Since advancing from the 2019 Stanley Cup finals, hockey Boston has been at the top of the NHL. In the playoffs, however, they regularly finish in the sixth game of the second round at the latest. The answer is the changes that make the Bruins currently the tallest and toughest team in the league.
In Ottawa, where he spent last season, striker Marko Kastelic was one centimeter away from sharing the position of the highest player in the field within the team.
But when he arrived at Boston’s training camp after the June trade, he no longer felt special. “I was impressed by how big and heavy everyone around me was. I fall into that category myself, but here I feel pretty average,” he recounted.
With his 192 centimeters, he is now the eighth tallest hockey player in the main team.
The Bruins’ 23-man roster averages nearly 190 centimeters and weighs over 95 kilograms. In both categories, at the moment, according to the statistical website Elite Prospects, it is enough for the league championship.
While Pavel Zacha exceeds the height average by three centimeters, the second, more famous Czech in the team, David Pastrňák, must, with a little exaggeration, feel like one of the giants. At 182 centimeters, he is only taller than young hope Matthew Poitras and captain Brad Marchand.
At the same time, for example, in Colorado, where the average is less than 185 centimeters and the median is even two lower, it could seem quite normal.
The Bruins already belonged to the taller and heavier teams last season. They gained even more volume as a result of trying to toughen up, thanks to reinforcements like Kastelic.
Or Nikita Zadorov, the 197-centimeter, 113-kilogram quarterback who signed a five-year contract with an average annual salary of five million dollars in Massachusetts.
At the age of 29, he already has stints in Buffalo, Colorado, Chicago, Calgary and Vancouver. Against Boston, he played a total of 17 times and, in addition to recording 1+3, scored four positive points in the +/- rating.
“I hate him!” commented recently on Russian reinforcement Marchand. “He’s amazing, an absolute beast. He’s got offensive skills, he’s big, he’s bad, he doesn’t mess with anything.”
Also thanks to Zadorov, the seven-man Boston defense is now at a menacing average of 192 centimeters and 98 kilograms.
“They’re big and they’ve got some physicality, which I think is a good sign for the playoffs,” Bruins president Cam Neely said recently. “Obviously you have to get there first, but I think the composition of the team makes us a little stronger for the playoffs again.”
The station’s Nick Goss agrees NBC Sports. “If the Bruins can combine more toughness with consistent productivity, they will be a very formidable team in the playoffs with a real chance to reach the Stanley Cup Finals,” he wrote.
Boston has been waiting for this since 2019, when it lost to St. Louis.
In the penultimate playoff, despite a record regular season, he was eliminated in the first round, and finished last in the second. In both cases, it was not enough for Florida, an extremely strong team with plenty of talent. He also hardened because of her.
In the season in full swing, however, he continues to fail on it – he lost 4:6 away, 3:4 at home.
