So 3:00 p.m. came and went with no major moves made in the NHL that could be labeled as "huge." Those moves were made prior to the olympics with Ilya Kovalchuk and Dion Phaneuf being moved prior to New Jersey and Toronto, respectively.
As a Bruins fan as 3:00 p.m. approached I was started to get excited. We just traded our best defenseman, this year, to clear some cap space. This put me under the assumption we were planning to do something big.
We were doing one of two things:
1) Tank the season to solidify our chances at another top 5 draft pick in one of the deepest drafts in years.
2) Planning to make a major move for a bona fide goal scorer to pair with Marc Savard.
As you all know, that did not happen. So when 3:00 came, 3:30 came, and 4:00 came and no deals were announced I was beyond disappointed. I was furious.
Over the last two years the Bruins have improved each year. In year one we took it 7 games with the Canadiens. In year 2 we swept the Canadiens and advanced to the second round. Even though we lost to an inferior team we accomplished something that we hadn't in a long time. This year, the Bruins were featured on the cover of ESPN the magazine and Sports Illustrated. Both Magazines picked them to reach the Cup.
We had the winter classic in Boston. We had the olympics this year. Hockey was back in Boston. Ratings were up. Something was going to be done to improve our chances. Right?
....and then the trade deadline came and went. Nothing happened. Hence, my disappointment.
It's now 5:30 p.m., and two and half hours have since passed. When I look at the names that were moved today I realized Chiarelli had no options. Would you of wanted him to acquire a player like Raffi Torres, essentially another Michael Ryder? A guy who gets hot for two weeks then fades for three. Did you want him to trade for Keith Tkachuk? A guy who's on his way out of the league.
We have assests, or think we do, let's not waste them on a player that won't put us over the hump. The Bruins needed major help. Not some guy who could chip in a goal here or there. We weren't reaching the Stanley Cup. Not even the Conference Finals. Not this year.
I don't blame Chiarelli for failure to land a goal scorer. The type of player he needed wasn't there.
It's sad. It's disappointing.
What would of been worse though is if we panicked. If we traded our first rounders for a player Torres, Tkachuk. That's what we used to do. Not anymore.
It's time to pack it in for the season boys. Hope Chiarelli hits the draft right. Hopefully he can clear some cap space so we can sign a guy to play with Savard next year. We have the picks and a solid core now we just need to find the remaining pieces.
Get two goal scorers here, get a good defensive piece, name Rask the starter and hopefully next year hockey will officially BE BACK IN BOSTON.