Bruins Recap
The Boston Bruins’ season ended eerily similar to the season before it. They just couldn’t quite sneak into the playoffs. But there is something to be hopeful for this season. Like every NHL team, the Bruins have a clean slate. Anything can happen. This year, especially, because the Bruins are going through a youth movement.
Despite this, the Bruins’ biggest free agent acquisition was David Backes, a 30 year old center/right wing hybrid. Backes was the captain of the St Louis Blues. However, he is your prototypical Bruins player. He is physical and plays sound defense. Exactly the kind of player, coach Claude Julien loves. Because he can play both center and right winger, he will help whenever injuries happen. Bergeron will be out for the next 3 games, but because we have Backes, the Bruins shouldn’t have too much trouble and they didn’t. Backes had 2 goals and 1 assist in the season opener. He was on Marchand and Pastrnak’s line who each got 2 goals. I’ll assume that once Bergeron is healthy, he’ll either play center or right wing on Krejci’s line. Either way, the addition of Backes will make for a lot of different combinations that I hope Julien will explore. That is if no one gets traded. Dominic Moore and Riley Nash were other free agent signings. They should be good depth moves too.
Free agents weren’t the only thing the Bruins signed. They also re-signed some of their own players. Brad Marchand took a while to be signed but he eventually did when he played in the World Cup and got 6 million per 8 years. Marchand had a career year last season and should replicate the success he had. He was one of Canada’s best players in the World Cup and had 5 points in the opener, without his pal no less. I don’t see why he won’t continue to be awesome. He is literally going to be a Bruin for life and he’ll be fun to watch. Krug, Colin Miller, and Kevan Miller were also signed, which were signs that they will probably get more ice-time.
The biggest question mark of this year is the defense. For the past two years, defense has been their kryptonite, primarily because of the loss of Johnny Boychuk and Doug Hamilton. Also, guys like Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid aren’t as good as they used to be and it really showed. Tuukka can’t do everything himself. However, there is hope. Torey Krug seems to be coming into his own. As well as there are a bunch of young defensemen in the system, that the team is going to trot out.
Playing the Young Guys
The defensemen I was talking about is guys like Colin Miller (23), Joe Morrow (23), Rob O’Gara (23), and Brandon Carlo (19), All of these guys made the opening day roster. These guys are going to be relied upon a fair amount. There will be growing pains. But I urge all Bruins fans be patient. In the first period of the opener, the Bruins made a lot of defensive mistakes. Of the three (Morrow was healthy scratched), Carlo was the only one to have a point in the opener and played 17 minutes paired with Chara. Colin Miller played the most minutes of all defensemen and looked sound throughout the game. If all these young defensemen pan out, then the Bruins don’t need to go out and trade for one. Not too mention, Charlie McAvoy and Jakub Zboril, two top prospects, are still in the system, but they need a year or two to develop.
Bruins are young in defensemen but Boston also has a bunch of youthful forwards on the roster: David Pastrnak (20), Ryan Spooner (24), Danton Heinen (21), Noel Acciari (24), Austin Czarnik (23). Not to mention Frank Vatrano (23) who is on the IR. Pastrnak and Spooner have a little more experience than the rest of them and thus have a bigger role. Pastrnak is on the top line with Marchand and Bergeron (or Backes). Spooner is on the second line with Krejci. Spooner is a natural center but because the Bruins have a center overload, he is now on Krejci’s wing, for the moment. These guys are just as important as Tuukka, Bergeron, Chara, and Marchand. They are basically the future, which every elite NHL team needs a couple of young players. It appears that more and more teams are trotting out their prospects sooner and sooner. This is very exciting from a hockey fan perspective.
Having said all this, I am concerned with Claude Julien and playing these young guys. He did okay last night but in the past, Julien has preferred playing veteran players instead. However, Sweeney’s words in the press conference and one of the new assistant coach, Bruce Cassidy, the Providence Bruins coach for a couple of years, gives me hope that things will change. A lot of the players I mentioned were on Providence last year. So hopefully, Cassidy can help transition these players into the NHL smoothly. It is definitely something to keep an eye on.
If Don Sweeney is true to his word and these guys perform, they will make or break the season. If they are good, we’ll probably make the playoffs and vice-versa. If none of these prospects pan out, Sweeney may actually lose his job. All of these guys are Sweeney’s draftees or acquisitions. He has made questionable signings and trades but if he can scout well, he may be worth keeping around. I’m remaining hopeful and patient with all these young guys but just remember it is a long season.
Boston Bruins 6 @ Columbus Blue Jackets 3 — Game 1 (10/12)
Despite giving up 3 early goals, the Bruins actually played really well. Alexander Wennberg scored within the first 3 minutes, I was worried at that point. Usually I blame the defense for those goals, but that was a goal Tuukka should have stopped. Columbus scored another in the first.
However, the Bruins really woke up in the second period, the Backes-Pastrnak-Marchand line produced all 6 goals. As I mentioned in the lead-in, all three of those guys got 2 goals each. Marchand had 5 points and his last goal was a beauty.
I know it’s only 1 game and there are 81 games left but I already like what I see from this team. There was a point when the Bruins were down 3–1. The Bruins of the past two years probably would have lost that game. But, they worked hard and just had the mental strength to not give up. Even more impressive is that they are missing Patrice Bergeron and a bunch of young guys were playing. It’s a good sign for things to come.
@ Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 10/15
Bruins next game is this Saturday at Toronto. Auston Matthews had 4 goals in his last game (you may have heard). I hope he doesn’t do that to us, but again, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Toronto has even more of a youth movement going on. With the aforementioned Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander leading the charge. Their fans also have the pre-2004 Red Sox thing going on with them. Very obsessive and masochistic. I know they are our rival, but because I am also a sox fan, I have a soft spot for them in that regard. I do wish that Matthews was on an American team, just for selfish reasons, but at the same time, I’m glad he’s giving Toronto fans something to hope for.
Their goalie, Frederik Andersen didn’t look very good in their opener, so I expect the Bruins to win this game. But it may be an overtime win for us, considering the Bruins are also young and rusty too.
Bruins play the 2nd overall pick Patrik Laine and the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. They then host the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for their home opener. All three of these games should be good indicators of where the Bruins are at in terms of everybody else. Not too challenging but not easy either.
