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Post by madmarx on Sept 11, 2022 18:30:09 GMT -5
Pretty similar are group here 😂
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Post by nfld77 on Sept 11, 2022 20:40:45 GMT -5
Pretty similar are group here 😂 Choose between our Grandparents sex tapes or have Bergy fighting?? Damn, I really dont wanna see either haha but if I had to choose, good luck Bergy!!
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Post by kjc2 on Sept 11, 2022 22:07:17 GMT -5
Pretty similar are group here 😂 Choose between our Grandparents sex tapes or have Bergy fighting?? Damn, I really dont wanna see either haha but if I had to choose, good luck Bergy!! That and the Jack Edwards Pod cast with Ryan Whitney.
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 12, 2022 7:04:10 GMT -5
It just so happens that Pavel Zacha (No. 6 overall) and Jake DeBrusk (No. 14) were both drafted in 2015. Yeah, that year.
The NHL knows 2015 as the Connor McDavid draft. The Bruins know it as the year they fell short of their ceiling, to put it politely.
So far, Zacha (179 career points, 16th-most among the 2015 draft class) and DeBrusk (176, No. 17) have been good NHLers. But of the 15 members of the 2015 class that precede Zacha in scoring to this point, 11 were picked after New Jersey selected the left-shot forward. As for DeBrusk, seven of the 16 players who have scored more went after he became a Bruin.
So if you measure Zacha and DeBrusk by the connective threads of draft order, skill set and offensive production, you could categorize the wingers as having more to give. They are the two names coach Jim Montgomery mentioned first when asked about players he’d like to help reach higher thresholds.
“There’s different players at different stages of their career that we hope, as an organization, are going to take strides and steps into becoming nucleus players we rely on for production,” said Montgomery. “There are other players we’re hoping become nucleus (core) players. In the first example, it’s probably Zacha and DeBrusk.”
The 25-year-olds will have sparkling opportunities to show their stuff at the start of 2022-23. Montgomery intends to give Zacha and DeBrusk first-line rides with Patrice Bergeron. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak are NHL superstars partly because of previous collaboration with the five-time Selke Trophy winner.
Normally, Marchand and Bergeron play hand in hand. But with the No. 1 left wing unavailable following surgery on both hips, Montgomery identifies Zacha as a credible short-term playmate for Bergeron.
First, it allows Montgomery to roll Taylor Hall as a second-line threat. Second, playing with Bergeron should give Zacha instant new-digs comfort following seven seasons in the New Jersey organization. Third, the Bruins traded Erik Haula for Zacha because of his potential, not just because he is six years younger.
“He has all the talent to be able to take advantage of situational opportunity,” general manager Don Sweeney said after signing the ex-Devil to a one-year, $3.5 million contract. “It’ll be up to him to hopefully finish at a little higher rate. He’s played with good players and younger players. He’ll play with good players that are established here and hopefully take advantage of it. We do believe there’s a higher offensive ceiling there as a good two-way player.”
In 2020-21, Zacha averaged 0.89 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, according to Natural Stat Trick. It was the highest rate of his career and third-best on the team after Travis Zajac and Miles Wood. Zacha, however, achieved the scoring by draining a personal-best 13.85 percent of his 65 shots.
So when he regressed to a 7.92 percent shooting percentage last season, his goals per 60 clip dipped to 0.52, No. 10 on the New Jersey roster. Zacha has a 7.94 percent career five-on-five shooting percentage.
Last season, Nico Hischier was Zacha’s most common linemate. The 23-year-old Hischier, the No. 1 pick in 2017, could become New Jersey’s version of Bergeron. For now, though, he is far from it.
Zacha will be playing with the real thing.
With Bergeron as his center, Zacha is practically guaranteed more time playing with the puck in the offensive zone than time chasing it in his own end. Bergeron excels at distributing pucks to his linemates in high-quality shooting areas.
As for DeBrusk, his speed should back up opponents to create more soft spots for Zacha. DeBrusk will play a significant role in Montgomery’s transition system. He will be free to fly as soon as the Bruins gain possession.
