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"Boston followers have forgotten the roles that Mike O'Connell and Jeff Gorton played in building this first-place team."

I'll say. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with Chiarelli. In fact, aside from the Peter Schaeffer misstep, I don't know that he has made a "bad" trade; At the very very worst, the Boyes for Wideman deal was one that helped both Boston and St. Louis (I would argue it helped Boston more, because while Boyes will be a perennial 30 goal scorer, two way defenseman who can move the puck and score like Wideman are a bigger commodity in today's NHL). And the Brad Stuart (with a matter of weeks left on his contract) for Chuck Kobasew and Andrew Ference? That has to be one of the biggest steals in recent memory....Paul Mara for Aaron Ward? Fuggedaboutit. I am also thinking that the Toivonnen for Soderberg will reap benefits for the B's in years to come.....as will Tukka Rask, who came to the Bruins under Chia's watch in return for dud Andrew Raycroft. Combine all that with Chiarelli's bargain basement pickups of Blake Wheeler, Auld (now with Ottawa), Shawn Thornton, Metropolit (now with Philly), Hnidy, Nokelainen...plucking Mr. Milan Lucic out of the 2006 draft in the second round... Phil Kessel at number five in June 2006...Pretty nice work in just a coupla years, Peter. And the B's player development staff, scouts, etc. deserve kudos here too.

But definitely, Gorton and O'Connell deserve credit as well, as Fluto correctly points out. It was Gorton (and the Jacobs family, who deserve credit for investing in this team) who grabbed Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard on the opening day of free agency in 2006, when a lot of Boston fans were howling about spending 12 million dollars on these guys combined.

And O'Connell.....he deserves another shot somewhere else as GM. The Thornton deal, I admit, was a rotten apple from the very beginning. But it is difficult to be upset at a guy who drafted both David Krejci (2004) and Patrice Bergeron (2003) in the second round, Matt Hunwick in the seventh round (2004), Mark Stuart in the first (2003), and picking up a relatively unknown journeyman goalie by the name of Tim Thomas back in 2005.

This was a group effort here.

Likes:
Owning up to screwups and fixing them on the fly instead of games later.

Hunwick. Lucic. Kessel. Krejci. Kobasew.

Thomas!

Dislikes:
Sloppy opening periods, there have been a couple lately. They haven't cost them points yet but the Buffalo game was pathetic from a disciplne standpoint.

Hmm...in my above post, I may have delegated credit to O'Connell for getting Kessel...still, I think that's where he was leaning when he was fired around that same time that draft was coming up, and Gorton picked him up.

The new regime deserves credit for changing the culture with this squad. Let's keep in mind that this is a team that traded perhaps the best overall player in the game for what has turned out to be Ference and Chucky K. Whatever they are doing inside that dressing room is working. On the surface of it, they don't have the most talent, but they have formed a tight knit unit.

This is coming from a Yankee fan (stop it Beantowners, I was raised with the Yanks and B's) who would jump for joy if A-Rod left the Bronx.

Chiarelli didn't draft Lucic. When he signed with the B's he was not permitted to start doing work with them until after the '06 draft.

Why are the Habs seeking retribution against Looch? Seriously, it wasn't a cheapshot on Komisarek, he beat him straight up in a fight that they both wanted. Did I miss something here? Habs fans telling Looch to "Face the music"? What kind of ignorant nonsense is that? If it were a cheap shot or a low hit, or an elbow, I would understand, but it was a straight up fight. Apparently Looch gets a target on his back for being tougher than Komisarek. It was a great fight because it was two comparable players in terms of function. Both are marquee contributing players on their team. Why risk that? If Komisarek comes back and challenges Looch and Looch backs off, then maybe you have a case. Calling Looch a coward is the biggest cop out/whiny excuse for losing on PATRICK ROY NIGHT? How do you lose on Patrick Roy Night?

Joey Porter is an idiot.

JD....I stand corrected. Chiarelli didn't draft Lucic.

And actually, "Bs fan in Flyer Territory," if you want to say that Ferrence and Kobesew are the only result of the Thornton deal....check out Sturm's latest numbers.

Let's not gloss over the enormous free agent market miscalculations made by the O'Connell/Sinden regime leading up to and immediately following the lockout . Namely with their own guys - Rolston, Knuble, and to a further extent Gonchar and Nyalnder. Instead we got what? Zhamnov who played how few games and came off the books last year. Nor should forgot that this is a regime that acquired Josef Stumpel - twice.

I think whipping Jacobs (never mind the son who seems little more than a cardboard cut-out), though deserved, has become the cry of the posing B's fan who stopped following in the late 90's and needs an easy argument to lean back on.

So yes, while Sinden and O'Connell to follow pulled the right string occasionally, they made too many short sighted, poorly calculated decisions; often buying groceries past expiration or not allowed to ripen and doing so while never committing to - or choosing for the matter - the correct chef.

Among the best things to happen to this franchise - for the second time - is the presence of Cam Neely. In Cam We Trust...

some would argue that Chiarelli "influenced " the Lucic and Kessel picks while waiting for a technicality in officially running the team..with that said, Chiarelli - 12 picks, etc...in conclusion, Sinden was out of touch with todays NHL, O'Connell was screwing up nearly everything he touched and Gorton had too little time to make any difference.