The Boston Bruins have clearly been the most unlikable of the four Boston sports teams over the past three seasons. For starters, they haven’t made the playoffs the past two years and they’re not going to make it this year. Boston fans don’t like losing teams. They also have done a very poor job of holding on to top talent. See: Tyler Seguin, Doug Hamilton, Johnny Boychuk, Reilly Smith, and Martin Jones. Today, the Bruins gave us another reason to show what a complete dumpster fire the front office of this organization has become. The Bruins fired one of the best coaches in the NHL in Claude Julien. We can sit here and debate for hours over whether or not firing Julien was the right move. On this blog, there have been several posts in regards to how Julien is not the problem with this team and that stands today. So, the Bruins are going to improve now? Come on. The fact that they fired him isn’t even the biggest issue today. It’s about how they went about it. The Bruins couldn’t even do that right. And, guess who is in charge of that?
All of Boston was preparing for the New England Patriots Super Bowl Parade this morning. The entire city was still buzzing about an epic game that brought the Patriots their fifth Super Bowl. Pretty much every sports fan had 100% focus on the Patriots from a sports perspective. Until…
Around 8:00 AM, word got around that Claude Julien was being fired by the Bruins. The news that Julien was getting fired was not a huge surprise. Cam Neely and Don Sweeney needed someone to blame for the pathetic roster moves they have signed off on over the past many, many years. The drafts have been awful. Their trades have been awful. Their signings have been… You get the picture.
Neely and Sweeney have been very quiet this year. They don’t make themselves available to the media. They continue to drag the team in the mud with head scratching roster moves. Remember, this was a team that, just three years ago, won the President’s Trophy with the best record in the NHL. Under Neely and Sweeney’s watch, they went from the best team in the league to a team that is missing the playoffs three years in a row.
OK, back to the point. Firing Claude Julien on, not only the day, but the same HOUR as the Patriots parade was a calculated move. It wasn’t a coincidence that they did this today. They haven’t played a game since Saturday. They had three days. Instead, the Bruins wanted this to fly under the radar. They didn’t want the backlash. They wanted to slip this under the rug. Don Sweeney actually tried to blame this on the Bruins PR department. The PR department?! You and your boss run the team!
That’s right, the boss. The big, tough guy in charge. Mr. Neely. Neely wants to come off as the tough guy. He’s The Lion King in his eyes. The guy that can knock people around just like he did on the ice 25 years ago. The reality is that as President he hasn’t knocked anyone around and today doesn’t change that. He continues to accept no accountability for the roster that he has signed off on. That’s right. As Team President, he ultimately approves EVERY move. Tyler Seguin included. Yet, when something goes wrong, it’s never HIS fault. He wants you, the fan, to think that he does he not have control over the roster. Apparently, he also has no control over the PR department.
What exactly does this guy do?
Let’s ask a serious question here. Why is Cam Neely still the President of the Boston Bruins? Because he’s a tough guy? Because he preaches accountability? Those were supposed to be his strengths when he took the job. Anyone think The Lion King is that tough now? Hiding behind a championship parade to fire a guy that had a lot more positive impact than he did certainly doesn’t come off as tough. Frankly, it was more like The Cowardly Lion than the Lion King.
If the Bruins truly want to improve it all starts with #8 in the rafters. Today, he not only showed that he isn’t capable of running a team. He also showed that he has no accountability and no understanding of what matters to the Boston fan. Yet, he skates…and not nearly as well as he did when he was an NHL All Star.
Hey Cam – Your plan to fire Claude Julien when you thought no one was looking backfired. You got it wrong. Yet again.