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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
U Mad brah?
First of all, scoring chances and shots on goal is NOT all there is to puck possession. There is much more to this.
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Shots towards the net are a useful proxy for puck possession. If you're doing all the shooting, clearly the other team doesn't have the puck while you're doing that. And there's only so much time in a game to take shots in. If the other team isn't taking shots, then it's exceedingly unlikely they have the puck, and even if they do, then they aren't doing anything terribly useful with it now are they?
Metrics such as shots towards the net help us find times when people think one team dominates puck possession because they have a reputation and because they think size is a huge component of it, rather than because it actually happens.
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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
In overtime, we might have outchanced them, thing is - we collapsed in a pretty pathetic way in game 4 where we were leading 3 to 1.
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You need to learn that there is sometimes a disconnect between outscoring and outplaying. Losing a two-goal lead isn't necessarily indicative of a "collapse". The Habs limited the Bruins' chances well with the two-goal lead. The Bruins had, I think it was six chances, and buried two. It happens sometimes.
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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
As for Game 7, we started the game sitting back and watching them play, because it's not there in our own players to engage things and dictate the pace of the game.
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The Habs usually DO dictate the pace of the game and control the puck more often than not. However, in game 7, the team was so shorthanded that it became unable to do so even against a relatively pedestrian possession club like the Bruins. It shouldn't be a huge shock that if you strip a good team of some of its talent, the team won't be as good anymore.
Players make a big deal about not using injuries as excuses, but when doing analysis, failing to recognize the impact of injuries is blinding oneself.
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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
The Bruins' d-core was actually very strong, strong enough to completely shutdown Vancouver, Philadelphia, and in some way, our beloved Montreal Canadiens. You underrate this core of defensemen.
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I think you really mean "Tim Thomas was actually very strong". They didn't give the guy a Conn Smythe for nothing.
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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
They had Chara, Kaberle and Seidenberg, a very effective top-3. Even if Kaberle wasn't playing his best hockey, he's still a guy you've got to watch and who, more often than not, will make quick, sharp decisions with the puck in the neutral zone.
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Except Kaberle was terrible and played at bottom pairing level, and ended up getting bottom-pairing icetime at even strength. Leaving the Bruins with Chara (great), Seidenberg (a good second-pairing D-man), and a bunch of third-pairing folks. It's a very shallow defensive group.
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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
Boychuk is an efficient #4 d-man, Ference and McQuaid is what I'd call a perfect 3rd pairing.
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Boston used Boychuk and Ference as their second pairing. Boychuk is such a great D-man that the Avalanche, the 29th-worst team in the league, would use him as a forward. He was just about the B's worst defenseman in the playoffs at even strength. Ference and McQuaid are strictly third-pairing as well... but two of those third-pairing guys were put together and they were the Bruins' second pairing.
It's really a very mediocre defensive core. The Habs', despite the loss of Markov and Gorges, had a better unit.
You're completely overrating the Bruins. The fact that they didn't allow goals was all goaltending; their defense was weak all year.
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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
Boychuk and Kaberle are NOT 3rd pairing d-men on most teams.
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True; on most teams Boychuk is the #7.
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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
And Ference/McQuaid are at least equal to Gorges. Seriously. You severely underestimate how good these guys are if you think Gorges would be second only to Chara in their group.
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Ference equal to Gorges? Are you for real?
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Originally Posted by BrowsingForACup
To say Kostitsyn is a two-way player is completely ridiculous.
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And yet there was a reason Martin kept using it alongside Plekanec and gave that line some of the toughest matchups in the entire NHL. The guy gets absolutely no credit for what he does well.
He's no Brian Gionta, but it's not like he's paid that way either. He's capable of playing against the toughest opposition effectively, and you don't get to do that if you can't play defense.