Former Bruins Nick Ritchie III

[Dr Hook]

really? More so than Debrusk? I think we got the exact player the Ducks were willing to part with, a big guy with no speed who leaves most feeling ripped off as he seems totally disinterested more than he does interested

He's giving us more in this thread than he ultimately gave us on the ice, and he isn't even a Bruin anymore

 

[GordonHowe]

Unfortunately the bruins won’t be signing Ryan Reaves? The same Ryan Reaves that was so garbage that he has watched multiple elimination playoff games from the press box?

If his physicality is so conducive to winning, how do his teams keep going down in series and end up being forced to sit him in elimination games during the playoffs? Surely they would want him on the ice when the games mean the most if physicality is so important to winning, right?

Honestly: I do not know much about Reeves, other than that he is a very physical player. I should have said as much in my original post.

However, whatever you think of the Rangers these days, they saw fit to sign him away from Vegas.

Leaving Reeves to one side (though bash away as you will), to extrapolate from one physical player's ice time/press box demotions that *all* physical players, and physicality, are invalid is reductionist and untrue.

 

[ODAAT]

He's giving us more in this thread than he ultimately gave us on the ice, and he isn't even a Bruin anymore

so true

 

[Mathews28]

Will be interesting to see if Reaves can get back inside Wilson’s head the way he did a few years ago…when Reaves taunted him, beat him up and had him whining to the refs.

I can see Hathaway taking a beating to keep Wilson on the ice perhaps.

 

[Gee Wally]

I’d love Reaves as a Bruin.

Then again, I’m a savage.

 

[Blowfish]

Leaf Ritchie thread is gold...

When Ritchie is one of only 2-4 players to hit 20 goals and 200 hits next season, people will see how foolish Boston was to let him go.

Pretty much a lock for this in our top 6.​

 

[Mathews28]

Leaf Ritchie thread is gold...

When Ritchie is one of only 2-4 players to hit 20 goals and 200 hits next season, people will see how foolish Boston was to let him go.

Pretty much a lock for this in our top 6.​

these posts are great huh? When done In the Leaf’s threads it’s just plain funny.

outside of that, the notion that when a player who underachieved with Team A and then suddenly plays well for Team B means Team A screwed up is one of the shallowest, knee jerk fan reactions possible.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

It’d be cool to have what may be one of the last true enforcers in the NHL in reaves. That being said, I am having a hard time getting passed him intentionally kneeling on (and putting his full body weight into) an opponents’ head. Admittedly, I forget the opposing player. But that act goes beyond just a moment of poor judgement for me as is the case with numerous other dirty plays. It was an extremely dangerous, unnecessary act (that lasted many seconds) on man with zero ability to protect himself.

I know a lot of people don’t think much of it because nothing ever came out of it as far as injury, but the behavior was deplorable, even within the context of being a pro hockey player.

 

[Lobster57]

It’d be cool to have what may be one of the last true enforcers in the NHL in reaves. That being said, I am having a hard time getting passed him intentionally kneeling on (and putting his full body weight into) an opponents’ head. Admittedly, I forget the opposing player. But that act goes beyond just a moment of poor judgement for me as is the case with numerous other dirty plays. It was an extremely dangerous, unnecessary act (that lasted many seconds) on man with zero ability to protect himself.

I know a lot of people don’t think much of it because nothing ever came out of it as far as injury, but the behavior was deplorable, even within the context of being a pro hockey player.

It was Ryan Graves, yeah that was incredibly cheap

 

[LouJersey]

Didn't Ritchie score as many goals last year as Foligno has the past two, or close?

I never got all the hate for this guy. Bruins lose him, Tinordi and Killer and are now easily one of the softest teams in the league....not sure being soft is the detriment it used to be in the league anymore, but guys like Frederic are going to have to do a lot less yapping this year and pick up the slack.

