Eating crow

[Over the volcano]

Thought it might be worth carving out a little space in here for the things we were wrong about and surprised by. No patting yourself on the back or beating your chest. This is a thread for humility.

I really thought this team would struggle to find its identity and spine without Chara and Krug. Thought their absence would be felt on the PP and PK too.

The character kids have filled the gaps in a major way. Frederic addressed two long standing thorns in this team’s side - clowning Subban and defusing Wilson. Clifton, Ritchie, Lauzon have added more bite than this clubs had in years and Zboril’s replaced krug’s 5v5 play. Ritchie has given them a whole new dimension on the PP that runs though the crease rather than along krug’s blue line.

Some guys have been great, as expected, but I really didn’t think the kids would take over the character roles so quickly and drive the game the way they have.

...pass the salt and pepper this meal’s delicious

Click to read more...

 

[Blowfish]

I always felt the young D was a major strength for the bruins. So not surprised and never worried once Chara/Krug left the bruins.

I will say that Zboril had me concerned. He appeared to take much longer to develop / had some down years. I eat crow loaded with pepper when it comes to Zboril.

Now I hope I can say the same for Zachary!

 

[LSCII]

I was wrong about Nick Ritchie. I thought it was too much to expect him to dedicate himself to his career by dropping some weight and getting into shape, since he hadn’t done it in the past. I’m more than happy to admit that he proved me wrong and good for him.

 

[Kegs]

I thought Ritchie would be in the press box. Instead he has been significantly better then last season and clearly belongs on the roster. So pass that crow this way.

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Thought the loss of Chara would hurt us on the PK. Nope.
Thought the loss of Krug would hurt us on the PP. Nope.
Thought the young D would take time to fit. Nope.
Thought Miller would come in and get hurt again for the season. So far, Nope.
Thought Ritchie would struggle again this season. Nope.
Thought the Marchand and Pastrnak injuries would take longer and hurt us in the standings. Nope.
Thought Zboril would barely be able to keep a spot and would switch with Vaak every few games. Nope.
Thought Frederick would not earn a spot on the team this year. Nope.
Thought the Bruins would be fighting in the middle of the division for a playoff spot. Nope.

Is crow high in fat or cholesterol? If so, I might be in trouble.

 

[Blowfish]

I thought Ritchie would be in the press box. Instead he has been significantly better then last season and clearly belongs on the roster. So pass that crow this way.

Me too....let's hope he keeps it up!

 

[MattFromFranklin]

I was wrong about Nick Ritchie. I thought it was too much to expect him to dedicate himself to his career by dropping some weight and getting into shape, since he hadn’t done it in the past. I’m more than happy to admit that he proved me wrong and good for him.

You're not the only one. I felt that him being on the roster was due to him being the least sucky of the other options. There's still a long way to go, but he has been a very pleasant surprise. I'm excited to see what he can do the rest of the season.

 

[veganbruin]

I’ll go back a couple seasons. I was very against trading Donato for Coyle. That trade was awesome even despite Coyle not playing well yet this season.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Oh, I misread the title.

Thought it was eating cow, so I jumped in.

Never mind.

 

[LSCII]

You're not the only one. I felt that him being on the roster was due to him being the least sucky of the other options. There's still a long way to go, but he has been a very pleasant surprise. I'm excited to see what he can do the rest of the season.

The knock on him was that he never dedicated himself to get in shape. So I honestly thought he was a guy that was squandering his talent and opportunity because he was lazy. He clearly lost some weight and worked on his skating since last year because he's much quicker and it's paid off so far. I have no issues eating crow on that because he did it and again, good for him. And really, good for the team.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

You're not the only one. I felt that him being on the roster was due to him being the least sucky of the other options. There's still a long way to go, but he has been a very pleasant surprise. I'm excited to see what he can do the rest of the season.

We should keep that in mind.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Thought the loss of Chara would hurt us on the PK. Nope.
Thought the loss of Krug would hurt us on the PP. Nope.
Thought the young D would take time to fit. Nope.
Thought Miller would come in and get hurt again for the season. So far, Nope.
Thought Ritchie would struggle again this season. Nope.
Thought the Marchand and Pastrnak injuries would take longer and hurt us in the standings. Nope.
Thought Zboril would barely be able to keep a spot and would switch with Vaak every few games. Nope.
Thought Frederick would not earn a spot on the team this year. Nope.
Thought the Bruins would be fighting in the middle of the division for a playoff spot. Nope.

Is crow high in fat or cholesterol? If so, I might be in trouble.

Yeah, I'm not going to bother writing my own post. This one pretty much sums my thoughts up perfectly.

 

[Bearcrap]

Yeah, I'm not going to bother writing my own post. This one pretty much sums my thoughts up perfectly.

Me too. Thought they were going to be a 500 team this year. Thank God I was wrong.

