Trade Mike O'Connell!

Usually when I write about sports, it's about soccer. But I'm going to touch on a little ice hockey news today.

I was floored to read this morning that the Boston Bruins had traded Joe Thornton. The B's sent their captain, best player, team leader and public face of the team to San Jose for three average players.

Boston has been struggling this year, due mainly to their inability to win close games; they're 2-11 in games decided by one goal. Their defense is weak and they lack players with grit and character. So the solution is to get rid of their leading scorer, a player who combines skill and power. Their solution is to get rid of the one player who strikes fear into the heart of opposing defenses and coaches. Their solution is to get rid of such their only player capable of carrying the team when necessary.

This is a way for the team to say to it's fans, "We're throwing in the towel already and admitting that this is going to be YET ANOTHER wasted season." Years of patiently building a team around captain Thornton have been thrown out the window and Bruins fans will suffer at least five more years of "re-building" that the management will probably fine some way to screw up in the end as well.

Harry Sinden served as Bruins' general manager from 1972, a few months after Boston's last Stanley Cup title, until 1996. Current GM Mike O'Connell apprenticed under Sinden and then succeeded him. Sinden was legendary for making stupid moves that screwed up successful teams. And apparently he passed his "knowledge" along to protégé O'Connell.

The Sinden/O'Connell 33 year reign of incompetence has exactly coincided with the longest period in team history without a Stanley Cup. When they trade one of their best player for a trio of question marks, you come to understand why.



Update: Widely respected Boston Globe columnist Kevin Paul DuPont offers a dissenting view.


Update 2: I guess this shows how much I know.