Management State of the Bruins - Neely 5/19/22 (unedited)

[MattFromFranklin]

So again…why does he get extended?

Nepotism. He's one of Neely's best pals and they played together for the Bruins.

 

[Number8]

Harry was a Senior Advisor as of the 2020-2021 season at 88 years old. That's frightening.

It really is, isn't it?

Almost farcical.

Harry was last heavily involved with hockey (and even then, the game and business had already long passed him by) when things like cell phones, the internet, ATM's, bluetooth, and texting to name just a few didn't exist.

Harry's last touch with "reality" was sending players letters or calling them on the landline phone and saying "In my day you assholes played for what we told you you'd play for. You don't like it here? Go somewhere else, we don't want you.".

 

[Gordoff]

This is just fantastic- you don’t get such info out of Foxboro but if you watch the game without your iPhone in your hand this is so apparent - and that they gave it to us

Unbelievable and I love it

It’s from the Neely article in Athletic by Fluto and a Sweeney quote i it but these two work together to identify a major flaw

Cassidy tells us what everyone is doing wrong and chalks up the loss to ‘not my fault Carolina Is good’

BWAHAHAHAH

Sweeney first raised concerns about playing philosophy, specifically regarding five-on-five production, on Wednesday. The GM cited Carolina’s work at creating action from the blue line, which runs counter to Cassidy’s thinking. Sweeney also noted the necessity of creating in-zone offense instead of relying on the rush game.

Fantastic analysis we shockingly got

It was incredibly frustrating watching them do the same thing at the opposing blue line over and over with the same results. I don't blame (just) Cassidy though. It's been a problem for a while, perhaps is Sweeney jumped on it a month earlier and (God forbid) was pro-active and fired Cassidy for being too stubborn the results could've been different?

Cam Neely needs to go.

But if ownership believes in Cam Neely, then I guess the Bruins are doomed to nepotism and poor decisions for a generation. Get ready for management filled-up with former players or people from the local area. We laughed at the Habs for doing that, and now the Bruins are doing the same thing.

Well, he'd be more entertaining than Butch anyway!

 

[Memokerobi]

Like him or not, the team didn’t lose because of Butch. They didn’t lose because of the “way they played”. They lost because their GM whiffed on upgrading the bottom 6, whiffed on the left side of his defense, and never replaced Krejci in the lineup. Now did he have the means (cap space, picks) to do all things? No he did not. And why didn’t he?

Well, because of none other than himself. And the future looks a lot darker than the present. So again…why does he get extended? With a President making those types of hiring decisions, it’s no wonder we get Nick Folignos and Mike Reilly’s on multi year deals.

He gets extended because he had a good deadline

 

[bp14]

He gets extended because he had a good deadline

He did?

Last I checked he paid a high (fair, but high) price to add the left side dman he knew he needed last summer when he signed Derek Forbort. And also the left side dman he might have hoped Gryz would become. Don’t forget Mike Reilly, whom he also signed to a multi year deal last summer, never was nor will be.

So basically, he had a “good deadline” because he got a guy to cover for his previous failings? And oh also didn’t get anything for a top heavy offense?

Standards must be low.

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

Does anyone have the links to the Blidh/Others ( I forget who) season ending conferences. I can't seem to find them and don't remember where I saw them on here.

Thanks!

 

[Dr Hook]

It was incredibly frustrating watching them do the same thing at the opposing blue line over and over with the same results. I don't blame (just) Cassidy though. It's been a problem for a while, perhaps is Sweeney jumped on it a month earlier and (God forbid) was pro-active and fired Cassidy for being too stubborn the results could've been different?


Well, he'd be more entertaining than Butch anyway!

Bruce bears some blame for sure- no coach is perfect. But here is something to think about: Cam said maybe you need to dump and chase. Great. Bruce clearly thought his guys were not going to be able to do that well. Looking at the roster, as much as Cam wants it to be so, is that a game they can do well? Maybe Butch was wrong on that and should have tried it, but I don't see a team built for that kind of hockey outside of a few guys.

And that goes back to roster building, and the apparent disconnect between what the Pres., GM, and coach are trying to do and what they want to see, and what think they see. It's ridiculous that it's been 6 seasons as a group and they still are not on the same page. By all means, sack Cassidy if you think that will help, but there is a bigger problem here.

EDIT: I am with you on Torts- he'd be a fun for a while.

 

[DKH]

Noon : hot take

Management putting Bruce on alert and possibly gone doesn’t seem to worry them it could influence Bergeron either way

Patrice could play and get along with anyone I’m sure so there’s that but this isn’t a Terry Francona and Pedroia or Claude Julien and Stephane Yelle relationship

 

[NeelyDan]

Noon : hot take

Management putting Bruce on alert and possibly gone doesn’t seem to worry them it could influence Bergeron either way

Patrice could play and get along with anyone I’m sure so there’s that but this isn’t a Terry Francona and Pedroia or Claude Julien and Stephane Yelle relationship

Possibly because that decision has been made.

