2022-2023 Boston Bruins Season

[Donoghus]

Monday is shaping up as a helluva sports day (weather permitting).

Angels-Red Sox (with Ohtani as tentative SP) 11:10am

Boston Marathon (with Kiphoge running!)

Panthers-Bruins TBD

[Vermont Green]

My final tally on the Bruins season vs. other top seasons

                                  Points  Games   Wins   OT Wins    OT Loss      Loss      Ties
Bruins        2022-23      135      82         54         11             5           12          0
Canadiens  1976-77      132      80         60          0              0            8          12
Red Wings  1995-96      131      82         59          3              1           12          7
Lightning    2018-19      128      82         49         13             4           16          0

Caveats:
(1)  Canadiens got a point for each tie but none of their ties were settled as OT wins.  With 12 ties, it is conceivable that they would have had 7 or 8 more wins and 7-8 more points.  Plus they only had 80 games.  2 more games could have been another win and a couple more points.

(2)  The Red Wings had overtime but not shoot outs.  They had 7 ties that could have been 4 more wins.  They also did not get a point for their OT loss, like teams do now.

Bottom line, a great season for the Bruins, clearly the best of the modern era.  The Canadiens of their era and the Red Wings of their era were more dominant though.  The Canadiens won the cup in 1977, Detroit didn't in 1996.  In 2019, of course, Tampa got swept in the first round and Boston lost in the finals.

[Roy H.]

My final tally on the Bruins season vs. other top seasons

                                  Points  Games   Wins   OT Wins    OT Loss      Loss      Ties
Bruins        2022-23      135      82         54         11             5           12          0
Canadiens  1976-77      132      80         60          0              0            8          12
Red Wings  1995-96      131      82         59          3              1           12          7
Lightning    2018-19      128      82         49         13             4           16          0

Caveats:
(1)  Canadiens got a point for each tie but none of their ties were settled as OT wins.  With 12 ties, it is conceivable that they would have had 7 or 8 more wins and 7-8 more points.  Plus they only had 80 games.  2 more games could have been another win and a couple more points.

(2)  The Red Wings had overtime but not shoot outs.  They had 7 ties that could have been 4 more wins.  They also did not get a point for their OT loss, like teams do now.

Bottom line, a great season for the Bruins, clearly the best of the modern era.  The Canadiens of their era and the Red Wings of their era were more dominant though.  The Canadiens won the cup in 1977, Detroit didn't in 1996.  In 2019, of course, Tampa got swept in the first round and Boston lost in the finals.

I'm not sure how the Wings were "more dominant". 

Red Wings:  Regular time + OT wins  = 62 wins

Bruins:  Regular time + OT wins (not counting shootouts) = 62 wins

I think that it's also arguable regarding which era it's hardest to be dominant in.  In 2006 there were significant rule changes to increase offense and to free up play in the neutral zone.  That makes it harder for defense + goalie oriented teams to maintain success.  The increase in roster size over the years, the changes to the schedule, the salary cap, etc., have all led to increased parity.  This isn't an example of the richest franchise gobbling up all of the best players.

[Vermont Green]

My final tally on the Bruins season vs. other top seasons

                                  Points  Games   Wins   OT Wins    OT Loss      Loss      Ties
Bruins        2022-23      135      82         54         11             5           12          0
Canadiens  1976-77      132      80         60          0              0            8          12
Red Wings  1995-96      131      82         59          3              1           12          7
Lightning    2018-19      128      82         49         13             4           16          0

Caveats:
(1)  Canadiens got a point for each tie but none of their ties were settled as OT wins.  With 12 ties, it is conceivable that they would have had 7 or 8 more wins and 7-8 more points.  Plus they only had 80 games.  2 more games could have been another win and a couple more points.

(2)  The Red Wings had overtime but not shoot outs.  They had 7 ties that could have been 4 more wins.  They also did not get a point for their OT loss, like teams do now.

Bottom line, a great season for the Bruins, clearly the best of the modern era.  The Canadiens of their era and the Red Wings of their era were more dominant though.  The Canadiens won the cup in 1977, Detroit didn't in 1996.  In 2019, of course, Tampa got swept in the first round and Boston lost in the finals.

I'm not sure how the Wings were "more dominant". 

Red Wings:  Regular time + OT wins  = 62 wins

Bruins:  Regular time + OT wins (not counting shootouts) = 62 wins

Yes, Detroit had 3 OT wins but still had 7 ties.  They did not have shoot outs.  So if they had taken those 7 ties to shoot outs, is it fair to assume that they win 4 and lose 3?  That would be 66 wins for them and 135 points, 136 points if they had gotten 1 point for their OT Loss.

