The Boston Bruins have an expression ‘Don’t Poke The Bear’. At this point, the fans are wondering if the new expression should be ‘Please Wake The Bear’.
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The 2016-17 season is just a few weeks old. So far, the Boston Bruins have only six points and are sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. At present, only the Buffalo Sabres have less points than the Black and Gold. It has been ugly and it only looks to get uglier.
Statistically, the Boston Bruins are a mess. They are ranked 17th in the league for scored goals (17), and that’s their best statistic. They are 24th in goals against (23), 26th in second period goals against (10), and next to dead last when it comes to their power play (8.3%/29th).
The Bruins have had no choice but to try ‘goaltender by committee’. It’s been a mess without Tuukka Rask in net, and it won’t get any better as long as he’s away from it. Anton Khudobin won’t be back until Thanksgiving. Malcolm Subban doesn’t look ready for the NHL (and he may never be). Zane McIntyre looks promising, but without adequate defensive coverage he’ll be a sieve as well.
It’s not looking much better for the other two-thirds of the team. David Pastrnak has been suspended for two games. David Backes is out for at least two games, coming off on elbow surgery. David Krejci and Torey Krug are coming off major surgery, and don’t look anywhere near 100 percent.
The only bright spots are the Bergeron line (now hampered without Pastrnak), the top defensive pair of Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo, and Tuukka Rask. In short, the Bruins seemed to have lost their identity on the ice.
In all honesty, the error-prone rookies are playing with more heart than some of the ‘veteran’ players and that’s an issue that needs to be corrected yesterday. Claude Julien can only healthy scratch so many people at one time. He may need to consider that as a way to help get players heads’ back in the game. Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes are both -7, and have yet to put up a single point this season.
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The Bruins need to find themselves. For that to happen, it looks like someone or something will need to wake up the hibernating bear. For the team and the fans’ sake, I only hope it’s soon.