If Bruins miss postseason will Julien get canned?

[yave1964]

Last year the Boston Bruins fell apart badly down the stretch and missed the postseason and wholesale changes were made, the GM Chiarelli was let go, the roster was turned over, Lucic, Hamilton, Soderberg, Hayes and more were moved out. But Coach Claude Julien was retained.

  Julien is the longest tenured coach in Bruins history and has also won more games in Boston than any other coach something that kind of took me by surprise when I found it out. He also is the longest serving active head coach in the league. He won a cup and has for the most part kept the team in the hunt for years. Bruins fans are restless and if they miss the playoffs, like the old saying goes you cannot fire 20 players so it is usually the coach.

  Just wanted to post this pic for no reason.

 

  About three weeks ago they seemed a lead pipe lock to make the postseason, but since then they have lost 8 of 10 games and no longer have their own destiny in their hands, they need help from Detroit or Philadelphia who are both ahead of them or own tiebreakers. Even if Boston wins out they may be home come Monday.

  Julien was a lot like Bruce Boudreau, mostly a career minor leaguer who never caught a break, he did play 14 games with the Nordiques in the 80's but spent a decade and a half bouncing around the minors, developing a rep as a smart guy who upon retiring became coach at Hamilton and then eventually ther head coach of first the Canadiens and then the Devils doing a decent job in both places. Famously he was fired by Lou Lammoriello with 3 games to go in the regular season in 2007 in spite of the fact that the Devils already had 102 points and were looking good for the postseason, but hey, that is what Lou does, ask Larry Robinson and Robbie Ftorek.

  Since then he has been in Boston and turned the organization around. They won a cup, lost in the finals in another, made the playoffs Julien's first 7 seasons and barely missed last year.

  Truthfully I think this season may be his best job ever. Just look at it.

 Rask has been in and out, and that is being polite.

 The defense is God Awful. Chara is old, Seidenberg is falling apart, Krug hit the wall a month ago, and nobody else can play. In the last several years they lost Boychuk, Ference and Hamilton and have replaced them with a couple of guys named Miller who cannot play.

 Bergeron and Marchand have been brilliant, Eriksson and Krejci close behind and Spooner has been a breath of fresh air. But incoming players like Hayes, Connolly, Belesky, Ferraro and Stempniak have been ordinary at best. That bunch has played 346 games with a very average 44 goals. Highly touted kids Pastrnak and Vatrano have been a mixed bag.

 

  So in short the Bruins are a two line team with a bad defense and a goalie having a bad year. And yet here they sit with 2 games to go in the season still in the hunt.

  I said 3 weeks ago in here the Bruins were my pick to miss the postseason because of a difficult schedule and frankly I do not believe they are very good. That said, Julien always has his team prepared and they may go out tonight and stick it to the Wings But even then they would still need help to get in.

  Personally I think they will fall just short and Julien will get the blame because like I mentioned, you cannot fire 20 players. But if so, I believe he is one hell of a coach and will land on his feet and be able to continue coaching somewhere. I also will say if they miss the playoffs and fire Julien, next year they are a lottery team.

 

 

 

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

 

I agree that if they miss, he will probably be gone, and some other team will be thrilled to have him. The only thing that might make it take long is Julien trying to decide between all of his available options.

 

It's not fair, but it's business. It's probable that he will go.

 

Having said that, I'd have some respect for the Bruins if, despite missing the playoffs, they chose to keep him. The problem is that fans will demand change. The answer to the problem is getting back to the playoffs next year. Which available coach is going to give them a better chance than Julien will? None. But can they withstand the outcry? I dunno, but if they did, I'd have respect for that.

 

If I was running the Bruins I'd keep him. Then again, if they miss again next season, I'd be demoted to selling popcorn in the stands. At best. ;-)

[ScottM]

I think the seat is hot. I really think that the Bruins could easily have more than one Cup in recent years. If not for the Tuukka Rask meltdown in game six back in 2013, they very well might. They seem to be way too streaky to live up to potential. But, I really don't feel like that's Julien's fault. Rask has never really seemed to be able to hold up to pressure, and I think that has a lot to do with it. Firing the coach doesn't fix the problem in my mind, but I also agree that it's likely.

 

I also agree with @SpikeDDS. If it happens, another team will snatch him up (Montreal, maybe?), and they'll be very happy with the hire, I'm sure.

[yave1964]

On Friday, April 8, 2016 at 11:22 PM, ScottM said:

I think the seat is hot. I really think that the Bruins could easily have more than one Cup in recent years. If not for the Tuukka Rask meltdown in game six back in 2013, they very well might. They seem to be way too streaky to live up to potential. But, I really don't feel like that's Julien's fault. Rask has never really seemed to be able to hold up to pressure, and I think that has a lot to do with it. Firing the coach doesn't fix the problem in my mind, but I also agree that it's likely.

 

I also agree with @SpikeDDS. If it happens, another team will snatch him up (Montreal, maybe?), and they'll be very happy with the hire, I'm sure.

Well they lost 9 of their last 12 to miss the postseason. You cannot fire 20 players, only a coach. I expect a change, however unfairly within the week.

[Buffalo Rick]

I still believe he will be fired.  But if they continue to surprise and win all of these games, who knows?  I am shocked.  i thought they had tanked two weeks ago.  They were getting hammered and now they are winning?   You rarely see this in hockey.

[jammer2]

  The one thing to factor in is the General Manager position. As unbelievable as this sounds, the Bruins, a original 6 team, has only had a total of 8 GM's. This is due to the legendary Art Ross being Bruins GM from 1924 to 1954, a staggering 30 year reign. Not be outdone, the ol' codger Harry Sinden did a 28 year stint as Boston GM. 2 guys, 58 friggin years!!

 

So, historically we know that the Bruins don't like a lot of overturn at the GM position. This is a sign of a strong org, that has stability. Because Sweeny is so new, he will be forced to prove himself....so that means Julien can't afford to miss the playoffs, hell, maybe he has to win a few rounds to stay employed. Either way, Sweeney has that first "he was not my pick" firing that gets him a do over....and he will take it if Julien fails.

 

 Everybody remembers the 3 draft picks that the Bruins used on 3rd and 4th round rated youngsters...well, one of them is playing with the OHL all stars against the Russians, a big RW named Shenshyen...and WOW....he snagged a gem there. Skates like the friggin wind!!  He might have been able to get him later, who knows, but he gets a pass on at least one of those 3 first rounders.