Bruins Need Fighting Spirit Back

It was a bit of a head-scratcher at times last season when we would hear opposing players and coaches talking about what a big, tough team the Bruins were. Were they hallucinating? Maybe looking at the B’s bench and seeing John Wensink, Terry O’Reilly and Cam Neely?

Those guys were not in uniform, and too often the fellows who were wearing the ‘B’ did not exactly live up to the organization’s bedrock legacy of team toughness and support, even intimidation.

In 2010-11, the Bruins’ Stanley Cup-winning team featured — along with plenty of skill — a long list of willing and able players who knew when and how to fight. If a foe wished to have a go against the Bruins, he could find a ready dance partner in Shawn Thornton, Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, Gregory Campbell, Nathan Horton, Andrew Ference, Johnny Boychuk or others.