So while DeBrusk’s wheels should benefit Zacha, they will be critical in catalyzing his own offensive game. The inconsistency that troubled him for parts of the past three seasons dissipated in last year’s second half. DeBrusk played with the principles that Cassidy repeatedly and firmly emphasized: being hard on pucks, staying engaged in the play, going to high-traffic ice.
From Jan. 1 to the April 29 regular-season finale, DeBrusk averaged 1.35 goals per 60 at five-on-five, second-most on the team after Pastrnak (1.86). In the 302:07 of five-on-five time DeBrusk shared with Bergeron, the Bruins outscored opponents 18-8. DeBrusk did all of this while wanting out of Boston.
That is no longer the case.
The Cassidy-DeBrusk partnership, corrosive at times, is over. DeBrusk has a chance to start anew with Montgomery among the teammates he likes and in the city he enjoys. First-line responsibility could be a launchpad toward the big-bucks post-2024 payday that has so far been deferred.
The Bruins have signed forward Jake DeBrusk to a two-year, $8 million contract extension, the team announced Monday.
The move comes ahead of the 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline and could make it easier for the Bruins to fulfill DeBrusk's trade request.
DeBrusk’s position, after all, may be permanent.
Once Marchand is cleared, Zacha will step away from top-line duties. That may not be the case for DeBrusk.
Part of the reason Montgomery will give DeBrusk a first-line look is for offensive balance. Instead of stacking his three most dangerous attackers together, Montgomery can roll two dangerous units by keeping Pastrnak and Hall on David Krejci’s flanks. In fact, given their previous chemistry, the Hall-Krejci-Pastrnak trio may carry the offensive day at the start of the season. For that to happen, Montgomery will need the 25-year-old to be an impactful No. 1 right wing.
That will be up to DeBrusk.
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 12, 2022 7:06:42 GMT -5
The dawn of the 2022-23 NHLseason arrives Monday, barely a month before the Bruins open play Oct 12 in Washington, with the start of informal captain’s practices in Brighton, followed by a prolonged rookie camp held again in Buffalo (Thursday through Monday).
Most of the focus will be on the freshmen, who’ll face fellow wannabes in games against Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey across the five days in hopes of being invited to the Black and Gold varsity camp that comes to order Sept. 21.
At first glance, largely because of the re-signings of top centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, there might not appear to be much room for a kid to filch a spot up front, even with Brad Marchand (double hip surgery) hors de combat for the first 6-8 weeks. But first glances can be deceiving.
New coach Jim Montgomery sounds inclined to start workouts with Bergeron between newcomer Pavel Zacha and Jake DeBrusk, pairing Krejci with Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak. Krjeci long wanted the prolific, shot-ready Pastrnak in his sidecar. He only had to motor off to the Czech Republic for a year to get his desired line change.
Once Marchand returns, Zacha likely bumps over to a No. 3 line with Charlie Coyle his pivot. But that, at least for now, is a late-November discussion. Reminder: Strong starts are essential. In a typical season, most of the 16 postseason qualifiers already have placed dibs on their piece of the playoff pie by US Thanksgiving.
Beyond Coyle as the No. 3 center, though, there is more room for a kid to make a statement in Buffalo that many might think. Lots of room. Of the five remaining jobs on the bottom two lines, no one should feel safe — not after witnessing coach Bruce Cassidy get the gate some three weeks, he said, after being told, “See ya in September” by general manager Don Sweeney.
Largely because of their paychecks on expiring deals, Nick Foligno ($3.8 million) and Craig Smith ($3.1 million) likely will land two of the five job slots. If not for their money profile, though, they have to be considered vulnerable, especially the well-intentioned but underperforming Foligno.
Beyond those two high-priced veterans, Montgomery’s other obvious candidates for bottom-six employment include Tomas Nosek at center and an assortment of wingers, such as Trent Frederic, Chris Wagner, Oskar Steen, Jack Studnicka, and Marc McLaughlin.
Again, though, no one in that group has a résumé that should make them feel comfortable. If Fabian Lysell or John Beecher arrive in Buffalo with the mind-set to kick down the door, it’s there to be ripped from the hinges. Maybe with one kick.
