As the Boston Bruins welcome the Montreal Canadiens for Game 7 of their first-round lovefest, the Boston Globe is referring to coach Claude Julien as the guy "who'll need to win tonight if he hopes to preserve his job behind the bench beyond his fourth season."
From dropping consecutive home games in Boston to start the series to an oh-fer power play that redefines ineptitude, the Bruins have done plenty to undermine their own success in this series. And that's without mentioning the two 5-on-3 power plays that resulted in Montreal goals in Game 6. OK, guess we just did.
Does the blame fall to the coach if the B's lose in their series finale?
From Eric Wilbur of About, who believes if the Bruins lose "Claude Julien will most likely be fired and general manager Peter Chiarelli's job is no certainty either":
Julien and Chiarelli should be given utmost credit for bringing this franchise back from the depths it was in just a few years ago (Remember 10 straight seasons without a playoff series win?), but two straight seasons of not being able to get out of the second round, last May's disaster, and this year's possibility of coming up short should signal to team ownership that enough is enough.
The BruCrew think he's coaching for his job, and don't like the odds:
Recent history isn't in Boston's favor. The Bruins are just 1-6 in their last seven elimination games, Montreal is 6-1 in theirs. Under Claude Julien, who is coaching for his job, the Bruins are 0-3 in Game 7?s.
Uncle Tony is referring to Wednesday night's affair as "Game Sever."
Of course, not everyone is down with the notion that (a) Julien's in trouble or (b) removing him makes sense. From Bill Burt of the Eagle Tribune:
Which brings me back to Chiarelli and Julien, who are signed through 2014 and 2013, respectively.� They have brought class to the organization on and off the ice. Players don't get blamed for everything like they seemed to all too often for a few decades. Players are actually paid the going market rate. And the product on the ice has been consistently good during their reign with a two first-place finishes over the last four years.
The Bruins are missing that superstar player but, because of Chiarelli's handiwork, he is already in their employ ? 19-year-old Tyler Seguin ? but still a year or two at most away from being special.� And Julien's record over four seasons as coach here, 179-103-46, is commendable. Realizing, in the end, it comes down to performance in the post-season, Julien's Bruins have some improving and proving to do.� The Bruins really are close, despite the fact that getting the puck out of their own end seems to require an act of Congress.
They are not the same old Bruins. There is a commitment to winning. And as far as I'm concerned, it starts and ends with these two men, Chiarelli and Julien.
So how does Julien save his gig?
How do the Bruins advance to the Round 2 to face last postseason's tormentors from Philadelphia? Matt Kalman writes on The Bruins Blog that it comes down to two factors: Their moribund power play and their top line of Nathan Horton, David Krecji and Milan Lucic.
No one, not even the Bruins themselves, deny the power play is a disaster. It's not even worth dissecting it anymore. If they're not going to win battles and Tomas Kaberle's never going to shoot, Boston might as well just use the two minutes to rest.
That leaves Boston to try to score 5-on-5, where they played pretty well all season. They finished with a top-1o offensive in terms of goals for per game. Stats, however, can sometimes mislead. And we all know that against some of the league's better defenses, Boston struggled to finish and their goals average was skewed upward by a few massive outbursts against weaker teams.
The Canadiens in the postseason are not a weak team. Not by any measure. The Bruins know entering Game 7 that the Habs will not concede anything to them, so the pressure is on Boston to make a play, make a difference, do something exceptional to advance.
And if they can't, then it could be someone else behind the bench next season trying to coax it out of them.
Katy Perry Vinessa Shaw Rebecca Romijn Nadine Velazquez Pink
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