Was Boston Bruins Season a Success?

Was Boston Bruins Season a Success?

when they tied it up I knew they were dead I it felt like they were dead like I thought they played really well in the game I thought they had a lot of energy it was good to have marshan back I thought he was good in the game but their in ability again to clear pucks at times and with a freaking under two minutes left get out of the goalie damn way to lose to lose the way the goal went in comparative to how many really good shots they had on him that he stopped I’m not putting that on SW like it’s it’s a kick in the nuts it felt like a kick in the nuts they should have advanced that team was better mhm you have them at home like that game six and you said it Friday game six is harder than game seven absolutely they had many opportunities to win that game how many guys miss shots how much poock Miss they had they had legitimate opportunities to score in that game and they couldn’t I don’t know what was like you squeezing it again but damn it there should be a game seven there should have been a game seven now I don’t I’m not saying he should have advanced but they should have advanced they played well enough I thought to get to game seven and the way that one ended it wasn’t like it’s a two-on-one freaking Breakaway you know or you you can’t kill a kill a penalty they’re not on the they’re not on the power play yeah listen it just sucked the Bruins problem way you lost in this series was a lack of scoring now that’s oversimplifying it because it’s a couple of things one was they weren’t generating chances over long stretches in the middle of the series and when they got to the end like they did on Friday night they had opportunities right they did they had chances they actually created uh 16 High danger scoring chances by the metrics right I like that yeah they’re only able to finish on one of them against a goalie who I think is less than stellar and so if it wasn’t a lack of generating opportunities it was a lack of finishing and they were outshot in the series they you know didn’t create as many opportunities for themselves as they needed they couldn’t put the puck in the net it was a thing that was going to sync them in this series from the start it was a thing that was going to eventually s sync them in these playoffs you can’t score two or fewer goals five straight games and expect to push this to seven or have a comeback and get out of this series and they were not the better team Florida was the better team we knew that going in yeah the way it ended though sucked that’s what a heartbreaking to go it never ends in a good way we’ve talked about this no but the thing I can’t shake from the end of this is that swayan didn’t deserve that he took that hard you could tell you could tell on the ice when it happened you could certainly tell on the ice after the game had come to an end it was a look he gave him like you kidding me right two minutes you’re going to stand there in front of me yeah I can’t see not only that though I mean that puck had eyes man leg right I mean so I I I don’t I don’t think it was a bad awful screen or it was bad play by swim none of that I don’t think any of that applies I think it’s one of those like fluky oh my god did that find its way in he stops 19 of 20 those you know why you just put the puck on that and that happens that’s what happens when you again was that one of those quality chances no by definition of Don Sweeney probably not but look what happens when you just continue to throw the puck on net things happen the puck Finds Its way in and it did on that one and San thought it was you know it it just from his body language you’re thinking oh God Swan thinks this is like on him he thinks it’s his fault because he typically will stop that right he’s just so good he took it hard and and I I felt I feel bad for him I feel sad for Jeremy Swan for the way this came to an end because he was so good and he helped his team immensely in the playoffs and to have it come to an end like that that’s going to sit and and just I don’t know take up real estate in his brain for the entire off season that should motivate him that should make him want to work but like see I mean you bring up Swan and I agree with you on this point like going into it like yeah we we we like sing we knew he was good but we had the whole goalie debate of should go 1357 and A rad I feel so much better about Swan coming out of this even after defeat like he’s your goalie of the future and he’s going to get paid like it just get over it get ready get ready for it he’s your guy moving forward like he proved he could hang that this is his team that I’m your goal in on every night basis yeah I don’t need to blow here and there but I’m your guy going forward there’s no debate the Panthers dominated the last couple of periods of this game and it just would have been better if they had scored earlier you came out ready if they had scored with you know if they had scored three minutes into the third period I would feel better about it it wouldn’t be as heartbreaking it wouldn’t bead even if it were the same exact goal God but even when you pulled the goalie like the the chance makoy had down underneath there was a chance where two were stuffed and I got off the couch I thought I got in and it was left of the net like you had you almost had better legitimate chances to score with your goalie pulled in desperation because yeah