Kalman: Bruins Postseason Thoughts While Waiting For Sweeney, Neely To Emerge
BOSTON (CBS) - Bruins players cleaned out their lockers Monday at TD Garden two days after playing as though they had little interest in making the playoffs in a 6-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Here are a few thoughts from breakup day while we wait for general manager Don Sweeney and president Cam Neely, who did not speak Monday, to emerge from their bunker and offer their assessment of the season and vision for the future:
- If Sweeney's plan was to avoid addressing the media to make sure the players were accountable for their actions, or lack thereof considering the 3-8-1 finish, it worked. All the Bruins faced the music Monday, including captain Zdeno Chara and alternates Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. All spoke about being disappointed because of the way the team didn't respond down the stretch and missed the playoffs.
They all also sang coach Claude Julien's praises, like this from Bergeron: "Yeah I hope he's back for sure. That's definitely out of my hands and tough for me to answer that question, but at the same time I hope he's back. I've said that a lot of times before and this time it's on us as players. That's I guess what happens sometimes in professional sports, that coaches or management get [fired]. ... But I really believe it should be on the players."
No reason was given for Sweeney's absence other than it was his preference to stay in seclusion. The Bruins didn't even hold exit meetings with the players. If Sweeney is hiding because he doesn't want to address the coaching situation without having a plan solidified, it's still no reason to hide. He should have made public remarks and just declined comment on the coach. Lord knows there's plenty other areas to assess. By not talking Sweeney put all the heat on the players and looked like someone not willing to face the music.
- One surprising note came from Ryan Spooner, who said he wasn't injured or banged up down the stretch. With one even-strength goal in his last 29 games, Spooner sure looked worn down. He admitted to not being strong enough to finish up his first full NHL season productively. That's scary. Imagine if the Bruins had earned one more point and reached the playoffs. Would they have gotten anything from Spooner or would they have had to keep him on the wing and then even consider scratching him? That's not a good sign that after three full professional seasons Spooner's still trying to find a pro's level of fitness and strength. This will be a huge offseason for Spooner, who is signed through next season. At times he looked ready to push for the No. 2 center spot, but now the Bruins would be taking a huge leap of faith if they made a move to open that slot for Spooner.
- When it comes to leadership, we all know who wears the letters for the Bruins. But one letter-wearer, Chris Kelly, was absent from the locker room and the ice from early November through the end of the season because of a broken femur. Forward Brad Marchand brought up Kelly's absence unsolicited Monday when talking about some leadership shortcomings during the Bruins' late-season struggles.
"[Kelly's] such a huge presence in our room, on the bench, on the ice," Marchand said. "And in situations like that, we needed a guy like that ... but when you take a guy like Kells out of the room and out the lineup, it really hurt our team. So it was really tough when Kells went down. We definitely missed him a lot in the room this year."
Considering the Bruins' need for vocal leaders and the black hole that was their fourth line last season, the Bruins have to strongly consider bringing Kelly back. They should be able to get him for $1 million or $1 million and change on a short deal. Sweeney's No. 1 priority is to upgrade the talent level of the team, but he can't ignore what the Bruins lacked in leadership this and last season.
- Tuukka Rask answered questions about his status without any problems. He said he's willing to be part of the rebuild and would consider leaving if the Bruins didn't want him. Here's what I have to ask the "trade Rask" crowd: How are you going to replace him? The goaltending free-agent pool is filled with scrubs and the No. 1 Bruins goaltending prospect (Malcolm Subban) wasn't good enough to even earn a NHL appearance this season. If you want Rask traded, you're probably among Bruins fans that started paying attention in the Tim Thomas era. Goaltenders of Rask's capability are hard to come by and regardless of what Sweeney puts on the ice in terms of forwards and defensemen, a goaltender like Rask guarantees you'll always be competitive. There's a name for a team like the Bruins without a goaltender like Rask: Maple Leafs (or maybe the synonym Oilers). The Bruins have to continue to build around Rask and any thoughts of trading him should be erased by nightmares of John Grahame.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
