“Meet the new boss, same as…(?)”

Just as the last of the confetti had been swept up in Anaheim and the clubs were earnestly preparing for next weekend’s Amateur Draft, the Bruins made a “big announcement”. Perhaps the Concessionaire King up in Buffalo saw a slow up-tick (or worse, a decline) in season ticket renewals or determined that his once invaluable property in Boston had deteriorated to the point of being negligible; whatever happened called for the drastic “Friday Afternoon Bombshell” to be played from the billionaire’s bag of tricks.

So, Bruins’ fans need not wait for the dreaded “vote of confidence” or any of the drama of wondering at what point during the season the coach will get fired because Lewis and one of his assistants were “reassigned” (fired) late Friday afternoon by GM Peter Chiarelli. Usually Friday afternoon news stories around here are for politicians and judges who author decisions that are certain to enflame the anger of the people. While the timing of Chiarelli’s move may have caught Bruins’ fans off guard, the decision to go with a new coach isn’t all that surprising. If outsiders’ instincts and suspicions about Lewis were piqued, one can only imagine what was thought and said at the ownership/management level.

Throughout the course of the Bruins’ 06-07 season, knowledgeable hockey watchers and diehard fans (having dwindled to the point of now being classified as endangered species) had “that feeling” about Bruins’ rookie coach Dave Lewis. He was a long-time valued assistant in Detroit who was going to bring all that Cup-winning experience to a mixed batch of veterans and youngsters. It didn’t work, though he couldn’t be faulted for a lot of the injuries down the stretch that doomed their faint hopes for a playoff berth. Fans basically saw a team that wasn’t buying the program he was selling (a dreadfully boring conservative style of play). There was an almost universal gut instinct that something was just “not right” about Lewis and his fit in Boston.

Lewis was Chiarelli’s first hire, so he probably has a little credibility stink floating around him like an ugly cloud. It reflects poorly on his judgment to bring in a coach to rebuild a program only to “relieve and reassign” the guy with three years left on his contract. Chances are that Lewis will be reassigned to scouting games on tv from the comforts of home. Mike Sullivan (the last ex-coach in a very long line) could’ve done much better. Sullivan was let go so that Chiarelli could put “his own guy” in place. Chiarelli pulled the plug on Lewis and his credibility has taken a big hit in the process.

But he’s not the only one smelling like rotten eggs. The Concessionaire King in Buffalo appears to have put in Chiarelli a guaranteed position to fail through his impatient pressure to deliver a winning product immediately. The dwindling and discouraged fan base who have been fed a bill of goods since the lockout, surely realizes that building a contender requires time and patience. Anaheim rode toughness and grit all the way to Stanley Cup glory, but it certainly didn’t happen overnight. The Ducks had a terrific core group that had been in place for a few years even before trading for guys like Pronger. People sing the praises of Ducks’ GM Brian Burke, but seemingly forget how his previous NHL stops were not as successful. He simply inherited a very good situation in the OC whereas Chiarelli walked into a mess. Before Chiarelli was hired by the B’s, Ray Shero’s name was floated as a possible candidate before he accepted the Penguins’ job. Which team appears poised to make a run at the Cup?

There once was a time when wearing a Boston sweater meant something special. There once was a time (to which anyone over 50 can attest) that the Bruins were not only relevant, but the talk of the town. It’s no coincidence that the team’s continuing slide into public irrelevance is directly proportional to The Concessionaire King’s reign. He was one of the primary architects of the CBA and the salary cap and one of the hardliners who denied hockey fans a full winter without their beloved sport. Yet, when it came time to implement the terms of the new CBA, he and his incredibly inept (ex) GM misread the language allowing several very good players to walk.

The King may have the Midas Touch when it comes to pushing overpriced hot dogs and watered down sodas, but his skills in owning a professional hockey franchise over the last three decades have been terrible. Were it not for Harry, the King probably would’ve run the team into the ground. But Harry was slowly being put out to pasture. Harry had (probably still does) more hockey smarts in his fingernails than did the entire “hockey operations” staff. Harry’s only mistake was picking the wrong replacement to groom.

