Taylor Hall offers lamest excuse for past playoff failures

Sure, fans are now impressed with Taylor Hall. Even since he was traded to the Boston Bruins from the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline, it feels like he’s remembered how to play hockey. 

And if you ask him why, his answer is kind of lame and hard on his former teams. According to Boston Hockey Now, Hall is more motivated now that the late games on the calendar mean something. 

“I think we complement each other well,” said Hall. “Once we get in the offensive zone, we have a level of battle that allows us to create second chances. It’s been a lot of fun playing with [Krejci and Craig Smith].

“Unfortunately, in my career I’ve had a lot of games late in the season that didn’t really mean much. To now potentially play in the playoffs and have meaningful shifts every game where when you score a goal it’s important to the team, that’s been a lot of fun.”

We can easily see that Hall is trying more: he’s hustling back and breaking up plays with the back-check and once again, he took a stab at his former team while explaining his play: 

“Honestly, I feel like I’ve done that for most of the year. The plus/minus stats didn’t really bear fruit to that in Buffalo, but I’ve always been conscious of my defensive game,” said Hall. “I don’t like being on for goals against and costing the team that way. Any way I can help the team win games and that’s what I’m here to do.”

For once, it feels like Hall is giving his all, probably because he would like to stick with a proven playoff contender for years to come. If he can nail this audition, especially into the postseason, he could be looking at a longer-term picture in Boston. 

And then, no more lame excuses will do.