I’ve been working on a number of different pieces including a detailed look at the Blues transformation this season, a year in review by picture or gif, and some of the special highlights of the playoffs. Before I get into those, I wanted to take a moment and review some of the postgame comments from both sides after the St. Louis Blues won their first every Stanley Cup.
Losing in Game 7 of the Finals has to be gut wrenching. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy shared this about any message he tried to reply to his team – “well there wasn’t much to say. There’s nothing that I can really say in this moment I believe, other than I was proud of them and they should walk out of here with their heads up. That’s it. There’s no long speech, there just isn’t. I’ll have an opportunity to catch up with the players in the next little while but right now they don’t want to hear anything from me.”
Tuukka Rask perhaps gave some insight in the mental mindset that it takes to be a successful goalie in the NH when asked if the loss hurts more in Game 7 of the Finals as compared to being eliminated in an earlier round. He responded “well, you’re playing for the trophy at this point so obviously it’s a bit – more at stake, but losing sucks period, so, whatever.”
Cassidy had this to say when asked about finding it hard to break through and play their type of game – “Well I don’t think that we managed the puck as well as we needed to in a Game 7. You know it showed up in the second goal. They did a good job on the first goal. They knocked us off the puck twice. They get it low to high and then it goes either on net or down low, that was their game. They got the high tip, they got a fortunate kind of bounce there but they worked for it. The second one we just didn’t manage the puck. We kind of missed an assignment and they made a play, a nice play by Pietrangelo but you’re probably a different game if it’s 1-0 coming out of the first, I do believe that. I’m not saying that we would have won or we would have lost, I’m not a mind reader, but I do believe that it gave them a lot of juice for a period that they, you know if they looked at it objectively, probably felt or should have felt that they got outplayed but they’re up 2-0 on the scoreboard and that’s all that matters.” Funny side note, Boston’s PR group misspelled Pietrangelo in the release.
I thought Brad Marchand had an interesting share when he said “Yeah, you’re not going to control the game the entire way through in this league, especially in the Cup Final. We had a ton of opportunities. We had a lot of good chances, but we knew they were going to push back. They’re a good team, obviously, but you know, we knew they were going to be resilient, and they were going to get their opportunities, but they capitalized on theirs, and we didn’t.”
Rask talked about how the first period “was tough. We created a lot of chances and shots and I barely made a save and it was 2-0, so, I really wanted to make one of those saves, didn’t, but we tried to battle back and they’re a tough team to beat when they have the lead.” He added later “it was a nightmare for me, obviously. You know barely didn’t make a save in the first. And you know we tried to create, we had good chances, and you know he made the saves when they needed and that’s what you want to do when you’re on the road.”
Charlie Coyle shared that he “felt like we played a pretty decent period just getting down two nothing it’s not ideal, our heads were up, they came second and had some pushes too though. You wish one of the chances would go in right away and get us rolling but it didn’t happen.”
A number of the Bruins talked about the Blues strength in playing with the lead. Rask shared “they’re a tough team to beat when they have the lead. So, there was not a whole lot there.”
Coyle gave credit to the Blues saying “they’re a good team, when you go up like that playing from behind against a zone team. They’re here for a reason, there was never any quit we just dug ourselves into a hole and we couldn’t get out.” He talked about the Blues defense being “tall, lanky, long reach, good sticks, it makes it tough. We knew what to expect going in but they make it tough on you.” He talked about how Jordan Binnington “made some big saves all series, different times. I just think there was a time period where we just kind of stopped firing pucks, we were trying to make the pass and even spitting out some rebounds and that’s where we got some chances but he played great. He made the saves when he needed and that’s what kept them afloat.” For Coyle, the Blues “played well. They deserved it tonight, as hard as that is to say, it’s the way they play, they play hard and they made it tough on us.”
What was interesting was that David Krejci and Marchand seemed to think the Blues first goal was lucky as Krejci said “I thought we outplayed them and they got a lucky one” while Marchand talked about the Blues “getting a couple of bounces” that “went their way, didn’t go our way”. If they realized how much Ryan O’Reilly worked on exactly that type of play, perhaps they wouldn’t attribute it to luck or getting a bounce.
Marchand only lightly owned his critical error on Pietrangelo’s goal, saying “I don’t know, they chipped it in. I thought that guy was by himself, so I went for a change, and a couple more guys jumped up on the play. I didn’t see the replay.”
In looking back at all of the Bruins comments, I was really impressed with Rask’s quotes and what appears to be his mindset. His answers were less scripted and clichéd and likely share an insight into his mental constitution. Note that he said “I barely made a save and it was 2-0”. He owned both of those goals 100% in his mind. Forget that a number of his teammates made poor plays on those goals and that most NHL goalies give up both of those goals, he was taking full responsibility. His quote about losing also illustrated to me his distaste for losing, regardless of the circumstance. He wasn’t going to take any solace in making it within one win of the Cup. The loss that ends your season sucks regardless of when that loss is. If you were a teammate, is this the type of mindset you want to play in front of? I believe so or at least I would.
