Unfinished Business: Bruins’ “Town Meeting” Sets Expectations

Tonight in Boston, close to 3,000 of the black and gold’s loyal season ticket holders marched into the TD Garden for the Bruins annual “State of the Bruins” town meeting where fans get to hear what players, coaches, GM Peter Chiarelli, President Cam Neely and principal owners Charlie Jacobs and Jeremy Jacobs have to say about the hometown club.

The opening statements of Boston resonated a similar tone; the feeling of “unfinished business” following their seven game series loss to Carolina in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on home ice, in overtime.

Following statements by Bruins Milan Lucic, alternate captain Patrice Bergeron and Boston new-comer Derek Morris, the microphone was distributed among the crowd for their favorite part of the festivities.

The questions asked to the panel ranged from how you pronounce Milan Lucic (Loo-cheech or Loo-chick, it’s Loo-cheech for those who still don’t know), to what’s eaten before a game, how life in Boston is for the Morris’ family, if Bergeron will continue to fight and if Lucic was aware that his punching bag Mike Komisarek is still within the division.

While the players were having a great laugh, it was General Manager Peter Chiarelli who felt the sting of many questions that the public had.

Chiarelli, who’s made improvements in each year with the club, faced the scorn of many fans throughout the question and answer process. He was respectfully criticized and questioned for letting players such as Stephane Yelle and P.J Axelsson go while buying out the contract of Petr Schaefer, a move that will count against the Boston cap until the end of the 2010-’11 season.

Surprisingly, there was just one question regarding Phil Kessel to Chiarelli, asking just where he thinks he’s going to replace the 36 goals Kessel tallied last season. Touching on Kessel, Chiarelli explained the difficulty of working within a salary cap and what’s in the best interest of the team regardless of Kessel being a phenomenal talent and “great person”.

Everyone on the panel talked about “raised expectations”, a sentiment felt by everyone within the Hub of Hocey, both on and off the ice.

Funniest part of the night award goes to Derek Morris, who made a great response to a question asked by a young boy wondering what NHL team the players would play for if they had to pick any other team besides the Bruins.

While Lucic and Bergeron both opted to say “No other team” (such a Bruin response), Morris said “I’ve played for all the other teams.”.

Closing out the night was the debut of the 2010 Winter Classic jersey, modeled by Czech forward and fan favorite David Krejci. The jersey, which can be viewed here (courtesy of BostonBruins.com) features various color schemes and patterns showcasing 80 years of Boston Bruins history.

One thing to note was son of owner Jeremy Jacobs, Charlie Jacobs, revealing that they are currently in the works for two plans. Their newest plan is to honor the life of Fred Cusick, the voice of the Bruins for nearly four decades, who sadly passed away at the age of 90 earlier this week after a battle with cancer.

Jacobs also went on to hint about an old timers game at Fenway Park commorating the 1970 Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins club, which will be celebrating their 40th anniversary later this year. Despite saying that nothing is definite, Jacobs said the plan is to have the game somewhere in between the 18th and 24th of December.

From my point of view, tonight’s turn out at the TD Garden was simply awesome. It was great to be back at the Garden with the smell of popcorn circulating the floor and the familiar faces that shared the golden seats of Causeway Street for 41 games a season.

Also, before you do anything, literally the second you exit out of this blog, watch the newest Bruins commercial featuring the ever popular “Bruins Bear” and B’s legend Cam Neely. Here’s the link, it’s sure to please.

For those who are counting, we’re now  just 14 days away from hockey that officially counts.

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