Dan Shaughnessy Defends His Position On Claude Julien: 'Time For A New Guy'
BOSTON (CBS) -- After the Bruins laid a dud on Saturday afternoon, and after a Philadelphia win ended Boston's playoff contention, Dan Shaughnessy wrote a column for The Boston Globe with a very succinct message that was summed up in its headline: "Claude Julien, your time in Boston is up."
As is often the case when he writes a column, Dan has received a fair amount of criticism for his opinion.
Tuesday on Zolak & Bertrand, Dan made his case.
"Three years ago they're in the Cup Finals, two years ago they had the best record in the NHL, and now two years in a row they're not one of the final 16 teams. Sixteen overall. Making the NHL playoffs is like getting your name in the phone book. You have to make a special effort to be out of there. You have to go out of your way to not be in it. It's 16 teams!" Shaughnessy said. "Two years in a row, they have fallen off the cliff at the end when it mattered most. And they have these must-win games and they lose 6-1 at home? You're pulling the goalie with eight-and-a-half minutes to go? I mean, that was sad.
"Time for a new guy."
Shaughnessy admitted that he hasn't been scouring the hockey world for the perfect replacement.
"I don't have the solution; I just know that he's been there nine years, it's trending downward, they're getting younger. … Does anyone think he's coming back?" Shaughnessy said. "They really haven't responded when they had to. I don't know what the home-away thing was about this year, that was weird. But big games, both years."
While Shaughnessy heard some criticism from the fans, he found the media that covers the Bruins to be equally enthralled with Julien's coaching.
"Listen, I need to get over there [to the Garden] more often, clearly, because if I did, maybe I would understand the magic of Claude," Shaughnessy said. "They love him. The guys who cover the team love him. So he must really have the magic."
Ultimately, Shaughnessy just finds fault in those who put 100 percent of the blame on the lack of talent on the roster.
"So the narrative changed at the end," he said. "The same people who were telling us, 'Eh they're not that bad,' were now saying, 'It was a miracle that Claude kept them afloat as long as he did with this terrible team, this terrible roster.'"
Listen to the full discussion below: