Irwin was my favorite offseason move for the Bruins. I don't care about yesterday, he shouldn't be scoring too much in that system. He's not somebody to build around by any means, but he offers tremendous value as he's very versatile for a bottom pair type+, and he'll play well above his cap hit imo. In a team with so many question marks and one-trick ponies in the lineup outside of the core, I think his value will be enhanced considerably. If things go south, he'll be an easy one to flip for a better return on investment too. He's definitely a player that will benefit from a tighter system than what McLellan did in SJ. He has coverage problems, but SJ often played loose in recent years. If he has a little better support in his own zone, as I think Cload is likely to provide, I suspect he'll be able to eat lots of tough minutes as long as it's not against the top lines.
matty, if i learned nothing else on cBS, i at least learned this much: every goal against the br00nz is a fluke, a bad bounce, the direct result of referee malfeasance, BEYONG LUCKY, or a combination of those. and every goal the br00nz score is a work of art
Mr. September indeed, w/ that body frame I'll be surprised if he's Mr. April. you're finally learning lulz.
Seidenberg and Chara need to be on the top of their games if the Bruins are to compete in '15/16. a huge loss for the good guys. Seidenberg to miss 8 weeks after undergoing back surgery to fix a herniated disc. His career was already in a dicey situation, now it looks really bad. http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/836058
I am known for having a hardline stance when it comes to the hockey team from Boston. It may come as a surprise, therefore, for me to state that I like what the team is doing - a lot. (I won't root for the team simply for traditional and historical reasons, but I will root for a very competitive revival of the BUF - BOS rivalry.) I expect for rather obvious reasons that the Sabres to become a very good team, and possible a SC contender as early as the '17-'18 season. I think the hockey team from Boston is likely to be an elite team in the EC at the same time. This year? I do not have the sanguine view of our friend Matty. They missed the playoffs last year not due to a lack of talent, but due to very messed up chemistry in the clubhouse. To their credit, the team recognized that and did something about it. Only time will tell if they subtracted the right pieces, and if they used the acquired picks prudently. But they did get proactive, and I am a fan of that - regardless of the team. They did export a great deal of talent, and I find it hard to accept that they are likely to rebound as quickly as this season. In that respect, they are in a similar situation as the Sabres - they need to assess and assimilate what they have in the organization. A lot of line changes can limit short term success, but is probably in the team's best long term interest. The hockey team from Boston now has one of the stronger prospect pipelines, they have perhaps the best G-situation in the NHL, they have cap flexibility (finally), and a boatload of future picks. They are built to be (literally) better than ever if everything clicks after a couple seasons. Since BOS owns SJ's first, they do not need to root for the tank, but if they miss the playoffs, along with the changes in the draft lottery rules, there is a chance they could be drafting very high twice at the '16 draft.
One of the many questions on the Bruins blue line is Torey Krug, can he play top 4 5v5 minutes? so far the answer has been no. he's young and small and i think the attributes that he should improve on are being more efficient and being better at beating the opposing forwards w/ positioning. pretty good article here from local Blennie DJ Bean. lol, bob covered that topic well i thought this past summer. one quantifiable is obviously weight/body fat% but others are weight room numbers. Amazingly Krug is the first Broon that I can ever remember ever beating Chara in their annual camp pull up contest. Krug set the standard at a ridiculous 40, Zach Trotman actual hit 41 and the Chara only had 37. all that said, he could've bulked himself up and in to trouble- that's known as Brandon Bochenskiing yourself around here. a player like Krug should walk a fine line here, if he doesn't have the speed advantage he's toast. yes Cload. http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/h...tle-bruins-want-bulked-torey-krug-defend-smar
