Hey guys, I was just looking at standings in years past and came across the 08-09 season. I forgot how dominant you guys were with 116 points and the league's best goal differential by far, even better than this year's. I also went back to 07-08 and remembered that you guys were an 8 seed by 2 points. Not only that you had a negative goal differential. This reminds me of the turn around the Rangers have had. We don't have nearly as good of an offense as you guys did. However, we were also barely an 8 seed last year. In fact we beat out the Canes in both of our respective years largely due to the shootout. So I was wondering a couple of things, what was the cause of the huge change? Were there key additions to the team (like Richards for us) or did key young players improve their game (most notably McDonagh for us). Also what happened in the conference semis against Carolina? One of my worries is that the Rangers aren't experienced enough to go far. Was that a problem with that Bruins team? Thanks for the help.
Hey guys, I was just looking at standings in years past and came across the 08-09 season. I forgot how dominant you guys were with 116 points and the league's best goal differential by far, even better than this year's. I also went back to 07-08 and remembered that you guys were an 8 seed by 2 points. Not only that you had a negative goal differential. This reminds me of the turn around the Rangers have had. We don't have nearly as good of an offense as you guys did. However, we were also barely an 8 seed last year. In fact we beat out the Canes in both of our respective years largely due to the shootout. So I was wondering a couple of things, what was the cause of the huge change? Were there key additions to the team (like Richards for us) or did key young players improve their game (most notably McDonagh for us). Also what happened in the conference semis against Carolina? One of my worries is that the Rangers aren't experienced enough to go far. Was that a problem with that Bruins team? Thanks for the help.
The fatal flaw vs Carolina that year was their inability to skate the puck out of their own end. They forchecked the Bruins to death. Congrats on a great season, and on Torts calling out the Pens.
We had a young core we'd brought up starting really in the 05-06 campaign, rebuilding around Patrice. We added pieces like Chara, Savard, Kessel, Thomas, Krejci, and Lucic over the next 2 years and let them develop in place. We came out of the 07-08 playoff loss to the Canadiens with more positives than negatives and then added more talent in the offseason. In 08-09, they came into their own.
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Were there key additions to the team (like Richards for us) or did key young players improve their game (most notably McDonagh for us).
Both. We added Chara and Savard, and kids like Lucic, Kessel and Krejci also made good for the team and aided the breakout in 08-09.
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Also what happened in the conference semis against Carolina?
In a word? Cam Ward happened. The squad was also still a bit too young to sustain a deep run and we didn't have all the defensive depth we needed.
The fatal flaw vs Carolina that year was their inability to skate the puck out of their own end. They forchecked the Bruins to death. Congrats on a great season, and on Torts calling out the Pens.
Thanks. I LOVED hearing that from Torts. I think that's what most fans think and some say. You never hear it from the coach ever.
BTW, Chara came aboard in 08-09? I guess that would explain it. I thought he came a lot earlier than that though.
Also I'd say that yes the inexperience was a factor in the Bruins losing to Carolina.
The Bruins swept Montreal and then had a long layoff....Then they beat Carolina handily in Game 1 and Carolina came back and took the next 3 and the Bruins had no idea how to respond.
Let me be clear that when I say "defensive depth" I don't mean bodies. Bodies we had. What I mean is middle pairing depth. Our D was pretty much Chara, Ference and Wideman. The rest of the defensive corps consisted of guys playing over their heads. We had 4 bottom pairing defensemen in our top 6 since you have to count the injured version of Ference as a bottom pairing guy.
When Claude has no choice but to force-feed you a middle pairing of Dennis Wideman and Matt Hunwick, you have problems in the middle of your defensive depth chart.
Thankfully the emergence of Boychuk and the acquisition of Seidenberg went a long way towards solving those problems, and the health of Ference helps a lot as well.
Kessel shredded his rotator cuff against Columbus sometime in February or March, and Krejci basically had a dislocated hip. Those were major blows to the offense come playoff time. The breakout and puck-moving from the defense drastically declined when Hunwick's spleen blew up against Montreal, which is odd because he hasn't been good at all since. It was night and day when he got hurt. Ference missed most of the playoffs too, so our D core had to rely on Montador and Hnidy.
But still, the 09 series against Carolina hurt me more than the 2010 collapse to the Flyers. now that we won in 2011 I can sort of look back to it without getting too depressed, I still won't watch replays of the Walker goal, I don't want to see it again.
We easily could've won that series. Game 1, we ran them out of the building and it looked like we wouldn't break a sweat in eliminating them. In the game that went to OT in Raleigh(Game 4 I think), Lucic had Ward absolutely beat point blank and hit the post. Jokinen took the puck back and scored seconds later. Ward flat out robbed game 2, Game 3 the team was so flat, and the two games they lost in OT had us making comebacks and getting momentum back before losing. The series ended on a bad bounce off Thomas' blocker from a bad angle shot that went right to Walker in the slot. We were starting to carry play in that OT too. Just a shame.
