Bruins expect Blues to bring the boom in Stanley Cup Finals
When most people think of the Bruins defense, the first image that comes to mind is 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara’s menacing visage.
But the fact of the matter is the Bruins will open the Stanley Cup Final on Monday with half of their defensemen shorter than 6 feet. Connor Clifton is 5-11 while Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk are each 5-9.
They’ve proven to be a plucky bunch, to be sure. First the Columbus Blue Jackets and then the Carolina Hurricanes did their best to establish a physical advantage to no avail. But the Western Conference champion St. Louis Blues, said B’s coach Bruce Cassidy, are a different breed. With heavy players like Oskar Sundqvist (6-3, 209) Pat Maroon (6-3, 225), Sammy Blais (6-2, 205) and even sharpshooter Vladimir Tarasenko (6-foot- and a tank-like 225), they promise to come after the B’s on ev
ery shift.
“I think (St. Louis) is more consistently physical. Columbus, it was probably certain lines. Carolina the same way. But I think this is more one line after the other that finishes checks,” Cassidy said. “(The Blues) are probably the most physical we’ve seen, at least from the people we’ve talked to, what we’ve watched and the small sample size of the two games we’ve played them. That’s what I expect.
“Even their scoring line of (Brayden) Schenn, (Jaden) Schwartz and Tarasenko will probably be more physical – I know they will be – than a (Artemi) Panarin or (Cam) Atkinson. It’s a little more every shift that you have to be prepared to get finished. You’ve got to be aware, you’ve got to be ready, you’ve got to be agile – those smaller guys – before they get you in their sights. And you’ve got to be able to take some of those. It’s inevitable. We saw that with (Matt Grzelcyk). He took some big hits and bounced back. We have some tough guys back there, but you don’t want to put yourself in that position too much. That’ll be the message to them. But once the puck drops, they’ve gone through it so they have to be sure they’re prepared for that.”
Clifton is the least experienced but the sturdiest of the three. He can dish it out as well as he takes it. Krug took a huge, questionable hit from Toronto’s Jake Muzzin that knocked him out of Game 2, but he was back in the lineup for Game 3 against the Leafs. He is playing the best hockey of his career in his own end.
The spindliest of the bunch is Grzelcyk. He’s listed at a whopping 174 pounds. But it was the Charlestown native who delivered the moment of the Eastern Conference finals, maybe even this entire playoff run, when he nearly got knocked into the loge seats by the Hurricanes’ Micheal Ferland in Game 2, shook off the hit and rebounded to score two goals in the rout.
Don’t expect the B’s defense, especially the smaller ones like Grzelcyk, to be a stationary target.
“We just have the most success when we have our legs and we’re moving,” Grzelcyk said. “Obviously there’s going to be a lot of times when you’re just caught and you have to take a hit, but at the same time, I think it takes a lot of energy to throw a hit, too. I’m sure they’ll be a little worn down as well. But at the end of the day, it’s the Stanley Cup Final. We just have to find a way to fight through checks, find a way at the last second to get out of the way a little bit to protect yourself a little bit. And hopefully, you can jump up in the play and add offense.”