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Post by SeaBass on Oct 10, 2018 11:00:15 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 10, 2018 11:00:54 GMT -5
So from the above we are old, short and light....but we drafted well...or did we?
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 10, 2018 11:05:27 GMT -5
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Post by DonnyBrook on Oct 10, 2018 11:22:20 GMT -5
So from the above we are old, short and light....but we drafted well...or did we? i was looking at those lists the other day. i was researching because i was arguing with a caps fan on youtube.
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 10, 2018 11:39:01 GMT -5
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Post by kjc2 on Oct 10, 2018 12:22:23 GMT -5
So from the above we are old, short and light....but we drafted well...or did we? Imagine if we didn't have Z. He's singled handedly driving up our height and age. I'd say we drafted late and well based on us being a good team.
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Post by kjc2 on Oct 10, 2018 12:40:13 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised if Willie took his puck and decided to play in Sweden for a year.
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 10, 2018 13:04:23 GMT -5
The Bruins aren't dumb: they know a regular season game against the Detroit Red Wings isn't going to compete with the ALCS.
With that in mind, the B's announced that the start time for Saturday's game has been changed to 3 PM.
The Red Sox and Houston Astros will kick off the ALCS on Saturday at 8:09 PM, so you've got a day full of sports!
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Post by nfld77 on Oct 10, 2018 19:01:44 GMT -5
The Bruins aren't dumb: they know a regular season game against the Detroit Red Wings isn't going to compete with the ALCS. With that in mind, the B's announced that the start time for Saturday's game has been changed to 3 PM. The Red Sox and Houston Astros will kick off the ALCS on Saturday at 8:09 PM, so you've got a day full of sports! I agree but what was the origional start time, 7est?
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 11, 2018 7:02:44 GMT -5
The Bruins aren't dumb: they know a regular season game against the Detroit Red Wings isn't going to compete with the ALCS. With that in mind, the B's announced that the start time for Saturday's game has been changed to 3 PM. The Red Sox and Houston Astros will kick off the ALCS on Saturday at 8:09 PM, so you've got a day full of sports! I agree but what was the origional start time, 7est? Yup, 7.
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 11, 2018 7:11:27 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 11, 2018 7:11:39 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 11, 2018 8:00:47 GMT -5
The second line has not produced an even-strength goal for the Bruins yet this season. Third-liners Danton Heinen, David Backes, and Anders Bjork have combined for zero goals and zero assists. The fourth line is one Chris Wagner tip away from being without a goal.
That said, coach Bruce Cassidy is not interested in sharing the wealth, even if income inequality is at its peak.
“Hands off,” Cassidy said of leaving his flammable first line alone for Thursday’s game against Edmonton. “Right where they are right now — in my pockets. They’re not getting changed up.”
Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak are the one percent. Bergeron (four) and Pastrnak (three) have seven of the Bruins’ 10 goals. Marchand has seven assists. All three have a four-point explosion to their names. They are putting up video-game numbers despite going 0-0—0 in the season-opening thud against Washington.
Credit their hive mind.
Of course, it was sublime on Monday against Ottawa for Bergeron to snap a backhand saucer pass through traffic to Pastrnak for the Bruins’ fifth goal in their 6-3 win.
“Crazy,” Charlie McAvoy said of Bergeron’s sauce-slinging assist. “Not many guys can do that at all. He’s special. We all know that.”
But it was how the first-liners, with assistance from McAvoy and Zdeno Chara, collectively processed the play that allowed Bergeron to thread the needle.
Chara started the play from behind the net. The defenseman banked the puck off the left-side wall for Bergeron to collect. Before he received the pass, Bergeron felt that nobody was on him to apply pressure. Once he pulled the puck off the wall, Bergeron shoulder-checked to read his surroundings.
By then, the Senators were already in trouble.
Bergeron saw Marchand on his flank. He knew Pastrnak, who had circled deep in the defensive zone, was revving his wheels for a full-length sprint. McAvoy was picking up speed to make it a four-man attack.
“Right away,” McAvoy said of joining the rush. “We had numbers, so I was trying to hop in there.”
Marchand was turning and going up the middle quickly. Usually, Bergeron would have handed off the puck to his in-stride linemate.
But Bergeron saw a white jersey skating across the red line. It was Brady Tkachuk, going off for an ill-timed change. (Rookies.)
