THN Archive: Plan 'B'

You hear it about the Boston Bruins all the time: they just want to make the playoffs, they don’t want to win the Stanley Cup.

In fact, that was the parting shot Bill Guerin delivered upon signing with the Dallas Stars last summer.

“I just came from a team with a lot of money that didn’t want to win.” Guerin told the Dallas media.

Ouch!

“What Bill said is the most insulting thing anybody could ever say about our organization and it’s not true,” responded Boston GM Mike O’Connell. “Of course we’re trying to win the Stanley Cup. But are we going to go out and spend money foolishly? No.

“We treated Billy very well the two years he was here and I’m disappointed that he would say that. We simply didn’t feel he was worth the money Dallas is paying him ($45 million over five years). We didn’t want to put all our money on one plate when we could spread it around.”

Unfortunately, the Bruins have a sad history of scoffing when it comes to meeting a player’s salary demands, opting to trade away their stars instead. It isn’t always the case, but that’s their reputation.

It is a reputation O’Connell, in his third season as GM of the team, has to deal with almost daily. And the fact O’Connell was groomed under longtime Boston GM Harry Sinden, whose reputation was that of a penny pincher, makes it difficult for long-suffering Bruins fans to believe he’ll be any different. Not re-signing Guerin was all the proof many people needed. Boston hasn’t won the Cup since 1972 and hasn’t been to the final since 1990.

“We want to win the Stanley Cup as bad as any team in the league, maybe even more,” O’Connell said. “But we want to do it responsibly.”

Despite the team’s amazing start this season - the Bruins’ 28 points were the most points amassed through 19 games since 1979 - there are still doubters. Everywhere, that is, except in the dressing room.

The 2002-03 Bruins are a tight-knit bunch, the kind of team that, when they’re on the road, 17 or 18 or 19 guys will all go out to dinner together. The type of team that, the night before a game in Toronto, enjoyed an after-hours visit, en masse, to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The kicker: they brought along Hall of Famers Jean Ratelle, Tom Johnson, Johnny Bucyk as well as future Hall of Famer Ray Bourque for the tour. The players, many of whom had never visited the great shrine to hockey and its heroes, were like kids in a candy store, playing all the interactive games and before sitting down to a team meal in the Great Hall.

“This is the tightest team I’ve ever played on,” said Brian Rolston, one of Boston’s best two-way players and who is expected to pick up some of the slack left by the departure of Guerin’s 41 goals.

“We have great character guys in the room and on the ice. Everybody gets along and I think that’s very important when you are trying to build a championship team.”

This was thought by many - including The Hockey News - to be a year in which the Bruins would drop off. They won the Eastern Conference title last year, but then suffered a humiliating first round defeat at the hands of their old rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. Then Guerin bolted as an unrestricted free agent, the team decided not to re-sign No. 1 goalie Byron Dafoe and defenseman Kyle McLaren, a 6-foot-4,230-pound stud (with a history of injury problems) demanded to be traded.

Their replacements? Steve Shields, a goalie who will tell you he hasn’t been given a fair shot in the past - though that’s debatable - and defenseman Bryan Berard, the only player in the NHL who can see out of only one eye. (See story on pg. 11 for more on Berard.)

If the Bruins were going to succeed, those returning were going to have to step it up and that is exactly what has happened. Making the team’s start even more remarkable is the fact it was done largely without the contribution of two key components. Shifty Sergei Samsonov scored two goals (both game-winners) and six points in four games before injuring his wrist. Rugged right winger Martin Lapointe, a 27-goal man two years ago in Detroit, has missed all but four games with a broken ankle.

What has happened is this: Shields is indeed proving himself capable of being a No. 1 goalie and has shared the crease nicely with John Grahame, the team’s goalie of the future. Though there is always competition between goalies for playing time, these two guys get along like brothers and support each other. Berard, the NHL’s rookie of the year in 1997 as a member of the Islanders, has produced beyond expectations. His five goals and 10 points in 19 games put him far ahead of last year’s pace. In fact, a Bruins’ blueline corps that scored a league-low 18 goals last season had 12 goals through 19 games this year.

