Management Neely & Sweeney: We have higher expectations than just making playoffs

[OldScool]

From a business standpoint I am sure Jacobs wants to make the playoffs to get a few home games (estimating its gotta be close to $5,000,000 income per game). I believe they announced it last night that Bruins have had 252 consecutive sellouts - building is full, salary cap is fixed so playoffs are a nice chunk added to bottom line.

 

[missingchicklet]

I know they are trying to say what they think the fans want to hear, but they are flat-out delusional if they actually believe this team can do anything special in the playoffs. It has been obvious from the start of the season that the Bs are not anywhere near being Cup contenders. I am fine with the fact that the rebuild is going to take some time and this season is not going to be a good one. Chia/Neely put the team in its current position and handcuffed the incoming GM and Claude. The one thing that I would like to see is to better develop several players that are being jerked around via Providence and healthy scratches. The likes of Talbot and Rinaldo are a waste of space on a team trying to rebuild. They finally bought a clue and sent Kemp down. They also need to get serious about packaging several players who are doing very little to nothing and get something in return. The defense is a pathetic mess. I don't now wtf they are thinking by not giving more ice time to Morrow and Miller. We are past the all-star break. It's time to quit living in dreamland. Recognize this current squad is not good enough to compete for a Cup, and look more toward the future. Just floating along like they are doing now with **** and mediocre players is not sensible.

 

[bbruins3]

I know they are trying to say what they think the fans want to hear, but they are flat-out delusional if they actually believe this team can do anything special in the playoffs. It has been obvious from the start of the season that the Bs are not anywhere near being Cup contenders. I am fine with the fact that the rebuild is going to take some time and this season is not going to be a good one. Chia/Neely put the team in its current position and handcuffed the incoming GM and Claude. The one thing that I would like to see is to better develop several players that are being jerked around via Providence and healthy scratches. The likes of Talbot and Rinaldo are a waste of space on a team trying to rebuild. They finally bought a clue and sent Kemp down. They also need to get serious about packaging several players who are doing very little to nothing and get something in return. The defense is a pathetic mess. I don't now wtf they are thinking by not giving more ice time to Morrow and Miller. We are past the all-star break. It's time to quit living in dreamland. Recognize this current squad is not good enough to compete for a Cup, and look more toward the future. Just floating along like they are doing now with **** and mediocre players is not sensible.

This X10

 

[EverettMike]

Maybe they just meant going to heaven?

Finishing Infinite Jest?

Building a better mouse trap?

 

[Mathews28]

Time to retool those expectations.

 

[OConnellsProtege]

Hayes, Connolly, Kemp, Rinaldo, Irwin, Talbot and KMiller need to go. I would include Ferraro, but I personally need to see him with decent PK-calibre linemates before I jump the gun. All these guys seem to do 1 or 2 things well, and are at least below average in all other aspects of the game. This doesn't fall in line with the MO of a Claude Julien championship team. We used to be a big, strong, no-nonsense force to be reckoned with, hated by all in the league and now we look like an over-achieving Maple Leafs squad circa 2013. If we're going to bring new guys in, making sure they want to win here before any deal is struck is good and all, but making sure they can actually play a 200 ft game should be the minimum requirement when looking outside the organization. I think this is where the FO failed this year, and I'm hoping they can make amends for that this summer (wouldn't be wise to make big splashes at the TDL, unless the offer is too good to refuse).

 

[77bestever*]

That's atleast 2 1st round picks+ 3 prospects, kills the prospect pool and the team have cap problems/age problems again, everything Sweeney is trying to avoid,

So what...How many first round picks do you know that have not been drafted yet have their name on the Cup ? We just had three first round picks last year coming. Are we building for 2019-2020 ? Also, name me a STANLEY CUP team that does not have cap problems ???...If you don't have cap problems, you have no shot to win the cup. Winning the cup is all I care about. All the season ticket holders care about. By your logic we should just sell KREJCI, BERGIE, CHARA, and MARCHY as well....

The goal is to win STANLEY. Not pile up useless draft picks. That's what Edmonton does. Not the Boston Bruins. Tell me how it is working for them ? Please ? Sports is a business of winning. So what we give them next seasons number ones ? and Subban, KoKO and OGARA (Examples only). Those guys are not helping us win a cup. Our team is 3 players away from competing for a cup. If we get them. If not, we can trade them at next years deadline and recoup our picks.

It is managements job to win the cup and rebuild. You know, like LA and Chicago are doing. I could care less about San Jose's 20 pick next season....We pay our money to win now...not in five years. I want LADD for Krejci, I want Yandle for Chara, I want another top four guy for SEIDS or a salary dump deal like yesterday..... I am a Bruin fan, we pay top dollar. I have just watched my team dump LOOCH, IGGY, BOYCHUCK, HAMILTON, ....I gotta watch them waste more years of Bergie AND kREJCI ???......Sorry but that's not the way it is in pro sports. I don't see anyone we cant beat with three quality adds. They owe us to go for it. If I want to root for Edmonton...And all their picks. I can.

