Why is Boston such a good organization?

[Hockey4Lyfe]

four teams. four teams have been more successful since 2010. out of 30-32

And the number continues to go up the more you go back.

Like I said, does it deserve a dedicated thread to how “good” they are? I guess if their fans want to make the threads then more power to them.

Just seems weird to me for a team that simply doesn’t win that much.

 

[CascadiaPuck]

four teams. four teams have been more successful since 2010. out of 30-32

Do those four teams have threads about them being well run orgs?

Definitely not going to knock Boston. They’ve had a sustained run of decent achievement (with some instances of high or highest achievement), much like Detroit or San Jose did coming into the 21st century. And congrats to them! It’s got to be a treat for the fans.

They’ve had durable high end talent, good luck, and a solid winning culture built by that talent. I don’t think it’s more than what we’ve seen from a small number of other teams in the past 20 years, but it’s definitely commendable.

 

[BostonBob]

Like I said, does it deserve a dedicated thread to how “good” they are? I guess if their fans want to make the threads then more power to them.

The thread was not started by a Bruins fan. But nice try.

 

[PB37]

Do those four teams have threads about them being well run orgs?

Definitely not going to knock Boston. They’ve had a sustained run of decent achievement (with some instances of high or highest achievement), much like Detroit or San Jose did coming into the 21st century. And congrats to them! It’s got to be a treat for the fans.

They’ve had durable high end talent, good luck, and a solid winning culture built by that talent. I don’t think it’s more than what we’ve seen from a small number of other teams in the past 20 years, but it’s definitely commendable.

I think this thread was made because for a few seasons now, predictions of the fall of Boston in the standings would happen at the start of every year and it hasn't happened yet. The aging stars, the lack of top end prospects, a bottom tier prospect pool, key players retiring, etc etc is what outsiders could see. But here they are again, poised to have another good year with up to 4 rookies in the lineup and a growing collection of players in their prime years.

 

[KnightofBoston]

Big daddy Campbell, ref’s in jacobs pockets, deliberately sloppy ice, and dont forget the chowwwwwdah!

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

They've discovered the importance of culture.

Players are expected to play for each other the right way. Bergeron was a big piece of that and it's been passed down.

 

[Fenway]

I have seen 3 Bruins Cups in my lifetime and there should have been a few more but......

1971 - Bobby Orr did not play well in Game 2 against Montreal in the first round and it cost them.



1974 - They underestimated the Flyers who had not won in Boston since 1967



They made the SCF in 1977 and 1978 but they were not going to beat Montreal



1979 - TOO MANY MEN

Returned to the SCF in 1988 and 1990 - 88 they had no chance, 90 they never recovered from losing Game 1 in 3 OTs.



The team had trouble adjusting to the replacement of the Boston Garden and then was left in shambles after the lost 2004-05 season. Jacobs 'retired' Harry Sinden and after a disastrous year with Dave Lewis as coach struck gold with Claude Julien in 2007-08.

The Bruins stumbled in 2012 against Washington and once again Montreal got in their heads in 2014. People overlook that in 2013 the Bruins with a couple of bounces could have swept Chicago.



2019 was a brutal loss.

 

[danpantz]

And the number continues to go up the more you go back.

Like I said, does it deserve a dedicated thread to how “good” they are? I guess if their fans want to make the threads then more power to them.

Just seems weird to me for a team that simply doesn’t win that much.

“their” fans didn’t even start this thread though.

Just seems weird to me for someone to get so up in arms because a fan of a different team said they were good.

 

[Albatros]

I'm going to be showing my age here but the aura for me hasn't changed from the 70's era bruin's even up to now, it's a tough brand of hockey.

In the 1990s they had Cam Neely playing once in a blue moon and pretending like they were still a tough group, but for much of that decade the team was as soft as they come.

 

[pelderhostiga]

It's almost unfair that Boston had such a good core from 2nd and 3rd round draft picks earlier, and now they have a new team with #14OA and #25OA draft picks as their new superstar defender and forward. Solid drafting and player development for years (except for that one year). Though I'm quite sure this new core won't be as good as the old one when all is said and done.

 

[Fenway]

“their” fans didn’t even start this thread though.

Just seems weird to me for someone to get so up in arms because a fan of a different team said they were good.

The Bruins today have the largest fanbase of any NHL team in the US. Keep in mind that Providence is a bigger TV market than Buffalo.

Nielsen DMA Rankings 2023

ustvdb.com

 

[Kennedys]

They suck xD

 

[Score8]

In the 1990s they had Cam Neely playing once in a blue moon and pretending like they were still a tough group, but for much of that decade the team was as soft as they come.

Linden Byers says hi!

 

[Pavels Dog]

I am envious of their success so therefore I don't agree they are a good organization.

