End of the Road for the Bruins

After a whirlwind of a disappointingly short playoff run, the Boston Bruins have been eliminated in game 5 by the Tampa Bay Lightning. So many things to talk about here; this is going to be a long post, so I will start with the positives.

There were a lot of positives to be taken from this short-lived playoff run by the Bruins. Most importantly in my eyes is the bright future the team has in store. A number of young players stepped up at various points in each series showing they have what it takes to play at the NHL level and be impact players. Jake DeBrusk is the number one name on that list for me, followed by Donato and a few other of the role-playing young guns. DeBrusk was easily my favorite player through the playoffs for the Bruins as anyone who has read my previous posts will know. The kid has serious skill with the puck, can put on the burners at the right moments, and every minute he is on the ice he is battling for that puck. Honestly he deserves to see second line and first PP minutes next season. He doesn't play half-assed like some of the veterans displayed with sloppy line changes, poor back-checking and honestly at times just straight up laziness.

Moving on to the next positive(s) is the top line. Bergy, Marchand and Pastrnak absolutely killed it overall through the post-season this year and it was abundantly clear that when they weren't scoring, we could not win. Pastrnak played phenomenally overall. I wish he had not tried to be so fancy with the puck so much, giving up a number of big breakaways and turnovers with failed drop-passes, but with the numbers he put up, you can't really argue with his impact. Marchand overall played well, but honestly overall I am pissed about his performance. I will get to that later. And of course Bergeron as always played with serious heart and the results showed.

One young player who surprisingly is on my shit list after the Bruins elimination is Charlie McAvoy. He was an all-star in the playoffs last year despite a battered team around him and killed it the majority of the regular season, but this kid just did not show up in the post season this year. So many ugly blue-zone turnovers, bad passes to nobody and getting beat on the boards in the defensive zone. Offensively he played... okay, but defensively I was very disappointed. He was never really the same since he returned from his MCL sprain to be fair, but he was HEAVILY relied upon in the post-season and was making mistakes that you just can't make as a top two defender.

Chara played like, well Chara. He took another stupid delay of game penalty with his back-handed attempt to clear the defensive zone in game 4, which then lead to a goal and honestly may have cost us the game. He drove me nuts with those penalties last year in the playoffs, I think he had three or four in a single series last year. When you are a veteran defender you cannot be taking those penalties so regularly. The guy has an absolute missile of a slapshot; rip that thing around the boards instead of taking such a weak penalty on a terrible back hand attempt. Overall though, I cannot be upset with Chara. Guy plays more minutes than anyone, more than he should, but he is still overall a great shutdown defender. I am glad he is coming back next season; I just wish it was for a bit less money than he is.

My first MAJOR complaint about this post season was the absolute lack of any consistent officiating. It was seriously like the NHL wanted the lightning to move on to the conference finals. I get that mistakes happen and that the refs can't see everything, but be consistent with what IS seen. The blatant no-call on Marchand being slashed on the breakaway. If roles had been reversed and Marchand had been the slasher, you just know that would have been called, and given the way the calls were going it probably would have been a damn penalty shot. The also Blatant no-call on the tripping of McAvoy against the boards, which promptly lead to a goal. How do you not call tripping with someone is literally wrenching their stick against the boards to push out a guys legs?

Be consistent refs! It is absolutely infuriating that calls like Acciari's "slashing" gets called, but the slashing on Marchand and the trip on McAvoy do not get called. Those were both calls that could have changed the outcome of the respective games. Had the Bruins played exactly as they had and the officiating had not been such trash, the series would have been tied 2-2 going into yesterday's game, even if just ONE of the insane no-calls or calls had been reversed.

And how about the officiating yesterday? How in the world do you call an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a guy who is blatantly tripped leading to offsetting minors. Are you kidding me? Just because he is Marchand these refs looked above and beyond for any reason to call a penalty against him. It is honestly a joke. Yes, everyone that is not a Bruin's fan hates Marchand. Yes, he is a pest and plays along the line and often crosses the line in his play. But call the play evenly. You cannot be calling penalties out of spite for a player and he was clearly targeted by the officials a number of times this post season.

The bottom line on the officiating is this: the Bruin's probably would not have beat the Lightning in a best of 7 series even with adequate officiating. The lightning were showing scoring depth that we were lacking and their play was overall much smoother. Regardless, the series would not have been over in 5. The way the calls went and the way the Bruins played it would have gone at least to game 6, if not a game 7.

On to the next point: Marchand. I love Marchand. I love that he is a pest, I love that he gets in people's heads and I love his scoring ability, but what I do not like about him is when he tries to sell calls. Far too many times this post season Marchand tried to sell calls to the refs that they were not buying and he ended up staying on his knees in the offensive zone while the puck was ending up in our end of the ice and we were effectively playing man-down. This was the case in both series this year. At some point you just have to realize that the refs aren't going to make the calls and you just have to back-check to the play and move on. The one that killed me the most was in the Leafs series when he tried to sell the call on an opponent breakaway instead of simply skating hard and playing defense and it lead to a goal. He has the skill to put up big numbers, but he has to stop looking for the weak calls; he is looking like the old Crosby whining to the refs on the ice out there. As for the licking: I thought it was hilarious how much he got under people's skin with it; I think he went a little overboard with it, but that is Marchand for you.

Rick Nash was a gigantic trade deadline bust, not that I am surprised. He was a -7 with 5 points in 12 games in the post-season. It is widely known that Nash is not a post-season performer and honestly his regular season play has been pretty average over the past few seasons. I gave the Bruins organization the benefit of the doubt at the deadline when signing this guy, but its clear now that it was a bad signing. The second line needed someone fast who can put the puck on the net to balance out Krejci and Backes's slower skating, but instead they signed an overpriced has-been to park in front of the net.

Finally Krejci. I also love Krejci, I wish this guy could retire in a Bruin's Jersey, I want him to be on the team as much as anybody, but the second line (with Rick Nash and David Backes) was trash for the majority of the playoffs. The guy is making a nauseating 7.2 million per year through 2021, making him the highest paid player on the roster. Krejci managed 10 points across the two series, which is not bad, but he was a -4 overall and most of his points came in a couple of multi-point efforts. For a guy making that much money he needs to pick up his play, or the Bruins need to give him a winger other than Rick Nash who can put the puck in the net. Something with that line needed to be switched up LONG before game 5 in the second series, but game after game they matched up together and played mediocre. Krejci overall played okay with 10 points in 12 games, but his regular season numbers are declining and he is only getting older. On top of that Backes has a pricey contract at 6 million through 2021 and he is not earning that money right now either. These contracts are going to pose difficulties signing the younger players to the contracts they will be deserving when the time comes. Thank god Pastrnak signed a reasonable deal.

Overall I was happy with the Bruin's season despite a disappointing finish. I hope this season they will not resign Rick Nash or Tommy Wingels and that they will extend Riley Nash and Nick Holden. I also hope that they can do something to add some speed to the second line alongside Krejci, maybe move up DeBrusk to his left wing and keep Backes at the right or pick up someone new in trade or free agency.

Time to start rooting for the Golden Knights.