Boston 2025

 Yes, the year is shaping up to be GREAT 

for the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics 

And things are shaping up, too, very well 

for the retooled Boston Red Sox. 

(Don't know about the New England Patriots 

or the New England Revolution - sorry!) 

{This is, primarily, a blog about BOSTON} 

[As in... BOSTON teams, yes!] 

The greater New England... 

can take care of itself! 

IT'S ALL ABOUT BOSTON; 

BOSTON BRUINS... CELTICS, RED SOX... 

So, yes... I should cover the Boston Pops, too 

Boston Symphony Orchestra... 

BOSTON FLEET - certainly! 

As we did cover the Boston Blades, 

Boston PRIDE... 

That lacrosse team they have, also...? 

Boston Cream Pie! 

THE WORKS! 

If it starts with "BOSTON..." 

* I COVER IT HERE!!! * 

In the blog about Boston... 

The City of Champions 

- all sorts of champions - 

{there are tons of individual champions 

to cover, too - many remain unknown} 

BOSTON 

is the focal point, however - 

the city itself... and its mayor, as it is; 

she just delivered a rousing, inspiring speech 

just the other day, as it happens: 

BOSTON MAYOR >>> Montreal mayor (a Valerie) 

BY THE WAY... 

There is absolutely no comparison! *

We're very close to that - just a reminder! 

But this was, obviously, a greater feast day: Ash Wednesday!

If there is one thing I would lament, though, 

about Mayor Michelle Wu's discourse, 

is that she mentioned the Celtics, she mentioned the Red Sox... 

(May have mentioned the Patriots - I'm not sure) 

But she definitely did not mention the BRUINS. 

Now, everybody's a critic 

and, given the nature of her speech, this may not be 

even applicable as an element to criticize - 

but here, on this blog, it is. 

For in these parts of the blogosphere, 

THE BRUINS are at the heart of everything. 

But that's just ME - again, Michelle Wu's 

discourse attracts other sorts of... diatribe. 

That's for another time - and another blog. 

BACK TO BOSTON, now; 

BACK TO THE BRUINS. 

Because, before Michelle Wu, 

there was a mayor in Boston named 

MENINO - and he could have told you: 

not just since Bobby Orr 

but since Eddie Shore 

THE BOSTON BRUINS 

are the soul of the city of champions,  

emblems of hard-working 

hard-luck heroes 

who prevail, the majority of the time 

but not quite all the time... alas. 

EXAMPLES of what perseverance 

honest effort and sheer guts 

can accomplish. 

AND THAT IS WHY, 

right there, 

they are THE SOUL of THE TOWN! 

The Year of Our Lord 2025 

may be a lot of different things 

for all the other categories of 

BOSTONIANS - 

but for the Bruins, it is 

nothing short of 

THE END OF AN ERA. 

The last remaining member of that Stanley Cup 

championship team of 2011 

is now gone - TRADED, to a bitter rival. 

MARCHAND was not alone being traded 

on the very day of the NHL trade deadline: 

Coyle, Frederic, McLaughlin, Jones, Carlo 

and Brazeau were all traded away - 

with interesting returns, each time... 

VERILY, THE BOSTON BRUINS GM 

DID THE BEST THAT HE COULD DO,

GIVEN THE DIRE CIRCUMSTANCES... 

It has been said that *never* has it been seen 

a general manager executing or initiating a rebuild 

on the very day of the trade deadline. 

Don Sweeney is just that damn good. 

And few - so very few - appreciate it. 

But we're getting to that in a jiffy... 

And so ends a long period 

of contending teams 

that could aspire to the cup 

each and every year; 

it started in 2008, really 

should have culminated in 2010 

but that was delayed until the next year 

and then, the very next year, 

got derailed a first time...

OTHERWISE, IT COULD HAVE BEEN 

{SHOULD HAVE BEEN} 

A THREE-PEAT RIGHT THERE!!! 

As it has been stated 

on this very blog 

time and time again... 

HENCE, we're looking at a franchise 

that has constantly been a contender 

for over FIFTEEN YEARS IN A ROW! 

MOST of those under the care 

of one general manager Don Sweeney 

and team president Cam Neely. 

On this March of 2025, 

they had to make extremely difficult decisions 

and admit that their latest attempt 

at keeping that awesome streak going 

had not worked out - for once. 

AND YET... And yet... 

At the beginning of this season, 

it looked like they had successfully addressed 

absolutely ALL of the team's concerns; 

Krejci had been replaced by Lindholm (the 2nd) 

Coyle appeared ready to step in 

and replace Bergeron - and if that didn't pan out, 

they had not one but two back-up plans. 