 

[Blowfish]

Hayes, Connolly, Kemp, Rinaldo, Irwin, Talbot and KMiller need to go. I would include Ferraro, but I personally need to see him with decent PK-calibre linemates before I jump the gun. All these guys seem to do 1 or 2 things well, and are at least below average in all other aspects of the game. This doesn't fall in line with the MO of a Claude Julien championship team. We used to be a big, strong, no-nonsense force to be reckoned with, hated by all in the league and now we look like an over-achieving Maple Leafs squad circa 2013. If we're going to bring new guys in, making sure they want to win here before any deal is struck is good and all, but making sure they can actually play a 200 ft game should be the minimum requirement when looking outside the organization. I think this is where the FO failed this year, and I'm hoping they can make amends for that this summer (wouldn't be wise to make big splashes at the TDL, unless the offer is too good to refuse).

I like Sweeney but when folk are asking for most of his roster fillers to be moved first year as GM that's a little scary. Perhaps a very good thing Gretzky is our head scouting dude.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Any chance the Bruins are motivated to reach the playoffs out of fear of falling back to #4 in Boston with the Celtics' surge?

 

[pemulis]

Maybe they just meant going to heaven?

Finishing Infinite Jest?

Building a better mouse trap?

haha. love it.

 

[JOKER 192]

How can you say you don't want to watch them "waste more years of Bergie (sic) AND KREJCI" when two sentence fragments before that you wanted Krejci traded for LADD?

And Yandle for Chara makes us better?

I think you misunderstood, I think the poster is saying they want said player to join with Krejci and Chara not to be traded for them, at least that's what I understood.

 

[GloveSave1]

Just a lot of sports-speak style babble.

Of course they want to make the playoffs.
Of course they are built and going for the Cup, right now.

What else are they going to say to the fans?

It doesn't change the administration philosophy, set down from the boss's kid.

First, no playoffs is a unacceptable failure. From there, build a team to compeate for the Cup.

That's what DS will do. Balance.

He'd be smart to look to the future, this defense is not fixable enough to make any kind of deep run.

...but he's gotta get the team in. So, strengthen the D, move guys like Loui as trade chip rentals, maybe slay a sacred cow, but bring back young mainstays who help now and in the future.

And, please. Take a step forward in the toughness/grittyness category that was stated as a key component day 1.

You can possibly limp this team in at forward, but the defense has to be addressed as deadline priority 1.

 

[ODAAT]

So what...How many first round picks do you know that have not been drafted yet have their name on the Cup ? We just had three first round picks last year coming. Are we building for 2019-2020 ? Also, name me a STANLEY CUP team that does not have cap problems ???...If you don't have cap problems, you have no shot to win the cup. Winning the cup is all I care about. All the season ticket holders care about. By your logic we should just sell KREJCI, BERGIE, CHARA, and MARCHY as well....

The goal is to win STANLEY. Not pile up useless draft picks. That's what Edmonton does. Not the Boston Bruins. Tell me how it is working for them ? Please ? Sports is a business of winning. So what we give them next seasons number ones ? and Subban, KoKO and OGARA (Examples only). Those guys are not helping us win a cup. Our team is 3 players away from competing for a cup. If we get them. If not, we can trade them at next years deadline and recoup our picks.

It is managements job to win the cup and rebuild. You know, like LA and Chicago are doing. I could care less about San Jose's 20 pick next season....We pay our money to win now...not in five years. I want LADD for Krejci, I want Yandle for Chara, I want another top four guy for SEIDS or a salary dump deal like yesterday..... I am a Bruin fan, we pay top dollar. I have just watched my team dump LOOCH, IGGY, BOYCHUCK, HAMILTON, ....I gotta watch them waste more years of Bergie AND kREJCI ???......Sorry but that's not the way it is in pro sports. I don't see anyone we cant beat with three quality adds. They owe us to go for it. If I want to root for Edmonton...And all their picks. I can.

Those "useless draft picks" are one of the reasons why the Hawks and Kings remain competitive/Cup contenders each season my friend

 

[Pia8988]

Those "useless draft picks" are one of the reasons why the Hawks and Kings remain competitive/Cup contenders each season my friend

Kings yes, not the hawks. The hawks strength was their GM correctly identified their core and built around it. Their biggest add this year wasn't a draft pick. Saad, Shaw, Kruger, and Tuevo are the only 4 to really get a lot of ice time from Chicago in the last 7 years of draft picks. Danault broke the roster just this year as their 4th line center.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

I guess they think they can do that with 2-3-4 AHL players suiting up every night.

Why has Joe Morrow not been given a chance ?

