who are these guys!???

ya and u like girls

you shoulda watched the Bruins dominate the Isles tonight. They were playing keep-away just for fun!!

First of all, I do have them making it to the Stanley Cup Finals next year and to the conference finals in 2021. I also just said that they were one of seven teams I believe has a realistic chance of winning the cup in the next five years, so I'm definitely not saying they're a bad team.

The first big issue that I see is the fact that your time on ice leader is currently 40 years old. I know that McAvoy, Krug and Carlo are all great young top four d-men, but the loss of Chara if he retires at the end of the season would be very tough on the Bruins.

Secondly I'm not too sure about Rask as an elite number one goalie especially with a more offensive minded defense in front of him.

The last big issue I see for the Bruins is the salary cap. McAvoy, Carlo, Heinen, Spooner and Grzelcyk will all command big raises in the nest 2 years and I'm not sure the Bruins can afford to keep all of them and also fill the voids that will likely be left by Chara, McQuaid, Khudobin, Nash and others who will likely not re-sign.

I get you're a bruins fan, but out of all of those teams mentioned, the Bruins would need the largest upgrade.

Oh my gosh, they beat the Isles 5-2! That must mean they're a dynasty!
If the Stanley Cup was won by playing well against one team on one night of the year, the Stanley Cup would be given to every team in the league.

funny
This shows how knowledgeable of hockey you are.

I didn't fully comment on everything that is wrong with that last part because I didn't feel like wasting too much my time trying to prove a point [mod]

Yeah, no. I got it. You cherry-picked one of the three teams that have won 2 cups in the past 6 years and so did I.

You're going pedantic on 1st line instead of 1st pairing even though they are interchangeable for defenseman? That's the best reply you could muster?
You still probably think Weber curved that shot in the air.

Guys, i'd have to say the Bruins are having a very good regular season this year. They're really surprising me. Though i'd have to say i'm not sure if they can get very far in the playoffs this year.

Edit: And you never know, they could surprise us all. PaulDunnill, i still think you're overrating the Bruins a bit, but their future looks pretty good ...

I hate to agree with Paul, especially about the Bruins, but they are much better than most people have given them credit for (though probably not as good as Paul thinks). They've got probably the most well-rounded top line in Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak, they're getting unexpected production from their rookies, McAvoy is looking like a bonafide #1 defenseman, Chara is still very effective, and they're getting great goaltending from both Rask and Khudobin. And this is with significant injuries to Krejci, Spooner, Backes, and Bjork. They look like the second best team in the East.

#1 That 40 year old is playing like a 30 year old. Like he did when they won the cup in 2011. He is, by far, the best "in shape" player in the league, he can handle the minutes. He has slowed, but he has also adjusted his game because of that. He is a very smart hockey player. It's only 1 player, McAvoy's minutes are right up there too and he's barely 20!! So on average you have an age of 30 and 2 great hockey players haha!! What I'm saying is you're wrong, Chara is not affected by age, just speed and he has adjusted, watch a game, he's the best Bruin D on the ice!! Chara is not retiring yet, he can still play and wants to play. He will sign 1 year hometown discount contracts until he feels like he's harming the team growth and evolution....

#2 Hmmmmm, nobody likes Tuukka. Check his stats for his last 15 starts. Rask is a Vezina goalie, he just needs to get his head in the game. Once he does, he's one of the best in the league with a great D team in front of him. Look at Dobby's numbers too. Doesn't really matter who the Bruins put in net, but a great goalie like Rask allows them to go 11-0-4 in the last 15 games!!!!!!!

#3 McAvoys will be a big contract - but so was Chara's and now its basically gone. The others not so much, every team changes a little bit every year and make the cap work. Nobody says you HAVE to stay with the players you currently have. Spooner's value is increasing and will likely get traded, we have so many guys waiting in the wings....Bjork, JFK, Gabrielle, Zboril, Senyshyn...... that's a weak argument there my friend. In 2011 cup winning year, Bergy, Marchy, McQuaid, Rask Chara, Krejci were all there.....different guys filled the other roles!!!!

ok I've already responded to Tony, tell me why they need the largest upgrades????

