Author Archives: @demalia_lorenzo

Bruins Injuries More Concerning Than They Seem

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Backes Injury


The Bruins cannot seem to catch a break this season, this time it’s not even on the ice. It seemed like the Bruins had finally figured it out on the ice, stringing some quality games together. They seem to have gotten their feet under them after the early injuries. Now the team has taken another major hit to the forward group. The Boston Bruins announced that David Backes would be placed on injury reserve. Backes will be out for a minimum of eight weeks.

At the start of the season, Backes missed time due to diverticulitis, a gastrointestinal disease. The power forward came back quicker than most anticipated, but is again sidelined, and will have colon surgery. Backes, who is now 33 years old, will be dearly missed on the ice. While he does not light up the score sheet, he provides a veteran presence. He has a toughness factor, which is crucial for the development of the younger kids.

Backes has shown signs of decline since joining the Bruins, most notably his speed. While Backes has never been fast, he also has not been a liability. Last season, Backes always seemed to be chasing the play. While it has looked a little better this season, going forward that will be a major concern.

Injuries Starting To Pile Up


With his injury, the Bruins roster has major holes. He joins the list along with Noel Acciari (broken finger), Ryan Spooner (groin), Adam McQuaid (broken leg), and David Krejci (back). Riley Nash skated as the Bruins second line centerman in practice. This alone should show that the Bruins are in scramble mode. The long term implications of the injuries should grab the attention of Bruins fans.

David Backes is 33, and the way he plays will only speed up his decline. Krejci is 31, and has had multiple injuries to his back/hip and has not lived up to the contract. On top of that, Bergeron 32, Rask 30, Mcquad 31, all have history of injury, and are only getting older. The Bruins future is supposed to be getting younger, and building a core for the next 5-10 years. In the mean time, the veterans are here to keep the team competitive, and relieve pressure for the young kids.

Instead, the veterans on this team cannot even get on the ice. The the team is rapidly starting to look like an AHL team. Boston is being forced into the youth movement. While Krejci and Backes get payed big money to sit in a press box, Sweeny has a lot of dead money on this roster. If the Bruins are going to advance in the rebuild, he has to make some moves.

Heartbreaking Ending Overshadows Successful Boston Homestand

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SUCCESSFUL BOSTON HOMESTAND

As hard as it is to believe, the Boston Bruins homestand was actually a success. The Bruins earned 6 out of a possible 8 points during the 4 game stint at the Garden and showed signs of life. Boston kicked off the homestand with an impressive 6-3 win over the Canucks. This was followed by a 5-4 overtime loss to the Sabres, 2-1 victory over San Jose and finally a 2-1 overtime loss to the red hot Kings.

Just looking at the boxscores will not show the entire story, this was a rollercoaster ride. When the Bruins won, they did so in impressive fashion. The 2-1 win against San Jose was the best 60 minutes of hockey the team has played this season. Boston showed up undermanned and out-skilled, but still ground out a tough physical game against a better team. The best development from this game won’t show up on a stat sheet, it was the team defense in their own zone.

Boston Defensive Improvements

During the early part of the season, and most notably in that collapse against Buffalo, defense has been a major problem. The Bruins have had major issues communicating in the defensive zone, especially when a team uses a five man rotation in the offensive zone. This has forced the youth of the Bruins to switch along the walls and cover the seams between the face-off dots. Against San Jose and the Kings, it was astronomically better. In the Sharks game, there was only a handful of open looks from the slot. Against the Kings, the Bruins play behind their own goal, and in the corners was notably more physical.

Those developments alone should spark a glimmer of hope in the hearts of Bruins fans. However, when it comes to the Bruins there is always something to be negative about. While the Bruins looked sharp against the Kings, they somehow managed to give up the game winning goal in overtime off a set face-off play, with only 0.4 tenths of a second left. While it may seem like a fluke play (and it is to an extent), the Bruins are the only ones to blame for being in that position. The icing forced Pastranak to stay on the ice, take the face off against Anze Kopitar, and off the face-off win, the Bruins left Tyler Toffolie with to much space for a quick one timer.

Solid Goaltending

The best development from the Kings game, was the play of Tuukka Rask. Rask was excellent in goal, making 5-6 eye opening saves to keep the Bruins in the game, and get them a point. While Rask can be frustrating to watch, the Bruins need him to be at his best for them to have a chance at a playoff spot this year. A performance like that, while it may not show up in the win column, can do wonders for both Rask and the teams confidence.

