Hockey News Yearbook Bruins Prediction

DKH

The Bergeron of HF
Feb 27, 2002
73,961
51,460
The good- 3 Bruins in top 50

Bergeron 11
Marchand 23
Pastrnak 37

The bad

Top 10 pick missing playoffs.

Really ???

No Andres Bjork in top 10 Bruins prospects

Heinen, Donato, Gabrielle, Bjork, OGara off the top of my head didn't make top 10
 
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BMC

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Sep 26, 2003
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IMO it's been a hot mess for decades. I used to buy it now I just scan it briefly when I see it in the magazine rack at the grocery store :)
 

KrejciMVP

Registered User
Jun 30, 2011
28,422
9,964
Tampa, Florida
The

Good- 3 Bruins in top 50

Bergeron 11
Marchand 23
Pastrnak 37

Bad

Top 10 pick missing playoffs.

Really ???

No Andres Bjork in top 10 Bruins prospects

Heinen, Donato, Gabrielle, Bjork, OGara off the top of my head didn't make top 10

about that Bjork Krejci pair...
 

Beesfan

Registered User
Apr 10, 2006
4,884
1,918
The

Good- 3 Bruins in top 50

Bergeron 11
Marchand 23
Pastrnak 37

Bad

Top 10 pick missing playoffs.

Really ???

No Andres Bjork in top 10 Bruins prospects

Heinen, Donato, Gabrielle, Bjork, OGara off the top of my head didn't make top 10

Bjork is the only egregious omission from that list. A great case can be made for others (especially Heinen), but we have such depth that I can see reasonable lists without them.
 

BostonBob

4 Ever The Greatest
Jan 26, 2004
13,617
6,569
Vancouver, BC
I'm pretty sure the last year I bought THN Yearbook was in 2011 as I was buying a lot of hockey magazines as souvenirs from the Cup winning season.


THNS11YBVAN1.jpg




I also got a friend from Boston send me the version with the Boston cover:

THNS11YBBOB1.jpg
 
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sarge88

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Jan 29, 2003
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Haven't thought about THN in a while until last weekend. I was in a town about 20 miles from home when I told my 16 year old that I used to drive there once in a while when I was a teenager/early 20's --- to get THN because it got there 3 days before it got delivered to our area.

She thought I was crazy and couldn't get past the fact that we could only get stats on out of town players once a week --- which of course by printing were already different.
 

Hamilton Brian

Registered User
Apr 12, 2004
4,204
703
Hamilton, ON
Haven't thought about THN in a while until last weekend. I was in a town about 20 miles from home when I told my 16 year old that I used to drive there once in a while when I was a teenager/early 20's --- to get THN because it got there 3 days before it got delivered to our area.

She thought I was crazy and couldn't get past the fact that we could only get stats on out of town players once a week --- which of course by printing were already different.

The good old days. It was a struggle trying to run hockey pools in Northern Maine when the newspaper was all there was.

Then came 1994...
 

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
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Sep 26, 2007
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When I was a kid we got the Hockey News on Thursday night as the 'souvenir' stand across from the Garden pizza stand was the first place in the city to get it.

The souvenir stand was always extremely busy because it was also the bookie shop of the Garden :laugh:

When I was 11 I visited the Hockey News in Montreal and my vision of a huge newsroom was shattered when we discovered it was a very small office with a couple of typewriters. Ken McKenzie was the owner and I believe he was the uncle of TSN's Bob McKenzie. He explained that the paper was printed Tuesday afternoon in Montreal and stringers in other cities used to send their stories in by bus and they had to wait until Tuesday morning for the Blackshawks. He then would ship the paper by bus to New York, Toronto and Boston and also would drive to the border and mail the paper to US subscribers from Rouses Point, NY.