They had even found a replacement 

for Zdeno Chara - one whose name 

also begins with a Z - Zadorov! 

A plethora of free agents had been signed 

and the team was poised to carry on 

contending for a championship 

THAT IS... if all the pieces of the puzzle 

performed as it was expected of them, 

under the guidance of coach Montgomery 

who had, just two years earlier, 

been given an unbelievable team 

that dominated like no other ever had 

in the history of the NHL - and it did so 

in this era, the era of PARITY, 

which made the performance 

that much more spectacular 

and impressive. 

But as we all know, that RECORD YEAR 

was ruined in the 7th game 

of a series the Bruins dominated 

but were still robbed blind in - 

in sudden death overtimes 

by a bunch of overtly aggressive degenerates 

from down south... 

Coach Montgomery may have been 

outcoached by the degenerates' coach too, 

Maurice... it's true. 

The cruel evidence is there: 

the rematch, the following year, 

ended in six games. 

Hard-fought games, but still... 

Jim Montgomery had no clue what to do 

to counter the pesky Panthers tactics. 

And the following season, 

2024-25... this year, therefore... 

it became painfully apparent that 

Montgomery's message was not motivating 

the players anymore - to the point that 

one could wonder if it ever did. 

Neely and Sweeney 

reacted quickly; 

dismissing him. 

He rebounded quickly too,  

landing the same job with 

other lowlife, classless rivals 

- the bozos in St.Louis, Missouri... 

Where he is floundering. 

Jim Montgomery 

is a unique case; 

his name is in the record books now, 

thanks to the circumstances in Boston, 

really... and I was rooting for the guy 

as much as I pitied him ever since 

{knowledge of his personal ailments 

will have that effect; it's called empathy}

But this is not about Jim. 

This is about BOSTON. 

The fanbase - any fanbase - can turn on you 

at the drop of a hat. 

Or the drop of a pair of gloves. 

Anyway... the fact is that 

those fans who are calling 

Sweeney and even Neely 

"clowns" or "dumb and dumber" 

while crying over Marchand 

"who devoted his entire life" 

{allegedly} to Boston 

forget one thing, so fast, so easily: 

NEELY and SWEENEY 

have devoted their entire careers 

-as players and, now, as management- 

to the Boston Bruins. 

They have fought all the wars 

- not since 2008 but since 1986 - 

and took down, one by one, 

all the hated rivals of this team: 

it used to be Montreal, 

Hartford, Buffalo, 

Edmonton, Pittsburgh, 

New Jersey... 

BOSTON beat them all - in time. 

And Neely and Sweeney 

were at the forefront of those wars 

whether as players 

or in their current function. 

Don Sweeney even proved himself 

the most capable general manager 

with his selection of players 

for the 4 NATIONS CUP -

which his selection won! 

IN BOSTON. 

Brad Marchand got to hoist that cup, too. 

CAM NEELY... 

well, Cam is still THE MAN. 

Period. 

They have been heroes 

the like none of the other franchises 

in the fabled City of Champions 

has been able to produce: 

not Celtics Pride, not Red Sox Nation... 

HEROES 

with as much brains as brawn. 

HEROES 

beyond that championship year/season... 

HEROES 

through thick and thin. 

AND, NOW, THEY HAVE THE GUTS 

TO PULL THE TRIGGER ON A REBUILD 

when they stand 3 point away from a playoff spot 

{which isn't bad - but isn't good enough either. 

Not for a team that was positioning itself 

to be, once again, near the top of the 

standings - as they are only two years 

removed from THE RECORD SEASON...!} 

No... fanboys. NO. 

Cam Neely and Don Sweeney 

do not deserve to be fired for their 

tough calls, astute moves and gutsy acts 

- THEY DESERVE YOUR PRAISE 

AND RESPECT. 

FOR NO ONE HAS THAT SPOKED B 

CLOSER TO THEIR HEART 

THAN THOSE TWO GUYS - 

absolutely no one. 

Not any of the players traded today 

- no, not even Marchand - 

AND CERTAINLY NOT ANY OF THOSE 

FAIR-WEATHER, DUCKBOAT FANS!! 

I KNOW IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE IT NOW 

- HARD TO DIGEST, HARD TO ACCEPT... 

BUT THE BOSTON BRUINS WILL BE BACK.

BRAD MARCHAND WILL BE BACK. 

...AND NOT LIKE MILAN LUCIC WAS... 