On the flipside, Coach Craig Berube shared what he thought made his team so good when asked about the physicality of their game. “Well I think it’s been important all year. I think that’s the team we are. We’re a heavy team. We’re a hard forechecking team. That’s our go to. We want to get on the forecheck. We want to be physical. We want to be hard to play against, and I think that whether that’s… I don’t think that’s just the reason why we won, but it’s a big part of the way we play.”
He talked about Binnington and why they called him up and his play in Game 7. “Well he was playing really well down in San Antonio, and he played really well the year before in Providence. You know, we loaned him there, but he’s been a good goalie for a couple years down in the minors, so you know, at the time we wanted to get somebody up here and he was the guy. I mean, you know, we got him in net and he won his first game, and the rest is history. I mean, you know, he was outstanding tonight. You know, I thought it was his best game of the series tonight. He made some huge saves in the first period on that penalty kill and kept us in the game and he made a huge save in the third period.”
He talked about Jay Bouwmeester and how the injury played a role in the season – “well the surgery had, you know, I’ve seen players over time a lot younger than Jay Bouwmeester get that surgery. It takes time to come back, but this guy works hard. He works hard off the ice. He had a tough time for a while at the start, but he got going and then we decided to put him and [Colton] Parayko together and, you know, they’ve been a great shutdown pair all year for us. Steady and do a lot of good things for us night in night out.”
He sang Alex Pietrangelo’s praises saying “that’s a big goal. A big time goal by him, but again, he’s been a great player for us and he has a way of coming up with big goals, and I thought he had a heck of a game tonight, but I thought that we did a real good job in the middle of the ice tonight, especially in our own end. Good sticks, clogging it up, blocking shots. That’s a real good Boston team. They make a lot of plays, but I thought our guys they did a real good job in the middle of the ice clogging it up and not giving them anything either.”
Conn Smythe winner Ryan O’Reilly was asked about his conversation with Doug Armstrong regarding the trade, the now famous video of Armstrong holding the phone and O’Reilly saying “let’s go win a Cup”. “I remember talking to Doug and I just like, from knowing a bunch of guys on the team and then looking at the roster, I just, I was so amped up and I just said, ‘Let’s go win a Cup.’ And for that to kind of come true, you know, we knew it was there, we knew we had the pieces, but it was so educational for myself to see how tough it is and how hard you have to work and how even keel you have to be to keep coming every day and just keep punching at it. It’s – it was always there that we could do it, but to actually do it, it’s exhausting. I’m exhausted.”
O’reilly got to give a bit back to his parents, talking about when they joined him on the ice after the game. “Gosh, it was really emotional. The hours and the money that they’ve put in – I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be in the NHL and having this as a job if it wasn’t for them and all the stuff they’ve put in. so, it was very emotion. I just – I couldn’t stop thanking them for putting their lives aside for us, for the kids, and doing whatever we needed to do, taking us to all these hockey and practices and training things. I just – I can’t thank them enough.”
What has transpired since the game has been surreal in St. Louis. I’ll have more on that in the coming days.
It’s a great day for hockey.
NHL Champions for Charity Playoff Edition
In what I hope becomes a Hockeybuzz tradition, Bruins Hockeybuzz writer
Anthony Travalgia will be making a donation to the
Gateway Area Multiple Sclerosis Society (@mssociety on twitter) whose mission is help each person affected by MS in St. Louis address the challenges of living with MS. They help by raising funds for cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education and providing programs and services that empower people with MS and their families to move their lives forward. I picked this charity to honor Blues anthem singer, Charles Glenn. Read more about Charles’ battle with MS
here.
Sharks Hockeybuzz writer
Steve Palumbo and I placed a wager on the series. Since the Blues won, Steve should be making a donation to the
Gateway Area Multiple Sclerosis Society (@mssociety on twitter) whose mission is help each person affected by MS in St. Louis address the challenges of living with MS. They help by raising funds for cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education and providing programs and services that empower people with MS and their families to move their lives forward. I selected the MS Society to honor St. Louis Blues Anthem singer Charles Glenn. Read more about Charles
here.
I hope that our wagers will inspire players and fans to pledge donations for each win their team makes in the NHL playoffs.
NHL Champions for Charity Regular Season
Given that the Predators pulled out the division title, all be it not without some controversial officiating in the last couple of games, Best Buddies Tennessee
https://www.bestbuddies.org/tennessee/ is the beneficiary. Best Buddies Tennessee is dedicated to establishing a volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development and inclusive living opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As a side note, I recently got to experience a Best Buddies even in the St. Louis area that was led by the Eureka high school football team. It was a lot of fun and brought a lot of joy to those involved.
It’s a great day for hockey.
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