Comments on: What To Do With Mason?

By: frankinboltonleafs

frankinboltonleafs — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:48:02 +0000

Caps are lookin' like the Caps of old with this marathon overtime tonight.

By: LeafsFTW17

LeafsFTW17 — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:55:39 +0000

But the Olympics are in two years, not right now.

By: Boston_Bruins

Boston_Bruins — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:24:39 +0000

Winning battles and strength on the puck is what Bergeron is most known for and arguably his greatest strength, along with boards play (which go hand in hand, really). I don't watch Staal as much, but I find it hard to believe he'd be better than Bergeron in this regard. PK ability is close,but Staal might get the better of him there with his reach, especially on 5 on 3's, but I don't think it offsets the rest. Also, this was the first year Staal was not at least a couple percent below 50% on faceoffs, and he was 51% this year. Bergeron is consistently among the best and was over 8% better than Staal this year. That's a massive difference.

By: TimTheBone

TimTheBone — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:01:26 +0000

hey don't get me wrong, it's no slight on Bergeron… I think he's a very consistent and fantastic player for the bruins… but I feel as though there would be better choices to be made… Staal as a bigger player plays stronger on the puck and imo wins battles more….slighty less faceoff percentage but not by much… I like Staal better on the PK…. both fine players short-handed but I like Staal

By: TimTheBone

TimTheBone — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:50:46 +0000

I absolutely agree about the "2 years" thing… but at this time you can't speculate when making a list such as this…. you have to go based on the "what have you done for me lately" mantra… I mean hell, Brendan Gaunce could make the jump straight away, have an insane first two years in the league and bust himself onto the team…. EXTREMELY UNLIKELY but like you said you never know what 2 years can bring…. my point is you don't know what the future holds and you can't create a team based on future thoughts of where players may progress…. my roster is based on if a team was named tomorrow … who would be on it,…. yeah sure Schenn could play his way into consideration but he's been regressing since his rookie year hype and doesnt seem to be showing he can play better than let's say another 12/13 D-men surely likely to get a look before him…..thats my reasoning

By: TimTheBone

TimTheBone — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:46:08 +0000

My D pairings listed arent what i'd like to see.... that was just a basic list as i remembered names...

I'll pair em up for ya....

Weber Letang
Keith Doughty
Pietrangelo Coburn
Green Staal

Although this was at a time when i thought we brought 8 D to the tourny... but if its only seven than Staal gets the nod for me... green is left out

By: Boston_Bruins

Boston_Bruins — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:19:24 +0000

"I'm not so sure Bergeron makes it either, He looked weak and out of place in 2010 and was relegated to the 13th man.... guys like J.Staal could more than fill his role..."

He was injured in the first game which really affected his game (pulled his groin I think) and sat out the first few games when back in Boston. He was relegated to faceoff duty because of it. I know it sounds biased as I'm a Bruins fan, but he's probably the most consistent player I've ever seen, and easily one of the most well-rounded players in the NHL. Watching all the Bruins games, he has maybe a handful of sub-par games a year, and even then he never really costs the team. The only area I like J. Staal over Bergeron is goal scoring.

By: Boston_Bruins

Boston_Bruins — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:12:57 +0000

Green? And on the first pairing as well? I'm really confused by that one.

I've always thought of Nash as a bit overrated, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him make the team at all.

I agree that Stamkos-Crosby-Eberle is a must though. I also think a Tavares-Giroux connection could be deadly, with someone to do the dirty work on the left side like Benn.

By: Boston_Bruins

Boston_Bruins — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:09:35 +0000

I think for Looch to make it you almost have to have it on smaller ice for him to be more effective than some of the more skilled players who can take advantage on the bigger ice surface.

By: Boston_Bruins

Boston_Bruins — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:07:10 +0000

Yep. USA looks great in net and Canada is declining big time with producing quality goalies. And we'll see where Thomas is at in two years as well.