Even weeks after the season came to a surprising, premature, resounding thud in the overtime of Game 7 against the Carolina Hurricanes -- a defeat that had both GM and head coach lamenting the better team didn’t win the series -- the ending is still a bitter pill for those associated with the Bruins.

With Monday afternoon’s playoff demise of the Providence Bruins -- at the hands of No. 1 star Chris Bourque and the Hershey Bears with a Game 5 loss, no less -- the Spoked B is officially done for the 2008-09 season, and will now look ahead to the NHL draft in late June.

Then, the NHL free agent period opens on July 1, with GM Peter Chiarelli hoping both young restricted free agents David Krejci and Phil Kessel will be tied up prior to beginning of July -- when other suitors around the league can begin signing the injured youngsters to offer sheets that Boston has the right to match.

Kessel underwent surgery on his left shoulder last week, and Krejci is expected to undergo surgery on his right hip next week. Both will out four to six months, but that shouldn’t anybody from being interested in either of the talented hockey players.

Add to that dynamic duo restricted free agents Byron Bitz and Matt Hunwick -- both expected to be part of next year’s team -- and unrestricted free agents like P.J. Axelsson, Stephane Yelle, Mark Recchi, Shane Hnidy and Steve Montador, and it’s obvious Chiarelli has some work to do with the 2009-10 NHL salary cap likely dropping next season from its $56.7 million level this season.

It could be only a million or two less than this season, but that will still have an effect.

Chiarelli is likely working with around $10 million to resign Kessel, Krejci, Bitz and Hunwick for next season while also replacing Hnidy, Yelle, Axelsson and Montador as well as Manny Fernandez on the B’s roster. Factor in that the Bruins could clearly use an upgrade along a blueline area that was exposed against the Hurricanes, and something is going to have to give this summer.

It could be trading Kessel for salary cap relief and the kind of defenseman that could solve many of Boston’s problems from last year. It could also be dumping the veteran salary of Marc Savard ($5 million), Patrice Bergeron ($4.75 million), Michael Ryder ($4 million) or Chuck Kobasew ($2.33 million) this summer, but the bottom line is pretty clear -- somebody that contributed heavily to last season’s team will not be suiting up with the Black and Gold next fall.

I don’t claim to be an NHL capologist (and I have the high school math grades to prove it) but that much I do know. Here’s the final seasonal edition of the Hagg Bag, with the next one set to drop sometime after the NHL draft weekend set in lovely, historic Montreal next month.

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Joey Haggs!

It seems that my previous dynastic proclamation was just a tad bit premature...

First off, I want to take a second to wish Rod Brind’Amour a speedy recovery.  It was a shame that he got hit in the mush with that stray puck in Game 7, especially when it looked like his facial transplant was finally starting to come around.  Get well soon, Leather face.

My initial reaction to the B's losing game seven, and the series on a Scott Walker OT goal was something akin to Darrin McGavin's reaction to the Bumpuses' Hounds storming the house and ransacking his beloved Turkey dinner in A Christmas Story.  Shock, disbelief, anger, narrowly averted spastic violence, sadness and profanity. Lots and lots of profanity.

Actually scratch Darrin McGavin and substitute an over-caffeinated Dana White and you probably have a more accurate representation.  To paraphrase from the above movie, I wove a tapestry of profanity which is still hovering somewhere over the South Attleboro/Pawtucket area. 

And I have to admit that this series loss completely blindsided me. And I'm talking “Lando Calrissian booking Han and Leia dinner reservations with Vader” type shock.  I had tried to remain skeptical during this year’s early success.  I loved the way the team responded during the Sean Avery game, but I still looked for the letdown.  That changed during the home-and-home sweep of the Pens.  I was sold.  This was the year. 

And when my confidence began to waiver in March they responded by crushing the Devils in a must-win type game with a performance that looked playoff caliber.

But it was a mirage. 

A false sense of hope only heightened with their first round domination of the Habs.  I should have known better. Instead of "B-Lieve" I should have been thinking "B-Ware". I haven't been this disappointed in a Bruins playoff performance since 1993, when they stunk worse than the flash booth after the Big Show (Haggs Note: Wow…burn), getting dusted in four games by the Buffalo Sabres.

To me that was less shocking because you could see the B's getting manhandled and outplayed for four straight games, but more painful overall because a clear Cup run, devoid of major contenders was seized not by the B's -- but by the hated Habs.  This year, sizable hurdles, (Pittsburgh, Detroit) were still left in the Bruins path so the pain is mitigated just a tad.

