One of the first season-preview magazines for 2010-11 was released over the weekend, and The Hockey News obviously holds the Bruins in high regard.
THN picks the Bruins to win the Northeast Division and finish third in the Eastern Conference behind first-place Washington and Pittsburgh. The world’s top hockey publication picks Vancouver to win the Stanley Cup, but says that in trying to find a consensus on the selection Boston and Pittsburgh also garnered some major consideration.
“Thanks to impressive depth at all positions, the B’s will shake off last year’s playoff choke job to win the Northeast,” THN writes on its breakdown page of the Bruins, which is written by colleague Mike Loftus.
Without digging too deep into this matter at this early date in relation to the start of training camp, there’s no doubt that at full strength the Bruins have the best top-to-bottom team in the division. Montreal obviously has questions about its goaltending, and Ottawa, Buffalo and Toronto might have worse offensive problems than Boston. If you subscribe to the theory that the Bruins are due to have a healthy season after paying the price in the injury department last year, then Boston should be in great shape.
Here are a few story lines we’ll be following an analyzing before and during the season in the division:
•How will Carey Price respond to being the definite No. 1 netminder for the Habs?
•Can the Sabres, with mostly the same cast, muster enough offense to support Vezina winner Ryan Miller?
•How does Jason Spezza respond to his summer of trade rumors now that he’s obviously going to be with Ottawa for the long haul?
•Will Toronto get Tomas Kaberle to waive his no-trade clause during the season in order to add some firepower up front, or will the Leafs have to trade one of their other defensemen (Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin) to land the top-line center they need?
While the Bruins definitely have an edge on their Northeast rivals, the margin is so slim that just one injury or one move by one of the teams could shift the balance of power. It should be a great race, with the Bruins starting in pole position.
I don’t know about legions of young stars waiting in the AHL, but I do think you have a very good point about Wideman, I was just waiting for his nightly adventure every night and considered it a miracle whenever our guys got a shutout because he had a serious tendency to give the other team a free goal about once a game. Without him, we should actually be a better defensive team just because the adventures go away! I think that we will get over this whole thing that happened last season, as it is hard to be as injured as we were last year. If Ryder is in the minors and Lucic stops playing like a girl and more like the bear he was a year ago or even in the playoffs, then we will be fine.
I have more faith in Hunwick (as long as he’s got confidence in himself, he’s a solid player – it’s all in his head) and Ference (staying healthy is the key for him) than I did in Wideman. The best puck-moving he did last season was to the other team. I felt sorry for the poor guy, and I would never, ever boo him, as some morons did, but when you start cringing every time your defenseman touches the puck, you know your team’s in trouble.
Also, Chara played almost the entire season last year with a mangled finger, which severely hampered his shooting/fighting ability. A healthy Chara makes a huge difference for this team. As for depth – as others pointed out, every team has depth problems. That’s part and parcel of the salary cap. How many teams have legions of young stars just waiting in the AHL?
Say what you will about Wideman, but his absence will be missed. Swapping Seidenberg for Morris was one thing. But to trade your best — or one of your best — puck moving defenseman and not fill that void is something that I have issues with.
I have zero faith in Hunwick, and about the same in Ference. This 2010-11 team has a thinner defense than last year, and that concerns me.
b’s will never get to third round with claude. neither he nor chara can win a game 7.
Mark, you make a fair point d-men isn’t a position of great depth. But don’t you think that same statement can be made for just about any NHL team? What team could sustain the loss of two of its top 6 defenseman and not be adversely affected?
In the age of the salary cap no team has that much depth.
I feel good about this team. Mark’s comments about injuries play the same for offense and goaltending the same way they do for defense. But remember, the Bs played without Seidenberg, Ference, Savard, Stuart, Thomas, a healthy Lucic last year during their bid for a playoff spot, and played some of their best hockey of the year.
Sure if we lose a D-man or two, we’ll be weak.. but that’s how it is for everyone. We lose a major piece from the center position like Krecji, and it don’t look so rosy either. Same for goaltending – who backs up Thomas if Rask goes down?
But look around.. every team is in the same boat. Health is paramount to any successful season – and considering the amount of ice-time lost to injury last year… I’ll take my chances with this club stepping up as much as any other.
Can’t wait to see this team in two years!
I just left a message in the Savard story about kaberle waiving his no trade.
Then I read this.
TOO FUNNY.
Watch, soon there will be a story claiming Toronto has asked him to. Burke has sworn he will never do this.
Watch.
The B’s had a fantastic GAA last year, and are bringing back essentially the same defensive corps, with a healthy Stuart and Seidenberg and an emerging Boychuck. Not to mention, they have arguably one of the best PK’s in the league. Their issue was obviously scoring goals. So if Luch and Savard return to confident form, with Horton on his game and Seguin contributing (and Wheeler doing his job in the dirty areas), I think the B’s will have no trouble winning games.
I do.
Impressive depth at all positions? Sure, they have a solid young core of forwards, and they’ll bring back two solid No. 1 netminders. But I’m sorry if anyone is sold on the depth on the blue-line. Imagine Seidenberg and Ference (or any two) going down at the same time for any period of time. Does anyone really feel good about this:
Chara-Boychuk
Stuart-Hunwick
McIver-McQuaid
I don’t.