Anonymous NHL Coach is Dumb

In this article from NBC's "Pro Hockey Talk" site, an "anonymous" NHL coach is quoted as saying the following:

During their run to the Stanley Cup last spring, the Bruins got a combined 21 goals from Michael Ryder, Nathan Horton and Mark Recchi. Ryder is in Dallas. Recchi is retired and Horton isn’t close to returning from his second concussion in the last year. Adding a guy like Edmonton’s Ryan Smyth at the deadline would have been ideal, but he wasn’t available.

Brian Rolston has been a nice find for the Bruins with 14 points in 20 games since being traded to Boston by the Islanders, but his production has cooled and it’s asking a lot to expect Recchi-like production from Rolston in the postseason.

“There’s a reason [Roltson] was available,” said an NHL source. “Recchi was a really special player. Something special.”

There's so much wrong with this statement that it's hard to know where to start.

Insinuating that Rolston was available for a reason (being that he sucks or can't score), is to insinuate that Recchi was never in that position in his career, ever. But how did the Bruins get Recchi? Oh right, a deadline day deal from a team that had previously tried to waive him. Just like Rolston. But Recchi is a special player, and no one player could ever replace him, but nobody expects any ONE player to replace him. That's why the Bruins were the ultimate TEAM when they won the Cup. They all contributed their own strengths while contributing to bringing out the strengths of their teammates, and they played as a team. Clearly this coach doesn't understand that concept.

Not having Horton will be really difficult, but the Bruins were able to beat the Canucks 4 times in the finals without him. It's not impossible to overcome.

Citing numbers from last year and applying them to this year is to imply that the team will be in the same situations and is the same team as last year. Obviously that is so far from the truth. They are a year wiser, and every player on the team last year that is still here this year (the majority) has the experience of winning the Cup together and that alone will be a lethal weapon. But consider the improvement each player has had this year already...

Tyler Seguin - 3 goals in 13 playoff games after 11 goals in 74 regular season games. Thus far this season, he has 27 goals. And don't expect him to be a healthy scratch in the playoffs like he was last year. Boom, there's some of your extra scoring.

David Krejci - 13 goals in 75 regular season games last year, and then he led the playoffs in scoring with 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists). That's 1 less goal in the playoffs than regular season. If he keeps that up, imagine the wondrous number of goals he will score in the playoffs this year considering he has scored 23 goals - the most in his career - this year.

I think the coach above is confusing having two 4th lines with not having one clear 1st line and a bunch of useless secondary and tertiary lines and a completely useless 4th line like most teams have. Not to mention that the scoring from a guy like Ryder had a lot to do with the chemistry and hard work of his linemates, such as Chris Kelly, who is also having a career year so who knows what to expect from him in the playoffs.

The Bruins scoring is widely distributed throughout the entire team and that's one of the primary reasons they are such a huge threat. Their top 2 lines can fail to produce for an entire series but that's okay, because another line - or even defense - will come through. As long as they can find a way to do that again this year, they will have a good chance to win again. The Bruins are said not to have any superstar players, and they don't...yet they're still one of the best teams in the league. That's why they can afford to lose top scorers and still have a good chance to win.

Last year, the Bruins were said not to be as deep as the Canucks were going into the finals, and that's why many didn't think they'd win. They proved everyone wrong. Yet they STILL don't have enough depth? Even though they have scored twice as many goals this year? I can only pray the Bruins prove this idiot wrong in the playoffs. Actually, I don't care if they prove him right or wrong - I just hope they win by any means necessary, whether all the scoring comes from 1 line or all 4. You know that no matter what, they won't resort to trying to point out the weaknesses of other teams like this guy is. They focus only on themselves, and if other teams want to win, maybe they should follow suit.