News Article: Jimmy Hayes, Matt Beleskey embrace challenge of coming to Bruins

[VanIsle]

I miss Murray and Knuble on the 700lb line, it was great to watch.

Hopefully these 2 guys can bring some much needed, missed passion on this team, as last year it just seemed they were going through the motions.

Hopefully with a love for the city and being in the Bruins sweater they will bring back Bruins hockey.

 

[TCDaniels]

Find real reports with real offers not just conjecture or tweets, then we will talk. Otherwise it's all a load of non-sense. I had a real report to back up my argument.

Just out of curiosity, why is it ok for you to sit here and insist that he "only took the money" without knowing for sure what each and every offer made was... but when someone else cites reports (even conjectural reports) that he left money on the table, you call bull?

You certainly seem extremely confident - I presume you have some sort of insider info on every offer that was tended?

 

[ODAAT]

could care less why Beleskey signed here, he`s here, I hope he brings the same game he did with the Ducks this past year and he and the other newbies/kids bring a hunger this team has lacked for a few years

 

[Kaoz]

Me too. That was a heartening endorsement.

I just hope that with both of these players, fans & media don't get carried away.

Let's not expect them to be a player they're not (Lucic) or trash them if they don't score 20. Let them be who they are, not who we want them to be.

Which doesn't mean hopes & shouldn't be high. Just reasonable.

Man this place is an underdogs heaven. Guys with ridiculous natural talent get run out of town if they aren't Crosby 2.0 by age 21, but we need to temper our expectations with guys who have struggled to perform their entire career and just let them be who they are.

So ridiculously frustrating, made even more so by the management sharing/pandering to this mentality. No wonder this team goes through such long stretches of mediocrity. Why are people OK with this team getting worse? Shouldn't we all be ridiculously upset right now? Boston was a top team in the East and this year it seems like they'll struggle to make the playoffs again for the foreseeable future. Last years team needed to be improved upon, does anyone believe removing Lucic and Hamilton and bringing in Beleksey and Hayes has accomplished that. Does bringing in Franson do anything other then worsen the draft pick of a team with almost no chance of competing against the best in the East (let alone the West). Does Sweeney have a Kovalchuk card in his back pocket or something? I'm incredibly disappointed this team hasn't addressed the high end winger issue (now issues).

 

[ODAAT]

Man this place is an underdogs heaven. Guys with ridiculous natural talent get run out of town if they aren't Crosby 2.0 by age 21, but we need to temper our expectations with guys who have struggled to perform their entire career and just let them be who they are.

So ridiculously frustrating, made even more so by the management sharing/pandering to this mentality. No wonder this team goes through such long stretches if mediocrity. Why are people OK with this team getting worse?

clearly you haven`t read enough posts in this and many other threads otherwise you wouldn`t think fans are ok with this team getting worse.

Have a peek around, I think most here seem to see a team who, on paper, is less talented, but to sit and say what this team will do once they hit the ice is next to impossible. Every bloody season I`ve watched teams struggle who I thought would be shoe-ins to compete, other teams I thought would be lucky to not have a pick in the lottery end up in the playoffs

I`m going to try something crazy, wait til training camp is over, watch this team play one bloody minute of hockey before I try to figure out if they are going to find success or not this coming year

 

[Kaoz]

clearly you haven`t read enough posts in this and many other threads otherwise you wouldn`t think fans are ok with this team getting worse.

Have a peek around, I think most here seem to see a team who, on paper, is less talented, but to sit and say what this team will do once they hit the ice is next to impossible. Every bloody season I`ve watched teams struggle who I thought would be shoe-ins to compete, other teams I thought would be lucky to not have a pick in the lottery end up in the playoffs

I`m going to try something crazy, wait til training camp is over, watch this team play one bloody minute of hockey before I try to figure out if they are going to find success or not this coming year

I've read enough threads, I try to do more reading then posting and there is a lot of great stuff to read here once you filter out some of the noise. I see people accepting the moves. I see people penciling Beleksey and Hayes into top 6 roles, even though Hayes has never shown the ability to hang onto a roster spot on a competitive team. There are threads actually praising Sweeney for his moves.

It doesn't take psychic ability to figure out that last years team wasn't cup caliber. It takes hindsight, we saw the results. It needed to be improved upon, it had serious flaws and one of those was the unreplaced top line winger in Iginla. Boston has now lost another, one of their most productive forwards and one of the few players who could ignite the team through his play. They've now replaced both of those top line forwards with a career bottom 6 forward and a guy who has scored more then 11 goals once and has never surpassed 35 points in his 6 year NHL career.

