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Mike In Woburn's Felger & Mazz In Context: Modify And Distort

By Mike From Woburn, 98.5 The Sports Hub Contributor

BOSTON (CBS) -- In this installment of "Felger and Mazz In Context," we discuss a new twist on an old staple.

We've all heard of the famous "Deny and Subvert" technique made famous by the New England Patriots and South Park's Eric Cartman.

Well, Michael Felger has deployed a soon-to-be-patented variation on this tactic in regards to Bruins coach Claude Julien. Let's call it the "Modify and Distort" tactic.

For example, to counter the claim that Claude Julien teams have historically been excellent at holding third period leads, Felger proceeded to cite three times the Bruins lost a Game 7,  but never actually possessed a third period lead in any of them, to refute the claim.

"Modify and Distort."

Felger deployed this technique expertly as he addressed the "negative" impact of Claude Julien on "puck moving defensemen." He claims that Claude Julien has had a universally Buchholzian effect on the mobile, offensive defensemen he's coached during his time in Boston. He went on to name various puck movers that Claude has employed in recent years, from Dennis Wideman to Tomas Kaberle and many others.

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Well, let's start out with the obvious. Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton are the clear counter to this argument. Both are young players who not only debuted with the Bruins under Claude but eventually thrived under him.

Hamilton's offensive output improved every single year under Julien, while also increasing his time on ice by over two minutes each year and maintaining impressive possession numbers. Now in Calgary, Hamilton exceeded his top Bruins point total by one but took a step back defensively, had  his ice time reduced and saw his CORSI For percent drop almost six points to 49.7 percent. But I'm sure it was Julian's fault Dougie left town. Maybe if he let Dougie's brother, Frankie, dress up as Blades the Bear on game days or built a fort in the locker room for him and Riley Smith to have lunch in, Dougie would have stayed.

Advantage: Claude.

Torey Krug's story is similar, with offensive improvement every year along with a corresponding ice time increase and good possession numbers. Krug, best suited for a third pairing and power play specialist role, was pressed into a top four role on numerous occasions this season. The only thing that kept Krug from a really big offensive season was a subpar shooting percentage of 1.6 percent on the 244 shots this season, fourth most among all defensemen. That's not bad coaching, it's bad luck.  The biggest thing holding the 5'9" Krug back isn't Claude, it's genetics. But I am sure Mike will find a way to pin that on Julien too.

Advantage: Claude.

Now let's discuss some guys who's failures Felger would "Modify and Distort" into being Claude's fault.

Defensively, Dennis Wideman was never going to be mistaken for Scott Stevens. But he was a plus-26 over his four seasons in Boston; the rest of Wideman's career he was a minus-92.  He also had his second best offensive season under Claude, and despite Wideman's occasional frustrations with Claude's system, he never tried to murder an on-ice official in Boston.

Advantage: Claude.

The less said about Joe Corvo's year in Boston the better. He was acquired to replace Kaberle (more on him later) and got the defensively shaky part down pat. The 34-year-old defenseman was clearly not the player he was earlier in his career and an injury in Game 5 of the playoff series against the Capitals ended his season. As a result, Corvo was the lone Peter Chiarelli acquisition for the 2011-2012 season not on the ice for Joel Ward's series winning goal in overtime of Game 7. Just 65 games later, Corvo was out of the NHL. I don't know how you pin Chiarelli's offseason dumpster diving on Claude, but Felger found a way: Modify and Distort.

Advantage: Claude.

If Pablo Sandoval's recently deceased belt could take on a human form it would be Tomas Kaberle. Kaberle was ,for all intents and purposes, washed up in 2011, so naturally Peter Chiarelli made him the center piece of his trade deadline deals. During the Montreal series it became crystal clear that Kaberle in the defensive end represented an extinction level playoff event for the Bruins. The fact that Claude was able to manage Kaberle's even strength minutes (94th fewest out of 112 defenseman that postseason) and use him in roles that wouldn't leave a stinking heap of feces in front of Tim Thomas is worthy of Black & Gold canonization. Kaberle would only last  82 more games in the NHL before getting bought out and returned to fertilize ice rinks in the Czech Republic full time.

Advantage: Saint Claude.

Despite the presence of these failed puck movers the Bruins were a playoff team, and with the worst puck mover of the bunch, Kaberle, Claude won a cup. The problem for Claude these past seasons isn't puck movers. It's not having enough guys who can competently and consistently defend in their own end and execute his system.

So how do you blame that on the coach? Easy: Modify and Distort.

Mike From Woburn, formerly known as Mike From Attleboro, is a regular caller to the Felger & Massarotti Show. You can find him on Twitter @MikeFromWoburn.

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