DAN SHAUGHNESSY
Cam Neely is enjoying the ride Bruins have taken him on this season
TORONTO - I approached Bruins president Cam Neely at the Air Canada Centre during practice Wednesday to give him a chance to mock me in the wake of my preseason September column about the Bruins’ fourth-place ranking in our local sports market.
“The Bruins simply aren’t in the conversation,’’ wrote a curly-haired scribe whose hockey knowledge fits into a thimble. “They can’t even see the medal platform They might be closer to the Revs (gulp) than the bronze-medal Celtics.”
What did Neely think of my preseason summary?
“I think everybody’s got their opinion,’’ he said matter-of-factly. “I didn’t necessarily think it was that accurate. You’re not going to like everything you read or hear. You just have to go about your business and not worry about it.
“Ourselves, we felt like coming off last year and the start we had this year that we could quietly go about our business.
“Obviously you go into every season with some expectation that you’re going to compete. I think things probably turned out a little bit better than we anticipated. It’s a huge credit to our coaching staff and our core group of players and the depth that we’ve had in the organization.’’
Are they ahead of schedule?
“Yes,’’ said Neely. “Did we think we were a playoff team? One hundred percent. But things seemed to get better and better as the year went along.
“We looked at it and enjoyed the ride.’’