Lysell and Beecher are first-round draftees. Lysell has enough speed and stick skill to make a statement. The 6-foot-3-inch, 210-pound Beecher has the size. Attitude alone doesn’t win a roster spot, but it can go a long way in securing employment.
Far too many Boston wannabes, especially among the forwards, have shown up at rookie camp in recent years looking and playing as if getting to the NHL is simply a function of institutional osmosis. Get drafted. Put in the time, be it two, three, four years. Yeah, whatever. Listen to all the tips and cues and kudos from the expansive player development ensemble, and one day, shazam, there will be a shirt hanging for you on Causeway Street.
Realistically, the job opportunities lessen greatly, if not entirely, once moving into the back end of the lineup.
Goaltending is a closed shop on the varsity. The fight among kids Brandon Bussi and Kyle Keyser is for one of two jobs at AHL Providence, where free agent signee Keith Kinkaid will stand ready if Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman get dinged.
Even with franchise defenseman Charlie McAvoy (shoulder surgery) idled for the first couple of months, there is enough depth and experience in the defensive corps for Montgomery to shape a capable backline each night.
It was Connor Clifton, then 23, who lit up his second rookie camp with dollops of bold, oft-unorthodox, play in September 2018, forcing management to take a longer look. Yep, a little gumption goes a long way.
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Post by madmarx on Sept 12, 2022 8:46:19 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 12, 2022 9:20:24 GMT -5
If not a fast start then then need to at least not sink to the bottom.
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Post by fforr on Sept 12, 2022 10:48:16 GMT -5
Like Cliffy, bet he continues to improve. He’s in a contract year, UFA. Rather not lose him.
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Post by kjc2 on Sept 12, 2022 11:28:53 GMT -5
Like Cliffy, bet he continues to improve. He’s in a contract year, UFA. Rather not lose him. Who’s our season opener six Defensemen ?
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Post by nfld77 on Sept 12, 2022 12:41:14 GMT -5
Like Cliffy, bet he continues to improve. He’s in a contract year, UFA. Rather not lose him. Who’s our season opener six Defensemen ? Lindholm-Carlo Forbort-Reilly Clifton-Zboril Ahcan I also think Clifton will have a statement year and I certainly wish him the best!!
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Post by fforr on Sept 12, 2022 14:44:09 GMT -5
Like Cliffy, bet he continues to improve. He’s in a contract year, UFA. Rather not lose him. Who’s our season opener six Defensemen ? Lindholm Carlo Reilly Zboril Forbort Clifton
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Post by nfld77 on Sept 12, 2022 20:48:33 GMT -5
Who’s our season opener six Defensemen ? Lindholm Carlo Reilly Zboril Forbort Clifton Hmm, Zboril moved up,I like it..With Grz and Mac out, we need 2 defensemen to quarterback the Powerplay, 1st unit Lindholm and 2nd unit Zboril?? Maybe Zboril runs the ship if he plays really well, would be quite an opportunity for him to get some quick points and even score his very 1st nhl goal!!
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 13, 2022 7:19:54 GMT -5
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Post by kjc2 on Sept 13, 2022 9:31:59 GMT -5
Nice to see what looks like all six of our opening day D here getting ready.
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 13, 2022 9:32:26 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 13, 2022 9:33:40 GMT -5
Nice to see what looks like all six of our opening day D here getting ready. Jake DeBrusk and Oskar Steen have joined the mix at Bruins captains practice. Yet to arrive: the Davids Krejci and Pastrnak; Taylor Hall.
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 8:33:43 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 8:34:35 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 10:24:44 GMT -5
Taylor Hall on being reunited with David Krejci: “He was one of those guys that I thought right away it was easy playing with him, so I hope we just hit the ground running together”
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 11:20:12 GMT -5
Brandon Carlo feels like he’s soaring. In just two captains’ practices this week at Warrior Ice Arena, the stay-at-home defenseman has unlocked sensations that would have been unfamiliar last year: freedom, creativity, lightness.
“These first couple days,” he said Wednesday, “I’ve never had so much fun just playing hockey again.”
An in-flight Carlo is a spectacle. He is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound titan whose size does not compromise his skating.
