Mike O’Connell had it all figured out.It was 2004 and the NHL was approaching a work stoppage, a lockout that threatened to make it the first North American pro league to cancel a full season, and O’Connell had a plan.
The Bruins were coming off a first-place finish in the East, albeit followed by a disappointing first-round playoff exit to the Montreal Canadians. Still, the then-Bruins General Manager was going to completely purge his roster, let his free agents go and head into the lockout with his cupboard bare, with plenty of room to sign a slew of free agents that would come on the cheap once the NHL cracked down with a strict salary cap.
Other teams would be over the cap, they’d have to cut players and then the Bruins could swoop in and sign them for half the price.
That’s what he thought anyway.
In reality, O’Connell and the rest of the Bruins’ brass misread the situation badly. When the NHL and Players Association reached an agreement prior to the 2005-06 season, not only was the $39 million cap higher than the B’s anticipated, what really did them in was the 24-percent salary rollback on all existing player contracts. That essentially allowed other clubs to keep the players they had previously under contract in the uncapped years. Basically, teams rarely had to cut anyone.
So what’s my point in all this? The ’03-’04 Bruins were good. Real good. They had a balanced team in front of Andrew Raycroft, who was having a stellar year. And give O’Connell some credit. With a work stoppage looming after the season, he went out and acquired Michael Nylander and Sergei Gonchar to make a run at the Cup.
But what really enamored me with this team, was the offensive firepower. Let’s take a look at the roster, it’s STACKED up front:
1st Line:
Joe Thornton
Glen Murray
Mike Knuble
2nd Line:
Michael Nylander
Patrice Bergeron
Sergei Samsonov
3rd Line:
Brian Rolston
PJ Axelsson
Martin Lapointe
Wow. The B’s could roll out three lines of thunder. Follow that with solid defensemen Gonchar, Hal Gill, Dan McGillis, Sean O’Donnell and Nick Boynton and the B’s had a nice core of talent. That’s why they finished as the top team in the Eastern Conference.
But what O’Connell, Harry Sinden, et al did in that summer of ’04 ruined everything. They let Gonchar, Nylander, Rolston, Knuble, Lapointe, O’Donnell, McGillis and more just walk away for nothing. And it cost them their jobs.
Again, my point? Don’t take this current Bruins team for granted. What Peter Chiarelli has put together in the wake of that devastation – in only a few years – is astounding. The 2005-06 Bruins were AWFUL. The 2006-07 edition may have been worse.
We saw a slight turnaround last year when an injury depleted squad scratched and clawed its way to the eighth and final playoff spot. And that’s what really brought this team to the next level. Taking the first-place Canadians to seven games after not beating them ONCE in the regular season gave this team some confidence, some swagger and showed the younger players (and the B’s had lots of them) that they could compete at a high level in the NHL.
So enjoy this club. Marvel at Phil Kessel, who looks like the puck is glued to his stick. Cheer Milian Lucic, the watered-down version of Cam Neely and David Krejic, the foreign edition of Adam Oates. Scream your head off for Chara, Savard, Bergy, Thomas and Fernandez. Because you never know when it can end.
Can this group win it all? Hard to say. They may be one trade for another blueliner away. But, hey, just think of what they used to be. They've come a long way.
The B stands for Back, baby.
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