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What if...? Boston Bruins Edition


This is a new feature on Stanley Cup of Chowder that allows you to do your best Marty McFly impression and try to predict what things may have been like if history was rewritten.

What if Joe Thornton was still wearing Black & Gold?
I'm not sure things would have ended up much different, but it is nice to ponder "what if ...?".

What if Bobby Orr accepted the Bruins deal for partial ownership in 1976?

What if the Brad Boyes trade never happened?
I think I would rather have a 40+ goal scorer than an overpaid offensive D-Man. Wideman looked lost in his own end of the rink at times last year and was often bailed out by defensive partner Zdeno Chara.

What if Randy Jones never took a run at Patrice Bergeron?
The B's really could have used Bergy in the playoffs.

What if the Bruins had an involved and passionate ownership group like the other 3 teams in Boston?
I'm one of the biggest B's fans I know and I probably couldn't pick Jeremy Jacobs out of a police lineup.

What if Charles Adams didn't want to bring professional hockey to the U.S.?

What if the Bruins didn't get bumped out of their home rink by the circus at the start of every year?
Nothing like a 2 week long road trip to start off every season.

What if Manny Fernandez was healthy last year?
Would he have been the #1? Would he split time with Timmy? Would he be an overpaid backup?

What if Ulf Samuelsson never cheap-shoted Neely?

What if Derek Sanderson never signed with the WHA?

What if Normand Leveille was able to reach his full potential?

What if the Bruins never got called for Too Many Men on the Ice?

What if the B's didn't choke against the Habs in '04?

What if the lockout never happened?
Having an entire year to think about one of the worst chokes in NHL playoff history probably didn't help.

What if the Winter Classic was at Fenway?

What if Sergei Samsonov lived up to the hype?
The Bruins chose Samsonov over Marian Hossa in the 1997 Entry Draft.

What if Ken Dryden didn't refuse to play for the Bruins after being drafted by Boston?

What if the B's selected Jarome Iginla over Kyle Mclaren?
In the 1995 Entry Draft, the Bruins selected McLaren at #9 with Iginla still available.

What if the B's weren't terrible at drafting?
I know the NHL Entry Draft is a complete crap shoot for the most part, but some of these moves are questionable to say the least:
2000: #7 Lars Jonsson (Never signed w/ an NHL team)
1989: #17 Shayne Stevenson (5 games w/ Boston; 13 NHL games total) over Olaf Kolzig, Adam Foote, Byron Dafoe, Niklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, Sergei Federov and Pavel Bure. Wow, looking back that was a solid draft for the Red Wings.
1987: # 14 Stephane Quintal while Quebec takes Joe Sakic at #15
1982: #1 Gord Kluzak over Brian Bellows, Scott Stevens, Phil Housley, a couple of the Sutter brothers, and Dave Andrechuk
1974: #18 Don Larway (never signed w/ Boston and opted to play in the WHA) over Bryan Trottier (#22 to the Islanders)
1969: #3 Don Tannahill (never played a single game for Boston) & #4 Frank Spring (1 game for Boston) over Bobby Clarke
1966: #1 Barry Gibbs ( 0 pts in 24 games w/ Boston) while Brad Park goes #2 to the Rangers

What if the Jacobs family never bought the Bruins?

What if people in Boston cared about hockey again?