Bergeron knew that whoever jumped on for Tkachuk (it would be Alex Formenton) would hop over the wall just in time to blunt Marchand’s approach.
“It seemed like it was open if I give him the puck,” Bergeron said of the seam to Marchand. “But then there’s another guy who’s taking [Tkachuk’s] shift. He would have jumped on the ice and been right in his face. So I was like, ‘I can’t really give it to him.’”
Once his first option went away, Bergeron turned to Plan B. He kept the puck, gained the offensive zone, and pulled Chris Wideman his way. By then, Pastrnak was already lurking at the right circle because of his straight-line dash. The right wing went to the right circle because he knew where his linemates would be.
“I knew as soon as Bergy crossed the blue line, Marshy’s going to be the high guy,” Pastrnak said. “I had a lot of speed, so I just kept driving backdoor.”
The Bruins were about to form a lethal triangle: Bergeron at the left dot, Marchand at the top of the left circle, Pastrnak streaking far post.
There was one problem.
McAvoy was still dashing up the ice as the fourth attacker. He could have provided middle drive. But by doing so, McAvoy would have closed off Bergeron’s passing lane to Pastrnak.
So McAvoy gently applied his brakes and curled back to his standard position at the right point. McAvoy didn’t want to duplicate Pastrnak’s route, nor did he want to be caught up the ice if Bergeron’s pass missed its mark.
“In that scenario, I’d much rather be the third guy high there coming in as late support instead of going to the net with a 4-2 lead,” McAvoy said. “I’m a defenseman. When it comes down to it, that’s my job first and foremost. Hopefully I can contribute as much as I can offensively. But keeping the puck out of the net when you have a lead like that is most important. Let’s say Bergy — I mean, he makes an unbelievable play — but let’s say that maybe takes a bad bounce and jumps over Pasta’s stick. That could very easily be four guys coming back with numbers trying to get something going.”
McAvoy’s decision was correct. By pulling up, he allowed the seam to stay intact. But McAvoy’s initial burst into the offensive zone forced Mark Borowiecki, the weak-side defenseman, to respect his approach. After that, Borowiecki was not in ideal position to negate Pastrnak’s backdoor rush.
Still, it required Bergeron to swipe a backhand pass around Wideman, through Mike Condon, and onto Pastrnak’s blade. It was exactly what he intended to do.
“The puck landed. They’re not always going to land like that and have perfect timing like it did,” Bergeron said. “But my intention was to make that pass. Yeah.”
All Pastrnak had to do was put his stick on the ice. Once he did that, the puck arrived.
“Unbelievable,” Pastrnak said. “Elite player. He was feeling it that game. It was unbelievable. Great pass by him.”
You don’t break up lines like that.
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 11, 2018 11:40:04 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 11, 2018 11:41:53 GMT -5
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Post by RascalHoudi on Oct 11, 2018 14:11:49 GMT -5
J.F. Lovely. They plan on doing that on the road too? That won't cause any fignts. Not really impressed - it just looks stupid.
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Post by DonnyBrook on Oct 11, 2018 15:24:35 GMT -5
J.F. Lovely. They plan on doing that on the road too? That won't cause any fignts. Not really impressed - it just looks stupid. i feel the same. i think its kinda stupid too. waiting for when someone falls or jams a shoulder going into the boards. NHL tonight is talking about it a lot. the canes look like they are going to be a tough team to play esp. with roddy behind the bench.
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Post by kjc2 on Oct 11, 2018 15:27:00 GMT -5
J.F. Lovely. They plan on doing that on the road too? That won't cause any fignts. Not really impressed - it just looks stupid. Is it a variation on the Mighty Ducks Flying V?
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Post by madmarx on Oct 13, 2018 13:58:21 GMT -5
Let this sink in
From @tsn_wally , with Ottawa still paying Dion Phaneuf 1.75m a season, and Cody Ceci out today, Phaneuf is the highest paid Sens d-man on the ice in the OTT/LA game. 👀
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Post by kjc2 on Oct 13, 2018 15:05:49 GMT -5
Let this sink in From @tsn_wally , with Ottawa still paying Dion Phaneuf 1.75m a season, and Cody Ceci out today, Phaneuf is the highest paid Sens d-man on the ice in the OTT/LA game. 👀 Suck on that Eugene
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 15, 2018 7:13:00 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 15, 2018 7:21:31 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 15, 2018 7:37:26 GMT -5
The Bruins need help, and not just at third-line center. In fact, if Trent Frederic or Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson applied for the vacancies in question, their limited classroom time at the University of Wisconsin and Boston University would get them laughed out of the rink.
