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What Is Wrong With Boston?
by PuckStopsHere on 02/01/10 at 10:47 AM ET
Comments (4)
Last year the Boston Bruins had the best record in the East Conference. They finished with 116 points, only one point back of first overall San Jose. This year has not gone as well. Boston currently has a 23-30 record (with nine regulation tie points). That places them in 11th place in the East Conference. They are only two points back from a playoff berth, but they are in the middle of a group of eight teams that are separated by three points and thus have significant competition for that final playoff spot. Why is this year`s team not doing as well as last year`s did?
To answer that question let`s start by looking at last year`s team. When we looked at team Corsi Numbers (puck possession numbers) from last year we see the Boston Bruins are near the middle of the pack. They directed about as many shots at their opponent`s goal as they had directed at their own. The difference for Boston last year was goaltending. Tim Thomas won the Vezina Trophy and was by far the best goaltender in the NHL.
Tim Thomas is having a good year this season as well, but it is not as outstanding as last season was. His saves percentage is .916 (which is well down from .933). His goals against average is 2.50 (which is up from 2.10). The biggest chance in Boston from last year to this one is that goaltending has dropped from outstanding to very good and they needed outstanding goaltending to replicate last season.
The Bruins have also had dropoffs from their offensive stars. Patrice Bergeron is the only Bruin on pace to score 50 points this season. Last year six Bruins hit that mark. They are Marc Savard (who has been injured), David Krejci, Phil Kessel (who is in Toronto), Michael Ryder, Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman. The team as a whole has dropped by nearly a goal a game. Last year was a combination of career seasons and good luck that gave the Bruins the strong offence that they had. This season has had weaker seasons and worse luck. Probably the “true” Boston offence should fall in between the two extremes. They are neither as good as last year nor as poor as this year.
Team defence in Boston has not taken a significant hit. Goals against are up slightly, but that can largely be explained by less outstanding goaltending. Led by Zdeno Chara, the Boston defence is very good in their own zone. They have a solid group of defensive forwards and are well coached. This has been the most repeatable part of the Bruins team from year to year.
Boston was lucky to win the East Conference last year. They were not as good as traditional conference champions. In order to repeat at that level, they would require Vezina Trophy level goaltending and the repeat of career years for several key forwards. This has not happened. As a result, Boston has slipped in the standings. They have fallen further than one might have expected. Likely they will show that they are better than an 11th place team and find themselves in the playoffs when the season ends. The Boston Bruins are an example of how a team can overachieve given good luck one year and then underachieve the next year with largely the same roster. Phil Kessel`s departure to Toronto is the major change from year to year.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: Boston+Bruins, Marc+Savard, Patrice+Bergeron, Phil+Kessel, Tim+Thomas, Zdeno+Chara,
Comments
It has nothing to do with goaltending! The Bruins average one goal per game. You don’t win alot of games that way. The Bruins problems are:
1. Trading Kessel (STUPID MOVE for the short term anyway)
2. Dennis Wideman (has put up no points while being horrible defensively)
3. David Krejci (plays like a journeyman instead of a 70 point guy)
4. Clod Julien (coaches defense on a team that needs to figure out how to score)
5. Marc Savard (has missed 75% of the season so far)
Posted by kevin from boston on 02/01/10 at 03:10 PM ET
Boston averages 2.34 goals per game. That is far more than 1 goal per game.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 02/01/10 at 03:15 PM ET
Show me a team who can consitently keep their goals against down and I’ll show you a contender year in and year out. Can you say New Jersey
Posted by John Stoddart from Hespeler on 02/02/10 at 06:09 PM ET
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The problem is that the Boston Bruins G.M. didn’t replace the points that they lost with Kessel. The Bruins GM.Peter C. used the argument that Sturm, Wheeler, Ryder, Bergy were going to pick up the slack left by Kessel, that was not the case and not a good move to do nothing. The fact remains that Kessel is an elite player Sturm, Wheeler, Ryder are not.
Posted by goon from Grand Forks, ND on 02/01/10 at 01:53 PM ET