Bruins 2009-'10 Season Thread

[stocker323]

The Thrill is back tonight. Think this team could use him instead of Thomas?

 

Phil simply did not want to be here. It is not a question of signing one player over another.

[TheMino007]

If we had the money, Phil would want to be here. Signing Thomas to that extension was stupid. In two years Raask will be better than him and we will be stuck eating Thomas's money when he is a medicore backup. Look at this team, we can't score, it looks like the 08 team that had to scrap and work hard to get goals. We have two of our best out right now in Lucic and Savard, and its very early in the season, but still, its frustrating to watch

[stocker323]

If we had the money' date=' Phil would want to be here. Signing Thomas to that extension was stupid. In two years Raask will be better than him and we will be stuck eating Thomas's money when he is a medicore backup. Look at this team, we can't score, it looks like the 08 team that had to scrap and work hard to get goals. We have two of our best out right now in Lucic and Savard, and its very early in the season, but still, its frustrating to watch[/quote']

 

Phil was holding out for what he knew he could get from Toronto, which is far and away above what he deserved. He knew Burke wanted him and was willing to pay a king's ransom for, so he told Boston screw it, I'll just force you to trade me. They may be missing Phil this year, but when they receive a top 5 pick in this year's draft, it will be completely worth it.

[YanksHater213]

I've said this before, but I believe Phil wanted to be here, but was getting pissed that we were lowballing him.

[TheKilo]

Phil simply did not want to be here. It is not a question of signing one player over another.

 

No, management made the choice when they signed Thomas to that terrible, terrible contract.

[stocker323]

No' date=' management made the choice when they signed Thomas to that terrible, terrible contract.[/quote']

 

The contract is horrible in length, not in dollars. Thomas is the 12th highest paid goalie in the league which is very reasonable for a Vezina Trophy winning goalie. Whether it was a 4 year contract or a 2 year contract. Thomas was getting his 5 mil cap hit. Management clearly did not think that Rask was ready to have a full time starting gig yet after such limited NHL experience and it was a must to bring back Thomas.

[stocker323]

Krejci goes down with the swine...

 

The Yankees are world champions, The Celtics are undefeated and The Bruins haven't scored a goal in what seems like 3 weeks. I think i might stop watching sports for a while. It's probably best for my mental health.

[Dojji]

No' date=' management made the choice when they signed Thomas to that terrible, terrible contract.[/quote']

 

If Phil had accepted a reasonable offer a way would have been found to keep him -- such as trading Ryder and/or Ferrence and Kobasew.

 

Tim Thomas' contract didn't stop us from keeping Kessel.

[TheMino007]

Like I said, contract is bad in terms of years. In two years Raask will surpass him. The Bruins will never a Stanley Cup with Tim Thomas, he isn't a playoff goalie. The offense can't score and Thomas has given up many s*** weak goals this year. The Bruins always lowball players, but we couldn't offer Kessel what he wanted b/c of Thomas' money being tied up. Kessel is gonna score 40+ goals for many years to come and even though he is soft he deserved to make his money. He is worth what Toronto is paying him, but simply trading Kobasew as a pure salary dump still wouldn't have been able for us to re-sign Phil. Still, for the future this deal is amazing. Toronto could be one of the three worst teams this year, maybe even the worst. Depends on how Phoenix, NY Islanders, etc. do. Problem is once that pick developes who knows where the B's will be. I don't think Savard will be here much longer, and who knows down the road for how long Chara will be around. Last years team was so good and balanced, it really pisses me off that we didn't reach the Finals. That was the best Bruins team we will see for years.

[Dojji]

we couldn't offer Kessel what he wanted b/c of Thomas' money being tied up. .

 

Again, there are ways that the salary could have been cleared. Thomas is not the sole cause of losing out on Kessel.

