Bruin Player Reviews : Regular Season and Playoffs

Took a few days to digest that there will be no more Bruin hockey till October . That sucks but it is the way of things . So time to assess the line up and performance over the course of this year and into the playoffs.  The format will be a grade out of 10. Based on expectations and how the season plus playoff went for each player .

Goalies : Tuukka Rask 7.5 ( Rask fought through a torn Labrum) had moments of his Vezina self but it was clear the injury hampered him , especially as the playoffs went on . Jaro Halak - 6 : Halak had real consistency issues and then got Covid which derailed his year . Jeremy Swayman - 8 : The rookie goalie surprised everyone with his excellent play. Small sample size but he looked promising. Dan Vlader - 6 : Another rookie called into duty because of injury and Covid . He looked decent but is too busy in the crease .  

Overall Rank : 6.8 Assessment - In general the goaltending was solid but not as good as it has been hampered by Rask injury . 

Forwards : David Pastrnak 8.5 - His season started well and then inconsistency set in and he struggled to find his scoring touch but as the season ended and playoffs started , he was Pasta again . Patrice Bergeron 8.5 - Bergy had another great season and was solid throughout playoffs. Brad Marchand 9.5 - Brad once again had a great campaign and his consistency and compete level helped carry this team . David Krecji 7- Krecji started the season slow but once he had real wingers to play with , really picked up. Craig Smith 6.5 - Smith had a decent campaign regular season and playoffs but in the Islanders series was hampered by a groin injury . Taylor Hall 6.5 : Hall was the big trade get and although he started out really well . his playoff play trailed off and he struggled against the Islanders . Charlie Coyle - 4 - Coyle's season was one of inconsistency and a failure to find any real offense. Nothing changed in the playoffs . Jake DeBrusk - 4 : Much like Coyle , his was a season of failed potential and lack of consistency and playoffs where no different either. Nick Richie- 5.5 : Richie had a surprising  regular season but really fell off in the playoffs . Sean Kuraly 4 - Kuralys season was a dud . He struggled in pretty much every aspect of the game . Chris Wagner - 4 : Much like Kuraly , Wagner was never able to find his game . Curtis Lazar 5 - Lazar had a small sample size being a late to the line up with the trade with Buffalo but did help get the 4th line to find some traction. Karson Kuhlman - 5 : Kulhman is a spare part and provides energy but has zero scoring touch. 

Overall Rank : 6 Assessment - Bottom line once again , this team offensively is led by one line and without them , this team would be a lottery team . Krecji is solid and it looked promising entering the playoffs but that 2nd line tailed off too sharply and it killed the Bruins against the Islanders . Add that with the utter bust that the bottom 6 was , an early exit really wasn't surprising

Defense : Charlie McAvoy 9 : This is McAvoy's D now with Big Z gone and he completely met expectations. Solid season and playoff . Matt Grzelcyk 7 : Matt had a solid year , hampered by injury . Playoffs were a bit rough especially the last 2 games. Brandon Carlo 7.5 : Carlo had another injury filled season but had a solid run while in the line up. His absence in the last 3 games against the Islanders was really felt. Mike Reilly 6 : Reilly was a trade acquisition and a solid get. But some of his playoff play against the Islanders was less than solid. Conner Clifton 6 : Conner is solid when he plays within himself and his abilities but was exposed a few times in the playoffs . Kevan Miller 7 : Miller was very effective while in the line up and added toughness and solid penalty kill skills . Losing him for the full Islanders series hurt the Bruins. Jeremy Lauzon 6 : Lauzon was steady in the regular season but his hand injury impacted him in the playoffs. Jarred Tinordi 6 : As a 7th D , Tinordi offered basic solid play and was a decent pick up for the Bruins 

Overall Rank : 6.8 Assessment - The D when it was healthy and all slotted in properly , was quite solid but the injuries to Miller and Carlo in the playoffs exposed the drop off and the islanders took full advantage . 

Coaching : 8   Cassidy is a very solid coach , who gets the game and understands it . But he struggled to make adjustments against the Islanders and it hurt . I also think he has over relied on certain players and failed to find ways get certain players going. To use one example , DeBrusk . He had a rough year . However Cassidy continued to play him mostly on his off wing on the right which he struggles with. Many players around the league struggle when moved to a position they are not used to . Plus in my eyes , DeBrusk become his whipping boy and he allowed other players like Coyle especially to barely be called out. It was clear he was outcoached by Trotz against the Islanders . But having said that , the Bruins are still in good hands with Bruce behind the bench .

