Boston Bruins: Lack of Character Needs to Be Addressed

The Boston Bruins slipped from contention, again. What seemed to be a team that had come into its own failed to show up when they needed to most. Simply put, there is no reason they should have been on the bubble to begin with, but they put themselves in a position that left them fighting for a spot. The complaint about last season’s team was that they lacked any sort of identity or character, and that proved to hold true once again for this year’s squad. In a market like Boston, with such a devout fan-base and storied history, having a team that plays so gutless and flat in the biggest moments is simply unacceptable. The Winter Classic, and then losing 9 of the final 12 games of the season vastly overshadow any of the accomplishments from this season.

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The final stretch in the NHL schedule is when you find out what teams are truly made of, when teams need to dig deep and leave everything on the ice for a final charge, and this is the second straight year where they have fallen flat when the going got tough. This off-season needs to bring some personnel changes along with it as it was decided that fault was not placed on management, or the coach, as it was announced that Julien would captain the ship for at least one more season

It seems as though too many Bruins don’t have the attitude or drive to get up for games or rise to the occasion. Younger players like Ryan Spooner, David Pastrnak, and new-comer Jimmy Hayes, among others, seemed to lack the fire and real tenacity in their games that the team would really have benefited from. This is compounded by the fact that the team doesn’t have the same energetic and vocal presences that were crucial to the 2011 and 2013 runs. Those rosters had auxiliary pieces like Mark Recchi, Shawn Thornton, Andrew Ference, Jaromir Jagr, Jay Pandolfo, Rich Peverely, and a healthy Chris Kelly. These players were not massive point producers for the Bruins, but what they did bring was a winner’s mentality, a strong presence, and a serious desire to win.

Match these with a younger Chara and Seidenberg as well as Johnny Boychuk, and there’s simply more intensity and character to the team. Intangibles are often overlooked in favor of stat lines, but without strong character behind it, the chances for playing in May grow slim. Losing Kelly to injury, Thornton to free agency, and Boychuk to cap casualties has left Boston without that rallying voice in the locker room.

As the team begins an attempt to switch over to younger blood, lacking a strong character and locker room presence becomes an even larger issue. While new-comers Matt Beleskey and Landon Ferraro brought some energy on the ice along with the usual suspects, but leading by example only goes so far. Players still developing on the squad need both the team leaders like Bergeron and Chara, but also the guys who guide the team and the morale in the right direction, the ones who can give everyone a swift kick when they need to wake up and get going.

Next: Boston Bruins: No Big Change In Goaltending Next Season

It’s very evident that there is value in these intangibles as Dale Tallon saw fit to extend Thornton for another season when Thornton himself thought this year might be his last. It is in GM Don Sweeney’s best interest to try to find a way to bring back the attitude and vocal presence.

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