Grinding Gears: Lackluster play

 Welcome to the second edition of Grinding Gears. Last week Angry Bruins Fan, Greg, went on a rant about Canada and was wondering why our friends up north were hating on the US-of-A so much. This week, Greg talks about the Bruins lackluster play of late.

Let it be known that Greg sent this to us Tuesday morning, after the Bruins showed up for the final three minutes of the Pens game and well before Bergeron went a murderous scoring spree against the Sens. He fully expects to get reamed for this post. We ask you to at least use some lube.

Welcome to the second edition of Grindin’ Gears with Greg over here at Days of Y’Orr. Last time I talked about the World Juniors Championships and Canada’s lack of respect when it came to hosting the tournament in America.

So what’s pissing me off this week? The Boston Bruins.

I know, I know, shocking right? What’s really pissing me off with this team is the lack of urgency they seem to have. I’m ready for the “well what about the Pittsburgh game?” comments and replies on Twitter and to that I say, which game did you watch? For 50 minutes of that game Boston skated around like it was an optional skate. Everyone was complaining about the play of the Bruins. Fans on Twitter, fans on Facebook, fans on Gchat and text messages blew my phone up because people were saying how much the Bruins suck. We all ranted and raved about firing Claude Julien because of the uninspired play that Boston has had the past few games.

So figure my surprise when the Bruins shove a lucky enchanted horseshoe up their black and gold asses and shit out a 4-2 victory over the Pens. Then take that surprise and mate it with the shock of people saying that nothing about Julien! How does winning a game make everything better? Just because the last 10 minutes of a game showed passion and drive doesn’t make everything better. There is something wrong in that locker room but no one is ever going to admit it.

Greg keeps on ranting and raving after the jump…

I don’t know where it begins. I don’t know if it starts at the top with Chiarelli or with the coach or with the captain Zdeno Chara or where it starts. All I know is that Boston is coming in to games and either playing well for 40 minutes (see: 1/8/11 against Montreal) or playing poorly for 50 minutes (see: 1/10/11 against Pittsburgh). The game against Minnesota last week wasn’t great either. Boston continued their poor play and ended up losing 3-1 because they had no goal scoring, they had a broken down defense and their motor seemed to dry up. So why is it that a 4-2 win where the team didn’t show up for 50 minutes makes everything better? Is it the two points? Is it that the Bruins defeated a good hockey team without their stud?

I have no idea what makes everyone dive back in to the Kool-Aid after a win. All I know is that this team isn’t performing up to snuff. Here are the shot numbers for the offensive players that NEED to make an impact on this team:

David Krejci: 0
Patrice Bergeron: 1
Marc Savard: 1
Mark Recchi: 2
Milan Lucic: 3
Zdeno Chara: 3
Blake Wheeler: 3 (all in 2nd period)

This doesn’t concern anyone? It is unacceptable for David Krejci to have zero shots on 18 minutes of ice time (that includes 2:28 on the power play). But you know what, that’s okay because they won. It doesn’t matter that they pulled out the luckiest win in recent memory because they won. It doesn’t matter that the power play has been vastly ineffective because they won.

Stop living behind the wins and look at how the Bruins are playing. 40 minutes of hockey will not win a Stanley Cup. Ten minutes of hockey will not win a Stanley Cup. The only thing that will bring a Cup to Boston is hard-nosed, 60 minute hockey…something Boston has trouble playing lately.

You can tell a lot about a team when you look at their losses over their wins. In the losses to Minnesota and Montreal the Bruins looked horrible, especially in the third period of the Habs game. Even if you look at the win in Pittsburgh, they have looked horrible. They have the 8th best record in the East but sit in 3rd because they are leading the division.

All I’m trying to drive home to you people is that you shouldn’t complain about a team and then shut your mouth because they pulled out a miracle. It’s not okay in Bruinsville.

Oh, and this was written before the Senators game, so if they win – good for them.

Editor’s note: Boy did they…

Random Thoughts

– The NHL Guardian “Project” is one of the worst things I’ve witnessed. They’re stupid and most of them seem to be uninspired. Maybe it is because I’m a comic nerd, but I expect more out of Stan Lee than this.

– Last night I was photoshopping Recchi’s face onto a missing milk crate and he effectively shoved it back in my face. I’ll keep it for another cold stretch.

– I’ve always hated the NHL All-Star game. On Facebook, NHL Digest asked if we were watching the NHL All-Star game to which I replied “fuck no. “NHL Digest replied with “What would make the All-Star game better?”

Here’s my response: “Nothing. There is no point in having an actual All-Star game. Most people tune in to the NHL Skills Competition because its fun. All-Star games are weak – most of the guys don’t try and the game ends up being something like 20-14. If the NHL was smart, they would vote All-Stars, have them compete in the skills competition and then give them a few days off. Players still meet the All-Star clause in their contract (if there is one) and the fans still get the skills comp w/o feeling like the players are “forced” into playing an All-Star game.”

Hit the comments and let me know what you think of the idea? You may like it or hate it, but I think it is better than having an actual All-Star game. Did anyone miss it when the Olympics happened last year?

– For all the hype that came with Nathan Horton, his stick must be ice-cold right now. After an amazing start to the season, Horton has been ice-cold (and is now injured).  He’s got 12 goals and 14 assists in 39 games. What’s even more fucked up is that Dennis Wideman has 19 points for the Panthers, 7 less than Horton.

Yeah I know, I’m trying to cause a shit storm. Well, that’s what’s pissing me off. Don’t like it? I don’t care.