Where Have My Big, Bad Bruins Gone?
Ian Abreu
Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: Sports
If I may steal a quote from defunct Celtics head coach Rick Pitino: "Cam Neely's not walking through that door, neither is Ray Bourque, Bobby Orr or Phil Esposito."
Remember that famous saying from "Little Rickey" some eight years ago? Of course, I replaced the Bird, Parish, and McHale with Orr, Espo and those fabled B's characters. Let's see, where do I begin? I was actually excited about this up-coming season, new rules and financial structures seemed to have made the "newer" NHL both more competitve and fan-friendly; well, if you're a Boston Bruins fan, none of those have happened. With a 29-35-16 record, Boston has fallen to 13th overall in the Eastern Conference, a full 14 points behind the eight-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning.
I'm not a happy camper, by any stretch of the imagination. It's now time to let the ranting begin, Bruins fans. I'm sure that makes you happy, right?
Let's first discuss the pure unprofessional attitude from the Bruins front office brass. When the lockout had finally come to an end last summer, former Bruins General Manager Mike O'Connell told team owner Jeremy Jacobs he had wanted to re-sign forwards Mike Knuble, Brian Rolston, Michael Nylander, as well as defensemen Sergei Gonchar. Sure enough, Jacobs told O'Connell to let them go.
"This was a buyer's market and they could pick better players," he told Mikey. So, these players went their seperate ways while Bruins decided to replace them with Brad Isbister, Brian Leetch, Shawn McEachern, Dave Scatchard, who was eventually traded for journeyman defesman David Tanabe, who was in turn was released. Oh yes, the best one yet, Alexi Zhamnov. Let's see, McEachern has been a total bust, Isbister has been injured all season, Leetch seems washed up, Scatchard wasn't even here for a cup of coffee, and Zhamnov has been a total waste of both time and money! Don't forget, "We didn't go after Peter Forsberg because he's too injury prone," O'Connell said at the beginning of the season.
Remember that famous saying from "Little Rickey" some eight years ago? Of course, I replaced the Bird, Parish, and McHale with Orr, Espo and those fabled B's characters. Let's see, where do I begin? I was actually excited about this up-coming season, new rules and financial structures seemed to have made the "newer" NHL both more competitve and fan-friendly; well, if you're a Boston Bruins fan, none of those have happened. With a 29-35-16 record, Boston has fallen to 13th overall in the Eastern Conference, a full 14 points behind the eight-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning.
I'm not a happy camper, by any stretch of the imagination. It's now time to let the ranting begin, Bruins fans. I'm sure that makes you happy, right?
Let's first discuss the pure unprofessional attitude from the Bruins front office brass. When the lockout had finally come to an end last summer, former Bruins General Manager Mike O'Connell told team owner Jeremy Jacobs he had wanted to re-sign forwards Mike Knuble, Brian Rolston, Michael Nylander, as well as defensemen Sergei Gonchar. Sure enough, Jacobs told O'Connell to let them go.
"This was a buyer's market and they could pick better players," he told Mikey. So, these players went their seperate ways while Bruins decided to replace them with Brad Isbister, Brian Leetch, Shawn McEachern, Dave Scatchard, who was eventually traded for journeyman defesman David Tanabe, who was in turn was released. Oh yes, the best one yet, Alexi Zhamnov. Let's see, McEachern has been a total bust, Isbister has been injured all season, Leetch seems washed up, Scatchard wasn't even here for a cup of coffee, and Zhamnov has been a total waste of both time and money! Don't forget, "We didn't go after Peter Forsberg because he's too injury prone," O'Connell said at the beginning of the season.