2007 NHL Season Preview - Boston Bruins

There has been a lot of misery around the Boston area once the baseball season comes to an end and the Patriots pack up after football season. That's because, between the NBA's Celtics and the NHL's Bruins, Boston's historic franchises have been reduced to mere shadows and afterthoughts amidst the other teams in the NHL. New head coach Claude Julien and a new starting goaltender look to try and get the Bruins back to relevance in the league. Will 2007-2008 be the starting point or another dismal display for the once-proud Bruins?

Boston Bruins
2006 Record (W-L-OTL-PTS): 35-41-6-76, last in Northeast Division
2006 Postseason (if applicable): n/a
Coach Name (record): Claude Julien (1^st season)
Key Additions: RW Shawn Thornton (Anaheim); G Manny Fernandez (Minnesota); LW Peter Schaefer (Ottawa)
Key Subtractions: RW Shean Donovan (Ottawa)

Offense: The Bruins need to produce more scoring from other places on the roster. There is such a gap between the top scorers and the rest of the team and the Bruins have to have more consistent production from more players in order to really take a step up offensively. Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron can score on a somewhat consistent basis, but then there is little else to count on.

The Bruins had four players score over 20 goals, but none of them, including Bergeron and Savard, really pose an extreme threat at the opposing goaltenders. Most other teams in the NHL know that by shutting down the main components like Bergeron, Savard, and Glen Murray they can in effect hold down the rest of the Bruins offense.

Savard has really proven himself to be a playmaker on the ice (74 assists) but the team does not have the pure scorer that can capitalize on prime scoring chances. Their younger players, particularly players like Marco Sturm and P.J. Axelsson need to develop a little more consistency in hitting the back of the net. Boston will need to improve on a goals-for-average (GFA) of 2.56 because only five teams were worse in that stat in '06-'07.
Grade: C