I never thought much of Sweeney as a player. I thought he was KRUG like with less offensive skills and was a turn over machine....And who would not look good playing with a God ?....That said, He gets his chance in the next three weeks to show us he can expand on what he did at the draft. I thought he did what he had to do and I like what we got. But now it is time to use some of the chips he has to get us a wing for Krejci, and number 1-2 dman and a number 3-4 dman.

LADD, YANDLE, and a defensive minded 3-4 guy would go a long way to making this team a contender. At least for the EAST.

I'm not sure what Sweeney was a player has to do with him being a GM? Also, the guy played 1100 games in the NHL so you are selling him a little short, but thanks for the scouting report.

Surviving with their jobs intact is my take.

Exaggerate much?

Sweeney inherited a team 9 months ago that was getting older, didn't have a great prospect pool, and had Cap issues. At his first draft, he addressed all three issues. He's Neely's "guy", Chia wasn't. I'm pretty sure neither are worried about their jobs at this juncture.

 

[ODAAT]

Kings yes, not the hawks. The hawks strength was their GM correctly identified their core and built around it. Their biggest add this year wasn't a draft pick. Saad, Shaw, Kruger, and Tuevo are the only 4 to really get a lot of ice time from Chicago in the last 7 years of draft picks. Danault broke the roster just this year as their 4th line center.

they draft/scout well and I have long said, you draft well with the hopes of two things

1- develop that player to be a significant roster player on the big club and/or

2- develop a player to the point where one of the 29 other GM`s ask for that player in a trade which helps both teams

The Hawks scouting staff has done a great job, to say otherwise isn`t true

Yes Bowman has identified it`s core, but really, how many other GM`s wouldn`t be able to pinpoint Toews and Kane,Keith, Hossa as the core? Cue the Chia comments anytime now

 

[Pia8988]

Sweeney inherited a team 9 months ago that was getting older, didn't have a great prospect pool, and had Cap issues. At his first draft, he addressed all three issues. He's Neely's "guy", Chia wasn't. I'm pretty sure neither are worried about their jobs at this juncture.

I think Sweeney had done a good job cleaning up the cap mess Chia left with out completely killing the team. People expect too much to have all the holes fixed in a year. The contract he's given out in his short time have been good. Beleskey is worth his money, Spooner is worth vastly more than he's being paid, Hayes earns his money, and then Connolly even for as disappointing as he has been only makes 900k. Also in that time he'll have made 9 selections in the top 60 of 2 draft years unless there are changes with this years picks and most of those picks seem to have some semblance of potential. Not all will work out, it's just not possible, but there are a lot of things to like looking at them. If he moves Seidenberg out that'll be almost 11 million in cap space alone if you add that to Kelly (3m), Lucic (2.75m), and the overage of just under.

I'm not really sure what Sweeney has done to think he'll be fired after 9 months. If anything he's done a good job. Cleared the cap issues, got some good prospects, and still has this team in a playoff spot (This part is very important because owners like money, and playoff games are money). Fans may hate the idea of being a middling team, and they should, as it is the worst spot to be in, the added money from a 7th/8th seed is very important to Jacobs aka the real boss.

 

[Pia8988]

they draft/scout well and I have long said, you draft well with the hopes of two things

1- develop that player to be a significant roster player on the big club and/or

2- develop a player to the point where one of the 29 other GM`s ask for that player in a trade which helps both teams

The Hawks scouting staff has done a great job, to say otherwise isn`t true

Yes Bowman has identified it`s core, but really, how many other GM`s wouldn`t be able to pinpoint Toews and Kane,Keith, Hossa as the core? Cue the Chia comments anytime now

I mean, Bowman didn't trade Kane when he punched out the cabbie did he, he didn't trade Seabrook while they were in cap issues, he traded both Saad and Sharp instead. So yeah, probably not Chiarelli. They didn't pay Niemi to specifically pay for Hjalmersson.

That's not to say Bowman hasn't ****ed up either. The Bickell contract was horrendous the second it was signed. They don't have good depth on D past the big 3. Really, Tallon built the core there and has built another good setup for himself in Florida.

 

[ODAAT]

I mean, Bowman didn't trade Kane when he punched out the cabbie did he, he didn't trade Seabrook while they were in cap issues, he traded both Saad and Sharp instead. So yeah, probably not Chiarelli. They didn't pay Niemi to specifically pay for Hjalmersson.

