Saturday, September 03, 2005

Sports Post- Bruins

Since it's Saturday, I figured I'd have a little sports post. What does Saturday have to do with sports, you ask? Well, I don't know, but Saturday is a good sports day.

It's funny being a sports fan of our New England teams. I've never had it so nice. The Patriots are killing everyone and the Red Sox won a World Series. I don't care too much about the Celtics (the NBA bores me these days) and now I just need my beloved Bruins to come through. The Bruins have been my favorite team in my favorite sport for as long as I can remember, and they last won the Cup in 1972...two years before I was born. I've never been a fan of their owner, Jeremy Jacobs, but with a salary cap in place his miserly ways should no longer be a prohibitive factor in their success.

As for the Bruins, I expect Joe Thornton to have a big year, especially in the playoffs. I was convinced that he was going to be huge in the playoffs last time they played, but then he suffered torn rib cartilage late in the season which severely limited his ability to perform.

Assessing the Bruins for this season:

For as long as I can remember, the Bruins have always lacked a solid second line. This year, that problem appears to be solved. Assuming they sign Andrew Raycroft, the team looks pretty good in the net and on the forward lines. It's the defense that is a little scary. Assuming they sign Nick Boynton, their defense will look something like this:

Boynton - Leetch
Gill - Slegr
Which leaves
Moran, Girard, Stuart, and Jurcina to fill out the last two slots...oh boy.

There's not much there to stop guys from going to the net is there? Sure Gill is big, but he has always seemed hesitant to use his size to full advantage. Boynton is as tough as they come, but I'm not sure his size really scares any forwards on the opposing teams. He's their best d-man, but is that enough? Leetch is an okay addition (though probably overpaid) but his best days are more than likely in the past. I was never terribly impressed with Girard, though if they enforce the new rules, Girard, assuming he's fully recovered, might create a lot of offense for the team. It seems as though the Bruins are hoping Stuart or Jurcina will be able to step up, and perhaps Moran and Girard will be fighting it out for the last spot.

As far as that is concerned, I like to pick a player each year at camp, a guy I never heard of, as , (to borrow Michael Holley's Phrase) "my guy." The best "my guy" I ever picked was PJ Axelsson. Ivan Huml was the most disappointing, though he was "my guy" with the caveat that he add some size and strength, which he apparently never has. Last year, "my guy" was Milan Jurcina. Love his size, skating and the way he takes the body. Word has it though, that he needs to use his size more and play tougher. We'll see, but I'm hoping he steps up. If he and Stuart (who most people seem to be pretty high on) come through, it could make things interesting. Still, the defense has to have you a little concerned, no?

Lineup should look something like this:

Thornton centering Murray and Isbister
Zhamnov with Samsonov and Bergeron (Finally! A good second line!)
Scatchard with Axelsson and McEachern
Green with Boyes Fitzgerald and perhaps Orr

Toivonen and Raycroft in goal.

Should be a decent team, assuming the defense is halfway decent.

2 Comments:

Blogger Len said...

Your blogging again! Go Sox!

5:08 PM  
Blogger Brian said...

Hopefully it'll last a little longer than last time...

11:16 PM  

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