Boston Bruins: Biggest Expectation for the 2015-16 Season.
Tonight the Boston Bruins kick off their 2015-16 season against the Winnipeg Jets at the TD Garden. The Bruins underwent a serious refit during the offseason. Over a third of the team was traded, moved or dropped. Now, this younger Bruins squad has some very large skates to fill.
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The Bruins will be without Dennis Seidenberg for the next month, and Zdeno Chara is questionable in the short-term. This is already leading people to ask if the Boston Bruins can make it back to the playoffs. A lot of people in Boston media have already thrown in the towel this year on the Black and Gold. Most of the pundits have the B’s finishing in ninth, tenth, or worse.
Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask thought the loss of Chara had a critical impact on them not making the playoffs last season.
“I noticed it last year how, big of a deal he actually is out there,” said Rask of the Bruins captain. “He’s such a big presence in front of that net, clearing pucks out, taking guys out and whatnot. When we lost him [last year], it was a huge blow. And I don’t think people realized how big of an influence he actually is until he was gone. We’re all hoping he gets back soon, because he’s a great part of our defense and team, inside the locker room and also on the ice.”
The biggest expectation of the 2015-16 Boston Bruins will be on the young defensemen. Will the young squad, now led by Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid be able to motivate their fellow blueliners on the ice?
The answer to that is yes. While the Bruins later preseason games ended in disappointment, we saw a flash of the Bruins defensive skill. Adam McQuaid and Kevan Miller were more than willing to drop the gloves to support their team. While they will have a lot on their plate early, the Bruins will adapt. If the team stays true to the Claude Julien system of defensive-minded hockey, most of the Bruins problems should take care of themselves.
One of the first Boston media guys to take Causeway Crowd seriously was CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty. While we disagree on certain subjects, we’re both fans of the Bruins. Like many of the Boston media, he doesn’t think the Bruins will cut the mustard this season.
“Let’s get the biggest one out of the way first, offered Haggerty. “People have asked me all summer what I think about the Bruins headed into the season after all of the roster changes this summer, and I’ve pretty much said the same thing over and over: the Bruins will be far more entertaining this season than they were last year, and I think the overall effort level will be higher and much more consistent than it was last season as well. But I don’t think this team is as talented as last year’s group of Bruins that didn’t make the playoffs and many other teams have improved.
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“Think about it: Montreal, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, both New York teams and Washington are all easily better than the Bruins to start this season, and one could make the argument that Ottawa and Columbus are as well. The Bruins will be right around the 7th or 8th spot in the Eastern Conference all season, but I don’t think they’ll do enough to get into the postseason when it all comes down to the final few games of the season. The Bruins defense just isn’t good enough to start the season, and there are no easy answers for improving it right away.”
Personally, I disagree with Haggs. The Bruins have the tools they need to enter the playoffs in a seventh or eighth seed. If the Bruins get Zdeno Chara back and he can play a full healthy season, the B’s fortunes will rebound and the B’s will be making another run for the Stanley Cup. I’m not the only one who is thinking that.
If anyone knows the kind of ability these young players have, its the guy they’re trying to help out. Tuukka Rask feels very confident in the young defensemen. He believes they’re skilled and will surprise a lot of fans and opposing teams this year.