So with the Bruin's Cup dreams frozen in Carbonite, it's time to think about next season and the make up of the team.  Those questions start and end with Kessel and Krejci.  To me, Krejci is the future. 

He can be physical; he is very skilled and even has an edge to him.  He is the kind of guy you build a team around.  Phil Kessel is not.  Kessel is Petr Klima.  A speedy 30-40 goal scorer who can't be trusted in the playoffs.  This team needs more grit, more toughness and more will to pay the higher physical price that the playoffs demand from the skilled players of your team.  Unfortunately, Kessel doesn't have what it takes to pick up that tab and the B's can't afford to pay him like a player who can.

And speaking of open tabs, that brings me to Scott "Darth" Walker.  Walker and Ward, baring trades, will both be back next year and I am looking for some Syracuse Bulldog-type revenge.  I'm talking the kind of payback that would require a Mike Millbury and Ogie Ogelthorpe pregame shopping spree at Payless.

It's Called Blood Joey, and I WANT IT!

Thanks for a great season of awesome B's coverage and see you on the Tecmo field...

Mike

Attleboro

JH: Normally, I finish off with Mike from Attleboro as the anchor in my Hagg Bag, but I wanted to start things off with him this time around. I think it might have been mentioning Darrin McGavin (I always appreciated him more as the degenerate gambler/Kim Basinger pimp in “The Natural,” but why quibble over this when his turn as Kolchak the Night Stalker was probably better than both), Lando’s impeccable hosting behavior in Cloud City or the Bruins’ Cup dreams being frozen in carbonite. But whatever the case, Mike really got to the heart of the matter here.

Chewie, Han and Leia certainly would have been much happier if Lando just busted out a sixer of Colt 45’s at the dining room table, but then we wouldn’t have had those awesome low notes from the end of “The Empire Strikes Back” without Vader’s hijack of Bespin. Who didn’t love that Han was frozen, C3PO was blasted to pieces and Luke had his hand chopped off at the end of “Empire”? That’s what made the movie great and different from the freakin’ Ewoks taking down the entire Empire in “Return of the Jedi.”

All right, I’ve definitely alienated half my audience, so on to the Bruins.

I’m with Mike to a point here. If I had to choose between Krejci and Kessel, then I would choose Krejci 100 times over. The 23-year-old Krejci is a two-way player, a penalty killer and he makes other players around him better. He will be the No. 1 center on this team when Marc Savard’s contract runs out.

Not only that, but now we know that he was playing all season with a balky hip that made it difficult for him to play. He was even taking shots in the right hip to keep playing at the end of the hockey season.

Kessel played through a bum shoulder at the end too, and he scored 36 goals -- but there is always something that nags at you about the 21-year-old. I’m not sure Kessel, in the words of Bill Parcells, “gets it” and it may be that he needs to wash out of one hockey organization before he truly realizes his special skill set. If the organization feels that Kessel is a disappearing act waiting to happen in the playoffs each year, then they need to move on.

The one dilemma facing Chiarelli and the Bruins trust when they make their decisions about Krejci and Kessel?

What if they deal Kessel away because of the money/cap issues, and he becomes a 50-goal scoring speed-burner and someday achieves greatness in the NHL at another destination after a trade away from Boston?

I could easily see Kessel signing a three-year deal for something in the $4-5 million range and then coasting/sinking back on bad habits with some guaranteed big money in his back hockey pocket. I could also easily see the B’s sniper really blossoming into something special elsewhere if the Bruins let him go via a trade or via an offer sheet this summer.

It’s a catch-22, and it’s why Chiarelli gets paid the big bucks (or presumably will once Charlie Jacobs and Co. come to their senses and give the B’s GM exactly what he deserves contractually after rebuilding this team into a contender in only three years). I simply write in something called a Hagg Bag, so take that for what it’s worth. Speaking of which…

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(Haggs Note: This e-mail was CCed to Dan Shaughnessy and myself as well as countless other NASCAR-loving Southern Friend hockey fans after the Bruins were eliminated in Game 7)

To Whom it May Concern,

The pompous and arrogant Dan Shaughnessy of the bankrupt Boston Globe referred to Carolina Hurricane's fans as "goobers". How did he miss this classic example from his local environment and his own holier than thou profession?

This charter member of the Boston Name Callers, Joe Haggerty, is a great example of a "goober". Have these Boston flacks nothing better to offer than juvenile name calling? Judging from the quality of their body of work perhaps name calling is the best they have to offer.

