When Andrew Ference arrived to Boston (with the now long departed Chuck Kobasew) as part of the Brad Stuart to Calgary trade in 2007, the Boston Bruins were a faceless, shapeless National Hockey League entity.

The Bruins, a woefully awful hockey club at this point -- lost in post-lockout changes, were without an identity. Their defense, led by first-year captain Zdeno Chara playing over half the game most nights, was a mix-matched disaster with names like Paul Mara, Milan Jurcina, and Jason York. What were they, besides terrible of course? Irresponsible. In Boston, aside from Chara, who was still immersing himself into the role of captain and the ‘spotlight’ that came with captaining a struggling club, the Bruins didn’t really have many leaders.

But with time, and with the addition of fellow veterans like Aaron Ward, the B’s blue-line found its secondary leader -- both a verbal and lead-by-example type -- in Ference.

Despite many ‘incidents’ that ranged from Ference being the one to oust then-NHLPA head Paul Kelly to reports of disagreements with teammates, Ference remained one of the club’s most outspoken presences, and was always the first to jump into a melee in defense of a teammate. With each passing game and year, Ference seemed to find his groove in Black-and-Gold, and in the City of Boston, especially. He was an energetic presence and spark in the Bruins’ 2011 Cup run, began the comeback in Game 3 against the Vancouver Canucks, and set the tone in the club’s upped physical game.

Ference, in the simplest of a terms, was a Bruin.

Unfortunately, though, with the cap going down and emergence of three young defensemen, Ference’s Bruin career is coming to end after seven years (373 games).

“All of us meet with Peter [Chiarelli] and with Claude [Julien] as well, and it’s usually about the same meeting every year – how our season went and all that. With the current cap Peter [Chiarelli] isn’t going to be able to keep me,” Ference said at Wednesday’s break-up day. “He’s got to re-sign Tuukka [Rask], and obviously do his side of the business. Also unfortunately with the new CBA he’s restricted. He said ‘wish it wasn’t so,’ but that’s the way it is.”

For Ference, who will now decide where to move now for the fourth time in his NHL career, the move out of Boston wasn’t a total shock, but didn’t come without some undeniable sadness.

“Obviously throughout the year you prepare yourself I guess for not being here. You hope that things can work out, but I think myself and my family are quite prepared for it. Doesn’t make it any easier,” the Alberta native said. “The hockey side of it is about as good as you can get anywhere in the entire league over the last few years. When you pile on the fact that we’ve been able to live in this city, and we have no greater friends in the world than the ones that we made here. So obviously to have that over the past few years is priceless, and that’s obviously a big reason why I wanted to stay. Obviously our friends outside of hockey, and the schools that our kids go to are second-to-none – that’s just as tough if not tougher to leave than the hockey side of it. So it’s not easy, but that’s life.”

On the hockey side, while Ference’s contributions to the rugged Boston blue-line have run their course with the continued development of Matt Bartkowski, Torey Krug, and Dougie Hamilton set to bloom with the big club, B’s coach Claude Julien knows that Ference’s role with the Black-and-Gold went far beyond his steady, accountable play.
“There’s no doubt, I think both of us are sitting here knowing that because of that we’re losing not just a good player, but also a leader in the dressing room and everything else. He’s always gone above and beyond with the little things in the dressing room and everything that comes with it,” Julien noted, adding, “He’s been a good teammate, smart. Like I said, every year in the playoffs he always took the initiative to come up with some of the ideas of the jackets and stuff like that. He’s meant a lot. He’s really respected by his teammates, but at the same time these are the toughest things.”

The cold reality for B’s fans, however, is that Ference is just one of many tough decisions the Bruins have ahead of them not only this summer, but moving forward as an elite organization. You saw Chiarelli and company make tough decisions in 2011 -- mainly with the decision to not re-sign Michael Ryder -- but as time marches on, the Bruins are slowly going to have to move on from the beloved core of their successful Cup years like all clubs have to if they want to stay among the league’s best on a consistent basis. It’s cruel, but it’s simply part of Chiarelli’s business.

