By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent
On Sunday, the Boston Bruins clinched the Northeast Division title with a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers, the reigning number one seed in the Eastern Conference. With the win, they would lock themselves into the #2 seed with three games still remaining. Although the number may indicate that the Bruins are the second-best team in the Conference, their overall record says otherwise.
Tell me who you think the top two teams in the Eastern Conference are. Here, I’ll answer my own question; it’s the Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Think again about who the top three teams are and you’ll hear some arguments for both the Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers. However, many would believe that a trip to the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals runs through either the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh or Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Bruins might be the defending Stanley Cup champions, but they’re already the underdogs to repeat as Eastern Conference Champions, let along back-to-back Cup winners.
This is accurate. The Bruins are underdogs. Again.
There are plenty of differences with this season’s Bruins team compared to the roster that won the 2011 Stanley Cup. Tim Thomas has also shown that, while he’s still capable of making game-changing saves, he’s human. There’s no jacket to pass around this season, no veteran leadership of Mark Recchi in the locker room and no Nathan Horton, capable of scoring clutch goals.
Instead, the Bruins have a team with more chemistry, a more balanced blue-line and the chance to reap the benefits of Tyler Seguin’s progression into a two-way player and a legitimate scoring threat.
Similarly to 2010-11, the Bruins aren’t one of those ‘top two’ teams in the East. A year ago, it was the Penguins and Washington Capitals that were deemed as the beasts of the East, both destined to be playing for the Cup in June with plenty of “History Will Be Made” commercials to follow. Guess nobody expected the Tampa Bay Lightning to come around and eliminate them both.
But think about this: would the Bruins have advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals last season if their paths crossed with the Pittsburgh Penguins or Washington Capitals? Who knows. The underdogs got lucky then.
The Bruins weren’t the sexy pick to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals last year. On paper, they were a rugged bunch with stellar goaltending and solid depth. They were tough–able to shift the momentum of a game with one, big hit. It’s what they did. They rewrote the entire script of the 2011 playoffs, defying odds by winning three game 7s and ultimately upsetting the Presidents Trophy winners, the Vancouver Canucks, on their home ice. Last year was special because few could imagine in April what the next eight weeks would hold.
One year later, it’s possible that there’s this false sense of hope stemming from the belief that what happened last season could happen again. The Bruins weren’t expected to make much noise in the postseason, especially after falling behind 0-2 in the opening round against the Montreal Canadiens, and look what happened. As soon as the Bruins begin to struggle this postseason, many will think of last year: how everything clicked, how Boston got all of the right bounces and how anything was possible. While it’s true that anything can happen, it’s important not to get engulfed in the romanticism that was the 2011 playoffs.
The Bruins are in a position where they are underdogs in the Eastern Conference again. Unless a surprise team is able to eliminate both the Rangers and Penguins (hint: not happening), either team could be a potential opponent for the Bruins if they advance past the first round. Will the B’s get lucky again this year? Maybe, but it’s going to be a lot harder this time around.
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It all depends on how the officials “decide” to call the games. If the NHL decides to “let them play” by not enforcing the rules, they have a great shot. If not, they are in trouble. Simply too much speed on the other teams top lines. Thomas will again have to be at his absolute best regardless.
They are very lucky to be in the East and get a draw against one of the least talented teams in the playoffs. If they were in the West and had to play a team like SJ or LA it’s likely they’d be golfing after round 1.
Absolutely right. The Bruins are a terrible team that only got lucky last year because of their goonishness and cheap play. Going up against honest teams like the Habs and Canucks was such a huge boon for them.
I think we all know that the league has helped them out over the past three-plus seasons and only their own ineptitude has kept them from winning Cups. Boston has proven time and time again that they are a classless bunch.
In any case, the B’s should be underdogs – because they don’t have talent. All they have is overpriced goons.
Really? The article, and the comments here are extremely one sided against the Bruins. In November-December they were by far the best team in the league. I would argue that the Bruins could beat any team in the East. They are still as deep and balanced as they were last year, only maybe even better. Yes no Horton, but we actually beat Vancouver without him last year anyways. Basically we are the same team as last year with another year of experience and development.
The assertion that the Bruins don’t have the skill to win is ridiculous. We may not have the superstar (yet – Seguin), but we have a lot of guys who are putting up pretty good numbers — despite the Bruins defense first system. Bergeron, Seguin, Lucic, and Marchand could easily have significantly more points in a different system.
Look at the statistics. 5v5 play, goal differential, goaltending, etc. They say that the Bruins are a VERY good team. Not a bunch of untalented goons as you suggest.
Honestly you can make a case that nobody should be able to beat Pittsburgh, but other than that I’d put my money on the Bruins against anybody else in the league, or at least give them a 50/50 chacne