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Post by skemack on Jan 5, 2022 14:52:31 GMT -5
The contributions from the bottom six have definitely picked up since the new year. I have to wonder if Cassidy's assistants got on his case as the secondary scoring started to return when he was out with Covid. When he came back it was gone again. There may have been internal discussions that adjustments were needed because Cassidy's system was not working anymore. My theory anyways...
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Post by kjc2 on Jan 5, 2022 15:36:48 GMT -5
The contributions from the bottom six have definitely picked up since the new year. I have to wonder if Cassidy's assistants got on his case as the secondary scoring started to return when he was out with Covid. When he came back it was gone again. There may have been internal discussions that adjustments were needed because Cassidy's system was not working anymore. My theory anyways... It’s possible, as a group they had 16 days to hash it out.
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 6, 2022 10:19:06 GMT -5
The contributions from the bottom six have definitely picked up since the new year. I have to wonder if Cassidy's assistants got on his case as the secondary scoring started to return when he was out with Covid. When he came back it was gone again. There may have been internal discussions that adjustments were needed because Cassidy's system was not working anymore. My theory anyways... Bruce Cassidy sensed a need for change after the Boston Bruins returned to the ice following their COVID-19 pause. As per usual, the sixth-year Boston bench boss discussed specific lineup changes with his coaching staff following a 16-day layover between games. But in this particular instance, he turned to his potent top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak for advice ahead of the New Years Day matinee with the Buffalo Sabres. A thinner COVID protocol list allowed Cassidy to adjust his lineup accordingly. And he received an endorsement from his potent top trio with one caveat: moving Pastrnak to the second line with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula. The domino effect continued with Craig Smith moving up to the top line with Marchand and Bergeron. The bottom-six fell into place with Jake DeBrusk, Charlie Coyle and Nick Foligno forming the third line and Curtis Lazar, Tomas Nosek, and Trent Frederic rounding out the fourth trio. “I’ll be honest: I met with Bergy, March and Pasta for a sort of pow-wow. They have a great pulse of the room,” Cassidy said of his discussions with his three top offensive producers. “Obviously [assistant coaches] Joe [Sacco] and Kels [Chris Kelly] do in dealing with the forwards, but this was more of just me with those three [Bergeron, Pastrnak and Marchand] to get some feedback from them.” It was an ideal time for a shakeup. The Bruins had a favorable three-game slate coming out of their COVID pause against a lowly Sabres bunch, an improved but still rebuilding Detroit Red Wings squad and a shorthanded New Jersey Devils club during a four-day stretch. The Bruins encountered some hiccups along the way. They needed a third-period come-from-behind effort to down the Sabres in overtime on Saturday. They also had to overcome an early deficit in Detroit 24 hours later and needed to stave off three of New Jersey’s equalizers Tuesday to extend their win streak to three games. Through the in-game adversity, the Bruins potted 14 goals in the trio of tilts. Thirteen different players lit the lamp, including Oskar Steen, who filled in on the third line for DeBrusk after the Edmonton native entered COVID protocol. Only fourth-liner Trent Frederic found the net twice in that stretch. They haven’t fully escaped the COVID protocol wrath, with Tomas Nosek joining DeBrusk and Karson Kuhlman and four staff members on Wednesday. Yet, unlike their last game before the break, where they trotted out 17 players in Long Island, the Bruins have a healthy complement of players to work with. Cassidy’s squad has a busier but more fluid schedule to establish more chemistry with one another after a relatively sparse slate at the beginning of the season. The recent offensive production from the four new lines couldn’t have come at a better time. “We started the year healthy and never got really back to it. [The changes] did get pushed down the road a little bit and I thought the break was not a bad time to do it,” Cassidy said. “We had a reset. I thought everyone had good energy coming out of it, so hey, let’s have a discussion with the players that are being moved and explain why and talk to them about the benefits for the team and see how it plays out.” The Bruins responded well to the changes, obviously. The changes so far have proved beneficial throughout the lineup. The reset allowed Hall and Pastrnak a chance to read each other’s dynamic puck traits off the rush. It allowed Coyle to showcase his versatility with a hard skating and outspoken Foligno while gaining chemistry with DeBrusk and Steen in third-line duty. It allowed Smith to break out of his own early-season rut in a promotion with Marchand and Bergeron. And it also provided the fourth line of Lazar, Nosek, Frederic — and at times Steen — to showcase other elements of play beyond their blue-collar work ethic. “I don’t think it was one particular guy. I think it was the team. We need to score more; we need to generate more [offense] and finish more,” Cassidy said. “Sometimes moving things around helps, and sometimes it doesn’t. In this particular case, we’re getting some good results now, and we’ll see how it sustains itself going forward and if it’s the best model.” The line changes provided immediate results. But can they sustain this effort beyond this three-game run against teams outside of the playoff picture? They’ll have a better idea on that front during a more difficult three-game stretch against the Minnesota Wild, Washington Capitals, and two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. “The guys in the bottom of the lineup and the guys that weren’t scoring in the top of the lineup got jump-started here,” Cassidy said. “Let’s see how it translates against some of the elite teams on the ice here.” Even more astonishing? The Bruins only had a pair of goals from the potent broken-up trio of Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak. The former didn’t hit the scoresheet, while the latter finally ended his goal drought — dating back to Nov. 30 — with a second-effort tally Tuesday night. “It’s great when it works. As a coach, sometimes you think, ‘What the hell was I thinking? I should’ve done it a month ago, right?’ Cassidy said. “We’ve been playing pretty well. Every line has been contributing. It’s great to see that up and down the lineup. When everyone kind of gets rewarded, it helps everyone’s confidence and it helps everyone as a whole,” added Coyle, who netted the overtime winner against the Sabres. “And that’s what you need. You need a good solid team with all four lines going and rolling. And when they’re contributing and playing well and finding their chemistry together — even if they haven’t played a whole lot [beforehand] maybe — that’s great to see.” The Bruins didn’t face the stiffest competition over the last week. Yet, every bit of momentum matters during another COVID-plagued season.
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 7, 2022 9:34:00 GMT -5
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Post by kjc2 on Jan 7, 2022 10:03:11 GMT -5
I think Krejci is saying pretty much what we all see but some of Pasta’s drop off is because of Pasta in my opinion. He’s on the second line not only because we need a more balanced attack but because he was bringing nothing to the first line. Our second line with the departure of Krejci has flatlined this year and Bergeron is showing his age, slowing down and that has an effect on Pasta too. The writing has been on the wall for this team for a few years but management is trying to hold it together with duck tape. Also Krejci left for family reasons not because he didn’t have Pasta on his wing,
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Post by skemack on Jan 7, 2022 10:21:55 GMT -5
I like Krejci's response as he is saying what pretty much all of us at least on this board have been saying for several seasons now. If Cassidy had of kept the top two lines marchand-bergeron-smith and hall-krejci-pasta full time after the Hall trade then I would argue that the team would have faired better then they did. Cassidy is a very good coach but he gets blindly stubborn about things and the more he is here the more crap he is with young players. Cassidy must have found a bottle of Julien's anti youth elixir because he is doing the same stupid crap with them now.
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kovs
Prominent Member
Posts: 641
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Post by kovs on Jan 7, 2022 12:19:06 GMT -5
I think Krejci is saying pretty much what we all see but some of Pasta’s drop off is because of Pasta in my opinion. He’s on the second line not only because we need a more balanced attack but because he was bringing nothing to the first line. Our second line with the departure of Krejci has flatlined this year and Bergeron is showing his age, slowing down and that has an effect on Pasta too. The writing has been on the wall for this team for a few years but management is trying to hold it together with duck tape. Also Krejci left for family reasons not because he didn’t have Pasta on his wing, Thank God someone said this out loud. I've never seen a fan base with such a God Almightly boner for a player. He's gone. It was a family decision....move on.
The roster is a bit flat-lined, all together. I think they are plugging holes at this point. I'm not putting the whole burden on Cassidy, I think the management team in general is not doing a think-out-of-the-box job.
and this.....“After years, I leave Boston and suddenly it is possible. That surprised me. [Cassidy] always told me that he had no reason to take Pasta off the first line and that it would be as short as possible to dismantle the forces. I had to take it. But now Pasta has five or so many matches on the line with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula. Strange.”
is sour grapes. A player making excuses for not working to his potential. I'm sorry, I know thats not popular, but its how I feel.