 

[Drake1588]

They benefit from extremely stable ownership that doesn't really interfere with (hockey) decisions, and solid management. Jacobs is highly involved at the governors level and with Bettman, but he empowers his management team and stays out of the areas where he has experts on staff to handle the minutiae.

They long ago established an identity and have brought in player/coaching/management talent to fit that identity. Most teams don't have that kind of stability. They bounce from one idea to another, one vision to another. The Bruins don't do that.

It's not about one or two sterling players at the bottom of the pyramid (many of whom are gone now). Good organizations really are about top-down success. People often don't like to hear that (it gets dangerously close to saying that people like CEOs are properly compensated, which people despise hearing), but it's true. Your most important elements are at the top. When looking for the source of success/dysfunction, look there first.

 

[BruinLVGA]

I have seen 3 Bruins Cups in my lifetime and there should have been a few more but......

1971 - Bobby Orr did not play well in Game 2 against Montreal in the first round and it cost them.



1974 - They underestimated the Flyers who had not won in Boston since 1967



They made the SCF in 1977 and 1978 but they were not going to beat Montreal



1979 - TOO MANY MEN

Returned to the SCF in 1988 and 1990 - 88 they had no chance, 90 they never recovered from losing Game 1 in 3 OTs.



The team had trouble adjusting to the replacement of the Boston Garden and then was left in shambles after the lost 2004-05 season. Jacobs 'retired' Harry Sinden and after a disastrous year with Dave Lewis as coach struck gold with Claude Julien in 2007-08.

The Bruins stumbled in 2012 against Washington and once again Montreal got in their heads in 2014. People overlook that in 2013 the Bruins with a couple of bounces could have swept Chicago.



2019 was a brutal loss.

When I hear the name Daugavins, I STILL get pissed off about that play. Hindsight is 20/20, but imho that cost the Bruins the Cup in 2013.

 

[Patdud]

Do those four teams have threads about them being well run orgs?

Definitely not going to knock Boston. They’ve had a sustained run of decent achievement (with some instances of high or highest achievement), much like Detroit or San Jose did coming into the 21st century. And congrats to them! It’s got to be a treat for the fans.

They’ve had durable high end talent, good luck, and a solid winning culture built by that talent. I don’t think it’s more than what we’ve seen from a small number of other teams in the past 20 years, but it’s definitely commendable.

I think there have been threads about Pittsburgh and Chicago at naseum yeah but getting Crosby or Kane like 1st overall picks will also drive success. Chicago is now in shit land and the kings bottomed out pretty bad. Pittsburgh had continued periods of success but again, Crosby and Malkin will carry that. I love Bergeron and Krejci, and Bergy is a 1st ballot HHOFer for different reasons than Crosby and Malkin, but Im not dumb enough to try to compare them.

That leaves the Lightning, I wont get into the COVID/Bubble cups discussion its not worth it.

brings it back to the original point of the post, the Bruins had two high success periods 2008-2015 and 2018-Now (yes I consider getting to another SCF a success even if its a spectacularly embarrassing loss). Had a 2/3 year stretch of yuck mediocrity but didn't bottom out. to me thats more the point of this thread. how did they do that?


to me an most bruins fans it was signing this guy on July 1st 2006.

 

[PaulD]

No high draft picks in forever. Retirements to key players. High tax state. Just seems like they always have later picks stepping up and every signing/trade they make seems to work out.

What has Boston figured out that everyone else hasn’t?

"Big team - little me" - been that way for so long its part of the teams DNA

I am a Leafs fan and I wish they were as good as the Bruins. I'd take all those deep runs, and one cup in a heartbeat.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

“their” fans didn’t even start this thread though.

Just seems weird to me for someone to get so up in arms because a fan of a different team said they were good.

Trust me when I say I’m not up in arms. Just stating the fact that while the Bruins are regular season hero’s most of the time, they aren’t actually good at winning when it matters.

 

[hamzarocks]

Boston is an elite organization that is a playoff choker pretty often

They got the 20111 cup so they avoided being San Jose Sharks 2003-2019 but they should have had another cup or two

Still a great team overall. They do need to develop/trade for a long-term 1C if they dont plan on rebuilding at all (keeping the goal to win with core of Pasta, McAvoy, Swayman, Protias, Debrusk, Carlo)

 

[nbwingsfan]

Do those four teams have threads about them being well run orgs?

Definitely not going to knock Boston. They’ve had a sustained run of decent achievement (with some instances of high or highest achievement), much like Detroit or San Jose did coming into the 21st century. And congrats to them! It’s got to be a treat for the fans.

They’ve had durable high end talent, good luck, and a solid winning culture built by that talent. I don’t think it’s more than what we’ve seen from a small number of other teams in the past 20 years, but it’s definitely commendable.

