The Bruins are Just Plain Sad

[ihabs1993]

The Big Bad Bruins seem to have left the building.

The Big Sad Bruins seems like a more appropriate name.

The Boston Bruins had a great opportunity to put the playoff matchup from this spring behind them, but instead crumbled late. Milan Lucic went into a full meltdown, including an ejection from the game for what appeared to be abuse of an official (verbal, not physical) and even made somewhat unflattering gestures to the Montreal faithful after taking a penalty that cost his team the game.

 

But it wasn't so different for the Bruins.

 

Tying up PK Subban while headed for a puck along the bench boards, permanent pest Brad Marchand gave Subban a firm stick to the "beanbag". Subban, in pain, falls to the ice and is given the embellishment call.

 

I lost it here. Subban is not allowed to feel pain? That's not a pleasant feeling. I was a catcher for nearly ten years of youth baseball, and I can tell you that athletic cups are only a physchological edge. They do nothing to actually protect you from brute force. Instead of being penalized for a classless act, Marchand forces the game to go 4 on 4.

 

But back to the fall of Boston...

 

Does Claude Julien make it to the end of the season? He's been wildly ineffective in rallying his troops this year. What about Chiarelli? He's put his team in a brutal spot financially with almost no room to improve his team via trade.

 

What say you?

Thanks for the read.

ihabs1993

Ian

[Vanflyer]

Does Claude Julien make it to the end of the season?

 

Gone after 25 games. Allot of injuries to key personal on the b's.

 

I call BS on the cup thing. I played for many years and got speared a ton (and speared myself). Its the groin that (inside upper thigh) that is vulnerable. Regardless, Lucic cost them the game.

 

Lucic is one of those players if he is on your team, you love him. On anyone elses team, you envy / despise him. Power forwards of his ilk are far and few between in the league today. I wish there were more.

[yave1964]

I think Julien deserves the right to coach til the end of the year. Lucic i a joke, a legend in his own mind, Boston's wingers suck, they really suck, they suck hard and they suck long.

I could not believe how many so called experts picked the Bruins before the year, playoff team? sure. Contender? maybe, the East is wide open, they do have Rask, two top tier centers and a stout defense (though not as stout as in years past with the loss of Ferrence and Boychuk) but the wingers are a wretched bunch.

What they need is Tyler Seguin. Maybe they could get the Stars to deal him to them for Eriksson.

Nah, nobody would be that stupid.

[yave1964]

Gone after 25 games. Allot of injuries to key personal on the b's.

 

I call BS on the cup thing. I played for many years and got speared a ton (and speared myself). Its the groin that (inside upper thigh) that is vulnerable. Regardless, Lucic cost them the game.

 

Lucic is one of those players if he is on your team, you love him. On anyone elses team, you envy / despise him. Power forwards of his ilk are far and few between in the league today. I wish there were more.

I love power forwards, Simmonds and his ilk, but Lucic is a caricature, a fraud.

[flyercanuck]

@ihabs1993

 

Never met a Hab fan who'd give the Bruins a lick of credit. And I know plenty. Calling them done a handful of games into the season is foolish. Falling back into the pack? Sure.

 

Lucic needs to get a grip. This isn't all about him. Play for your team not yourself.

 

As for Subban...love his talent. But he dives with the best of them.

[J0e Th0rnton]

@ihabs1993

 

Never met a Hab fan who'd give the Bruins a lick of credit. And I know plenty. Calling them done a handful of games into the season is foolish. Falling back into the pack? Sure.

 

Lucic needs to get a grip. This isn't all about him. Play for your team not yourself.

 

As for Subban...love his talent. But he dives with the best of them.

Agreed.

[Vanflyer]

but Lucic is a caricature, a fraud.

 

How is he a fraud?? A jack ass at times for sure, but certainly not a fraud. You would not want him on your team??

[B21]

The Big Bad Bruins seem to have left the building.

The Big Sad Bruins seems like a more appropriate name.

The Boston Bruins had a great opportunity to put the playoff matchup from this spring behind them, but instead crumbled late. Milan Lucic went into a full meltdown, including an ejection from the game for what appeared to be abuse of an official (verbal, not physical) and even made somewhat unflattering gestures to the Montreal faithful after taking a penalty that cost his team the game.

 

But it wasn't so different for the Bruins.

 

Tying up PK Subban while headed for a puck along the bench boards, permanent pest Brad Marchand gave Subban a firm stick to the "beanbag". Subban, in pain, falls to the ice and is given the embellishment call.

 

I lost it here. Subban is not allowed to feel pain? That's not a pleasant feeling. I was a catcher for nearly ten years of youth baseball, and I can tell you that athletic cups are only a physchological edge. They do nothing to actually protect you from brute force. Instead of being penalized for a classless act, Marchand forces the game to go 4 on 4.

 

But back to the fall of Boston...

 

Does Claude Julien make it to the end of the season? He's been wildly ineffective in rallying his troops this year. What about Chiarelli? He's put his team in a brutal spot financially with almost no room to improve his team via trade.

 

What say you?

Thanks for the read.

ihabs1993

Ian

 

Subban fell immediately.  Anyone who has been hit in the onions - I mean really hit in the onions - knows there is a delayed reaction before the pain hits.

 

Dive.

[flyercanuck]

Subban fell immediately.  Anyone who has been hit in the onions - I mean really hit in the onions - knows there is a delayed reaction before the pain hits.

 

Dive.

 

ihabs - I will take B21s word as gospel here. If anyone knows a dive its a Pen fan. 

 

B -you're welcome.

[runbch]

If there were ever a situation where diving is called for, getting hit in the jewels would be it.

[B21]

ihabs - I will take B21s word as gospel here. If anyone knows a dive its a Pen fan. 

 

B -you're welcome.

 

Exactly. Penguins are well known expert divers.  Just ask the fish. 

 

[blocker]

I think Lucic is a hell of a hockey player.  Big, strong and with an attitude.  But, I also think he's selfish.  He's a me-first guy who hurts his team with his personal wants.

[yave1964]

How is he a fraud?? A jack ass at times for sure, but certainly not a fraud. You would not want him on your team??

Okay.

To me a power forward is someone like Simmonds in Philadelphia or Darren McCarty or even Claude Freaking Lemieux. Guys who dish it out andtake it with equal aplomb. Lucic gets off his game when a 4th liner like Weise fights back, he gets into the whole Lucic Schtick and hurts his team. When i think of Lucic, i don't think of the top tier rough aggressive power forwards, I think of Avery and his ilk.

Sometimes a winning team has star players who are quiet, who don't create waves or toot their own horn and a lesser light fills the void, that is how I see Lucic. Krejci and Bergeron are both enormously talented, I not only would love them on Detroit I would trade any player on the Wings save possibly Gus Nyquist for either one, no questions asked. But they are quiet, they are workaday and go about their business and are never in the news. Lucic is vocal, he is good copy, he is visible. On another team he would be just a guy. Boston is a media hub with quiet superstars, Lucic gets more pub than his talent deserves. You can have him, I don't want him.

[ihabs1993]

So I get it. PK dives just as often as a Marchand or someone along those lines, but if that was, I don't know, Jarome Iginla, one of the most respected players in the league who gets the same stick and reacts the same way, does he go for the dive? I certainly don't think so. Refs see that 76 on PK's sweater and automatically assume it's a dive! I've seen PK take some pretty good dives that go unnoticed, but it seems that the serious penalties get called the most. And if PK had really dove like everyone is claiming, why did the ref call Marchand too? Under the new rules, it would only be the guy who took the dive that would head to the box, right? It's almost like the refs are saying "Marchand, you can't do that, but since you did it to Subban we'll let you go." The ref acknowledged the fact that MArchand made a dirty play, but rewarded him for doing it well. That is how this new system of weeding out the embellishers fails. I'm all for this new code against diving because PK is on his game the most when he is playing honest, in-your-face hockey. 

 

One more thing.

 

Whyd does Boston continuously get away with taking cheap shots like this? So what if Marchand didn't hit him in the nuts too hard. WHY IS HIS STICK THERE TO BEGIN WITH?!?! If that's Subban coming in on Marchand with his stick there, Subban is a classless player who thinks about cheapshots first. It's the mindset in Boston to goon around first and then play hockey once you've thoroughly pissed off the other team. The few nut shots that Lucic did were all in the same spot on the ice, well away from the play, yet he has not been suspended for them. Why? And on top of that, why has the league done nothing to keep it from happening again? And yes, I count fines as doing nothing. These are multi-million dollar-a-year athletes, $5k is the same as nothing in my eyes. Take these players out of the game, much like the league has decided to do with divers.

