Long road worth it for B’s
Cup finalists got over many bumps
The Bruins adversity this season has been well-documented. With nearly everyone on the roster injured at one point or another, they’ve had to climb out of several holes.
They’ve passed every test with flying colors. Whether that’s from coaching, the overall character of the team, or pure talent, everything they’ve done this season has prepared them for this moment; playing for the Stanley Cup.
The road, even dating back a few years, hasn’t been easy.
In 2013, the last time the Bruins were in the Cup finals, it had been two years since they hoisted it as champions in 2011. By all accounts, the sky was the limit going forward.
For one reason or another, that was not the case. They rebuilt, to the chagrin of the Bruins faithful. Gone were the likes of Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton, Johnny Boychuk, Milan Lucic, Carl Soderberg, Frank Vatrano and even Reilly Smith.
Lackluster drafting hurt the Bruins, including that fateful 2015 draft that may live in infamy regardless of how well Jake DeBrusk has turned out. The prospect status of the B’s other two first-rounders that year will never match Mathew Barzal.
At some point, though, the Bruins started to flip the right switches. Charlie McAvoy fell in their lap at the 2016 draft. Brandon Carlo developed. Chris Wagner was a strong free agent signing. David Backes, contract and all, has made an impact in the postseason. Ryan Donato feels long forgotten with Charlie Coyle in town.
“We’ve done a pretty good job integrating, allowing opportunity, providing opportunity, I should say, for some younger players,” general manager Don Sweeney said yesterday. “Our staff deserve a lot of credit for recognizing and scouting and just working hard. It comes down to the investment at a player level, a coaching level, an organizational level, ownership support. It’s really the whole piece of it.”
Along the way, they found the right mix. It took a firstround loss to Ottawa and second-round thrashing from Tampa Bay the past two seasons, not to mention two playoff-misses before that, to get to this point.
But they did it. Two year ago they were preparing for a postseason with a defense corps of Tommy Cross and Joe Morrow. A year ago, Torey Krug and Carlo were out.
For all the bad luck this season, it was a group ready to take on the playoffs by the time they came around. It was also a group equipped to deal with what might get thrown at them along the way; that’s how they were built.
Patience paid off, the process was trusted, and now the Bruins are playing for the Cup.
Give credit where credit is due.
“We tried to do some things, call it on the fly, deepen the prospect pool, integrate younger players, all the things we talk about and plan out and implement,” Sweeney said. “We had some bumps, made some mistakes and learned from them, tried to correct them, tried to move forward, tried to continue to make the promise to our leadership group that we believe we could get there again.”