I didn't see the hit which prompted Boynton to take on Lucic, but I was filled with admiration for his doing so. That's the kind of team and personal spirit this team could use a lot more of.
We're talking Lucic here, not exactly a lightweight. The entire fight I was thinking "hold on to him, don't throw a punch, duck a lot"...and thankfully Boynton didn't listen to me.
My only question: Much as I like the guy, where was Belak? Wouldn't you have loved to see him make a suggestion to Lucic?
Or did he do so and I didn't notice? Could be, too, that DeBoer was trying to get back in the game? But there's no denying IMO that the Panthers played a lot harder and faster after the Boynton fight than before it.
Belak plays 1 shift some games. He barely ever gets over 1:30 TOI.
If anything I hope it shows Olesz that the team isn't much different without him. Belak played 2:30 in place of Rusty last night. I hope the message gets through to him.
Bruins fan here,I hated to see that fight as Boynton was a true stand up guy during his time in Boston. He always stood up for teammates and most times he was victorious. I like Terry O'Reilly's age old quote; "Winning a fight is great,but showing up is much more important". Boynton showed up.
Bruins fan here,I hated to see that fight as Boynton was a true stand up guy during his time in Boston. He always stood up for teammates and most times he was victorious. I like Terry O'Reilly's age old quote; "Winning a fight is great,but showing up is much more important". Boynton showed up.
Ditto for me. Boynton's pretty tough, but he's not in Lucic's weight class. Takes a lot of guts. Lucic was quoted in the Herald today saying he essentially let up at the end there out of respect for Boynton. Wonder if Steve Ott was watching.
I was at the game with a Boynton Bruins jersey on and a Lucic Bruins t-shirt underneath. Yeah, that fight was fun for me. The guys behind me said hey your boy got his butt kicked, I said yeah, by my other boy. And lifted the back of my shirt. I loved Nick when he was a Bruin for that very reason. He brings it everynight. He may not be the best, fastest defenseman out there, but he's honest and will stick up for his teammates, no matter who he has to take on. He knew he wasn't going to beat Lucic, but at that time, the Panthers needed a spark. Nick tried to give it to them. Huge props.
BTW...the line from Lucic was "He’s an honest guy,” said Lucic. “He didn’t deserve to get beat up." Even Lucic knows why Boynton took him on.
I was at the game with a Boynton Bruins jersey on and a Lucic Bruins t-shirt underneath. Yeah, that fight was fun for me. The guys behind me said hey your boy got his butt kicked, I said yeah, by my other boy. And lifted the back of my shirt. I loved Nick when he was a Bruin for that very reason. He brings it everynight. He may not be the best, fastest defenseman out there, but he's honest and will stick up for his teammates, no matter who he has to take on. He knew he wasn't going to beat Lucic, but at that time, the Panthers needed a spark. Nick tried to give it to them. Huge props.
BTW...the line from Lucic was "He’s an honest guy,” said Lucic. “He didn’t deserve to get beat up." Even Lucic knows why Boynton took him on.
That's cool. I'm really glad Boynton's here, and that was a great quote by Lucic. Boynton's been a a lot more than we expected.
__________________ Gudbranson fanboy and defender for liiiiiife!
I didn't see the hit which prompted Boynton to take on Lucic, but I was filled with admiration for his doing so. That's the kind of team and personal spirit this team could use a lot more of.
We're talking Lucic here, not exactly a lightweight. The entire fight I was thinking "hold on to him, don't throw a punch, duck a lot"...and thankfully Boynton didn't listen to me.
My only question: Much as I like the guy, where was Belak? Wouldn't you have loved to see him make a suggestion to Lucic?
Or did he do so and I didn't notice? Could be, too, that DeBoer was trying to get back in the game? But there's no denying IMO that the Panthers played a lot harder and faster after the Boynton fight than before it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gocatsgo538
Belak plays 1 shift some games. He barely ever gets over 1:30 TOI.
And that's why Belak might have been waived. They might feel that Boynton is all they need. Boynton was out on the ice when Lucic hit Frolik, which prompted the fight, he plays a lot. Belak was on the bench where he is for all but a couple minutes a game. He was out there the next shift, but what good does that do, Lucic was already back on the bench, and by the time he goes back out Belak would be gone. Now Boynton isn't an ideal matchup against Lucic, Lucic is a rare case of a good player/pest/almost a true heavyweight. He's a one of a kind player. But Boynton can take on the Ruutu's, Neil's, Averys, etc. Even Campbell can take on Ruutu and Avery. When a pest tries to stir things up and take some liberties, Boynton can take him on. Having Belak is useless if he isn't going to play at least 5-7 minutes a game. No one's going to be scared of Belak when he sits on the bench the whole game, and the other team knows it.
