I’m relieved Pasta was able to laugh. Unlike a guy like Shawn Thornton, Wilson is not only a guy that will hit you when you’re down and held, but throw punches aimed at doing significant damage. I wish Krug and McAvoy escaped that game laughing...they were less fortunate.
As for last year...well I guess we’re miles apart...I couldn’t watch that Game 7 and come away with anything other than the Blues strategy of dirty and injure had finally won out...
The Bruins could hardly muster chances. Ehh, I’d like to say it’s in the past...but I’m sure other teams took note. Not every team can pull it off...but we all know this is a copycat league. We’re sure to see it again down the road. Might want to do something.
I'm not going to rehash the SCFs. Clearly we saw them differently, and that's ok.
All that really matters now is what happens going forwards. And here's the uncomfortable reality for all those who want the Big Bad Bruins back. In the short-medium term that ship has sailed. Nothing the Bruins can do between now and April will make any significant difference to how this team plays or how other teams play against us. Indeed I'd go further and say that the roster and tactics have gone so far down the speed/skill/compete road that it could be April 2021 and this team will still be essentially as it is now in terms of its character and how it plays the game.
They could bring in 2 tough guys before the deadline (which they won't, we'll get 1 at most) and it wouldn't change much. Wilson and his ilk aren't going to suddenly shy away from getting physical and targeting smaller players just 'cause some bigger guy might hit them back. It's not enough to make them care or change their tactics - why should they? They won't suddenly turn the Bruins into a big team, they'll just be not quite as small as before. The perceived way to beat them won't fundamentally alter.
The other alternative is for the Bruins to start laying more targeted hits and generally playing a more physical game. But this roster just isn't built for it. How many of our players can lay hits that will really hurt and wear down the opposition? Wagner and McAvoy. The end. Forget Ritchie, come April he won't be in the squad. Clifton lays a good bump but he's small. Coyle and Carlo have the size, but their mentality is miles away from being that kind of player. Chara is too slow and Miller is either gone for good or will never be the physical type he once was even if he does return. The only big guy who might get a look in from Providence is Frederic and he's still way too young and inexperienced to be given any sort of enforcer-type role. Cassidy also won't tolerate him staying in Boston if that's all he brings to the table, and I'm pretty sure his current game still doesn't rank him anywhere in the Bruins' 14 best forwards.
So this team is either going to succeed with its methodology of the last 3 years or it will fail. And if it does all those who hate the direction it has gone in will be the first to tell us they were right, just like last season. But there's little to be done about it now but to see how it all plays out this time around.