The Bruins are accepting applications for their hockey operations department. Specifically, they’re hunting for two specialists: an analyst and a data engineer to work alongside Jeremy Rogalski, the team’s director of hockey analytics.
Degrees in mathematics, statistics, engineering, computer science, or data science are just about required. Post-graduate study or 2- to 4-year work experience are preferred.
On-ice work in digging for pucks is not required. These jobs will instead be about mining and searching for intelligence in data.
“It’s an evolving department in every team,” said general manager Don Sweeney. “We’re trying to be on the same trajectory.”
The Bruins are not new to analytics. Through video and statistical research, Rogalski and his team peer under the hood for trends, statistics, and performance to complement traditional hockey intelligence. The Bruins also employ Sportlogiq and Sydex, companies that specialize in sports analytics. Just about everything is measured, from time allowed in the defensive zone to defense-to-offense transitions in center ice.
But the Bruins and their 30 rivals are preparing for the arrival of camera-based player tracking. The NHL has informed its clubs that such a system could activate leaguewide by next season. It will give organizations a more expansive picture of individual and team performance than currently available via traditional video scouting and statistical dissection.
The Bruins have been busy collecting data in anticipation of player tracking. They require more eyeballs to sift through what they’ve already gathered, but also to go through the pending explosion in information.
“We know it’s going to come online here at some point in time in terms of the player tracking side of it,” Sweeney said. “We want to be on the forefront along with all the other teams. We’ve been in the collection phase. We want to make sure we’re interpreting it properly, especially with new data coming in.”
The Capitals won the Stanley Cup with assistance from Tim Barnes, their director of hockey analytics. Ditto for the Penguins, who employ Sam Ventura as director of hockey research.
In terms of manpower, Toronto is considered at the vanguard. As assistant GM, Kyle Dubas oversaw a research and development department. Following his promotion to the big chair, Dubas now has a five-person research and development laboratory feeding him information: Cam Charron, Bruce Peter, Rob Pettapiece, Wesley Waldner, and Judy Cohen, a recent Boston University graduate.
The work expected of the two future Bruins hires is granular. Consider, for example, some of the chores for the data engineer:
Build automated pipelines for acquiring, processing, and cleaning data from different sources and providers; manage data flow into centralized databases. Develop processes for monitoring and testing data quality across multiple sources; diagnose and resolve data quality issues to ensure accuracy. Define storage, security, and backup procedures; serve as main resource for departmental support and data maintenance. In other words, don’t expect to be approving or denying trades.
“I think there’s a lot more information at every level,” Sweeney said. “We’ve all talked with coaches and how the game is coached. The players themselves seek out information and how they can interpret their own games as opposed to just with the video side of it. I think there’s some data that can really help the players that way. I think it will sift down to that level. We’ve tried to do that internally with our own team. It starts here. Whether or not it’s going to permeate elsewhere and other leagues and such, that’s to be determined. I think within your own team, there’s an ability to interpret that stuff on every level — coaches, management, and also with the players.”
The stick of the future As Warrior Hockey’s lead stick engineer, Isaac Garcia takes time to dream. He thinks about far-out scenarios such as active materials, sticks that change properties by pushing a button, and collecting on-ice data that syncs to a phone.
Then he returns to reality.
“It’s so far out there and we’re not really close, but it is interesting to read about,” Garcia said. “You hear about it in textiles and apparel more than anywhere else, or in the world of engineered materials — mostly in defense. There’s a lot of money being spent on it. Those out-there ideas, we’re not really close to it yet.”
Manufacturers such as Warrior, CCM, and Bauer are busy providing sticks to pro and recreational players. For now, they are bound by present parameters: quality of carbon fiber and resin, work flow, budgets.
But they are always thinking about the stick of the future. Garcia believes consistent, reliable, long-term performance will always be one of the priorities. This means seeking efficiencies in materials, technology, and automation.
“One of our big focuses is to improve the longevity of the stick,” Garcia said. “The sticks are awesome when they’re brand new. But they’re only great for a short period of time. Now, they’ll last a year or two years if you’re not really rough on it. But it’s only really good for a few months. After that, it gets a little creaky, a little mushy. It’s just not the same. That’s what I’d like to fix.”
