The Boston Bruins have an ageing roster and with that come certain challenges; will they consider resting players in games they should win?
It’s a tactic already used in countless other sports, namely basketball and soccer, but it’d be somewhat of a pioneering scheme if the Boston Bruins tried to introduce it in ice hockey, given the ‘fight through the pain’ mentality that is so deeply ingrained.
You really have to wonder given that 42 year-old Boston Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara may well miss the start of the season and recent reports suggest that 34 year-old top-line center, Patrice Bergeron opted not to have surgery on a long-standing injury this summer.
We saw how Tuukka Rask benefited from extra rest with his elite Stanley Cup playoff form, maybe the notion of resting a goaltender is one that can be used across the line-up.
Think about it; you’ve got David Krejci, who could fill-in for Bergeron for one or two extra games as a top-line center. He’s not the perfect option and of course it upsets team chemistry, but if it’s the difference between Bergeron missing one or two games for some extra rest versus going down for ten games with a recurrence of the injury, which would you pick.
Likewise, there is enough defensive depth within the Boston Bruins system that Zdeno Chara could be afforded extra rest. Why not trial such a bold scheme; maybe it even helps some of the developing youngsters by pushing them into bigger roles than they might otherwise be able to face.
In all reality, it will take a culture shift from hockey people, in general. Realising that no one individual is invincible and that you can maybe risk icing a slightly less line-up against a basement dweller could be a real game-changer.
On the flip side, it could simply serve to spur on said basement dwellers and be the risk that results in missing the play-offs by a two-point margin that you might well have claimed if you hadn’t rested key players.
The tactic works so well with goaltenders because they’re 100% focused on the game for the full sixty minutes. Giving them a break is as much mental and it is physical. The fact there’s just two of them and in the Boston Bruins case; you have a backup in Jaroslav Halak more than capable of taking on the workload, means it becomes almost a moot point.
Will the Boston Bruins rest over-worked players this season? As much as I want to say yes; it seems highly unlikely. Let’s hope the injuries don’t stack up on an ageing core group as a result.