The Boston Bruins, without doubt, are one of the best teams in the NHL. But this post-season is unlike any we’ve ever seen and it may never suit them.
There are a lot of elements to the Boston Bruins regular season game that we have yet to see in the round-robin tournament; whether that’s the struggles of several key players or just the inability to protect their goalie.
Both those elements have been missing thus far and if the team don’t get a move on, they’ll be entering Game 1 of the First Round on the back of four consecutive losses.
This post season looks to be one tailor-made for a younger side that has been able to get their legs going much faster than those that have more veteran cores.
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Look at the Pittsburgh Penguins being eliminated, despite their regular-season strength and despite their core with such Stanley Cup pedigree. That single series result in itself is telling.
Yes, the Montreal Canadiens rode a hot goaltender, but they also combined a relatively youthful and exuberant offense with solid defensive work.
The Philadelphia Flyers proved dominant in our round-robin. Again, they’re rocking an exuberant young group of players raring to go.
The Boston Bruins are built around a veteran core; players like Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron know what it takes to win a Stanley Cup, but that’s because they all did it back in 2011.
A large number of the key players across many of the teams playing in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs weren’t even playing major junior hockey back then. Heck some probably wouldn’t have even been playing midget hockey.
The closed-in nature of the tournament bubble suits these younger guys better because they’re more adapted to closing themselves off and playing video games. Not to judge, but they’re also less likely to have left family groups with young children behind to compete here.
All of this is going to prove telling. This Stanley Cup Playoff tournament is as much about the psychological intensity of the bubble as it is about the on-ice physical intensity.
Simply put, the Boston Bruins team that dominated the regular season and would’ve entered a regular play-off season as a really strong contender, just based on their run of form, has now sat at home for weeks and are expecting to fire all cylinders immediately.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that with the more veteran players typically. The Boston Bruins will likely struggle in the first round, but if they can jump that hurdle, maybe we’re still a chance.