Post-Game Talk: GAME 73 - WIN 57 TIES FRANCHISE RECORD - WIN 27 ON ROAD BREAKS FRANCHISE RECORD - BRUINS 4 Whalercanes 3 F/SO

[Glove Malfunction]

Finally got a chance to look carefully at the stats from yesterday's game. Who the hell was keeping track of hits? Stevie Wonder? Ray Charles?

They had McAvoy and Gryz BOTH with ZERO hits. I thought Gryz played one of his most physical games of the year. Very much liked what he brought in a game in which several of the D struggled. I can recall at least two really solid hits he made. McAvoy same. I know that hits are a poorly tracked stat league-wide, but c'mon.

Hits are tracked by the home team's statistician, and as such vary wildly from arena to arena, and are usually biased toward the home team. It's such a subjective stat - maybe the most subjecivet of any that is currently tracked, so you usually have to take those numbers with a ginormous grain of salt.

 

[Babajingo]

Didn't turn on teh game until late 2nd. Got an immediate shiver down my spine. Was expecting to see Dineen or Francis out there.

 

[Mione134]

Back at the time I said how bad it would suck if the Bs gave up Jake for cheap and then we had to watch him become a 30-goal scorer on another team once he pulled his life back together. He is not only a good scorer now (would have well over 30 goals if not for injury this season) with the offensive skills everyone already knew he had, but he now plays as hard as anyone on the team and is actually very good along the boards and on D. He is still improving too. His value on his next contract will reflect that.

As you point out, the team had his back when he hit his low point. They never gave up on him. That, combined with the blessing of having Monty as coach, is now paying off in a massive way.

I remember you saying this. I agree. And I think we were only a handful of people advocating for him. It was nice. The vitriol was at times, hard for me to read that I didn't come on as much as I like. Luckily for us, Donny stood firm. The team stood firmly behind him, and a coach who clearly had his own struggles and understands, has his back now.

He's improving every game. I genuinely think he has even a higher level he can get to. His play has been nothing short of spectacular. He looks like his old self. His happy smile from his rookie year is back. His backchecking, and work on special teams has improved greatly. Him with the puck in stride is exciting to watch. He's got a physical side to him too. And there were many stretches this year where he himself has carried that 1st line. That's leadership. I think he is apart of of core going forward and his contract will reflect that. Donny knows.

 

[bobbyorr04]

You mean Jake DeBust? Haven't heard from any of the Jake DeBust people in while. Can't remember their names.

Lots of us were guilty of using that name (including me) last season, but most of us didn't know what was going on behind the scenes

..but his troubles disappeared and his game greatly improved after Cassidy was canned

Kudos to Sweeney and Neely for correcting the problem and hiring a great coach

 

[lopey]

Very good win. Came out skating and Anderson was the only reason we didn’t score 6-7.

How many in a row is this now? I’ve lost track. Team is ripping off winning streaks like they’re nothing. Going to be well-nigh impossible to take 4 out of 7 from them. Go Bruins!!!!

7

 

[Mione134]

Lots of us were guilty of using that name (including me) last season, but most of us didn't know what was going on behind the scenes

..but his troubles disappeared and his game greatly improved after Cassidy was canned

Kudos to Sweeney and Neely for correcting the problem and hiring a great coach

He did multiple interviews about him struggling. Alluded to some mental health issue. Beat reporters were commenting on how defeated he looked. His dark circles under his eyes with a blank stare was a big give away. Lots of folks on here had the idea to say "too bad, you get paid millions to play we're all struggling". And to those I said this then, and I'll say it now. Money doesn't fix or stop mental health issues.

At least you had the cajones to admit you were wrong in a sense. Lots of posters have been mute. Unless the team struggles, then the miserable come out to post again like clockwork!

 

[lopey]

Bruins have a "good" problem at LW.
Marchand
Zacha
Hall
Bertuzzi
Foligno
Lauko
And thats with JD playing RW.

Remember when this used to be a problem?

 

[Thomas 11]

I remember you saying this. I agree. And I think we were only a handful of people advocating for him. It was nice. The vitriol was at times, hard for me to read that I didn't come on as much as I like. Luckily for us, Donny stood firm. The team stood firmly behind him, and a coach who clearly had his own struggles and understands, has his back now.

He's improving every game. I genuinely think he has even a higher level he can get to. His play has been nothing short of spectacular. He looks like his old self. His happy smile from his rookie year is back. His backchecking, and work on special teams has improved greatly. Him with the puck in stride is exciting to watch. He's got a physical side to him too. And there were many stretches this year where he himself has carried that 1st line. That's leadership. I think he is apart of of core going forward and his contract will reflect that. Donny knows.

I’m at the point now, where I believe Jake will be productive with whoever he plays with. He is now a line driver with his speed, effort and intelligence. He has been excellent all year.

 

[rfournier103]

I’m at the point now, where I believe Jake will be productive with whoever he plays with. He is now a line driver with his speed, effort and intelligence. He has been excellent all year.

Me too.

I wasn’t as bad as some of the naysayers, but I definitely had doubts myself.

More and more it looks like Jake is part of the new core that will carry this Bruins team into the ‘30s. DeBrusk; Pastranak; McAvoy; Zacha; Lindholm; Ullmark; and Swayman are a SOLID core to build around when Bergeron; Marchand; and Krejci depart. Hopefully the “new” core will be experienced 2023 Stanley Cup champions and will have that to build upon as well.

 

[Raleighfern]

I was at the game last night. it was a great win. my seat was 8 rows or so back from our bench. rooting for lauko to recover quickly, his speed is impressive and something the bruins need.

 

[TD Charlie]

I’m at the point now, where I believe Jake will be productive with whoever he plays with. He is now a line driver with his speed, effort and intelligence. He has been excellent all year.

