Tag Archives: Claude Julien

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadians Round 2 Preview

Leave a reply

Bruins versus Canadians. It is the best rivalry in sports. Period. End of discussion. We now know that Game 1 will be on Thursday night at the Garden followed by a matinee at the Garden on Saturday. I can’t wait to get this series going. We all know how this series is going to go. It will grind us out, and kill us a little inside. Let’s pretend that numbers matter in this rivalry and take a look at how this series should play out.

Special Teams:

Traditionally we usually see a strong power play unit from the Canadians and a strong penalty kill for the Bruins. During the regular season and thus far in the playoffs we have seen the Bruins dominate in both areas of the game. The Bruins were 3rd in the league in the regular season on the power play while Montreal was 19th. On the penalty kill both teams were in the top 10 with the Canadians ranking higher than the Bruins. However, in the playoffs, the Bruins have been the best team on the power play while Montreal is the worst team remaining on the penalty kill. Advantage: Bruins

Forwards:

The Montreal Canadians had only 1 goal scorer over 20 goals this season, and that was Max Pacioretty with 39. The Bruins have a balanced attack and get great scoring production from all lines and from many different players. One advantage that the Bruins feasted on during the Detroit series that, most likely, will not be the case this time is third line production. The Canadians have a solid third line of Rene Bourque, Lars Eller, and Brian Gionta that will match up fairly well with the Bruins third line of Carl Soderberg, Louis Eriksson, and Justin Florek(?). The addition of Paille for Boston will be a huge help on the 4th line and in penalty killing.   Advantage: Bruins

 Defense:

This one isn’t even close. The Bruins have been great all year defensively and with the addition of Dougie Hamilton stepping his game up offensively, I don’t see any holes for the Bruins. The Canadians have P.K. Subban, who is a great offensive weapon but can struggle when he is caught in the back-end. Top to bottom it is a clean sweep. (Did I mention that Dennis Seidenberg started practicing with the Bruins in non-contact drills?) Advantage: Bruins

Goaltending:

Carey Price did not play a single game against the Bruins this season as the Habs went with Peter Budaj in all 4 games. The playoffs are a time where you have to ride your guy, and despite his struggles against the Bruins, Price will be the starter, but he could have a short leash. Tuukka Rask has had his struggles against Montreal especially in the Belle Centre. Ultimately, you can’t pick against Rask and what he has done for the last two seasons.  Advantage: Bruins

Coaching:

Michel Therrien is no match for Claude Julien strategically or in any other sense. Claude Julien is coming off a terrific series where he took every punch from Mike Babcock and countered perfectly each time. Just think Montreal, Julien was yours, you had him, and you let him walk to Boston. Thanks! Advantage: Bruins

Other Factors:

Player You Will Hate: P.K. Subban. This is section writes itself. Just watch the video above and look for number 76. The embellishing, diving, and goating the Bruins makes him the most hated player on the ice by fans and players alike.

Player Who Will Haunt Your Dreams: Thomas Vanek. This guy has scored more goals and has more points against the Bruins then any other team he has played against. Although the Bruins have kept him in-check this year; I can’t help but think history will rear its ugly head at some point.

Series Prediction:

On paper this looks like the Canadians should be a team that the Bruins should be able to handle very well. But this is Boston vs. Montreal. This is different. Too many flukey things happen against Montreal. Made up calls, weird bounces, fans calling 911 on a player, there is never a dull moment. This series will be no different. A key for the Bruins is to get on the power play as often as possible without resorting to the embellishment and diving tactics. Special teams is the biggest advantage the Bruins have and they need to play to it this series. This one is going to go down to the wire despite the Bruins best efforts. Let’s enjoy the ride and get ready to be angry, annoyed, pissed off, and (hopefully) thrilled.  Prediction: Bruins in 7.

As always follow me on Twitter for the latest Boston Bruins news and Lets Go Bs!

Boston Bruins vs. Red Wings Recap & Game 3 Preview

Leave a reply

Chara_Laughing

Game 1 & 2

What an interesting weekend it was at the Garden. There are two completely different takeaways from each game and it is hard to tell which way Game 3 will go. The Bruins were completely out of Game 1 emotionally, and then were the exact opposite in Game 2 which culminated in the exchange Zdeno Chara had with Brendan Smith above.