 

[LouJersey]

A non physical Nick Ritchie is still more physical than 95% of the Bruins

Sometimes I have to double check the top of the page to make sure I'm in the Bruins forum...Bruins lost a lot of muscle this offseason

 

[LouJersey]

How is there a narrative that the bruins don’t fight much? They were 9th in the NHL last season in fighting majors.

Well they lost three guys that had almost half of them so,

 

[LouJersey]

these posts are great huh? When done In the Leaf’s threads it’s just plain funny.

outside of that, the notion that when a player who underachieved with Team A and then suddenly plays well for Team B means Team A screwed up is one of the shallowest, knee jerk fan reactions possible.

Makes the boards pretty funny. You have a fanbase, say like Winnipeg, laughing at the Bruins for overpaying Forbort, Bruins fans doing it to Leafs fans, and so on. Some players will just do better (or worse) in new systems, makes it very interesting,.

 

[BadBruins]

Didn't Ritchie score as many goals last year as Foligno has the past two, or close?

I never got all the hate for this guy. Bruins lose him, Tinordi and Killer and are now easily one of the softest teams in the league....not sure being soft is the detriment it used to be in the league anymore, but guys like Frederic are going to have to do a lot less yapping this year and pick up the slack.

I don't know if I'd compare Ritchie to "Killer"... or Tinordi for that matter. He didn't carry himself that way. I honestly think Ritchie can handle himself against anyone in this league.... He just didn't seem interested in that side of the game. Maybe that's part of the reason why they let him go. He'll score 15 goals in his sleep IMO. If challenged, he'll beat the crap out of anyone with little effort (outside of a few guys still kicking). Still something missing.... There's a reason he's been given up on on a 2nd time at 25..... and working on his 3rd team in 3 years.

I wanted it to work out. I'm also happy they moved on.

 

[Tbaybruin]

I’d love Reaves as a Bruin.

Then again, I’m a savage.

This player is a Bruin. Gives us a reason to watch games even when we loose. Our average height goes up 2 inches and 20 pounds.

 

[The Murph]

Leaf Ritchie thread is gold...

When Ritchie is one of only 2-4 players to hit 20 goals and 200 hits next season, people will see how foolish Boston was to let him go.

Pretty much a lock for this in our top 6.​

He could hit 20 goals and 200 hits for them, but it will be the saddest way a player can do it.

The Leaf's will do what the Bruin's did, and that's giving Ritchie every chance to succeed with a long leash. His overall toolset gives you the idea he can be an imposing power forward, and he's worth the time you put into him because he can give you that toughness with production that every team desires.

Problem is, his production is nothing special when considering the ice time he receives, and his toughness that is suppose to make him an overall hard player to play against doesn't happen. His intensity is non existing, there is next to nothing. His hits can work at times, but he is slow and they mostly take him out of the play. He is far from being a two-way forward, dare I say, a defensive liability. And for some weird reason, Ritchie will not use his size to drive the net. When he gets the puck, far too often he try's to make skilled plays that lead nowhere instead of making the simple plays. I swear near the end of the season on the PP, they tried not pass it to Ritchie because he would kill the flow or just mess it up.

Saying this, he is amazing in front of the net. He's solid as hell, and looks near impossible to move. Definitely looks more than a handful for defenseman and the goalie right in front. But it's such a small part of the game, it doesn't nearly make up for what he lacks to do when it matters most.

Toughness is important, but you have to be able to use it effectively, and Nick Ritchie unless he does a total 180 will be largely a passenger on any team he plays.

Predict by half the season, Leaf fans will start to sour. Start of year 2, they'll want him off the team.

 

[Over the volcano]

Sometimes I have to double check the top of the page to make sure I'm in the Bruins forum...Bruins lost a lot of muscle this offseason

Yup - they’re likely to lose their top 3 forwards in “hits” from last year too

 

[Blowfish]

Teams that play with strength, pace, energy, urgency, and an edge succeed.

This did not = Ritchie....Not in the slightest.