Toronto, Ottawa, and Detroit don't have heavies. They don't get pushed around.
People in Toronto are screaming bloody murder for an enforcer--what's his name isn't cutting it and Mayers isn't scaring anyone.
Good point about Detroit and Ottawa, though. But look where Ottawa is (but then, you're just going to say, look where Detroit is, aren't you? )
Damn right. But Ottawa being bad doesn't really have anything to do with them not having an enforcer. They don't get pushed around. Neither do the Islanders, Dallas, Columbus. None of them have heavies. Like I said, heavies only fight with other heavies, and most of them aren't pests. You can survive without a heavy. We have the guys who can take care of pests.
OK, then how about we get rid of some of the softies?
Like Madhatter said, Belak is one of the few guys who are expendable, cheap, and desirable. If you put Peltonen or Dvorak on waivers, nobody is going to claim them. Murphy was already put on waivers, nobody wanted him. McLean I'm disappointed in, but he still has some offensive potential, and we need all the goals we can get.
I'm trying to look at the logic of this. If, as you wrote (and I have no doubt that you are corrrect) that various players would be unwanted by all the other teams if waived...and we're a last place team, then...um....
I'm trying to look at the logic of this. If, as you wrote (and I have no doubt that you are corrrect) that various players would be unwanted by all the other teams if waived...and we're a last place team, then...um....
Exactly. We don't have a lot of options. It's better to do this than to just sit there and do nothing and let the lazy players have free reign if that is truly the case, which I can't believe is what a lot of people seem to want(not saying you, as you are new to the team).
I have to say I hated watching Boynton get beat up like that. To me it really didn't wake the merry feeling of "props to Boynton", but the sad feeling of the state of the whole organization. There Boynton was, helpless, hanging onto dear life, taking the puches with his face in blood, and never getting a shot. That's our beloved Panthers for you.
Also, it's just embarrasing that we have had to go through this for years now with Monty, who got his ass whooped by anybody, not just fighters. When Belak leaves we will get to experience this again. This is the only thing I don't like about in the waiving of Belak.
I have to say I hated watching Boynton get beat up like that. To me it really didn't wake the merry feeling of "props to Boynton", but the sad feeling of the state of the whole organization. There Boynton was, helpless, hanging onto dear life, taking the puches with his face in blood, and never getting a shot. That's our beloved Panthers for you.
Also, it's just embarrasing that we have had to go through this for years now with Monty, who got his ass whooped by anybody, not just fighters. When Belak leaves we will get to experience this again. This is the only thing I don't like about in the waiving of Belak.
Again, I disagree. Mosts pests aren't in the heavyweight class. Lucic is an extremely rare exception, he's a good player/pest/can fight heavyweights. Belak isn't going to deter any pests from taking liberties on our team. Pests don't fight enforcers. We got pushed around for years because we were a weak soft team. Now we have guys like Boynton and Campbell who can fight the pests and win. And we have Glass in the minors who beat Avery and Neil last year in fights. And we have other tough physical players who can stand up for themselves if they feel like it. Most heavyweights only fight eachother in order to get their teams going, they don't deter pests.
And if you're not going to play Belak, then he becomes virtually useless. DeBoer wasn't playing him, didn't seem too impressed by him. So it's really not a loss at all to get rid of him.
Bruin's fan here....Nick was my favorite defenseman when he was on the B's . When Joe Thornton was traded some of us (STH) thought Nick might be wearing the "C". We were calling him Captain Nick.
I saw quite a few Bruin's fans with Boynton jerseys on the other night. Most B's fans were happy to see Nick and respect all he brings to the game.
Great guy. Plays with more heart than most players.
we need more players like boynton on this team and we have a few. mccabe, ballard, basically our whole D with the exception of bouw. forwards are the problem!!! maybe weiss, booth, campbell, that's about it. our forwards are so poor!!!!!!
The guys behind me said hey your boy got his butt kicked, I said yeah, by my other boy. And lifted the back of my shirt. I loved Nick when he was a Bruin for that very reason. He brings it everynight. He may not be the best, fastest defenseman out there, but he's honest and will stick up for his teammates, no matter who he has to take on. He knew he wasn't going to beat Lucic, but at that time, the Panthers needed a spark. Nick tried to give it to them. Huge props. 
)
But Ottawa being bad doesn't really have anything to do with them not having an enforcer. They don't get pushed around. Neither do the Islanders, Dallas, Columbus. None of them have heavies. Like I said, heavies only fight with other heavies, and most of them aren't pests. You can survive without a heavy. We have the guys who can take care of pests.
