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Has Julien's Act Grown Stale on His Players?

December 23, 2010, 5:22 AM ET [ Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Oh, this is a familiar road; The Boston Bruins, who have reinvented the term ‘inconsistency’ for over a calendar year now, are slumping.

Finishing October with a red-hot 6-2-0 record, led by a thriving top-line centered by David Krejci and bolstered by career-year starts by Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, the B’s appeared to have all the looks of a complete team whose depth appeared to be limitless. As the seamless adaptations to the NHL begin for guys such as Jordan Caron along with a learning rookie by the name of Tyler Seguin, there was nothing that could‘ve stopped the Bruins after a sluggish start to their year in Prague.

But, as expected by the justifiably-so pessimists, things have grinded to a screeching halt in the Hub.

Locking up 10 wins in their last 23 games, and seizing 24 out of a possible 46 points since November, with the Bruins--it hasn’t been an injury, a roster shake-up, or a bad call that’s left Bostonian's screaming from the fifteenth row of the balcony--but rather what’s becoming business as usual on Causeway Street.

Slumps, skids, or troubles aren’t enough to sum it up or appease the Cup-starved base--They’re just fed up with the same old song and lethargic dance.

Putting forth their most dull, lifeless, and non-entertaining sixty minutes of this short season on display against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, what was left of a surly TD Garden crowd let their hometown team know their feelings on the play that’s become all too common in recent weeks.

Pouring boo’s, sarcastic cheers, and a brief ‘Fire Claude’ chant from what was left of the upper balcony in Section 309, the blame-game as to who’s doing their job the right way is officially on. However, as the calls for Julien’s axing can be heard from the deep woods of Maine down to the tip of Cape Cod, the truth of the matter is that the Bruins’ bench-boss isn’t going anywhere…yet.

And while the 2009 Jack Adams winner doesn't have to worry about joining the ranks of the unemployed for the time being, a bigger concern may be rearing its head with each passing game as to whether or not this is as good as it gets for the Bruins under Julien.

Hired by the club in the summer of 2007 after a mysterious dismissal out of New Jersey despite a division title in 2006-07, the Quebec-born Julien was hired to inject a long-lost workmanship attitude back into the club that craved accountability.

The defensive-minded Julien, led by a blue-collar squad that featured complementary veterans such as P.J Axelsson, Glen Metropolit, and Aaron Ward inched, clawed, and battled their way into the eighth seed of the Eastern Conference despite numerous injuries and a preseason expectancy to contend for the number one overall draft pick.

Continuing with their hard-work and perseverance into the 2008-09, things got easier for the B's, who cruised to their first post-lockout Northeast Division title behind career-years from just about everyone on their club.

But somewhere along the lines--with exceedingly high expectations moving forward--the philosophy, the goal, and the look of the Bruins changed.

They became soft, appeared indifferent to playing the style that made them so potent, and they became perhaps the NHL's most talented group of underachievers all while the coach seemingly sat back and let it happen with arms folded.

Never a coach with a fiery heart, a volatile temper, or a stern way of leading his group, the Bruins have stood by their guy over a calendar year that has brought out a ten-game losing streak, a woeful record on home-ice, and one of the biggest collapses in playoff history--perhaps the biggest in Boston history--and what have the results of these 'lessons learned' been as club approaches Christmas in Julien's fourth year?

Absolutely nothing.

If anything, it appears that the B's have regressed back to their old form. Playing passive hockey in the defensive zone, putting all the pressure on their world-class goaltenders, icing a lackadaisical power-play unit that's seemingly afraid to shoot, and even seeing Boston's newest gun in Horton begin to morph back into the Horton that was exiled out of Florida, the Bruins could be on the brink of a complete and total disaster from within.

Appearing to perhaps tune their coach out, or collectively decide that their current performance is the hardest they're willing to work for their coach moving forward, it's time for Claude to crack the whip and take his team back.

Because if we've learned anything in the National Hockey League, it's that at the end of the day, all the general-manager backing in the world doesn't guarantee the idea that your job is 'safe'.

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