GM : 6  Sweeney gets a 6 only because of the Hall trade . That probably helped the Bruins make the playoffs. However beyond that , I'm no fan and his resource management in my opinion has been weak. The core is close to being dismantled and could be this year if Krecji and Rask are gone with Z and Krug last year . He has failed to draft well outside of McAvoy and Carlo , has had more misses with trades and free agent signings then impact players . The disaster of the 2015 draft is haunting this team now and unless DeBrusk can find his game again , it looms like a albatross. Krecji has played for years without proper wingers and with the Hall trade it looked promising but it fell off the cliff in the 2nd round . The Bruins rank near the bottom of the league in the prospect pool and unless a few diamonds in the rough emerge, the Bruins could be in for a massive drop off once Brad and Bergy begin to decline . If I was in charge , he would be released and I would look for a new set of eyes to begin a retool . The team is still capable of pushing for one more cup with Brad and Bergy , but I do not think Sweeney is the man that can bring that home. 

Bruins are toast! Fall to the Islanders 6-2

 The Bruins fall to the Islanders last night 6-2 (2 empty net goals) and the campaign for this season is over. Here are my basic takeaways .

1. The D core was exposed and it was brutal to see. Without Miller for the whole series and losing Carlo in game 3 . The Bruins had to rely on a few D that really are bottom pairing and I would argue more spare parts than starting D in the league. Clifton, Lauzon and Reilly all had real struggles with puck movement in this game and series . Add to that both McAvoy and Grzelcyk didn't really have great nights either and you have a recipe for trouble. McAvoy overall in this series was great but you could tell the Islanders where targeting him and trying to wear him down. Grzelyck had a real rough night with 2 blunders resulting in goals. He also really struggled in game 5 as well. Sweeney gambled on a young core by allowing Krug and Chara go . I was not of fan of either and I said it would cost them and it did . 

2. Tuukka Rask : His health this year has been an issue and seemed to be a growing worry in this series . He looked fine at the start of the series but as it wore on , not so much . In game 5 he was pulled after 2 periods and there was some doubt he would not start this game. He did and although the D did him no favors , it was clear he was not right . At least 2 shots I believe he could have stopped and his tracking of the puck was off. Also a very poor pass from Rask led to a turnover and a goal. He wasn't sharp and if you are going to survive in an elimination game , often your goalie has to be your best player . Should have Cassidy started Swayman ? Maybe , but cant undue the past. 

3. Secondary Scoring : This was supposed to be the year . Sweeney acquired Hall and Krecji finally had a winger . Hall was fine after the trade deadline . Helping the Bruins to get going and make the playoffs . He had a decent series against the Caps but the Islanders he was a ghost. One goal , an empty net in the 1st game just will will not cut it if you want to go deeper in the playoffs. Coyle was absolutely a bust this season and it continued into the playoffs. He scored one highlight reel goal early in the series but even after that goal , for the rest of that game he was ineffective. In an elimination game you need all hands on deck and he just wasn't going.  DeBrusk who has had a horrid run of late being in and out of the line up also just didn't have that jump or extra in this game . The bottom line , was held pointless and as was the case in both series , where all over the map with one good shift followed by numerous weak outings . 

4.Intangibles: The fact of the matter calls , bounces and breaks happen in hockey. Game 5 in this series was an utter joke in terms of officiating and although game 6 was better , one pivotal spot in the 2nd period , Palmieri cheap shot  McAvoy after a play with no call caused a ripple affect . McAvoy was shaken and had to leave the game after the NHL spotters for concussions made him leave for the observation room . During that time , the Bruins D breakdowns led to a 3-1 lead. If a call happened , maybe that doesn't occur. Plus McAvoy  didn't look right when he came back.  But that is the game of hockey . If one looks at the analytics of this whole series it looks like a Bruin easy victory but better goaltending and mistakes with a few Islanders stepping up , series over. 

It was a challenging year with the pandemic and I'm just grateful that this season provided some great moments and that this team helped me forget all the crap happening around us . So thanks Bruins . Till next season . 

So with the season over I'm going to grade players , give my ideas what they need to do for next year and give my prediction how they will do .  Join in if you want with your team . This may be a Bruin blog but if you follow a team , give me your thoughts what your team should do. Part of the fun of loving hockey is sharing the passion . We are all armchair GMs after all. 