I'm not telling you you shouldn't wait until training camp to see how mediocre this team will be. That's everyone own prerogative and people obviously come to these realizations at different times. I am saying perhaps we should apply the same mentality towards skill players I see people applying here to career underachievers. We should probably focus more on players who are awesome at hockey then we should on players who want to be awesome at hockey but aren't. That would probably make a better team. Just my opinion.

 

[ODAAT]

I've read enough threads, I try to do more reading then posting and there is a lot of great stuff to read here once you filter out some of the noise. I see people accepting the moves. I see people penciling Beleksey and Hayes into top 6 roles, even though Hayes has never shown the ability to hang onto a roster spot on a competitive team. There are threads actually praising Sweeney for his moves.

It doesn't take psychic ability to figure out that last years team wasn't cup caliber. It takes hindsight, we saw the results. It needed to be improved upon, it had serious flaws and one of those was the unreplaced top line winger in Iginla. Boston has now lost another, one of their most productive forwards and one of the few players who could ignite the team through his play. They've now replaced both of those top line forwards with a career bottom 6 forward and a guy who has scored more then 11 goals once and has never surpassed 35 points in his 6 year NHL career.

I'm not telling you you shouldn't wait until training camp to see how mediocre this team will be. That's everyone own prerogative and people obviously come to these realizations at different times. I am saying perhaps we should apply the same mentality towards skill players I see people applying here to career underachievers. We should probably focus more on players who are awesome at hockey then we should on players who want to be awesome at hockey but aren't. That would probably make a better team. Just my opinion.

I think many who have put Hayes/Beleskey in top 6 roles have done so strictly as this team has lost the depth it once had, so where else are we to put them?

Why shouldn`t there be threads praising Sweeney for some of his moves? There has been equally as many hammering for some things. He inherited a cap mess and I`m actually shocked he was able to create the space he did so quickly.

If this team had a few high end/elite wingers, I wouldn`t say either of those we are discussing here would be top 6 material but the B`s don`t.

Hayes put up decent numbers playing with less than elite talent last year and Beleskey had his first 20+ goal season, I see nobody anointing either of them a Rocket Richard candidates but both are intriguing additions and both come at very reasonable cap hits

Chiarelli handcuffed the team in regards to cap space, and considering what he left Sweeney, the team could be in worse shape. I said it before, said it again, for me, I`m wagering this is a 1.5 to 2 year project where Sweeney fixes the cap issues, and helps bring this team realistically back into the conversation as a contender for the Cup and I`ll stand by it

One thing I will say as far as predictions, whomever the final lineup ends up being this year, win or lose, they won`t bore the he** out of me, last years team was one of the most uninspired group I have seen, change was needed, change happened, how that translates into points I don`t have a clue

 

[Estlin]

could care less why Beleskey signed here, he`s here, I hope he brings the same game he did with the Ducks this past year and he and the other newbies/kids bring a hunger this team has lacked for a few years

How much less do you care?

 

[What The Puck]

Man this place is an underdogs heaven. Guys with ridiculous natural talent get run out of town if they aren't Crosby 2.0 by age 21, but we need to temper our expectations with guys who have struggled to perform their entire career and just let them be who they are.

So ridiculously frustrating, made even more so by the management sharing/pandering to this mentality. No wonder this team goes through such long stretches of mediocrity. Why are people OK with this team getting worse? Shouldn't we all be ridiculously upset right now? Boston was a top team in the East and this year it seems like they'll struggle to make the playoffs again for the foreseeable future. Last years team needed to be improved upon, does anyone believe removing Lucic and Hamilton and bringing in Beleksey and Hayes has accomplished that. Does bringing in Franson do anything other then worsen the draft pick of a team with almost no chance of competing against the best in the East (let alone the West). Does Sweeney have a Kovalchuk card in his back pocket or something? I'm incredibly disappointed this team hasn't addressed the high end winger issue (now issues).

I agree with what you said. On paper, this team sucks more this year than it did last year. And Boston does have a habit of running good players out of town. It's all true. But some here are trying to put a positive spin on it and the new picture being painted is about creating a character team that represents Bruins. As a fan base, I would say we expect better. We want good players to cheer for. Yes, many of us do think management is out of their minds. The best I can do is not buy tickets next year, so I won't. If you are not selling an exciting product, I'm not going to buy tickets to it. Easy choice, for me. But I'll probably still watch on TV.