That same trip I also visited the offices of the National Hockey League in the Sun Life Building in Montreal and the only person in the cluttered office was an older man wearing a garden hat and Bermuda shorts with a fly swatter - It was Clarence Campbell :laugh:
 

PlayMakers

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Aug 9, 2004
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NHL.com is also picking the Bruins to miss the playoffs, fwiw.

They have Tampa, Toronto and Carey Price making it from our division, with the two wild cards coming from the Metropolitan.

They say there are too many question marks to predict the B's make it. I get that, there are a lot of legitimate questions. IMO, the B's could finish anywhere from top of the division to bottom10 in the league depending entirely on how those questions get answered.
 

Estlin

Registered User
Sep 25, 2013
5,169
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New York City
NHL.com is also picking the Bruins to miss the playoffs, fwiw.

They have Tampa, Toronto and Carey Price making it from our division, with the two wild cards coming from the Metropolitan.

They say there are too many question marks to predict the B's make it. I get that, there are a lot of legitimate questions. IMO, the B's could finish anywhere from top of the division to bottom10 in the league depending entirely on how those questions get answered.

That sounds about right. The Bruins are a bubble team, at best.
 

WhalerTurnedBruin55

Fading out, thanks for the times.
Oct 31, 2008
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NHL.com is also picking the Bruins to miss the playoffs, fwiw.

They have Tampa, Toronto and Carey Price making it from our division, with the two wild cards coming from the Metropolitan.

They say there are too many question marks to predict the B's make it. I get that, there are a lot of legitimate questions. IMO, the B's could finish anywhere from top of the division to bottom10 in the league depending entirely on how those questions get answered.

To be fair. Replace "B's" with almost ANY other team in the league, and that statement is likely true.
 

BruinDust

Registered User
Aug 2, 2005
24,281
21,610
That sounds about right. The Bruins are a bubble team, at best.

As are the Habs.

I agree with THN assessment of the Leafs and Lightning.

Don't get why they would overlook the Senators though, or put the Habs in the playoffs with the Senators missing.

Once again, just more Carey Price ball-washing from the hockey media.
 

DKH

The Bergeron of HF
Feb 27, 2002
73,961
51,460
NHL.com is also picking the Bruins to miss the playoffs, fwiw.

They have Tampa, Toronto and Carey Price making it from our division, with the two wild cards coming from the Metropolitan.

They say there are too many question marks to predict the B's make it. I get that, there are a lot of legitimate questions. IMO, the B's could finish anywhere from top of the division to bottom10 in the league depending entirely on how those questions get answered.

I went back last year and checked pre season magazines and all 4 were wrong on Bruins last year

The thread we had here in August 2016 had them missing I believe 53%

The same 7-10 that complain were but 1 poster from unanimous

The comments were the best though as a year later they all pretty much got bent over but as expected didn't acknowledge and like a broken record saying the same things

Maybe we can do another on October 3 or so

I'm going 100 plus points

I admit I can name top 10 prospects in MLB but not hockey but I still know more than 100% of the national hockey writers about the Bruins

Loftus appears to consciously left the 2014 class out and why no Bjork, Donato, Heinen

He's a smart guy and his top 10 from 2015-17 is fascinating

Lindgren at 4 is interesting

Loftus was way ahead of the posse on Frederic

Mike has good connections and when I saw Senyshyn at #2 you have to like it
 

PlayMakers

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Aug 9, 2004
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To be fair. Replace "B's" with almost ANY other team in the league, and that statement is likely true.

I don't think that's true. The Bruins have questions about their...

Coach - what will Cassidy look like in year 2?

Goaltending - Rask has been below average for a starting goalie 2 years in a row and the backup options are either inconsistent or unproven.

Top 4 - Will Carlo avoid the sophomore slump? Is McAvoy for real and can he maintain a high level for 82 games?

