BOSTON — The Boston Bruins 2024-25 season isn’t going precisely to plan.
The workforce entered the season able to construct off back-to-back campaigns that noticed the Black and Gold fall in need of their final purpose — successful a Stanley Cup.
Boston stumbled out of the gates this season with an 8-9-3 file in its first 20 video games, resulting in Bruins normal supervisor Don Sweeney firing Jim Montgomery and naming Joe Sacco because the interim head coach.
The Bruins entered Saturday’s sport in opposition to the Ottawa Senators, having gone 14-10-2 beneath Sacco and clinging to the ultimate wild card spot within the Jap Convention. Ottawa, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Philadelphia Flyers all path Boston by only one level within the playoff race. Boston would discover itself on the surface wanting in after Ottawa pulled off a come-from-behind win within the shootout to leapfrog the Bruins within the standings.
Corridor of Fame defenseman and Bruins legend Ray Bourque acknowledges the frustration the Black and Gold have confronted through the season.
Story continues under commercial
“Nicely, it’s been up and down,” Bourque stated Wednesday relating to the workforce. “I feel simply being extra constant. I feel they know the way they must play, and it’s making an attempt to get there to play your sport each night time.
“They’ve had some accidents. … That doesn’t make it any simpler, not getting in there together with your full lineup. However, I feel once they play effectively, once they play linked, they usually play rather well away from the puck and enjoying a great protection sort of first sport, they’re extra profitable.”
Patrice Bergeron didn’t have a lot adversity because the captain of the historic franchise. The Bruins went 51-25-5 within the 2021-22 marketing campaign and had a 65-win season in 2022-23. Though Boston was profitable within the common season throughout his captaincy, Bergeron is aware of the stress a participant could be beneath when the workforce isn’t performing to its potential.
“It’s simple typically when issues don’t go your strategy to try to repair it by yourself,” Bergeron stated earlier than the workforce’s Black and Gold Gala on Wednesday. “I feel it’s vital to do it as a workforce.
Story continues under commercial
“We speak concerning the group as a corporation as a result of I feel administration can also be concerned in that and training workers and whatnot. It’s so much in your shoulders, and whether or not it’s (Brad Marchand) or the remainder of the management group, I do know they’ve a lot of expertise they usually know easy methods to deal with it. … They’ve executed an incredible job all through, and I’ve no worries with them and what they will accomplish.”
Along with inconsistent outcomes on the ice, the Bruins have additionally handled a number of off-ice distractions.
“It’s actually about staying linked and not likely listening to the surface noise, which typically, I do perceive that it will get to you,” Bergeron stated. “With that being stated, attempt to make slightly bubble inside your locker room, and fear about what you possibly can actually management, and fear concerning the course of as effectively.
“It’s a protracted 12 months, and there’s gonna be some bumps on the highway and a few ups and downs, and that’s okay. That’s a part of the difficult a part of the journey, and you need to embrace all of it. Perhaps within the second, it’s not all the time as fulfilling as you’d prefer it to be, however it’s going to make you a greater workforce and higher participant for the long term.”
Story continues under commercial
