Bruins Nation

Even though Peter Chiarelli said over and over again that Dave Lewis would be coming back, we now know he was lying. Late Friday Chiarelli called Dave Lewis into his office and canned him. Dave Lewis and his assistant coach Marc Habscheid won't be behind the Bruins bench for next season, but they are still under contract and will somehow be working with the Boston Bruins.

Chiarelli stated in a conference call that his main reasons for firing Lewis was the Bruins inconsistency, their lack of aggressive play, and the lack of accountability. Even though I personally would have given Dave Lewis a second chance, Chiarelli is absolutely right about what he is saying. The Bruins were very inconsistent, they had barely and aggressive fore-checking, and coach Lewis never made any of the players accountable for their poor play. What Chiarelli failed to mention though is that many players struggled under Lewis' system. His defense first mentality I believe held back players like Bergeron, Sturm, and Kessel. Savard and Murray had great seasons but they probably could have done more. Every single defensemen on the Bruins also didn't play up to their full potential. Chara didn't fight once, and I believe because he was forced to play more then any other player in the league, he was unable to play as aggressive as he would have liked. Mara and Stuart were shadows of their former and probably future selves. Alberts should have had more of an impact on the team and Ference should have been allowed to handle the puck more. The only defensemen that played surprisingly well were the ones from Providence.

Peter Chiarelli says that he hopes to have Lewis' job filled by July 1st. The candidates according to the globe are Providence head coach Scott Gordon, former Devils head coach Claude Julien, Rochester Americans head coach Randy Cunneyworth, Former Bruin coach and Islander GM Mike Milbury, former Senators assistant coach John Paddock, and Harvard head coach Ted Donato. Currently the front runners are Scott Gordon, who has done a fantastic job with the PBruins (if you remember, Sullivan took the PBruins to BBruins route), Mike Milbury, who coached the Bruins to the stanley cup in 1990, and Claude Julien, who coached the Devils to a second place finish this season until he was ousted by the Devils GM, who he himself wanted to be coach during the playoffs. I would personally like to see Ted Donato become coach. The former Bruin is doing a great job with Harvard's team and has played with guys like Axelsson and Murray not too long ago.

All that can be said now is go Bruins!