While the Bruins had a couple gut punching losses, and should have won all four games, it’s hard to complain too much about the teams overall effort. This was the best weekend of the season for the Bruins, and they’ll look to build off of it going forward.

Bruins Upcoming Schedule Could Bury Them

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Slow Start

In the NHL there is a common belief that if your team is above the playoff line by Black Friday, then your practically a lock for the playoffs. This shows that the good teams have strong starts and never look back. For the Bruins that should be quite concerning. The Bruins had a cakewalk of a schedule to start the new season.  Boston should come out of the gates hot and rack up some easy points. However, it’s been anything but easy for the Bruins so far. Currently, they sit at 3-3-1 with a total of seven points. The Bruins are on pace for 82 points, about 12 points off of what it will take to make the playoffs.

Tough Road Ahead

And now, the real teams start popping up on the schedule. So far, the Bruins have played the lowly Sabres, the Avalanche twice, the Golden Knights ( who started Malcolm Subban) and Arizona. What do all these teams have in common? Oh yeah, they suck. Yet the Bruins looked lost most nights, dominated up and down the ice.

Now the Bruins have a gauntlet ahead. Over the next month they play San Jose twice, the Kings twice, Anaheim, Washington, the Rangers, Toronto twice, and the Penguins. Looking at that schedule, no games offer relief  as one that the Bruins could chalk up as a win. If the Bruins don’t watch out, in three weeks they could very easily occupy at the basement of the Eastern Conference.


These are the stretches where your veteran players step up and guide the young kids through the grind that is the NHL schedule. But every time the Bruins turn around, another injury pops up.   And a new young kid gets significant ice time. Which brings us to the core problem surrounding the Bruins.  The management of the roster.

Sweeney decided to keep Adam Mcquid and Kevin Miller this offseason for some ungodly reason. Now both are injured when the Bruins need veteran presences.  Why? Because both can’t stay on the ice. The Bruins are trying to keep open foot in both worlds and it’s gonna cost them. The Bruins can’t expect to be a contender when the top of their defense and forwards are composed of rookies. Hardly a recipe for success in the NHL. On top of that McCavoy, Debrusk, and Bjork have never played the grueling 82 game schedule. So the production is bound to dip.

Youth Movement

The Bruins need to realize that this season is a lost year. It’s time to focus completely on the young kids. Chelarik played a bit last year and showed a solid comprehension of the NHL game. In the short time, Chelarik flashed his NHL-ready vision and passing ability. Call him up along with any other kid with some potential. Get them more ice time. Focus on the next three to four years. Not just making the playoffs this season and getting knocked out in six games.

It’s gonna be a tough pill for Bruins fans. But the future lies with the young kids.  Chara, Rask, even Bergeron aren’t gonna be the reason the Bruins win a cup. This is a bridge team to the future. So speed up the process any way possible. The more ice time now will benefit the development for years to come.

Bruins Show Lack of Mental Toughness in Latest Collapse

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Saturday night delivered a brutal punch to the gut of all Bruins fans.  During pregame warm ups we learned that David Krejci wouldn’t take the ice. Krejci was replaced by the definition of useless in Matt Belesky and the night would only get worse for Boston.

Good Start

The Bruins looked great through the first period and a half, mounting a 3-0 lead. Both Marchand and Pastranak scored two goals apiece, and the Bruins looked sharp on both ends of the ice. The offense had great puck movement, mounting some solid zone time and got in hard on the forecheck. But the Bruins could not come away with two points and fell to a sobering 3-3-1 on the season.

The Bruins showed something that no one ever wants to see out of a hockey team — quit.  The Bruins quit in that embarrassing collapse against Buffalo. After Marchand scored a mere 37 seconds into the second period the slow collapse began. The Sabres, an atrocious hockey team this season, upped the physicality and began getting some solid hits up and down the ice. The physicality quickly and noticeable began slowing down the new finesse-looking Bruins team.

Physical Collapse

Tim Schaller was the victim of some of the mental wear of the physical tempo.  This led to  an unacceptable turnover that set up O`Reilly for an easy goal that breathed life into the dying Sabres.  Schaller casually skated the puck out of the defensive zone and got his pocket picked. This was a glaring example that the Bruins lacked the energy they had earlier in the game.