THE BOSTON BRUINS 

WILL WIN THAT CUP 

* AGAIN *

* I would be remiss if I didn't precise it: 

the Valerie in Montreal 

that doesn't compare to 

Boston's Michelle...

It is because she doesn't even compare 

to another Valerie, in Montreal...!!! 

Heck, she doesn't compare -much less- to THE Valerie: 

But that's another story... 

2021: Round One

 

so... it has begun! 

and one must say... it is going grrrrrreat! 

55, actually ~ and counting! 

(the only other notable difference between the two goals 

being that Orr's sealed a conquest of the Cup 

-against the slithery St-Louis Blues- 

while Marchand's goal merely tied the first round 

series with cantankerous Crapitals...)

BERGY would get the clinching GOALS:

...which would lead to this touching moment: 

The new captain - with our former captain. 

The passing of the torch is official, now. 

Bye Bye team of crapital jerks 

(Orlov, Wilson, Hathaway... OVIE!) 

The resemblance is uncanny - indeed! 

Comparing the two captains 

told you everything you needed to know 

about who deserved it more; 

verily, it was like comparing 

JESUS to BARABBAS... 

AQUAMAN to a SUB-MARINER... 

Ty Berius to ILL-Eagle!!! 

(nice collage(s) by one Scott MacMillan, by the way; 

he adorned a Facebook group with them 

- a group that is chock-full of characters, 

as it is... And here are just a few...!)

Bidie...

Mary...

Rusty...?

AND, IN A COUPLE OF SEASONS NOW 

PLAYED UNDER THIS SPECIAL PROTOCOL 

AMIDST ALL THAT IS GOING ON... 

Every little triumph is amplified; 

individual achievements could have been 

more than enough... 

BUT IT IS A TEAM SPORT: 

AND WE WANT THE CUP! 

THREE.

MORE.

ROUNDS.

#BostonChampion

The Way... We Were!

Yeah, like... *he* could tell you all about that! 

Dreams Of Returning To Boston...?

''Well, I have my dreams - and they surely have me. I'll be moving on... on... I want them all!'' 
Paraphrasing here, the lyrics of an old song from parts much akin to L'Ancienne-Lorette rather than any town in the greater Boston area or in Massachusetts, so - suffice it to say, Patrice Bergeron might know what it's all about; he might recognize it. But few other Bruins might have a chance to... at all! It's not all that important right now, though...

Who hasn't dreamt of going back to Beantown? Once you've been there, been born there, lived there a significant part of your life...? I know I want to go back, too! Hence it is not surprising one bit that Jeff Gorton would want back in - into the city, into the fanbase, into the Bruins organization!

Those are rumors though - only rumors! But they make a hell (or a heaven) of a lot of sense!

Gorton basically built that Stanley Cup championship team of 2011, and all within a very short timespan, years prior, when he was acting as the interim G.M. after Mike O'Connell was dismissed and just before Peter Chiarelli was added to the mix with the mission to add the final pieces of that puzzle. And what did Pete add, of note? Mercenary marksman Nathan Horton. That's it. All the other pieces he added (Gregory Campbell, Michael Ryder, Tyler Seguin, Claude Julien himself... Brandon Bochenski?!?) have proven to wear out their welcome a tiny wee bit too fast... And, lately, the additions were all subpar, to say the least: Miroslav Satan?!? Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser, Joe Morrow, Brendan Connolly, Matt Mottau... Brian Rolston?!? Loui Eriksson doesn't count: he's a certifiable veteran! And though one still hopes that Connolly (and, maybe, Smith too) can blossom into lethal top scorers, in time...? That is, most unfortunately, less than certain, at this time!

Gorton, for his part, built the true core of the contending Bruins: he drafted, recruited or signed all of the following: Brad Marchand, Tuukka Rask, Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara. Phil Kessel and Marc Savard. (Even though Chiarelli is often credited, totally wrongly, of some of those coups!) He had a hand in extending the contracts of other key figures, such as the goaltender that would change everything,Tim Thomas, and Bergeron himself. That was all back in 2006 - a year of transition, if there ever was one... And it's (almost) all reminded right there, on his short bio on the website of his current employer - the execrable New York Rangers. But let's not go there...!

