Friday Brew is a weekly recap of what’s happened with the Bruins over the previous week. The perfect post to read as you enjoy your morning/afternoon coffee.
A new season of Boston Bruins hockey is upon us, at long last.
After an offseason filled with retirements, random signings, and enough hot takes to make the August heat feel mild by comparison, the Bruins began their centennial season with a 3-1 Opening Night win over the Chicago Bedardhawks.
With just one game on the docket this week, we don’t have a ton to talk about – not that we’re going to let that stop us.
ConnorMania
While the Bruins didn’t receive the honor of hosting Connor Bedard’s first NHL game, they generously supplied him with his first NHL goal – a truly moving gesture.
While all signs point to Bedard being the real deal, it’s silly to try to draw too many conclusions after watching him in a single game.
One thing that is clear: we have some very sensitive fans among us here on the Bruins side of things.
As Wednesday’s game was a national broadcast, a great deal of the TNT crew’s time, attention, and energy focused on Bedard.
I believe there was even a Bedard iso cam available to watch on the online stream – BedardTV.
Naturally, this led some Bruins fans to complain on social media that the TNT crew spent too much time fangirling/fanboying over Bedard, “you know there are other players in the game, right?”
You know how it goes.
While I can see why some may be irritated by constant Bedard talk, it’s silly to complain about it.
It was a national broadcast. It was the kid’s second NHL game, his first Original 6 match-up. He scored his first goal.
Bedard is the NHL’s biggest prospect since Connor McDavid, who was its biggest since Sidney Crosby – in other words, a generational talent.
For a league that desperately needs to improve how it markets its brightest stars, maybe we could all use a little more “in your face” type promotion.
Seeing-Eye Shattenkirk
There are plenty of Bruins fans who don’t understand why the team signed Kevin Shattenkirk this off-season, mostly given the fact that he’s at the tail end of a great career.
I still don’t know if he’s the right option for the B’s in that bottom-six role, but one thing I noticed on Wednesday was that he certainly has a knack for getting pucks through traffic and on net.
For a defenseman, getting a shot through a maze of legs and sticks is certainly harder than it looks. While luck is involved from time to time, there’s also an art to finding your way through the maze.
Shattenkirk officially landed three shots on goal, and while none led to a goal, it’s a talent that should benefit the B’s going forward – especially with net-front guys like Milan Lucic and James van Riemsdyk in the mix.
Power Play Questions
You knew the Bruins’ power play would take a hit with Patrice Bergeron’s retirement – and it sure looked Wednesday like the man advantage remains a work in progress.
The B’s went 0-for-3 on the power play and generally didn’t look dangerous.
In fact, there was a time on one of the power plays where someone (maybe Brad Marchand) made an instinctive pass to the crowded high slot, where Bergeron made his living in that “bumper” position.
The problem, of course, was that the player in that spot wasn’t Bergeron and wasn’t right handed, so the puck skittered away.
Panicking is silly. With all the new faces, the power play deserves ample time to work things out.
However, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Jim Montgomery and his associates to experiment a little with different groups and different strategies.
Up Next
The Bruins will face the Nashville Predators at home on Saturday before heading out to California for the Sharks-Kings-Ducks swing beginning on Thursday.