Young defenders Nick Boynton (22) and Jonathan Girard (23) have responded positively to additional ice time and veterans Sean O’Donnell, Don Sweeney and Hal Gill have been reliable.

Up front, Boston’s strength is their depth. There are those who feel Thornton, already a force to be reckoned with, is well on his way to becoming the best all-around player in the game. He’s within a hot streak of Mario Lemieux’s scoring lead and continues to be a physical force, albeit one who is trying hard not to fly off the handle at the drop of a pin.

Glen Murray, whose reputation is that of being great one year and mediocre the next, appears to be ready to put together back-to-back solid years. He scored a career-high 41 goals last year (tied for second in the league) and was on pace for 39 this year. That’s hardly so-so.

In Thornton, Jozef Stumpel and Rolston, the Bruins are as deep at center as any team in the league. And the depth goes on and on with the likes of Rob Zamuner, P.J. Axelsson, Mike Knuble, Marty McInnis and Michal Grosek. Rookie Ivan Huml has been a pleasant surprise.

Thornton doesn’t hide the fact he was upset when the Bruins were sold short in many preseason polls.

“It’s something we carry around in our jockstraps, the determination to prove everyone wrong,” said Thornton to the Toronto Sun.

Thornton added those who sold his team short didn’t see beyond the departures of Guerin, Dafoe and McLaren, who, by the way, played in just 38 games last season (no goals, eight assists) and has missed 157 games during his seven years in Boston.

“We use it as motivation,” said Thornton of the polls that predicted doom and gloom for his team. “We have a lot of guys still on this team that played on last year’s first-place team. We also have guys who maybe didn’t get to play as much last year, but who are responding to added responsibility this year. When you look at our team, we have a lot of great players, a lot of depth.”

The Bruins will be better when Samsonov and Lapointe are 100 per cent healthy. And, depending on what O’Connell gets for McLaren, who knows how strong this team can be?

Yet, for all the great hockey the players produce early, it’s what happens in the end that matters. That’s how the team - the organization - will be judged. Ray Bourque had to leave Boston to win his Cup. Thornton doesn’t think he’ll have to do the same.

“Obviously you play the game to win the Stanley Cup and I want to win one with this organization,” Thornton said. “We believe we can do it this season. I have faith in this organization. We have a good core of young players and I hope we stay together for years to come.”

Bryan Berard won’t give in. And who can blame him?

A year after making a courageous and unprecedented comeback from an injury that cost him the sight in his right eye, the 25-year-old native of Woonsocket, R.I., is playing the best hockey of his NHL career.

The NHL’s rookie of the year in 1997 with the New York Islanders, it appeared Berard’s hockey-playing days were over when, playing for Toronto, he was blinded in his right eye by an errant stick - the follow-through on a shot by Ottawa star Marian Hossa - in March of 2000. A year-and-a-half later Berard beat the odds, returning to action with the Rangers and managing two goals and 23 points while playing all 82 games. His comeback wasn’t enough for the Rangers to keep him, though. They passed on the $3-million team option, setting him up to sign with Boston as an unrestricted free agent.

“I knew I could play, but I had to feel my way around and get my timing back, especially offensively,” Berard said. “I never really got the chance offensively with the Rangers because they had (Brian) Leetch and (Vladimir) Malakhov and they also used Theo (Fleury) on the point on the power play. I just never got my confidence. When the season ended, I wished there was another 20 or 30 games because I felt like my game was just starting to come around.”

Boston, about an hour’s drive from Woonsocket, was the perfect landing strip for a player just taking flight. With five goals and 10 points in 19 games, Berard has been one of the NHL’s most effective producers from the backline.

“He has been unbelievable for us,” said Boston captain Joe Thornton. “Every night he’s a presence. He’s quick and he has a great shot.”

After all the turmoil Berard has endured, he is happy to be at peace with his surroundings.

“This is the most fun I’ve had playing hockey,” Berard said. “When you have something taken away from you, as I did, you never want to take it for granted again. I’ve found a new respect for the game.” ■