[stocker323]

Like I said' date=' contract is bad in terms of years. In two years Raask will surpass him. The Bruins will never a Stanley Cup with Tim Thomas, he isn't a playoff goalie. The offense can't score and Thomas has given up many s*** weak goals this year. The Bruins always lowball players, but we couldn't offer Kessel what he wanted b/c of Thomas' money being tied up. Kessel is gonna score 40+ goals for many years to come and even though he is soft he deserved to make his money. He is worth what Toronto is paying him, but simply trading Kobasew as a pure salary dump still wouldn't have been able for us to re-sign Phil. Still, for the future this deal is amazing. Toronto could be one of the three worst teams this year, maybe even the worst. Depends on how Phoenix, NY Islanders, etc. do. Problem is once that pick developes who knows where the B's will be. I don't think Savard will be here much longer, and who knows down the road for how long Chara will be around. Last years team was so good and balanced, it really pisses me off that we didn't reach the Finals. That was the best Bruins team we will see for years.[/quote']

 

I wouldn't say the Bruins will never win a Stanley Cup with Thomas. No one can blame Thomas with the way the Bruins played in games 2-4 last year. The whole team in front of him pretty much left him out to dry, and it was the reason they lost to Carolina. Look at the game 7 highlights and see that save Thomas made on Whitney, and tell me Thomas can't make the big save. If that team didn't just melt down in those games they would at least be in the East finals. I doubt they get past by Pittsburgh, because A. Pittsburgh had more depth, and B. The Bruins were severely banged up at the time.

 

I think the way this team has performed without Savard will be extra motivation for Chiarelli to sign Savard. They'll have to pay him but a 4 or 5 year frontloaded contract with about a 6 mil cap hit should get it done. If they don't sign Savard then they will have plenty of cap space to go after someone like Kovalchuk, plus they have plenty of draft picks where they can go after an RFA, and oh yeah they get a top 3 pick with Toronto's pick. I'm not worried about "development" of top 3 picks because you look at these guys who get picked like Stamkos and they're big time players in their 2nd years at the latest. There haven't been too many big time busts in the last few years. It might not be this year, or next year. But they are in very good position for the future years.

[YanksHater213]

They should be positioning themselves for Kovalchuk now. This team doesn't have but one goal scorer right now.

[TheKilo]

If Phil had accepted a reasonable offer a way would have been found to keep him -- such as trading Ryder and/or Ferrence and Kobasew.

 

Tim Thomas' contract didn't stop us from keeping Kessel.

 

Um, yes, it did.

 

 

There's simply no way to justify giving a 35 year old goalie a 4 year deal with a $5m cap hit.

 

The whole "Rask is inexperienced!!1" argument holds no water with me because you could sign a veteran on the cheap to split time with him.

 

I've said it a million times, Thomas earned his money, it just shouldn't have been the Bruins who were paying him because they were so close to that cap and their real strength of last season, their depth, would be severely compromised.

 

And hey look Trent Whitfield is playing in games for the Bruins this season.

[TheKilo]

I wouldn't say the Bruins will never win a Stanley Cup with Thomas. No one can blame Thomas with the way the Bruins played in games 2-4 last year. The whole team in front of him pretty much left him out to dry' date=' and it was the reason they lost to Carolina. Look at the game 7 highlights and see that save Thomas made on Whitney, and tell me Thomas can't make the big save. If that team didn't just melt down in those games they would at least be in the East finals. I doubt they get past by Pittsburgh, because A. Pittsburgh had more depth, and B. The Bruins were severely banged up at the time.[/quote']

 

And then you look at Scott Walker's goal and realize, that yes, Thomas will never win you a Stanley Cup. He's simply not consistent game to game, period to period, to be relied upon to win the big game, something he has never done in his life.