Center depth - Top2 C's for this team are very strong but the 3rd line matters. We struggled last year when that line didn't contribute and as we enter this season we still don't really know who the 3rd line center is? Backes? Spooner? Kuraly? It sounds like they're gong to start with Spooner but Cassidy quickly lost his patience with Spooner and had him (and Vatrano) on the 4th line last year. If it's Kuraly, will he provide enough offense for the 3rd line to help, or will it be like last year when Nash centered the line and they stopped getting scored on but didn't contribute anything offensively? If they want it to be Backes, will he accept the job? He's seemed really reluctant to play there.


....


Now, that doesn't mean the answers to all those questions are going to be negative. If the answers are positive this team could be a beast. But if someone asks you to predict the standings are you going to choose teams that have known answers to those critical areas or are you going to choose teams that are hoping for answers?
 

Buckets and Gloves

klaatu barada nikto
Aug 14, 2011
7,578
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Been saying it all offseason...

Most teams around us got better, we didn't improve our roster... i expect us to stagnate or regress.

*sigh*

Don't bash article/source if you don't agree with it, cause somr bruins fans see what this article does... lots of uncertainty and question marks surround the 17/18 Bruins
 

JoeIsAStud

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
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Goaltending - Rask has been below average for a starting goalie 2 years in a row and the backup options are either inconsistent or unproven.

I guess that is a matter of what stat you choose to look at. He was 16th in the league among goalies who started half their team games in Save %, so I guess that is the bad. He was above the league Save% average by a fraction

He was 5th in the league for goalies who played at least 30 games in GAA.

He was also 5th in the league in wins. Second in the league in shutouts.

I can't say he was a below average starting NHL goalie last year

Been saying it all offseason...

Most teams around us got better, we didn't improve our roster... i expect us to stagnate or regress.

That is most certainly a matter of opinion, and whether the prospects deliver.

McAvoy replaces Colin Miller. I expect that to be a substantial upgrade

Anyone replaces JM Liles, should be a sizeable improvement

On offense we'll see. What impact does Bjork or other prospects have. They lost Moore who had a good year, but still I think there is a good chance they will have a better set of forwards than last year
 

Mr. Make-Believe

The happy genius of my household
...

Once Cassidy took over last season, weren't the Bruins top-5 in the NHL in goals for, goals allowed and win-loss record?

I think the defence is a cinch to be better.

I still wish they would have made some moves up front, so that's a big question mark for me. But if I were to make a prediction, I wouldn't have the Bruins on the outside of the playoff picture. The safer money is Boston in the top 8.
 

PlayMakers

Moderator
Aug 9, 2004
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...

Once Cassidy took over last season, weren't the Bruins top-5 in the NHL in goals for, goals allowed and win-loss record?

I think the defence is a cinch to be better.

I still wish they would have made some moves up front, so that's a big question mark for me. But if I were to make a prediction, I wouldn't have the Bruins on the outside of the playoff picture. The safer money is Boston in the top 8.

I don't know if that's true but even if they were the best in the world at everything for 20 games there are still some questions/discrepancies between what he did last year and what he has to do this year.

For example, we're all expecting to have two 20 year olds in the top4, we're expecting to see rookies in the top6 and top9, we're expecting to see a third line that can score. All of that is the complete opposite of how he coached last year. During the regular season, all of the young players on this team saw less minutes under Cassidy. Spooner and Vatrano were moved to 4th line. The 3rd line was made into a shut down unit with Moore and Nash. McQuaid and Miller played more. Eventually Spooner was taken out of the lineup completely...

So how much of Cassidy's success came from leaning heavily on vets? How much will he look to that strategy this coming season? Personally, I think this team can be really good but that's only IF some of the kids are ready and IF the coach gives them the rope to play through the growing pains.

This coach is also really quick to pull the plug on things. He mixes lines, he sits guys for long stretches... I think fans responded to that because it's a quick change that easy to see (a lot easier than seeing a change in on-ice scheme anyway). But how will that approach affect developing players? Is he going to quickly pull the plug on young players?

