With NHL training camps just around the corner. There are still some quality free agents available that could be an attractive bargain that the Bruins Should target. In this article, we’ll three areas that the Bruins need to shore up on before tha start of the 2018/19 hockey season. Playoff Aspirations; For the first time in three years the Bruins qualified for the 2017/18 playoffs. With a nice mixture of youth and veterans, General Manager has the Bruins going in the right direction. Despite a first_ round exit at the hands of the Ottawa Senators postseason has returned to Causeway Street. Improved Defense; Boston has a nice group of veteran defenseman and youth too work with. Ageless wonder Zdeno Chara continues to pile up the minutes. Injury prone Adam McQuaid is still productive when healthy. Youngsters Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo bring energy with every shift. Re-sign Pastrnak; The Bruins are coming off a very quiet offseason. First and foremost the team needs to re-sign forward David Pastrnak. Pastrnak a third _yeaplayer has put up _put up big numbers in his three short years. If the Bruins hope to go deep in the playoffs then re-signing Pastrnak would send a positive message. Available Free Agents; With the big name free agents already committed to other teams, there are still some quality free agents available. One name that would be a good fit in Boston , is Roman Polak. The 31 -year old defenseman Polak would provide depth for the defense. Two more names that could help the Bruins would be Sabres blueliner, Cody Franson. Franson a thirty_seven year _old veteran would be a character player for a team on the rise. Lastly, first_year coach Bruce Cassidy needs to practice patience. This is a young team seeking an identity. With a veteran core group and young players this is a team to take seriously. If Cassidy can keep goalies Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin fresh then the Bruins could make things interesting. Other than Pastrnak spending money on big name free agents has never been the Bruins style. , ,
Leadership Is The Main Focus For The 2018 Red Sox Spring Training
[feedzy-rss feeds=”https;//www.bobphaneuf1957.com” feed_title=”yes” meta=”yes” summary=”yes” ]It’s safe to say that baseball is literally in the air. Major league teams have officially begun workouts for both position players and pitchers. In Fort Myers The Red Sox main theme for this year is leadership. Rhe club is coming off a successful 2017 campaign in which they clinched the AL East for the second year in a row. For a team loaded with talent, they still lack the most important characteristic of all. And that characteristic is leadership. In this post, we’ll cover three areas the club needs to focus on plus other issues going forward in 2018. Locker Room chemistry; For a team coming off a successful 2017 season the average baseball fan would never know it. The Sox were a team with basically no identity. Over the course of 162 games and playoffs, it was the blind leading the blind. Several distractions kept occurring. Incidents such as Dustin Pedroia fighting with Oriole third baseman Manny Machado. In another incident, Red Sox pitcher David Price insulted Hall of Fame broadcaster Dennis Eckersley. And of course, there was the ongoing saga firing manager John Farrell. If the club can elect a capable team captain then within the time they can put the drama behind them and focus on winning. Lack Of Home Run Power; Since the retirement of favorite David Ortiz finding a replacement has not yet been accomplished. For the first time in a long time, the club had a realatively quiet offseason. The free agent market consisted of Mitch Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Jose Bautista and JD Martinez. Martinez’s name has been popping up all winter. But has spring training has gotten underway Martinez still remains a free agent. Only Mitch Moreland and Eduardo Nunez are the only free agent signees. If the club can find ways to manufacture runs like last season they could be serious playoff contenders. Fresh Approach; After a disappointing playoff elimination for the second straight year Red Sox general manager decided it was time for a managerial change. Just hours after losing to Houston the Sox said terminated to four- year manager John Farrell. In return the team. In return, the club thought it was best to hire a younger manager to lead a fairly young team. As for Cora’s resume, he has an impressive, backround that includes two world series rings. Cora to his credit was a member of the 2004 champion Red Sox If Cora can send a message early enough the end result.will be worth it. ,
Being a big league manager is not an easy task for a first_ year manager. The key for Cora is to send the message early and when needed. If the team expects to get back to the world series then finding leadership is a step in the right direction.
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