2011 NHL Preview: How Peter Chiarelli Has Boston Thinking Stanley Cup In 2011

The 2010 Boston Bruins were an overtime period away from turning a mediocre season into a dream one, only to have it all crash down.

When the Bruins took a 3-0 lead against the Philadelphia Flyers in last year’s Eastern semifinals, Boston was buzzing at the possibility of facing their arch rival Montreal Canadiens for the right to play in the Stanley Cup Finals.

However, the rest of the series was a cruel nightmare that became more unbearable to watch each period.

After taking a 3-0 lead after the first period of Game 7, the Bruins appeared to have enough fight to stave off an historic meltdown, but their magical run was not meant to be. Giving up four unanswered goals, the Bruins were eliminated, and their fans were left stunned and angry as they left the TD Garden for the final time.

After a great 2009 season, the Bruins were supposed to take the next step and become legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in 2010. Injuries and poor play from key players saw the Bruins end the year fighting for every point, barely making the playoffs as the six seed.

The brightest part of the 2010 Bruins was the rise of young Finnish goalie Tuukka Rask. Tim Thomas’ struggles had the defending Vezina trophy winner fighting for his job by mid-season.

Rask’s consistent play and cool, calm demeanor in goal earned him the starting role during the stretch run and into the playoffs.

Rask was the key player in Boston’s 4-2 series win over Buffalo in the first round, with his play suggesting he was a seasoned veteran and not a youngster in his first playoff series.

Even after a successful 2010 season, 2011 looks to be the best Bruins team in a long, long time. In Boston, we have seen our share of sports failures to know championships are not built on paper, and the expectations are as high as they have ever been for the black and gold.

With the unenviable task of improving a team which just suffered one of sports' all time collapses, general manager Peter Chiarielli’s used his best offseason move of 2009 to improve the Bruins for years to come.

Last September, Chiarelli traded unhappy forward Phil Kessel to Toronto for the Maple Leafs’ 2010 and 2011 first-round picks.

Maple Leafs fans did not envision they would be handing over the second overall pick in the 2010 draft to the Bruins for Kessel, but the Leafs’ poor play turned Boston’s prize into lottery pick.

At the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles, Chiarelli chose Tyler Seguin of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) to be the cornerstone center for the Bruins, a playmaking goal-scorer who will immediately help the Bruins offense, which went from second in goals scored in 2009 to dead last in 2010.

The Bruins also acquired forward Nathan Horton from Florida in exchange for their own first-rounder, the 16th overall draft pick.

While Seguin and Horton will give bring youth and talent to the offense, re-signing defensemen Mark Stuart, Johnny Boychuck, and Dennis Seidenberg will create continuity within a defense that played poorly for large stretches last year.

The Bruins are now one of the deepest teams in the NHL, and will be able to cope with players losing time to injuries, something that hurt them in the playoffs when Seidenberg and center David Krejci missed significant time in the playoffs.

The weaknesses of last year's team have been addressed very well. The additions to the offense will help relieve the pressure put on Tuukka Rask, who is looking to prove his stellar debut season was no fluke.

For the Bruins, the future is right now. With the successes of the Patriots, Celtics, and Red Sox the last 10 years, the Bruins have been an afterthought in the minds of Boston sports fans, and sports enthusiasts around the nation.

The Bruins are young and talented in every position, and with two straight disappointing second-round playoff exits, they are primed to become a top NHL team for years to come.

The billboard in front of the garden proclaims, “Big and Bad are Back.” Come October, the Bruins have to put their "Big and Bad” collapse of 2010 behind them and win their first Stanley Cup in 38 years.