Carlo’s physical advantages, however, did little to shelter him from the chatter inside his head in 2021-22. The 25-year-old is serious, introspective and demanding. These are not necessarily helpful qualities when external criticism amplifies internal second-guessing.
“I feel like there’s just a certain calmness because I’m not worried about making a mistake,” Carlo said of his early re-acclimation. “That’s the thing that got in my head last year. I was just too worried about, essentially, f—ing up. I’ll just be blunt.”
The task of reminding Carlo of his errors fell on Bruce Cassidy. The former coach is not here anymore. It may not be a coincidence that Carlo’s first days back from his Colorado offseason home already feel sunnier.
Communication breakdown Fifty-five games into his NHL career, Carlo experienced his first coaching change. Going from Claude Julien to Cassidy barely mattered to Carlo. The 20-year-old was on top of the world, partnering with Zdeno Chara in 2016-17 as an NHL rookie.
“My first year in this league, I feel like I did so well because I came in with no expectation,” said Carlo, who averaged 20:49 of ice time per game that season, third-most on the team after Chara and Torey Krug. “I went through each day with gratitude for being where I was. Because I wanted to be in the NHL. I was just enjoying every moment.”
In theory, Carlo’s happiness should have continued climbing to a 2021-22 peak. He and then-fiancee Mayson Corbett were spending their first year with daughter Wren, born just before training camp. The right-shot defenseman was in the first season of a six-year, $24.6 million contract. With David Krejci in Czechia, Carlo shared the second alternate captaincy with Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak.
Great is not the word Carlo would use to describe last season, though.
He averaged 19:42 of ice time per game, down from his previous 20:13 career average. Opponents averaged 51.39 five-on-five attempts per 60 minutes against the Bruins with Carlo on the ice, per Natural Stat Trick, the highest rate among team defensemen.
There was no statistic to measure his unhappiness.
“Last year I had some mental battles for sure,” said Carlo. “Struggled at times with focusing too much on the wrong things: maybe what people viewed of me or the mistakes I was making. I was focusing too much on those rather than the positives. I feel like with the experience I have in the league up to this point, last year was probably the most influential year on my mental side of things.”
Cassidy left his best players alone. They had earned their keep in the league.
The former coach was more hands-on with those like Carlo and Jake DeBrusk, both 25, who had yet to advance to that cohort. He challenged them, and not usually with hugs and handshakes. After a turbulent shift, it was not uncommon for Cassidy to get in Carlo’s ear before he even made it back to the bench. It’s no surprise, then, that both Carlo and DeBrusk report excitement about the start of camp.
“It was tough,” said Carlo. “I feel strongly about when I say that with Butchy, I really respected him a lot. I think he has a great hockey mind. I think he’s a very smart coach. I just think through that, there was times that, yeah, it was hard. The bench scenarios when you’d come back and whatnot — you’re kind of getting beat down a little bit at times — was tough. But also, I felt he managed that pretty well with me. I think he knew me as a player and a personality. I’m thankful for that.”
Sometimes Cassidy, upon postgame video review, would be more constructive the following day. The cumulative effect of his firmness, though, took its toll. In a way, Cassidy’s approach encouraged player unification.
“The first three years, it really united our group,” Carlo said. “That’s something I can say was a positive influence on it. Because it was all of us working together as a team, just pulling together in the right ways when things were going wrong or hard. His influence was big in that department. If he was being hard on us, we would get closer as a group. I did recognize that.”
So far, things are different.
Green light Carlo has yet to play a minute for Jim Montgomery. He cannot wait for his first shift.
Carlo and Montgomery recently met to review video. Montgomery showed Carlo clips of how he can adjust his defensive-zone coverage to be more of an up-ice presence.
“I can notice right off the bat how good a communicator he is,” Carlo said. “I feel like that’s something we really needed, that positive influence on the communication side of things. Throughout my first couple years, guys and coaches have told me they want me to do more things in the offensive aspect of the game. With all of that, it’s good to hear they believe I’m capable of that. It’s also a different story to be shown the situations and where they would see you having those opportunities. Monty already did that with me a little bit in video of certain situations he thinks I could get up the ice a little bit better.
“Just seeing it in video and communicating through things, I’ve noticed, has made me really excited for the opportunity to do that.”