Would they have beaten the Pens in the ECF? In retrospect, we can't say that. If they somehow beat Pittsburgh, then they'd have had a real hard time with Detroit in the finals. By that point of the playoffs, they weren't as strong as their regular season record and the #1 seed indicated, but you can't say they definitively would've been rolled over either. They would've had a fair shot at both of those series', and the ECF would've been a back and forth battle that probably would've gone to 7, rather than the absolute drubbing in 4 that Pittsburgh gave the Canes.
The fact that Walker scored that goal kills me too, since Colin Campbell completely circumvented the rules by letting him off the hook for his automatic suspension after suckerpunching Ward in the final minutes of game 5. Contrary to popular belief, his suspension only would've affected game 6, which the Bruins won anyway, and he'd have been available for game 7, but it just felt like absolute injustice at the time that the guy who suckerpunched our team's true leader at the time and not only was not punished, but actually had an automatic punishment rescinded, ended up putting the dagger in in game 7.
Pittsburgh would have flattened us. We weren't ready to carry deep into the playoffs. Didn't have the experience and savvy up front, didn't have the talent on the backend, and even Thomas needed a little more time to perfect his style before a deep run was going to be happening.
Hey guys, I was just looking at standings in years past and came across the 08-09 season. I forgot how dominant you guys were with 116 points and the league's best goal differential by far, even better than this year's. I also went back to 07-08 and remembered that you guys were an 8 seed by 2 points. Not only that you had a negative goal differential. This reminds me of the turn around the Rangers have had. We don't have nearly as good of an offense as you guys did. However, we were also barely an 8 seed last year. In fact we beat out the Canes in both of our respective years largely due to the shootout. So I was wondering a couple of things, what was the cause of the huge change? Were there key additions to the team (like Richards for us) or did key young players improve their game (most notably McDonagh for us). Also what happened in the conference semis against Carolina? One of my worries is that the Rangers aren't experienced enough to go far. Was that a problem with that Bruins team? Thanks for the help.
They were a tight defensive team that couldn't score much in '07-08. Most of the improvement in '08-09 came from the offense. They signed Ryder as a UFA and they got Wheeler to sign as a freebie. Krejci went from a rookie trying to find his game in '07-08 to a breakout season in '08-09 where he put up 73 points and basically produced like a 1st line. Out of nowhere they added a line that had borderline 1st line production. Add a breakout season from Phil Kessel who worked very well the ramp up Savard and the return of Patrice Bergeron (who they didn't have in '07-08, granted he was a shadow of himself). They went from a 0-1 line team to having 2 or 3 dangerous scoring lines. That was a fun year until the Carolina series.
There are some good parallels between that team and this uear's rangers. But tbh I think the rangers are more like this years bruins team, the main differences being scoring depth and playoff experience
There are some good parallels between that team and this uear's rangers. But tbh I think the rangers are more like this years bruins team, the main differences being scoring depth and playoff experience
... and the fact that this year's Lundqvist is more seasoned than 08-09 Thomas. Thomas was a second year player that year and was still figuring some things out. It bit him a couple times in the Carolina series
Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder was our third line for more of the season than it wasn't
At least that's the way I remember it.
They started out as the 3rd line, but when people realized how good Krejci was I think most people considered them the second line. Bergeron was recovering from his concussion and became more of a defensive shutdown player. It basically doesn't matter which line was 2nd or 3rd as they were both great and probably had similar ice time.
Thanks. I LOVED hearing that from Torts. I think that's what most fans think and some say. You never hear it from the coach ever.
BTW, Chara came aboard in 08-09? I guess that would explain it. I thought he came a lot earlier than that though.
Chara signed on the first day of free agency leading into 06-07 season (along with Savard). One season after the lockout. That has to be the franchises best offseason in terms of signing free agents, right? For that matter, is Chara the single greatest free agent the Bruins ever signed?
They started out as the 3rd line, but when people realized how good Krejci was I think most people considered them the second line. Bergeron was recovering from his concussion and became more of a defensive shutdown player. It basically doesn't matter which line was 2nd or 3rd as they were both great and probably had similar ice time.
If I remember correctly, each line was averaging 19, 18, and 17 minutes a night. There really wasn't a significant difference in time on ice to justify what was truly the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd line.
There are some good parallels between that team and this uear's rangers. But tbh I think the rangers are more like this years bruins team, the main differences being scoring depth and playoff experience
Well we're hoping to be like last year's Bruins team, we even got the PP down pat.
Well we're hoping to be like last year's Bruins team, we even got the PP down pat.
I think the big things that differentiate the two, is that the Rangers have more explosive front-line talent, while the Bruins had already suffered the heartbreaking losses. The two things balance out IMO and the Rangers are my pick to win the Cup this year.
Don't worry about the powerplay... Five on five is the most important thing.
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Originally Posted by MattAndersonBTR
Then you can't be like last year's Bruins .
He's being facetious dude... The Rangers don't have a very good powerplay this season.
I think the big things that differentiate the two, is that the Rangers have more explosive front-line talent, while the Bruins had already suffered the heartbreaking losses. The two things balance out IMO and the Rangers are my pick to win the Cup this year.
Don't worry about the powerplay... Five on five is the most important thing.
He's being facetious dude... The Rangers don't have a very good powerplay this season.
Rangers lose in the first round. Someone yawns on Gaborik and he'll have a torn ACL.
I thought he came a lot earlier than that though.
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