Tired of being hung out to dry by defensive breakdowns, forwards not picking up their man and the unrelenting barrage of odd man rushes brought upon by pressing too hard on the offense.
the habs have no margin for error either. if we get the first goal, they are done. heck, they're done anyway IMO
time to send the smurfs back to their village
The Bruins scored the first goal in game 6, which would have eliminated the Habs.
You are hard on Raycroft, I think he played quite well during the playoff, at least better than Theo, most of the time.
I would blame your first line, but not the goalie.
So, the Canadiens fans in this thread are making more sense than the Bruins fans. There's no evidence, visual, statistical, or otherwise, that Potvin should have played at all this series. Didja notice this year how his GAA was about 1/2 a goal higher than Razor's. And his SV% was about 23 pts lower?
BTW, our first line is doing fine...Nylander-Samsonov-Bergeron are flat out more talented than Thornton-Murray-Knuble. It's not Joe's fault he's being put in a situation to fail while he's playing hurt.
So, the Canadiens fans in this thread are making more sense than the Bruins fans. There's no evidence, visual, statistical, or otherwise, that Potvin should have played at all this series. Didja notice this year how his GAA was about 1/2 a goal higher than Razor's. And his SV% was about 23 pts lower?
BTW, our first line is doing fine...Nylander-Samsonov-Bergeron are flat out more talented than Thornton-Murray-Knuble. It's not Joe's fault he's being put in a situation to fail while he's playing hurt.
Raycroft has not proved that he can win at any level that he's played before...and it's looking more and more as thought that's because he's afraid to win...and blaming his team mates when he loses while taking full credit when they win.
Where is Rayzor? Hmmmm...Interesting question. Let me re-phrase that question and then answer it for you. Where would we be WITHOUT Rayzor? DEFINETELY not in the playoffs and DEFINETELY not going into a game 7 with the Habs. He's been our #1 go-to guy all year. How can anyone that's watched the Bruins get down on the kid I'll never know. He's the only one aside from Samsonov/Bergeron/Nylander/McGillis that has shown CONSISTENT EFFORT this series. Rayzor is our MVP and has been all year AND IN THE PLAYOFFS SO FAR. Our guys are afraid to hit, battle for pucks, and look lethargic, lose assignments often defensively and RAYZOR is suppose to take the blame??? Holy $hit-I've never read anything on here that I've disagreed with more.
Raycroft has not proved that he can win at any level that he's played before...and it's looking more and more as thought that's because he's afraid to win...and blaming his team mates when he loses while taking full credit when they win.
I personally can't believe some of this talk. Yes, Raycroft has had two somewhat shaky games, but the blame can't be rested entirely on his shoulders. If there is a flaw with Bruins fans, I have found, it is that they **** all over their goaltenders as soon as the team starts losing. I see the trend continues.
I came over as a fan to the Bruins from LA when Potvin got traded. I was disappointed as hell when the starting job got taken away from him. But you know what? Razor has been the #1 guy all year, and he's deserved it. So now we've lost two games in a row that we really needed to win. Suddenly, after a full season of Razor being the #1 guy, you want to go with Potvin? What happens if we win? Rely on the guy who's played backup all year to the Calder candidate? Because that's what you're going to have to do if you bail on Raycroft right now. If he gets yanked the second his play comes into question, we wont be able to go back to him for the rest of the playoffs: his confidence will be crushed. He needs the team, win or lose, to show faith in his abilities. Bailing on him and putting Potvin in is going to wreck his sense that the team trusts him.
I say stay with Raycroft. There's way more that needs to be done right than just what goes on between our posts.
Rayzor hasn't been as sharp in the last two games as he was in the first few. However, he doesn't deserve to be crucified, either. His teammates have hung him out to dry pretty completely the last two games (moreso than the first four). Yep, he's let in a soft goal or two... where has the defense been helping him out? THEY HAVEN'T. Where has the offense been helping him out? Samsonov and Nylander can't do it by themselves.
It isn't only the goaltender's job to "step it up" in the playoffs. The only guys on the team that have stepped it up have been Nylander, Samsonov, Lapointe, Green, and Boynton. Guys who are supposed to be putting the puck in the net AREN'T GETTING IT DONE. Thornton is playing hurt; I'll give him some slack. Gonchar is playing hurt; I'll give him some slack too. Yes, I realize that Knuble and Murray have two goals each, but guess what? They've done very little in all their OTHER shifts. Rolston, don't even get me started on his play. These are guys who should be putting the puck behind Theodore on a regular basis, causing him to have a sunburn on the back of his neck.
Is Raycroft above being criticized? No. But he sure as hell doesn't deserve getting slapped with being the focal point of the Bruins not putting the Habs away earlier in this series, because it's the team in front of him that should be shouldering a LARGE part of that blame.