I will concede that this Detroit season is not in the same league as the Montreal season.  It is more on par with this Bruins' season.  But statistically, I see it as a tick better than this Bruins' season.  59 regulation wins is better than 54 regulation wins.  And if all their ties had been settled, they likely end up with more overall wins and points.

So I will rephrase, the Detroit season is slightly better statistically than this Bruins' season if you adjust for the difference in how the ties were handled.  Both teams were dominant.

[Roy H.]

My final tally on the Bruins season vs. other top seasons

                                  Points  Games   Wins   OT Wins    OT Loss      Loss      Ties
Bruins        2022-23      135      82         54         11             5           12          0
Canadiens  1976-77      132      80         60          0              0            8          12
Red Wings  1995-96      131      82         59          3              1           12          7
Lightning    2018-19      128      82         49         13             4           16          0

Caveats:
(1)  Canadiens got a point for each tie but none of their ties were settled as OT wins.  With 12 ties, it is conceivable that they would have had 7 or 8 more wins and 7-8 more points.  Plus they only had 80 games.  2 more games could have been another win and a couple more points.

(2)  The Red Wings had overtime but not shoot outs.  They had 7 ties that could have been 4 more wins.  They also did not get a point for their OT loss, like teams do now.

Bottom line, a great season for the Bruins, clearly the best of the modern era.  The Canadiens of their era and the Red Wings of their era were more dominant though.  The Canadiens won the cup in 1977, Detroit didn't in 1996.  In 2019, of course, Tampa got swept in the first round and Boston lost in the finals.

I'm not sure how the Wings were "more dominant". 

Red Wings:  Regular time + OT wins  = 62 wins

Bruins:  Regular time + OT wins (not counting shootouts) = 62 wins

Yes, Detroit had 3 OT wins but still had 7 ties.  They did not have shoot outs.  So if they had taken those 7 ties to shoot outs, is it fair to assume that they win 4 and lose 3?  That would be 66 wins for them and 135 points, 136 points if they had gotten 1 point for their OT Loss.

I will concede that this Detroit season is not in the same league as the Montreal season.  It is more on par with this Bruins' season.  But statistically, I see it as a tick better than this Bruins' season.  59 regulation wins is better than 54 regulation wins.  And if all their ties had been settled, they likely end up with more overall wins and points.

So I will rephrase, the Detroit season is slightly better statistically than this Bruins' season if you adjust for the difference in how the ties were handled.  Both teams were dominant.

I think this is silly.  Why should we presume Detroit would go 4-3 in shootouts?  They just as easily could have gone 3-4, or 2-5.  Ties aren't wins.

I don't know, maybe you're limiting your own expectations, but you're going out of your way to downgrade the historic nature of the Bruins season.  The "what if they played under different rules" approach isn't all that effective; the teams play under the rules in place, which affects strategy.  As noted above, beyond shootouts, there have been numerous rules and CBA changes that have been put into place.  Analyzing only one, and then declaring Boston to be the beneficiary of rules changes and thus their historic season isn't really that historic, seems...  inconsistent?

If the goal is to determine the best team of all-time, throw out the Canadiens, the Red Wings and the Bruins, and just hand the imaginary trophy to one of the Gretzky Oilers teams.  If the goal is to look at regular season dominance, I don't think you're being fair to the Bs.

[Vermont Green]

My final tally on the Bruins season vs. other top seasons

                                  Points  Games   Wins   OT Wins    OT Loss      Loss      Ties
Bruins        2022-23      135      82         54         11             5           12          0
Canadiens  1976-77      132      80         60          0              0            8          12
Red Wings  1995-96      131      82         59          3              1           12          7
Lightning    2018-19      128      82         49         13             4           16          0

Caveats:
(1)  Canadiens got a point for each tie but none of their ties were settled as OT wins.  With 12 ties, it is conceivable that they would have had 7 or 8 more wins and 7-8 more points.  Plus they only had 80 games.  2 more games could have been another win and a couple more points.

(2)  The Red Wings had overtime but not shoot outs.  They had 7 ties that could have been 4 more wins.  They also did not get a point for their OT loss, like teams do now.

Bottom line, a great season for the Bruins, clearly the best of the modern era.  The Canadiens of their era and the Red Wings of their era were more dominant though.  The Canadiens won the cup in 1977, Detroit didn't in 1996.  In 2019, of course, Tampa got swept in the first round and Boston lost in the finals.

I'm not sure how the Wings were "more dominant". 

