Boston Bruins: Making a Case for the Stanley Cup

The Boston Bruins Made Some Significant Moves in the Off-Season and During the Season, But is it Enough for Them to Challenge for a Cup Again.

The Boston Bruins hold the final wild-card spot in the East with a three-point lead on Tampa Bay despite Tampa having one game in hand. Despite who they play against in the first round they are definitely going to challenge, and who knows, maybe go all the way.

EXPECTATIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON:

In the off-season, the Boston Bruins lost Dennis Seidenberg, Chris Kelly, Brett Connolly, Jonas Gustavsson, Lee Stempniak, Loui Eriksson, and Maxime Talbot who were all significant players. But Boston went out and filled some holes right away by picking up Dominic Moore, David Backes, and Anton Khudobin. So the team’s expectations were not high since they lost some key players, but they were still expected to at least make the playoffs and contend. Well, they currently hold the final wild-card spot in the East, and that’s not all due to the off-season moves but some of the moves they made during the season. The Bruins acquired depth scoring winger Drew Stafford from Winnipeg for a draft pick at the trade deadline.

BIGGEST STRENGTH: VETERANS

Even though Boston lost some key vets in the off-season, they still managed to keep ahold of their key ones, Zdeno Chara, Matt Beleskey, Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Torey Krug, John-Michael Liles, and Adam McQuaid. These guy’s have been fundamental in the Bruins success’ in the last few years. Bergeron has spent the majority of this season on the first line centering Brad Marchand who both played together for Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey. Zdeno Chara has been logging a massive amount of minutes as well this season playing with Torey Krug who is also a very fundamental player for the Bruins.

Tuukka Rask has been amazing this season statistically playing in 61 games, winning 35 while posting a 2.31 goals-against-average and a .912 save percentage with seven shutouts. David Krejci, as well as Matt Beleskey, have been great on the second line sharing it with rising star David Pastrnak.

BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: VETERANS KEEPING PACE

The biggest question mark heading into the playoffs has to be, can the Bruins veterans keep their top play going? Well, some might say yes while others may say no, allow me to explain. Their vets are top scorers and can put the puck in the net, but most are over the age of thirty. And with the NHL’s average age around 24.5, that means the league is a young man’s game and the Bruins don’t have a lot of young men, the one’s they do have are first and second years who haven’t played NHL playoff hockey or just a few rounds. All of their key vets who won the Stanley Cup may run out of gas come the later rounds. And if play falls on the shoulders of Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin, they will only be able to take the onslaught for so long. So that’s the biggest question mark, can the Bruins veterans keep going in the later rounds and defy the factor of their age.

WHY BOSTON CAN WIN THE STANLEY CUP:

If Boston wins the Stanley Cup, it’s for this reason, depth. They have four lines that can put the puck in the net with three solid defensive lines that can stop it from going into theirs. Also, they possess one of the best goalies in the league. The acquisition of David Backes in the off-season was very influential, he’s a player who can play either wing or center, and he can score with the best of them. Drew Stafford may not seem like a big acquisition, but the fact he can still score clutch goals at his age makes him very valuable on the second/third lines.

Next: Montreal Canadiens: Case for the Stanley Cup

Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, and John-Michael Liles are going to be the key players on the back end that the team will rely on since Kevin Miller is still inexperienced in the playoffs, and especially someone like Brandon Carlo who has had a tremendous rookie season.

If the Bruins win it’s because their vets didn’t run out of gas, if they get beaten out, it’s because of the opposite. And play cannot always be relied on by the goaltender, even though Rask is rather superb.