming though, that's on me.

It's not about 10 periods of hockey as much as it is about 3 loses. Winning is the goal right.

Now St.Louis is a different animal.

 

[Dr Hook]

It's not about 10 periods of hockey as much as it is about 3 loses. Winning is the goal right.

Now St.Louis is a different animal.

TB this season played better in the series. They might be a better team than the Bruins, they might not be if all things were equal. But they weren't, and the Bruins problem was not size, or having two 5'9" defensemen. Their problem was one of motivation-few looked ready to play and as a team they never found their groove. Tampa did. Bruins also lost their Vezina goalie. Their Pasta was al-dente, it was not ready. Chara aged ten years in the four months off. Crandon Barlow replaced Brandon Carlo for this post-season. Krug blew massive chunks. Kuraly was in and out with an injury, etc. None of those things have to do with size, nor are they excuses, but the reasons the Bruins lost is because they could not score goals against TB and that is not a size issue. Brad can generally score at will against anyone. Same with Pasta if he has his shit together. JDB vanished, but in his on times he can beat big, slower, defensemen. Bjork did, but couldn't finish. Defensemen could not get their shots through for the most part. Kase was Bjork redux- got his chances, did not finish.

 

[JOKER 192]

TB this season played better in the series. They might be a better team than the Bruins, they might not be if all things were equal. But they weren't, and the Bruins problem was not size, or having two 5'9" defensemen. Their problem was one of motivation-few looked ready to play and as a team they never found their groove. Tampa did. Bruins also lost their Vezina goalie. Their Pasta was al-dente, it was not ready. Chara aged ten years in the four months off. Crandon Barlow replaced Brandon Carlo for this post-season. Krug blew massive chunks. Kuraly was in and out with an injury, etc. None of those things have to do with size, nor are they excuses, but the reasons the Bruins lost is because they could not score goals against TB and that is not a size issue. Brad can generally score at will against anyone. Same with Pasta if he has his shit together. JDB vanished, but in his on times he can beat big, slower, defensemen. Bjork did, but couldn't finish. Defensemen could not get their shots through for the most part. Kase was Bjork redux- got his chances, did not finish.

Look, we all have our points of view and most of what you wrote here I can agree with. I think Tampa was the better team but not 4-1 series better. All the factors we watched evolve all played into the equation . In my mind size was one. If Tuukka had played it likely would have been a little different but I still think we lose. We can't point to this that and the other thing when Tampa was missing Stammer for the whole series and McDounagh for most. The most common argument when addressing size will be Marchand. Marchand is the exception, not the rule. Very few can do what Marchand does. The other forwards just can't do it. When a team gets hit game after game by bigger players it adds up. Look at how the series trended,
1st game win (took the Hits)
2nd game OT loss (Hits are starting to add up)
3rd game blow out loss (hits are over flowing now)
4th game ( f*** IT, YOU CAN HAVE THE PUCK)
5th game ( do or die gave it their best, not good enough)

If they looked disinterested it's because they were, they were disinterested in taking the hits.

 

[Riley 88]

Donny is a solid general manager and was one game away from being a hero. Donny has my vote of confidence.

Nope, he has been a disaster as a GM. Living on Chiarelli's nut. Rask and Pasta. He has done zilch. Backes, Belesky, John Moore......Senyschen, Zboril.......Ritchie and the other Ritchie....a complete flop living on the Chiarelli dime. Just a fact.

 

[Dr Hook]

Look, we all have our points of view and most of what you wrote here I can agree with. I think Tampa was the better team but not 4-1 series better. All the factors we watched evolve all played into the equation . In my mind size was one. If Tuukka had played it likely would have been a little different but I still think we lose. We can't point to this that and the other thing when Tampa was missing Stammer for the whole series and McDounagh for most. The most common argument when addressing size will be Marchand. Marchand is the exception, not the rule. Very few can do what Marchand does. The other forwards just can't do it. When a team gets hit game after game by bigger players it adds up. Look at how the series trended,
1st game win (took the Hits)
2nd game OT loss (Hits are starting to add up)
3rd game blow out loss (hits are over flowing now)
4th game ( f*** IT, YOU CAN HAVE THE PUCK)
5th game ( do or die gave it their best, not good enough)

If they looked disinterested it's because they were, they were disinterested in taking the hits.