Red Wings:  Regular time + OT wins  = 62 wins

Bruins:  Regular time + OT wins (not counting shootouts) = 62 wins

Yes, Detroit had 3 OT wins but still had 7 ties.  They did not have shoot outs.  So if they had taken those 7 ties to shoot outs, is it fair to assume that they win 4 and lose 3?  That would be 66 wins for them and 135 points, 136 points if they had gotten 1 point for their OT Loss.

I will concede that this Detroit season is not in the same league as the Montreal season.  It is more on par with this Bruins' season.  But statistically, I see it as a tick better than this Bruins' season.  59 regulation wins is better than 54 regulation wins.  And if all their ties had been settled, they likely end up with more overall wins and points.

So I will rephrase, the Detroit season is slightly better statistically than this Bruins' season if you adjust for the difference in how the ties were handled.  Both teams were dominant.

I think this is silly.  Why should we presume Detroit would go 4-3 in shootouts?  They just as easily could have gone 3-4, or 2-5.  Ties aren't wins.

I don't know, maybe you're limiting your own expectations, but you're going out of your way to downgrade the historic nature of the Bruins season.  The "what if they played under different rules" approach isn't all that effective; the teams play under the rules in place, which affects strategy.  As noted above, beyond shootouts, there have been numerous rules and CBA changes that have been put into place.  Analyzing only one, and then declaring Boston to be the beneficiary of rules changes and thus their historic season isn't really that historic, seems...  inconsistent?

If the goal is to determine the best team of all-time, throw out the Canadiens, the Red Wings and the Bruins, and just hand the imaginary trophy to one of the Gretzky Oilers teams.  If the goal is to look at regular season dominance, I don't think you're being fair to the Bs.

I am not trying to minimize the Bruins season, just provide context, which in this case is hard because the rules were different for these other teams.  So if you don't want to take the Detroit ties and adjust that way, we can take the OT Wins and OT Losses and consider them ties.  So the Bruins only get 1 point for their overtime wins, same for Detroit (score them as if it was a tie).  And both teams still get 1 point for OT losses.  If you do that math, Boston adjusted points is 124 (54 regulation wins x 2 + 16 ties x 1) and Detroit is 129 points (59 regulation wins x 2 + 11 ties x 1).

I think this is a great team.  But I just can't accept a number like that at face value, I guess it is the engineer in me.  They are not apples and apples.  So to compare two values that were derived differently, you need to normalize the values.  To normalize two values, you have to apply some assumptions.  That is all I am doing.  I understand that most people are not engineers and wouldn't be interested to scrutinize this to this level.  But I can't help myself.

[Roy H.]

My final tally on the Bruins season vs. other top seasons

                                  Points  Games   Wins   OT Wins    OT Loss      Loss      Ties
Bruins        2022-23      135      82         54         11             5           12          0
Canadiens  1976-77      132      80         60          0              0            8          12
Red Wings  1995-96      131      82         59          3              1           12          7
Lightning    2018-19      128      82         49         13             4           16          0

Caveats:
(1)  Canadiens got a point for each tie but none of their ties were settled as OT wins.  With 12 ties, it is conceivable that they would have had 7 or 8 more wins and 7-8 more points.  Plus they only had 80 games.  2 more games could have been another win and a couple more points.

(2)  The Red Wings had overtime but not shoot outs.  They had 7 ties that could have been 4 more wins.  They also did not get a point for their OT loss, like teams do now.

Bottom line, a great season for the Bruins, clearly the best of the modern era.  The Canadiens of their era and the Red Wings of their era were more dominant though.  The Canadiens won the cup in 1977, Detroit didn't in 1996.  In 2019, of course, Tampa got swept in the first round and Boston lost in the finals.

I'm not sure how the Wings were "more dominant". 

Red Wings:  Regular time + OT wins  = 62 wins

Bruins:  Regular time + OT wins (not counting shootouts) = 62 wins

Yes, Detroit had 3 OT wins but still had 7 ties.  They did not have shoot outs.  So if they had taken those 7 ties to shoot outs, is it fair to assume that they win 4 and lose 3?  That would be 66 wins for them and 135 points, 136 points if they had gotten 1 point for their OT Loss.

I will concede that this Detroit season is not in the same league as the Montreal season.  It is more on par with this Bruins' season.  But statistically, I see it as a tick better than this Bruins' season.  59 regulation wins is better than 54 regulation wins.  And if all their ties had been settled, they likely end up with more overall wins and points.

So I will rephrase, the Detroit season is slightly better statistically than this Bruins' season if you adjust for the difference in how the ties were handled.  Both teams were dominant.

