Hangover

So as you all know and remember the Boston Bruins were the Stanley Cup Champions last season! It was a great day for Bruins fans, as at long last, their team ended the 39 year Cup drought in Boston, they were excited, and couldn't wait to see their team step back on the ice this October. “We did our homework,” said head coach Claude Julien. “And the one thing everybody seemed to tell us is that it seemed unavoidable. “We knew we were going to have some struggles at some point. You never know when, but we knew we would probably be faced with it at some point. We tried to avoid it, but it was there.” As October games started playing, the Bruins quickly found themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, when they lost 7 of their first 10 games. Suddenly it was panic time in Boston, as fan's were wondering what the heck happened to their Stanley Cup winning team; and then it sunk in the infamous Stanley Cup hangover. It is thought that teams that make a deep run in the play-offs (or win the Cup) have a heard time getting over the physical and emotional exertion from fighting for a championship, this in return carries over to the beginning of next season, mainly due to the shortened off-season the Cup winners get; but I'm sure a $150,000 bar tab didn't help! This But having scored 18 goals between their last 3 wins, it is perhaps safe to say, that the Bruins are coming out of their hangover! “We’re just playing more to our identity,” said Julien. “At the beginning of the year it was like we maybe thought we were better than we were and we got away from the things that we’re giving us success.”

So what has helped spark the turnaround? how about sophomore superstar Tyler Seguin; has 9 goals and 8 assists in 14 games and leads the league in +/-11. Not bad for a kid taken 2nd overall last year! He got his first career hat-trick against the Leafs, Novemeber 5th and since then he hasn't slowed down, he's scored 3 game winning goals, so he's definitely helping his team when it counts! In 74, games with the Bruins in his rookie season Seguin scored 11 goals, in 14 games this season he already has 9, so he will likely break his record for goal this season! “I don’t think he was a bad player a year ago, he was just one of those guys who came into a team that had a lot of experience,” said the Bruins coach. “For him it was adapting and learning with us, but never was his skill level ever in doubt. He came back this year with a lot of confidence, a stronger player. The playoffs, which he took a lot of experience from, paid dividends. He came back this year with a lot of confidence. This year he’s capable of playing some big minutes for us.”

Now this Stanley Cup hangover might not be so far fetched, the NHL hasn't had a team repeat winning the Stanley Cup, since the Detroit Red Wings did it in 1998. Remember the 2010 Cup winning Chicago Black hawks? Well they had a lackluster regular season last year, and squeaked into the playoffs in 8th before a first round elimination sent them packing. The Canucks and Bruins, the two teams that meet in the Stanley Cup final, have gotten off to quite slow start, the Canucks are in more hot water with their fans then the Bruins, but both need a strong November. An aspect for the slow starts after the Stanley Cup championships is the amount of players that have left the team; but for the Bruins chemistry shouldn't be too much of an issue, as they only lost 3 players from their cup winning team; Tomas Kaberle, Mark Recchi, and Michael Ryder.

Alright time for me to ramble on and offer my opinion now :)
I do believe in the dreaded Stanley Cup hangover, statistics don't lie, team that make it to the final 2, generally have painfully slow starts to the next season, can't deny that! But I don't believe it is all due to emotional and physical exertion from the long run to the finals, part of the owonis has to fall on the players themselves! Now I completely understand that once you achieve the greatest goal in hockey, you deserve to party and celebrate, heck I'd be going nuts, but I believe teams take it a bit to far! yes, the $150,000 bar tab is a bit ridiculous, but that's not what I'm talking about, the players party and celebrate too long, they forget they have to start playing again in October. Each player gets their own day with the cup, and I think thats awesome, but players don't spend enough time training and getting ready for the upcoming season, like their opponents do. They eat big meals, they drink as much as possible, they go visit with family and they just rest; all that is fine, but there is a time when you need to put down your Bud Light and cheese burger and get back to working out, some players just don't know or want to do it. Partly it has to do with scheduling, for fans the off season is a long and grueling time, but for players that make it all the way to the final round, it's not long enough; some players get their day with the cup days before the start of the regular season; obviously their going to party, eat and get drunk; so the schedule doesn't particularly help the champions. What many out siders forget is that the celebration lasts long after that final buzzer.

So full congrats, to the Bruins for winning last season, but it seems like avoiding the Stanley Cup Hangover, is getting harder and harder each year; teams are doing worse and worse after every championships, teams generally far 2-3 spots in the standing then where they finished last season. But it looks like the Bruins are finally turning the corner; led by the young Tyler Seguin and the veteran with his own style Tim Thomas, the bruins have won 3 straight games and are not showing any signs of slowing down. Are the Bruins poised to make another deep run this year? Only time will tell!

Quick note, this blog was written on Friday, so stats and stuff might have slightly changed over the weekend.