2014; A Year of Heartbreak for the Boston Bruins and Fans
November 18, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; Boston Bruins defensemen Johnny Boychuk (55) is congratulated by forward Jarome Iginla (12) after his 3rd period goal against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Center. The Boston Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
2014 started off with the Bruins on a two-game losing streak while holding a 26-12-2 record on the season, not exactly a bad place to be starting a new year. They would finish out the 2013-2014 season with a 54-19-9 record and 1st in the Atlantic Division. They were able to advance to the playoffs where they took the Conference Quarter-Finals 4 games to 1 against the Detroit Red Wings before losing in the Semi-Finals to the Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 3.
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Through the course of the off season things began to take a turn for the worse. Fans were forced to accept the fact that beloved Boston Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton would not be returning to the Garden donning a Black and Gold Spoked-B. All due to cap space and the need to re-sign other players. Little did upper management know, one of the guys they had in mind, would sign with Colorado. Jarome Iginla, slated to take over the hole that was once Nathan Horton, decided to take a chance with the Avalanche and say goodbye to Boston, leaving the Bruins, yet again with a space to fill and little money to work with.
As training camp came to a close, we were able to sigh with relief as the Boston Bruins and Reilly Smith and Torey Krug came to contract agreements. However, the relief was short-lived. On October 4, two days before the Bruins season opener, they traded Johnny Boychuk to the New York Islanders for draft picks. A trade that the Boston Bruins are still paying for to date.
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Since the departure of Boychuk the Boston Bruins have struggled, not only defensively, but all-around. To date the Bruins are 19-15-4 with 41 points on the season. They have just 98 goals scored, good for 19th in the League and are ranked 16th in goals allowed with 99. They began the season with a multitude of injuries for the opening month, losing Kevan Miller, Zdeno Chara and David Krejci all while trying to fill voids that were already vacant.
They signed veteran forward Simon Gagne to try and help out, and he was doing a decent job alongside Paille and Campbell for the fourth-lie forward before having to leave the team for personal time off. The reason, his father was diagnosed with lung cancer and had a short amount of time left. Earlier last week news broke that Gagne’s father had passed away, adding to the heartache that surrounds the Boston Bruins family and fanbase.
As the Bruins embark on their last game of the year tomorrow night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, we can only hope that they end the year on a good note. The 5-2 victory against the Detroit Red Wings was a nice start with a full effort, one that can hopefully turn things raound to ring in the new year with a fresh start, one that can lead them into the playoffs.