 | Bourque, again Bruins savior? |
 hockeyhead writes "Bruins fans, 8 games into the season, I would say are a little disappointed.
The free agent period offered many signs of optimism. Joe Thornton was signed to a three year deal and Sergie Samsonov will have a year to prove he should stay long term. The blue line was bolstered with a future hall of famer in Brian Leetch. They also signed former fan favorites in Travis Green and Shawn McEachern. Finally, an abundance of youth were ready to make their mark in the new NHL.
The new season was here and life from new blood like Scatchard, Zhamnov and the rookies had beantown buzzing. Holdout Nick Boynton was also signed. Everything looked fine and dandy for the Bruins
Well, well....here we are early in the season but the Bruins find themselves 3-5. They are a dismal 0-5 to division opponents (the best division in hockey). And they have not suited a full squad that they had anticipated in having. Thornton, Scatchard, Zhamnov, Slegr and now McEachern have all been shelved with groin and back injuries which seems to be the buzz of the NHL.
In comes the possible silver lining to a poor start. Hall of Famer and 20 year Bruin favorite, Ray Bourque, has all but become an assistant coach for the Bruins. The Bruins have been trying to get Bourque back to the original six team for many years. Once as a player and several times as a coach. Bourque is all but signed. He will not travel with the team but he will be involved in morning practice sessions. With Chris Bourque grown up, Ray has some more free time in the morning. He will be used to help a struggling defense particularly on power play and shorthanded assignments.
With Jiri Slegr on the shelve and Nick Boynton making up for a missed preseason, the Bruins are left with less than perfect defensemen. Aside from an over worked Leetch, the blueline is patrolled by Rookies Andrew Alberts and Kevin Dahlman. Ian Morran and Hal Gill are struggling with the new NHL and their speedy opponents. Smallish, speedy forwards from Montreal and Buffalo have accounted for four losses and unless something is done, be it personel change or coaching change, it could be a long and tough season for a team that had such promise.
Bourque could be a savior or it could be the beginning of drastic things to come. I have no doubt that Bourque will add a shot in the arm much like when Terry O'rielly became B's coach. Will it solve all the problems the Bruins are having? Maybe not. They have been interested in other blueliners like Brendan Witt to seal some holes.
Bottom line is that the Bruins fans should not panic and take the good news with the bad start. The NHL plays a long season and their are teams that have success after a terrible start.....hello Houston Astros.
What do you think?
*reports out of the bostonherald.com*"
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| "Bourque, again Bruins savior?" | Login/Create an Account | 10 comments |
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Re: Bourque, again Bruins savior? (Score: 1)
by wingerxxx on Friday, October 21
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Anytime you have Ray Bourque involved with your franchise, we'll say that is a very good thing, and it'll be good for Bruins hockey. It may also have a calming influence on Leetch, who like this article states, is seriously overworked right now. Leetch is at the point in his career where he needs some help on the blueline, even though he is still an excellent defenseman, and perfect for the "new" NHL. And he will continue to be until Boynton really gets going. It's been hard for the B's so far with injuries, but there's no reason to think that they can't make the playoffs over the long haul of the season, after their big guns like Thornton and Zhamnov get over their injury problems. |
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Re: Bourque, again Bruins savior? (Score: 1)
by habsoverserver on Friday, October 21
(User Info | Send a Message) | Last season, the Bruins overacheived in points relative to goal differential. The law of averages is catching up with them.
They are still a playoff team just not a first place team.
Bourque will have an impact as soon as they get some players for him to coach.
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Re: Bourque, again Bruins savior? (Score: 1)
by habs_punk on Saturday, October 22
(User Info | Send a Message) | | I'd love to see the Bruins heat up, the playoffs just wouldn't be the same without a Montreal Boston matchupt. |
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Re: Bourque, again Bruins savior? (Score: 1)
by 19Yzerman on Tuesday, October 25
(User Info | Send a Message) | Bourque behind the bench as a head coach someday for the B's presents a couple of possible bad sides. First being if he has a long and outstanding career behind the B's bench but, somehow can't quite win the Stanley Cup as a head coach and then signs a cotract with the AVE's as head coach. Then winning the Stanley Cup as a head coach there. Another would be if the team does not perform well you could see the headlines in the Boston Heralds Sport section reading "Bruins fire Bourque". I know first hand what that would be like to see because this very type of thing just happened here in Detroit when the Tigers season ended and the Headlines read "Tigers fire Trammel". I was in a diner eating lunch and this cook that I always talk to says ,"Do you think the Tigers will fire Trammel today?" I replied Oh come on man he is a Hall of fame Tiger give him a break! I thought about how I would feel if Yzerman was to become the coach of the Wings and have this happen to him and concluded that it would be worth having to deal with the worst case scenario for the possibility of best case scenario and that not even the most disgraceful performance as a coach could ever belittle the joy he brought to me as a player.
As always I would like to throw you another one of those quotes from Teddy Roosevelt.
It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause. Who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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