Boston Bruins: 3 things to expect from team in 1st round

1. The need for speed

Everyone knows that Toronto is a fast team. When you have the likes of Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and John Tavares.

Boston’s head coach Bruce Cassidy appeared on 98.5 the Sports Hub’s Toucher and Rich show and gave fans a peek inside his head going into the series.

According to the coach, the Bruins will have a much faster lineup.

"“I will tell you this, I do expect the first game to be the fastest game of the series,” Cassidy said. “I think Toronto understands how they have to play to beat us, and I think we can certainly keep up the pace. I think we’re a more physical team once it gets going. Last year we kind of dragged them into that game. I think it worked in our favor. I don’t know if they’ll bite on that again this year, so I think the first game we’re looking at probably dressing our fastest lineup. We have a couple more days to decide and sort through it, but that’s kind of the direction we’re going."

David Backes is definitely not the fastest skater on the planet. Especially in the 2nd half of the season, he became much more of an enforcer.

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Now there will definitely be plenty of hard hits in the playoffs, but Backes presence isn’t needed. Rarely do we see fights in the playoffs.

Backes is definitely near the end of his career. This could be the last cup run that he is a part of.

Backes is the last of a dying breed in the NHL, but hopefully he can help win the Boston Bruins a Stanley Cup in any role.