For two years as an assistant coach in St. Louis, Montgomery worked with Colton Parayko. Like Carlo, Parayko is a right-shot defenseman. He is also 6-foot-6. Parayko has eight pounds on Carlo.
Defense is Parayko’s priority. But the 29-year-old has incorporated offense into his portfolio. Parayko has 206 career points in 498 games. Carlo has 70 points in 403 games. Montgomery sees some of his former player in his current one.
“He reminds me of Parayko,” said Montgomery. “He’s a gifted skater. He’s long. He can beat people up and down the ice. You can give him a little more encouragement to be a little more aggressive offensively. Because he’s going to get back defensively with his skating ability and his reach.”
During their video session, Montgomery and Carlo reviewed scenarios where the defenseman closed off plays in the corner. As a stay-at-homer, Carlo got in the practice of lingering in the corner and finishing his opponent.
Montgomery showed him how detaching from the battle could activate the offense. If the puck went across the ice to Hampus Lindholm, for example, Carlo could release from his opponent and make himself available in the middle of the defensive zone. Carlo could then be an outlet for Lindholm to initiate the exit.
Once he received the puck, Carlo could skate up the gut and kick it out to his in-stride forwards. He could drive to the net and draw defenders to create time and space for his teammates. Carlo might even be in close-quarters range to score.
Regardless of the outcome, Carlo loved what Montgomery was selling. He hadn’t heard such a pitch for a long time.
“The first couple years, I didn’t apply myself as much with getting up the ice like that. Then I just got comfortable being the defensive guy,” said Carlo, who often delegated up-ice rushes to Krug, his former partner. “Then people would just say things like, ‘Hey, I think you have more offensive ability.’ But wouldn’t really show me examples of where or how or coach me through that. It was more so just saying it and not giving me any idea. Or even when I came back to the bench, being like, ‘Hey, you did get up the ice there.’ That didn’t really happen very much.”
Big shoes to fill Carlo will have a lot to do. In all likelihood, he will start the season in McAvoy’s spot next to Lindholm on the No. 1 pairing. Carlo is not McAvoy in many ways.
One of McAvoy’s gifts is the ability to play carefree without the fear of making mistakes. Carlo isn’t wired that way. Carlo gets into trouble when he begins to worry, even after six years in the league.
“The mental battle is hard,” said Carlo. “It’s different nowadays. This generation is a little different in the aspect of social media. You can find any bad you want. You can find some good. That’s what’s different. It’s not like how when these guys, these coaches, were playing. Maybe it was in the paper where he gave up a goal or something like that. It’s right in your face all the time if you want it, the negativity. I’ve definitely learned from that. I definitely limit my social media, especially throughout the season.”
Carlo knows he cannot compare himself to McAvoy or even consider replicating some of his contributions. They are different players and people.
Mistakes will happen. But Carlo knows it will be OK. He already feels a connection with his new coach. In turn, Montgomery is committed to learning how to make his players thrive.
“It’s why people like being a coach,” said Montgomery. “It’s so much fun. That’s your job — to figure out how to get the most out of people and how to help them get the most out of their own production. You can talk X’s and O’s all you want. That other part is the more important part.”
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 12:33:53 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 12:38:19 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 12:38:31 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 12:57:52 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 15, 2022 12:59:50 GMT -5
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Post by nfld77 on Sept 15, 2022 13:14:09 GMT -5
No harm in PTO's and Sonny Milano, I'm shocked he's not signed after a career yr out west..
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 16, 2022 7:58:42 GMT -5
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 16, 2022 9:27:06 GMT -5
Nice to see what looks like all six of our opening day D here getting ready. Jake DeBrusk and Oskar Steen have joined the mix at Bruins captains practice. Yet to arrive: the Davids Krejci and Pastrnak; Taylor Hall. Pasta is on the ice today. That leaves Krejci as the only one not there.
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Post by kjc2 on Sept 16, 2022 10:12:19 GMT -5
Did anyone see anything on a stream of the rookie game today?
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Post by nfld77 on Sept 16, 2022 11:07:34 GMT -5
Did anyone see anything on a stream of the rookie game today? Sorry man, I plum forgot about it!!
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