Go Bruins ! 

Game 6 Bruins -Islanders : Do or Die

 

Game 6 Preview 

Projected line up for the Bruins :

 Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak

Taylor Hall -- David Krejci -- Craig Smith

Jake DeBrusk -- Charlie Coyle -- Karson Kuhlman

Nick Ritchie -- Sean Kuraly -- Chris Wagner

Matt Grzelcyk -- Charlie McAvoy

Mike Reilly -- Jeremy Lauzon

Jarred Tinordi -- Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

Jeremy Swayman

As clichéd as it is , its lay it all on the line tonight. After dropping a frustrating 5-4  game in Boston , with the referring playing a real factor in the outcome which Coach Cassidy was critical of and cost him 25 grand , they find themselves 1 game away from elimination. The penalty kill was not good enough and Rask was not quite right . The 1st line again had a great game but the rest of the lines have failed to step up in the goal department. So here we are at the brink of the season being over. 

A Storm Bruin Key Thoughts  . The Islanders are going to key in on Bergeron, Brad and Pasta. With last change , they can get the players they want on the ice against them . Plus if I'm their coach , I would feel quite confident if they get shutdown , you win. That line represents almost 60% of all Bruin goals. So having said that , the 2nd line of Krecji ,Hall and Smith have to be better and get on the score sheet . That line has had decent stretches and have been solid in taking the play over but have not been very good at finishing. That needs to stop.

The 3rd and 4th lines need to more consistent. Both have had moments but often they have been caught in their own zone and have stopped the momentum that the top lines have created by allowing the Islanders too much offensive zone time . The 4th line will be without Lazar who suffered a leg injury and Richie slides back to play on the wing with Kuraly taking over center again. DeBrusk ,after being a healthy scratch, slides onto his left wing again on the Coyle line with Kuhlman , which should give that line solid speed . Depth scoring is a must for any deep run and the Bruins have not been getting enough. 

The D pairings stay the same as the other night with Miller and Carlo still out . McAvoy will be leaned on heavily tonight and he has shown he rises to these situations . Grzelcyk will have to be a bit better with puck decisions as well . The other night he had shooting lanes and passed instead. The rest of the D hopefully will play to their basic strengths and keep it very simple . Moving the puck quickly and clean will be needed because of the Islanders forecheck . Reilly needs to be much harder on the puck and with his board play. 

Tuukka gets the start after some speculation because of an nagging injury . He wasn't as sharp last game and didn't play in the 3rd .They need a big night from him to keep this going and hopefully he rebounds with a stellar outing.

Players to watch: The two players I think need to have impactful games are Hall and DeBrusk. Hall has only an empty net goal in the 1st game and DeBrusk has struggled all playoff to stay in the line up. Bruins need them big tonight.

Game Predictor : 40/60 split . As much as I want the Bruins to extend the series , I'm at 40% Bruin victory to 60% Islander victory. I still have hope , but its slim . But hope is still hope. Go Bruins ! 

I have long been a Bruin fan . From the first time I recall seeing Bobby Orr  way back when I was around 5 years old on Hockey Night in Canada . There was just something that hooked me to this team. The spoked B , the colors and the way they played . My family's team was the Leaf's and although I always hope they do well , but not when they play my Bruins, Which has worked out pretty well over the last 8 years . Sorry Bro! Boston has been my team.

I've enjoyed many great memories watching them over the years . From seeing numerous hall of famers play from Orr to Bourque , to the current run of players and future hall players like Bergeron , Big Z and Brad. I've shared the highs of cup wins , the most fun run for me was in 2011, to the crippling and sad losses of along the way like in 2019. I get pretty passionate about this team , as my family will tell you . Often going over the top , but those stories will be for another day lol. 

The point of this blog will just be for me to cover the Bruins and a sport I love. It will cover news ,game reports as I see them and predictions , player evaluations. Plus I will also share my opinion on hockey related matters , be it playoff formats or officiating etc.. But the main focus , will be the Bruins. 

Someone who doesn't love a sport or team , never really gets how a team becomes intertwined with your heart and being. Its a strange thing, but for me its the black and gold , the spoked B and that is the way it has been for over 50 years . So hopefully some who discover this blog will enjoy it and leave comments and share as well . If you feel like contributing an article , submit to me and Ill publish it . So go Bruins . 

A Storm Bruin .