I have been thinking for weeks now...who's going to play RW when Savard gets back? I had an idea to try Bitz there first and see what happens. Well tonight we get to see it. I think Bitz could score many goals with Savard's passing ability. He has shown a finishing touch and a nice pair of hands. I wonder what happens at practice during shoot-out practice and why he doesn't get a shot in a game.

i agree savy with bitz  but id like to see lucic also 2 big bodies create lots of space for savy   i like sturm with bergeron  but lets see a few games then go from there......the pp is what they need to fix...it can win alot of games....to many skilled players for us to be 30th anyway 

I think we'll see this experiment go up in flames after 'stonehands' Bitz muffs a few empty net opportunities. Claudes off his rocker. Savard needs a goalscorer riding shotgun with him, not a 4th line grinder.

Yeah Savard needs a goal scorer on his line, but seeing that the Bruins don't have one Claude has to try something?!? LOL

Bitz and Lucic looked like a natural fit and should not be broken up. This is a crucial point in the season and Juilen has to be careful now with tinkering. Don't change what is working.

Bitz should be in a Bruins uniform for a long IMO but he is not a sniper, quintessential blue color cycling worker, and Recchi has not burying open looks like we've seen in the past. Bitz doesn't need Savard as much as Sturm and Recchi need Mr. playmaker Savard. Not a good experiment!

I'm not sure that I click on this.

I mean, the coaching staff think that Bitz has more scoring abilities than Lucic ???

Or, is it the fact that they don't want to put Sturm on RW, so, that kind of kick Lucic out of the first line ??

On the other hand, we all tought that Sturm and Bergy would click well together as they did in the past, but it didn't really happen.

The more I think, even tough Bergy is so good at center position, the lines should look like this, for maximum offense impact :

Sturm-Savard-Bergeron
Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder
Lucic-Bégin-Bitz (what a power line!)
Thornton-Paillé-Recchi

Your thoughts ??

I  think Bitz's play this season has earned him a shot at playing with Savard.

I think that it's worth a shot to try Bitz on the first line with Sturm.  That means that there is a big body to open up space on every line.  Bitz is very strong in the corners, whereas Sturm is not. 

My biggest concern is that Savard is a right-handed shot, who makes his best passes to his right.  With Sturm as the line's sniper, Savard will have to pass to his off side as Sturm moves up the ice on Savard's left. 

Last season the Bruins were short on left wingers.  So far this season, they are thin on the right side. 

I think that we will see a lot of line juggling over the next week or two.  With the division up for grabs, CJ is under no real pressure to find line combinations that win games and stick with them rigidly right now.  He can tinker with the lines not only to see what works now, but to see which players have a natural chemistry and can be put together in the eventual case of an injury or two.  While it may be frustrating to watch at times, it is better to know which guys work well together now rather than trying to figure it out down the stretch as guys get hurt and every point counts.  I know that every point counts as much in November as it does in March, but I would rather see the team slumping in November while they tweak their lines than in March. 

Even discussing putting Byron Bitz on the first line confirms the need for some help with this roster. Check out some first lines on some good teams across the league. Seriously,if going with Bitz is the plan- we're even more screwed than I thought. I wonder what Savard must be saying to himself ?

The way the Julien rolls  his lines there is no real 1st line. Also Savy will not be pushed to the tilt after a long time with no action. I think this is it for Sturm, hopefully he can un-block. 
Julien will have Savy get the feel and we'll see Looch back paired with him in no time.  Bitz will go back on 4th line and I can see Paille playing with Bergy.
Also now Bergy has a heavyweight that can put the puck on net.
Will be interesting to see.
Tonite Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder have to put it in.  They've buzzing and clicking, now the puck must go in.

KPDs article today makes it sound like Julien actually asked Savard either if it would be okay, or who he wanted to play with (just says Julien sought his input).

I think this is a "Let's try to not mess lines that are doing alright up too much until we are sure Savard is back to form" line-up.  Nice to give Bitz a shot at playing the offensive role, but I wouldn't be surprised if they get shuffled around by the third period (unless they click).

Bitz will play the same role as Lucic did when paired with  Savy- to bang bodies and create some space for the Savy and Sturm.  Bitz has also been doing a good job controlling and protecting the puck-he can win the battles in the corners and he knows how to protect the puck. He does not have the scoring touch that Lucic has, but then again this is the team that employs Shawn 'UFC champ but no offense" Thornton so we'll see how it pans out tonight.

All I know is he has scored some nice goals this year and his pass to Lucic the other night was a thing of beauty.