Pastranak scored off a beautiful touch pass through the neutral zone from Riley Nash to make it 4-1. Then the collapse accelerated. After Pastranak’s second of the night the Bruins became listless. Buffalo hit the Bruins in the nose and Boston had no counter. The Bruins got pushed around in front of Khudobin,  especially on Jack Eichels goal that cut the lead down to 4-2 heading into the third.

At home against one of the worst teams in the NHL, holding a two-goal lead should be a guaranteed two points. But not for this team.  The Bruins looked drained in the third period. The Sabres came out ready to go in the third taking the game to the Bruins. Buffalo was getting good looks on Khudobin early and often, forcing the Bruins play on their heels.

The Bruins youth was a real problem late in Saturday’s game. The passing became sloppy.  Boston started taking bad icings and got hemmed into the defensive zone. They became sluggish in front of the net, and the Sabres started to exploit the passing seams between the dots. The domination of the Sabres led to Pouliots first goal of the season, adding to the meltdown.

Mental Collapse

This next sequence of events was scary to witness.   The lack of mental toughness the Bruins displayed was embarrassing. Carlo took a questionable interference call with four minutes left in the game, continuing the trend of the Bruins taking stupid penalties. The Sabres went to work on the power play getting solid looks on goal. Just as the power play expired Buffalo scored on a floater from Evander Kane. Watching this play unfold was so bad it was hilarious.  Khudobin’s slow reaction couldn’t react to the weak shot. Torey Krug decided to just lay on his stomach at the top of the crease instead of actually playing defense.

Now after surrounding both  3-0 and a 4-1 lead, the Bruins still have a chance to scrape out two points. But the Bruins could not refocus mentally, and the Sabres dictated the overtime period. Once again, the Bruins get hemmed in the defensive zone and Buffalo makes them pay with the game winner to seal the deal.

The Bruins prepare for a much harder schedule coming off of the worst loss of the season. What can they do to fix the issues? Nothing.  The young talent is the future of the team.   If losing games this season is the cost, then that’s what is going happen. Sadly, the season may turn into a bust for hockey fans.

Bruins Center Spooner Out 4-6 Weeks

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Ryan Spooner is the Latest Injury Victim

Spooner suffered a right groin adductor tear against Vegas on Sunday. The first reaction is obviously how the loss of Spooner will hurt the Bruins. The reality is that Spooner’s injury is a blessing in disguise. While nobody ever wants to see anyone hurt, Spooner was a lame duck on this Bruins team. Spooner, now 25 years old, is signed to a one year bridge contract. Evidently the Bruins don’t view him as a part of the future, if they did then, he would have had a real offer given to him. The Bruins are right, Spooner has done nothing to show that he is a valuable asset to the team.

 

The Ryan Spooner Era Comes To A Close?

Since his first full season in 2015-2016, Spooner hasn’t produced on either side of the puck. Spooner’s strength is supposedly his vision  and passing skills. However, outside of one good stretch in 2015, Spooner has never displayed that talent consistently. More often than not, Spooner disappears and goes weeks being a non-factor.

Offensively, Spooner’s shot is nothing special. Spooner is too hesitant to pull the trigger, especially on the power play– the tendency to hold the puck for a split second to long has been a problem for Spooner. This is one of the reasons his production just hasn’t been good enough.

Defensively, Spooner is dreadful. The past two seasons, Spooner has a combined minus 17 rating. He’s become a liabilty in the defensive zone. He lacks the physicality, and tends to be pushed around by bigger, stronger centers. Spooner has been brutal on face-offs. Last year, Spooner won only 38.9 percent of draws. Cassidy was afraid of putting Spooner in defensive zone face-offs; either the Bruins would have to put two centers on the ice, or have Jimmy Hayes taking draws.

Spooner should have become a power play and offensive zone specialist, but can’t put the puck in the ocean, and is mediocre at best as a passer. Spooner provides nothing valuable to the Bruins. Add this groin injury that could be bothersome for quite awhile, and even Spooner’s speed is no longer a factor.

This past offseason many wanted the Bruins to let Spooner walk. The Boston Bruins brought the young centerman back, with Spooner  practically blocking younger players from getting more minutes. Even with the injuries to Backes and Bergeron, Spooner should have been benched–that’s how little value the center has.

Seeing anyone injured is always a bad thing, but Spooner’s injury will open a spot for a younger player who may have a future with the Bruins. It’s a blessing in disguise for the Bruins. The Ryan Spooner era in Boston appears to have come to a close.

