Boston Bruins: Exceeding Media Expectations

The Boston Bruins have been playing better than average hockey this season. They’re doing so well, former pessimists in the Boston media have started to offer the Black and Gold praise.

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If you live in the Boston area, you know how ruthless the media can be about the Boston Bruins. To be fair, the Bruins have been their own worst enemy the last two seasons. The critics ripped the Bruins apart during the offseason, claiming that the B’s would have no chance of making the playoffs this year.

(We at Causeway Crowd believe that the Bruins will either get the third slot in the Atlantic or one of the wild card slots this year.)

So far, the Bruins have been playing solid hockey. They’ve moved away from the Jekyll and Hyde style hockey that has driven the fans crazy. It also helps that Tuukka Rask is playing some of the best hockey of his career right now. The B’s have done so well the media are actually saying nice things about them.

Michael Felger is part of Felger and Mazz, and they talk sports on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Over the last few seasons, Felger has consistently given the Bruins both barrels and has come across as an angry fan who only sees disappointment. This year, he’s actually saying nice things about the Black and Gold’s recent performance.

“Finally, the B’s have some young players making legitimate contributions, namely defenseman Brandon Carlo and winger David Pastrnak. It’s not just having the young bodies out there; it’s what they’re doing. They’re factors. The training wheels finally seem to be off a stronger and more aggressive Pasternak, and Claude Julien is trusting him in most situations. And Carlo has showed more poise in a month than the B’s previous cadre of young defensemen (Colin Miller, Joe Morrow, etc) have shown in two years.

“For us to feel truly good about the future, the B’s will need more than those two to emerge this season, whether it be Austin Czarnik, Frank Vatrano, one of those aforementioned d-men or someone else. But for now, it’s a nice start.

“David Backes is in and Loui Eriksson is out. Sorry Bruins beat writers, Loui just wasn’t that good. I know you love how he fared in newfangled metrics like Corsi and Fenwick, but he wasn’t an impact player. I don’t care what his stats say, he wasn’t a difference-maker and wasn’t hard to play against. Backes is a different story, and you can already feel he’s having an influence off the ice. Eriksson’s contributions in that regard were zero.

(The fact that Loui Eriksson is having a tough go of it with the Vancouver Canucks lends validation to his opinion.)

“Bottom-six forwards Dominic Moore and Riley Nash also feel like better fits down there than predecessors like Max Talbot.

“Tuukka Rask is playing his best hockey since his Vezina-winning, Cup Finals days. He’s finally stealing you games, and the skaters are starting to feed off it. That didn’t happen the last two years.”

Tuukka Rask is a big part of the Bruins success. The B’s haven’t been able to win a game without him. But there is another big factor this season. The Boston Bruins are making the most of opportunities presented to them. It has helped the B’s win seven of their last nine games.

“If we continue to get opportunities and play the way we are, then goals are going to come. We know that,” said Brad Marchand to the media after Monday’s practice.

“There’s no need to worry. The only time [to worry] is when you’re not getting opportunities and not getting the chances. But we are. We’re playing good hockey and we want to continue that.”

The B’s will try to make it eight of ten tonight as they finish up their most recent road trip against the Minnesota Wild.

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