Game 1

The Bruins came out hot in the first 2 minutes of the game that gave way to a slow, methodical, unemotional pace. The pace of play that the Red Wings thrive playing. Instead of the Bruins dictating their own tempo and style, they played right into Detroit’s hands. With a tight game late, Milan Lucic saw his scoring chance squeeze by the post, then, less than a minute later Pavel Datsyuk makes a couple of moves and beats Tuukka Rask through a screen. I wonder if the Wings won that game, or if the Bruins lost to the flu with Kevan Miller, and Matt Bartkowski out. A very disappointed BruinsBeliever left The Garden upset and frankly angry at the effort.

 Game 2

This was a totally different game. Jimmy Howard looked like the Jimmy Howard that has frustrated Wings fans all year. He gave up a bonehead goal to Justin Florek who was fore-checking along the boards when Howard practically passed the puck to him. Shortly after that, the Bruins capitalized on the power play a couple of times throughout the game including a goal from Zdeno Cara to seal it. The biggest difference in Game 2 was the presence of Kevan Miller on the blue line. His physicality set the tone for the Bruins early in the game and his solid defensive play was a welcome relief to the nail-biting play of Corey Potter. The most surprising aspect of the game was how quickly the Bruins got in the head of the Red Wings. Suddenly the Red Wings were taking roughing penalties and initiating the rough stuff after the whistle. That equals a worst case scenario for the Red Wings who were dominated throughout the game and played right into the hands of the Bruins.

 Game 3 Preview

After Game 1 the Bruins publicly and privately complained about the lack of obstruction and holding calls that should have been made on Detroit. Sure enough, in Game 2 we saw more holding and interference penalties called on the Red Wings. Now, after Game 2, Coach Mike Babcock has been complaining about how the Bruins are getting away with a lot of rough stuff after whistles and during game play. History has shown that we should see a correction from the officials; meaning that Game 3 will be called a lot tighter overall. While I am expecting the Red Wings to win 1 in Detroit, I don’t think it will be this one. I see the Bruins winning this game taking a 2-1 series lead and taking back home ice advantage.

Follow me on Twitter for all of my in-game thoughts and as always, Let’s Go Bs!

2014 Boston Bruins Playoff Preview – Round 1

Leave a reply

Bruins vs. WingsIt is that wonderful time of year again, the weather turns warmer and playoff hockey begins. As a casual fan, you could not ask for a better first round match-up with the Boston Bruins playing against the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs for the first time in over 60 years. With the Red Wings spending the majority of their time as a franchise in the Western Conference, there is not much to speak of as far as a rivalry is concerned. But, with their move to the Bruins own Atlantic Division, it was only a matter of time before these two Original 6 powerhouses clashed. Let’s get right down to it:

Special Teams:

For the past decade plus this category was a no brainer. But now, because the Bruins have improved leaps and bounds on the Power Play this year, it appears to be a no-brainer in the opposite direction. The Bruins had the 3rd best Power Play in the NHL this year while the Wings were only 18th. On the penalty kill the Bruins have their usual advantage where they were 8th in the league and the Red Wings were 12th. Advantage: Bruins

Forwards:

The Bruins had two 30 goal scores for the  first time since 2004 in Jerome Iginla and Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins also had 5 players score at least 20 goals while the Red Wings only had 1  in the young Gustav Nyquist with 28. Granted, the Red Wings were decimated by injuries throughout the year to key players like Datsyuk and Zetterberg; but their scoring production was way down over the course of the year. The Wings finished the year 16th in goals while the Bruins were 3rd. Even though the Red Wings have the flash, speed, and big names, I have to give this category to the Bruins based on numbers. Advantage: Bruins

 Defense:

Even without Dennis Seidenberg for the entire second half of the season, the Bruins still managed to rank 2nd in the league in goals against average (2.08 goals per game). Normally in playoff situations I am wary of trusting young defenseman, but, all of the Bruins’ defenseman have Stanley Cup experience, including Finals experience. They know what it takes to get the job done in the playoffs and I would expect nothing less. Detroit is once again in the middle of the pack at 16th in goals against and don’t have anyone who stands out on the back line. Advantage: Bruins