 

[Memokerobi]

He did?

Last I checked he paid a high (fair, but high) price to add the left side dman he knew he needed last summer when he signed Derek Forbort. And also the left side dman he might have hoped Gryz would become. Don’t forget Mike Reilly, whom he also signed to a multi year deal last summer, never was nor will be.

So basically, he had a “good deadline” because he got a guy to cover for his previous failings? And oh also didn’t get anything for a top heavy offense?

Standards must be low.

Oh its not my opinion, its what Neely said

 

[Fenian24]

It really is, isn't it?

Almost farcical.

Harry was last heavily involved with hockey (and even then, the game and business had already long passed him by) when things like cell phones, the internet, ATM's, bluetooth, and texting to name just a few didn't exist.

Harry's last touch with "reality" was sending players letters or calling them on the landline phone and saying "In my day you assholes played for what we told you you'd play for. You don't like it here? Go somewhere else, we don't want you.".

Don't ever forget "Learn how to Yodel"

He gets extended because he had a good deadline

Yeah that 5million in cap space was a great pick up

 

[Gordoff]

Harry was a Senior Advisor as of the 2020-2021 season at 88 years old. That's frightening.

VERY senior. But, have faith, I hear dear ol' Harry is gonna hang it up at 100. Good times!

 

[Gordoff]

There was a time when Harry could step into a phonebooth (I know some of the youngsters here don't know what that was, but stay with me here) with another guy and come out with the other guy's wallet and watch. Except when he went fishing
with his buddy Glen Sather. They'd get out of the canoe where he would get Harry drunk with deals, and when it was over Harry would only have on his Fruit of the Looms, barely conscious. He'd stumble out of the boat mumbling "what just happened." Crawling to his car he'd realize that Sather even got his car keys.
Funny thing is that he did this year after year. Must of liked getting fleeced by his fellow scoundrel, even in New York!
Harry is a funny old geezer!

 

[frankiess]

I live close to Toronto and listen to Fan590 which is predominantly Maple Leafs.... they played clips of Neely and they wished Neely was their guy because their guy Shannahan said everything is good with the Leafs ...no changes required ...even after losing in the 1st round again....and was smug and entitled about it as was Dubas the GM .....I give Kudos of Neely pointing out change is required and not going for Status quo like the Leafs brass ....

What changes does Toronto require? I think playoff maturity/experience is what is needed. Matthews and Marner started to check the opposition. They'll get the rest of the team on board. They'll be better.

 

[Gordoff]

Don't ever forget "Learn how to Yodel"


Yeah that 5million in cap space was a great pick up

If Harry yodels into the bottom of his shot glass in the woods, does it make a sound?

What changes does Toronto require? I think playoff maturity/experience is what is needed. Matthews and Marner started to check the opposition. They'll get the rest of the team on board. They'll be better.

Yeah, sooner or (too) later!

 

[Spooner st]

Like him or not, the team didn’t lose because of Butch. They didn’t lose because of the “way they played”. They lost because their GM whiffed on upgrading the bottom 6, whiffed on the left side of his defense, and never replaced Krejci in the lineup. Now did he have the means (cap space, picks) to do all things? No he did not. And why didn’t he?

Well, because of none other than himself. And the future looks a lot darker than the present. So again…why does he get extended? With a President making those types of hiring decisions, it’s no wonder we get Nick Folignos and Mike Reilly’s on multi year deals.

I agree with your post. Cassidy's also to blame for not Adapting to different opponents and style of play.

 

[Gordoff]

Bruce bears some blame for sure- no coach is perfect. But here is something to think about: Cam said maybe you need to dump and chase. Great. Bruce clearly thought his guys were not going to be able to do that well. Looking at the roster, as much as Cam wants it to be so, is that a game they can do well? Maybe Butch was wrong on that and should have tried it, but I don't see a team built for that kind of hockey outside of a few guys.

And that goes back to roster building, and the apparent disconnect between what the Pres., GM, and coach are trying to do and what they want to see, and what think they see. It's ridiculous that it's been 6 seasons as a group and they still are not on the same page. By all means, sack Cassidy if you think that will help, but there is a bigger problem here.

EDIT: I am with you on Torts- he'd be a fun for a while.

Totally agree. Bruce was given the ingredients for chicken salad with very little meat on the bones, and was expected to make meatloaf with it. He did all that he could with what was given to him, but he also couldn't adapt at crucial times. I know this team was not built, hasn't got the parts to go to war in a physical series that required it. He couldn't take a wanna be finesse built team and make them into bangers.

