Post-Game Talk: meh bruins lose.. again

[Dr Quincy]

My 4 cents (inflation)

- the recent losses and blown leads are nothing to panic over but should be a mild concern

- At worst they are the 2nd best team in the east

-The problems that are there aren't coaching or style or Claude's fault

- Put me in the "I'm not as confident with Rask as I was with Thomas" camp. Sorry, when you are in a hostile road arena, and just gave up a tying goal and you can feel the momentum swing, and the other team comes down 40 seconds later and puts an easy shot on you, you HAVE to make that save. Period. One time.. it happens. But if it continues, I think we can start talking about mental/confidence issues. Hard to go deep in the playoffs if that turns out to be the case.

- I'm not loving the defense. Ference has been marginally better than the horror show he was. Chara has been sub-Chara all year. Teams that aggressively forecheck our D are getting pucks given to them. Hamilton needs to be played a little more selectively late in close games. His shot is dynamite, but he's making some mistakes. That's fine, because that's how you learn, but late in close games, pick your spots with him.

- Lucic. Serious question... when was the last time we saw a string of 10 games when he showed up and played hard? Last year it was the "I'm tired" excuse. What's his excuse this year?

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they rip off a 5 game win streak and look dominant again. They have the talent to be a top tier team and play a tight system.

But honestly... tell me they win the Cup or lose in the 1st round again and I wouldn't be surprised either way.

 

[GodTukka*]

My 4 cents (inflation)

- the recent losses and blown leads are nothing to panic over but should be a mild concern

- At worst they are the 2nd best team in the east

-The problems that are there aren't coaching or style or Claude's fault

- Put me in the "I'm not as confident with Rask as I was with Thomas" camp. Sorry, when you are in a hostile road arena, and just gave up a tying goal and you can feel the momentum swing, and the other team comes down 40 seconds later and puts an easy shot on you, you HAVE to make that save. Period. One time.. it happens. But if it continues, I think we can start talking about mental/confidence issues. Hard to go deep in the playoffs if that turns out to be the case.

- I'm not loving the defense. Ference has been marginally better than the horror show he was. Chara has been sub-Chara all year. Teams that aggressively forecheck our D are getting pucks given to them. Hamilton needs to be played a little more selectively late in close games. His shot is dynamite, but he's making some mistakes. That's fine, because that's how you learn, but late in close games, pick your spots with him.

- Lucic. Serious question... when was the last time we saw a string of 10 games when he showed up and played hard? Last year it was the "I'm tired" excuse. What's his excuse this year?

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they rip off a 5 game win streak and look dominant again. They have the talent to be a top tier team and play a tight system.

But honestly... tell me they win the Cup or lose in the 1st round again and I wouldn't be surprised either way.

I agree with most of this.

I'm not sure i can call them the second best team in the east right now though, Montreal is playing absurdly good hockey at the moment as much as i hate to say it

And we're defintely not as good as Pittsburgh

 

[Bone for your jar]

So a goaltender with a GAA pushing 6 when playing with a lead in the third isn't to blame because he didn't receive enough goal support?

It is what it is. Twos a fluke threes a streak. It'a been the one question mark with him and his play of late has done more to confirm the doubts than to put it behind him

Exactly right: it is what it is, and no more. A sample of three games may be enough for you to confirm your own doubts, and that's fine, but for me it just doesn't cut it. I find the half season's worth of consistent mediocrity on the part of other players to be a much more convincing sample as to what the major issues with this team are. Respectfully, BFYJ.

 

[doubleculprit]

The writing is on the wall here. Anyone who has followed this team over the past five years even, can trace this blowing late leads with Tukka back to the Philly series where we were up three buzz.

You don't need stats to see this. Foolish to think that chia, and Neely don't recognize this as well. Something has to be done. Since we're not trading Rask, we need more goals. We can't plan on sneaking out one goal games the way we did with Thomas.

That being said, we either upgrade the offense, or loosen the reigns. Let these guys skate, adjust the system.

This team doesn't have the finishers for this system with this goaltending. It barely worked with Thomas in net.

 

[EverettMike]

There is WAY too much reasonable discussion going on about our goalie.

I don't even know where I am any more.

 

[Over the volcano]

Exactly right: it is what it is, and no more. A sample of three games may be enough for you to confirm your own doubts, and that's fine, but for me it just doesn't cut it. I find the half season's worth of consistent mediocrity on the part of other players to be a much more convincing sample as to what the major issues with this team are. Respectfully, BFYJ.

You want sample size?
How about the 122 wins 4 losses when entering the third with Thomas as the #1 over four seasons?

And that's the guy who's 5 mil/contract was some kind of cap anchor- what is Rask and his three blown leads in the last three weeks going to ask for?

 

[thornton22]

I agree with most of this.

I'm not sure i can call them the second best team in the east right now though, Montreal is playing absurdly good hockey at the moment as much as i hate to say it

And we're defintely not as good as Pittsburgh

Montreal has definitely had some absurdly bad games too though. Shut out 6-0 by the Leafs, they just lost to Buffalo also, in OT nonetheless, but it's BUFFALO. They came back nicely (sort of) at the end but the rest of that game was awful for them. I still think we'll end up close to them in points, but they've had their bad games too. As for the pens, they're on fire right now, but if they're peaking now then who knows, maybe they won't end up being 1st seed. If we get our **** together in the 3rd period we should be looking at at least 2nd seed in my opinion.

