Boston Bruins fall out of playoff race tonight. Can they get back in?
The 2015 NHL playoff seasons starts in just twenty-two days. With the Ottawa Senators win over the San Jose Sharks, the Boston Bruins find themselves outside a playoff berth for the first time in nearly three months. The Bruins have just nine games left to pull this one out of the fire. The way the Black and Gold are playing though… it may just be too little too late for the formerly ‘Big, Bad, Bruins’.
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The Bruins did experience and an incredibly unlucky run of injuries to key players this year. It was even more damning that when the players returned, they were nowhere near the level they were playing at before their injuries. While that was a factor this season, it wasn’t the biggest one.
The Bruins (and there are exceptions) didn’t play to their identity. There was a lack of total commitment from quite a few members of the team this year. If a Bruins fan can take a step back and look at this objectively, you can honestly argue that the Bruins have had two lines of forwards, and one defensive pair worth of players giving everything every night (without making a total mess of things).
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Changes need to be made. They will have to start from the top on down. Tonight, a panel of hockey experts sat down at Slicks and Sticks (I was fortunate to be invited to join them), and we discussed what has to be done in the off-season. We all agreed that certain changes need to be made in the Bruins front office. The Jacobs family seems to have gotten too complacent with the team (and the front office certainly has).
Peter Chiarelli has made a series of errors over the last three seasons. While those individual decisions weren’t damning, they have culminated in the mess the Boston Bruins are currently facing now. The Bruins have spent $62,475,00 against a salary cap that is currently expected to be at seventy-one million (and could fall further if the Canadian dollar gets devalued anymore than it is now). The Bruins have still not signed players like Carl Soderberg (and maybe they shouldn’t) and Dougie Hamilton (you know, the future leader of the blueliners) to the roster.
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The Bruins fan in me wants the B’s to make it to the playoffs. The practical hockey fan in me thinks its a better idea for them to miss this year (and let the axe fall where it may in Boston). The Black and Gold can still make the playoffs. It’s not outside the realm of reality.
The mathematical odds are against them though. Two months ago, the Bruins chances of making the playoffs were over eighty percent. As of tonight, they are 33.4% and falling. Their chances of winning the Stanley Cup stand at 0.5%. They have nine games left. The Boston Bruins can either play these last games with true passion or intensity, or they can call ahead to check out their local tee-times.