Bruins Problem Children

[Stephen]

Funny how after all these years in the wilderness, the Bruins franchise player and sometimes captain of 1997-2005 era (Joe Thornton) finally faces off against their problem child potential franchise player from 2006-2009 (Phil Kessel).

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[BruinLVGA]

Every dog has its day. I root for Jumbo Joe on this one.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

why do all Bruins good young players always get traded. Ive never understood what the heck is going on there

 

[serp]

why do all Bruins good young players always get traded. Ive never understood what the heck is going on there

From what i understand Neely and other higher ups with the Bruins don't value high skilled players all that much. Especially ones with flaws. It would seem they would rather have grinders than flawed high skill players.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

why do all Bruins good young players always get traded. Ive never understood what the heck is going on there

I have wondered the same. Seguin to Dallas as well. Has a team ever traded away more elite players who are still playing, at an elite level, in the NHL?

 

[Terry Yake]

i wouldn't really call thornton a problem child

the bruins just decided to build around bergeron. still one of the worst trades in NHL history though

i still don't understand why they traded seguin. don't think i ever will

 

[Moorpheus*]

Next 5 cup winners
Sj
Pit
Sj
Dal
Dal
And for good measure
Cgy

 

[illpucks]

Don't forget the Bruins reject in Martin Jones

 

[Frank the Tank]

why do all Bruins good young players always get traded. Ive never understood what the heck is going on there

Neely is the Bruins version of Pulford, Clarke, Lowe, etc... A former player in an upper management position they earned not through their skill as a manager, but instead because of their playing career and loyalty to the organization. They loom over the GM, meddling in their decisions, and manage based on emotion/competitiveness instead of rational/logical behavior.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

I have wondered the same. Seguin to Dallas as well. Has a team ever traded away more elite players who are still playing, at an elite level, in the NHL?

Thornton
Kessell
Seguin
Hamilton
Lucic
Jones
R. Smith
Wheeler

all traded in/before their prime

 

[PM]

From what i understand Neely and other higher ups with the Bruins don't value high skilled players all that much. Especially ones with flaws. I would seem they would rather have grinders than flawed high skill players.

Sounds just like Benning.

 

[Anglesmith]

Well, if a Stanley Cup in 2011 is considered "paying off," then I'd say yes.

 

[Alwalys]

Tim Thomas singlehandedly winning the Bruins a Cup has seemingly validated this idiotic method of management.

But it's still idiotic. The fans of Bruins' rivals can take a lot of solace in the Niemi-like mirage winning the Cup in 2011 created for the Bruins.

 

[Anglesmith]

Tim Thomas singlehandedly winning the Bruins a Cup has seemingly validated this idiotic method of management.

But it's still idiotic. The fans of Bruins' rivals can take a lot of solace in the Niemi-like mirage winning the Cup in 2011 created for the Bruins.

It takes more than just a goalie to win a Cup; I think you're seriously undervaluing the accomplishment. Besides that, it's a little silly to call it a fluke when they made the Finals two seasons in a row. They built a team that was good enough to win the Cup, clearly.

Now, do I think trading away Thornton and Seguin for what they got for them was good management? I dunno, but they certainly showed that those types of moves aren't franchise-ruining, at least in the case of Thornton.

 

[RABBIT]

Thornton
Kessell
Seguin
Hamilton
Lucic
Jones
R. Smith
Wheeler

all traded in/before their prime

Wow

Take out Lucic and i agree 100% with that list. Lucic was the best he ever will be in Boston, in my opinion.

All the others seemed to have promising careers in the NHL and were traded before they could even show what they could do.

 

[Mad Brills*]

Man I forgot they traded blake wheeler.

 

[Alwalys]

It takes more than just a goalie to win a Cup; I think you're seriously undervaluing the accomplishment. Besides that, it's a little silly to call it a fluke when they made the Finals two seasons in a row. They built a team that was good enough to win the Cup, clearly.

Oh Thomas is the reason they won that Cup. They didn't make the finals the next season.

Now, do I think trading away Thornton and Seguin for what they got for them was good management? I dunno, but they certainly showed that those types of moves aren't franchise-ruining, at least in the case of Thornton.

I guess that depends on your definition of franchise-ruining. No franchise is necessarily ruined forever. Trading Thornton for those scraps absolutely ruined the franchise, it was a wasteland after that trade. It was rebuilt somewhat well and caught a hell of a lot of luck to reach the heights it did 5 years later, but that may have consolidated the damage by teaching management the wrong lesson. One they are paying for now and will be paying for for years to come.

