BOSTON, Mass – Those who have been long-term observers of the Boston Bruins started noticing the change late last year. After years of mediocre play and the horrible Joe Thornton trade, the Bruins were buried in the sports pages in Boston. The team was an afterthought—at best, in a town they used to own. But these Bruins, led by the management skills of Peter Chiarelli, the heart and brim fire of Cam Neely and the techniques of Claude Julien, were at a crossroads. Suddenly the fans who desperately wanted a reason to support the club were starting to find those reasons.
It was tough for the B’s long-term faithful to watch the 2008 playoff series and see all the Montreal fans pouring into the TD Banknorth Garden. I mean, that was what Bruins fans used to do the hapless Hartford Whalers fans when people made the trip down the Mass Pike during the playoffs and packed the Whalers mall with Bruins supporters. They had to do that because you simply could not get a ticket to get into “The Garden”. Had it come to that? What next? The Brass Bonanza song after each Bruins goal scored?
And speaking of songs; that darned Na-Na song the Habs fans sang while they were on their way to a sweep was getting annoying. But something happened on the way to Montreal’s planned sweep, the Bruins fought back and fought back again. Fans who came to Games 3 and 4 of the set were buying tickets for Game 6.
In the end Boston would go down in seven to the hated Habs, but those in the know where optimistic. On the surface it was yet another first round knockout, but a forensic look at the situation showed just how fortunate the Canadiens were to move on. What if Phil Kessel, the team’s biggest offensive threat in Games 5-7 was as productive in Games 2-4 instead of in press row? Could the Bruins have done better with the services of Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew and a healthy Zdeno Chara? You think?
It was against this backdrop that the Bruins went into the offseason. There were questions for sure. Would Manny Fernandez recover to challenge Tim (was he for real?) Thomas? Would Bergeron recover from his concussion (there were reports he could have played against Montreal in the playoffs if the team wanted him to). Where was the secondary scoring going to come from? Was Dennis Wideman going to continue to develop into at least a top two or three defenseman now the team was going to have to pay him as such? Who was going to round out the defensive corps? Would Glen Murray last the summer?
Chiarelli went to work and found the answers to these questions with hard work, good decisions and in some cases, luck. No one could predict that Blake Wheeler would become a free agent and—get this—was actually a free agent who wanted to come to Boston. The 2008-09 season has shown to this point that Fernandez and Bergeron have returned to health, Wideman would continue to make strides, Kessel has turned into a all-star type forward and joined with Michael Ryder (another free agent who would want to join the organization) to provide scoring. As for the defense, it turns out the club actually has seven solid NHL defenders and one or two additional ones in Matt Lashoff and Johnny Boychuk who can help out in a pinch. Of the questions facing the team only the Glen Murray one did not pan out as he was bought out and his $1 million plus counts against the salary cap not only this year but next year too—although that may change if Murray’s injury grievance is ruled in favor of the player.
(People were tough on Murray around here, but the plain truth was the system changed around the guy and I for one will never question the player’s efforts. My lasting memory of Murray was a guy trying so hard to do what the team needed and wanted that he hurt himself in his last time on the ice with the club. Bruins fans looked at the paycheck and wanted more, but Julien’s game plan did not fit Murray’s style of play and the post-lockout style of play and age was also strikes against him).
Even if you knew all this information ahead of time, what would your most optimistic hopes for the 2008-09 season be? Perhaps the club could take a run at the division title? Steady improvement? For the club to play well enough that they did not have to go into the last weekend of the season hoping for a playoff berth?
I have to admit, I did think about the conference title, for about three seconds. Then I started thinking about the Rangers, Flyers and the fact the Canadiens were certainly going to improve and then I settled back on home ice advantage at the top of my prediction list. So far the club has exceeded my expectations. I’ll explain how that has happened in my next article about the Bruins system. If space allows I’ll take a look at the minor-pros and players in the Bruins system as teams reach the halfway point in their respective seasons. If not, that column will be on deck. Contact the author at rom.schettino@prohockeynews.com.
Tom was one of those Bruins followers who drove down to Hartford for the playoffs. People in Connecticut used to tell us to stay home. We used to tell them to sell out and they wouldn’t have to worry about it. Those words came back to haunt me during last year’s playoffs.
When Tom is not driving on the Mass Pike to the Hartford Mall he covers the NHL for Pro Hockey News and has been on the NHL and minor-pro beat for 16 years.
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