Boston Bruins: Why fans should desperately miss the playoffs

In an unprecedented season, many National Hockey League teams and their fans are missing the playoffs, but perhaps no fans should be as uneasy as those of the Boston Bruins.

Well folks, here we are. It’s been an astounding nine weeks since the National Hockey League and subsequently, the Boston Bruins took the ice.

And yes, while the world has been focused on more important matters, it’s hard not to miss the NHL Playoffs that would most certainly be at their peak right now.

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The pause has no question put the playoffs in jeopardy, and there’s maybe no team in hockey that is hurt the most by this than the Boston Bruins.

The 2018-19 season ended in complete heartbreak for the B’s, as they lost on Garden ice in Game 7 to the St. Louis Blues.

Never the less, there was no Cup hangover for the squad and they rolled through the following fall and went nearly four weeks without losing in regulation at one point.

After a tough holiday season, they rallied in late January and went 20-7-1 from January 7 until the pause on March 12. When play halted, the Bruins were the top team in the league in terms of points.

So at this point, one could expect that Boston would be in the middle of another quest for the Cup and potential vengeance on the part of the Blues.

But with the season in jeopardy, it remains to be seen whether these Bruins – led by Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, and David Krejci – will ever get a chance to hoist Lord Stanley again. Will the picture of Brad Marchand with tears in his eyes be the lasting image of this decade-plus run for the Bruins?

The short answer is “I don’t know.” The long answer is much more complicated.

For starters, there’s Chara’s health and longevity. He’s been a stalwart for this team for nearly a decade and a half, but he’s not getting any younger. If the B’s want to give him the proper Stanley Cup send-off, time is running short.

Similarly, there are questions about Rask’s future, and he has even hinted at retiring in recent months, though some of it has been openly debunked. There’s also the question mark of Torey Krug’s future, and whether or not he’ll end up extending his tenure with the Bruins or play elsewhere.

The most significant factor, and also the most uncertain, is the upcoming schedule. How will the Bruins even finish out the season? Will there be a modified playoff, and expanded playoff, or no playoff at all? If the season doesn’t resume, will their chances to raise the Cup in 2021 be better or worse?

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Because of all these questions, it’s hard to swallow the unpredictable nature of this current NHL season, especially as a Boston Bruins fan. Though while we should definitely be missing the playoffs now, perhaps Gary Bettman’s recent optimism can give us some hope for the future.

Time will tell.

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