 

I think the way this team has performed without Savard will be extra motivation for Chiarelli to sign Savard. They'll have to pay him but a 4 or 5 year frontloaded contract with about a 6 mil cap hit should get it done. If they don't sign Savard then they will have plenty of cap space to go after someone like Kovalchuk, plus they have plenty of draft picks where they can go after an RFA, and oh yeah they get a top 3 pick with Toronto's pick. I'm not worried about "development" of top 3 picks because you look at these guys who get picked like Stamkos and they're big time players in their 2nd years at the latest. There haven't been too many big time busts in the last few years. It might not be this year, or next year. But they are in very good position for the future years.

 

So, you're advocating throwing big money at Savard, who will also be entering his mid-30s to a very large contract, which will further their inability to lock up young, high-potential talent.

 

And as I type, a weak, soft goal against Thomas. Who couldn't have seen that?

[stocker323]

And then you look at Scott Walker's goal and realize, that yes, Thomas will never win you a Stanley Cup. He's simply not consistent game to game, period to period, to be relied upon to win the big game, something he has never done in his life.

 

 

 

So, you're advocating throwing big money at Savard, who will also be entering his mid-30s to a very large contract, which will further their inability to lock up young, high-potential talent.

 

And as I type, a weak, soft goal against Thomas. Who couldn't have seen that?

 

Give me a break. I don't know what else you can ask for Thomas today. No one blames f***in Wideman for being a stooge and crashing into his guy. Savard is only 31. Who do you advocate getting, because there aren't many people with Savard's skillset and only 31 there for the taking. You need a couple big contracts to be the foundation of the team, and build from there. Right now it's Savard and Chara. If they get rid of Savard, which is possible, they need to throw money at a big time scorer who can replace him. plain and simple.

[YanksHater213]

This season is nowhere near over but I'm glad I'm not one of the bums who had lofty expectations this year.

[TheKilo]

This game was Thomas in a nutshell. Fantastic for 95% of the game, lets in a softie in the 1st and has terrible position in the SO.

 

For f***s sake, though, why was Recchi on the shootout team tonight?

[Dojji]

This game was Thomas in a nutshell.

 

Agreed. That was one of his best performances. Only an insane nut expects a shutout every time.

 

Little news flash for you, Kilo, EVERY goaltender, no matter how great, is out of position at least once or twice a game. That's why the rest of the team needs to play defense.

 

This offense has got to get clicking.

[TheKilo]

It's one thing to let in snipes. It's another to get caught so badly out of position multiple times like Thomas did tonight.

 

And news flash? That's why he'll never be elite., even though he's getting paid elite money.

[Dojji]

tim Thomas is not being paid elite money. He's being paid middle of the pack money.

[TheMino007]

The plan in signing Krecji was that he would take over for Savard and be the number Center on the 1st line. Bruins dropped another friggin tonight, to make it worse to Les Homos. Hey at least we scored and got a point out of it. Thomas was brilliant and then looked liked s***** Thomas Thomas on that first and only goal of the shootout.

[TheKilo]

tim Thomas is not being paid elite money. He's being paid middle of the pack money.

 

Not even close.

 

