Big Bad Bruins... reborn?

NHL.com's front-page article on Bruins prospect Brad Marchand features the tagline "Getting His Act Together". The gist of the article is that Marchand has plenty of talent but also has a history of disciplinary issues (including being benched by Ted Nolan in juniors). The juicy question: does this guy have enough character to succeed in the NHL?

This has become a familiar refrain in the Bruins front office under Pete Chiarelli's reign. For pretty much every acquisition of the past 2 years you can add the general comment: "He's got character issues but loads of talent -- let's hope he's worth the risk!". In addition to Marchand, the Bruins have rolled the dice on:

Phil Kessel - Allan Muir recently wrote an S.I. article calling him the "NHL version of T.O.". Nuff said.
Blake Wheeler - Gave the stiff-arm to the 'Yotes after underwhelming as a college player.
Carl Soderberg - See previous thread. Arrrrr.

In a best-case scenario these players could be the forward core of a dynasty. In a worst-case scenario it's a lineup of suspects in the murder of a franchise.

But let's not forget that in the Bruins' glory days of the mid-'70s they carried a little swagger to go along with their talent. Phil Esposito, Brad Park, Derek Sanderson, Wayne Cashman... these guys weren't exactly of the Sakic/Yzerman/Bourque school of quiet excellence. All of them brought character risks to the table, and the combination turned out to be one of the most effective in league history. They were the "Bad Boys" of pro sports when Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman were shooting on an 8-foot basket.

Whether the Bruins develop a dynastic chip-on-the-shoulder mentality, or implode like so many other ill-conceived adventures in team-building, is going to fall largely in the lap of coach Claude Julien. At the same time that he's managing the team's veteran players (tag-team goalies, mind-melding Ryder and Savard, coaxing a rebound season out of Axelsson), Julien must channel the youthful energy of the prospects into a vision for long-term success.

Of course, Phil Esposito once said the Big Bad Bruins could've won 5 Cups in a row if they'd been a little more focused.

Isles ensure another 10th-place finish

In a move sure to delight their competition in the back-middle of the Eastern Conference, the Islanders have parted ways with head coach Ted Nolan. Garth "Milbury" Snow cited "philosophical differences" as an excuse to give Nolan the axe.

These "philosophical differences" must have been something along the lines of "wanting to win" vs. "not wanting to win". Snow's primary role in the Islanders organization is to keep Charles Wang and his checkbook nice and happy... and since Wang doesn't seem to know squat about hockey I suppose it was pretty shrewd of Snow to just fling another coach under the bus. Count 'em up -- the Islanders are averaging about 1 coach per season so far this decade. Nice.

Word on the street (or expressway or whatever they have in Long Island) is that Snow didn't like Nolan's handling of the Islanders' young prospects. Yes, they have prospects. Who knew? Apparently Snow wanted young stars like Kyle Okposo to get more ice time... perhaps so they could squeeze out an extra 5th-round draft pick when traded. Of course, this directly contradicts Snow's insistence that the Islanders aren't performing well enough right now because they should have made... hee hee... made the pla -- BWA HA HA HA HAHAHA!!! Sorry... hee hee... almost got through that one without cracking up...

Ahem... bottom line here is that it's another season, another pathetic failure by the Islanders. The third-best team in the greater New York area continues to ensure its permanent seat on the Contraction Possibilities List by quickly disposing of anything that might signal an ascent into contention. The best thing that could happen to the Isles, who are truthfully NOT even close to being a playoff-caliber squad, would be for them to simply ditch their collection of castaway vets and tank the next 5 seasons in a row. Attendance would stay flat and they might pick up the next Ovechkin who could bring about some real buzz.

Even as a Bruins fan, I have to wipe a tear at what has happened to the once-mighty Islanders. There but for the grace of God...