Hockey Fan Forums banner

Quiet B’s hope to make noise: A look at how the team stands after staying clear

847 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  panoo 
#1 ·
Quiet B’s hope to make noise: A look at how the team stands after staying clear of free-agent frenzy
By Stephen Harris
Boston Herald Sports Reporter
Monday, July 9, 2007 - Updated: 06:00 AM EST


A valid assessment of what the Bruins [team stats] have done can’t be made until November or December -- when the NHL standings will tell us all we need to know.

But management deserves credit this summer for finally showing some patience, a basic belief in its incumbent players -- and not trying to rebuild the roster overnight. Obviously, the approach taken the last two offseasons did not work.

For two years we were reminded that throwing together a patchwork team rarely works, as we watched a dubious parade of players, including Travis Green, Brad Isbister, Brian Leetch, Shawn McEachern, Ian Moran, Eric Nickulas, Alex Zhamnov, Marty Reasoner, Josh Langfeld, Mariusz Czerkawski, Wade Brookbank, Nathan Dempsey, Petr Tenkrat, Jason York and many more shuffle in and out of town. Few if any delivered as advertised, but they did provide clear evidence that a legitimate team rarely gets built simply by plugging in new parts here and there. Good teams need time to mesh and grow, and Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli is betting -- with his job quite possibly on the line -- that the team assembled during the last year will play well in 2007-08.

Obviously, it can’t play much more poorly than it did last season, when the B’s finished 13th in the East, 16 points out of eighth, scoring the third-fewest goals in the conference and allowing the second-most goals.

But the team that finished last season 5-15-2 in the final 22 games will be very close to the same club that will open the coming campaign.

The likely depth chart:

CENTER

SET: Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel [stats], Mark Mowers.

HOPEFULS: David Krejci, Ben Walter, Zach Hamill

ANALYSIS: The strongest and deepest position on the team, assuming that Savard keeps pace with his last two seasons of 97 and 96 points -- and that the 21-year-old Bergeron and 19-year-old Kessel take natural maturation steps forward.

RIGHT WING

SET: Glen Murray, Brandon Bochenski, Chuck Kobasew, Shean Donovan, Shawn Thornton.

HOPEFUL: Martins Karsums

ANALYSIS: Even if Murray is not traded, not a terribly strong group. The one-dimensional Bochenski displayed some scoring touch, but Kobasew didn’t show much of anything in his 10 games as a Bruin. Donovan was a bit of a disappointment, while Thornton should provide some needed toughness -- but likely not enough to make B’s fans stop questioning why the team dumped maybe the most dangerous fighter in hockey, Colton Orr, for nothing a few years ago.

LEFT WING

SET: Marco Sturm, P.J. Axelsson, Stanislav Chistov, Jeremy Reich (UFA)

ANALYSIS: Again, not an overly impressive group. Sturm is a useful 25-30 goal guy, Axelsson a defensive whiz who was asked by Dave Lewis to perform as a first-liner. Chistov (with a bad knee) did little.

DEFENSE

SET: Andrew Alberts, Zdeno Chara, Andrew Ference, Aaron Ward, Dennis Wideman

HOPEFUL: Matt Lashoff, Jonathan Sigalet, Mark Stuart, Bobby Allen (UFA).

ANALYSIS: On paper in July, the weak link of the team. There’s Chara, required to play the minutes and role of a No. 1 defenseman, whether he fits that role or not. And after that, who is the No. 2 guy? Ference? He’s a 5-foot-10 “defensive defenseman” who had 3-12-15 in 80 games last year and has produced 102 points in 413 career games. Think of classic No. 2 D-men on good teams and you have the likes of Anaheim’s Chris Pronger (59 points), Dallas’ Philippe Boucher (51) and former Red Wing Mathieu Schneider (52), now with Anaheim.

FULL STORY
 
See less See more
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top