When was the last time you saw a team with pretty much the same lineup 3-4 years running. As irritated as I was about the lockout and ready to toss in the towel on the season, the one regret would be a lost year with this team and their roster. Its been kind of cool, knowing exactly what team we would have the past several years. Now next season may be a different story, but we should still get 2.5 - 3 lines worth of players back. Im being hopeful.

The thought of bringing a player in that isnt a third line player could throw off the whole chemistry in all the lines, except for 4th line. Anyway. its great to watch this team. Should be a good playoffs for them.

I completely agree that it has been a joy watching the core of this team essentially grow up together. Its rare you see that in today's NHL.

As for your second assertion, remember that before joining the B's Ryder was a top 6 forward.

Absolute joy, i agree. I can't wait to watch the B's on NESN/NHL Channel/NBCSports/NBC. Been feeling this anticipation for games since Julien became head coach. Just love the way he is in the guy in charge, and that he is a guy who demands more out of his team every game. He wants the perfection and it drives the team to do well. Is there a better team at responding to a poor game than the B's? They followed 2 terrible chokes with 2 solid efforts and that's B's Hockey. Never get too low, never get too high.

In response to bgrif008's comment:

To be honest, I would think any player they brought in via trade - i.e. Iginla or Alfredsson would also take a spot on the 3rd line to replace Caron...leaving the top 2 lines untouched. That assumes noone from the top two lines were included in the trade...like Krecji for example...

...but touching someone from the top two lines would disrupt chemistry and I would not advocate the team doing for this season. Which probably was your point all along.

 

Yes, Bruin faithful. Enjoy while it lasts. Don't let it pass without taking it all in and enjoying.

1. I've been through the early 60's drought.
2. Experienced thrills in the Bobby Orr Years
3. Suffered during the Cherry years.
4. Suffered more during the Bourque years.
5. Suffered even more during the Thornton years.

Now, I'm going to reap the benefits. I don't care what anybody says or dislikes.

Hear hear, Wheat. 

The funniest thing about this?  This team hasn't been together as long as it feels like they've been.  I mean, yes, Bergeron and Krejci, Lucic and Chara have now been here for more than half a decade at least, but for a lot of the other guys, it's three calendar years or less.  This is Seguin's third year, Marchand's fourth if you count the 20 game failed audition.  Horton's third, which means Campbell's third.  Kelly and Peverley have been here a total of two years.  McQuaid three.  Boychuk's more like 3.5.  Stuart, Wheeler, Ryder, Morris, Thomas, Pouliot, Wideman, Bitz - seems like just yesterday people were offering to drive these guys to the airport for one reason or another.  There have been at least two new pieces most years.  This year, it's Hamilton and whoever ends up on the third line.  Last year it was Pouliot and Corvo.  Year before it rookiepalooza with Seguin, Marchand and McQuaid, then adding Kelly, Peverley and Kaberle.  Horton and Campbell were already there from the summer deal.  Huge changeover that led to the Cup.

It's nice to have enough faith in the team as is that you prefer consistency to change.  Most of the time, fans love change - the new rookies, the back-up goalie, the FA signing who will take us to the promised land.  You still hear that on this board, but a whole lot less than the norm.  And at the same time, I look at 2011 and how many moves they made, how many players they moved around, and I think change might just be a good thing - if done correctly.  I don't know who or what, but you know, one of the lessons of those beginner chemistry sets you get is a kid is that chemical reactions happen, things stabilize, energy moves around and maybe dissipates, and your baking soda volcano stops fizzing leaving you with a mess to clean up.

In response to Bookboy007's comment:

The B's in keeping consistency on their roster remind me of the Redwings during their championship years. They always had Yzerman,Lidstrom,Kozlov,Maltby Draper,Fedorov,McCarty,Fetisov,Chelios and the like and then they would sprinkle it with interchangable parts every so often with players like,Shanahan,Robitaille,Hull. The consistency part though always kept the core solid and the new parts would fit right in.

Paille always deserves a chance to move up with Kelly. It didn't work earlier this year but nothing was working on that line at that point and they should try it again now that Bourque's gone. Pandalfo can fit in fine on the 4th. 

Edit: course Caron had a nice first game but he did that last year too and will probably hit a wall soon. Paille deserves the chance.

