More to learn from B’s
Playoff effort key to future, too
When it comes to making or missing the Stanley Cup playoffs, success or failure usually is measured by the tiniest of margins. The Bruins failed to qualify in 201415 by two points and last season missed by one.
This season, the B’s reached the playoffs with 95 points — just one more than the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning, the closest also-rans who are on the outside looking in at the postseason fun.
So just because of a swing of one or two points, were the past two years failures by the Bruins? And is this year a success?
Well, that’s crazy, but it’s also true.
Because these Bruins managed to do what was required in the final days, unlike the past two years, their season already has to be judged a success, regardless of what transpires in their first-round matchup against the Ottawa Senators that starts tonight.
Win or lose, the Bruins already have pulled off an improbable feat: The franchise has very obviously veered in the direction of a rebuild via youth and the draft. That sort of plan normally dooms a team to some rough years in the standings as teenagers grow to be adults.
The fans have to be patient to see how the youngsters develop, but it appears the rebuilding is proceeding well — with a lengthy list of prospects seemingly headed for NHL success.
But credit the B’s brass for being unwilling to step back and accept the inevitability of losing seasons, instead trying to keep winning at the same time.
“It was a process we set out to do and achieve a goal,” general manager Don Sweeney said recently. “We’ve done that. And now we have to move forward and be better. We’ve said all along we needed to become a deeper, more talented organization from top to bottom.”
Sweeney’s team will take the ice tonight confident it can beat the Senators despite an 0-3-1 record against them this season. What is particularly troublesome about the season series is that the Bruins, remarkably, managed one even-strength goal against Ottawa’s smothering, exasperating defense. The B’s totaled only six goals (five on the power play).
And the Bruins were a pretty decent offensive team in the regular season. Their 232 goals ranked 13th in the NHL, ahead of a slew of talented offensive clubs. But lighting the lamp against the Senators proved awfully difficult.
“They’re a great hockey club,” Sweeney said. “They played us very, very well all year long. It’s going to be a tough challenge. Our guys are looking forward to the opportunity. Hopefully we can get it done.”
What if the Bruins can’t get it done? Is the season still viewed as a success?
Well, that might depend on this series. If the Bruins give a tremendous effort, play smart and don’t fall into the Ottawa trap and make the sort of mistakes that lead to easy goals against, then how do you criticize if they fall short?
Perhaps in two weeks, we will be drawing parallels between this year’s Bruins squad and the 2007-08 version. That team qualified for the playoffs after missing the previous two years. Facing the Canadiens, the B’s lost the first two games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in Montreal then trailed 3-1 in the series. But the outgunned Bruins showed plenty of heart in winning Games 5 and 6 before dropping Game 7 on the road, 5-0.
That series proved to be the initial foundation in building the team that would hoist the Cup three years later. It provided the first glimpse of what might be possible.
Even if the Bruins can’t pull off a first-round victory this time around (as they take the ice tonight for Game 1 against the Senators, they are slight favorites in the series despite their injuries on defense), their youngsters will get a first taste of NHL playoff hockey, and those lessons might pay off in the coming seasons.
“We’re all really excited,” said Brad Marchand, who will be back in the lineup following a two-game spearing suspension. “You play all year for this. Missing the last couple of years makes it more special. I think everyone realizes how lucky you are to be in the playoffs every year. It’s not a given. You have to be lucky to be there. So we’re really excited to be back.”