Sullivan getting tough on Bruins

WILMINGTON -- With not a bottle of Love Potion No. 9 to be found, Bruins coach Mike Sullivan yesterday resorted to old-time hockey tactics in hopes of capturing his sagging team's attention and falling fortunes.

Outside Ristuccia Arena, there was nothing but the sapphire sky of a sensational New England autumn day. But inside, where the 7-7-5 Bruins skated, skated, and skated some more under the chirp of Sullivan's whistle, the dark cloud of a disappointing early season hung heavily over the heads of the Bruins.

''It's about how we win, and how we lose," said Sullivan, perturbed after the lackluster effort that translated into a 5-2 loss to the Islanders in Uniondale Saturday night. ''It's unacceptable."

Finally, one quarter of the way into the season, Club Causeway got its dander up a bit. For weeks, everyone connected to the club had been singing a happy song, despite bobbing along around .500, despite four times kicking away two-goal leads, despite usually displaying little or no emotion.

Sullivan, as peeved as he's been since taking over the Bruins at the start of the 2003-04 season, led the club through a one-hour practice, one he repeatedly stopped for lengthy sessions of wind sprints. At one point, he stopped a drill and bellowed, to the entire rank and file, ''Do your own job! We are all trying to duplicate each other. Just do your own job!"

At 11:30 a.m., one hour after the official scheduled start, Sullivan gestured toward the rink's second-story conference room and abruptly skated off the ice -- perhaps the first time in his career, as player or coach, he was ever the first to leave the sheet.

''Yeah, it's a message to everybody," said left wing Sergei Samsonov. ''I don't think we've been playing without effort, but we can do a better job in every aspect of the game. Hey, I'd be [angry] if I was him. We do have a good team on paper, but we haven't played the way we should -- so he should be mad.

''We said we'd be prepared to win a Stanley Cup. It's not just a word game anymore. We have to pick it up or we'll be chasing teams until April."

Sullivan allowed his club only 10-15 minutes to shower before reporting to the conference room, where, he said later, they watched videotape and talked over the issues that all too often have led to defeat. As the last straggler left the room more than an hour later, a reporter asked Sullivan if class had been dismissed.

''For today," was his curt answer. Later asked if were considering two-a-day drills for his faltering club, he was evasive, a hint perhaps that off days today and tomorrow will bring more demanding workouts and increased chalk talk.

''I don't think anyone in here is happy," said veteran left wing P.J. Axelsson. ''No one should be, anyway. We haven't played up to expectation."

The action behind the blue line has been painful, especially in the two weeks that Brian Leetch has been sidelined with a knee injury. General manager Mike O'Connell, who put together what many felt was a spotty defense even before training camp, must have been working the phone feverishly in hopes of obtaining a remedy. For a second straight day, he did not return a phone call seeking an interview.

O'Connell was a noticeable absentee at the morning skate. Instead, team president Harry Sinden, who rarely attends off-day skates nowadays, was in the stands with assistant GM Jeff Gorton and Sean Coady, the director of pro scouting and player development. O'Connell attended Friday's workout, but skipped the game on Long Island Saturday night. Odd, after such a poor showing Saturday, that he would not watch yesterday's workout -- and even odder that his boss, now 73, would make a Monday morning trek to the suburban practice facility.

The Bruins are off until Thursday, when the Maple Leafs come to town, leaving Sullivan & Co. some 48 hours to find some life, maybe even a little defense.

''I want to win, and right now," said Sullivan. ''We're a .500 team, a mediocre team, and that's not good enough."

Better focus is needed, said Sullivan, along with better discipline, and a mind-set that blocks out all distractions.

''We have to become more of a team, no question," he said. ''We are not a good team right now. I'm not sure I'd say we're complacent, but we have to find a way to show consistent intensity -- and I think that starts with mental toughness, and the ability not to let factors take us away from our intensity.

''Do your job to the best of your ability. And do it with passion."

Former Bruins goalie Byron Dafoe, who last suited up in the NHL for the Thrashers in 2003-04, recently joined Omsk in the Russian Super League. According to his Boston-based agent, Neil Abbott, who had been trying to find him an NHL job, Dafoe negotiated his own contract. ''Hopefully," Abbott reported in an e-mail, ''he can resurrect himself over there."