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Wednesday, November 8, 2000
Keenan's hiring a bold move
By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com
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There was no surprise that the Boston Bruins fired Pat Burns as their head
coach on Wednesday morning; however it was a surprise that the club decided
to hire Mike Keenan as his replacement.
In the natural order of things, a "tough" coach is usually
replaced by a player friendly coach, or vice versa. In this case, Burns was a
tough guy who was replaced by an even tougher guy in Keenan.
|  | | Keenan is all smiles Wednesday as he's announced as the next Bruins head coach. |
The message should be very clear in the Boston dressing room: There is a
mandate to win. Any team that would hire Keenan at this stage of his career
is a team that needs to reach its potential ... now.
This is a clear indication that president Harry Sinden expects -- and now
demands -- that the Bruins turn into a winning organization. Sinden believes Keenan's style of a more dynamic
offensive team will pay dividends.
For Burns, he came into this season as the popular choice as first coach to
be fired. Burns even joked about it during a recent conversation when he
feigned shock that he was still around -- and this was in the second
week of the season when the Bruins were in the midst of a 3-0-1 start.
"When do you think it'll be my turn?" asked Burns. "I
guess we're fooling everybody by winning like this. We'll
see."
Burns knew he was virtually fired toward the end of last season, and
there are members of the Boston organization who insist that the only reason
Burns was not fired last season is because the Bruins could not afford a
public relations hit.
Remember, the team traded away icon Ray Bourque, and Sinden's history
with the organization goes back far enough to remember the fallout from the
ugly scenario when Bobby Orr was allowed to escape as a free agent at the end
of his career.
The Bruins knew that Burns was popular despite the
team's woes. And the combination of Bourque's departure with the
firing of Burns would have hurt season-ticket sales. As it is, the Bruins
are down from their season-ticket sales of a year ago.
With Keenan, the Bruins get an immediate jolt of electricity. Whatever
his critics say, Keenan is a dynamic figure, and he has a more aggressive
offensive style as a coach. Burns, who ironically is a very good friend of
Keenan's, preached a more defensive system.
Watch for talks with free-agent forward Anson Carter to accelerate. Sinden will want to give Keenan every opportunity to succeed, and Carter would help. Also, it will be interesting to see what happens with Burns. If a team such as San Jose, Philadelphia or Florida falter, the name of Pat Burns will float around as the guy to change
things.
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.
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Bruins fire Burns, name Keenan as new coach
E.J. Hradek: Fleeced at the Fleet
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