If you watched you would see domination, I didn't say it happens every night, but tonight, they dominated another NHL team, potentially a playoff team. Hello???? They are 11-0-4 in the last 15!!!! What does that tell you?????

Anybody who cheers for a "Tank" to get the #1 pick is not a real hockey fan and has no hockey knowledge!!!!

I would argue the contrary with another sport as my parallel. Tanking is essentially a shotgun process to rebuilding with the intent to get as many high picks as possible to then build around those players. I would also contend that it is hard to tank in the NHL since there is more luck involved than in the NBA.

Also, just because a fan wants to cheer for a high pick doesn't mean they don't have "no hockey knowledge and not a real fan." I can assure that most 76ers fans were still real 76ers fans from 2013-2016 when they tanked under then General Manager with Sam Hinkie.

edit: punctuation

Ok so tell me where or why I'm overrating them? They-re 11-0-4 in the last 15!!!! They have outscored their opponents 61-29 in those 15 games......all lines scoring, both goalies playing......

So you're saying a bunch professional players are being told to lose, and they are buying into it??? Naivety at is best!!

Chara is a freak athlete that has reinvented his game to adjust for the increased speed and his lack of speed. He's never going to fly around the ice, but from a position standpoint he's sound and with his reach, he's still a quality shutdown d-man. He doesn't play much PP anymore and really once McAvoy gets more comfortable on the PK, they can reduce Chara's PK time. I don't see Chara as a huge concern and he's said already he wants to keep playing.



I'm not really going to get in a Rask debate. At the end of the day though, he's playing right now in this "offensive minded defense" and he's playing well. His teammates genuinely like him and know how valuable he is on the back-end. Unfortunately Rask doesn't get my praise from fans because he's not flashy or constantly flopping around trying to recover from poor positioning.



Caps not really an issue. If the cap jumps to $80 million next year, Boston will have about $17 to spend with no "huge contract" to deal with. Chara will be around what he is now and Spooner (if he stays) should break the bank. As good as Carlo/McAvoy/Heinen have all been, they could easily have a down year and take a bridge deal to try and get a bigger contract down the road.

I will say I think Sweeney would like to add another top 4 LHD to take more work off of Chara, but he's not banging phones hunting for someone.

That's not exactly what tanking is. You aren't directly telling players to "lose." To take the 76ers for example, they refused to sign Free Agents that may have made them better.

Thanks Doc, I can always count on you for being real. Even though when I give you props, CF bans me for "trolling"......WTF????

They actually are looking and playing better than Tampa right now. Mostly the difference is Hedman missing, but it's a scary injury, not sure how healed he will be when he comes back!!

Right so you lose the respect of the players that are there because mgmnt is not trying to floor the best team possible. Those players on the team I'm sure are in the locker room saying, "I'm glad Sam isn't bringing anyone in because then we will get the kid in the draft and he will be our hero, a 20 year old kid......You are creating a very negative culture there.....you of all people Philly, here I thought you knew a little!!

I woudn't call it losing the respect of players since some elected to stay with the team. In the locker room they are saying that they want to win with what they have.

Negative culture is also a hard term to throw around. Just recently, the team was able to lure in a leader and a respectable free agent, JJ Redick. With the emergence of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, and eventually Markelle Fultz, the team will be able to lure in top free agents.

Sam Hinkie is wildly respected by many Philadelphia fans, as he has produced what they see before them today.

I'm not saying the Bruins are bad, because they aren't. They are a very good team. I'm just saying that 1 game is not a viable reason a team is good.

I do agree some people here are underrating them a bit, but Paul seems to overrate them too IMO. I forgot about the injury thing too. They might be the one that finally gets ahead of Vegas.
Speaking of that, if Vegas wins tonight, they're in 1st. Wow.