If the Bruins have to rely on Thomas like they did last year

Are they going very far?

Though he's had a good last week, he wasn't the same during the 2nd half of the season. Can he flick the switch and be the same goaltender he was last post season?

That's pretty much what this year's run is going to depend on for them...

No, we can't use "we just ran into a hot goalie" every year in Washington anymore. Feels like it's been at least 3 years in a row of that.

Are they going very far?

Though he's had a good last week, he wasn't the same during the 2nd half of the season. Can he flick the switch and be the same goaltender he was last post season?

We have 6 20 goal scorers and play a defensive minded system. We can still go far without Thomas, it's amazing what a Cup will do for some of these guys confidence.

Thomas's recent play has me encouraged. I think he will be solid and rise to the occasion. He loves it. Peverly back in the lineup as well is a +. However, I think the B's might miss Horton and also a guy like Ryder and that might bite them. Just my only concern. But others are capable of stepping up on the B's and they aren't a team to believe others can't step up in place of guys injured. They are strong collective group. How much do they want it though? Is the motivation there like last year?

Wasn't Thomas almost singlehandedly responsible for 2 losses in the finals series vs the Canucks?

The Bruins don't rely on Thomas any more than they rely on Chara to defend or Bergeron to score. There seems to be this constant implication that the team is a bunch of no talent bums without Thomas.

Yet the B's always rate highly on depth. And they're second in the league for goals scored. Go figure.

The Bruins reliance on Thomas last year has been drastically overstated. You'd think they were the LA Kings of this year goal scoring wise the way people talk up how much they relied on him in the playoffs.

They scored 8 goals, 4 goals, 5 goals and 4 goals in their SCF's wins. They flat out blew the Canucks out in their wins. Thomas played fantastic but the rest of the team did, too. What his play really did was made games into blowouts rather than somewhat competitive wins and made the losses closer than they should've been. But when you score as many goals as the Bruins did in the playoffs, that's not an over reliance on Thomas.

The bruins need to play more consistent as a whole team if they want to go deep again

Last year they played like dog **** the first two games and had to rely on tertiary scoring to get the job done

Also, people seem to forget that Thomas didn't play well at all the first few games versus Montreal (first 4 actually) - the bruins as a team dominated Philly - and he was up and down versus the lighting (gave up bad goals game 1 and lost) his goals against we're 5-5-0-4-1-6-0 (and rolli actually outplayed him in game 7) if my memory serves me, either way he gave up a lot of goals to Tampa. It wasn't until Vancouver that he actually really turned it on and kept it that way, luckily at the same time our offense was still going so even if he gave up more goals they would have still pulled it out

The bruins can go deep again, the one thing that they are going to have a really tough time passing is a round against Pittsburgh, I'm confident against every other team inte east over seven games

Man, our offense is underrated.

You can't expect to get the same goaltending that you got last postseason. B's will need the offense to show up. I don't think they'll win the Cup, but I didn't think they'd win it last year, so I won't be surprised if they do.

Man, our offense is underrated.

Yep. And if Horton was still in the line up it would be downright scary

The two x-factors are seguin and Lucic, first, will seguin play like he is capable in his first full playoff series in a prominent role? Second, now that Lucic is healthy, will he be the power forward we know he is? If Lucic gives it his all this post season he can single handedly turn a playoff series

Thomas was off and on in the series' against Montreal and Tampa. Early on against Montreal he let in some soft back breaking goals in close games. Against Tampa he let in 4+ goals four times. He definitely made some timely saves when he had to (but so did Ryder/Chara lol). The Cup finals was by far his best performance and I think a lot of people remember that and apply it to the whole playoffs. He certainly didn't carry the team all the way through the playoffs though he played his part.