Think about how differently history would view all of this if Vancouver had won game 7.

 

[Era of Sanity]

Tim Thomas singlehandedly winning the Bruins a Cup has seemingly validated this idiotic method of management.

But it's still idiotic. The fans of Bruins' rivals can take a lot of solace in the Niemi-like mirage winning the Cup in 2011 created for the Bruins.

I certainly am not going to say they haven't made mistakes, clearly the Bruins have been one of the worst run teams over the last few years, but to say 2011 was a mirage is revisionist history and inaccurate.

08-09: 116 points, 1st seed in east, won a playoff round.
09-10: advanced to second round of the playoffs
10-11: stanley cup (also they were by far the highest scoring team in the 2011 playoffs, wasn't all Tim Thomas, I don't recall him scoring too many hatty's, the conference final vs Tampa Bay was a high scoring series).
2011-12: 102 point team, division winner
12-13: a Tim Thomasless Bruins was eastern conference champions lost in the finals to the best team in the salary cap era.
13:14: 117 points, presidents trophy.

They won the cup not because they were lucky, they won it because they were a perennial elite team for a stretch of years and were full value for it.

 

[Alwalys]

I certainly am not going to say they haven't made mistakes, clearly the Bruins have been one of the worst run teams over the last few years, but to say 2011 was a mirage is revisionist history and inaccurate.

08-09: 116 points, 1st seed in east, won a playoff round.
09-10: advanced to second round of the playoffs
10-11: stanley cup (also they were by far the highest scoring team in the 2011 playoffs, wasn't all Tim Thomas, I don't recall him scoring too many hatty's, the conference final vs Tampa Bay was a high scoring series).
2011-12: 102 point team, division winner
12-13: a Tim Thomasless Bruins was eastern conference champions lost in the finals to the best team in the salary cap era.
13:14: 117 points, presidents trophy.

They won the cup not because they were lucky, they won it because they were a perennial elite team for a stretch of years and were full value for it.

lol did you just list a bunch of 1st and 2nd round losses?

I thought this was hfboards?

 

[L13]

i wouldn't really call thornton a problem child

the bruins just decided to build around bergeron. still one of the worst trades in NHL history though

i still don't understand why they traded seguin. don't think i ever will

Dig deep enough beneath all the crap about Seguin's social life and you'll see it came down to cap issues. They had to trade away one of Krejci and Seguin and traded Seguin.

Ironically, in the last two seasons alone they've signed two utterly useless players in McQuaid and Miller to long-term contracts whose total value comes within 0.5M of Seguin's cap hit in Dallas, but that's a story for another day.

 

[aufheben]

lol did you just list a bunch of 1st and 2nd round losses?

I thought this was hfboards?

Pretty silly to pretend like the Bruins weren't contenders for that time span.

 

[Anglesmith]

Oh Thomas is the reason they won that Cup. They didn't make the finals the next season.

How is that an argument? The Hawks didn't make the finals this season, does that mean last year was a fluke? Like I said, it's extremely difficult for a team to win the Cup, and you're failing to acknowledge that. The best goalie in the league cannot win you a Cup (see Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist), they need a supporting cast.

I guess that depends on your definition of franchise-ruining. No franchise is necessarily ruined forever. Trading Thornton for those scraps absolutely ruined the franchise, it was a wasteland after that trade. It was rebuilt somewhat well and caught a hell of a lot of luck to reach the heights it did 5 years later, but that may have consolidated the damage by teaching management the wrong lesson. One they are paying for now and will be paying for for years to come.

Think about how differently history would view all of this if Vancouver had won game 7.

I feel like they'd be looked on as what they were: a perennial contender in the East, except one whom never won the Cup. Similar to the Ducks, Rangers, Canucks and Caps during that time period. That's still above-average success if you look at the rest of the league.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Thornton
Kessell
Seguin
Hamilton
Lucic
Jones
R. Smith
Wheeler

all traded in/before their prime

i also forgot about Colborne(has turned into a good young player), Sobotka(traded in early 20's), Dennis Wideman(was 26 at trade), and Brad Boyes(24 when traded.. put up high points)

basically if you are good young player not named Bergeron, you may be traded by the time you are 26ish!!!

 

[Channelcat]

Man I forgot they traded blake wheeler.

Also one of the worst trades in history.

 

[OConnellsProtege]

lol did you just list a bunch of 1st and 2nd round losses?

I thought this was hfboards?

There isn't too many other team's that have had a better stretch betwween 2008-2014 in terms of being contenders. Chicago, LA... I think that's it.