DHL Dan CCVI - Harry Sinden On The Bruins

Shank talks to the former Boston Bruins coach / GM / Mr. Everything:

Getting Harry Sinden’s take on the Bruins’ playoff chances, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while watching Red Sox defense videos to the tune of the Benny Hill theme song …

▪ The Bruins are in the playoffs again. What does Harry Sinden think of their chances?

“They’re definitely a contender,” says the 91-year-old Bruin-in-Winter. “I’m not on top of the team, but from what I’ve seen, they are a reasonable contender. I think they have a good chance to advance. I couldn’t call them the No. 1 team, but they’re going to give anyone a heck of a time.”

A player, head coach, general manager, and Boston Garden king of hockey, Sinden first came to the Bruins organization as a player/coach in Kingston, Ontario, in 1961. Today he watches games on TV from his home north of Boston, and as “Senior Advisor to the Owner and Alternate Governor,” he ranks fourth on the team masthead, trailing only owners Jeremy and Charlie Jacobs, and team president Cam Neely. Sinden traded for Neely in 1986, and drafted today’s GM, Don Sweeney, in 1984.

DHL Dan CLXV - Bruins Playoff Run Column

Shank calls his old pal Harry Sinden to get his take on this year's Boston Bruins:

What Harry Sinden thinks of these record-setting Bruins, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering if the Red Sox are in need of a Chaim-lich maneuver . . .

▪ The Bruins are favorites to win the Stanley Cup. They have four regular-season games remaining and a shot at the NHL’s all-time records for wins and points. They have a chance to go down in history as the greatest NHL team of all time.

Time to check in with Harry Sinden.

Harry is the Bear in Winter, the godfather of the Spoked-B, a man who came to the Bruins in 1961. He was Bruins head coach when 18-year-old, wiffle-haired Bobby Orr first played in Boston in 1966. Together, they won the Cup in 1970.

Harry will turn 91 in September, has been married to Eleanor for 70 years, and is still on the Bruins’ masthead as “Senior Advisor to the Owner and Alternate Governor.” He is the man who drafted Don Sweeney in 1984, and traded for Cam Neely two years later.

Burial By Proxy

The Boston Bruins lost their 2nd round playoff series to the New York Islanders last night, 6 - 2. Instead of the usual Shank burial of the local team after the playoffs ('they're just not that good', et. al), he'll let former Bruins general manager Harry Sinden do it for him:

Harry Sinden was just like the rest of us Wednesday night. He watched the Bruins from the comfort of his home and found himself yelling at the TV as their season ended with a 6-2 loss to the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum.

“I was into it pretty good,” Sinden said with a chuckle Thursday morning. “I told my wife, ‘If you don’t like me yelling, you can go upstairs.’ ”

Now 88, Sinden is listed fourth on the Bruins administrative masthead as “Senior Advisor to the Owner and Alternate Governor.” He was Bobby Orr’s first head coach with the Bruins in 1966 and acquired both Cam Neely (trade) and Don Sweeney (draft), the two men who run the Bruins for Jeremy Jacobs in 2021.

The Obligatory Harry Sinden Column

Using a lesser employed column template, Shank goes back a few years and lets us know the old Boston Bruins hand is still around.

ST. LOUIS — He is the Bear in Winter. Still watching. Still working. Still bleeding Black and Gold.

Harry Sinden will be 87 in a few months and still reports to the Garden regularly, bouncing thoughts and ideas off Bruins president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney.

“My official title is ‘Senior Adviser to the Owner,’ ’’ says Sinden when reached by phone. “But actually the only word that really applies in that title is the first one.

When you don't know jack shit about the series or even care about it, this is the result. This is not a knock on Harry Sinden, who was influential and successful, but it's such an obviously lazy and borrowed theme from Shank, and the column's saving grace is letting Sinden do all the talking.