It remains to be seen if we’re going to receive some sense of finality for the 2019-20 NHL season — a campaign filled with plenty of promise for a motivated Bruins club.
Even if the Bruins are able to see this year through and get another shot at competing for a Stanley Cup, there stands a chance that the remaining 10-12 games on the regular-season slate could be wiped out in favor of a larger playoff format.
As such, we thought now would be a perfect time to revisit our extensive list of stats, facts and predictions that dropped at the outset of the regular season back in October.
While we revisited a few of these back in January, we figured now would be a perfect time to see just how many of these factoids and underlying numbers ended up defining what we already know about a loaded Bruins roster.
Let’s take a look...
0.92: Charlie McAvoy’s 5v5 primary points per 60 minutes rate in 2018-19
Yes, we know. It took Charlie McAvoy until February 5 to finally light the lamp this season. But for all the grief he received up to that point, we noted on the night of his OT winner in Chicago that the dynamic defenseman was already arguably the club's most effective driver of 5v5 offense from the blue line.
Such was the case last season, even.
Despite not earning regular power-play minutes due to the presence of Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk, McAvoy's playmaking ability and strong transition game make him a consistent generator of offense during the heavy 5v5 reps he logs — with his 0.92 primary points (goals and primary assists) per 60 minutes rate last year ranking ninth overall among NHL defenseman (min. 500 minutes).
So far this season, McAvoy is averaging 1.25 5v5 points per 60 minutes — tops among all Bruins defensemen and 19th among NHL defensemen that have played a minimum of 500 5v5 minutes.
Add in the discrepancy in terms of shot volume and quality scoring chances when McAvoy is on and off the ice for Boston, and it's tough to argue against the fact that McAvoy, even at 22 years old, is an invaluable cog that gets the B's offense rolling.
(For reference on Micah Blake McCurdy’s individual impact charts via Hockey Viz: On the offensive side of things, you’d want to see a player providing positive numbers — with the red blobs signifying where the team is generating a majority of their shots from whenever said player is on the ice. Defensively, negative numbers are a sign that a team is snuffing out opposing scoring chances whenever said player is on the ice. As such, the blue blobs represent where the opposition’s shots aren’t regularly coming from.)
Oh, and if it makes you feel any better — he also scored five goals over his last 16 games before the pause. Yes, he's damn good.
58.90: Patrice Bergeron’s offensive zone faceoff percentage in 2018-19
Given the amount of mileage that Patrice Bergeron has put on his body over 16 seasons in Boston, the Bruins would be wise to take whatever steps necessary in order to keep their top-line center fresh.
One approach they've taken over the last couple of seasons has been granting the 34-year-old pivot added faceoffs in the offensive zone, limiting Bergeron from those arduous shifts spent killing penalties or slowing down the opposition down the other end of the sheet.
Granted, Bergeron still regularly excels as one of the top two-way forwards in the NHL, but it's become pretty apparent that the Bruins have shifted more and more of Bergeron's starts within the opponent's side of the ice.
If we were to look at a stretch from 2013-16, Bergeron’s Off. Zone Faceoff % was:
2013-14: 46.45%
2014-15: 43.00%
2015-16: 44.91%
But last year, especially with the emergence of David Pastrnak as one of the premier snipers in the league, 58.90% of Bergeron's faceoffs came in the O-zone — a testament to the club's preference of keeping their center away from those taxing minutes spent snuffing out scoring chances in the B's own end. That number has jumped up again in 2019-20, with 62.77% of Bergeron's face-offs this season coming in the offensive zone. Considering how invaluable Bergeron is to this club, coupled with the production the team has reaped thanks to his increased O-zone reps (31 goals, 56 points in 61 games), look for Boston to continue to lighten Bergeron's defensive workload in the coming years.
https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1217995499120230401
72:07: Anders Bjork’s Corsi For Percentage during the 2019 preseason:
From October:
While expectations were a bit muted for Bjork this preseason coming off of another year ended by major shoulder surgery, the Notre Dame product really stood out in September — standing as one of Boston’s final roster cuts before heading down to Providence, where he should benefit from some heavy minutes against lesser competition. Still, it’s hard to ignore Bjork’s impact on the ice over four preseason games, with Boston holding an absurd 80-31 edge in shot attempts during his 54:49 of 5v5 TOI. He’ll be back with the big club in short order.
- There may not be a set solution quite yet for how the NHL is going to resume play in the coming months, but it doesn't look as though Gary Bettman is going to be waving the white flag any time soon. “I believe that if the right time comes, and the right circumstances, based on all of the options that we’re considering and our ability to execute them, we’ll get this season done,” Bettman said during a virtual town hall hosted by the San Jose Sharks this week. “I don’t want to sound Pollyanna, but canceling is too easy a solution. That means you stop working hard to do all of the things that we’re doing, and I ultimately believe that there will be an opportunity.”
- We still have plenty of leftover content from the 1970 Bruins reflecting on the 50th anniversary of their Stanley Cup title, including this anecdote from Gerry Cheevers on how his trademark stitched mask originated:
- "Let me tell you about the mask," Cheevers said. "When I first started, I had a mask that was useless. Then I met a man named Ernie Higgins from the South Shore. And he developed this mask for me. ... I used to drive to practice every day. And it was about a 30-minute drive and my thoughts were about how to decorate my mask and how to get out of practice — and not necessarily in that order. So I went into practice and I had an all-white mask. I couldn't even wear white socks for some reason. They disturbed me. So I used to always wear black socks when the rest of the team was wearing white. So I went to practice one day and Harry (Sinden) was coaching and the puck flipped up. It wouldn't have cut me if I didn't have my mask and that's about how soft the shot was. So I faked like I was seriously hurt, which was me trying to take care of getting out of practice. So I go in the dressing room and I was probably ... having a cigarette at the time and Harry came in and said, 'Get back out there — you're not hurt.' And our trainer — I'm sure you've heard many stories about John ‘Frosty’ Forristall — who is a character. I didn't even think of this — he did this before I went on (the ice). He went, 'Hold it.' And he got my mask and he painted a big stitch scar over my right eye and I went out there and we got a kick out of it. I said, 'Harry, I think I'm seriously hurt.' That's how it all started."