Is It Panic Time For The Bruins?

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Two nights, two completely different outcomes. After an impressive showing in Arizona, the Bruins had a chance to gain some momentum heading back to Boston. Instead, the Bruins layed a massive egg and were shut down by former teammate Malcolm Subban. It wasn’t like Subban was tested that much, the Bruins couldn’t get it going offensively.

The lackluster showing in Vegas concluded a frustrating and disappointing roadtrip. The Bruins looked lifeless in the first period, barely generating anything offensively. Another slow start for the Bruins is  alarming. The entire reason for a coaching change was the slow starts, which have thus far continued under Cassidy.

The five games the Bruins have won looked impressive. When they have lost, it has been ugly and alarming. While some growing pains can be expected with a young transitiong club, the Bruins haven’t shown much growth. Both Vegas and Colorado outworked Boston, and neither teams are world beaters.

The Bruins return home to the Garden lacking an identity and the ability to execute. Should fans be pushing the panic button? The short answer is no– they’re only five games into an eighty-two game schedule. If the Bruins don’t look alive soon though, get ready to smash that button.

The offensive struggles have been obvious. Time and time again the Bruins have wasted the few scoring chances they have been able to generate. They lack execution. Sunday against Vegas emphasized this, as the Bruins kept firing shots wide, or directly into Subbans chest protector. It appeared every one of the Bruins forwards thought they were Wayne Gretzky. The Bruins desperately need to simplify their offensive approach. Get the puck and move it to the open. Make simple plays first, then expand to a more dynamic offensive approach.

For a team struggling offensively, it would be nice to have an explosive offensive defenseman with a cannon for a shot. The Bruins let their cannon, Colin Miller, leave in the expansion draft, because Kevin Miller and Adam McQuad were so valuable. While Colin Miller was firing rockets all afternoon, Kevin Miller was making brutal turnovers that led to a goal.

While the Bruins have only played a hand full of games, the philosophy and decision making of the organization should have Bruins fans ready to panic. Getting Bergeron and Backes back from injury isn’t going to fix the core problems of the Bruins. Both players have shown signs of decline, and have many miles under them.

The potential for a lost season seems much greater now, Boston looks lifeless this season.

Bruins Need to Balance Roster

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The Bruins opened the season  with an impressive 4-3 victory against the reigning Western Conference champions. What was most impressive was how the young kids played. Both McCavoy and Debrusk scored their first NHL goals and looked more than comfortable playing at the highest level.

But a home-road matchup with Colarado ending with the Bruins getting outscored 10-3 was quite sobering. The Bruins looked outmatched against the Avalanche, both offensively and defensively.  Much of the early season struggles on the defensive side are due to the absence of Selke winner Bergeron, and Backes.  Right now,  the Bruins look lost out there.

Age vs. Experience

McCavoy has been solid defensively, but mistake prone with his outlet passes and caught flatfooted on a couple of occasions against the Avs. That’s expected from a young defenseman.  But it shows a lot about McCavoy’s confidence level that he will even try those outlet passes.

A beautiful example of the talent and touch McCavoy can have on his outlet passes was a subtle but effective breakout pass to Marchand against Arizona. While the play didn’t result in a goal, it did show something Bruins fans have waited for — a talented young puck moving defenseman.

Carlo hasn’t been as flashy this year, but continues to be solid overall defensively. So why would the Bruins struggle defensively if their young defensemen have been solid?  Simple, the lack of experience up and down the Bruins roster.

For years the Bruins have preached layers. But now with Cassidy running the show, and the sudden overhaul of young talent on the roster, it’s much harder to close teams out. While the young players are promising, the Bruins have reached a saturation point.

Experience Wins

Everyone wants to see the kids.  Just watching McCavoy, and Debrusk set up Anders Bjork for his first NHL was worth a parade. But with youth comes, well stupidity. That’s of course expected from a bunch of 20-year-olds playing on the biggest stage.  Correct that stupidity by surrounding them with proven leaders.  But right now the Bruins lack that calming force.

They desperately need a veteran on this team.   Not necessarily a big name,  just a proven player. Purcell was the perfect candidate, a player with past success and a proven professional. While they might not put up the big numbers, their effect on the character of young players is invaluable .

Bergeron has been sorely missed, but just adding Bergeron won’t fix enough. Sweeny should  bring in a veteran and soon. Because while youth is great, too much of it can dig a deep hole early in the season.