The post-lockout free agents (’05-06) who were brought in were practically a joke. The Hall-of-Fame defenseman (Leetch) was on his last legs as a player. The Russian playmaking center (Zhamnov) who was paid big bucks lasted all of 20 games (and one goal) before a career-ending ankle injury. The King actually believed that the team as constituted could compete. They signed “the face of the franchise” (Thornton) to a long-term contract only to trade him a month into the season. No wonder that the team failed, necessitating the removal of a competent coach and an incomprehensibly stupid GM. And they had the temerity to demand among the highest ticket prices in the sport.

For thirty-plus years the King has trampled on the goodwill of the people who had supported the team for the previous fifty years. The team is now a laughingstock in the community, and whatever legacy the team had established has surely been tarnished.

At the end of ’05-06, the King finally realized that Harry’s replacement was a complete zero so they “cleaned house” and brought in an “outsider” to run the operation for the first time in the team’s long and illustrious history. After kicking the tires on a couple of guys (who wisely accepted more promising opportunities), they settled on a young guy (Chiarelli) who was the Assistant GM from one of their division rivals whose previous claim to fame was being a member of Harvard’s NCAA Championship in the late eighties. He went on to become a lawyer in Ontario and worked as an agent for awhile before going into the management end of things.

When Chiarelli took over a year ago, he inherited a team that was still feeling the effects from trading Thornton the season before. The guys they received in return for Thornton were scheduled for free agency at the end of ’06-07. Brad Stuart made it clear that he had no interest playing in the East, and his play often reflected a guy who didn’t want to be there. Primeau gave the team everything he had (which wasn’t much) but no one could allege a lack of effort. Primeau and Stuart were moved near the trade deadline for a couple of “OK” players. Marco Sturm was “streaky”. His play picked up around the time he signed an extension to stay in Boston, then he slipped in and out of sight.

On the potential plus side, Chiarelli flipped a former Calder (ROY) Trophy goalie for one of the hottest goaltending prospects on earth (who may be a productive contributor 2-4 years down the road). On the minus, he traded away Nick Boynton for a hometown guy who didn’t pan out (who, in turn, was flipped at the deadline for an older and more expensive version of Boynton).

Chiarelli’s free agent signings (on the whole) were pretty good. The marquee guys who came in (Savard and Chara) did their level best but couldn’t be expected to carry the team. Some of the other new faces (Donovan, Mowers and Tenkrat) didn’t pan out well. His first pick in the ’06 Draft (Kessel) worked out very well. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in December, had surgery and treatment and was back in three weeks.

There were a couple of moves that were perplexing and on which the jury’s still out. Why did he trade Jurcina and Boyes? They tried to make do with a valiant, overworked 1-A goaltender, a makeshift defense and an offensive scheme that virtually kept the team’s forwards in handcuffs. Bergeron played hurt all year and Murray went down in March. A team can only go so far with muckers and grinders. The “so far” in this instance was 13th place in the East.

On Tuesday, word had been “leaked” up in Montréal that Claude Julien, the one-time Canadien and (recently deposed) New Jersey coach was the guy Chiarelli picked to replace Lewis. The message boards went on overload to register their displeasure at this choice. The Jersey fans gleefully chimed in by tossing a few tomatoes and rocks in Julien’s direction. If Chiarelli weren’t already bald, there would be some of the posters out there looking for his scalp. Chiarelli and Julien apparently have ties in Ottawa that go back many years, so, if he’s the guy then it wouldn’t be such a surprise after all. The rumors also indicated that Julien would be coming in on a one-year deal. The B’s management kept a lid on formally announcing Julien’s hiring (the worst-kept secret on Planet Earth) until the obligatory “press conference” on Thursday morning. Since the Draft is the following evening, perhaps the plan is to whip everyone into a hockey crazed frenzy in the middle of June. Only the lifers care at this point.

It will be interesting to see whether the “beat writers” put Chiarelli and the Concessionaire Prince on the griddle, because (make no mistake about it) if this move fails, come the Spring of ’08, the King will be looking to find two other “miracle men”.