Boston Bruins officially out of Stanley Cup playoffs

The Boston Bruins will have to endure a second straight postseason without playing. 

In 2013-2014, the Boston Bruins won the President’s Trophy and made it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals before losing to the Montreal Canadiens. Who would have predicted that just two years later, Boston and Montreal would both not be in the playoffs and that it would be Boston’s second consecutive season of not being in the playoffs? That is the case though, as Boston has been eliminated thanks to the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Where does Boston go from here? Anytime that a team with a history as long and proud as the one that the Bruins have doesn’t make the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, changes occur. Since their front office already took the fall last season, despite putting together a very flawed roster and putting forward very little effort to fix those problems, general manager Don Sweeney is most likely safe.

That leaves the players and the coach. It’s hard to imagine the Bruins without defenseman Zdeno Chara or head coach Claude Julien, but something has to give. Since the front office needs a scapegoat for not making the playoffs again, it wouldn’t be surprising if at least one of those two figures were gone. Both could feasibly be gone.

Boston will have an offseason to stew over their issues. With a shallow blue line that needs to be fixed, it’s an offseason that could determine Boston’s future. Regardless of what happens in the offseason, this is likely the end of a dynasty that has been to two Stanley Cups and won one since Julien was hired in 2007. It was a heck of a run and it should be celebrated.

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