 

[InterimGM]

I think many who have put Hayes/Beleskey in top 6 roles have done so strictly as this team has lost the depth it once had, so where else are we to put them?

Why shouldn`t there be threads praising Sweeney for some of his moves? There has been equally as many hammering for some things. He inherited a cap mess and I`m actually shocked he was able to create the space he did so quickly.

If this team had a few high end/elite wingers, I wouldn`t say either of those we are discussing here would be top 6 material but the B`s don`t.

Hayes put up decent numbers playing with less than elite talent last year and Beleskey had his first 20+ goal season, I see nobody anointing either of them a Rocket Richard candidates but both are intriguing additions and both come at very reasonable cap hits

Chiarelli handcuffed the team in regards to cap space, and considering what he left Sweeney, the team could be in worse shape. I said it before, said it again, for me, I`m wagering this is a 1.5 to 2 year project where Sweeney fixes the cap issues, and helps bring this team realistically back into the conversation as a contender for the Cup and I`ll stand by it

One thing I will say as far as predictions, whomever the final lineup ends up being this year, win or lose, they won`t bore the he** out of me, last years team was one of the most uninspired group I have seen, change was needed, change happened, how that translates into points I don`t have a clue

As of right now, the only reason there's cap space is that we haven't added anyone. We replaced two 3rd line caliber players (Soderberg, Smith) with two others (Hayes, Beleskey), and we moved on from a top line guy in Lucic, and a top pairing guy in Hamilton.

So it's not as though we magically created cap space out of thin air and remained competitive. Impressive would have been moving out Kelly, Seidenberg, and not re-signing Adam McQuaid when the organization is already swimming in bottom pairing defensemen or defense prospects that need bottom pairing deployment to get their feet wet.

Another thing I read here frequently lately is people won't be "bored" by this team. Oh no? If they don't get legitimate transition from the back end, and we start seeing more defensive zone starts than we have in the past because we're much worse at driving possession, then this team is going to be really boring and suck while doing it. Unless you're entertained by Zac Rinaldo being a p.o.s. Because he's awesome at that. Terrible at hockey.

 

[ODAAT]

As of right now, the only reason there's cap space is that we haven't added anyone. We replaced two 3rd line caliber players (Soderberg, Smith) with two others (Hayes, Beleskey), and we moved on from a top line guy in Lucic, and a top pairing guy in Hamilton.

So it's not as though we magically created cap space out of thin air and remained competitive. Impressive would have been moving out Kelly, Seidenberg, and not re-signing Adam McQuaid when the organization is already swimming in bottom pairing defensemen or defense prospects that need bottom pairing deployment to get their feet wet.

Another thing I read here frequently lately is people won't be "bored" by this team. Oh no? If they don't get legitimate transition from the back end, and we start seeing more defensive zone starts than we have in the past because we're much worse at driving possession, then this team is going to be really boring and suck while doing it. Unless you're entertained by Zac Rinaldo being a p.o.s. Because he's awesome at that. Terrible at hockey.

ok then

This GM found another GM to take the contract of Savard off the books.....had nothing in the way of cap space to begin with and now has some...we`ll have to agree to disagree, I didn`t anticipate Sweeney being able to add much if anything, I did however, hope he would be able to do what he`s done, remove some pieces he didn`t feel he wanted moving forward, whether that was due to the cap issue Chia had him in

Seids/Kelly/Soderberg/Looch/Smith/Quaider, can only imagine the mess this team would be in next year if all moved or not re-signed, someone has to play and the UFA market wasn`t close to being solid enough to do much in the way of spectacular moves with

The only thing I agree with you about is the Quaider signing

 

[InterimGM]

ok then

This GM found another GM to take the contract of Savard off the books.....had nothing in the way of cap space to begin with and now has some...we`ll have to agree to disagree

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the upcoming season is the first where Savards salary in dollars is about 600k? Makes it much easier to find takers with that in mind.

Cap space is useless if you aren't a contender. Basically just means we're saving a rich man some money. Right now we're not good enough to compete for a cup and not bad enough to tear it down and find some elite talents in the draft that we'll spin into other assets.

