Joe Thornton. Phil Kessel. Tyler Seguin. Dougie Hamilton. All four players can be considered franchise players. All four players put up good numbers for Boston, but for some reason, they just didn’t want to play for the Boston Bruins anymore.
So, what caused these great players to suddenly hate the Black and Gold? While the media is partly to blame here, the Bruins organization didn’t seem to understand why they were having such a rough turnover of talent.
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Phil Kessel is still living down the moniker of ‘uncoachable’. (A title he was first given by members of the Boston media.) Tyler Seguin was given the boot for being an immature party boy. While Seguin was guilty of some of the things mentioned during his time in Boston, the media certainly doubled down on the crazy stories of Seguin being a lazy undisciplined slob who wasn’t working as hard as he should.
When the Dougie Hamilton trade was announced, it didn’t’ take long for members of the media to begin their character assassination. He was a grumpy loner who didn’t like his teammates. Sadly, a good portion of the fan base accepted this rampant speculation as gospel. It’s certainly salted the earth for the young defenseman who will likely never play for the Bruins again.
Sure, the media has its part to play in this mess. We happily print up the news as we hear it and give it to the readers. While we’re partially at fault, a few fingers needed to be pointed at the offices of the TD Garden.
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Moving forward, the Bruins organization needs to figure out how they can better support these young players. Too many times the Bruins have found themselves going all in on quality talent only to part ways with them a few years later. Bruins President Cam Neely is tired of this trend and is making it one of the issues he’ll address personally.
“It’s something we’re aware of, and we have to build an organization where we’re drafting and developing, and developing not just on the ice but off the ice as well,” said Cam Neely. “Expectations for the organization, and what do we expect from a professional hockey player that’s going to play for the Boston Bruins.”
This means taking a few other factors into account when dealing with young talent. Seguin and Hamilton didn’t really have anyone their own age to hang out with. In Seguin’s case, he was one of the few single players on the team back then. A lot of us have left jobs(or got fired from)we didn’t like because of the workplace dynamic. While the Bruins organization were more hands on with Dougie Hamilton (Hamilton spent his first season in Boston living with defenseman Adam McQuaid), they may not have done enough.
“We have to help nurture them,” said Neely on the Bruins new approach. “It’s a tough transition for a young player going to a big city where it’s really focused on the sport, and don’t really know anybody outside of the game. It’s something we’ve looked at…how we do improve the club from top to bottom both on and off the ice.”
“Over the years there are things you’ve learned, and I think communication is a big key,” said Neely. “It’s asking questions and listening, and having dialogue. It’s just making sure that we’re doing the right things as an organization to win as many championships as we can. It’s really about cultivating the players and the families, and providing them with everything we can as an organization to allow the players to focus on the game.”
While Neely’s new approach will hopefully keep the younger players in Boston, the Bruins organization will need to do more. The media has a way of turning on players, and they certainly did in Dougie Hamilton’s case. Neely should have a dialogue with certain members of the Boston media in the future as well.