“I would expect to ice a team or build a team that would be a perennial contender every year. That doesn’t change. There’s a challenge with the lower cap and I think you’ll see that challenge throughout the league,” the Boston general manager noted, adding, “We feel confident that if we have to move a player or two or not sign somebody, we feel confident with the core we have that we’ll be able to find players or have players in the mix already that can fill that spot.”

The Vets: Jagr, Pandolfo, and Redden

In terms of players also on the outs in Boston, Chiarelli confirmed that veteran forwards Jay Pandolfo and Jaromir Jagr will not be back with the club in 2013-14.

For Pandolfo, the decision could come on a mutual basis, as the 39-year-old has hinted that this may be it from a career standpoint, with the Burlington, Mass. native spending his final year playing for the hometown club.

“If you are going to try to continue to play, it’s a mental commitment more than just physical. Right now, that’s why I haven’t 100 percent made a decision. That’s why I’m more leaning more towards retiring,” the veteran penalty-killer said. “To be able to finish here is pretty special for me. I’m not sure I’d really want to go play somewhere else. I’m definitely probably leaning towards retiring.

“That meant a lot. I never thought I’d have the opportunity to get a chance to play for the Bruins. To have that happen was pretty special. I thought we were going to win here and it would have made it even more special but hey that’s what happens. But to finish here, it meant a lot to me.”

As for Jagr, it was clear that the 41-year-old gave his all to the Bruins throughout their playoff run, and while the frustration in his face was clear -- with zero goals in 22 playoff contests -- it sounds as if the Bruins’ brass aren’t moving on from the grizzled Czech for performance-based reasons.

“I thought [the Jagr acquisition] was really good. I don’t think Jaromir would say that because, you guys have talked to him, he always felt that he could have given us more,” Chiarelli said. “I told him today, I said, ‘Jaromir, what you did to wear D down was very impressive.’ I said, ‘I know you didn’t score, but the plays that you made, the timely plays that you made, I thought were terrific.’ I thought he spread out our power play, which helped our power play. I was real happy with Jaromir.”

It’s clear that Jagr’s love for the game is as strong as ever, and he has shown no signs of wanting to walk away, so when it comes to No. 68, it appears as if it’s on to the next adventure. Rock Star, man.

In the case of the Bruins’ third veteran, Wade Redden, the belief seems to be that Redden, while undoubtedly enjoying his time here in Boston, could pursue other opportunities that would give the 35-year-old regular playing time opposed to fill-in duties with the Black-and-Gold.

“I want to play and I want to be on a good team. I mean, I guess we’ll see what options are going to happen for me this summer. But I definitely was fortunate I guess to get the opportunity here,” said Redden. “I mean, it’s a great team and a great group. I got the chance to play a little bit but we’ll see. We’ll see. I for sure would love to be back, I had a great experience here.”

Horton, Rask hopeful to get deals done

Not much to report on here besides the status-quo -- both top-liner Nathan Horton and 26-year-old goaltender Tuukka Rask want to remain with the B’s, and the B’s wanna keep them in Boston, too.

In the case of Horton -- who will need surgery this summer to repair a separated shoulder -- returning to a city that’s brought him the success that undoubtedly eluded him in Florida would be ideal, but he could of course fetch a major contract in a market thin on goal-scorers.

When it comes to Rask, it appears that I’ve heard everything since the Bruins’ playoff run -- but the one figure I seem to hear the most of is a five/six year deal worth 30 million dollars. Who knows if that’s actually on the right path though, as the Finnish netminder proved to be worth even more than that throughout the Bruins’ improbable run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The problem: With the shrinking cap, it’s simply not impossible for the Bruins to keep both of these guys without moving multiple pieces or working some unforeseen magic.

My read: Murky as hell.

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