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Maybe there’s something to that Bruins Stanley Cup hangover talk after all

Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin

Boston Bruins NHL hockey forward Patrice Bergeron, right, and forward Milan Lucic, center, display their Stanley Cup Championship rings to members of the media outside the Boston Harbor Hotel, in Boston, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011, following the unveiling of the rings during ceremonies for the hockey team. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

AP

After melting down against the Hurricanes last night, the Bruins are now 2-4-0 to start the season. The Bruins have been talking a lot early this season about how they’re not dealing with a Stanley Cup hangover, but after seeing Boston snap off at just about anything Carolina did to upset them and with “frustration” being the big word thrown around, it’s hard to not buy into the hangover talk.

Plenty of teams that goes deep into the playoffs, and even Stanley Cup winners, will go through the motions early in the year. It’s almost part of how thins go, but the Bruins’ troubles look a bit different given how they’re reacting. Too little emotion or way too much of it makes it look like the Bruins are trying to find themselves all over again.

For a team that lost just a handful of players in Mark Recchi, Michael Ryder, and Tomas Kaberle while gaining Joe Corvo and Benoit Pouliot that’s a lot of scrambling being done to find their way back to playing “Bruins hockey.” It’s all well and good to blow off steam in a game they’re struggling in, and the B’s will do that now and again, but for Boston the inconsistent play and the losses are the bigger problems. There are only so many things Zdeno Chara can do as captain to right the ship.

If they don’t find their groove soon, the chatter about a hangover will linger on like a bad headache a night after a bender with your friends. The Bruins just need to tap into what got them rolling along last year. Tough but smart play will win the day. Finding that level when everything seems to be going wrong, however, is the hard part.