[table]Team|Goalie|Salary

Vancouver|R. Luongo|$7,500,000

Calgary|M. Kiprusoff|$7,000,000

New York Rangers|H. Lundqvist|$6,875,000

Buffalo|R. Miller|$6,250,000

Anaheim|J.S. Giguere|$6,000,000

Boston|T. Thomas|$6,000,000

Minnesota|N. Backstrom|$6,000,000

San Jose|E. Nabakov|$6,000,000

Florida|T. Vokoun|$5,700,000

Chicago|C. Huet|$5,625,000

Dallas|M. Turco|$5,400,000

New Jersey|M. Brodeur|$5,200,000

New York Islanders|R. DiPietro|$4,500,000

Washington|J. Theodore|$4,500,000

Phoenix|I. Bryzgalov|$4,250,000

Toronto|V. Toskala|$4,000,000

Edmonton|N. Khabibulin|$3,750,000

Ottawa|P. Leclaire|$3,600,000

Carolina|C. Ward|$3,500,000

Pittsburgh|M. Andre-Fleury|$3,500,000

Atlanta|K. Lehtonen|$3,000,000

St. Louis|C. Mason|$3,000,000

Nashville|D. Ellis|$2,000,000

New York Islanders|D. Roloson|$2,000,000

Colorado|C. Anderson|$1,500,000

Philadelphia|R. Emery|$1,500,000

Detroit|C. Osgood|$1,450,000

New York Islanders|M. Biron|$1,400,000

Anaheim|J. Hiller|$1,300,000

Colorado|P. Budaj|$1,250,000

Columbus|M. Garon|$1,200,000

St. Louis|T. Conklin|$1,200,000

Atlanta|J. Hedberg|$1,175,000

Tampa Bay|M. Smith|$1,167,000

Minnesota|J. Harding|$1,100,000

Buffalo|P. Lalime|$1,000,000

Dallas|A. Auld|$1,000,000

Florida|S. Clemmensen|$1,000,000

Phoenix|J. Labarbera|$1,000,000

Tampa Bay|A. Niittymaki|$1,000,000

Vancouver|C. Schneider|$984,000

Philadelphia|B. Boucher|$925,000

Atlanta|O. Pavelec|$850,000

Boston|T. Rask|$850,000

Columbus|S. Mason|$850,000

Montreal|C. Price|$850,000

Ottawa|B. Elliott|$850,000

Washington|S. Varlamov|$850,000

Chicago|A. Niemi|$827,000

Toronto|J. Gustavsson|$810,000

Montreal|J. Halak|$800,000

Detroit|J. Howard|$750,000

Los Angeles|E. Ersberg|$750,000

Nashville|P. Rinne|$725,000

New York Rangers|S. Valiquette|$725,000

Edmonton|J. Drouin-Deslauriers|$700,000

Buffalo|J. Enroth|$635,000

Anaheim|J. Pogge|$605,000

Carolina|M. Leighton|$600,000

Los Angeles|J. Quick|$570,000

San Jose|T. Greiss|$550,000

Pittsburgh|B. Johnson|$525,000

Carolina|M. Legace|$500,000

Calgary|C. McElhinney|$500,000

New Jersey|Y. Danis|$500,000

Vancouver|A. Raycroft|$500,000[/table]

 

Players making top 5 salaries at their position are in no way, shape, or form making "middle of the road" money. Add in the fact that Thomas is 35...and has won a grand total of 1 playoff series...

 

I digress. That horse is long dead.

[Dojji]

You're blaming Thomas for Rask's salary? That's hardly fair.

[TheKilo]

How the f*** did you decipher that from my post?

[Dojji]

it's either that, or a flat out lie about Tim Thomas' contract.

 

The number that's important is not the dollars, it's the cap hit. That's at a solid $5M

[TheKilo]

it's either that, or a flat out lie about Tim Thomas' contract.

 

The number that's important is not the dollars, it's the cap hit. That's at a solid $5M

 

I'd like to see a list of cap hit dollars for goaltenders, then. Thomas still has to be in the top 10, and has not done anything to deserve it.

 

At least Ward and Giguere have won a Cup.

[Dojji]

And I'll assume, since it's convenient for you to believe this, that the Vezina should have no impact on contract or salary.

[BoSox21]

It's an awful, awful contract. I said before the season started that the Bruins were better off letting Thomas walk and signing Craig Anderson

[TheKilo]

It's an awful' date=' awful contract. I said before the season started that the Bruins were better off letting Thomas walk and signing Craig Anderson[/quote']

 

...who is currently playing like a Vezina contendet for the Avs.

[TheKilo]

And I'll assume' date=' since it's convenient for you to believe this, that the Vezina should have no impact on contract or salary.[/quote']

 

How many times must I say it?

 

The Bruins should not have signed Thomas to a $5 million cap hit for any length of contract, never mind four seasons.

 

Can't wait til they let Wheeler walk because he's got too much skill and isn't enough of a "big bad Bruin"