|
Boos or cheers for Seguin in return to Boston? |
|
|
 |
Ty Anderson
 Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSS
• Archive
• CONTACT
|
|
|
Forward Tyler Seguin was the future of the Boston Bruins.
Drafted by the Bruins with the second overall pick in 2010, there was no denying the then 18-year-old’s standing as the face of tomorrow’s Bruins. When Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron called it a career and retired as Bruins, the ultra-talented Seguin would be there to step into the club’s vacated spotlight as the face of the franchise.
The B’s, a team that lucked out on nabbing the top two by way of the Phil Kessel trade, were only getting richer. At least that was the script laid out before our eyes told us. A bright present with an even brighter future? Yeah, count the once long suffering Bruins fans in.
See, luck is what brought Seguin to Boston in ‘10, and that’s a simple fact. When B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli pulled the trigger on the infamous trade that sent Kessel, the team’s leading goal-scorer from the season before, to Toronto for two first round picks and a second, he had no idea that it’d be a lottery pick. It was clear that Brian Burke, the new boss in Leafland, wasn’t going to deal away a top-two pick or let alone allow his team to play that poorly over an 82-game season to where they’d end up there at season’s end. You’d have to be on more crack than Toronto mayor Rob Ford if you thought the 2009-10 Leafs would’ve been as bad as they turned out to be.
But they (somehow) were, and Seguin landed in a B’s sweater.
Going through the ups and downs of being a teenager in not only the National Hockey League but the Bruins’ strict defense-first, three-zone game system, there were bumps in the road (see: Seguin’s 11-goal rookie campaign), but the true offensive potential of No. 19 was brought to fans’ eyes with the budding star’s team-leading 29-goal, 67-point sophomore season.
Setting the stage for Seguin’s rise to superstardom in 2012-13 following an absolutely lethal stint with EHC Biel (Swiss-A) during the lockout, the Black-and-Gold were more than disappointing with the evolution -- or lack thereof -- of the Brampton, Ont. native’s game in his third and final year of an entry-level deal.
Especially when they realized that they were going to find themselves paying nearly six million dollars a year to keep Seguin in town starting in 2013-14. And without realizing the litany of Seguin’s ‘off ice issues’ that reared their head following the club’s Stanley Cup Final loss that saw the normally dangerous Seguin became a mere afterthought to opposing defenses in all four rounds.
At 21, Seguin was clearly a boy among men in Boston. He was the young bachelor of the B’s, hardly a fit among a roster largely dominated by veteran ‘lead by example’ types, and the lifestyle of being the Bruins’ biggest draw to the college demographic undoubtedly got to him. There were horrible rumors circling Seguin’s name -- varying from dirty clothes to security guards to affairs with Nathan Horton’s wife (that’s still the weirdest tall tale from all of this) -- and it was clear that he was wearing his welcome out with the Boston coaching staff and front office faced with the reality of a thin right side.
With little cash and the cap shrinking, the B's knew that much of their hope in 2013-14 was hinged largely to the idea/hope/prayer of Seguin 'waking up' and playing better than ever before. For the Bruins, a team built on their depth throughout the lineup, this was a downright terrifying concept. Why? Well, he simply wasn't ready to be the guy in the now. And the Bruins, a team led by a captain approaching 37 years old and inevitably set to see his play slide at some point, are a team 100 percent in the 'win now' mindset.
Seguin the Bruin, now or later, simply had to go if he was ever going to be the player he could be. And the Bruins, Seguin simply had to go if they were ever going to be the team they wanted to be in the immediate and short term future.
In Boston, he would always be forced to play the wing given long-term extensions for both David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron and the club’s desire for a strong two-way pivot on every line. With the B’s, he’d never be a 40-goal, 80-point guy. And in Boston, the toxic atmosphere of the friends Seguin chose to roll around the Hub with would always bother Chiarelli and the Bruins. For Seguin to be the Seguin that dominated the Ontario Hockey League as a teenager en route to becoming the game’s top prospect, he needed a change of scenery to a place with less pressure, more opportunities, and a chance to simply start over. The trade to the Dallas Stars gave him that chance.
And that’s something the Bruins and their fans can’t hold against him when Seguin takes to the ice at TD Garden for the first time as a visitor later tonight.
Will there be boos for the Bruin-turned-Star that’s tallied six goals and 15 points in 14 games this year? Probably, that’s typically how it goes, but there shouldn’t be any ill-will thrown Seguin’s way, at least not from my point of view. As somebody in the Boston locker room, I can tell you that there were times where Seguin’s immaturity showed. There were times when he didn’t really wanna talk about something negative, or didn’t handle it like a veteran such as Chris Kelly would. There were also times where Seguin would show off the skill-set and interview skills that made him such a delight among fans. Highs and lows? That’s life. Not just as a youngster in the NHL, but everywhere.
Thank You Seguin chants? Seems doubtful, but all bets are off if Loui Eriksson or Reilly Smith find the back of the net tonight, and if they do come No. 91's way, they're all in good fun.
After all, the break up between the B's and the sniper wasn't exactly messy.
Sure, the B's looked to dice Seguin up in the first episode of Behind the B, where his lack of physicality is bashed in front of the camera, and of course Chiarelli firing the shots of "Well, we need him to grow up" strained the relationship between the two. But at the end of the day, without Seguin in the Eastern Conference Finals, I'm not so sure that the B's escape the 1-3-1 of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011.
In essence, and unlike the Thornton or Kessel exile, there's little hate towards Seguin's situation or so it seems. For a number of reasons. At the top of that list, it's clear that Seguin obviously didn't want to leave Boston, and the Bruins' return wasn't as immediately-useless as that of the Thornton or Kessel trade, making everything simply easier for fans to stomach.
Right now, anyways.
Deep down, I think that it’s going to be tough for Bruins fans to watch Seguin grow, develop, and evolve into one of the game’s best offensive centermen, which he no doubt will be at some point during his tenure with Dallas. Especially when you look at his play in say, five years, when his physically and mental maturation will put him in elite company, much like it did when Joe Thornton left town in 2005, or even Kessel in 2009.
On a positive note for the B's and directly related to the trade, winger Loui Eriksson is in the lineup after missing the last five games with a concussion after a cheapshot from the Sabres' John Scott. Slated to skate on his normal line with Bergeron and Brad Marchand, the 28-year-old enters play with two goals and three points in eight games for the Bruins, and his return will be more than welcomed from an offense that scored just 11 goals (2.20 goals per game) with him on the shelf.
It also looks like the B's will be with the services of Johnny Boychuk tonight as well.
Boychuk missed this past Saturday's game after crashing hard into the boards during the second period of last Thursday's win over the Anaheim Ducks.
In net, the Bruins will give the nod to Tuukka Rask. The 26-year-old Rask has faced Dallas just once in his career, stopping 30 of 33 shots in a winning effort, and enters play with a .940 save percentage in 11 games this season. He'll be countered by Dallas netminder Kari Lehtonen, who has five wins and a 1.94 goals against average in nine games this season.
Join the Discussion:
»