Sportsnet Elliotte Friedman's " 31 Thoughts " Column ( December 18th - 2019 )

[BostonBob]

Well damn - I guess the Bruins are finally " click worthy ".

3. Krug has nine points in his first 12 games. Whatever the Bruins decide to do here, no one expects him to be dealt if he’s unsigned by the deadline. Boston is going for it, and he’s a big part of what they do.

Full column here: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-calgary-flames-tensions-rising/

 

[KlausJopling]

no surprise on Krug, he is way to big a piece to get moved mid season.

 

[Blowfish]

no surprise on Krug, he is way to big a piece to get moved mid season.

All depends on the return for me...Bruins have top end D talent.

 

[Tbaybruin]

All depends on the return for me...Bruins have top end D talent.

They have great D I agree but he is so good on the PP

 

[DKH]

Well damn - I guess the Bruins are finally " click worthy ".

3. Krug has nine points in his first 12 games. Whatever the Bruins decide to do here, no one expects him to be dealt if he’s unsigned by the deadline. Boston is going for it, and he’s a big part of what they do.

Full column here: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-calgary-flames-tensions-rising/

Krug says he plans on living in area regardless he wants to raise family here even if signs elsewhere

 

[DKH]

All depends on the return for me...Bruins have top end D talent.

He will be signed soon

 

[Sheppy]

I too think Krug re-signs

 

[Wiggleboom]

I think Krug will buy in to what the Bruins are doing and sign for the same/less than the big 3.

Maybe something like 7 years, 7.5 million.

 

[BostonBob]

Wow - 2 weeks in a row that the Bruins are " click worthy ".

20. Eight more points for Boston’s top line in the Bruins’ 6–4 win over Pittsburgh on Monday night. Five for Brad Marchand, two for David Pastrnak, the other by Patrice Bergeron. I meant to include this a few weeks ago, but I was asking a few of their teammates about their consistent excellence.
They aren’t even looking at each other. One of the Bruins said they are so good with the extra man because they’ve practised against their best defensive players for years, from Zdeno Chara on down. It’s a good point. If you practise like you play — against that level of talent — competitive nature and structure should make you better.


21. How bananas is this line for the 11-1-2 Bruins? In all situations, they are outscoring opponents 27–7 with all three on the ice, including 12–0 on the power play. After Monday night, do you know how many NHL teams had more than 12 power-play goals? Five. Boston has 15; Buffalo, Vancouver and Washington 14; Vegas 13. Bergeron/Marchand/Pastrnak alone are tied with or outscoring the other 26. The Bruins have scored 36 goals with Marchand on the ice; that’s No. 1 in the NHL. Bergeron and Pastrnak have been on the ice for 31 — tied with Roman Josi for fifth. Between them are John Carlson and Leon Draisaitl ( 34 ) and Connor McDavid ( 35 )

22. One more on Marchand: Boston’s scored 80 per cent of the goals that have occurred with him on the ice. There is only one player above 200 minutes who can say the same: Vancouver’s Jordie Benn (10-2, 83 per cent). He’s played 37 fewer minutes, though.

Full column here: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-dustin-byfuglien-winnipeg-jets/?shawct=1

 

[BostonBob]

We're still " click worthy ".

15. The second conversation has to do with last Tuesday’s Boston/Montreal game where a Bruins goal was disallowed after Charlie Coyle used his skates to steer the puck over the blue line. I’ve heard a lot of arguments that Coyle did have control and the goal should have counted. I certainly agree that he knew what he was doing, and today’s players are skilled enough to pull it off. My heart says it should count. My head says if they do count it, it’s going to open up a can of worms that will lead to a disaster of unintended consequences.

28. There is one player in the NHL with more than 100 minutes of ice-time who has not been scored against. It is Boston’s Par Lindholm. Jinx!

Full column here: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-toronto-maple-leafs-not-sweating-goaltending-situation/?shawct=1

 

[BostonBob]

And the " click worthy " streak is now at 4 weeks:


28. Boston lost four in a row en route to Toronto last Friday. I asked Charlie McAvoy if that group ever really worries.

“We know there’s things we have to fix,” he said. Then he smiled. “But we don’t panic much here.”

The Bruins then grabbed five of six points.


Full column here: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-calgary-flames-johnny-gaudreau-not-selling-low/?shawct=1

 

[RustyBruins72]

And the " click worthy " streak is now at 4 weeks:


28. Boston lost four in a row en route to Toronto last Friday. I asked Charlie McAvoy if that group ever really worries.

“We know there’s things we have to fix,” he said. Then he smiled. “But we don’t panic much here.”

The Bruins then grabbed five of six points.


Full column here: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-calgary-flames-johnny-gaudreau-not-selling-low/?shawct=1

Bob. He's posted Bruin stuff ever since I called him on it.

 

[BostonBob]

Bob. He's posted Bruin stuff ever since I called him on it.

I know - job well done.

 

[BostonBob]

So after a 2 week break the " 31 Thoughts " column is back and shockingly the Bruins are still considered to be " click worthy ".

19. Brad Marchand tweeted out an apology to the concussion spotter after complaining how long it took him to be removed from last week’s game against the Rangers:

Here’s what happened: Marchand collided with Jacob Trouba, got an (unintentional) elbow to the head and looked dazed. However, it took place late in the period, and a replay wasn’t shown until the intermission. When the spotter saw that, they asked for him to be held back. It took a few minutes to make communication before everyone got back to the bench.
Full column here: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-code-conduct-coming-nhl/

 

[BostonBob]

And the streak is finally over but at least the Bruins were mentioned:

23. Arizona entered Tuesday night’s games with a team save percentage of .929. The last team to exceed that in a full season was the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, at .930 (Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask). Ottawa's Craig Anderson,Ben Bishop and Robin Lehner soared to .933, but that was the 48-game, lockout-shortened 2012-13 year.

Full column here: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-jim-montgomery-firing-hockeys-latest-bombshell/?shawct=1

 

[BostonBob]

Nothing about Boston this week: www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-whos-next-nhl-rental-market/