I actually liked the Lucic trade, the Hamilton return and the stuff about him not wanting to be here is excuse making. They needed to get a better deal and didn't. Them's the breaks. I'm okay with the Beleskey signing and the Hayes trade. That's not my issue at all. I think any improvement this team makes next year is going to come from a return to health of Chara and Krejci, not some narrative about players wanting to be Bruins, whatever in gods name that even means.

 

[ODAAT]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the upcoming season is the first where Savards salary in dollars is about 600k? Makes it much easier to find takers with that in mind.

Cap space is useless if you aren't a contender. Basically just means we're saving a rich man some money. Right now we're not good enough to compete for a cup and not bad enough to tear it down and find some elite talents in the draft that we'll spin into other assets.

Again, we`ll have to agree to disagree as there`s little I am on board with in regards to your beliefs and opinions and that`s what these boards are for, taint all about agreeing

 

[InterimGM]

Again, we`ll have to agree to disagree as there`s little I am on board with in regards to your beliefs and opinions and that`s what these boards are for, taint all about agreeing

You think we're good enough to contend next year then? Because as of right now, that's my only belief or opinion that I'm actually putting forth that we aren't.

 

[ODAAT]

You think we're good enough to contend next year then? Because as of right now, that's my only belief or opinion that I'm actually putting forth that we aren't.

compete for what? Cup, playoff spot? Cup no, playoff spot, yep

 

[InterimGM]

compete for what? Cup, playoff spot? Cup no, playoff spot, yep

Okay, I agree with that.

I'm just not sure that's anything to get excited about. For a big market team with Rask, Chara, Bergeron, and Krejci, that should be the baseline expectation.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

Okay, I agree with that.

I'm just not sure that's anything to get excited about. For a big market team with Rask, Chara, Bergeron, and Krejci, that should be the baseline expectation.

It's not Sweeney's fault yet.
Rask had a ****** backup goalie last year leading to him being overplayed, Krejci was injured a lot, Bergeron was good/great, Chara was injured.
The newly acquired wingers could gel quite nicely with eachother (edit: not so much with eachother, but with new linemates) and create their own chemistry for all we know. It's not impossible for them to have breakout or even a better breakout year for either of the two IMO.

 

[InterimGM]

It's not Sweeney's fault yet.
Rask had a ****** backup goalie last year leading to him being overplayed, Krejci was injured a lot, Bergeron was good/great, Chara was injured.
The newly acquired wingers could gel quite nicely with eachother (edit: not so much with eachother, but with new linemates) and create their own chemistry for all we know. It's not impossible for them to have breakout or even a better breakout year for either of the two IMO.

The only things I've faulted Sweeney for thus far are not getting enough for Hamilton, resigning McQuaid when we have much more pressing needs, and trading for a guy like Rinaldo who I'm rooting to get cut before season even starts.

Not faulting him at all for the idea that we're middling team right now. It's also no impossible for the new wingers to bust here. I'm not saying it's likely either, but Beleskey and Hayes could easily be 12-18 goal guys here. Especially if we don't fix the transition on the back end.

 

[Estlin]

The only things I've faulted Sweeney for thus far are not getting enough for Hamilton, resigning McQuaid when we have much more pressing needs, and trading for a guy like Rinaldo who I'm rooting to get cut before season even starts.

Not faulting him at all for the idea that we're middling team right now. It's also no impossible for the new wingers to bust here. I'm not saying it's likely either, but Beleskey and Hayes could easily be 12-18 goal guys here. Especially if we don't fix the transition on the back end.

If Julien doesn't modify his coaching ways, then, yes, that will be the outcome.

 

[BB88]

Haggs reminded me that we got 2 in front of the net guys in Beleskey/Hayes, that was missing from us last year and we missed a lot of goals because we didn't have guys there taking hits, that's 1 big help for our team.
Just make sure you shoot and these guys are going to be there, taking hits and scoring goals, won't be pretty but who the hell cares.

Not forgetting Lou and also Kemppainen loves playing in front of the net too but if you give him Kelly and Rinaldo as linemates then I'm not expecting that many goals from him.

Huge improvement for last year, and please be Habs killers.

 

[CashMash]

Haggs reminded me that we got 2 in front of the net guys in Beleskey/Hayes, that was missing from us last year and we missed a lot of goals because we didn't have guys there taking hits, that's 1 big help for our team.
Just make sure you shoot and these guys are going to be there, taking hits and scoring goals, won't be pretty but who the hell cares.

Not forgetting Lou and also Kemppainen loves playing in front of the net too but if you give him Kelly and Rinaldo as linemates then I'm not expecting that many goals from him.

