Could a Shortened NHL Season Benefit the Boston Bruins?

On Thursday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman explained that the league and its owners would be prepared to lockout its players if a new Collective Bargaining Agreement wasn’t settled upon by September 15. Considering just how far apart the two sides are currently, it seems likely that a lockout—yes, another one—is looming. While it may not have the same implications or length as the last NHL lockout during the 2004-05 season, the effects could still be devastating…at least for the most part.

It’s not farfetched to believe that teams will suffer if there is a shortened NHL season, but could there be some teams that would benefit from one? Possibly—and the Boston Bruins might be one of those teams.

Five free agent forwards that the Boston Bruins should target

The Boston Bruins’ breakup day came approximately six weeks earlier than it did the season before. During the day’s interviews and meetings, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli indicated that while he didn’t foresee any major changes, he would like to “add some pieces.” The Bruins will need bottom-six players with one or two to have the potential to move into the top-six group, if necessary. With the current situation as is for the Bruins, here’s a look at five free agent forwards that the Bruins should target.

Closing the book on the 2011-12 Boston Bruins

Last year, I drove from Boston to Rhode Island to watch both the Eastern Conference Final and the Stanley Cup Final Game 7s. I figured that if I had the chance to watch my favorite team growing up win a championship, I would want to witness it with my dad, the person who influenced me to fall in love with this crazy sport. Of course, the Bruins won both games and I watched it all in with my dad and younger brother right beside me. Somewhere amongst the celebrations, the hugs and the complete shock, I recall my dad telling me to take everything in that’s happening, because there will never be another run quite like the one we had just saw.

Think about it: a total of 25 games including three Game 7 victories, two series of coming back from a 0-2 deficit and a first round victory that was clinched without scoring any power play goals. The 2010-11 Boston Bruins weren’t just good, they were lucky and every single fan who watched any of those games could have told you that. It was magic.

On Wednesday night, Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the Bruins and the Washington Capitals, that same mentality of thinking that the team was special, perhaps invincible, last year in the postseason ended up becoming the worse possible thing for every Bruins’ fan’s psyche.