Fansided

Boston Bruins fire General Manager Peter Chiarelli

By Tasha St. Pierre

Jun 11, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Bruins head coach Peter Chiarelli is interviewed during media day in preparation for game one of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 11, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Bruins head coach Peter Chiarelli is interviewed during media day in preparation for game one of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /
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After nine seasons with the Boston Bruins, the organization has relieved General Manager Peter Chiarelli of his duties.

After falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the final encounter of the regular season, the Boston Bruins would watch as their hopes of finding one of the final Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference fade into oblivion and their season come to an end.

Needless to say, this left Boston Bruins fans with quite a bitter taste in their mouth. Some fans are calling for the head of Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien while others have laid blame on General Manager Peter Chiarelli. Others simply wonder what happened to the once “big, bad” Bruins.

It seems as if the Boston Bruins organization has elected to focus in on the General Manager situation. Boston Bruins President Cam Neely announced this morning via the Boston Bruins’ official site that the organization has elected to relieve Bruins’ General Manager Peter Chiarelli of his duties.

At this point and time, the organization has chosen not to name an interim coach, but to concentrate all of their efforts into scouting, interviewing, and hiring a new General Manager. The responsibility for the new acquisition will fall to Neely and Bruins Chief Executive Officer Charlie Jacobs.

Chiarelli has been with the Boston Bruins in the role of General Manager for nine seasons. Unfortunately, the Bruins have not seen a whole lot of success during Chiarelli’s tenure. The Bruins failed to qualify for the post season in his first season as General Manager.

The Bruins went on to make the playoffs in almost every season since; however, with the exception of the 2010-2011 season where the Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup, the Bruins had difficulty making it past the Semifinals.

Cam Neely spoke very highly of the efforts that Chiarelli has made during his tenure with the Bruins, but was clear that this decision was necessary in order to ensure the success, both in the short and long terms, of the Boston Bruins.

"“We are grateful for Peter’s service to the Bruins organization over the last nine seasons,” Neely said in a statement. “His efforts undoubtedly helped the team achieve great success during his tenure and he helped restore the proud tradition of Boston Bruins hockey. We ultimately feel that this change is necessary in order to ensure sustainable success for the club both in the short term and the long term. Our search for a new General Manager will begin immediately.” – Boston Bruins"

Bruins fans began to suspect that something was amiss when the Bruins cancelled their final practice before their regular season finale against the Tampa Bay Lightning and made Head Coach Claude Julien unavailable to the media. While this may not have been the reason for the cancellation, it certainly sparked suspicion.

Anyone who has watched the Bruins play for any period of time can plainly see that the Bruins are not near the hockey team they once were. The Bruins are usually one of those teams that have their playoff position solidified early; however, this time they found themselves grasping for straws.

Even if they had pulled off a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, they would have  needed the Ottawa Senators to lose and the Penguins to be contained to a single point in two games; two things that did not come to pass.

Cam Neely and Charlie Jacobs will be hosting a press conference at 3:00 p.m. EST at the TD Garden to discuss the dismissal and their plans for the future.

Whoever ultimately ends up taking the reins of the Boston Bruins in the General Manager position certainly has their work cut out for them. It will be interesting in the coming weeks to see who the Bruins will be looking at to be Chiarelli’s successor.

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