Brad Marchand says the Bruins were a divided team last season
Brad Marchand shared his candid thoughts on the Bruins' disappointing 2014-15 season.
By
Chris Peters
•
3 min read
The Boston Bruins had a forgettable 2014-15 season. No one can deny that, but there has been more than a few theories as to why it was so disappointing. Now there's another one to be added to the mix and this one comes from the inside.
Veteran forward Brad Marchand opened up about the rough season that was 2014-15 for Boston in an interview with Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com. He believes a big portion of the blame belongs inside the dressing room as the Bruins were a team divided.
“It was different. In the past years, we were family, but for some reason this past year we were definitely a little bit divided, and had different cliques. It could’ve been because we had a lot of guys coming up in different times from Providence; they felt a lot more together, and it seemed like the older guys didn’t do a good job at integrating other guys.
“So it’s definitely a combination of things. This year we have to do a much better job collectively as a group to make sure we’re all on [the same page], and we’re a unit that will transfer over to the ice that will allow us to play better hockey.”
Many had previously speculated that the loss of defenseman Johnny Boychuk in a trade executed just before the season with the New York Islanders played a big role in the Bruins' failures of last season. That was a solid veteran gone, who apparently was a big influence off the ice as well as on it.
But good leadership can only take a team so far.
Marchand told Haggerty that the Bruins didn’t seem to have everyone on board when they were making the push for the playoffs last season.
"The majority of the guys wanted nothing more to be in the playoffs last year and even if you have one passenger, that’s enough to ruin your chances," Marchand told CSNNE.com.
Whoever the passengers were will have to be left up to speculation, but it's an interesting take from inside the dressing room that apparently led to the often disjointed play on the ice in 2014-15.
Perhaps partly because of that, and more because of the team's salary-cap situation, the Bruins went through a dramatic and oftentimes puzzling overhaul this summer.
General manager Peter Chiarelli was fired with assistant GM Don Sweeney was elevated to that role. Milan Lucic, Dougie Hamilton, Carl Soderberg and Reilly Smith, all relatively solid contributors to the club were traded away this summer. The biggest additions to the roster included free agent signing Matt Beleskey and Dorchester, Mass., native Jimmy Hayes. Things are going to be different in a lot of ways for this team.
There’s still a well-defined core for this team, though, featuring captain Zdeno Chara, goalie Tuukka Rask, forwards Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Marchand, among a few others perhaps. A lot of players will have to step up, though, for the Bruins to have a better season on the ice compared to 2014-15.
Chemistry and locker-room dynamics are rather hard to quantify, but talk to any longtime coach or player and they'll speak of its importance. With the talent the Bruins had on their roster last season, even without Boychuk, they had the guns to compete to at least make the playoffs.
Better preparation and team mentality will certainly help, but it's hard not to look at the Bruins as being less talented overall this year than last. There's going to have to be major contributions from unexpected sources with the amount of offense Boston has to replace from last year's team.