Goaltending:

Not much needs to be said here. The Boston Bruins have the, soon to be Vezina Trophy winning Tuukka Rask going against the struggling Jimmy Howard. This is by far the biggest advantage in the series for either side. Think back to how bad the goaltending situation was for the Flyers against the Bruins during the Stanley Cup year and expect something similar from Howard and the Wings. Advantage: Bruins

Coaching:

I don’t know where I stand on this one.  Mike Babcock is one of the best coaches in Red Wings history which says a lot. He is widely regarded as the best coach in the game. As the head coach of Team Canada at the Olympics this year he named Claude Julien as his top assistant coach. Their game plan against the United States looked eerily similar to the Bruins game plan against the Penguins the year prior. These are two of the best coaches in the game today and I am willing to give Claude a lot of credit in this one. Advantage: Push

Other Factors:

Player You Will Hate: Justin Abdulkader. Detoit doesn’t really have any guys that evoke hate, even in the playoffs. But, there is always that one player that gets under your skin. This guy would fit in perfectly on the Bruins. He is a top line guy for Detroit who isn’t afraid to go into corners and grind and even throw his weight around, a rareity for them.

Player Who Will Haunt Your Dreams: Tomas Tartar. He is one of those small, quick guys on Detroit who puts the puck in the net. Straight out of the Thomas Vanek mold. You will be sick of him by the end of the series, after he is done leading Detroit in scoring for the series.

“Fun Facts” You Will Be Sick Of: Did you know that Claude Julien and Mike Babcock were roommates in Sochi during the Olympics? Well if you didn’t, you know now and I am sure that the good folks at NBCSN will remind you a hundred times. The other fact that will become super annoying: Reilly Smith’s brother Brendan plays defense for the Red Wings so get ready for all of those stats about brother vs. brother playoff match ups and shots of Mom and Dad in the crowd.

Series Prediction:

On paper this looks like it should be a short and sweet series, get in, get out, kind of deal. Unfortunately, this is the NHL we are talking about and things never go according to plan, or easy. Two things that the Boston Bruins will find extremely annoying are the fast skating game and the lack of willingness to play physical from the Red Wings. The Bruins love to be the bullies and love it even more to be challenged physically. That is where the whole, “Don’t Poke The Bear” thing came from and make no mistake, the Red Wings will not do anything that comes close to poking. They are unemotional robots and won’t feed into the Bruins bully tactics. Bottom line, the Bruins get the job done but not as soon as we would all like it to be. Prediction: Bruins in 6.

As always follow me on Twitter especially during Game 1 as I will be there in Section 326. Tweet at me and come say “Hi”. The playoffs are here, let’s enjoy the ride, and, of course, Lets Go Bs!

2013 Stanley Cup Finals, Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks Game 5 Recap & Game 6 Preview

Leave a reply

Game 5 Recap

Patrice Bergeron AmbulanceMany are wondering whether the Bruins Stanley Cup hopes went out in an ambulance last night with the mysterious injury to Patrice Bergeron. I believe that the Bruins still have a shot at the Stanley Cup regardless of who is injured, but this is by far one of the biggest blows they could take. Yes, the Chicago Blackhawks were missing Jonathan Toews for the majority of the third period after a crushing hit by Johnny Boychuck, but something tells me the Blackhawks’ captain would have hit the ice had the Bruins tied the score. Today it appears that the injury to Bergeron may not be as bad as first thought, no one can know his status for Game 6. It appears as though Toews will give it a go Monday night for Chicago.

Once again, the Bruins struggled early, although they bounced back nicely towards the end of the first period, they were dominated throughout the 2nd period. Chara was once again a minus 2 after the first 2 periods and it appears as though the Chicago strategy of taking away time and space for him and Dennis Seidenberg is working. Claude Julien responded by splitting up the pair at the start of the third period and kept them apart for the remainder of the game.

