Boston Bruins: Should a Fan Give Up on His Team?

Last week, Bleacher Report senior writer Sean Crowe penned a piece stating he was disowning the Boston Bruins, which brought about a huge discussion.

This brings me to the question: Is it okay for a fan to disown a team during its struggles? Or should he or she stick with it through thick and thin?

Personally, the Boston Red Sox were my team during my childhood. Alas, because of the so-called Curse of the Bambino there would be annual talk that each year was a rebuilding year for Boston.

I'd root for Tom Brunansky, Jeff Reardon, Joe Hesketh, and Greg Harris despite the fact they were at the tail ends of their careers or simply weren't that good. Seeing Reardon break the all-time saves record and being carried off the field at Fenway was one of the greatest Red Sox moments in the early 1990s.

It was devastating when the Red Sox didn't want to re-sign Wade Boggs, allowing him to go to the Yankees. (Boggs had hit .259 and Boston thought he was washed up.)

Instead, the Bosox decided to bring in a bunch of over-the-hill former league MVPs and playoff MVPs (Andre Dawson, Kevin Mitchell, Steve Avery, Dennis Eckersley, and Bret Saberhagen to name a few) who just didn't do much in Beantown.

Expansion teams like division rival Toronto had already won two championships. The Mets, who broke the Red Sox's hearts in 1986, had two. Even the Florida Marlins had a pair.

But 2004 changed all that. For good measure, the Red Sox went out and did it again last season.

Sure, going through all the lean years, the meltdowns, and the bonehead acquisitions just make the victories that much more sweeter.

But what about the Jeremy Jacobs-owned Bruins, the team Crowe was bashing?

I also cheered for the Bruins in the 1990s, and that team was just good enough to make the playoffs every year—but never great enough to win.

As a young fan, I wouldn't realize that ownership was happy just to put together a playoff-caliber team so that fans would keep showing up at Boston Garden. (It wasn't difficult to make the playoffs during an era in which 16 of 21-odd teams would make it. Just ask the 1980s Maple Leafs, who would have one of the NHL's worst records but still make the postseason.)

Spending money to actually go out and win the Stanley Cup? Not on the Bruins brass' agenda.

Still, the B's came close in 1990. They did again in 1991 and 1992, but the absence of a big-time goal scorer killed them.

Had the team gone out and added another big gun to complement Ray Bourque, Craig Janney (later Adam Oates), and Andy Moog, the B's might well have won at least one Cup.

Instead, the B's got rid of Moog, and the revolving door in goal never stopped. Jon Casey, Blaine Lacher, Bill Ranford, Jim Carey, Byron Dafoe, Andrew Raycroft, and so on. With Moog, the Bruins beat the Canadiens consistently and went to three straight conference finals and a Stanley Cup Finals.

Since Moog was traded, the Bruins have won just two playoff series. Two

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