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Post by kjc2 on Jan 7, 2022 12:44:09 GMT -5
I think Krejci is saying pretty much what we all see but some of Pasta’s drop off is because of Pasta in my opinion. He’s on the second line not only because we need a more balanced attack but because he was bringing nothing to the first line. Our second line with the departure of Krejci has flatlined this year and Bergeron is showing his age, slowing down and that has an effect on Pasta too. The writing has been on the wall for this team for a few years but management is trying to hold it together with duck tape. Also Krejci left for family reasons not because he didn’t have Pasta on his wing, Thank God someone said this out loud. I've never seen a fan base with such a God Almightly boner for a player. He's gone. It was a family decision....move on.
The roster is a bit flat-lined, all together. I think they are plugging holes at this point. I'm not putting the whole burden on Cassidy, I think the management team in general is not doing a think-out-of-the-box job.
and this.....“After years, I leave Boston and suddenly it is possible. That surprised me. [Cassidy] always told me that he had no reason to take Pasta off the first line and that it would be as short as possible to dismantle the forces. I had to take it. But now Pasta has five or so many matches on the line with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula. Strange.”
is sour grapes. A player making excuses for not working to his potential. I'm sorry, I know thats not popular, but its how I feel.
Absolutely right kovs, the team has been in decline for years, time for a fresh face GM who has no bias to the old guard and just start a proper rebuild. I’m a big fan of Krejci still, I thought it was cool that he put his family and happiness first and never ever thought he was considering coming back. I doubt he has any sour grapes, the way this thing is worded could be as much about the local media trying to create a story or could be a translation thing if this was a Czech interview? Legitimately he was a player without any good wingers after Horton and Lucic left but he never bitched about it while he was here so why now. They actually landed him a good winger in Hall but he was ready to go so it didn’t change his mind. This is a non story that makes yet another departing Bruins player look petty, sound familiar.
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kovs
Prominent Member
Posts: 641
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Post by kovs on Jan 7, 2022 12:47:01 GMT -5
Thank God someone said this out loud. I've never seen a fan base with such a God Almightly boner for a player. He's gone. It was a family decision....move on.
The roster is a bit flat-lined, all together. I think they are plugging holes at this point. I'm not putting the whole burden on Cassidy, I think the management team in general is not doing a think-out-of-the-box job.
and this.....“After years, I leave Boston and suddenly it is possible. That surprised me. [Cassidy] always told me that he had no reason to take Pasta off the first line and that it would be as short as possible to dismantle the forces. I had to take it. But now Pasta has five or so many matches on the line with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula. Strange.”
is sour grapes. A player making excuses for not working to his potential. I'm sorry, I know thats not popular, but its how I feel.
This is a non story that makes yet another departing Bruins player look petty, sound familiar. yep
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Post by crafar01 on Jan 7, 2022 13:13:17 GMT -5
This is a non story that makes yet another departing Bruins player look petty, sound familiar. yep And this right here is concerning to me. It's been awhile since the Jacobs propaganda machine, aka a decent portion of the Boston sports media, has put out a quasi stink piece about a departed player. That coupled with the listless play on most nights and rumblings of Butch having lost the room, this is starting to feel a lot like the years prior to the Julien era. The last prominent one I remember (there may have been others, my memory sucks) was Seguin after the 2013 loss to the Hawks. And hindsight being what it is, I truly believe that was the last team truly capable of winning another Cup. Every iteration since then has lacked something. And make no mistake, I'm not saying retaining Seguin would have changed much, it's just a point of reference. Although, the argument for the crap return we got for him is a strong one and certainly didn't help with the future of the team. I think that, regardless of what this team does between now and June, my guess is 1 round and out, we're headed for some very lean years. We have zero depth down the middle past Bergeron, nothing in the pipeline past Studnicka who hasn't impressed much, two first rounders who have openly stated they want out and with the exception of maybe 4 other players, a collection of generic 3rd and 4th liners, some of whom signed to contracts that are going to become a burden sooner than later. Sorry about all the doom and gloom, I'm just not seeing much going forward and when Bergy is gone it's only going to get worse. And on Bergy, if it is another round, or two and out, no way I see him coming back next year barring some kind world altering moves by management in the offseason, but if DS's track is anything to go by, we won't be seeing anything akin to that.