Also, people seem to forget that Thomas didn't play well at all the first few games versus Montreal (first 4 actually) - the bruins as a team dominated Philly - and he was up and down versus the lighting (gave up bad goals game 1 and lost) his goals against we're 5-5-0-4-1-6-0 (and rolli actually outplayed him in game 7) if my memory serves me, either way he gave up a lot of goals to Tampa. It wasn't until Vancouver that he actually really turned it on and kept it that way, luckily at the same time our offense was still going so even if he gave up more goals they would have still pulled it out


Ah jumped the gun on my post and didn't see yours.

Well said although I'm not sure the Canuck series would have turned out the same if Thomas didn't play as well as he did.

I think guys like Thomas, Chara, Bergeron, Marchand, Krecic, Sequin and Lucic will perform well. Will Sequin and Lucic be able to be game changers though? I'm not sure. I think they will perform like they usually do. I think it will be interesting to see how Kelly, Rolston or Pouliot do and if they can step it up. Also Seidenberg, he was huge last year. They do need to step it up as a collective group though, they have the experience to do so. I just think it's going to be more difficult than last year without a guy like Horton or Ryder (believe it or not), and and last year was no easy task. I'd rather put my money on guys like Horton and Ryder coming up big for the B's than guys like Rolston or Pouliot...I don't know. I feel like missing that pure goal scorer might hurt the B's..

Thomas was off and on in the series' against Montreal and Tampa. Early on against Montreal he let in some soft back breaking goals in close games. Against Tampa he let in 4+ goals four times. He definitely made some timely saves when he had to (but so did Ryder/Chara lol). The Cup finals was by far his best performance and I think a lot of people remember that and apply it to the whole playoffs. He certainly didn't carry the team all the way through the playoffs though he played his part.

He stole game 2 vs. Philly as well, but yeah, your post pretty much describes his performance last year. It was a complete team effort. The Bruins are less reliant on one or two specific players relative to a lot of teams in the league.

Yep. And if Horton was still in the line up it would be downright scary

The two x-factors are seguin and Lucic, first, will seguin play like he is capable in his first full playoff series in a prominent role? Second, now that Lucic is healthy, will he be the power forward we know he is? If Lucic gives it his all this post season he can single handedly turn a playoff series

Not to mention Savvy. Sigh...

I think Lucic steps up to play like he did the two playoff runs prior to last year. I'm not as confident in Segs being the key guy, but I think we have the talent to cover up for that if other guys on the team step up.

I think guys like Thomas, Chara, Bergeron, Marchand, Krecic, Sequin and Lucic will perform well. Will Sequin and Lucic be able to be game changers though? I'm not sure. I think they will perform like they usually do. I think it will be interesting to see how Kelly, Rolston or Pouliot do and if they can step it up. Also Seidenberg, he was huge last year. They do need to step it up as a collective group though, they have the experience to do so. I just think it's going to be more difficult than last year without a guy like Horton or Ryder (believe it or not), and and last year was no easy task. I'd rather put my money on guys like Horton and Ryder coming up big for the B's than guys like Rolston or Pouliot...I don't know. I feel like missing that pure goal scorer might hurt the B's..I share your fears regarding Pouliot not stepping up like a Ryder did, but it's not Rolston replacing Horton, it's Seguin who had a minor role last season and is now leading the Bruins in goals and points this season. Rolston is more like a Recchi replacement as a secondary scoring depth piece rather than a main guy like Horton/Seguin are.

One way to make up for Ryder's production would be a much better post-season from Lucic. He was playing hurt (foot and nose injuries) for a lot of last post-season and was pretty unproductive. In the past he's elevated his play in the post-season so he may be able to make up some for the loss of Ryder if Pouliot has another bad post-season.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record....

Thomas is one part of a very strong TEAM in Boston.

They were tied with Philly for the 2nd most goals per game this year. They scored the most 5 on 5 goals in the league this year. They led the league in Goal Differential, were third in 5 on 5 goal differential.

Thomas has to play well for them to go far, but they proved to have far more firepower in the other end than many of their counterparts in the East (save Pitt and Philly). If both sides of the ice are clicking, they can play with anyone. We will have to see how it goes.

