Beating A Dead Horse, Claude Julien Edition

Former Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien was fired on February 7, 2017, as Shank professed outrage at the timing of the firing. Never mind that whenever he wanted someone run out of town, like Nomar Garciaparra or any other member of the Red Sox Shank deemed expendable, that was okay because that's different. Yesterday he had this curiously cryptic tweet on the matter, in some sort of backhanded measure to lay it at the feet of the New England Patriots' parade:

Pats victory parade? Wonder if Claude Julien is holding his breath up in Montreal today.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) February 5, 2019

Whatever that's supposed to mean.

Fake Outrage?

Now that the Patriots' run is over, Shank is forced to turn his attention elsewhere. In his first (yes, first) column on the Bruins of the season (their season's already past the halfway point), Shank takes issue with the timing of Claude Julien's firing.

The Bruins should never be forgiven for the stunt they pulled Tuesday morning: They fired coach Claude Julien on the morning of the Patriots Super Bowl victory parade through the streets of Boston.

This goes beyond weak, beyond cowardly. It’s disrespectful to the winningest coach in franchise history — a guy who has been on the job for 10 years — and it’s an insult to the great sports/hockey fans of Boston.

The timing stinks. We all knew it was time for Claude to go. The Bruins should have fired him at the end of the 2015 season. Or at the end of the 2016 season. Or last week at the All-Star break.

After reading the comments to Shank's column, I seem to be the only one who doesn't care about the timing of this move.

Two Shaughnessys In One

Shank, two and a half weeks ago:

Are we still supposed to be patient with coach-for-life Claude and the Bruins???

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) January 22, 2017

Shank, four hours ago:

Bruins should never be forgiven for firing Claude on the morning on the Patriots parade. Beyond weak.

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) February 7, 2017

So, is Shank now fine with the firing, but not cool with the timing? Seems to me the timing doesn't matter much and is likely a function on securing a new coach before you go ahead and fire the current coach. Anyway, if you're looking for a bit more IQ behind the firing (not a high bar to clear with Shank), check out this Deadspin article.

Coach For Life

Hey, Claude - remember the last time I was ripping on you and calling for you to get fired?

Claude is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) April 14, 2016

From now on he is Coach For Life Claude Julien

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) April 14, 2016

We're good now, right? Glad to have you back!

Julien Story an Old One but Not an Accurate One

Roger already wrote about this today, and not to cover too much of the same ground, but I want to focus on one line in particular from The CHB's mailed-in column today: "The Bruins have to rebuild and [coach Claude] Julien might not be the guy for a team of youngsters."

The only reason Julien remains the coach today is because his 2010-11 Bruins team won the Stanley Cup. Let's look at that roster:

Five of the top seven scorers were 25 or younger. 

Oh but, you say, the playoffs were all about the veteran experience. Not so fast:

The top four scorers were all 25 or under, and the median age of the top 15 scorers was 28. In terms of ice time, only two forwards older than 25 averaged 15 or more minutes a game, and the four were all 25 or younger. 

Fast forward to today (see below). The median age of the top 15 is 27. In fact, contrary to what The CHB says, the 2015-16 Bruins' "youth" was barely changed from that of the Cup winners. 

The case could be made that the Julien needs to go. But it's not because the Bruins are too young. It's because they lack sufficient talent. And for that, the blame lies with none other than Cam Neely.

Pucked Up

Overreactors of the world, unite!

The guy who knows nothing about hockey (the time the Holy Cross varsity shoved a puck up his ass as a prank notwithstanding) says it's time to fire the Bruins GM and the coach.

Here's the best part: The CHB says Peter Chiarelli has "bleeped up" the draft every year. Here's a few of the guys who Chiarelli has drafted: Phil Kessel, who finished fifth in goals and sixth in scoring two seasons ago; Tyler Seguin, who finished fifth in goals and 7th in overall scoring this year, and fifth in goals and fourth in overall scoring a year ago; Dougie Hamilton, considered one of the top young blue liners in the league; and David Pastrnak, who at 18 made the big club. If there's a nit to pick, it's that Chiarelli didn't react fast enough to the change in hockey from lumbering to speed, and gave up too soon on the guys who could finish.

Great analysis, Shank!

Iced

Dan Shaughnessy, typing away with 2:30 left in the Bruins game last night:

"Here in the Stub of Hockey, they are Wrong Ways on Causeway, the Not so Fleet on Center Ice. Claude (as in "Clod") Julien may never have to buy a drink in this town again, but that's a good thing since he will be looking for a new job come Wednesday. Can we say another 40 years between Cups?"

Dan Shaughnessy, at 6:05 of overtime in the Bruins game last night:

"Oh crap."