 

Rant over....

Man, even with my team 1st in the league, I'm still really mad

[ruxpin]

@ihabs1993

Refs see that 76 on PK's sweater and automatically assume it's a dive!

Pretty safe assumption. Ever read / heard The Boy Who Cried Wolf?

If he doesn't want that assumption, he really needs to stop with the Greg Luganis impressions.

I respect the talent, but the person needs a bit of work.

@Vanflyer

I'd take Lucic in a New York minute

[ruxpin]

Did anyone ever notice that when a stick goes anywhere near Subban it's almost like you're watching the Zapruder film?

[Vanflyer]

I'd take Lucic in a New York minute

 

Nano second.

 

The only thing with him is for a big boy, he is a bit fragile and also hot / cold (ie. one good year, one bad, one injured). The Flyer brethren would have a field day with him.

[ihabs1993]

If he doesn't want that assumption, he really needs to stop with the Greg Luganis impressions.

I respect the talent, but the person needs a bit of work.

 

But this assumption is incorrect at best in most situations. I challenge you to find a good number of legitimate dives from PK. I can think of about 4 or 5 since he broke into the league. Pacioretty took the biggest dive (about an hour ago against Detroit) I've seen since Ovechkin's antics against Montreal earlier in the season, and no one will say anything about it on this forum. Why? Because that would be difficult. Pacioretty doesn't have that reputation. Plekanec dove all over the place in the Rangers series, along with several Rangers, but that's neither here nor there, but PK takes the most of the criticism in that series even though I can only recall one dive from that series.

The fact of the matter is that the media, the fans and the officials give PK this reputation while other players in the league are just of guilty of it and are either never called for it by the refs or never called out for it by the fans.

 

At any rate, I am completely aware of how pointless this argument is, as I keep getting the same responses over and over again, so instead of pounding my head against the wall until things change, I'll let it rest until I see this issue show its ugly face once again.

[LaVie68]

Really good article.

Stats are showing he is a better befensmen across the board compared to the test of the league. And a below average forward.

http://www.arcticicehockey.com/2014/9/19/6374983/zone-deployment-optimization-comparing-dustin-byfuglien-at-forward

[nORRis8]

And now kids....the voice of reason.

 

Practice must  consist of Therrien saying "When the other team player come towards you, snap your head back...drop your stick and grab your mouth". Standard procedure.

So Montreals #1 ploy...its obvious is to press Lucic buttons.

 

Alexei Emelin low brows  Lucic 3/24/14 last season...Chara engages with Emelin and....well you know....Emilin turtles. Surprise. Montreal gets a PP.

The year before that Emelin crosschecks Seguin so hard in the ribs he broke his stick. Chara engages....but this time after turtling...Emelin starts throwing punches....and slapping.....not sure what he was doing....it looked the he was trying to ward off some wasps.. However....Montreal gets a PP even though Emelin clearly injures Seguin.

 

Last year after the bombings that took place at the Boston Marathon....the theme Boston Strong came to fore. Raise an arm up. Flex.

So Lucic did that on the bench....he has a right to....representing the city and all.

A fourth liner like Dale Weise starts mocking Lucic.....but not only Lucic....but what the Boston Strong theme symbolized. Meh its ok. Cuz after the series Weise explained that the Bruins were not giving the Canadiens any respect. Thus he can act like a moron and its justified. However Lucic is slammed for what he allegedely said in the handshake. Oh boo hoo.

 

So try as they may as they won the emotional game and series vs Boston....the Rangers had none of it....and Habs folded like a cheap suit.

 

So Montreal flew out of the gates this year and were 7-1 until they played the Oilers last night and got schooled. 

Previously I thought....wonder how soon it will take Subban to throw his team under the bus after he himself looked like a king sized pylon?

Ding ding ding.....game #9.

And it won't be the last.

Theres more to come.

 

As one columnist put it after Subban resigned during the 2013 season .....Subban is a gifted player, but teammates roll their eyes sometimes when he draws a crowd of media to his stall and puts on a show. He likes to talk, is often funny and adores the cameras. During the lockout, he acted as a hockey analyst on one TV station and as weatherman one time on another.

He has had a few run-ins with teammates during practices, including a fight once with centre Tomas Plekanec and Hal Gill the year before.

My Bruins will do just fine. Montreal? I could care less.

One things for certain......1993.