While waiting for what seems to have been a very "fast/long" Regular Season to end & as we head down the home stretch, I figured I throw out a couple quick observations from my unique "NewBie" fan perspective. Feel free to add, debate or just plain BLAST me where you see fit. Anyway here goes-*Observation #1 - The old thought that Boston's a dyed in the wool "Baseball" town. Always has been, always will be...
100% NOT TRUE. Boston like every other major sports city is all about the winning, first and foremost. Let's keep the Cult also known as Red Sox Nation out of this for a minute and witness the return of the Celtics fans over the last season and a half from God knows where?! The unbelievable arrogance of the Patriots...ahem.."Fans" over the last eight or nine "winning" seasons and now the Bruins, who outside of their core blue collared, Die Hard, always been there/always will be set of fans seem to have picked up an awful lot of Bandwagon jumpers over the last four months...Let's hope the wagon can hold us all this time and that after the Playoffs they'll still be there.... So I guess for the most part it's less about the "tradition" and all about the winning in Boston fans eyes isn't it...
*Observation #2 - Jeremy Jacobs aka "The Anti-Christ in a Tie" and Harry Sinden are the reasons for all the Bruins fans suffering over these last 25+ seasons.
While I can't and won't defend "Mr. Buffalo/Mr. Hot Dogs/Mr. Burns" or Harry Sinden for all the shenanigan's we've seen over the years. I on the other hand also have a hard time laying all the blame at their feet too... I've also NEVER subscribed to theory that the reason the B's have struggled for the most part over the last 25 years is that Jacobs & the B's have been CHEAP and won't spend money to improve the team because that's TOTAL Bullshit!
In fact if you use this link to the website NHLSalaryCap.info- (http://nhlsalarycap.info/teams/northeast/boston-bruins.php?sec=payroll&yr=2007 ) you'll see that the Bs have been in the Top 5 in terms of money spent on players since there's been a cap in the NHL and even beyond that were in the Top 10 in NHL payroll almost every season?!
OK... So what's the REAL reason then for all this suffering been? First off if we can all 200% AGREE and throw out the fact that Jacobs, Harry and the ENTIRE B's organization completely misread what the post-lockout NHL world like and as such had to BLOW that whole era's club up (see: Knuble, Ralston, Nylander, Joe Thornton etc...) and as such had to restart overhauling their roster by overreacting and overpaying alot of BAD hockey players, we can begin to then look at what I think have been the real issues with the team over the years by simply breaking it down into the following three key categories:
1) Free Agent signings & bad trades (Zhamnov, Stevens & Leetch anyone..?)
2) Drafting, developing and then retaining the limited amount of young talent that you had acquired &
3) The complete and bewildering loss of Franchises storied heritage and with it the clubs true gritty and workman like identity! (Just check out the new History of the Bruins DVD to bear (no pun intended...) this point out.
I think if you stand back and really look at all this together you'll agree that its been the real reasons why the B's had lost their way and have mostly FAILED over the last 20/15 seasons prior last year (07/08 season) and this one so far... So now if we can all agree on these points we should also agree that the fallacy of the B's NOT or UNWILLING to SPEND MONEY really hasn't been true or has been the issue with them at all!
Was it BAD upper management, personnel choices, uncertain decision making, constant coaching hires and fires and piss poor execution on and off the ice - 100% YES!
Was it the fact that Money was or wasn't being spent - 100% NO!
So can we been DONE with that line of thought and excuse making and move on...? I hope so because it's wrong and shows that 95% of the "fans" out there don't know DICK!
Moving on and all that aside, I for one am completely on board (and sometimes WAY OVERBOARD) with these "New Bruins" and this "New Era"... In fact I'm the guy DRIVING the Bandwagon these days so stay off the sidewalks will ya!
I also agree that the times feel like they "Are-Finally-a-Changing" around here for the good but in the same vein I think it's funny and a bit sad really that with this "new change" and feeling's of "Black and Gold Pride" again, that I haven't heard much if any Jeremy Jacobs bashing this year(?) or even more important ANY credit given to him or his organization beyond B's G.M. Peter Chiarelli, Cam Neely and Coach Julien for making what I'm sure for him were some uncomfortable and somewhat tough changes within his business model to set this new era off to begin with... I mean would it kill any of us to give Mr. Jeremy "Burns" & his son Charlie "Smithers" a little "LOVE"? Ugh, I guess so huh! - Let's Go Brooounze! KingKrej46
PS- I'm looking forward to seeing a BIG EFFORT and NO LETDOWN tonight by the Boys' given the fact that the B's LOST last time out verses the Bolts 4-3 back in February and the fact that it's Old Home night vs. the Lightning with the return of former "luminaries" like Wingers Martin Karsums and Brandon Bochenski as well as the BIG return of Kynch's Boy; Defensemen Matt Lashoff... In fact you gotta LOVE Lashoff's "smarts" making comments like this in the papers just prior to playing -
"Just the way things were going in Boston, I didn't have my confidence," Lashoff told Erik Erlendsson of Tampa Tribune. "I was always second-guessing plays that I was making out on the ice. I think from the moment I got here, it was like a weight was taken off my shoulders. The moment I found out I was traded here, to be able to have that opportunity to come in and play right away, to have that all behind me, it's changed my whole demeanor.
"It even started Tuesday during the pregame skate, I just felt more confident with the puck." In Boston, "every time you come up, it's an audition, but the way the Bruins were, it would be one shift and you thought you were going back down to Providence of the AHL, and with the way things are going for them this year they didn't have that leeway to give," Lashoff said
Brilliant huh...The odd's say he gets SMOKED against the boards at least once by Looch & that the B's win BIG 6-2!
No comments:
Post a Comment