The Bruins Are Another Unlikable Boston Team

Hey Boston sports fans, in case you were so distraught that you didn’t have an unlikable team to root for now that the Red Sox season is over, look no further than the 2017-18 Boston Bruins!!

What makes them so unlikable?  Have they berated an announcer on a plane?  Do they have a polarizing/misunderstood player on their team that the entire fan base blames for everything even when he pitches well and has nothing to do with the team dying in the playoffs?  Sorry I still like David Price… yes there’s one of us Sox fans that doesn’t believe all the shit surrounding him.

Nope they haven’t done any of that (yet).  But it’s really getting hard to root for a team that may look like a contender or may look like they could care less, and the switch could flip in the same game.

And if that’s not bad enough, we’ve gotten at least one ridiculous excuse or explanation as to why they suck every week of the season.  Yes I know we are only three weeks in, but it’s already getting tiresome hearing guys admit that they weren’t ready, that they were out-coached, and that they gave up in the middle of a game.

Last week was a perfect microcosm of the entire season so far.  They dominated the Canucks on Thursday night, flashing the offensive skill that was shown in their two previous victories but went M.I.A. for their three losses, and looked like they were well on their way to another convincing win on Saturday against a struggling Sabres team.

Up 4-1 in the second period, the B’s remembered that they really aren’t that good and totally stopped trying, which is never a winning strategy even against a team that is near the bottom of the Atlantic Division.  They were able to back their way into a charity point thanks to the NHL’s odd rules for rewarding teams for losing as long as it is in overtime, but allowing four straight goals on home ice is something that a team that is expected to make the postseason just doesn’t do.

After that final 23 minutes of pathetic effort, the Bruins admitted that they stopped trying and didn’t bring any effort in front of their home crowd.

David Pastrnak was quoted after the game saying that the Bruins were too scared to play in the final period, and that the team just stopped playing.

While it’s nice to hear the honesty, especially from a young player who will still be looked upon to mentor the rookies on this current roster, it’s already becoming old to hear the Bruins make excuses for their shitty performances.

Following another embarrassing game on October 15th against Vegas, Brad Marchand said that the B’s weren’t as ready to play as they thought they were.  Bruce Cassidy said after an ugly shutout loss to the Avalanche that everyone, including himself, was to blame for not doing their jobs well enough.

We’re seven games into the season and we’ve already heard three separate excuses as to why the team sucks.  Well here’s a fourth reason:

They just suck.

You can blame the injuries (surprised that one hasn’t come up yet.. maybe they’re saving it for the stink bomb they’ll undoubtedly drop this week), or the lack of a preseason, or the crazy early-season schedule, but the bottom line is that this team is not good.

But the educated Bruins fans knew to expect a learning curve, as the team blended their existing veterans with a group of young players.  Those young guns will be inconsistent and will have bad games, but the biggest problem is that the veterans are teaching the rookies how to underachieve, how to stop trying, and how to make excuses every week instead of making sure that garbage never happens again.

Hockey is a sport that is built on effort.  The Golden Knights – who embarrassed the Bruins – may not have the most talented roster, but they have put forth the effort night in and night out, and they have the best record for an expansion team in league history.  Vegas is a fun team to watch and root for right now.

On paper, this Bruins team has a much better roster, but on the ice they put forth little effort, and are already giving away points that they will likely need to try to make the playoffs.  They have a .500 record, which is also represents the chances that they will actually show up for any or all of a game.  And other than giving the press a couple good sound-bites, no one seems to give a fuck that they have sucked the life out of their fans after less than a month of hockey.

That makes the Boston Bruins more unlikable than even the Red Sox.  At least until they decide to try, which will likely happen on Thursday night.  Otherwise we’ll get another veteran picking an excuse out of a hat.

Place your bets on the next excuse for the unlikable Bruins… will it be injuries, or ice conditions, or being petrified of playing, or that their Apple watches stopped working (oh wait that was the Red Sox), or that they had their heads so far up their asses they couldn’t find the puck?  I’ll take the last one… that one is the most accurate this season.

Written by: Adam Belue (@albinomamba44)