that point you’re letting everything Fly and You’re just busting your ass get to the net they had two legitimate chances there at the end where I held my breath like you thought one was that sucker was going to give one up and he didn’t and he didn’t that stupid handshake line I’m not a fan of that you guys hate each other the whole series you talk about hurting people taking your guy out this guy out they shake hands oh hey great series thanks a lot of respect for you now you’re H goalie jackasses G see a fight right there I like Lucha I’m gonna I’m gonna F you I’m gonna beat your effing head in like give me that the go line in in the handshake line need some of that even though it’s not going to happen here we are so yay I wanted the Rangers I wanted the Knicks I wanted advance I didn’t get any of it either yuck how about that offseason huh how about it ceue up the music again T-Bone hit it have it ready hate that song have it ready let me ask this question what was this a successful year for the Bruins yes yep I don’t pause yes I think they even know that like last year it’s like pull the rug out from under me punch me in the nuts like we we choked no expectations where this team was the lack of cap room the players that you lost the playoff players that you lost and you went further than they did you took them to game six was some of the injuries you had and some of the questions yeah successful year to me yeah yeah I would just go back to uh where we were when we were talking about this team last July if we could if we could go back to last July after the Bruins had choked and had fallen apart in the playoffs and uh you eventually found out that Cree was done and that berson was done and then the Bruins go out in free agency and they sign Milan Luchi for one year and a million bucks they go out and sign van rdik for one year and a million bucks they go out and get Kevin shaton Kirk for a year and a million bucks uh they sign Morgan geeky right I mean you look at those signings last July and you say oh God this team is so effed they are just trying to fill out a roster with old guys at a million dollars a year what what’s happening with this team I don’t know and I I want to thank Ty Anderson for coming in for with with us here on a weekly basis throughout this stretch here but I remember him being on a I don’t know which show it was maybe I don’t think it was feler M it may have been Fred friends when he said said we you cannot fill out a team right now if there was a game tomorrow you can’t compete because monetarily you cannot fill out a team he said they they’re they’re they’re in trouble Patrick Brown got signed he didn’t even make it out of training camp yeah right I mean they had all these signings that just you looked that and you were so unimpressed with and you knew that it was a result of their cap situation how they had pushed money into this year from last how they just were going all out in 2023 and what did that mean for 2024 big step back traded Taylor hole that too yeah another clear up to 6 million a deduction unable to move one of the couldn’t move all Mark and so I just think you go back to that and think of your expectations then they obviously changed your expectations when the season began and they were hot out of the gate and they got off to a great start and I think they were playing over what they were as a roster and by the end I think their points total didn’t truly represent the talent on the roster that they had sort of overachieved in the regular season and I thought a fair expectation for them at that point again changing expectations was get out of the first round you got a good match up against Toronto get out of the first round they did it but I also think despite all of our problems with them in this series with Florida and all the you know critiques of not being able to clear the puck or not being able to generate enough chances this was not a blowout this was not a lopsided series they were in every single game they competed against a team that they didn’t compete against last year really fair they competed here and they came out on the wrong end of it but I think that was the expectations so getting through a round and competing in the second series against a good Florida team I think it’s a good year for them now I don’t know what that means for next year or what this roster looks like and we we’ll certainly get into it but on the whole I I think it’d be really hard to say you’re disappointed with the end result big picture of this Bruins team this year that would would not be fair to do that to to categorize in any other way and you we we’ve poked fun at their coach throughout this series and he’s a bit of a dick and sort of embellishes some things but like what he said after the game I would pay to watch these two teams play hockey every day because of the high-end um skill scoring chances that are generated and also the violence that both teams play with and that mixture just makes you want to watch these two teams play can’t do it they they die they wear each other out but he was right hey if you like that check out more videos from Zak and Bertrand right here for more Bruins analysis and opinion hit this playlist and for all the latest from the sportsub download the app at 985 asport hub.com

Scott Zolak, Marc Bertrand and Tim McKone reflect on the Boston Bruins’ 2023-24 season.

Thumbnail Image Courtesy of USA Today Sports (Bob DeChiara)