Bruins Lock Up Their Leadership Core; Add Some Sandpaper

    The Boston Bruins have bit the bullet and locked up their leadership core through 2014. This past week has seen GM Peter Chiarelli re sign his captains Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron to lucrative multi-year deals. The hulking defenceman Chara received a 7 year contract extension worth $45.5 million ($6.5mil average) while Bergeron was extended for 3 years at $15 mil ($5mil average). Some would argue this too much money for an already cash strapped team to hand out so early in the season and think Chiarelli should have took the gamble and waited. Needless to say, he got his men.

"You want to try and lock up your core, and that's what we're trying to do here. They are two very important players who are now in the mix for a while."

    Skeptics will point out Bergeron's injury history and declining stats but Chiarelli insists other factors came into play when making these contracts, citing the leadership and locker room presence as hard to find intangibles.

"Their character and their leadership ability...whenever you sign someone to these amounts, that's in the equation. Both of those guys play hard -- all the time. To know that they are going to be around and will tutor and help lead the younger guys and that's a large part of it also." - Chiarelli on the character aspect of the signings

    Chara's colleagues and coaches have done nothing but sing praises for the mammoth 6 foot 9 European, expressing their admiration of his character.

"He's a great guy to have in the dressing room because if things aren't going well [for a player], he'll tell a guy -- not in a bad way, but in a constructive criticism way, and not in front of everybody. He's our captain, he's our leader" - Defenseman Johnny Boychuk on Chara

"I think the guys look up to him. He certainly leads by example. He wants to be a good captain and what he's learned along the way is you can't do everything by yourself, and he's been able to [find] some good leaders in the dressing room, and he knows how to delegate better. His first year was certainly a learning process for him and that's what he told me when I first met him -- but he's been good," - Coach Claude Julien of Chara

    Although at one time looked at as team captain material, the sentiment in the dressing room is that Bergeron still has that presence and only adds to the strong leadership. Keep in mind that Bergeron has still barely hit his mid-20s and with his ethic we could see him star ala Joe Thornton.

"In many different ways...he's a good example [for us]. He really takes care of himself, physically. The way he works out and the way he eats he's a good example to the other players. He's a quiet leader, but he will step up and say something if he feels the need," - Tim Thomas on Bergeron

"His professionalism and his enthusiasm for the game just rubs off on a lot of people. He’s earned the respect of the whole organization and especially his teammates by the way he conducts himself.” - Coach Claude Julien on Bergeron

    After reading may ignorant message board and forum opinions of hesitant fans, i've come to the conclusion that  if anyone should be unhappy with a particular move it would be a coach as it can limit the bench and cause problems. Not in Boston.

"I think it's great for everybody (the signings), There's real stability there. We've got Bergeron one day and Chara the next, and the core group of players is taken care of. I think it gives the team a solid group to stand on...and now it's up to us to build around that and make ourselves a great team," - Claude Julien on the signings

    In 378 NHL games, Bergeron has totaled 99 goals and 181 assists while Chara has put up 111 goals and 253 assists in 849 NHL contests.

    The Bruins also announced the signing of enforcer Brian McGrattan to a one year, two way deal that will see him earn $515,000 at the NHL and $105,000 when he suits up for Providence of the AHL. This shows Chiarelli's deliberate attempt to protect his skill players having the likes of McGrattan and Shawn Thornton around. In 182 NHL games, McGrattan has 3 goals, 11 assists, and 395 penalty minutes.

-Dustin Lundberg