While quality is Garcia’s primary pursuit, performance is also in the mix. To that end, Warrior conducted on-ice testing this summer — at Warrior Ice Arena, naturally — with Brad Marchand and Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele. The players used sticks fitted with sensors, while video cameras tracked how they handled, shot, and passed pucks.
The data that Warrior gathered is the stuff Garcia likes. He acknowledges that Warrior still does not know everything about the relationship between stick and player. With better knowledge of how the stick reacts in a player’s hands, companies can make better products.
“I think there’s a lot of juice in that fruit,” Garcia said. “More so than a new material that’s going to perform much better. I think those are ancillary and those will be useless if we don’t understand the on-ice conditions and the actual mechanics of what’s happening. We’d have these new tools if we had fancy new materials, but we wouldn’t know how to apply them unless we understood more of what the need was and how to optimize the action that’s already there — understanding the scope of change from one event to the next, whether that’s going from stickhandling, passing in tight, to going to a shot. What is the range of properties that changes in the stick, and how can we design it so it performs better? Just the quick-change nature of it, how it goes from one guardrail to the next, and what influence the stick could have on those. That’s what interests me the most.”
Adjusting the forecheck Depending on situations, the Bruins will usually run one of two forechecks: 1-1-3 or 1-2-2. Sometimes the coaches will instruct the players to use one or the other. At other times, the players are responsible for making on-ice reads to determine which formation to use.
For the latter, it depends on the location of the opponent’s third forward.
For example, the Maple Leafs like to blow the zone and stretch out other teams. They did this against the Bruins in the playoffs. The wings would streak up the ice and wait for the puck. The center, meanwhile, would be lower in the zone coming off defensive coverage.
If the center has yet to approach the red line, the Bruins identify his placement and fall into a 1-2-2 forecheck. The first forechecker applies heat on the defenseman with the puck. Either forechecker 2 or forechecker 3 is responsible for the center.
If the center has gained the red line, perhaps after the defensemen go D-to-D, the Bruins are supposed to run a 1-1-3. The third player back, either the third forechecker or one of the two defensemen, can then occupy the high center.
The on-the-fly determination for the 1-2-2 or 1-1-3 shows how critical it is for the Bruins to read the play, communicate with their teammates, and go to the right spots. On occasion, however, Bruce Cassidy instructs his team to run the 2-1-2, and not necessarily because he’s satisfied with his players. The two-man forecheck sometimes appears when Cassidy wants to activate his players’ legs.
“Some nights, if I feel it’s too easy for teams, it’s, ‘Let’s go 2-1-2 for a period off the draw. Let’s get skating and going,’ ” Cassidy explained. “If nothing else, it just gets us moving.”
No stretching Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Chicago are three teams that employ the stretch pass because they prioritize getting out of the zone, even if it’s not a controlled exit. The Bruins will not join their company anytime soon.
“I don’t like it,” Cassidy said of the stretch-and-tip philosophy. “I’d rather have the puck in my winger’s hands with speed and try to make a play.”
As a result, according to their analytics, the Bruins’ performance in the neutral zone this season will most likely end up worse than those of their opponents. A stretch-and-tip completion, for example, is considered a successful neutral-zone transition. Because the Bruins tell wings such as Marchand and David Pastrnak to come back, receive passes, and make plays up the ice, they’re more at risk of coughing up pucks.
This is reflected in their internal numbers. But because Cassidy prefers this approach, their below-average analytics in the neutral zone are adjusted accordingly.
“That’s why our turnover rate is high in the neutral zone,” Cassidy said. “Because we might make a play to Marshy here. He might start attacking and try to make a play to Pasta in the middle. It doesn’t always work. Our numbers are not good in the neutral zone because we allow our players a little more freedom. I think that’s why we score, because we allow those guys to make plays.”
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 15, 2018 7:39:44 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 15, 2018 8:53:22 GMT -5
This is pretty cool.
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 15, 2018 9:16:18 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 15, 2018 11:07:02 GMT -5
Your @molson_Canadian Three Stars of the Week: ⭐ Patrice Bergeron: 4-5—9 in 3 GP ⭐⭐ @mriles4: 1-6—7 in 3 GP ⭐⭐⭐ @sebastianaho: 3-4—7 in 3 GP
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 16, 2018 9:33:02 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 16, 2018 12:41:36 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Oct 16, 2018 12:42:06 GMT -5
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