Mike O'Connell got the gate yesterday, nearly a dozen years after moving into the Bruins' front office, first as assistant general manager and then as GM. Based on how the last decade-plus played out, the end could have come years ago, because franchise success was hardly the hallmark of the former defenseman's stay on Causeway Street.
So, why yesterday, at 6 p.m., with another season already burned to the ground, and a roster stocked all too deep with American Hockey Leaguers?
According to Harry Sinden, whose own stay in the front office could end sooner than some would expect, it was because of an increasingly awkward situation that still had O'Connell making GM decisions, including three key signings (Tim Thomas, P.J. Axelsson and Matt Lashoff) within a week. No surprise there, of course, because O'Connell until yesterday was still the GM. But O'Connell's bosses, including Sinden and owner Jeremy Jacobs, already had decided it was time for O'Connell to be removed from office, and it made no sense for a lame duck to keep making decisions over a very lame product.
One irony, sad or otherwise, is that the Thomas-Axelsson-Lashoff signings rank as some of O'Connell's better moves. He was often guilty of passivity -- not getting players signed, being too patient with ineffective coaching -- and in the last week or so he was, finally, proactive. Just as he got it going, they got him gone.
Tuesday night, in an interview with the Globe, Jacobs was adamant about the need for change, but added he would not do anything as a kneejerk reaction. He also said he wouldn't disclose those decisions in the media and, no matter what, no decisions would be made prior to the end of the season. Last night, reached by telephone during the Bruins-Sabres game, Jacobs made it clear he pushed aggressively, and was the lead voice, to dismiss O'Connell.
A source familiar with other meetings Jacobs had in the Garden on Tuesday said the owner met with a number of building and team officials the same day, attempting to prop up sagging spirits and convey the sense of a steady hand overseeing the product.
Four days after saying nothing would happen until mid-April, O'Connell was turfed, replaced on an interim basis by assistant GM Jeff Gorton, with Sinden left saying that Gorton will be among a number of candidates considered for the permanent position.
So, what happened? In part, two more dreadful games happened, including a shootout loss to the Thrashers on Tuesday, with Jacobs in his Garden luxury box, no doubt wincing, for most of it. The mood in the building all night was almost funereal. No pulse. Not the least bit of anticipation or excitement. The Bruins had a two-goal lead in the third period and left with another defeat, death by shootout.