 

[Bone for your jar]

You want sample size?
How about the 122 wins 4 losses when entering the third with Thomas as the #1 over four seasons?

And that's the guy who's 5 mil/contract was some kind of cap anchor- what is Rask and his three blown leads in the last three weeks going to ask for?

The 122 wins/4 losses is impressive, but I'd want to know more, namely, how much is Thomas to be credited for those Ws, given how much the team in front of him scored? (As for your second paragraph, should I assume it's for rhetorical effect? I find it hard to believe that you would really think that a goalie's worth should be measured on the basis of sixty minutes, out of the span of his career).

Thanks for engaging in the discussion, btw!

I realize it doesn't go to the argument regarding blown leads in the third, but I do think, since Rask's value in comparison to Thomas has been put into question here, it's appropriate to look at some stats that bear on overall contribution in terms of both regular season and playoff performance:

Regular Season: I've attached a PDF with a couple of charts I created, using GA/G and Sv% stats from nhl.com, covering post-lockout regular seasons in which either goalie played significant # of games for the B's (therefore I didn't include 2007-08 and 2008-09 for Rask, b/c he played 4 games and 1 respectively).

Playoffs: We forget that, until he turned 30, Thomas's record in the postseason was frighteningly inconsistent. At 26 (Rask's current age), playing for AIK Solna, he gave up 20 goals in 5 playoff games (4.01 GAA). At 27, for Karpat Oulu, 12 goals in 3 games (4.00 GAA). At 29, with the P-Bruins, 10 goals in 2 games (7.13 GAA).

It wasn't until the ripe age of 30, in his second stint in Finland (with Jokerit Helsinki), that Timmy began to achieve the playoff "clutchness" for which he is now known: 1.83 GAA with Jokerit in 2005, followed by 2.65, 1.85, 1.98, and 2.14 GAA in the NHL.

It's worth noting, btw, that Rask's playoff stats (2.18 and 2.21 with the P-Bruins; 2.61 with the B's) are not that far off from Thomas's in the post-Jokerit period.

 

[Latrappe]

My 4 cents (inflation)

- the recent losses and blown leads are nothing to panic over but should be a mild concern

- At worst they are the 2nd best team in the east

-The problems that are there aren't coaching or style or Claude's fault

- Put me in the "I'm not as confident with Rask as I was with Thomas" camp. Sorry, when you are in a hostile road arena, and just gave up a tying goal and you can feel the momentum swing, and the other team comes down 40 seconds later and puts an easy shot on you, you HAVE to make that save. Period. One time.. it happens. But if it continues, I think we can start talking about mental/confidence issues. Hard to go deep in the playoffs if that turns out to be the case.

- I'm not loving the defense. Ference has been marginally better than the horror show he was. Chara has been sub-Chara all year. Teams that aggressively forecheck our D are getting pucks given to them. Hamilton needs to be played a little more selectively late in close games. His shot is dynamite, but he's making some mistakes. That's fine, because that's how you learn, but late in close games, pick your spots with him.

- Lucic. Serious question... when was the last time we saw a string of 10 games when he showed up and played hard? Last year it was the "I'm tired" excuse. What's his excuse this year?

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they rip off a 5 game win streak and look dominant again. They have the talent to be a top tier team and play a tight system.

But honestly... tell me they win the Cup or lose in the 1st round again and I wouldn't be surprised either way.

How many years it took to Tim Thomas to really reach the level who made the Bruins a serious contender? I would say a couple. Now, after 50% of an half season and in his 1st season as a starter, we have to start to question Rask's ability to make big saves? If Rask or AK make 3-4 big stop before allowing "the" leading goal we have to question their ability to keep us in a game? This is bull... at his best. We can use a little more patience, here.

 

[8spokesontheB]

The writing is on the wall here. Anyone who has followed this team over the past five years even, can trace this blowing late leads with Tukka back to the Philly series where we were up three buzz.

You can go straight to Hades for bringing that up....but that was Tuukka....

AAAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!! I always said I'm not sure about Tooks. Dammit!

 

[Dr Quincy]

How many years it took to Tim Thomas to really reach the level who made the Bruins a serious contender? I would say a couple. Now, after 50% of an half season and in his 1st season as a starter, we have to start to question Rask's ability to make big saves? If Rask or AK make 3-4 big stop before allowing "the" leading goal we have to question their ability to keep us in a game? This is bull... at his best. We can use a little more patience, here.

Look, I saw great players like Barry Bonds and ARod put up crappy numbers in the playoffs for year and years. The fact that EVENTUALLY they did ok in 1 series later doesn't mean they weren't chokers when they were younger.

I saw Peyton Manning throw up his hands in the air with "that face" multiple times as Ty Law (or someone else) picked him off in a playoff game. Yeah, eventually he won 1 too.

I'm not saying Tuukkaa will forever be a bum or a choke artist at all. I'm saying that yes, that go ahead goal was a case of mental weakness, not physical mistake. He was rattled. Doesn't mean that he can't put together a fantastic run in the playoffs. Heck, I saw Thomas rattled in his first playoff start against Montreal.

But that doesn't give me a lot of confidence for this year.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Still surprised that we rank so highly for goals against in the third when we've blown so many leads.

 

[Bone for your jar]

Still surprised that we rank so highly for goals against in the third when we've blown so many leads.

Yup, we're best in league for third period Goals Against (18), but close to the bottom for Goals For (CHI has 42, we have 24, dead last NYI has 19).

Part of the reason I tend to blame skaters before goalies for these blown leads.