The Boston Bruins in 'Marquee' Games

[Coach Parker]

After another loss to Montreal I wanted to look back at all of the marquee games the Boston Bruins have played in the last three years and their winning percentage.

Often times Bruins fans summarize a team up based on the big games of the year where everyone is watching or the pressure seems to be on. Here is the criteria for the games:

- Season-Opener
- Home-Opener
- Winter Classic/Outdoor Games/Holiday Game
- Saturday Game
- Games vs. Rivals (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago)
- 'Must Win' games for playoff pushes in April

If they beat a rival or lose to one on a Saturday night or holiday game or must win I counted it in both categories.

2014-2015

Season-Opener/Home Opener: 2W 0L (Season and Home the same)
Winter Classic/Outdoor Game/Holiday Game: N/A
Saturday: 12W 7L
Rival: 3W 9L
Must Win: 0W 3L

2015-2016

Season-Opener/Home Opener: 0W 2L (Season and Home the same)
Winter Classic/Outdoor Game/Holiday Game: 0W 2L
Saturday: 13W 6L
Rival: 7W 6L
Must Win: 2W 3L

Overall Last Two Seasons:

Season Opener/Home Opener: 2W 2L
Winter Classic/Outdoor Game/Holiday Game: 0W 1L
Saturday: 25W 13L
Rival: 10W 15L
Must Win: 2W 6L

Total: 39 Marquee Wins, 38 Losses

A couple notes from looking at the results:

- For every time you curse the Canadiens for beating the Bruins thank the Leafs for their rebuild as it make the Rival category bearable. Those Saturday night wins against the Leafs the last couple years also played a factor. Without the Leafs being this bad the last two years the Rival would be close to 5 Wins and 20 losses.

- In April, the Boston Bruins have fallen apart losing 75% of their games.

- Boston seems to excel on Saturday's, especially on the road.

- The Bruins home record is easy enough to look at and shake your head.

- The Bruins seem to actually play slightly above .500 hockey in 'marquee' games.

For anyone who just wants the simple 'did they win a marquee big game or not' stat:

2014-2015 Games Played:

Wins: 17
Losses: 17

They played 34 marquee games (opener, rival, Saturday night, April must-win) and were 50% winning percentage in 2014-2015. Not enough to make the playoffs.

2015-2016 Games Played:

Wins: 17W
Losses: 13L

They played 30 marquee games (more of the rivalry games were on Saturday night than the year before) and were winning 56.6% of the big games but once again, that is not enough to make the playoffs.

Total Wins: 34
Total Losses 30

The Boston Bruins play at 53.1% win percentage in 'marquee games' the last two years.

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[Coach Parker]

You can decide if Saturday games are big for you or if the Leafs are a rival. If you disagree with either the Bruins winning percentage drops to a losing record.

Draw your own conclusions.

Cheers

 

[BruinDust]

Nice work Coach.

But you should of included games like when Seguin returns, or when Lucic came back last year. Games with big hype, and the Bruins pooped the bed.

 

[Coach Parker]

Nice work Coach.

But you should of included games like when Seguin returns, or when Lucic came back last year. Games with big hype, and the Bruins pooped the bed.

Yeah thought about adding that too BD, and probably will after initial examination. Perhaps if some people suggest some of those games I can add them in.

 

[ODAAT]

I`m one who believes points at any time of the season are valuable. Whether they come on a Monday vs the Canes or Saturday`s vs whomever, yes, the coverage from the media is on high alert for different games but still, makes no difference to me

I`m tired of losing to the Habs

 

[Coach Parker]

I`m one who believes points at any time of the season are valuable. Whether they come on a Monday vs the Canes or Saturday`s vs whomever, yes, the coverage from the media is on high alert for different games but still, makes no difference to me

I`m tired of losing to the Habs

I'd say a lot of people (especially us lunatic fringers who watch most of the games) would agree but to Bruins fans who watch the big games and on Saturday night they are seeing a team that is the definition of middle of the pack playoff non-qualifiers.

Would also explain the ratings and media impression of the team.

 

[DaStinger]

All games worth 2 points. A game is only coined a must-win because you didn't win enough earlier.

 

[Fossy21]

Not sure I'd include Vancouver or "even" Chicago in rivalry games. I don't like either team particularly much, but very little of that has to do with those SCF games (Nucks fans' feelings about the Bruins might be more tied to it, but could even be slowly fading). Also, it's two games a year each, and while that's not much less than we play Montreal, it's still a small sample size (win or loss).

 

[talkinaway]

Are all Saturday games really "marquee" games for the players? I know most of them are Canadians, and thus have grown up on HNIC, and there's a lot of hoopla over the HNIC towels they give to players who get to do an intermission interview. But HNIC rarely does a US-US matchup, so Saturday games would typically only be marquee games against the Canadian teams.

Granted, Saturday games are marquee games for the fans, because the audience is bigger, it's easier to schedule watching the game, and the tickets are more expensive. But I'm not sure that the players really care that much if there are a few more million eyeballs on them at home because it's Saturday and not Thursday.

IMO, there are lots of things that make marquee games - playing against your old team (Iggy in Calgary in 2013-4, Backes this year in St. Louis), Original Six, natural rivalries (Rangers, Flyers), recent history (Canucks, although that's fading), outdoor games, holiday games (Opening Night, Black Friday, NYE, last home game), and of course any game in April if you're still not clinched.

It's almost easier to count non-marquee games. So far, we've had just one of those - the Monday game against WPG. The others were either season openers, home openers, or O6.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Interesting, but yeah I have some similar concerns about the Saturday thing. Also, I think there needs to be some weighting. Not all of these "Marquee" games are equal. Thursday night, 2nd to last game of the season when you need 1 pt to make the playoffs isn't the same as a Saturday matinee in January against the Blue Jackets.

 

[Coach Parker]

All valid points and worth the discussion because everyone has a different idea of 'marquee'. For me, it is these particular rivals and the Saturday nights are for the fans and media to take notice of the team. Crowds are solid, coverage is wide and the ratings are usually the highest of the week.

If I had a list of games listed above (returning ex-players or players, etc) I could bring those in as well. Removing Toronto as a rival makes the numbers really not in Boston's favour. Swapping in Tampa Bay over Toronto for example...

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Clode has had the exact same game plan against Montreal for 9 years.

 

[Therick67]

Clode has had the exact same game plan against Montreal for 9 years.

Adjustments are coming, you just need to be patient