So, long story short. Cassidy did very well but there are still lots of questions about how he's going to handle this season. He's a likable guy and easy to root for so I'm hoping that the way he ran his bench down the stretch was him in "desperation mode" and not how he's going to run things over the course of a marathon season.
 

LouJersey

Registered User
Jun 29, 2002
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Graves to Gardens
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Pretty much states what everyone in the hockey world says about our prospects other than us

I do think some of our guys are underrated by the general media and they put too much emphasis on what pick these guys were when drafted.
 

ODAAT

Registered User
Oct 17, 2006
52,169
20,199
Victoria BC
Pretty much states what everyone in the hockey world says about our prospects other than us

I do think some of our guys are underrated by the general media and they put too much emphasis on what pick these guys were when drafted.

I think most of these articles or opinions are often written by those who haven`t had the chance to watch the majority of prospects in all these organizations. I`m guessing they base their opinions by speaking to those possibly close to a particular organization and go from there in their assessment?

I`m not close to being qualified as a scout, I don`t have a quarter of the eye for talent as a scout does but being out East, I essentially have access to only the QMJHL teams while watching some OHL/WHL games on TV. So I really can`t assess or comment on a kid I haven`t seen or have watched in exceptionally limited viewings on the tube, my guess is often those who write articles like this most likely get to see more than I do but not nearly enough that they can say/know without uncertainty what half these kids ceilings could/would be.

I wonder for articles like this if they contact people like Dom or Kirk or alike? I know Dom attends a ton of OHL games and would be a rich asset to have for something like this
 

Mr. Make-Believe

The happy genius of my household
I don't know if that's true but even if they were the best in the world at everything for 20 games there are still some questions/discrepancies between what he did last year and what he has to do this year.

For example, we're all expecting to have two 20 year olds in the top4, we're expecting to see rookies in the top6 and top9, we're expecting to see a third line that can score. All of that is the complete opposite of how he coached last year. During the regular season, all of the young players on this team saw less minutes under Cassidy. Spooner and Vatrano were moved to 4th line. The 3rd line was made into a shut down unit with Moore and Nash. McQuaid and Miller played more. Eventually Spooner was taken out of the lineup completely...

So how much of Cassidy's success came from leaning heavily on vets? How much will he look to that strategy this coming season? Personally, I think this team can be really good but that's only IF some of the kids are ready and IF the coach gives them the rope to play through the growing pains.

This coach is also really quick to pull the plug on things. He mixes lines, he sits guys for long stretches... I think fans responded to that because it's a quick change that easy to see (a lot easier than seeing a change in on-ice scheme anyway). But how will that approach affect developing players? Is he going to quickly pull the plug on young players?

So, long story short. Cassidy did very well but there are still lots of questions about how he's going to handle this season. He's a likable guy and easy to root for so I'm hoping that the way he ran his bench down the stretch was him in "desperation mode" and not how he's going to run things over the course of a marathon season.

I'm not saying playoffs are a cinch. You're right about the question marks surrounding Cassidy and the challenges he's likely to face. Only thing I'm entirely confident about is that the defence going into the season this year is better than what we saw going into last season.

But you want to play odds based on evidence? You have to take into account how much better the Bruins were once Cassidy took the helm.
 

DKH

The Bergeron of HF
Feb 27, 2002
73,961
51,460
I'm not saying playoffs are a cinch. You're right about the question marks surrounding Cassidy and the challenges he's likely to face. Only thing I'm entirely confident about is that the defence going into the season this year is better than what we saw going into last season.

But you want to play odds based on evidence? You have to take into account how much better the Bruins were once Cassidy took the helm.

I'm with you

Barring serious injuries I'll be disappointed with anything less than 100 points in the regular season

Reminds me of 2008-9
 

DKH

The Bergeron of HF
Feb 27, 2002
73,961
51,460
Swing and a miss by THN and some of you fine folk

Love reading the views in real time
 

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