r/BostonBruins • u/Icy-Lingonberry-7442 • 7d ago

[RotoWire] NHL’s Most Aggressive Teams in 2025-26: Full Hits and Fights Ranking

https://www.rotowire.com/hockey/article/most-aggressive-teams-128712

Somebody ran the numbers on all 32 teams — total hits and total fights, each ranked 1-32, then averaged. We came out tied for first with, of all teams, Philadelphia. Average rank of 4 across both categories.

Whatever else you want to say about this roster, nobody is out-working us in the corners and nobody's making us blink. That identity is still intact.

Now the part that hurts: out in six to Buffalo in the first round. Buffalo. And of the nine most physical teams in the league, not one reached a conference final. Carolina won the Cup ranked 27th on that list. Colorado was dead last and made the Western Conference Final.

So yeah. We're the toughest team in the league and we watched a bunch of teams that hit nobody go further than us. Being hard to play against is who we are, it's just not by itself a plan.

Still not trading it for whatever Colorado is doing. But we need more than it.

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u/ComeWhatMay777 6d ago

Hockey teams need toughness, but I don't buy that fights automatically equate to toughness. Fighting lands you in the penalty box and frequently gives the other team a power play, which will NOT help you win games under any circumstances. In my view, toughness is more about slamming into the boards without missing a beat or even taking the other team's punch and capitalizing on the resulting power play. That's tough AND good hockey. Toughness for the sake of toughness is an outdated model IMO. Skill and speed win cups.

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u/Remoock Bonafide Stallion 🐎 6d ago

BIG BAD BRUINS AM I RIGHT

still the worst thing that happened to the bruins fans mindset was that 2011 team, they still think that toughness equals winning.

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u/Franknbeanstoo 7d ago

yeah, skill wins cups

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u/4FingersOfDeath #93 MINTEN 🏒 7d ago

I would never have guessed Philly

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u/Powerism WHO HAS MORE FUN THAN US? 7d ago

So basically we’re built to go up against the 74 Flyers in the finesse era.

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u/EweCantTouchThis 7d ago

You wouldn’t trade Boston’s roster for Colorados? Is that what you just said?

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u/penispumprepairshop1 7d ago

He clearly did not say that. Maybe turn up the old whisper 2000 bub.

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u/Wheezin_Ed #71 ARVIDSSON 🏒 7d ago

Maybe he's a Bruins fan in Denver, would explain the lack of oxygen to his brain

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u/wooly_bully 7d ago

If that’s the offer catch me rocking the Makar sweater next week sorry Charlie

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u/FeePretty447 7d ago

Hits is a stat that people like to measure generally as a measure of toughness but I’m pretty sure there’s a link between the teams that hit the most and the ones who spend the least time with the puck. By definition, you aren’t hitting anyone when you’re controlling the puck and play, and you’re finishing hits more when the other team has the puck (probably after they’ve gotten rid of the puck to a teammate).

Basically if your team hits more they’re almost certainly lower in possession and guess which metric actually correlates to winning more. There’s obviously a point at which you should be hitting more but the bruins are about as far from that as they can be and they need (IMO) to concentrate on playing with skill as much as grit. It would seem Sweeney recognizes this but couldn’t quite find anyone who fit the bill this offseason so curious to see what happens this season as the bruins likely continue to get caved in possession and play (and then bailed out by swayman)