 

[Lobster57]

Looking very wrong on HATING the Miller signing. Which makes me happy because i love Killer.
Looking wrong on Zboril being a bust, which takes a lot of the sting off that draft
Wrong about the D core struggling to adjust and the PK struggling

 

[member 96824]

IMO 10 games is too early for this thread but I’ll say this. I did think they would stumble out of the gate, so I’m happy with the record and the resilience they’ve shown.

Last year I was bullish when everyone else was bearish (that embarrassing panic level thread), this year I’m the opposite. I’d like to see more out of the B’s before I grab a full plate. When you look at these games, it’s really not outlandish to think we could easily be sitting here 2-8-1 instead of 8-1-2. I’d really really like to see the team grow to be not dependent on a mix of one line scoring at a historic pace and pulling a rabbit out of a hat every night.

Kevan Miller though? Still hate the contract in context of everything but full plate of crow on his ability so far

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

IMO 10 games is too early for this thread but I’ll say this. I did think they would stumble out of the gate, so I’m happy with the record and the resilience they’ve shown.

Last year I was bullish when everyone else was bearish (that embarrassing panic level thread), this year I’m the opposite. I’d like to see more out of the B’s before I grab a full plate. When you look at these games, it’s really not outlandish to think we could easily be sitting here 2-8-1 instead of 8-1-2. I’d really really like to see the team grow to be not dependent on a mix of one line scoring at a historic pace and pulling a rabbit out of a hat every night.

Kevan Miller though? Still hate the contract in context of everything but full plate of crow on his ability so far

Hey too early is too early, regardless of what side of the overreaction one is on.

The young defence may hold up. I thought it was popsicle sticks and glue and it actually looks really good. There’s my crow this far.

With the shortened season I guess, 11 games is more like 20. But it’s still 11 games.

 

[DominicT]

This is why I always preach patience.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Hey too early is too early, regardless of what side of the overreaction one is on.

The young defence may hold up. I thought it was popsicle sticks and glue and it actually looks really good. There’s my crow this far.

With the shortened season I guess, 11 games is more like 20. But it’s still 11 games.

That's my conclusion as well.

Hey, maybe it starts to crack at some point. But I sort of, kind of, fully expected the team to be disastrous on the back end from the get go and the opposite has been the case.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

well i knew we would be better defensively without krug and chara.
offense will still be a problem if we dont get a top 6 forward

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

I should note that the first two games of the year against the Devils affirmed what I was (and what I think a lot of people were) expecting. Struggling to score against a team which conceivably should not be too difficult to score on. Not showing enough talent, speed, toughness, etc. Just looking like a team that would have to work hard to sniff the playoffs.

From game 3 on, it's been crow pretty much every night.

 

[CDJ]

Me flipping out at management over letting chara go to the capitals....Maybe that was a bit much

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

I didn't think the defense was ready, but they've been way better than expected. Still some growing pains, but likely losing one of them to Seattle.

Still didn't agree with the timing/money for Miller, but Sweeney proves me wrong and Miller is an every game player at this point. (more of he's in the top 6, not that he'll need to play every game)

Nick Ritchie has been a pleasant surprise, although I wasn't as down on him as I was the defense.

I think the issues in the top 6 still exist, but the team is definitely exceeding my expectations so far everywhere else.

 

[LSCII]

IMO 10 games is too early for this thread but I’ll say this. I did think they would stumble out of the gate, so I’m happy with the record and the resilience they’ve shown.

Last year I was bullish when everyone else was bearish (that embarrassing panic level thread), this year I’m the opposite. I’d like to see more out of the B’s before I grab a full plate. When you look at these games, it’s really not outlandish to think we could easily be sitting here 2-8-1 instead of 8-1-2. I’d really really like to see the team grow to be not dependent on a mix of one line scoring at a historic pace and pulling a rabbit out of a hat every night.

Kevan Miller though? Still hate the contract in context of everything but full plate of crow on his ability so far

Why did you hate the Miller signing? To me it was like playing with the house's money. If he came back and played well, he earned his money. If he came back and got hurt, he goes on LTIR and insurance pays him. If he came back and sucked, it was a one year deal for short money and he plays down in Providence. I didn't think he'd come back and stay healthy, but it was a flier and sent the right message to the rest of the guys in the room since Miller had worked hard for a long time to come back.

 

[Sheppy]

I was nervous about signing Miller for sure, and I was worried about the defense as a whole. I’ll eat crow on that.

 

[LSCII]

I was nervous about signing Miller for sure, and I was worried about the defense as a whole. I’ll eat crow on that.

See, I don't really understand this thought process on this because like I laid out in my response to @BrainOfJ it was free money. And you're not alone in looking at it that way either, but it still made no sense to me. I also didn't get why people tied this move to not resigning Chara because they were completely unrelated.