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Post by madmarx on Jan 7, 2022 13:13:27 GMT -5
How long before he says that’s not what he meant it was lost in translation.
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Post by madmarx on Jan 10, 2022 11:34:09 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 10, 2022 12:13:16 GMT -5
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Post by nfld77 on Jan 10, 2022 15:37:29 GMT -5
I think Krejci is saying pretty much what we all see but some of Pasta’s drop off is because of Pasta in my opinion. He’s on the second line not only because we need a more balanced attack but because he was bringing nothing to the first line. Our second line with the departure of Krejci has flatlined this year and Bergeron is showing his age, slowing down and that has an effect on Pasta too. The writing has been on the wall for this team for a few years but management is trying to hold it together with duck tape. Also Krejci left for family reasons not because he didn’t have Pasta on his wing, Thank God someone said this out loud. I've never seen a fan base with such a God Almightly boner for a player. He's gone. It was a family decision....move on.
The roster is a bit flat-lined, all together. I think they are plugging holes at this point. I'm not putting the whole burden on Cassidy, I think the management team in general is not doing a think-out-of-the-box job.
and this.....“After years, I leave Boston and suddenly it is possible. That surprised me. [Cassidy] always told me that he had no reason to take Pasta off the first line and that it would be as short as possible to dismantle the forces. I had to take it. But now Pasta has five or so many matches on the line with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula. Strange.”
is sour grapes. A player making excuses for not working to his potential. I'm sorry, I know thats not popular, but its how I feel.
YES, as Bruin fans we were/still disappointed Krejci decided to leave and I for one respect his decision..BUT it's too easy to name fan bases that would feel exactly the same as Bruin fans if one of their favorite players up and retired unexpectedly..You never seen a fan base like it?? I see lots!! Besides that, agree with some of the things you said to be fair.
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Post by skemack on Jan 10, 2022 21:30:58 GMT -5
is sour grapes. A player making excuses for not working to his potential. I'm sorry, I know thats not popular, but its how I feel. [/div][/quote] I did not read the article and view Krejci as having sour grapes. He was a loyal and good soldier for the Bruins his entire career and after Horton/Lucic he literally did not have a good winger until the Hall trade last year. He leaves the team and the first line is finally broken up for more then a couple of shifts or periods. I would not read too much into it as it was translated from his native language and tone etc never translates from speech to print let alone to another language. I think most of us read too much into things and the media loves to stir up shit where many times there is none.
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Post by skemack on Jan 10, 2022 21:33:18 GMT -5
For Krejci I think he is just a victim of bad timing. Reality is the domination line has been anything but that this season which has given a reason to if not forced Cassidy to break it up.
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 10, 2022 22:48:23 GMT -5
Bruce with the zinger
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 12, 2022 10:47:00 GMT -5
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Post by KSJ08 on Jan 13, 2022 12:19:52 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 13, 2022 14:41:58 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 13, 2022 15:14:00 GMT -5
Krejci and Sobotka on team Czech for the Olympics.
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Post by kjc2 on Jan 13, 2022 15:15:53 GMT -5
Krejci and Sobotka on team Czech for the Olympics. That gives me a reason to watch the Czech games.
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 13, 2022 15:16:20 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 13, 2022 15:19:25 GMT -5
Krejci and Sobotka on team Czech for the Olympics. That gives me a reason to watch the Czech games. Wearing Pastas number
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Post by madmarx on Jan 13, 2022 16:19:46 GMT -5
That gives me a reason to watch the Czech games. Wearing Pastas number Well Played
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Post by fforr on Jan 13, 2022 18:00:26 GMT -5
Wearing Pastas number Well Played Or just another dig?
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Post by KSJ08 on Jan 13, 2022 18:07:35 GMT -5
That is an AWESOME STAT!!!!!
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Post by kjc2 on Jan 13, 2022 18:46:20 GMT -5
Wearing Pastas number Well Played Love it!
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 13, 2022 19:00:09 GMT -5
Kampfer and David Warsofsky playing for team USA Kenny Augustino was the other name I recognized.
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Post by SeaBass on Jan 13, 2022 19:15:23 GMT -5
Bergeon named to the All-Star Game. Mac is on the voe in list.
Marchy should be there??
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