The grades won’t be glowing after the Bruins flunk their final exam, and for the second season in a row, collapse down the stretch and miss the playoffs.
The grades were largely very good at the midway point for the Boston Bruins, who had overachieved and put themselves in a very good position right around the NHL All-Star break. In reality, the B’s didn’t end far from where people thought they were going to be when they ended up finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference just points off the playoff cut for the second consecutive season. They should have been a playoff team after sticking around in a playoff spot for most of the season and finishing seventh overall in the East with a plus-10 goal differential.
So, the report cards won’t be quite as glowing after the Bruins flunked the final exam. No playoffs for the Bruins has meant millions of lost dollars to ownership, one hell of a long summer for players, coaches, management and media and a lost job to for least assistant coach Doug Houda and probably a number of other assistant coaches.