That's not to say Bowman hasn't ****ed up either. The Bickell contract was horrendous the second it was signed. They don't have good depth on D past the big 3. Really, Tallon built the core there and has built another good setup for himself in Florida.

and how has Tallon built the core in Florida??? Those useless picks

 

[Pia8988]

and how has Tallon built the core in Florida??? Those useless picks

Needs to not trade them away too. That part is very important

 

[ODAAT]

Needs to not trade them away too. That part is very important

won`t get much argument from this fan but on the flip side, I`ve long been a fan who, if a prospect is being traded, an established NHL piece must be coming back in return

 

[bbfan419]

So what...How many first round picks do you know that have not been drafted yet have their name on the Cup ? We just had three first round picks last year coming. Are we building for 2019-2020 ? Also, name me a STANLEY CUP team that does not have cap problems ???...If you don't have cap problems, you have no shot to win the cup. Winning the cup is all I care about. All the season ticket holders care about. By your logic we should just sell KREJCI, BERGIE, CHARA, and MARCHY as well....

The goal is to win STANLEY. Not pile up useless draft picks. That's what Edmonton does. Not the Boston Bruins. Tell me how it is working for them ? Please ? Sports is a business of winning. So what we give them next seasons number ones ? and Subban, KoKO and OGARA (Examples only). Those guys are not helping us win a cup. Our team is 3 players away from competing for a cup. If we get them. If not, we can trade them at next years deadline and recoup our picks.

It is managements job to win the cup and rebuild. You know, like LA and Chicago are doing. I could care less about San Jose's 20 pick next season....We pay our money to win now...not in five years. I want LADD for Krejci, I want Yandle for Chara, I want another top four guy for SEIDS or a salary dump deal like yesterday..... I am a Bruin fan, we pay top dollar. I have just watched my team dump LOOCH, IGGY, BOYCHUCK, HAMILTON, ....I gotta watch them waste more years of Bergie AND kREJCI ???......Sorry but that's not the way it is in pro sports. I don't see anyone we cant beat with three quality adds. They owe us to go for it. If I want to root for Edmonton...And all their picks. I can.

I might be able to get on board with this, but if we are trading away top prospects like Subban, Koko etc and SJ's 1st rd pick as part of packages to get players here, then I want someone else over Ladd and Yandle. I am ok with a guy like Polak or Cowen as the depth #4 Dman, but for that #1-2 D I want Shattenkirk/Trouba/Pietrangelo as I don't think much of Yandle. As for the top line winger I would much rather go after Boedker than Ladd. The only way I would also target Ladd is if we had to deal say Krejci or Spooner in a deal for the 1-2 Dman.

 

[BMC]

I'm not sure what Sweeney was a player has to do with him being a GM? Also, the guy played 1100 games in the NHL so you are selling him a little short, but thanks for the scouting report.






Exaggerate much?

Sweeney inherited a team 9 months ago that was getting older, didn't have a great prospect pool, and had Cap issues. At his first draft, he addressed all three issues. He's Neely's "guy", Chia wasn't. I'm pretty sure neither are worried about their jobs at this juncture.

No, I've just become very cynical when it comes to people & business, that's all.

 

[Mpasta]

So what...How many first round picks do you know that have not been drafted yet have their name on the Cup ? We just had three first round picks last year coming. Are we building for 2019-2020 ? Also, name me a STANLEY CUP team that does not have cap problems ???...If you don't have cap problems, you have no shot to win the cup. Winning the cup is all I care about. All the season ticket holders care about. By your logic we should just sell KREJCI, BERGIE, CHARA, and MARCHY as well....

The goal is to win STANLEY. Not pile up useless draft picks. That's what Edmonton does. Not the Boston Bruins. Tell me how it is working for them ? Please ? Sports is a business of winning. So what we give them next seasons number ones ? and Subban, KoKO and OGARA (Examples only). Those guys are not helping us win a cup. Our team is 3 players away from competing for a cup. If we get them. If not, we can trade them at next years deadline and recoup our picks.

It is managements job to win the cup and rebuild. You know, like LA and Chicago are doing. I could care less about San Jose's 20 pick next season....We pay our money to win now...not in five years. I want LADD for Krejci, I want Yandle for Chara, I want another top four guy for SEIDS or a salary dump deal like yesterday..... I am a Bruin fan, we pay top dollar. I have just watched my team dump LOOCH, IGGY, BOYCHUCK, HAMILTON, ....I gotta watch them waste more years of Bergie AND kREJCI ???......Sorry but that's not the way it is in pro sports. I don't see anyone we cant beat with three quality adds. They owe us to go for it. If I want to root for Edmonton...And all their picks. I can.

You're living in fantasy land if you think a hockey team should go for it every year. It's a business and sometimes you need to take a hit in order to grow in the future.

 

[77bestever*]

You're living in fantasy land if you think a hockey team should go for it every year. It's a business and sometimes you need to take a hit in order to grow in the future.

When you are close you go for it. That's sports in 2016. I guess when the Kings won the cup from the last playoff spot two years ago, according to you they should have maybe re tooled. I am guessing they made the right choice. Again, we are a large market team that has the highest ticket or one of in all the land. That demands you go for it. We are not Edmonton.