Can Jeff Gorton accomplish his dream - this wonderful dream of going back?
Most importantly of all, though, should he be allowed to?
The Bruins have a perfectly suitable G.M.-to-be within their ranks already: home-grown talent, groomed within the organization at any rate, Don Sweeney! A teammate of team president Cam Neely back in the days when they should have won, at the very least, one cup (...) Sweeney would probably be as reliable a G.M. (ha, almost typoed that into a GEM here - lol) as O'Connell and, in retrospect, that is quite the compliment indeed. After all, what did good ol' Mike do, above all else? He got rid of that over-hyped, under-achieving perennial choker, Joe Thornton! He shipped him off to San Jose, where he has been choking ever since, allowing the Bruins to turn the page and find themselves a new franchise player: who turned out to be, arguably, Patrice Bergeron. (Though many will be of the opinion that the Bruins do it by committee - and I would agree with that wholeheartedly! Bergeron cannot do much by himself: he needs a Chara, Rask, Krejci, Lucic, Marchand, a hired gun of service too - in order to get it properly done! Franchise committee it is!)

I can see Sweeney being the guy who would pull the trigger on just such a deal, too: shipping off Lucic and, maybe, Marchand too, for some package with which to build from, just like in the much-maligned Thornton deal. And, hopefully, it would turn out much better than the Seguin deal, in the short term, too? Or Sweeney would meet the same fate as O'Connell and Chiarelli did, but that much faster than they did...!  My, how cruel this is: here the man hasn't even been hired as the G.M. yet that we're discussing the conditions for his dismissal already! Sorry, Don...! I'm on your side, really: I loved it when you were one of those ''big four'' defensemen, ever reliable, protecting the Bruins' zone: it was you and Garry Galley, Ray Bourque of course and... Al Iafrate? Michael Thelven? Gord Kluzak? Anyway...!

One can understand why Neely would want to have a chance to bring back Gorton instead of giving a chance to his old pal Don -a neophyte, basically- to fill this role.  Rumors are Neely is awaiting the Rangers' elimination in order to be able to speak to Gorton, as per NYR head honcho Glen Sather's wishes... That slithering snake-in-the-grass, Sather: he was a viscous scumbag in Edmonton and he is only a bigger one now, in New York! All Bruins fans should hate him with a passion! Who cares that he was a Bruin himself in his formative years, under the tutelage of the one and only Harry Sinden? Sather sucks - period! That he would prevent one of his underlings to achieve his homecoming dreams (that is assuming that there are such dreams in Gorton's head! Sure - there should be!) with the inane excuse that his team ''is still competing'' - what the hell has it got to do with front office personnel defections? The team on the ice would not even know, let alone be affected by it - come on! That is all hogwash and bulls*** coming from a master hogwasher (?) and bulls***ter known as Glen SATHER - that is what it is, I'm telling you, folks!

Neely has had other candidates in mind, sure: but one was scooped up by those pitiful, if hellbent, Devils (and he came from another pit, too - how ironic is that) while the other one is a mystery man who, I personally hope, will turn out to be... Don Cherry!

Just Do It - for Blue!

Alas, like it or not, Cam ''The Man'' Neely has to wait it out before he is granted permission to simply talk to Jeff Gorton about a return to this position he held so very briefly, on an interim basis, back in 2006...  And he might have to wait a while longer, to, as those other perennial chokers, known as Washington Capitals, and their own all-star franchise choker, Alexander Ovechkin, appear to be doing it all over again, in their series against the New York Rangers... Ah, those damn Caps: they seem to enjoy playing up to their full potential of mere spoilers whenever they come to face the Boston Bruins; but, then, whenever the stakes are really high, they will always fold and choke on the very spot! Just like Joe Thornton's Sharks. And, this time, it frustrates the Bruins organization and their fanbase on a whole new level: stifling their G.M. hiring process, which grinds down to a halt, unable to move forward because of them - and SATHER! (Yes, folks: feel free to think of Sather and of Satan in the same way, why don't you now...!)

But, one can hope that, maybe, even though the Rangers move on to the next round (and the Canadiens don't - bwah-ha-ha: CH-okers! They wrote the book on choking, actually: and the Price is always WRONG! But that is another story...) and NYC finds itself in the final four on ice (not the ''frozen four'' - that's the other tournament! They got so far only because they didn't face the Bruins! It was the only reason why they reached the Finals last year, too; only to lose so miserably to the Kings!) perhaps Glen ''Satan'' Sather will have a change of attitude, if not of heart...? And maybe, then, he will allow Cam Neely and Jeff Gorton to meet up - and talk business!  While his Rangers try and best the Lightning for the honor of losing to the Ducks in the big finale!  :-)

Yes - Jeff might yet make it indeed: and prove some old adage wrong in the process (you know which one: the one that has it that you can't go back or something...?)

