What Bruins Players Told Cam Neely, Boston’s Brass After First-Round Exit

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins came up well short of expectations after a first-round exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs, and members of the record-setting group acknowledged as much when their run came to an end before the calendar turned to May.

While speaking at the organization’s season-end press conference at TD Garden on Tuesday, Bruins president Cam Neely shared one common sentiment he heard from players, who knew the roster was far better than a first-round exit.

“I had a couple players at the exit meetings actually apologize, saying ‘You guys gave us a wagon of a team and we didn’t execute,'” Neely said. “Players, they know. Players know when you have a chance to win, they know when you don’t have a chance to win. They knew we had a chance to win. They knew we had a chance to go deep. And for whatever reasons, we didn’t play the way we did in the regular season.

“We touched on it, Game 3 was probably our best game. But we didn’t play the way we played the regular season. The confidence, the nerves, whatever it was. These are the things you got to dig into. Because I just saw, the narrative started to change about when you win the President’s Trophy, teams rarely win the Stanley Cup. So all those things, the outside noise, maybe creeped inside.”

Neely, while sitting alongside Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs, general manager Don Sweeney and head coach Jim Montgomery, expressed how Boston’s exit delivered an “empty” feeling. The reaction was confirmed by everyone else who sat up there with him.

“For me, it’s been quite an empty feeling. Take a look at 2019 in Game 7, and this is a close second for me,” Neely said.

The Bruins were eliminated by the Florida Panthers, who won Game 7 at TD Garden to advance. Florida since has taken a 3-0 lead in its best-of-seven series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.