Allen: Who are these Bruins?

I’ve experienced a very strange phenomena over the last few days.

While listening to the radio and reading through postings on my own message board, I’ve witnessed people talking about this team called the “Bruins.” Apparently, they play hockey. Wow. How long has this been going on?

All kidding aside, the fact that people have been talking about the Bruins is interesting, if only for the fact that there isn’t a whole lot interesting about this team. They’re firmly entrenched in the middle of the pack, a borderline playoff team with no real compelling or standout players. Admittedly, I’m at best a casual follower of the Bruins, but they’ve given me no real reason to increase my attention to them.

GM Peter Chiarelli made no moves at this week’s NHL trading deadline. There were rumors that the Bruins were involved in a few things, most notably a pursuit of the Atlanta ’s Marian Hossa, but ultimately, nothing came of it. But even those rumors were enough to get the Bruins faithful out and eager for a chance to talk about their favorite team. Bruins fans are a curious lot — we hear over and over how they have the most passionate, most faithful fans in New England , and yet the team has given them nothing serious to cheer about in a long, long time.

This edition of the Bruins is a nameless, faceless group that has managed to get themselves into position to grab one of the final playoff spots in the East. If they accomplish this goal, the players and coaches should be applauded — they appear to be making the most of what they have here. Nothing fancy, just a hard-working group that grinds out more wins than losses. If they make the playoffs ... what next? Are they are one and done? (If they play Ottawa , they could advance: they seem to own the Senators.) Does the playoff experience help their young players? Does it placate the fans? Does management declare the season a success?

Part of the reason given for not making a deal at the deadline was the reluctance on the part of management to give up young players like Phil Kessel. We’re told the Bruins have a number of promising young players on their roster and in their system, players that could turn the franchise around in the coming years. That might be so — I don’t know enough about them to make that call. But is there an Al Jefferson in the pack? You can argue Jefferson transformed the Celtics franchise from laughingstock to contender. His play on the court didn’t directly lead to many Celtics wins — though it would’ve been interesting to see how the Celtics had turned out this season with Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Jefferson as the nucleus of the team — but his potential allowed them to swing a trade for Kevin Garnett, which, to this point, has brought Boston the best record in the NBA.

Do the Bruins have that player in their system? The guy who can either turn things around with his play, or that can bring the needed pieces here in a trade? I don’t know. You hockey mavens will need to tell me. You’ve got your chance ... lets get some more hockey talk going around this town.

Bruce Allen is the creator of Boston Sports Media Watch, which has recently been recognized by SI.com as one of the best non-corporate sports web site's on the Internet.