Chara/By S. Bradley
One of the turning points of the Bruins’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup championship was the decision to pair Zdeno Chara with Dennis Seidenberg against Montreal.
The Canadiens had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the series and the Bruins were grasping for a way to get their best defensemen on the ice as often as possible against Montreal’s best scorers.
Chara and Seidenberg emerged as a defensive pair whose level of dominance had not been seen anywhere during the 2010-11 NHL season. Andrew Ference and Johnny Boychuk, and Adam McQuaid and Tomas Kaberle, wound up forming solid second and third pairs as well.
However, during the regular season the Bruins often find it best to balance out their defense pairs in an effort to limit the workload on Chara and Seidenberg and also give the other players more of a chance to play a prominent role. Last season during the regular season, pretty much everyone played with everyone else and the Bruins played about half the season without set D pairs. When things settled down, Chara-Boychuk and Kaberle-Seidenberg were rolling steady until the big switch in the Habs series.
With about five weeks until training camp opens for the 2011-12 season, I ask you:
Who should be Zdeno Chara's defense partner?
- Dennis Seidenberg (34%, 75 Votes)
- Johnny Boychuk (25%, 56 Votes)
- Joe Corvo (21%, 46 Votes)
- Adam McQuaid (13%, 29 Votes)
- Andrew Ference (7%, 17 Votes)
Total Voters: 223
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Chara – Corvo
Seids – Boychuk
AF – McQuaid
100% the best way to pair these guys up. Great balance, mix of O and D, not easy to exploit any line. Love the idea of Chara showing Corvo the Bruins way early in the game, bringing out the best in him. Seids is the steadiest, which means no excuses for Boychuck. Love these combos.
SanDog: “Teams would key on it last change when the Bruins are on the road.”
Yeah, that’s what I meant by “exploited”.
Whoever of the 3 is the most mobile.
I wouldn’t put Boychuck because I seem to recall he has a powerful shot. It would be better to distribute the hard point shot between pairings.
Ferrence or Seidenburg would be my vote.
Bo,
Really like those lines. Not so sure I want Corvo on the kill though, he does have a “Dennis the Menace” streak in his own end, and we have 5 others who are pretty good at PK.
Chara – Corvo
Seids – Boychuk
AF – McQuaid
I like Boychuk with Seids who is forever steady, and Chara – Corvo not only match up really well with each other, but they are probably the top PP back-line pair (Corvo can also join ZC for kills as well). Keeping them together throughout a game is a real added bonus in creating defensive continuity and consistency.
Balance to limit the workload during the season is indeed a key to playoff success. So no question Z & Seids have to be split. The most natural spot for Corvo would be to re-unite him with Seidenberg. So that would leave either Boychuk or McQuaid to play with Chara. Because I really liked the Ference-Boychuk combo in the playoffs, I voted for Quaider. But there are no wrong answers here. Anyway, with Claude behind the bench, we all know we’ll probably see ALL of those possible combinations at some point during the 82 games season…
“Boychuck/Quaider @ 5-6 on the road could get exploited a bit”
Teams would key on it last change when the Bruins are on the road. Johhny B still needs that calming influence with Zdeno. AF and McQuaid were a good pair I wouldn’t break them up.
With Seides backing up Corvo I’d be confident, if I were Julien, with Joe jumping into the play from time to time.
Corvo isn’t a great defensive d-man but is good offensively. Pairing him with Chara would minimize that downside while making a potent top pairing. Sidenberg is the #2 and should be anchoring a pair. I’d like see Sides-boychuck or quaider and AF on the 3rd pair to anchor the unit while being mixed in on the top two pairs. That gives him the time he deserves, while making pairs 1-3 very difficult to play against.
Tough call. Like GR90 said regarding Ference’s improved skating that showed up as the season went on, if he brings that again this season, that could be a really nice pairing. Seids/Corvo @ 3-4 works for me, but Boychuck/Quaider @ 5-6 on the road could get exploited a bit, IMO. Again, though call.
Pierre
I would agree with you, about Boychuk, over the first part of last season. However, Boychuk elevated his game in the last part of the year and the playoffs. Chara and Sidenberg can shut down any top line in the NHL and I think Julien likes to have a pair that can do this.
To all
The defense corps of 2011-2012 is the best since the Orr, Awrey, Smith, Green, and Al Sims combination of the early 1970′s.
Boychuk was the weak link last year so put him with Z and hope he elevates his game.
Seids-Corvo
AF-Quaider
That’s a pretty balanced 6 pack.
Torn between AF and Seids. AF proved to be a shifty defender and could provide more mobility to the top pairing; this would also set up a potential Seids-Corvo reunion. However, I don’t like the idea of Boychuck-Quaider just because of the lack of mobility. My guess is that Chara and Seidenberg will pair up in games against teams with top-heavy offenses. Otherwise, CJ will turn to Boychuck.
surprised to not see my choice listed as an option after it had such success last season. I don’t need to post my favorite link, do I? +/- like that makes the choice easy.