Puck Talk

Puck Talk

One of the biggest nightmares when you write on a bi-weekly basis, as I do, is that something big is going to happen a day or two after your most recent column hits the streets. For one thing, when a major story breaks and you’re talking about something else, you look like an idiot. Your readers generally aren’t going to know, or care, that you had to turn your article in on Monday to run on Wednesday, causing you to miss a huge story on Thursday. All they know is that it’s Friday, the whole world is taking about topic A, and your useless column is talking about B, C and D. And the other problem, of course, is that by the time you do get to respond two weeks later the buzz is already gone.

Well, that's exactly what happened to me two weeks ago with the Joe Thornton trade. I wrote a column that came out on November, 30th. On December 1st, Thornton was dealt to the Sharks for Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau. The timing could not have been much worse.

I debated whether to write about the trade at all at this point because, between newspaper, TV, radio and the internet, it's already been analyzed and discussed to death. On the other hand, if you write a regular hockey column in Boston, Joe Thornton gets traded, and you don't go on the record with something, well, that doesn't seem right either. So bear with me. I know this is old news now. I know it's been beat to death. But here's my official take on the Thornton deal:

OK, first things first. Let me start by saying right up front that I think it's a bad deal. I know, I know. I'm not exactly going out on a limb with that one. You probably can’t find 5 Bruins fans in all of New England that flat-out love the trade. But I do think there’s a small distinction to be made between my opinion and the opinions of a lot of people I’ve read and heard. As I said, I think it’s a bad deal. That’s all. I don’t think it’s a disaster. I don’t think it’s the utter catastrophe some are making it to be and I don’t think it’s going to plunge the franchise into an extended period of darkness. If anything, it’s just a continuation of the funk that’s been going on with this franchise for years.

And it really has been going on for years. Consider the last ten full seasons that the black and gold have compiled:

1995-Lost in the first round to New Jersey in 5
1996-Lost in the first round to Florida in 5
1997-Missed the playoffs
1998-Lost in the first round to Washington in 6
1999-Lost in the second round to Buffalo in 6
2000-Missed the playoffs
2001-Missed the playoffs
2002-Lost in the first round to Montreal in 6 as the #1 seed in the East
2003-Lost in the first round to New Jersey in 5
2004-Lost in the first round to Montreal in 7 after leading the series 3-1

Obviously, we’re not talking about the ’80’s Celtics here. They’ve been out of the first round of the playoffs exactly once since 1995. They were a disappointment before Thornton arrived (in fact, the very reason they got Thornton was because they were so bad in ’97) and they were a disappointment in the seven full years he was here.

And Thornton, himself, has been mostly very good over his time but very rarely great. I mean, consider his career playoff numbers. In 35 games he’s put up 6 goals and 12 assists for 18 points and 41 penalty minutes. And yes, they kind of eased him into things his rookie year. And yes, he was hurt two years ago against Montreal. But still, those numbers are a little alarming, no?

There’s no question that he’s got a ton of talent. He’s clearly better, much better, than anyone they got back from the Sharks. Maybe the change of scenery, to a place with less pressure, will do him good. I think there’s a definite tendency to exaggerate his abilities now that he’s gone however. I don’t think we traded Tom Brady or Larry Bird here though. I think we traded someone more along the lines of Paul Pierce or Mo Vaughn.

As for the outrage some people seem to have over this trade….I’m not sure I understand that either because, frankly, I don’t see how this trade is fundamentally different from the Jason Allison trade or the Ray Bourque trade. There are differences for sure. They got more back for Allison. Bourque was at a different stage of his career. But all of these deals are under the same umbrella in my mind; trading your biggest name or biggest weapon at the time for lesser talents.

I hear people say that “this is the last straw” and that they’re done rooting for the Bruins and all that but we’ve done down this road before. It’s the same group of people running the show. It’s the same two nickels for a dime concept. I’m not saying I like it. I don’t. But I’m not surprised. It’s a vintage Jacobs-Sinden-O’Connell maneuver. If this drove you away why didn’t the Bourque trade do it? Why are you leaving now and not then?

The biggest problem I’ve got with the deal is that, by all accounts, the Bruins did a very poor job shopping Thornton around before they pulled the trigger with San Jose. When hockey insiders are shocked by a deal this big, and there were plenty of them that were, that’s not a good sign. I don’t have a problem with the concept of trading Thornton in theory. He has been slightly disappointing for a guy that makes that much money. In the salary cap era you can make a case that he’s not worth what he makes. But it doesn’t feel like they got enough in return.

Stuart is a solid defenseman. He should help the most in the long run, especially considering their needs. Sturm is decent. He seems like a guy whose game might benefit from the rule changes and could fit in OK. Primeau is useless. I think they could’ve done better than that package though. Considerably better. That’s why I dislike the deal. Interesting idea. Poor execution.

But here’s the thing…this trade, because of its large scope, could end up being a blessing in disguise. If this thing blows up, and there’s a good chance it might, it’s got to come down hard on O’Connell and the front office. This one’s totally on them. And if that causes heads to roll and some changes to be made, so be it.

See, I’m of the opinion that this team was going nowhere from day one. There hasn’t been one day since the lockout ended when I felt they were a legit Cup contender. Unfortunately, that’s been the case too often in the last 10-15 years. And what’s been the one constant over that time? The management. The players come and go. Coaches come and go. But the same group of people keep calling the shots and the franchise just keeps spinning its wheels.

I wouldn’t trust their long term vision even if Joe was still here. I certainly don’t trust it with him being traded away. And that’s the problem.

Questions? Comments? Please send feedback to Michael James at feedback@barstoolsports.com