Reardons Beard said:I've thought about this quite a bit and come down to this: The Boston Bruins organization has been highly successful in the NHL for the majority of the time this group has been together. I think it is both unfair and unwise to break up this group after one season that went significantly below expectations when injuries, player performance, and scheduling all played a role in shaping that outcome. That's not to say it's been a perfect hand for management, clearly not, but after years of deep playoff runs, father time and the grind of long seasons with shorter summers was going to catch up with the organization eventually.
You can't bury these guys after multiple cup appearances, a win, and President's trophy. Multiple down years merits a total overhaul of the management, but I think one bad year merits a more serious retooling of the roster before you make changes at the top.
This is where I want to be, but emotionally, I'm struggling with it. I think Chia gets a lot of unnecessary heat and people don't remember what its like around here when you really have a BAD GM, but he certainly has made some errors in judgement. I'm not talking about Seguin either. That was an organizational decision from Cam on down. It's not right to put that on Chia solely. That said there needs to be an improvement in his performance, if he gets a shot at it.
My real problem is with Julien. I think he's a very good coach and will have a job days after he is let go from this one, but his inability to get his team up for some of the biggest games of the year has been infuriating. That is probably the player's fault and not his, but at some point, a new voice is necessary and I think we are there.
This is sad. End of the most successful Bruins era of my lifetime.