What is this Bruins fan positivity you're spewing? I think the team sucks and needs a major upgrade or they're going no where. They'll be lucky to make the playoffs ;)

Now that the Bourque experiment is over, not much to gripe about. Think the Bs are the favorite in the East if they stand pat, if they make a trade, it'll be one where they don't give up a roster player so no real worries about chemistry there.

Can't imagine PC doesn't make a move, he's added a 3rd line guy each year around this time, don't see why he wouldn't this year.

In PC, CJ & Neely I trust.

In response to chetgnat's comment:

 

Paille always deserves a chance to move up with Kelly. It didn't work earlier this year but nothing was working on that line at that point and they should try it again now that Bourque's gone. Pandalfo can fit in fine on the 4th. 

Edit: course Caron had a nice first game but he did that last year too and will probably hit a wall soon. Paille deserves the chance.

 

CJ has tried for years to insert Paille into other slots in the roster, all to no avail. He is a 4rth liner, nothing more.

 

Yeah, I think most of the whiners and cryers here are younger fans.  These have been the gravy years.  Great goalies, a Norris winning D-man, three lines that can score, tough guys, exciting young prospects, the best GM in the league, and a Cup.  Anyone who claims that the past 3 years haven't been the best in about 4 decades is full of it.

In response to Fletcher1's comment:

 

Yeah, I think most of the whiners and cryers here are younger fans.  These have been the gravy years.  Great goalies, a Norris winning D-man, three lines that can score, tough guys, exciting young prospects, the best GM in the league, and a Cup.  Anyone who claims that the past 3 years haven't been the best in about 4 decades is full of it.

 

Gotta agree with that - this is the third or fourth straight season where I thought the Bruins were legitimate contenders. Can't recall many other times in my years as a Bruins fan, other than maybe the late 80's/early 90's, where I felt that was the case. I don't understand people who aren't satisfied with anything less than a Cup (and I'll remind them that only one team has won it since the B's last hoisted it). I'd rather just concentrate on enjoying a great hockey team and how fun they are to watch - we all know that anything can happen in the playoffs (blackouts and fog for examples). Just enjoy the ride.

 

They're 17-3-3.  If your a fan of the Bruins you have to love that. 

And to think about 6 years ago, no one had ever heard of Peter Chiarelli... He is the reason the Bruins are who they are... Best signing was Cedefano by far, right off the hop ...followed by Savvy, then fleecing Brian Burke... The rest is history ... They should put up  a statue, really...

Yup, hard to argue with the Julien/Chiarelli tandem. They've brought in a model of consistency, making what will hopefully be a 6th straight playoff appearance, and possibly a 4th division title in that span. The Cup doesn't hurt either. The two years that they didn't win the division, I think everyone knew that those teams either over-achieved ('07-'08) or got hit hard by the injury bug ('09-'10). 

They've done all of that with a very young core, and have kept that core together while putting pieces around them.

People call out how the Bruins are a mere 3-4 in game 7's under Julien....that could be worse, folks. They've never been swept, they've never lost in 5, and they've never lost in 6 with him behind the bench. Getting swept can be put on the coach if his team has more talent, but game 7 losses, all but 1 (which, if the game was played on paper, should have been an easy sweep for Montreal that year) were 1-goal games that were decided in the waning minutes or overtime. That comes down to the players.

And I wouldn't trade that Cup winning season away for anything, but they made some shrewd moves and gave away some serious assets all for an unknown which obviously worked out. For Kaberle, Peverley and Kelly, they gave up:

A first line player (he is now, anyway), a top-4 D-man, a first round pick, 2 second round picks, and a solid prospect. If they didn't win the cup and those players all fell on their faces, they probably would have looked horrible. They gave up a lot of assets there, but once again....I'd do it again and again if it meant the cup.

In response to TheGuyWithDaThing's comment:

The 1st line player would still be a 3rd line player here.  The top 4 dman was a healthy scratch before he was traded.  The prospect would've never cracked this lineup.  I wouldn't have thought PC gave up too much even if the B's wouldn't have won the Cup.

In response to Wheatskins's comment:

Ditto. Enjoy the ride, I know I am. It's great having your team be the toughest, most consistant, best team in the league after the many decades of suffering

If you want to show someone how hockey should be played, show them the Bruins.  Pretty much everything about them is exceptional.

In response to dannycater's comment:

Well said.