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Friday, March 23, 2001
Bruins' youth struggle with new role
By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell
Special to ESPN.com
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For better than 20 years, he wore the Black and Gold and was a dominant figure in Boston sports. For the past year, Ray Bourque has been wearing another team's jersey – Colorado – and the Bruins are still trying to forge an identity without him.
The immediate impact of Bourque's asking for – and getting – a trade to a contending team last March was that it thrust the young players who made up the talented core of the club into positions of responsibility.
|  | | Jason Allison, right, has found it difficult to fill Ray Bourque's roll as captain in Boston. |
Some were ready, some weren't. The captaincy reins were handed over to center Jason Allison, who admitted to struggling with the role. Allison has been Boston's most productive player but his leadership skills have yet to rise to the level of his hockey skills. Some of the pressure was relieved by the addition of right wing Bill Guerin, who has been through the wars. Allison said when Bourque left that it should prove to be a good thing because it was time for the next generation to rise and shine. So far, they've shined at times but haven't risen to the point of consistency and might miss the playoffs for the second straight year.
Talent certainly isn't an issue. Center Joe Thornton and left wing Sergei Samsonov have continued to develop after coming in together for the 1997-98 season. Thornton continues to grow into his body and his game. Samsonov has arguably been the Bruins' most consistent forward.
Defense has been an Achilles' heel since Bourque left. President Harry Sinden said even if Bourque had stayed in Boston, he almost certainly would've retired after last season, putting them in the same deep hole behind the blue line that they found themselves in this year.
In an attempt to replace Bourque, the club signed free agent Paul Coffey, a move that yielded disastrous results.
There have been precious few games when Boston's defensemen have all been healthy at the same time.
The biggest hurdle the team has had to overcome has been losing goalie Byron Dafoe to three separate but serious injuries. With Dafoe in the lineup, the Bruins are a solid and sometimes formidable hockey team. Without him, they are unstable and inconsistent.
Coach Mike Keenan, who was hired in place of Pat Burns after only eight games this season, has found his players to be exasperating at times. They don't put teams away. They lack a killer instinct and their level of intensity seems to swing wildly in almost manic-depressive-like extremes.
"I think there should be a higher level of intensity," said Keenan, who has been feverishly trying to get his team to realize what is at stake as Carolina remains above them in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "It wasn't like we were coming from behind the last two games [against Montreal and Pittsburgh]. I guess I have the inclination to compare this team to some of the teams I coached. Most of them had a different mind-set than this team does."
Keenan said his players, with the exception of Guerin and Eric Weinrich, lack team skills. That's one thing Bourque had a boatload of.
Now Bourque, who plays his first game back in the FleetCenter on Saturday when the Avalanche come to Boston, has the best chance of his career at a Stanley Cup while the Bruins struggle just to get into the postseason.
Since his rookie year, Bourque has always known who he is. Since he's left, many of the players remaining in Boston are still trying to figure out who they are and where they fit.
It's been a painful lesson for some.
If they miss the postseason for the second straight year, some of them won't be here to try again.
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Hockey talk
"They just beat us. It's our turn to eat crow. There's nothing more to say. They're playing at the top of their game and they flat out beat us."
– Rangers' center Mark Messier on the humbling experience of losing to the New Jersey Devils.
The number
The number of consecutive games the Devils have either beaten or tied the Rangers. The last time the Rangers beat the Devils was on Jan. 12, 1997. Since then, New Jersey is 15-0-8 and has finished a combined 132 points better than the Rangers in the last four years.
Infirmary report
The Flyers are certainly excited at the prospect of getting John LeClair back. LeClair was penciled in to play his first game since Dec. 8 against the Maple Leafs on Saturday. Another Flyer hoping to come back is forward Simon Gagne. However, management in Philly is fearful that Gagne will need surgery on his dislocated shoulder. While doctors haven?t dictated that course, at least not to this point, but recent history indicates that possibility. Two of their prospects – Tomas Divisek and Mikhail Chernov both had shoulder injuries that mirror Gagne's. They both tried to come back using rehabilitation but reaggravated their injuries and required operations.
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Inside the locker room
Back in 1993, center Kevyn Adams was taken with the Boston Bruins' first pick (No. 25 overall) in the NHL entry draft after his freshman year at the Miami (Ohio) University. Adams, who played four years of college hockey, was unable to come to terms with the Bruins and eventually signed as a free agent with Toronto in 1997. After three seasons in the Maple Leafs' organization, he was exposed for last June's expansion draft and Columbus grabbed him. His time there ended earlier this month when the Blue Jackets traded him to Florida. In a little bit of payback, Adams scored two goals against the Leafs Wednesday night. "It feels really good," he said. Ironically, the Leafs left Adams vulnerable in the expansion draft was so they could hang onto Dmitri Khristich. Khristich turned out to be a complete disappointment in Toronto, was later traded to Washington.
Northeast Division
One of the more bizarre moments in the Maple Leafs' season happened on Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre when a fan, who was irate that Toronto was losing to the Florida Panthers, fired one of his crutches on the ice and then used his other one to hobble out of the arena. Goalie Glenn Healy called the incident "disturbing." ... If you ask members of the Montreal Canadiens for whom they are rooting in the Bruins-Hurricanes fight for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, at least one wants Carolina to prevail. "If we're not going to make it, we don't want to see them in there," said Benoit Brunet. The rivalry between Boston and Montreal sure isn't what it used to be but apparently it still has a pulse. ... Disgruntled free agent Michael Peca, who remains out of the NHL because of a contract dispute with Buffalo, will play for Canada in next month's World Championships in Germany.
Atlantic Division
It's possible that Kevin Constantine could become the next coach of the Islanders. Constantine, though he hadn't yet interviewed for the position, said he was definitely interested. What might put a monkey wrench into his hopes is if the club attempts to trade for Jaromir Jagr. Jagr and Constantine didn't get on well in Pittsburgh that friction was one of the reasons Constantine lost his job ... Martin Brodeur and the Devils continue to play like Cup contenders. Brodeur earned his 50th career shutout in his team's dismantling of the Rangers and is No. 21 on the all-time list ... Penguins' forward Alexei Kovalev, who had 39 goals and 36 assists in 61 games, has cooled off lately. In his last 12 games, he had two goals and 10 assists. He's certainly not playing badly, but fatigue and a sinus infection have conspired to reduce his production. Coach Ivan Hlinka has reduced his ice time in an effort to help him get his energy back.
Southeast Division
The Washington Capitals went from the hottest team in the league to stone cold. After a 15-1-2-1 run, they lost four straight. Their defense was soft, their scoring nonexistent, the team used some time during their road trip to Florida on a bonding mission using a rookie dinner (their only one – Trent Whitfield – was saddled with the bill) as well as fishing and golfing. They also spent more than an hour working on their defense at practice on Wednesday ... Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe leads the league with 67 appearances, but doesn't looked remotely fatigued. He said he doesn't want time off. "If you don't want to be the man, you probably shouldn't be in the NHL," Irbe told reporters ... Hurricanes' centers Ron Francis and Rod Brind'Amour were key reasons that club beat Buffalo, 1-0, on Wednesday. Francis won 18 of 27 faceoffs in the contest and Brind'Amour won 11 of 16 ... After dropping a game to Tampa, Atlanta extended their home winless streak to eight (0-5-3). The Thrashers have given up at least on
e power-play goal in 10 straight.
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe covers the Eastern Conference for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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