Huge improvement for last year, and please be Habs killers.

That would be amazing, we really need them now!

 

[BNHL]

The only things I've faulted Sweeney for thus far are not getting enough for Hamilton, resigning McQuaid when we have much more pressing needs, and trading for a guy like Rinaldo who I'm rooting to get cut before season even starts.

Not faulting him at all for the idea that we're middling team right now. It's also no impossible for the new wingers to bust here. I'm not saying it's likely either, but Beleskey and Hayes could easily be 12-18 goal guys here. Especially if we don't fix the transition on the back end.

Yup,if the D continues to struggle clearing,the offense once again will have to play much lower. But I would bet on improvement with good health and more experience.

 

[njbruin*]

Haggs reminded me that we got 2 in front of the net guys in Beleskey/Hayes, that was missing from us last year and we missed a lot of goals because we didn't have guys there taking hits, that's 1 big help for our team.
Just make sure you shoot and these guys are going to be there, taking hits and scoring goals, won't be pretty but who the hell cares.

Not forgetting Lou and also Kemppainen loves playing in front of the net too but if you give him Kelly and Rinaldo as linemates then I'm not expecting that many goals from him.

Huge improvement for last year, and please be Habs killers.

Again , I'll probably sound like a broken record here, but to take advantage of a net front presence means the other two forwards will need to play more in the offensive zone and not like the typical passive 3rd man high we're so used to with Julien. If they continue to play that style , having (Hayes/Belesky/etc...) crash the net just negates the other wingers (Marchy/Pasta/etc...) as they need to play more conservatively.

Whether we like it or not Julien and his system is the key here. If he let's the forwards commit to the offensive zone and produce a 2 man forecheck these new forwards should reap benefits. If its the same old crap system we've seen forever with Claude - I wouldn't expect much added offense from these new acquisitions.

I'm afraid Claude falls right back into old habits especially that our transition D at this point may be worse than last season with the loss of Dougie. The only way that gets rectified is by hoping/playing guys like C. Miller/Morrow/Trotman or by acquiring another top 4 defender.

 

[BB88]

Again , I'll probably sound like a broken record here, but to take advantage of a net front presence means the other two forwards will need to play more in the offensive zone and not like the typical passive 3rd man high we're so used to with Julien. If they continue to play that style , having (Hayes/Belesky/etc...) crash the net just negates the other wingers (Marchy/Pasta/etc...) as they need to play more conservatively.

Whether we like it or not Julien and his system is the key here. If he let's the forwards commit to the offensive zone and produce a 2 man forecheck these new forwards should reap benefits. If its the same old crap system we've seen forever with Claude - I wouldn't expect much added offense from these new acquisitions.

I'm afraid Claude falls right back into old habits especially that our transition D at this point may be worse than last season with the loss of Dougie. The only way that gets rectified is by hoping/playing guys like C. Miller/Morrow/Trotman or by acquiring another top 4 defender.

I know and I'm worried that Julien is the biggest question? on our team right now, he agreed to change and Sweeney wants us to change, if he is able to do that then these guys will be a huge help in this area.

I was trying to say that atleast we have now the potential, Sweeney has brought in the players for that, now it's up to Julien, and his lineup decisions. If he doesn't change now I can easily see Sweeney saying goodbye to him, he can make moves.

 

[OutspokenMinority*]

Man this place is an underdogs heaven. Guys with ridiculous natural talent get run out of town if they aren't Crosby 2.0 by age 21, but we need to temper our expectations with guys who have struggled to perform their entire career and just let them be who they are.

So ridiculously frustrating, made even more so by the management sharing/pandering to this mentality. No wonder this team goes through such long stretches of mediocrity. Why are people OK with this team getting worse? Shouldn't we all be ridiculously upset right now? Boston was a top team in the East and this year it seems like they'll struggle to make the playoffs again for the foreseeable future. Last years team needed to be improved upon, does anyone believe removing Lucic and Hamilton and bringing in Beleksey and Hayes has accomplished that. Does bringing in Franson do anything other then worsen the draft pick of a team with almost no chance of competing against the best in the East (let alone the West). Does Sweeney have a Kovalchuk card in his back pocket or something? I'm incredibly disappointed this team hasn't addressed the high end winger issue (now issues).

i'm not sure if you're saying they should have kept Phil Kessel or not.

i'm glad they did not.