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When tomorrow’s games go final on the last day of the NHL regular season, there is an undeniably real, perhaps even likely, possibility that the Boston Bruins will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It would be the first time that the B’s have missed the postseason since 2007, and the first time that the club has failed to qualify for a chance at Lord Stanley in the eight-season tenure of head coach Claude Julien.
They could still get in, obviously, but they’ll need losses from either the Sens (one game) or Pittsburgh (two games) and a win of their own against the Tampa Bay Lightning to get in.
If that doesn’t happen, everybody in the Hub is expecting -- or hoping -- for a massive fallout. Based on CEO Charlie Jacobs’ warning shots in Jan., which put everybody ‘on notice’ for what was and still is an ‘unacceptable season’, you could expect that Julien and general manager Peter Chiarelli would find themselves out of work. But that’s nothing new. The pitchforks have been sharpened and the torches have been lit for this undeniably successful duo since then (and even earlier).
But in the case of Julien, would handing the B’s coach of eight seasons, and the coach with the second-most wins in franchise history, his walking papers after one bad year really be a great idea?
It doesn’t sound like Chiarelli would be keen on the idea, as per WEEI:
“I think he’€™s done fine,… Chiarelli said. “I look at a couple things. I think he’€™s mixed and matched with the lines, I think he’€™s integrated some youth into the forward lines. I think he’€™s done well mixing and matching on the defensive pairs. None of us lately have been used to these type of circumstances, myself included. I think he’€™s done fine. I don’€™t want to get into postmortem discussion. We’€™ll have the chance [for that]. It’€™s been disappointing and obviously it’€™s not acceptable and there’€™s a level of high standard in our city and our market and we haven’€™t reached it right now.…
Ask me point blank? No, I don’t believe that firing Julien is a good idea for the Black and Gold.
When you look at Julien’s overall body of work in Boston, he should be allowed one ‘off year’.
In seven seasons before this one, Julien has led the Bruins to seasons of 100 points or more on three different occasions (and would have made it four if the lockout-delayed 2012-13 season was more than 48 games long given the Bruins’ 1.29 points per game pace that season), and has failed to make it beyond the first round of the playoffs just twice in seven seasons. He’s taken the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final twice over that stretch, and his clubs have been a constant of success at this level. He’s also been responsible for the development of names like a Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, and Dougie Hamilton.
He goes to bat for his players in almost every scenario imaginable, and though he’s often loyal to a fault to some of his lesser talented players, he is still a superb, extremely intelligent coach.
In essence, there’s really not a better option out there. Sure, there’s the biggest fish of all out there this summer in Detroit’s Mike Babcock, but the Bruins would be one of a dozen or so teams looking to land Babcock if he does indeed leave Detroit. Could you really outbid the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, or even the Wings themselves when it comes to bringing ‘Babs’ in? Well, speaking in terms of money, of course you could. But when it comes to what Babcock wants -- and that’s control behind the bench and in the front office -- no, I don’t think you can offer what a Toronto or Philly could.
After Babcock, who’s next? Retreads like Dan Bylsma, Ron Wilson, Randy Carlyle, or John Tortorella? You’d inject some new blood into your coaching office, yeah, but you’d probably take a step back on the ice in terms of the system and what you’re about as a hockey club. In other words, it’s not worth it.
At the same time, however, you have to be honest about what the Black and Gold have in their locker room along with the nature of this business. Eight years is a long time. It’s even longer when you consider the average shelf life of an NHL coach. And after eight seasons, it’s probably tough to feel the same heat you do from a coach in year one or two. At a certain point, the voice loses its snarl.
And for several players on this roster, Julien is the only NHL coach they’ve ever known.
The Bruins, whether they’ll admit it or not, seem comfortable with their coach and have come to fully know what to expect from him. That can be a good thing. It can also be a disastrous thing. And I think that that’s where the Black and Gold are at this very point in time. I go back to Game 7 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Maple Leafs. The Bruins stormed by to tie the game with three goals in the second half of the third period, and ultimately won the game in overtime.
After the game, Lucic talked about the realization that set in for the club late in the game.
Lucic talked about how he realized that a loss in that game would have likely marked the end of the Julien era, and that several familiar faces would have been leaving via trade or free agency. He didn’t want that. The team didn’t want that. And they showed it by way of their historic comeback.
Obviously, you can’t expect comebacks like that to save your season every time a rumor comes around, but has this team looked like a team that understands the gravity of their situation? No, not really. And has their play, especially in a must-win game against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, looked anything close to that of a team that wants to keep everything the way it is? Again, not at all.
If there’s a case to be made that Julien’s message, methods, and voice has grown old on his players, it’s after Game 81 of the most listless, topsy-turvy season of his tenure here. But putting that entirely on the coach, and not on a largely disappointing list of well paid veteran players, is a dangerous game that could come back to bite the Bruins in a market without a legitimate upgrade on their table.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com