I think this is silly.  Why should we presume Detroit would go 4-3 in shootouts?  They just as easily could have gone 3-4, or 2-5.  Ties aren't wins.

I don't know, maybe you're limiting your own expectations, but you're going out of your way to downgrade the historic nature of the Bruins season.  The "what if they played under different rules" approach isn't all that effective; the teams play under the rules in place, which affects strategy.  As noted above, beyond shootouts, there have been numerous rules and CBA changes that have been put into place.  Analyzing only one, and then declaring Boston to be the beneficiary of rules changes and thus their historic season isn't really that historic, seems...  inconsistent?

If the goal is to determine the best team of all-time, throw out the Canadiens, the Red Wings and the Bruins, and just hand the imaginary trophy to one of the Gretzky Oilers teams.  If the goal is to look at regular season dominance, I don't think you're being fair to the Bs.

I am not trying to minimize the Bruins season, just provide context, which in this case is hard because the rules were different for these other teams.  So if you don't want to take the Detroit ties and adjust that way, we can take the OT Wins and OT Losses and consider them ties.  So the Bruins only get 1 point for their overtime wins, same for Detroit (score them as if it was a tie).  And both teams still get 1 point for OT losses.  If you do that math, Boston adjusted points is 124 (54 regulation wins x 2 + 16 ties x 1) and Detroit is 129 points (59 regulation wins x 2 + 11 ties x 1).

I think this is a great team.  But I just can't accept a number like that at face value, I guess it is the engineer in me.  They are not apples and apples.  So to compare two values that were derived differently, you need to normalize the values.  To normalize two values, you have to apply some assumptions.  That is all I am doing.  I understand that most people are not engineers and wouldn't be interested to scrutinize this to this level.  But I can't help myself.

The engineer in you should not accept an adjustment made based upon one role change, but ignore all others.

The Bruins have the most wins of any team ever. That is a fact. Even if you somehow discount the wins they earned in the shoot outs, they would still be tied for the most wins ever.

[Vermont Green]

My final tally on the Bruins season vs. other top seasons

                                  Points  Games   Wins   OT Wins    OT Loss      Loss      Ties
Bruins        2022-23      135      82         54         11             5           12          0
Canadiens  1976-77      132      80         60          0              0            8          12
Red Wings  1995-96      131      82         59          3              1           12          7
Lightning    2018-19      128      82         49         13             4           16          0

Caveats:
(1)  Canadiens got a point for each tie but none of their ties were settled as OT wins.  With 12 ties, it is conceivable that they would have had 7 or 8 more wins and 7-8 more points.  Plus they only had 80 games.  2 more games could have been another win and a couple more points.

(2)  The Red Wings had overtime but not shoot outs.  They had 7 ties that could have been 4 more wins.  They also did not get a point for their OT loss, like teams do now.

Bottom line, a great season for the Bruins, clearly the best of the modern era.  The Canadiens of their era and the Red Wings of their era were more dominant though.  The Canadiens won the cup in 1977, Detroit didn't in 1996.  In 2019, of course, Tampa got swept in the first round and Boston lost in the finals.

I'm not sure how the Wings were "more dominant". 

Red Wings:  Regular time + OT wins  = 62 wins

Bruins:  Regular time + OT wins (not counting shootouts) = 62 wins

Yes, Detroit had 3 OT wins but still had 7 ties.  They did not have shoot outs.  So if they had taken those 7 ties to shoot outs, is it fair to assume that they win 4 and lose 3?  That would be 66 wins for them and 135 points, 136 points if they had gotten 1 point for their OT Loss.

I will concede that this Detroit season is not in the same league as the Montreal season.  It is more on par with this Bruins' season.  But statistically, I see it as a tick better than this Bruins' season.  59 regulation wins is better than 54 regulation wins.  And if all their ties had been settled, they likely end up with more overall wins and points.

So I will rephrase, the Detroit season is slightly better statistically than this Bruins' season if you adjust for the difference in how the ties were handled.  Both teams were dominant.

I think this is silly.  Why should we presume Detroit would go 4-3 in shootouts?  They just as easily could have gone 3-4, or 2-5.  Ties aren't wins.

I don't know, maybe you're limiting your own expectations, but you're going out of your way to downgrade the historic nature of the Bruins season.  The "what if they played under different rules" approach isn't all that effective; the teams play under the rules in place, which affects strategy.  As noted above, beyond shootouts, there have been numerous rules and CBA changes that have been put into place.  Analyzing only one, and then declaring Boston to be the beneficiary of rules changes and thus their historic season isn't really that historic, seems...  inconsistent?

