Patrice Bergeron‘s future is up in the air after the Bruins‘ first-round exit. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
On April 13, the Boston Bruins wrapped up a record-setting regular season looking poised for a memorable playoff run.
Eighteen days later, they are ready to hit the golf course after losing three consecutive games to a Florida Panthers team that snuck into the postseason on the heels of a 92-point campaign.
That’s quite the change in fortune.
To be fair, the Panthers are a better team than that point total suggests, and weird results like this are not as uncommon in the NHL as they are in other sports. In the Western Conference, a Seattle Kraken squad in its second season of existence just took out the defending Stanley Cup champions.
For many teams that get upset in the first round, the plan would be to make a few tweaks in the offseason and bring the same group back. After all, if you have a dominant regular season, you’re probably on to something.
In Boston, the situation is a little more complicated.
That starts with Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins captain may retire after 19 years with the team, and if he does he’ll leave a massive hole in the middle of the lineup. Even at the age of 37, he excelled in all situations this season, and will likely bring home the sixth Selke Trophy of his career.
It’s impossible to quantify the leadership void Boston may experience if Bergeron walks away, but it’s awfully difficult to replace a franchise legend who’s seen and done it all.
The man behind him on the depth chart, 36-year-old unrestricted free agent David Krejci, is a threat to retire as well. Even if he returns, its unclear how effective he’d be in a top-line center role at his age.
Behind Krejci, Boston employs two veteran bottom-six centers in their 30s — Charlie Coyle and Tomas Nosek. Neither looks like a candidate to step into a scoring role, and Nosek is about to become a free agent. Pavel Zacha could return to center from the wing, but he’s coming off a career season and he’s never thrived as a top-six center at the NHL level.
It’s possible that Bergeron and Krejci both return for another run. If they don’t, the center position will be an issue for the Bruins. Their pair of veterans cost a combined $3.5 million against the cap in 2022-23, and they’ll have no hope of finding productive replacements at that price point in free agency.
The center position isn’t the only thing the Bruins have to worry about. Their in-season rentals — Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov— were extremely effective in the playoffs, combining for 18 points. Retaining either will be difficult, and they could be leaving with just $3.65 million coming off the books to replace them.
While the defense corps looks fairly stable beyond Orlov, the situation between the pipes is more complicated than it seemed a few weeks ago.
Statistically speaking, Linus Ullmark was the NHL’s best goalie during the regular season…
… but he fell flat in the playoffs with an .896 save percentage in six games until Jeremy Swayman got the call for Game 7.
There’s some speculation that Ullmark was dealing with a nagging injury during the series. In that case, we’re talking about a player who’s never been anything more than a part-time starter wearing down physically after a 49-start season.
If he was fine physically, that’s probably a better outcome for Boston, but his play in the playoffs couldn’t have been encouraging.
Writing Ullmark off based off a rough series isn’t fair, though. Chances are he’ll be a solid goaltender next year, but he’s unlikely to repeat his unbelievable 2022-23 season. Regression to the mean can come for the best goaltenders, even Vezina Trophy winners — a club Ullmark is likely to join.
If we look at the last 10 Vezina winners, most experienced a save percentage decline the following year.
Via Hockey-Reference
Unless you’re a Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek, or Martin Brodeur level of goalie, the award usually comes your way when you’re having a career year. It’s not necessarily indicative of a level you can maintain. The only man on this list twice is Sergei Bobrovsky, and his year-to-year inconsistency is well documented.
While Ullmark may not fall off a cliff, decline is to be expected, and Swayman is a restricted free agent. Boston will have to determine how much it’s willing to invest in a partner for the Swede.
The Bruins also need to face up to the reality that they had more than their fair share of breaks this season. Boston had the third-highest shooting percentage (11.13 percent) in the NHL with a league-best save percentage (92.89 percentage). Those numbers aren’t purely due to luck, but the team can’t count on either of those results repeating.
Boston came into the 2022-23 season with questions about its aging core and goaltending situation. The Bruins were not a common preseason Stanley Cup pick, opening at +2500 to win it all on BetMGM. During the regular season, they did everything humanly possible to quiet all doubters.
One rough playoff series later and the questions have reemerged. As good as this year’s edition of the 2022-23 Bruins were, the future is hazy for this franchise. There’s no doubt Boston missed an opportunity to make a deep playoff run this year — and it’s unclear when that next chance will come around.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
