Miller on Thomas: ‘It’s unfortunate’

Wideman…if anyone should have been sent to the locker room it is him. He is a defensive liability, which I would consider a problem since that is his position. Watch this guy over the course of a game, he makes mistakes constantly. If Claude is looking for someone to bench, he should be the one.

It’s easy to blame Wideman for two of those goals. He is just terrible, and playing with NO confidence. You always tell defensemen, ‘if you’re going to get in the way, you better block the shot’, because when you don’t block it, or worse yet if you tip it, bad things almost always happen.

That being said, those are saves Thomas HAS to make.

It is clear the B’s will have to ride Tuukka the rest of the way. At this point it’s not about who is better, though clearly Rask is. It’s about the goalie players have more confidence in. The team just plays differently when they know they can count on the guy behind them as opposed to wondering if that guy is going to show up.

Ummmm, Higgs, did you miss the Thomas shut-out of Calgary TWO NIGHTS AGO? Yeah, the Bruins really played different with Thomas behind them. They only scored five goals, which for them was a offensive show.

I agree Rask is better and he is the future, but try having more than a one game memory. Maybe the Bruins don’t play as tight on defense with Thomas because they rely on Thomas to make spectacular saves.

I agree that Wideman sucks! He is horrible and it seems he rubs off on Chiara as well. The other issue I see is that game in & game out this team misses opportunity after opportunity to clear pucks which causes great scoring chances for the other team. Chiara is included in this mess as I don’t feel he becomes a leader when he is needed! Maybe they should bring up the goalie from Pawtucket as he has been very good for the baby B’s??

“Can’t take It”

With all due respect, it seems the one with a short memory is you. Yes I saw the SO against Calgary, but if you have watched this team over the long haul this year they clearly play with more confidence in front of Rask.

As Thomas has done all season, he fights every puck that he has to stop, including many of the saves he made against CGY. This has been a problem for Thomas his whole career. The reason he has to make so many spectacular saves is that he gives up rebounds constantly and often finds himself out of position. This is the reason Rask almost never looks spectacular. He is always in position and usually controls his rebounds.

You may not want to hear this, but the OT goal Thomas gave up in game seven against the Canes last year was a bad goal and completely Thomas’ fault. It was an easy shot from the point that should have been handled cleanly, but as Timmy usually does, he juggled the puck in front of him and Scott Walker batted in a rebound that never should have been there.

An already poor Bruins defense plays in front of Thomas expecting constant chaos in front of the net and it shows. The same poor defense plays in front of Rask expecting him to make the initial save and control or cover the rebound: thus less chaos around the net. It is clear as day and the reason Tuukka will carry the load the rest of the way.

People love Tim Thomas, and rightfully so. His is a great story and he has worked his ass off for everything he has achieved. But it’s sometimes hard for fans to differentiate between a great story and a great player. Thomas is a great story. Rask has a chance to be a great goalie: something Thomas never has been and never will be.

Thomas is not consistently great. He has had some very good games, but he’s had a lot of clunkers. He is a very good guy! However, its really Chiarelli who botched the signing…giving him one of the biggest deals in hockey for a goalie. Chiarelli needs to go, he has been abysmal.

His name is Chara and the baby b’s play in providence not pawtucket.

It is safe to say that if we do not make the playoffs this year it will be almost entirely Widemans play that has determined it. If you look back on the year and all of Widemans bad giveaways in tight games (and late) that have led to opponents goals, we could easily be 5 to 10 points (I am being conservative here) ahead of wehere we are now in the standings = comfortably in the playoffs. Wideman must go. I can see if the guy tried to compete harder to make up for all his blunders but the guy just goes throught the motions night in, night out with no hustle. Truly disappointed that management or Wideman himself has not addressed this issue other than (I) Dennis must compete harder without any nights in the pressbox. I understand that injuries may have played a part in having to dress him, but without a doubt we would have somebody else out there at least giving it their all! Sorry I had to vent!!

From watching the play away from the puck (can only be done at the game) there is a few things I have clearly noticed. All of these are major problems with the bruins team this year, none of which revolve around goaltending.

The powerplay can be fixed easily. The problem is simple, they bruins need to start moving their feet and supporting the pass when they do not have the puck. The players too often are standing around not moving during the powerplay. They have to create confusion by moving around and setting up plays, standing still wont cut it. They have been out hussled by the pk teams all year long.

The breakout, every game the bruins forwards are all the way up at the red line or the opponents blue line on the breakout just waiting for the pass. Then if the pass comes the other team just intercepts it or hits the bruins guy as soon as he gets the pass. They need to circle back and support the pass and have their feet moving when they recieve the pass.

The defense need to stand up at the blue line. The bruins d never stands the opponents up at the blue line. They just let them walk right in and set up in the offensive zone. This is basic hockey, every defenseman on the bruins is guilty of this. The worst however is wideman, need an example watch the end of last night’s game (about 1 minute left) when dennis let the guy go right at the net from the left side becasuse he wouldn’t step up and take the body when he easily could have.

Last thoughts, bench Michael Ryder. If you watch the games from the rink, its obvious he is not pulling his weight. He just glides around the ice waiting for someone to pass him the puck. He never finishes his hits, he never battles for the loose pucks. He is almost always in a bad position to receive a pass because he is normally found hovering around the half boards by the opponents blue line standing completely still on every breakout. If its possible try to find a michael ryder game when he did any of what I just mentioned. I say leave him on the bench until he wakes up and realizes he is being paid to play hockey not figure skating with a stick.

Thats all for now, enjoy the rain.

Higgs –
We’ve clearly both been watching the Bruins faithfully all season. Rask is absolutely the future – but he’s not ready yet. Even Claude said he was fatigued at the end of the TB game.

What did Tim do to lose the #1 job? He got cold riding the pine in Vancouver. The Bruins’ problems are all at the other end of the ice. We’re the only ones who are in despair when we’re down 3-1 because that might as well be 8-1, with our goal scoring ability.

Rask went on a hot streak, and Claude decided to stay with the hot hand. Then the team lost to TB and the hot streak was clearly over. I think Thomas got a shut-out, so he was the new hot hand. Then his defense screwed him over twice, and he let in one soft one. Now because of one soft one, ding-a-lings are calling for him to be sent down to Providence for who? Sabourin? Ridiculous. Last time I checked, the Baby B’s were in second to last place.

Tim has been pretty good this year, but he’s had a number of clunkers and has not given any indication that he’s the “man” to get us to the playoffs and beyond. Tim needs help, he’s not a “stand on your head” and I’ll win the cup on my own kind of goalie. He is pretty good, but not great. How is Rask’s knee, everyone forgets he missed a couple of weeks or close to it due to a knee issue.