Boston Bruins: Ex-Bruin Andrew Ference calls out new team.

Jun 19, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins goalie

(40) and defenseman

(21) kick the puck away from the net during the second period in game four of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Ference was a highly respected defenseman when he played for the Boston Bruins. While he was never going to be a Bobby Orr type player, he worked his butt off to make the second or bottom pair every year in training camp. He helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011. His work ethic was respected by his fellow veterans and admired by the newer players that came into the organization. It was a shame that we had to let him go after the 2012-13 season.

Ference chose to sign with his home town club, the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers organization made Ference their captain. They believed his work ethic could help the Oilers move forward. Edmonton was a club that was filled with top draft pick talent, but bereft of a team identity. Ference had a chance to take a sagging team and make it significantly better.

This year, the Oilers haven’t struck Oil. In fact, they haven’t found much of anything. In their last ten games, the Blue and Orange are 0-7-3. Edmonton has now lost fourteen of its last sixteen games. They remain without a victory in their fifteen games they played against other Western Conference teams. They are now tied with Columbus for the worst record in the NHL(6-15-4, 16pts). This a team that is about to hit the reset button on the reset button they pushed four seasons ago.

The losses have been adding up, and it looks like the weight of the failures finally caused something to break.  The Oilers went in to the second period against the Arizona Coyotes holding a one goal lead.  Early in the second period, the Coyotes put in two short handed goals were put in on Victor Fasth in a span of fifty-eight seconds. The Oilers fell apart as the Coyotes put in two more second period goals. The final score for the Oilers latest debacle was 5-2. In his most recent postgame interview, a visibly dour Ference  gave his teammates both barrels.

“Talking isn’t tough,” Ference replied. “It shouldn’t be much of a chore to come here and pay attention to what you’re supposed to do and work hard and have pride in being in the NHL and putting on a jersey. That should be the easy part. To come here and have to eke pride out of guys to get out there and pay attention and do details … it’s not right. … It’s one hundred percent unacceptable.”

I was sad to see Ference leave Boston. He was a decent player for us. He gave back to Boston like so many other Bruins players have. When he went to Edmonton, I was happy that he got to live his dream of playing for his hometown team. Ference really deserves a better fate for the end of his career than this.