For the first time in a decade, a new coach stands behind the Boston Bruins bench to start the season. Based upon the preseason and game one of the season, the changes in the team dynamic are readily apparent.
For the rest of my days, I will never directly speak ill of former Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien. His contributions to the organization in his 10 years as head coach are immense. In a decade as bench boss, he took a team that had become a basement dweller in the Eastern Conference, and turned them into a contender.
After he helped lead the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup in nearly 3 decades in 2011-2012, it seemed like he started to lose a little bit of what made him such a successful coach. Yes, after the Stanley Cup win the team did win several division titles, made it back to the Stanley Cup finals again in 2012-2013, and won a President’s Trophy in 2013-2014.
However, there were also several years of missed playoffs and poor team performance at the end of his tenure. These facts led to his ousting in February last season. Was Julien to blame for all of this? Not totally. Obviously you can only coach the players you have on the ice, so the front office also bears some responsibility.
But Julien’s coaching style was very defensively-minded. Also, looking at the teams he had since the Bruins won the Cup, he had a clear preference for veteran players. With veteran guys, you have players who tend to have more miles on them, and thus more prone to injury or fatigue. Also, those wily vets also tend to be a bit slower on the ice. It’s hard to play an extra two months of hockey from April to June with aging, tired players. That’s just science.
The NHL over the past few years had slowly been shifting from a slow, plodding, physical game, to a game centered around speed and skill. The teams that were winning championships were full of young players who could break a game open at any point with timely breakaway or well place snipe. Simply put: the current NHL is less Cam Neely, more David Pastrnak.
Team composition since 2010-2011
The NHL has turned into a young-man’s sport. And with youth, comes speed. Look at guys like Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews and the like. No longer do all players have to come into the league and “earn their stripes” for 3 or 4 years before they become relevant. For example, a large number of 1st round picks from this year’s draft made their respective team’s lineups.
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The youth movement in the NHL is real, and under Julien, the Bruins just didn’t seem to embrace that concept. The average ages of the Bruins’ rosters since 2010-2011 are as follows, along with the league average:
- 2011-2012: Bruins – 28.8; NHL – 27.7
- 2012-2013: Bruins – 27.8; NHL – 27.6
- 2013-2014: Bruins – 27.6; NHL – 27.5
- 2014-2015: Bruins – 28.3; NHL – 28.2
- 2015-2016: Bruins – 28.8; NHL – 28.0
- 2016-2017: Bruins – 28.8; NHL – 28.0
Every year, the Bruins were above the league average in age.
In that time, only 3 organizations have won Stanley Cups (Chicago Blackhawks twice, Los Angeles Kings twice, and Pittsburgh Penguins twice). And yes, the last three years, the eventual Stanley Cup Champions had average ages over the league average (Chicago, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh). But look at the players on those teams.
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith are an elite trio of players. Sidney Crosby is arguably the best player in the NHL, and Evgeni Malkin could be top-5. The Bruins teams under Julien didn’t have superstars like that…or least, they did, but traded them away.
The Cassidy Effect
Before taking over for Julien in February, current Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy had been the head coach of the Boston Bruins since 2011-2012. In his role, he obviously spent significant time with young players, coaching them up and getting them ready for the NHL. His experience there appears to have shaped his coaching philosophy with now the Bruins.
The Bruins ended the regular season 18-8-1 under Cassidy last season, and made it into the playoffs for the first time in 3 seasons as the 3rd seed in the Atlantic Division. The difference between the on-ice product pre-February 7 and post-February 7 was incredible to see. The Bruins started playing the game with the pedal-to-the-metal. Offensive-minded hockey had finally come back to Boston, and the team seemed to embrace it.
After watching the team during the preseason and after the season opener against Nashville, it is clear that Cassidy intends to keep this coaching philosophy going forward. He has composed a team of young, budding prospects who can be mentored by the veterans while providing a spark on the ice. After last night’s game, he had this to say:
Look at last night’s goal scorers. DeBrusk is 20, Pastrnak is 21, McAvoy is 19, and Marchand is the old man at 29. Anders Bjork at 21 had his first career point. Then look at the overall roster composition. The team this season has an average age of 27.5 years old! That is over a year younger than last seasons roster, and finally under the NHL average. I’m sure having the 40 year old Zdeno Chara throws the number off a bit as well.
Next: Bruins early morning ice 10/6/17
As I said before, the youth movement in the NHL is real, and the Bruins have finally seemed to embrace that fact. It’s only been one game, but if the on-ice product fans were shown last night is the way the Bruins play this season, this will be a fun team to watch.