 

[rocketdan9]

Nepotism. He's one of Neely's best pals and they played together for the Bruins.

I agree there is some of this. I imagine if Neely fired him... it would be like firing a good friend or family member. Its probably not going to be same at the personal level

If the Jacobs insisted that Don should be fired.... I'm sure Cam would have no choice to save his own azz

Thus make Cassidy the "fall guy"

The difficulty at this time... perfect example. Is Jack Studnicka a nhler but confidence shot (by Cassidy). Or is he really not that good/ahler quality

The folks that watch ahl games think he can play at the next level. But confidence shot at the moment....

 

[rfournier103]

WTF???

Don Sweeney gets an extension, but Cassidy could be fired? What kind of horseshit is that? It is painfully obvious to me that whether Bruce Cassidy is a problem or not, Don Sweeney’s stewardship of the Bruins undoubtedly IS. Rewarding Sweeney for his multiple, glaring, and embarrassing failures is as insulting to me as a fan - and a paying customer - as it should be to all of you.

Just when you think the Bruins can’t be any more incompetent and tone deaf, they find a way.

Of the four major Boston sports teams, the Boston Bruins are EASILY the losingest of them all. ONE championship in fifty (50) years. I could accept that if I could believe that the Bruins wanted to win. I’m sure the players and coaches do, but the decision makers clearly don’t. I’m f*cking tired of it.

I’ve walked away a couple of times only to get sucked back in - both times because of a playoff series against Montreal. I couldn’t not watch. The Bruins are like the girl you know doesn’t love you, but for one reason or another, you just can’t bring yourself to walk away from her.

One of these days I’m going to walk away for good. I’ll sell or throw away all my Bruins stuff, and just be done with them.

My family have been Bruins fans since the team was founded, and I’m just absolutely irate that the men who own and operate the Boston Bruins won’t even pretend to give a shit about winning or the fans.

F*ck those guys right in the liver.

 

[Boston Bruno]

I agree there is some of this. I imagine if Neely fired him... it would be like firing a good friend or family member. Its probably not going to be same at the personal level

If the Jacobs insisted that Don should be fired.... I'm sure Cam would have no choice to save his own azz

Thus make Cassidy the "fall guy"

The difficulty at this time... perfect example. Is Jack Studnicka a nhler but confidence shot (by Cassidy). Or is he really not that good/ahler quality

The folks that watch ahl games think he can play at the next level. But confidence shot at the moment....

Don doesnt need to be fired, he just doesnt need to be extended.

 

[rocketdan9]

Don doesnt need to be fired, he just doesnt need to be extended.

You mean Cassidy

This is true

But having Cassidy on the hot seat(no extension cushion) but asking him to swallow youngster mistakes...

Its like putting a steak in front of dog and instructing it to not eat it

 

[SwayHeyKid]

Torts wouldn’t suffer Sweeney’s buffoonery. He punches back, hard. He’d be the best thing for this pansy organization, but it’s moot if Sweeney is still steering the roster pool decisions.

agreed. No chance they don’t replace him with an internal yes man

He did?

Last I checked he paid a high (fair, but high) price to add the left side dman he knew he needed last summer when he signed Derek Forbort. And also the left side dman he might have hoped Gryz would become. Don’t forget Mike Reilly, whom he also signed to a multi year deal last summer, never was nor will be.

So basically, he had a “good deadline” because he got a guy to cover for his previous failings? And oh also didn’t get anything for a top heavy offense?

Standards must be low.

Traded 2 2s for retention and a cap dump and didn’t use the money. Must have been graded on a curve

 

[bruinmann77]

What type of extension is the key with Don.
He has misses a lot on FA and that a big issue.
Cassidy does not like to adapt until he almost forced too and seems not to be a young guys coach
it feels like the Youngster make a mistake they lose their chance. Both Coach and GM should be on a one year prove it deal. The only thing that bothered is no body though DK might leave and Bergy getting up there to have plans in place

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

Neely needs to back away from the all you can eat buffet. Yikes

 

[Patdud]

Traded 2 2s for retention and a cap dump and didn’t use the money. Must have been graded on a curve

I really dont understand how some people see this trade so backwards

UFA Hampus Lindholm is not the player we traded for we traded for 8 year extended Hampus Lindholm under the July 1st UFA rates. The price wasn't a 1st and vaak for the player, it was a 1st Vaak and a 2nd. Hell the 2nd was probably to not make them ask for Lorhei/Lysell. your not getting an already extended Lindholm for Vaak and a 1st (and I like Vaak).

the 2nd 2nd rounder was for both taking John Moore's contract (off the books for next year now) AND the retention in case they finished the rakell deal. They went the distance on that one for better or worse instead of pulling and pursuing other players.