Im not even sure if it’s 4 going by the standards the OP is talking about.

Tampa for sure

Pens for sure but on the backs of a top 10 and top 50 player of all time and look like they’re about to enter a very long rebuild

LA most likely as they seem to have rebuilt on the fly quite well, just a couple brutal seasons in the middle.

Chicago won their cups, but then collapsed relatively quickly and without winning a lottery, would be continuing a long playoff drought

I think the point is that the Bruins continue to be contenders for so long despite never having to enter a rebuild

I guess it depends what you consider a truly successful franchise.

In this scenario, is the team who won two cups but missed the playoffs every other season really more successful than the team who won won cup was still a contender every other season in a 13 year span.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

1. Culture
The Bergeron/Chara culture of inclusion has made for many tight locker rooms which leads to accountability from your peers, which is more sustainable than relying on the coach. Which leads into…

2. Focusing on two way players that offer a better $ to cap hit value than more one dimensional scorers
They get guys that buy in (and ship them out if they don’t, even if they are very good players like Thornton, Kessel, or Seguin). That buy in leads to teams that are consistently greater than the sum of their parts.

The flip side of 1+2 is that they often don’t have another level to elevate to in the post season. They tend to overachieve in the regular season relative to their talent.

3. Goaltending
Thomas to Rask to Ullmark to Swayman is insane. The structure of the D certainly helps. And so does Bob Essensa, who should have more recognition across the league as a difference making coach.

4. Pulling stars out of their ass later in the draft
This feels like luck. The Bruins run from 2006-2013 mirror those of most top tier contenders. Have a few really good drafts, build up talent, make some runs, and have guys start to age out. Not sure if things would have gone differently against Chicago if Bergeron and Chara didn’t get hurt, but Chara was never a real Norris guy again after he f***ed his knee. Looked like the end there. And then the Seguin trade blew up in their face.

But then they got lucky getting elite talents like McAvoy and Pasta in the mid to late 1st and were able to make another go at it with the Bergeron/Krejci/Chara backbone with an upset loss to STL. Over the years made some picks and deals and were able to transition almost seamlessly from an elite D lead by Chara, Boychuk, Seidenberg to an elite D led by McAvoy, Lindholm and Carlo.

They have just done a brilliant job on keep the defense and goaltending elite. And Lorhei looks like he could be the next step in keeping the D going when Lindholm slows down.

Up front? Well, it looks like they had a nice reclamation project go their way in Zacha. And Poitras looks like a surprise top 6 C with an unknown ceiling, but they are going to have to find another high end talent up front somehow to turn over to this post Bergeron/Krejci forward core.

They will have a lot of money next summer. We will see.

Great post, but one correction, Chara damaged his knee early in the 2014-15 season, not the 2013 Cup run season. That knee injury degraded Chara permanently. He was still an impactful player but it absolutely degraded his cycle killing prowess which was pretty close to perfect. IMO if that injury doesn't happen Bruins may have not pulled a DNQ in 2015 or 2016 and McAvoy and Carlo may not have even been drafted.

 

[PaulD]

Im not even sure if it’s 4 going by the standards the OP is talking about.

Tampa for sure

Pens for sure but on the backs of a top 10 and top 50 player of all time and look like they’re about to enter a very long rebuild

LA most likely as they seem to have rebuilt on the fly quite well, just a couple brutal seasons in the middle.

Chicago won their cups, but then collapsed relatively quickly and without winning a lottery, would be continuing a long playoff drought

I think the point is that the Bruins continue to be contenders for so long despite never having to enter a rebuild

I guess it depends what you consider a truly successful franchise.

In this scenario, is the team who won two cups but missed the playoffs every other season really more successful than the team who won won cup was still a contender every other season in a 13 year span.

And that really is amazing.

There really are " no excuses" in Bruinsville

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Bruins are also the franchise that survived the loss of the greatest player in the games history in his prime and traded at the time the games greatest goal scorer and the next year went to the SCF.

 

[goldnblack]

To the one cup in 50 year crowd, don't underestimate how much of a joy it is to have your team in the playoffs 95% of the time. It's really really fun.

That we don't have to frequently endure garbage-bag-head-rebuilds with 30 win teams is vastly underrated. To be able to go to the rink and know your team will be in any given game on any given night, for decades, is really awesome. It's been an absolute joy to watch this era of Bruins hockey for those reasons alone.

The culture thing is certainly true. Look at a team like Ottawa. On paper they're loaded. But their culture and consistent effort is massively lacking, and has for way too long. Their fans are justified in booing that. The second they build a team that prides organizational excellence and effort, that division is theirs. The Wings may be the young team figuring it out faster.