Monorail Monorail Monorail !
I agree with Fenway. The front office, and the Jacobs in particular, don't want to be seen at all as tanking, or not making a "full effort" to make the playoffs. They'd rather have 5 years of one-and-done playoffs than miss the playoffs 4 times and have one deep run. I can see that - it's more profitable to them.
Missing the playoffs twice in a row when it was literally promised to the fans by the captain of the team, and after the threat last year of Charlie (or was it the year before?) puts the Bruins in danger of losing the fan base. That means empty seats, and not because of winter weather. The glow of a Stanley Cup only lasts so long.
The Bruins will do anything they can to make the playoffs. There's only 5 games until the deadline - all against the West, so no "bonus points" for taking a game from a divisional, or even a conference, rival. California will be critical. So will the games by other teams. If we're in playoff position, or within 2-3 points of playoff position, they'll buy.
That could be dangerous. I still have nightmares about our Western Canada/Midwest trip two years ago, which is, IMO, when the Bruins started to go off the rails. We've got that trip in March, after the deadline, and if we only get 1 or 2 points there, we're going to be in a bad place.