The newbies will bring this in spades.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Didn't Ritchie score as many goals last year as Foligno has the past two, or close?

I never got all the hate for this guy. Bruins lose him, Tinordi and Killer and are now easily one of the softest teams in the league....not sure being soft is the detriment it used to be in the league anymore, but guys like Frederic are going to have to do a lot less yapping this year and pick up the slack.

You are correct that Ritchie is tough. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone on this board challenge that.

If you’re actually looking for why “all the hate” happened, you need to look at his on ice production. Giving the opportunities he was consistently given since putting on a Bruins sweater, it was very lacking. He got time every PP and had that rather insane streak of going pointless. He is slow. He is a boat anchor on any line he is on. He was expected to be a physical difference maker (along with contributing points) in the last two playoff runs and was a total non factor. He rarely fights and his impactful physical play is fleeting.

I can understand questioning him against the alternatives, but what I don’t understand is how you can possibly not recognize the issues (I think the majority of) this board had with him in a Bruins sweater.

 

[Jim]

I can’t believe that a team, especially this team that likes to reach in the draft…on occasion….can’t strategically decide to blow a 3rd round pick on a guy that has 6’4” 230+ potential, mean, and can skate. There has got to be a big kid out there in every draft that didn’t get the bike he wanted for Christmas when he was 6 and has played with a chip on his shoulder since then.

Why can’t we find that guy? Trading for a Ritchie/Reaves seems less than ideal. Draft a kid named Butch, feed him raw meat, and teach him not to cost us a goal….never mind scoring. Go hit people. Hard. So it hurts.

 

[Over the volcano]

You are correct that Ritchie is tough. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone on this board challenge that.

If you’re actually looking for why “all the hate” happened, you need to look at his on ice production. Giving the opportunities he was consistently given since putting on a Bruins sweater, it was very lacking. He got time every PP and had that rather insane streak of going pointless. He is slow. He is a boat anchor on any line he is on. He was expected to be a physical difference maker (along with contributing points) in the last two playoff runs and was a total non factor. He rarely fights and his impactful physical play is fleeting.

I can understand questioning him against the alternatives, but what I don’t understand is how you can possibly not recognize the issues (I think the majority of) this board had with him in a Bruins sweater.

This place is a strange Petri dish - posts like this make perfect sense here, but then you look at the numbers and the guy had probably his most productive season all things considered and won the 7th player award…

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I can’t believe that a team, especially this team that likes to reach in the draft…on occasion….can’t strategically decide to blow a 3rd round pick on a guy that has 6’4” 230+ potential, mean, and can skate. There has got to be a big kid out there in every draft that didn’t get the bike he wanted for Christmas when he was 6 and has played with a chip on his shoulder since then.

Why can’t we find that guy? Trading for a Ritchie/Reaves seems less than ideal. Draft a kid named Butch, feed him raw meat, and teach him not to cost us a goal….never mind scoring. Go hit people. Hard. So it hurts.

If that guy even exists anymore, he wouldn't be around in the 3rd round.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

This place is a strange Petri dish - posts like this make perfect sense here, but then you look at the numbers and the guy had probably his most productive season all things considered and won the 7th player award…

So did Wagner and Coyle.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

This place is a strange Petri dish - posts like this make perfect sense here, but then you look at the numbers and the guy had probably his most productive season all things considered and won the 7th player award…

Most any NHL player will pick up some points when given masses of PP time and top 6 duty. Relative to the opportunities he was getting, his point totals aren’t impressive at all.

I’m not even going to get at the 7th player award. I disagree with the selection the majority of the time.

 

[Over the volcano]

Most any NHL player will pick up some points when given masses of PP time and top 6 duty. Relative to the opportunities he was getting, his point totals aren’t impressive at all.

I’m not even going to get at the 7th player award. I disagree with the selection the majority of the time.

So did Wagner and Coyle.

Exactly