Raycroft has been a universe better than DAFOLD two years ago.
He's at least given his team a chance to win every game in the series thus far (except for maybe Game 5), which is more than you can say for the former B's playoff goalie.
Rayzor will rebound with a strong game tonight. We'll see whether his TEAMmates can do their part. After all- it is a team sport, not an individual one...
I'm not crucifying anyone here... I don't think anything but the world of Raycroft, and I think he's going to go down in history as one of the Bruins' greats. I also agree that before these last two games, he has been the team MVP. Raycroft was stealing games for us in the beginning of this series... But he isn't anymore.
Of course I blame the entire team (except for a couple). Of course I realize it's not Raycroft's fault. But I (and I'm sure everyone here) has seen a considerable drop-off in his quality of play since the Bruins had the chance to clinch. That is typical of having a rookie goaltender between the pipes in the playoffs.
I'm not off any bandwagon. I still think the Bruins will win this game. But I think they'll win out of all out team effort. Because if they don't... Raycroft isn't going to win another one for us.
I've been abstaining from posting here lately for two reasons: #1, I was very embroiled in the Western conference down the stretch, and #2, If I said what was on my mind about the Bruins, I'd be flamed outa here.
I've seen all but one of the games so far (Game 1), and Raycroft has not looked great. Okay, but if we agree on that, here's what I have to say:
It's not his fault.
It's not his fault for a supposed contender to ice such a team only to have it backstopped by a rookie goaltender. What are they expecting out of him - Patrick Roy? This is the same stupid crap going on in Colorado that's going to see the Avs get turfed in the 2nd or 3rd round too. Ice a perfectly good hockey team, except forget the goaltending.
As some here know, Raycroft is pretty well the #1 reason I follow the Bruins. Im one of his biggest fans since his Sudbury Wolves days. He had a great year, and will have a great career - but let's not put the cart before the horse. As a rookie, you're usually supposed to be 'eased' into things. Not being thrown into the fire and see if you get burned.
Isn't the entire reason they signed Felix Potvin to give them some playoff experience come the post-season?
Sure, Raycroft has been bad, but management deserves the X-mark here, not the kid.
no question, you start raycroft tonight. I think the issue is that so far the B's have played 6 games, and tonight is the first one that they can be eliminated from the playoffs. If you're planning on a long playoff run, doesn't it make sense to give your #1 goalie a break??? especially when the guy on your bench was his last team's playoff mvp the last couple of years. Andrew looks a bit worn down, but he's earned the start tonight. Potvin definitely earned a start during the series though.
Rayzor had a "bad" stretch of 11 games during the regular season, where he had only one win, I believe. He played throughout that drought. When asked if he was surprised he started every game during that stretch he answered: That's what made my season.. That's what got me going.
It's the confidence this team has in him that matters so much. A vote of confidence from Sully is great. A vote of confidence from his teammates is great.
Tonight, my friends, he hasa vote of confidence of 17,656+ fans at the Fleet and millions more watching on TV or listening on the radio. He's cool, he's smoothe, and he learnt from this series already. He'll be nervous.. heck I can barely walk straight without my knees buckling, but he's proven all season long he works well under pressure
Where is Rayzor? Hmmmm...Interesting question. Let me re-phrase that question and then answer it for you. Where would we be WITHOUT Rayzor? DEFINETELY not in the playoffs and DEFINETELY not going into a game 7 with the Habs. He's been our #1 go-to guy all year. How can anyone that's watched the Bruins get down on the kid I'll never know. He's the only one aside from Samsonov/Bergeron/Nylander/McGillis that has shown CONSISTENT EFFORT this series. Rayzor is our MVP and has been all year AND IN THE PLAYOFFS SO FAR. Our guys are afraid to hit, battle for pucks, and look lethargic, lose assignments often defensively and RAYZOR is suppose to take the blame??? Holy $hit-I've never read anything on here that I've disagreed with more.
Nylander has easily been the Bruins MVP during the playoffs. No one else comes close. He's been incredible offensively, and I watched him break up TWO 2-on-1 breaks for Montreal near the end of the last game. The only reason the Bruins have any offense right now is beacuse Nylander is playing great.
Nylander has easily been the Bruins MVP during the playoffs. No one else comes close. He's been incredible offensively, and I watched him break up TWO 2-on-1 breaks for Montreal near the end of the last game. The only reason the Bruins have any offense right now is beacuse Nylander is playing great.
It amazes me how fast Samsonov/Nylander got chemistry. After only a handful of games they look like they've played years together. The thing about that which is INCREDIBLE...We've tried what? 20 different guys to work with Samsonov? He needs just the right kind of guy to play alongside-Nylander is that guy. We absolutely NEED to resign Nylander.