Then again - I am not holding my breath on that one... not at all!

Dreaming... Of A Lot Of Scoring!

Isn't it beautiful to behold now: Tyler Seguin, the Rawhide Kid himself, shooting 'em precisely and accurately as his entire team appears to be firing off on all cylinders, winning games handily by such scores as 9-0 and 7-2...

Ah, don't you long for those days when the only lashes seen in these hockey arenas are the long eyelashes of Seguin groupies, trying to lure him to their beds? No tomahawk slashes from mischievous slow players trying to prevent greater talent from doing what they do best: carrying the puck forward and lodging it in the net! Don't you remember all those beautiful goals the Bruins scored on their postseasons of 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and even 2013 and 2014... eh? Seguin was potting quite his fair share of those; when he was on his game, of course.  And there it is again: a hat trick for the kid! Way to go... kid!

No, this is not 2012 and defending STANLEY CUP CHAMPION BOSTON BRUINS playing up to their full potential: no, this is actually... Team Canada. 2015.

They beat everybody: USA, Germany, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Belarus, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Tyler Seguin (dare we say ''the once and future Bruin'' now? Hey - you never know!) has not the usual suspects as teammates anymore: those we won a Stanley Cup in his very first try at it. Instead, he is scoring alongside talent such as Sean Couturier, Cody Eakin, Tyler Toffoli, Aaron Ekblad, Jordan Eberle, Nathan (not Horton) McKinnon, Jake Muzzin, Matt Duchesne and even the execrable Claude Giroux. Hmm... Maybe the Boston brass should look into trading for one or two of those guys... eh?  Don Cherry would recommend so, I am absolutely sure about it!

Coached to score without regard to balloon up the margin of victory by one Todd McLellan, this collection of supposedly patriotic snipers truly seems destined for gold - unless the referees have something to say about that! Bad refereeing has been the only thing preventing Canada from raking in all the gold medals over the years, or so have alleged many beer-guzzling observers as the odd authentic sportscaster, at times. Regardless of the veracity of those claims, maybe this Toddster is the kind of coach the Boston Bruins should be looking at in order to fully exploit the offensive talents the organization already has on hand - as those they could be acquiring in the coming months, via free agency, trade or draft! Pastrnak, Spooner, Griffith, Khokhlachev, Ferlin, Robins (hey - he's a Bobby!) and Florek are all Bruins of the future who, along with the existing big league finesse players on the roster (need we go through the list again? Sigh! Okay, here we go: Krejci, Bergeron, Eriksson, Marchand, Connolly, Lucic, Smith, Kelly, Talbot and Soderberg (?) - for it is bye bye Paille and Campbell, for sure! And maybe a few more on this roster...)  so need a new system that deviates from the old one-goal defensive system Claude Julien seems to love so much; a new system that promptly and properly opens the floodgates for the offensive weapons on this team to score lots and lots more goals!

Like they used to do, somehow, back in the day... And that was not all that long ago, actually...!

McLellan: the Bruin coach to take the team in this bold, new offensive direction it needs to undertake right now! Well, perhaps... And, this time, not only Don Cherry might agree with me, but one Joe Haggerty, too! (I just like the fact the names rhyme, really, that's all: I do not now nor will I ever have the same degree of admiration for Joe as I do for Don - come on!!! After all, they call one guy ''Grapes'' and the other they call ''Hags'' - and that says plenty, if you ask me! But that's another story...)

One sees what the lack of scoring punch (or the lack of willingness to implement a system of play that calls for an offensive mindset rather a defensive one) can do to a team with higher aspirations: the Boston Bruins are certifiable contenders, they entered the disastrous 2014-2015 season as such and had won the President's Trophy the season prior! But they were inconsistent on the score sheet throughout the year - and wound up missing the playoffs entirely because of that!  Their detestable arch-rivals up north were getting by through stealing one-goal games with a truly exceptional (as in: it won't happen again) seasonal performance from their goaltender: but their lack of scoring talent caught up with them in no time come playoff time; they barely stole victory from Ottawa before being dumped by a true scoring machine such as Tampa Bay. Boston can compete with those high-octane scoring machines and is the only eastern team that can match the western juggernauts - when they play to their full offensive capabilities, that is!

They need this new direction and they need it NOW!
It is not too late to recoup what this team deserved to reap as long as the talented nucleus remains: they should have won more than one single cup between the years 2009 and 2014. And they can still get at least another one and match the extraordinary (and, yet, still underachieving) Bobby Orr era... which we celebrate the 45th anniversary of right now, hmm?