Bruins Chiarelli: 'Wouldn't Be Happy' With Early Exit
BOSTON (CBS) - Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli caused a stir last week when comments he made on 98.5 The Sports Hub made it sound like he would be happy with a hard-fought first or second-round exit in the playoffs.
"No I wouldn't be happy, and I certainly didn't say that," Chiarelli told Toucher and Rich Wednesday morning.
"I can't just make a decision based on winning. Who knows what happens? Of course we want to win a Cup, and we haven't gone past the second round in two years. Yes, that's what we have to do."
Listen: Toucher & Rich: Chiarelli on the Playoffs and Meeting Expectations
Before the playoffs began, Chiarelli told Toucher and Rich, "What everyone wants to hear, and it is an obvious statement, we have to win the second round. But I don't necessarily think that's the case."
"Success for me, statistically yes, would be to win the second-round. But to see a consistent effort, to see Bruins hockey, the North-South hockey I talk about. To win a round or two," he continued. "I want to win a cup, don't get me wrong, and I'm not hedging here. To draw a line in the sand, I don't think is what you should do here."
But he made sure to clarify what his expectations are this time around.
"What I meant when I said that, we've had two years of going into the second round and not winning. So yes, we have to win the second round," Chiarelli said Wednesday. "There are other ways to measure performance, but we have to win the second round."
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"Of course we want to win the Cup," he continued. "We've made some significant moves, paid some significant prices for guys. Yes, we want to win the cup."
Chiarelli is not worried that setting the bar at a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals is too much pressure on his team.
"I went on the air the other night with Hockey Night in Canada and they asked me if putting the expectations to win the second-round is putting too much pressure on the team. I said look, 'We're in the best sports town where expectations are high, and rightfully so. We know what we have to do.'"
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"It's not wrong, that's what our goal is," he continued. "We paid a first rounder and a top prospect to bring in Tomas Kaberle. We paid a second rounder for Chris Kelly. We traded away a player to bring in a guy we thought would help us in Rich Peverley."
"That's commitment," he said of his trade deadline moves. "We want to win the cup."
Chiarelli also touched upon Kaberle's play in the playoffs, which has been well below what the Bruins were hoping for when they acquired the 11-year veteran at the trade deadline.
"He hasn't played up to the level we expected," Chiarelli said. "I think what's happened is there have been parts of his game, when you haven't been in the playoffs in awhile, that have stuck with him. We expected him to be better."
The Bruins have not scored a power-play goal in three games during the playoffs, going 0-for-11 with the man-advantage.
