Boston Bruins Rollercoaster Year Ends on Sour Note

The Bruins response to a must-win game to reach the playoffs ended with a 6-1 listless defeat on home ice to Ottawa Saturday, and served as a fitting end to a rollercoaster season.

It capped a horrid collapse in which they lost nine of their final 12 games and skated themselves right out of the playoffs for the second straight year, finishing with three fewer points and a number of gaping holes on the team. While they showed promise at several points throughout the year with a fast group of emerging young players helping a dwindling core of veterans push a quicker pace, too often they had huge letdowns on big stages where they were blown out and continually penned into their own end by highly skilled more dynamic teams.

The loss to Ottawa was no exception. The Bruins’ slower, aging defenders struggled again to break the puck out cleanly to the forwards and were victimized by too many bad turnovers.

The lone bright spots were David Pastrnak’s nifty goal and his consistent buzzing around to create plays, as well as young blueliner Colin Miller coming to the defense of a teammate after a rough hit to fight Matt Puempel and more than hold his own.

While it’s easy to throw blame at the players for not getting up enough for the game or the coach for not having them ready, just as much blame should fall on Bruins management for not doing its job in putting a dynamic team on the ice or recognizing earlier on that this wasn’t going to be Boston’s year instead of going all in at the trade deadline.

While Lee Stempniak and John Michael Liles both filled in nicely in key roles bringing veteran skill and offense, the Bruins paid a hefty price of four draft picks for the pair (including 2^nd and 3^rd round picks). They would have been great pickups on a team that was already good, but the B’s weren’t there yet. They also could have traded Loui Ericksson and maximized his return, instead of taking the risk of hanging onto him for a playoff run and now likely losing him for nothing to free agency.

'Management will need to pull off some magic moves in the offseason to try to make Boston more dynamic. They really need a game-breaking elite talent on offense and a better all-around defense that is quicker to cover and better at breakouts and puck possession.'

Management’s inability to lock up a young, emerging D-man in Dougie Hamilton going into the year left a gaping hole on defense that they were never quite able to fill. Further, GM Don Sweeney and company don’t inspire a lot of fan confidence after they passed on highly ranked prospects in the draft like Kyle Connor, who led the NCAA in scoring with a Jack Eichel-like 35 goals and 71 points in 38 games, was a Hobey Baker runner-up and rated recently by TSN Hockey as the 5^th top NHL prospect in the nation. Meanwhile two of the Bruins’ trio of lower ranked first round picks, Jakub Zboril and Jake DeBrusk had down years. Sweeney also swung and missed on the Reilly Smith for Jimmy Hayes deal and Zac Rinaldo trade. He did get a nice return for Milan Lucic, and the Bruins sleeper draft pick Zach Senyshyn may have been a good bet as he lit up the OHL with 45 goals this year.

But for a team trying to escape horrendous trades of the recent past such as letting Tyler Seguin go at just 21, and bad signings where they drastically overpaid mediocre players, Bruins management will need to pull off some magic moves in the offseason to try to make Boston more dynamic and win back fans. They really need a game-breaking elite talent on offense and a better all-around defense that is quicker to cover and better at breakouts and puck possession. If Sweeney can pull off luring Jimmy Vesey to Boston in free agency, and find a potential star with one of their two first round picks in the upcoming draft, the Bruins also have a nice pool of defensemen prospects that could make an impact next year.

While coach Claude Julien has given his all to the team and led them to their first Cup in nearly 40 years in 2011, a coaching change is likely and a more offensive-leaning one to adapt to league trends to more speed and skill who also works well with developing young players would be a boost.

Perhaps more than anything an attitude change is needed from top to bottom on the Bruins. There are no fans more devoted and diehard than Boston's, and while the city remains one of the top hockey markets in the nation it continues to field mediocre teams. Hard-working fans paying some of the most expensive tickets in the country deserve to see an exciting team with some stars on the ice, and Sweeney and Bruins President Cam Neely have their work cut out for them to produce a more entertaining product.

Matt Beleskey ate his own words when he unfairly dissed fans before the Bruins dismal performance in the season finale. “Don’t come to the game if you’re expecting a letdown,” he said on CSNNE. “I don’t care if you’re there. We’re going to play hard and we’re going to try and get the job done. I think the fans are pretty good here and I know they all want us to win on Saturday. I’m sure they’ll be there in their Black and Gold on Saturday ready to go.”

After Saturday’s ugly display, maybe it’s the players and Boston’s brass that shouldn’t be taking fans for granted.

day ready to go.”