A troubled team in a big market, they fired the coach less than a month into the season, and had their general manager step down less than halfway through their 82-game schedule. Yet this floundering team which hasn't tasted champagne from Lord Stanley's cup in 30 years and hasn't seen been to the finals in over a decade could make the playoffs anyway.
Yes, I speak of the Boston Bruins, the once-proud Black and Gold who have lately been the butt of jokes around the Hub. Once a team with big name scorers, harder-hitting defenseman and scrappy players worthy of nicknames like "the Tasmanian Devil," the new look Bruins don't have that, but they do have something long missing from Boston's ice warriors -- heart.
The new look B's, under the direction of mini-Mussolini Mike Keenan, are currently in ninth place, which may not seem that impressive, but for a team that has been as far back as 14th, and is within 10 points of home-ice advantage, it's not half bad. With 20 games to play in the season, the B's have become an unwanted opponent for playoff contenders, and have become a thorn in the side of the best in the league.
Where has this resurgence come from? No coach in any sport is good enough to take a sub-par team to the playoffs and beyond on his own merits alone (don't anyone dare say Bill Parcells).
The resurgence has been led by captain Jason Allison, a center with hands as soft as mink and no fear of the corner. Allison came over as part of the Bill Ranford-trade with the Capitals, and has improved steadily since he's been in Beantown.
Allison has been criticized the last two years as either too injury-plagued, or too unable to play well in the playoffs. It's difficult to fault a man for freak injuries to both wrists, but the poor playoff play will have to be answered by a young man who, out of nowhere, finds himself in the top 10 in the NHL in scoring.
Allison and his linemates, Sergei Samsonov and Bill Guerin provide the brunt of the Bruins scoring, a problem that will have to be addressed prior to playoff time.
Samsonov, the diminutive Russian sharpshooter who reminds many of a young Theo Fleury, is perhaps the most lovable of the new line B's. He will tangle in corners, dazzle fans with pretty moves that leave defenseman gasping for air, and seem like he has an unlimited amount of energy.
What worries Bruins fans is that Sergei might be another in the line of flash-in-the-pan young foreigners who have given Boston fans hope over the past decade. The trio of Dmitri Kvartalnov, Mariusz Czerkawski and Joe Juneau were touted as saviors of the franchise only to be out of the NHL in three years, doomed to kill penalties in Washington, or picking up minor minutes for Luc Robitaille and crew in Los Angeles within three years. Vladimir Ruzicka and Grigori Panteleev didn't even last that long.
Thankfully, Sergei has shown no signs of slowing down, and has improved steadily each year, which is a good sign for those who remember the wondrous days of Neely and Janney or the championship days of Orr.
Guerin, the best in-season acquiree since Allison, has begun to look like a less-prolific version of Neely, who was a feared man in front of the net. Guerin is hard-nosed, and has a taste for scoring and for winning, a trait he picked up in Stanley Cup runs with the Devils.
Not that the Bruins are entirely confined to one line, but young center Joe Thornton is the man who shoulders much of the responsibility. If Thornton can keep himself out of fights (he's been suspended twice already this year) and focused on the net, he can anchor a solid second line with Andrei Kovalenko and Brian Rolston that could lead the B's deep into the playoffs.
The Bruins are not an offense-only team, however, and are led by one of the best young goalies in the game, Byron Dafoe. Dafoe was a Vezina Trophy runner up a few years ago, but he has been hobbled the past two years by contract disputes and nagging injuries to his back and groin.
If Dafoe can get healthy for the last dozen games of the season and the playoffs, the Bruins are capable of beating anyone (except maybe the Tampa Bay Lightning, who, inexplicably has given the B's fits).
Lastly, one must look at a move that the Bruins made a week ago, in their drive for the Cup. They traded oversized, undertalented defenseman Patrick Traverse to the Montreal Canadiens for Eric Weinrich.
Weinrich is a fierce hitter, on a par with Bruin Kyle McLaren, himself the newly dubbed heir to Bourque and Orr, and has a slapshot like Boston fans haven't seen since Al Iafrate skated 20 games or so in five seasons in the Hub.
Anyone who doubts that this is the makeup of a playoff contender, go watch a game and see how this team plays -- hard, fast, and aggressive. Rick Middleton and the aforementioned Terry O'Reilly would be proud, not to mention good old Derek Sanderson.
So let's gather support for this new-look, no-Ray team from Beantown, and see if we can't help spur them to bringing the first new banner into the Fleet Center.
