Claude Julien Wants 'Quicker' Bruins With Better 'Mind-Set' Next Season
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe had a conversation with Bruins head coach Claude Julien to get an idea of what to expect from the team next year in terms of the system and philosophy. Whatever they end up implementing, don't be surprised if it takes a few pages out of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins' playbook.
However, Julien is stopping short of saying he would make any radical changes to what you saw from the Bruins last season, which ended in spectacularly disappointing fashion.
"We always want to imitate the team that wins and what they do," Julien said, "but one year the team that wins is big and strong. The next one is maybe quicker. It just seems to go back and forth. I really think you've got to play the game you believe in, and you've got to play it well."
Shinzawa's column follows up with terms that would induce eye-rolls from Julien's detractors, including Julien's plan of "protecting in layers." But Julien has proven that his system works very well when given the right personnel, and no one would say the Bruins defense was close to adequate enough to handle it last season.
It was clear that the Bruins lost some measure of focus down the stretch of the 2015-16 season. Continued failures from their most glaring flaws (namely, defense in front of the net and timely scoring) were ultimately their undoing, and it's fair to question if the coach played a role in the inconsistent, disjointed nature of their play. Julien knows they had the wrong mentality at the end of the season and something needs to change in that department.
"'Mind-set' is probably the biggest keyword," Julien said. "We've got to have that mind-set. We're going to play quicker and we're going to want to play quicker. You've got to tell yourself that's how you want to play. Hopefully we'll be able to do that."
Julien seems to realize that the Bruins have gotten themselves in trouble in recent seasons by slowing the game down too much and that they do need to play "quicker" and with more urgency. That idea certainly goes along with the Bruins' desire for a "transitional" defenseman to help them make quicker breakouts, one specific facet of today's NHL that the Bruins under Julien were slow to adapt to before last season.
The coach believes a simple attitude adjustment could go a long way in getting the Bruins back to the level of play they're used to displaying. With no major roster overhaul in the works, he'd better hope that's all they need.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.