By: Kevin Perry | Follow Me on Twitter @Kevperry_
Today the Boston Bruins organization hosted the end-of-season press conference. Bruins Chief Executive Officer Charlie Jacobs, President Cam Neely, General Manager Don Sweeney, and Head Coach Jim Montgomery were in attendance for this morning’s festivities.
After some technical difficulties early in the press conference and about a five-minute wait, the question came one after another.
The main takeaway from the press conference was how disappointed the Boston Bruins brass was. The emotional emptiness was apparent during the press conference, and when asked to describe their feelings in a few words, the entire group was on the same page.
“We don’t point fingers. We take full responsibility individually and collectively as an organization.”
Montgomery and Sweeney touched on how the goaltending was outstanding all season but became average against the Florida Panthers, especially as the series continued. After speaking with him, Montgomery discussed the decision to keep Ullmark in for game six and “Goalie Bob” after game five.
“I spoke with Linus, and he answered honestly and took ownership of where he was at after game 5, and what he relayed to me was he was ready to grow and move forward.”
Sweeney was also asked if Ullmark was dealing with an injury in the playoffs but rebutted the question saying that he was cleared to play every day on the injury report.
“I get reports every day, and Linus was fully available. He had something going on at the end of the season but was cleared to play.”
Goaltending was not the only issue in this series, as the Bruins had leads in games six and seven late in the third period and failed to close them out.
Coach Jim Montgomery and General Manager Don Sweeney were both adamant about how no single issue led to the Bruins’ demise after taking a 3-1 series lead.
“I think game six is kind of a snapshot of what went wrong with us in the series.”
Sweeney discussed watching game six and how he was uncomfortable during the entire game outside of the 4-3 lead, the Bruins took in the third period.
“When we got into taking leads like that, we were so used to closing them out… Looking at it now, we have to try to improve to put the players in a position to be better.”
The overall mood of the press conference was somber as nobody in that room, especially the four gentlemen sitting at the table, had a smile on their face.
The positive is that it can be used as fuel moving forward.
“The overriding one (takeaway) was my job to get players to own the moment and seize the moment, and that didn’t happen, and it falls on me… We have to learn from this and grow, or we’ll repeat the same thing next year.”
Montgomery was the most critical of himself as he discussed how he could have improved the team heading into the playoffs.
“There’s really nothing you could do in practices and games, but peer meetings with each other because your peers know where to correct your off-ice and on-ice habits, inner conflict would help players prepare for the hard time ahead.”
Sweeney addressed possible roster changes regarding the Bruins’ salary cap situation moving forward. Sweeney mentioned “grow and foster” their younger players, which means there could be something nobody knows about behind the scenes. Regardless, the Bruins roster will look a bit different moving forward.
Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci have no timetable for deciding to return to the Bruins. Still, CEO Charlie Jacobs mentioned how special they are to the legacy of the Boston Bruins organization.
“It’s hard to put into words.”
It’s hard to put anything in words today, but if there was one word to describe Don Sweeney and Jim Montgomery today, it was accountable.
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