The spoke “B” on the jersey of the Boston Bruins, is worn with not only having pride for the organization, but pride for the teammates you play the game of hockey with. Patrice Bergeron shows just what this pride is all about.
These Bruins of the 2014/15 season did not live up to the expectations that not only the Management had, but the fans of the spoke “B” had. The reason for this starts with the General Manager in Peter Chiarelli and the Bruins did the right thing in letting him go. Even before the season started, Peter let go a huge part of the Identity of this team in Jonny Boychuk, but it started even before this, when they let Andrew Ference go? These two guys were not the most talented, but what they brought to the team in an Identity, goes way beyond, any kind of talent, they made this team very tough to play against.
The loss of the Identity became worse when they let Shawn Thorton go? True Thorty was getting older, but his toughness and grit, is what this team missed most this year, Thorty knew when to throw down the gloves and when not to, he knew how to make the players of the other teams see a shadow and cough up the puck, which carried throughout the team and made these Boston Bruins a hard team to play against, from whom ever they played against. In 2011 when they won Lord’s Stanley cup, they had all these ingredients and used them to whip up a gourmet meal, each time they took to the ice that year.
When Peter took these guys away, without adding similar guys ( maybe younger), now you have a team playing without an identity. I mean like simple addition and subtraction like you learn in school, when you keep subtracting numbers, without adding in any other numbers, eventually you end up with zero or a negative number.
I will always bleed the black and gold of the Boston Bruins and have been a true fan since the Bobby Orr days, yes I still bleed the black and gold and always will bleed these great colors, not too mention my passion for the game, as a former player of the game. Now with that said, I still believe in some of the core players of this team, as yet a few of the core need some tweaking or changing.
Coach Claude showed some versatility, when he put Pasternak, Spooner and Lootch together on a line and as this line showed great promise, it also brought to life the Bear in Lootch, as he played well with the young and future of the Bruins. Bergy was just being Bergy, as his game of the best defensive forward in the game, stayed true to form, no matter who was on his line, Soderberg and Eriksson proved they have great chemistry with each other, while the Merlot line showed that it needs more grit, as well as speed on the ice.
The defense is where this team needs to get better in a hurry and I would build a strong defense around Dougie and Krug. Now if Miller comes back from his injury? He would be a great 4th line defense man, Seidenberg and Mcquaid? now here is where you get something while you still can, Chara true he is getting old for this fast game, but I would reduce his time on ice, as his reach can still work in your favor and let him retire as a Bruin out of respect. Which means that Patrice Bergeron finally gets the “C” on his jersey, as he more than deserves this.
I think you noticed a few names I have not mentioned? number one on the list of trade guys is Brad Marchand, as his reputation has hurt the team more than it helped, plus his play is not as consistent as it should be. Smith, Paille, campbell also haven’t been consistent with their game also, so use them to trade and better the team moving forward. Kretchi if he is healthy from his injury, can still help this team so he stays, as well as Max Talbot cause both of these can play the two way game like Bergy.
The Goalie situation with Rask stays the same, but the back up position needs some attention, so Tuukka can have some days of rest. Claude Julien and his system can still be effective in this league, just maybe add some speed within it, Claude is a great coach, but when a GM like Peter, subtracts without adding, now you tie the Coaches hands at what he can do. The roster for next season should be with Rask, Dougie, Krug, Miller, Chara, Lootch, Kretchi, Pasternak, Bergeron, Spooner, Soderberg, Eriksson, Talbot, Ferlin, with the rest of the other guys gone for more speed and guys that fit the system in place by coach Claude. These guys will be the core of the team and between them and who you bring in, they can form an identity that can be like the 2011 team, of a team that is hard to play against for any opponent they may face.
I have much respect for Cam Neely and I have total faith in him and if they bring back Don Sweeney as the new GM, that this team will contend for yet another Stanley cup.
” Go Bruins!!! Make us proud, so we true fans can enjoy Bruin hockey once again”
” I bleed black and gold, only the true fans bleed this color, as an ordinary fan bleeds the ordinary red blood”