Boston Bruins Should Retain Claude Julien, Eastern Conference Title or Not

For Bruins buffs still poised to strap Boston skipper Claude Julien to the hot seat in the event of another Game 7 downfall Friday night, it is time to channel celebrity Bs fan Steve Carell’s character in Anchorman.

“I don’t know what we’re yelling about!”

Fans around these parts really have been spoiled, haven’t they? So much that they rate their hockey team’s progress by sizing the Bruins up with three of their extra-sport neighbors instead of their 29 intrasport rivals.

True, a bottle of Lord Stanley’s finest champagne is all that’s needed for the city to complete the cycle in this young century. And winning can be addicting, especially when it comes in the quantities that it has since the New England Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI.

But here is a concept: try rating Julien’s worth in his position by sizing up his own team’s success with that of the not-too-distant past. You will find that a regime change now would all but guarantee another recession a la the post-Rick Bowness error of 1992.

Bowness was the last Boston coach to reach the Stanley Cup semifinals, yet was fired after only one season merely because he failed to stop a defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins team fueled by Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens and Jaromir Jagr. 

It has since taken another eight coaching changes and 19 years just to bring the Bruins back to within tasting distance of the final frontier. They might happen to fall one game short to a Tampa Bay Lightning team bolstered by Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier. But in that event, do you really want to risk another protracted pothole of Brian Sutters, Steve Kaspers, Mike Sullivans and Dave Lewises?

Or would you rather see if Julien can go from putting Boston back in the playoffs in 2008, to reaching the NHL’s Elite Eight in 2009 and 2010, to reaching the conference finals in 2011, to reaching the Cup final in 2012?

The fact is, in the time of year that counts the most, Julien has orchestrated exponential progress not seen in generations. On his watch, the Bruins have yet to participate in one fewer playoff round than in the preceding season.

Julien is the Bruins’ longest-tenured coach and also the first man to guide them to four straight playoff appearances since Gerry Cheevers from 1980-81 through 1983-84. And by the time Cheevers was replaced at midseason in 1984-85, the Wales Conference was an 11-team circuit. Today, the Eastern Conference is comprised of 15 tenants.

With the competitive pool having grown more congested, never less, it is quite paradoxical that coaching changes are as frequent as they are now.

Furthermore, Cheevers only mustered three playoff series victories when he was the man of the ice house. Since his arrival, Julien and his pupils have treated New Englanders to Game Six against Montreal before they were expectedly bounced out of the first round in 2008.

In the three years thereafter, they have won a cumulative four series, are one win away from a fifth, and still have a chance for a sixth before the next training camp.

That’s right. Four playoff series wins in a matter of three seasons. That’s two more than what each of the seven skippers between Bowness and Julien combined for in a span of 14 seasons (discounting the lockout year).

Only two other NHL coaches can claim they have been to the second round in each of the last three dances: Vancouver’s Alain Vigneault and Detroit’s Mike Babcock.

And if you insist on comparing local teams, then remember that the Red Sox and Patriots are both going on three calendar years without a single playoff game victory. The Sox last won a postseason tilt when they forced Game Seven in the 2008 ALCS while the Pats are on a three-game playoff skid that began with the unmentionable in Arizona.

Sure, Boston’s abysmal power play is still a Zamboni in the room. And Wednesday night’s Game Six falter did drop Julien to a 4-9 record when he has a chance to win a playoff round. But on the flip-side, Julien’s Bruins 5-3 when facing elimination and proved in Round One this year that they can pull through when the do-or-die scenario is mutual.

Sometimes the only downer in life is that one is too nit-picky to appreciate good fortune. Such is the case with this ungrateful sector of the Bruins’ fan base who must be reminded that their team has not lost yet. And getting to Round Two three years in a row, let alone to a Game Seven with a passport to the Stanley Cup final at stake, does not happen by sheer coincidence.

The only Julien-related question New England hockey fans should be asking is “Why couldn’t they find a guy like this between 1992 and 2006?”

The ideal response: “Oh, well. At least he’s here now, coaching the Bruins to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals."

So cut the push for pink slips and go make “Loud noises!” in hopes of a victory Friday night.