As long as the motor is running, I agree. He’s been at Pre-Kadri level for the full season so far. That type of effort he brings fits in anywhere.

When he floats, or seems to push the pace for a half shift in a game is when he looks awful. Luckily he appears to have left that behind

 

[Aussie Bruin]

I haven't seen him mentioned, so I will... Oscar Steen.

Kid had a great game, could have had a couple of goals, super hustle. Was all over the play in the first half.

I thought so too. Great energy from Steen, until Monty benched him in the 3rd. That was unfortunate, but Jim's not shy about sitting younger players when he feels it's warranted.

 

[hrdpuk]

JDB is not the only one that got that treatment. People forget that pros are also human beings. When a pro athlete is struggling I usually look to injuries or personal problems. Carlo comes to mind after suffering a couple of concussions from dirty hits. I always felt he should have taken the year off but these guys are pros and have a lot of heart. Of course he wasn't up to his pre concussion level but he was still playing in the to 4.

 

[bobbyorr04]

He did multiple interviews about him struggling. Alluded to some mental health issue. Beat reporters were commenting on how defeated he looked. His dark circles under his eyes with a blank stare was a big give away. Lots of folks on here had the idea to sat "too bad, you get paid millions to play we're all struggling". And to those I said this then, and I'll say it now. Money doesn't fix or stop mental health issues.

At least you had the cajones to admit you were wrong in a sense. Lots of posters have been mute. Unless the team struggles, then the miserable come out to post again like clockwork!

Hell, we ALL make mistakes and I'm not too proud to admit when I was wrong about something, but the media has to take some of the blame for not telling the whole story...so it made JDB look like the villain when he wasn't

Jake was one of my favourite Bruins as a rookie and is once again, but I'll admit I didn't have much patience with his poor performance and trade demands last year, although we weren't given the whole picture

But as it turns out, Cassidy definitely had something to do with Jake's troubles, and we'll probably never know the whole story unless another Bruin retires and writes a tell-all book in a few years about what the hell went on behind the scenes last season

Thankfully the coach was fired and replaced by a great guy, and Jake is back to being the player I always thought he could be

Now there's nothing but sunshine, lollipops and rainbows ahead

 

[Dr Hook]

I thought so too. Great energy from Steen, until Monty benched him in the 3rd. That was unfortunate, but Jim's not shy about sitting younger players when he feels it's warranted.

I wonder why he felt it was warranted. Nothing poor from him jumped out at me last night. Saying that I know coaches see things very differently than your average fan. Or maybe it became a tight game and he Monty doesn't trust Steen in those situations yet.

 

[Olden McGroin]

 

[Kegs]

Hits are tracked by the home team's statistician, and as such vary wildly from arena to arena, and are usually biased toward the home team. It's such a subjective stat - maybe the most subjecivet of any that is currently tracked, so you usually have to take those numbers with a ginormous grain of salt.

I think they are mostly pretty consistent tho. Maybe not so much bias. Some arenas seem to give the hits out more than others. I don’t necessarily think it’s bias to the home team. Maybe there is some grey area for what’s a hit and what’s not a hit.

 

[HumBucker]

I'm not saying Jake's troubles had nothing to do with Cassidy, but the turn-around in his play happened when Cassidy put him with Bergeron and Marchand during the final stretch of last season. Maybe JDB felt he didn't have Butch's confidence prior to that, and maybe Monty has been a better style of coach for him, but it's not so black-and-white as "Cassidy out, Jake plays better." It didn't happen like.

 

[Glove Malfunction]

I think they are mostly pretty consistent tho. Maybe not so much bias. Some arenas seem to give the hits out more than others. I don’t necessarily think it’s bias to the home team. Maybe there is some grey area for what’s a hit and what’s not a hit.

From what I've looked at, it seems to be consistent - within each building. For example, Buffalo is consistently near the bottom, and the hits variance from the Penguins to the visiting team is consistently skewed towards the Penguins.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

He did multiple interviews about him struggling. Alluded to some mental health issue. Beat reporters were commenting on how defeated he looked. His dark circles under his eyes with a blank stare was a big give away. Lots of folks on here had the idea to say "too bad, you get paid millions to play we're all struggling". And to those I said this then, and I'll say it now. Money doesn't fix or stop mental health issues.

At least you had the cajones to admit you were wrong in a sense. Lots of posters have been mute. Unless the team struggles, then the miserable come out to post again like clockwork!

Covid lockdown seemed to have a very adverse effect on him.

 

[Mione134]

Covid lockdown seemed to have a very adverse effect on him.

For many of us too.

 

[ShiftyNifty16]

Lots of us were guilty of using that name (including me) last season, but most of us didn't know what was going on behind the scenes

..but his troubles disappeared and his game greatly improved after Cassidy was canned

Kudos to Sweeney and Neely for correcting the problem and hiring a great coach

I never called him any name, even through the beer I was spitting out while yelling. That said, he's a different player now, I'll leave it at that.

 

[sooshii]

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Clifton was suspect too, not recognizing Aho going to the net. He could have taken away the pass or tied up Aho’s stick. Never a good look when the D in front of the net is just standing there looking for something to do while a goal is being scored.

Clifton botched the play by turning the wrong way but Clifton, Zboril and to a laser degree even Swayman divvy up the blame pie on that goal. More on Zboril as he didn't clear and didn't get back deep enough.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

I wonder why he felt it was warranted. Nothing poor from him jumped out at me last night. Saying that I know coaches see things very differently than your average fan. Or maybe it became a tight game and he Monty doesn't trust Steen in those situations yet.

Yeah I'm not sure. It could be something as simple as what you've suggested. Hopefully Steen gets another chance or two.