yave1964 Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 My take on the 2013-14 Boston Bruins Peter Chiarelli does not rest on his laurels. The Bruins GM could easily have said his team was within minutes of forcing a game seven in the Stanley Cup finals and kept the club in tact and hoped for a repeat next year has instead decided to retool. Gone IN Tyler Seguin for Loui Eriksson Jarimir Jagr for Jarome Iginla Rich Peverly for Reily Smith/Matt Fraser Andrew Ference for Matt Bartkowski (full time) Nathan Horton for Carl Soderberg (full time This is not a one and done playoff team replacing their fourth line left wing and back up goalie this is a stud hockey club retooling and trying to get to the net step, in their case the next step is two more wins. Chiarelli, for better or worse has changed his club completely going into next season. Forwards, are a strength. Patrice Bergeron is a top level two way center, David Krejci had a medium season but a strong postseason. Milan Lucic continues to be a enigma, a tough brutal winger who cant get it going consistently but does it just enough to tease. Soderberg has been the prize European that everyone has been hoping to get their hands on. Smith and Fraser, coming from Dallas are energy guys with some skill, Iginla still has something to offer. Brad Marchand is considered the most hated guy in the game for the way that he always finishes his checks. Shawn Thornton, Greg Campbell and Daniel Paille are a studly bottom line that returns in tact. Chris Kelly is an underrated lost in the shuffle center. And Loui Eriksson is in the mix? A skilled first line winger who should flourish in Boston. Name one other team that could lose Seguin, Jagr, Peverly and Horton and IMPROVE. Wow is all I have. wow. Defense, long a staple is believe it or not is slipping. The unheralded Ference is gone, Chara had a wretched finals against the Hawks and looks to be aging, Seidenberg was magnificent and continues to be an under the radar minor star. Kids Dougie Hamilton and Matt Bartkowski are the future and must step in to top four roles for the defense to excel. Really,they are not a bad bunch but a defense in transition. Tuukka Rask steped in when Tim Thomas decided to take the year off to be a speech writer for President Obama and did a great job a 2.00 GAA and a save percentage of .929 an outstanding season establishing himself as a top flight net minder. Backup Anton Khubodin left for Carolina and the hot rumor is Jose Theodore is Beantown bound as a backup. Great organization that recognized that they had weaknesses and in cap hell managed to retool for another run. Chiarelli deserves credit as a modern GM and coach Claude Julien is a steady as you go coach who puts his club in a position to win. A top organization, I think they are a lock for the playoffs and can contend for the cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Again, nice write-up yave. I'm not sure if the forward group is better or worse, time will tell. Chara definately showed signs of wearing down, but Rasks development could somewhat equalize that. Losing Ference doesn't help though. Chia is one of the best in the business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted August 24, 2013 Author Share Posted August 24, 2013 Again, nice write-up yave. I'm not sure if the forward group is better or worse, time will tell. Chara definately showed signs of wearing down, but Rasks development could somewhat equalize that. Losing Ference doesn't help though. Chia is one of the best in the business.Thank you sir. Actually I meant to say no other team could lose those four and still make the argument that they might be better. Agreed, time will tell. To me the key players for the Bruins this season are Bartkowski and Hamilton. No offense against Boychuk and McQuaid but they haven't taken the bull by the horns. If Dougie and Bart become a solid minute eating puck rushing second pair then this team is in great shape. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalnut3133 Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 A top organization, I think they are a lock for the playoffs and can contend for the cup Exactly, another great write-up..(where do you get all the energy? lol). As much as I completely HATE to admit it about the Bruins, they seem to be a pretty sure thing for the playoffs, even with all the surprising change-ups (well, maybe not Seguin, lol). They will definitely be a 'force' to contend with once again, particularly with Rask...though I had not heard yet that Theo was heading their way. A shame that he now may be back-up when he was once a pretty good starter, but I suppose he is getting on in years & his numbers have been waning. Well, better to be somewhere, (not like some goalies, ahem) & playing back-up for a team like Boston can't be half bad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo1917 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 @yave1964Love the Tim Thomas speech writer line...Nice write up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 It always seems like the Bruins hit gold whenever they make a depth addition. Short on d-men, plug in Bartkowski. Seems like everyone they use is at least respectable. A sure sign of a solid GM that makes great decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I still think they're weaker right now... development may change that but this season at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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