It's absolutely laughable to say Chia and Claude inherited garbage. They inherited the very core that won their one and only Cup. Chia had an all time great 2010 off season and 2011 trade deadline. But to say they came here with the cupboards bare is insane.
That's not what I meant. They had Patrice, and they had Lucic, Marchand, DK#46 in the pipeline. I'm aware. I'm also aware that OC gave Thomas what was likely his last pro chance in North America.
What I meant is that at the time of PC's arrival, and CJ's a season later, the Boston Bruins were NHL kryptonite. They were a s*** team going absolutely nowhere. Their owner, team president and general manager were cheap, inept, stupid and arrogant. They treated their players, never mind the fans, like garbage.
No one, particularly free agents and especially the elite variety of same, wanted anything to do with the Boston Bruins.
Peter Chiarelli and Claude Julien wiped clean and drew again the face of the franchise, building a culture of playing for one another, accountability & hard work, and, eventually, winning.
PS And if the cupboard wasn't bare when PC arrived, the big club itself was a stinking pile of pooh, courtesy of JJ's edict that OC dismantle the club in anticipation of a post-lock out player market that never materialized.