Fair enough, and I think it is valid to some extent. I would just counter by saying that you bury a few chances and make TB chase the game and the hitting starts to go down because they can't take those risks. The Bruins did not make them pay for their aggression. Was it because they got battered early on? Who knows, but they didn't look interested to me against the fairly soft Hurricanes either.

I would add size if possible- as boxing trainer Teddy Atlas said, skills being equal, the big man always beats the smaller man. I am just on the side of the fence here that would prefer smaller and skilled vs larger and less skilled. The dream is a Coyle type that is big, strong, and skilled. THey don't have to be ferocious hitters, or brawlers, but it would be good. They are just not that easy to find. Too many people here just say "size" and leave it at that, as though that is the main answer to the Bruins issues.

 

[b in vancouver]

Pastrnak, Donato, Heinen and Bjork were all Chiarelli picks, not Sweeney.

and yes, even mid 1st, having 3 cracks at a player who was by far the BPA and fills the biggest need (a stud C to replace your aging star centers) and whiffing can easily set the franchise back.

Why is it so hard to some to see the incredible mistake that was passing on a consensus Top 10 pick 3 straight times? Are you that dead set on being an apologist?

Here's Barzal's draft rankings:

NHL Central Scouts: 11th
Hockey Writers: 10th
TSN: 9th
SI: 5th
ISS Hockey: 8th

This was a gift on the level of Hamilton and McAvoy sliding to them, and they said no thanks. There is no excuse, there is no justification.

Less being an 'apologist' than how I think about it. And how I thought about it at the time. I didn't like the Senyshyn pick but gather they thought he'd be an Eric Cole type player. I liked the DeBrusk and Zboril picks.

I understand people wanted Barzal. They were right. However he wasn't the player I wanted. I've just seen way too many of those under-sized play-making centres drafted in the mid-1st to mid-2nd and they rarely ever pan out. For every Claude Giroux or Barzal there's a dozen guys like Khokhalchev and Spooner. I do wonder if they thought they had more in Spooner.
I really thought they'd pick Connor or White. I did not think Chabot would be this good either.

And Centre was by no means their biggest need at the time. Their defence was in shambles and their wingers were really weak. Marchand hadn't reached star level and Pastrnak hadn't proven himself.

 

[bp13]

1A/1B centers playing like #1 centers, goaltender standing on his head, role players contributing, relative health, a lot of luck

That’s my cup roster requirements looking back through history. Most of the rest is just noise and fetishes.

I think Sweeney can put a team together to do that...but off the bat, Krug out, Chara out...2 of Moore, Zboril, or Lauzon in full time isn’t the best start

I agree with your formula, and I think they had that formula relatively in place. The issue arose when the goalie took off, and the role players didn't play up to par. 3rd and 4th line struggled, JDB vanished, Kase couldn't finish, and our smaller D got muscled.

But, back to your formula, a huge part there is the goalie. Once Rask left, it became the tipping point. People can excuse it away and say it was the lack of goal scoring, but when your goalie gives up softies, it's really hard to play offensively. We see it time and time again. The Bruins played a soft zone in their end and Halak wasn't up for that whereas Rask always had been. That series is far different with Rask in.

 

[rocketdan9]

Nope, he has been a disaster as a GM. Living on Chiarelli's nut. Rask and Pasta. He has done zilch. Backes, Belesky, John Moore......Senyschen, Zboril.......Ritchie and the other Ritchie....a complete flop living on the Chiarelli dime. Just a fact.

Not exactly

He has made some good moves. But some of the 2nd moves from there ....he probably would want anothet try

I feel like Ritchie move he was trying to line up more against CBJ and Blues type teams than prepare for Tampa. He under estimated the preparation needed to battle Tampa.

 

[rocketdan9]

From the quick Sweeney presser the other day. What I gathered from it

-Doesnt seem like interest is strong to bring back Chara (I could be dead wrong)

- Rask is the number 1 goalie next season (unless he doesnt want to return)

- Desire for several recent AHL grads, to make the team for next season.

- With this likely the last we have seen of Nordy

- Desire for successor to Rask. At least backup for 2021-2022 season

On top of this I wonder what will happen with
- Wagner (heart scare)
- Ritchie (I hope traded)
- Moore