The Big and Bad Are... NOT Back.

Thursday, February 4, 2010


If a team doesn’t play like a team, they’re not going to win.

The Boston Bruins are in the worst slump they could possibly be in. The reason why? No one seems to know, including Claude Julien. During interviews the coaching staff may address the obvious problems of not being able to score or have solid defense, but there’s more to it than that. The Bruins seem to have lost all motivation to win.

Some might say injuries are the reason. Honestly though, the Bruins have gone through more injuries than imaginable in the past two seasons, they’ve learned to overcome adversity.

It’s hard to say the problem is with the goaltending. The Bruins have Vezina winning goaltender, Tim Thomas and a sensational rookie in Tuukka Rask. No, Thomas isn’t having the best season of his career but any goalie would do better when they’re defenseman are playing up to par. Mistake after mistake from Dennis Wideman doesn’t help much. He’s always where he shouldn’t be and he can’t get back fast enough when the Bruins cause a turnover.

Scoring has been a problem, too. The Bruins can never keep a lead, or score more than one goal for that matter. When Marc Savard, one of the league’s most elite passers, returned Bruins fans thought maybe there’d be a turn around, but that wasn’t the case. David Krejci, who had 18 goals at this point last year, has only recorded 10 so far this season. Also, Michael Ryder had a career year last season, but can’t find the back of the net this year. The Bruins keep going backwards, in the wrong direction.

The Bruins need to realize the big problem here. They’re not playing like a team. Last season, that was always the one thing anyone could say about this team. Analysts, the coaching staff, and the players all recognized the chemistry they had. That was broken up this year when the Bruins lost some key guys in P.J. Axelsson, Aaron Ward, Stephane Yelle, Phil Kessel, and Chuck Kobasew.

It’s noticeable how much this team lacks morale and team mentality. They appear to not be on the same page and it shows in their missed scoring opportunities, unconnecting passes, and the fact they collide with one another every other play.

What happened to the motto this year: The Big and Bad Are Back? Really? Well where the hell have they been. The Bruins checking game has been non existent. They rarely fight and when they have an opportunity to get physical, they back down.

If they continue to play as horrid as they have for the past month, Bruins fans can say goodbye to playoffs this year.
 
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