The Bruins scored 81 goals in 25 playoff games last year (Vancouver had just 58). They had the #2 ranked offense this regular season. Obviously they're going struggle if Tim Thomas ***** the bed, but they can still win games with a version of him that isn't superhuman.

A lot of the weight is on him, but no.
Pros-

Seguin has exploded, he's going to be huge.
Chara has played good most of the year.
Bergeron is now basically fully recovered and will likely win the Selke.
Marchand has experience now and has improved.
Lucic is healthy and is hot coming into the playoffs, that's huge.
Krejci has matched his points from last year despite injuries and a struggle throughout the year and is hot right now.

Cons-

Horton is hurt, and chances are he won't be back. He's started skating, but come on.
Thomas was very average throughout the season.
Injuries.

If everyone plays to their potential, then we won't have to rely on him. However, in the playoffs, everyone has to at some point.

The Bruins are the best 5 on 5 team in hockey. They're just as good with Tuukka in net. Timmy rely's on his defense to clear rebounds. Timmy gave up so many goals in the Lightning series, was pretty average besides some moments v.s. Montreal, and was good v.s. the Flyers. He was lights out v.s. Vancouver, but the Bruins won because of their offense just as much as Timmy and Chara shutting down the Sedin's / Bergeron shutting down Kesler. Timmy definitely deserved the Smythe but people are underrated the Bruins forwards and defense.

Guess it's hard for some people to remember the Bruins scored 80 some odd goals in 25 playoff games last season.

No, we can't use "we just ran into a hot goalie" every year in Washington anymore. Feels like it's been at least 3 years in a row of that.

Caps management has the perfect excuse this season, taking on the Champs. Lame.

Are they going very far?

Though he's had a good last week, he wasn't the same during the 2nd half of the season. Can he flick the switch and be the same goaltender he was last post season?

He doesn't want another White House controversy, so no, he's not gonna flick the switch.

bruins are a strong team, as long as rask is up to snuff i think they can win again even if thomas isn't as good this year

The Bruins are a slightly different team this year, and it is reflected in Thomas's game.

They have more offensive power with players like Marchand and Seguin developing, while their on the back end they aren't quite as dominant, which is leaving Thomas a little more exposed when he commits to a shot.

Perhaps the Bruins will be able to score their way out of trouble, but being somewhat more compromised defensively has a bigger risk in the playoffs. Of course, one might also see the Bruins as being more balanced this season as well, and their group of forwards are all defensively sound.

As with any team, health will go a long way in determining their success, but they have as good a chance as any team in the playoffs to go all the way, because they play a style of hockey that historically has proven to be very successful in the playoffs.

They don't depend completely on Thomas, but he's obviously going to have to be strong. I'm surprised to see some Bruins fans downplaying the importance of Thomas' play last playoffs, he was the Conn Smythe winner. I think it's fair to argue that without him they don't win the cup.

They don't depend completely on Thomas, but he's obviously going to have to be strong. I'm surprised to see some Bruins fans downplaying the importance of Thomas' play last playoffs, he was the Conn Smythe winner. I think it's fair to argue that without him they don't win the cup.
Exactly. Some just look at the goals the Bruins scored in the games they won in the Finals and think that a .900 sv% goalie still would have got the job done. Like the game is played in a vacuum or something. :shakehead

No, we can't use "we just ran into a hot goalie" every year in Washington anymore. Feels like it's been at least 3 years in a row of that.
Washington and SJ have been pretty much the exact same team year after year

Thomas was off and on in the series' against Montreal and Tampa. Early on against Montreal he let in some soft back breaking goals in close games. Against Tampa he let in 4+ goals four times. He definitely made some timely saves when he had to (but so did Ryder/Chara lol). The Cup finals was by far his best performance and I think a lot of people remember that and apply it to the whole playoffs. He certainly didn't carry the team all the way through the playoffs though he played his part.

Exactly.

"Relying" on Tim Thomas took them to the Cup. And lets not kid ourselves, the Bruins are a good team. You don't go on a 12 game winning streak relying on a goalie.