Not enough pucks went on net for the Bruins. While Chicago was content with throwing as many pucks as possible on Tuukka Rask, who was tremendous down the stretch, the Bruins were being way to cute with the puck. Too many times they had me shouting in my living room, like a ‘pink hat’ fan during a power play, “Shoot it!”. David Krejci was the worst offender last night as too many times he opted for the extra pass which allowed the Blackhawks defenders to close down the shooting lanes. The Bruins never made Crawford work all night and that is disappointing given the amount of times they lit him up during Game 4.

Game 6 Preview

Well, this is it. The Stanley Cup will be in the building on Monday night and let’s hope that it stays in its case. If ever there was a time when you needed a strong effort from everyone at the jump, you would have to assume Monday night would be the time. As Tuukka Rask said after Game 5, “It’s kind of sad that we’ve got to lose a guy [Bergeron] like that to wake the team up and start battling out there.” I am very happy to hear Tuukka call out his teammates after that last game, because someone has to. Too many times now, this team has come out of the dressing room sleepwalking and that would be an unacceptable way to go out when the Stanley Cup is in the building. I am expecting a much stronger, consistent effort from the Bruins.

As for potential lineup changes,  I am fairly certain that Toews will be in the lineup for the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6. For the Bruins however, it will be tough to predict what would happen with the Bergeron injury. If Bergeron is out, any one of these scenarios could play out: the most likely would be to move Chris Kelly up to center the second line, Soderberg could keep centering that line, Rich Peverley could be brought up from the 4th line, or, least likely, Tyler Seguin could finally get his shot to play some center on that second line. Look for Daugavins to get some play back in the lineup if Bergeron can’t go. I would also expect Claude Julien to keep Chara and Seidenberg separated as the D pairs return to their regular season pairings.

All in all, this has been one heck of a series. I know that the Garden crowd will be hyped and ready to go. The Bruins need to feed off the energy in the building and come ready to play. Remember what happened in 2011 in this same scenario, anything can happen with this Bruins team. It can be done, and this team is far from done. I believe it can happen. It starts with a win. Lets Go Bs!

2013 Stanley Cup Finals, Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks Game 3 Recap & Game 4 Preview

Leave a reply

Game 3 Recap

Zdeno Chara, Bryan BickellThe Boston Bruins have not surrendered a goal in a home game over the last 2 games. Even more impressively, is the squads that they’ve shut out. First, it was the best offense in the NHL in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, it is the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that was not shutout once during the entire regular season. This is a huge testament to how well the Bruins have been playing since the third period of the Toronto series. Bottom line is, this Bruins team is playing great defensive hockey and are now starting to get scoring from some unlikely sources in, as Claude Julien has dubbed them, “The Hunch Line”, made up of Seguin, Kelly, and Paille.

I do have one bone to pick about Game 3 and that is with the play of Kaspars Daugavins. From what I have observed, Daugavins has struggled in all aspects of play. He single-handedly ruined a potential 3 on 1 opportunity for the Bruins by putting himself offside and has committed bad penalties. Luckily, the Bruins have killed off every penalty they have faced thus far in the Stanley Cup Finals. I would suggest giving Jay Pandolfo a run in the lineup. At least you know with Pandolfo that he will be solid veteran who will provide more consistency then Daugavins. To me, it would be worth a shot and would make me less nervous watching the Merlot Line on the ice.

Game 4 Preview

The biggest story just prior to Game 3 game time for both teams were pregame skate injuries to Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara. Hossa supposedly took a puck off the leg and was scratched from the lineup just prior to game time. Chara required stitches over his left eye after falling into Milan Lucic and having Lucic land on him. Now, the big story going into Game 4 is if the skirmishes in the last minute of the Game 3 carry over into Game 4. The Blackhawks need to do something to try and change momentum in this series and perhaps they are going to try and take the strategy of increasing physicality. If there is one saying that even the new Bruins fans know it is “Don’t Poke the Bear”. And that is for good reason too. The Bruins are the best team in the National Hockey League when they play angry. As of now, the Chicago Blackhawks have not given them a reason to play angry and I don’t think they should start now. Doing so would be a big mistake. I know that the Bruins are going to get Chicago’s best game in Game 4, and the question is, will it be enough to grind out a win against the Bruins. Hopefully, the Bruins will be able to weather the storm and grind out another victory. Let’s go B’s!