If the goal is to determine the best team of all-time, throw out the Canadiens, the Red Wings and the Bruins, and just hand the imaginary trophy to one of the Gretzky Oilers teams.  If the goal is to look at regular season dominance, I don't think you're being fair to the Bs.

I am not trying to minimize the Bruins season, just provide context, which in this case is hard because the rules were different for these other teams.  So if you don't want to take the Detroit ties and adjust that way, we can take the OT Wins and OT Losses and consider them ties.  So the Bruins only get 1 point for their overtime wins, same for Detroit (score them as if it was a tie).  And both teams still get 1 point for OT losses.  If you do that math, Boston adjusted points is 124 (54 regulation wins x 2 + 16 ties x 1) and Detroit is 129 points (59 regulation wins x 2 + 11 ties x 1).

I think this is a great team.  But I just can't accept a number like that at face value, I guess it is the engineer in me.  They are not apples and apples.  So to compare two values that were derived differently, you need to normalize the values.  To normalize two values, you have to apply some assumptions.  That is all I am doing.  I understand that most people are not engineers and wouldn't be interested to scrutinize this to this level.  But I can't help myself.

The engineer in you should not accept an adjustment made based upon one role change, but ignore all others.

The Bruins have the most wins of any team ever. That is a fact. Even if you somehow discount the wins they earned in the shoot outs, they would still be tied for the most wins ever.

Look, I am willing to agree to disagree on this but if you want to compare regulation wins + OT wins (excluding shoot out wins), the Bruins had 54 regulation wins and 7 OT wins by my count.  That is 61 wins (4 additional wins in shoot outs).  Detroit had 59 regulation wins and 3 OT wins for a total of 62 wins (no shoot out wins).  Of all the ways to normalize this, that is the most favorable to the Bruins but they are still 1 less win than Detroit.

[Neurotic Guy]

I’m no hockey fan - to illustrate, I haven’t watched one minute of the Bs this year. No interest.  But I’m wondering with their amazing season whether anything less than the cup would feel like a major failure.  Are they huge favorites or are they thought of as in the mix like the Cs?

[Donoghus]

I’m no hockey fan - to illustrate, I haven’t watched one minute of the Bs this year. No interest.  But I’m wondering with their amazing season whether anything less than the cup would feel like a major failure.  Are they huge favorites or are they thought of as in the mix like the Cs?

This is like '07 Pats if they don't win the Cup.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I’m no hockey fan - to illustrate, I haven’t watched one minute of the Bs this year. No interest.  But I’m wondering with their amazing season whether anything less than the cup would feel like a major failure.  Are they huge favorites or are they thought of as in the mix like the Cs?

This is like '07 Pats if they don't win the Cup.

I agree. They dominated the NHL this season. If they don't win the Cup, it's a major disappointment.

[Roy H.]

I’m no hockey fan - to illustrate, I haven’t watched one minute of the Bs this year. No interest.  But I’m wondering with their amazing season whether anything less than the cup would feel like a major failure.  Are they huge favorites or are they thought of as in the mix like the Cs?

This is like '07 Pats if they don't win the Cup.

I agree. They dominated the NHL this season. If they don't win the Cup, it's a major disappointment.

This is true.  At the same time, while the Bruins are favorites, odds still favor the field.  The NHL playoffs are like the NCAA basketball tournament:  the best regular season team usually doesn’t win.  It’s why three of the teams cited in this thread — the 2019 Lightning, the 1996 Red Wings, and the 1971 Bruins — all lost before even making the Finals.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I’m no hockey fan - to illustrate, I haven’t watched one minute of the Bs this year. No interest.  But I’m wondering with their amazing season whether anything less than the cup would feel like a major failure.  Are they huge favorites or are they thought of as in the mix like the Cs?

This is like '07 Pats if they don't win the Cup.

I agree. They dominated the NHL this season. If they don't win the Cup, it's a major disappointment.

This is true.  At the same time, while the Bruins are favorites, odds still favor the field.  The NHL playoffs are like the NCAA basketball tournament:  the best regular season team usually doesn’t win.  It’s why three of the teams cited in this thread — the 2019 Lightning, the 1996 Red Wings, and the 1971 Bruins — all lost before even making the Finals.

I agree that the odds are still greater for the field, but for Bruins fans, I think anything less than a Cup this year will be a huge disappointment.

[Phantom255x]

Full first round schedule released for Boston-Florida

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1647067067906916352

Lol Friday and Sunday will be lit. B’s and C’s both playing those same days too

[Phantom255x]

The quest for the Cup begins tonight. Go B's!