Recchi crew
To learn exactly why 41-year-old Mark Recchi is not only a formidable, but necessary addition to the hockey team once known as the High-Flying Boston Bruins, we point you to this tidbit from Kevin Paul Dupont in today’s Globe:
[Recchi] joins Phil Esposito, Dave Andreychuk, John Bucyk, and Joe Mullen in the small group of players to wear the Black and Gold sweaters and score more than 500 goals. Boston’s top seven point-getters this season total 550 career goals.
And that should end any debate as to what a player who was viable in NHL ’94 can still bring to the table.
Recchi brings Stanley Cup pedigree, inspiration, and experience to a Bruins locker room severely lacking in postseason history. But more importantly, there’s also the off-chance he can find whatever rock Phil Kessel has been hiding under since returning from mono in January.
I’m not sure Peter Chiarelli was ever that serious in dealing the young gun for the likes of Chris Pronger or Jay Bouwmeester, but despite Kessel’s problems of late, we do know public opinion would indeed have shifted downward. It’s difficult to remember sometimes that the kid is 21, which not only means he’s just emerging into his professional career, but that he needs a kick in the pants every so often to bring out his talent. Claude Julien seemed to have some effect in doing that last spring when he sat Kessel on the bench during the Bruins’ first-round matchup against the Canadiens. And you have to think that behind closed doors, the coach is laying out to Recchi the project he sees for him in driving Kessel toward April.
Lack of a puck-moving defenseman got you down? I wouldn’t exactly count Steve Montador out from being close to that guy. Disappointed that they didn’t make a splash for Pronger, Bouwmeester, or Erik Cole? Two words: Sergei Gonchar. How’d that work out?
For a team that isn’t as good as the one we saw at the beginning of the season, nor as bad as the one we have witnessed now for the past few weeks, these moves for Recchi and Montador (only 11 defensemen in the East have a better plus-minus than Montador’s 14) are perfect complementary pieces for a run at the…well, let’s just start with first-round playoff win.
We’ve been over it time and again, 10 years, and whatnot. But there’s deserved concern out there nowadays that we could yet again see a repeat of last season once April adorns up with her presence. 2004. 2002. Etc. Mind you, if the playoffs started today, the Bruins would face off against last year’s Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who yesterday improved their offense by adding old friend Bill Guerin to the mix with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Rangers, whom the Bruins face Sunday, are yet another first-round possibility. They made a splash by picking up defenseman Derek Morris.
Oh, and perhaps you haven’t noticed the surging Devils and Capitals in the rear-view? We could conceivably have another Boston-Montreal first rounder on our hands, should the Habs fall to eighth, where only three points separate them from the Penguins. Of course, we could very well have one with the Bruins as the 3 seed, and Montreal as the 6. Laurels are not to be enjoyed right about now.
The Bruins, according to one TV talking head last evening, lost out on acquiring “A” guys, and had to settle for a pair of “B” guys. Maybe Chiaraelli would say the same. But not willing to sacrifice the youth that this team is built around is in stark contrast to his eager predecessor, who tossed everything and anything out the window if it meant a chance to join the long line of parades down Boylston St. Will these additions help turn this in Lord Stanley’s town? At this point, we just need baby steps, having drunk the Kool-Aid for too long only to sob over yet another Marathon Monday Game 7 loss.
Or, think of it this way: The last time Boston tasted a playoff series win, Recchi was 31.
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