In the twaddle below Haggerty refers to the Carolina Hurricanes as the "Candy Canes". If that is the case Joe, perhaps you should refer to the Big Bad B's as the Baby Bears?

Guess who is playing golf now and who is still playing hockey?

Bill Lackey

JH: I’m a goober? Really? You did nail me on having nothing better to offer than juvenile name-calling.

So if I’m a goober, then you are – as that great lover of all things different than himself, Mike Felger, would say -- a “Cooter.” As in the dude that drove the tow truck in the Dukes of Hazzard and had a slop of motor oil smeared on his face and a rag in his pocket at all times.

How do you like them apples? Hope you enjoy the sucker-punching Candy Canes as they completely tank against a Pittsburgh Penguins team en route to their first Stanley Cup. By the way, watching Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins over the last few weeks reassures me that the Bruins would have been spanked mercilessly if they’d somehow limped into the Eastern Conference Finals.

Almost like Baby Bears to the slaughter, right Bill?

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(Haggs Note: The following two e-mails were sent from a New England transplant in Raleigh before and after the Game 7 dispatching of the Bruins)

BEFORE GAME 7

Joe:

As a fan growing up in New England with my Dad driving us to Fenway it seems almost every weekend as a kid, I know the passion of the area. My Dad was a big Gordie Howe fan, so despite my Sox affliction I grew up a Whalers fan.

I relocated to North Carolina as a teen, but I still make at least one pilgrimage to Boston or the Bronx each year to see the Olde Town team play. Because of this I follow to a fault and read a lot of the columns on Boston.com and WEEI almost daily. While I can only assume the whale tail followed me here, I appreciate the way hockey has taken to this “southern market”- and succeeded- see Nashville or Florida.

Articles in general refer to all of us as NASCAR loving rednecks that don’t know the sport. As a season ticket holder since the Tropical Storm moved to Raleigh, I can assure you that most of us rednecks are transplants and in most cases were neighbors at some point.

Be careful in generalizations and whom you may disrespect. The Bruins are a class act, and are the better team. But as you know, that doesn’t guarantee anything.

I would wait on the banner ceremony just yet, sleeping bear.  

Robert Todd

AFTER GAME 7

Haggs:

Candy / Tropical Storm 4, Sleeping Bear 3.

At least you can’t say you weren’t warned. I’ll be up in August for the three-game set with the Empire- Ill look for you on Yawkey, as I feel you owe me a beer. I’ll be the one in the Earnhardt tee shirt.

Robert Todd

JH: You got it, Robert. A bit of fair warning, though: They don’t allow Beer Helmets inside Fenway and nobody has any earthly idea who Earnhardt is north of the Mason/Dixon line. Also, no Schlitz or Meister Brau at Fenway. If you can track me down at Gate D on the way into the ballpark that day, I’ll more than happy to buy you a frosty one. Thanks for reading, and hopefully we’ll get to do it all over again next season with another visit to Tropical Storm country and some pretty awesome BBQ places while I was down there.

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Hi Joe,

Thanks for the great coverage. What a bummer! Thought the Bruins really missed Ference and Hunwick. Playoffs tend to expose weaknesses and Montador was exposed.

Based on what we saw, I think you keep Krejci and trade Kessel for a #2 defenseman….If you can only keep one…It was a fun season and hopefully it is a building block for next year..

Regards

Mike

JH: Thanks Mike. Had a great time covering the Bruins this year and interacting with everybody on the “Big Bad Blog” throughout the season. I’ll try and keep it up as much as possible through the offseason, and I’ll be headed up to Montreal to cover the draft for WEEI.com in June. So we’ll be taking care of all your Black and Gold interests here at the site this summer.

Montador was exposed because he was basically forced to become a No. 4 defenseman on Boston’s blueline corps once Ference and Hunwick both got hurt. It wasn’t his fault as much as it was an indictment of how thin the depth was at the defenseman spot by the time the second round rolled around. Let’s be honest: if you’re a team saying that an oft-injured veteran defenseman and a first-year player that didn’t dress for long stretches of the season were “the difference” in the playoffs, then you’re in a tough spot.

The Bruins really need to think long and hard about a way to acquire another talented body along the blueline this summer, and hopefully it’s one of the fast-skating and puck-moving variety. Could Hunwick be the guy that makes “the difference” next season? Maybe.

He was very impressive down the stretch with his creative puck-moving skills and his breathtaking skating speed, but we’re also talking about a player that wasn’t a huge scoring defenseman at the collegiate level with Michigan. He might blossom into the guy that the B’s need, but the Bruins would be smart to learn their lesson and not put all of their eggs into the Hunwick basket for next season.

Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman and Aaron Ward badly needed some help in that Carolina series, and they didn’t get it. Kessel might net that No. 2 or No. 1 defenseman for the Bruins in a blockbuster deal this summer, and perhaps a guy like Marc Savard brings in that same kind of D-man return over the next few months.

Time will tell which guy is the odd man out this offseason.

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Hi Joe

Was just doing some “Our life as a bruins fan is pathetic” emails with my friends and I did some research on one seeds in the season following them being a one seed. Sounds wordy, but here is the info from the email -- thought I’d pass it along to you. I miss the updates from morning skate already.

I just did a little research here on the Number 1 seeds in the year following their Number One seed since the 98-99 year...so it’s a 10-year sample. Here are my random observations: each one seed went down an average of 9 points in their following season. Only twice did a one seed have more points in their next season and, you guessed it, it was the Red Wings both times.

Only three times did a one seed repeat as a one seed the next season and all three times it was the Red Wings. Only twice did a team that was a one seed in the previous season win the Stanley Cup in the following season, New Jersey in '00 and shockingly the Wings in '08.

One positive: the average position for the 1 seed in the season following is third and only one time did a one seed fail to make the playoffs in the following year and that was Buffalo in '08. So, moral of the story: the B's will end up the 4-5 seed next season and most likely lose in the quarters or semis again. Greaaaat.

Lachlan Burgess

JH: Great work, Lachlan. Didn’t think I’d miss going to the morning skates every morning, but I am actually missing it a little bit. I think it’s the charms of Ristuccia Arena and the permanent frost bite on my finger tips and toes after spending an entire winter season there freezing my Bauers off.

I’m actually okay with the Bruins ending a four- or five-seed next season and saving some of their trademark “Big Bad Bruins” passion for the playoffs next season. They’ve learned a lot about themselves in the last two years, and many one of those young players should have a real bitter taste of losing in their mouths after this season’s Game 7 wipeout against the Hurricanes.

The fourth-seed seemed to work okay for the Pittsburgh Penguins this year, didn’t it? They spent the first half of the year treading water while waiting for Sergei Gonchar to come back -- and even appeared as if they might miss the playoffs around the All-Star break -- but then the Pens got Gonchar back, canned their old coach in the “hockey coaches are as disposable as Ziploc bags” world of the NHL and then made two textbook trades for Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz that solidified the team’s Top 12 ground of forwards with some grit and veteran savvy.

The Pens have rolled over everybody this season and look to me like they’re ready for a little Cup immortality this spring. So if it’s good enough for them, then I don’t know why it wouldn’t be good enough for the Spoked B next season.

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Subject line: “Ugh”

Haggs:

It’s days like this that I regret signing up for the WEEI newsletter!!!  Thanks for making me even more depressed about the B’s losing.

Scott

P.S. Love your columns on other days, just not today.

JH: Thanks Scott. Sorry I was the bearer of bad Bruins news. There will be glowing columns about the kickassery of the Black and Gold next season. I promise. Just as long as they resign Krejci and find themselves a defenseman on the hockey market this summer.

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Haggs:

Dead on. I almost included Chara's shortcomings last night in my post but I left him alone. You are right though, you couldn't find  him last night...Check out my piece if you'd like on www.orble.com/two-cents-from-beantown/

Take care,

Chuck Hanf

JH: I voted for Chara for both Norris and the Hart Trophies after his dominant regular season, but there’s no denying the numbers from the playoffs. The big lug of a defenseman is 0-5 in Game 7s throughout his career, and was MIA in that Game 7 against the Hurricanes. He was completely outplayed by Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen, who played 35 minutes, assisted on two goals and was making plays all over the ice all night long.

Chara would be that much better if he could be the “Chris Pronger” part of a Pronger and Scott Neidermayer pairing like the one in Anaheim. Right now, there are still times when Chara is being forced to do too many things for the Bruins, and a truly skilled, speedy defenseman would lighten some of the weighty pressure off Big Z. Guys like Neidermayer don’t exactly grow on trees in places like Thunder Bay or Saskatoon though.

That’s a problem.

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Morning Joe,

So where do we go from here?

Fernandez is gone. Rask will be coming which is a good thing.

What about Phil Kessel? Do they keep or trade him? He was almost invisible (in Game 7) and I question his heart in important games and believe that he basically plays for himself. Clearly Montador was a liability making many bad decisions.

They need another sniper and another quality defenseman. Getting Sturm back will be a plus and with Lucic, Bitz and Wheeler they have a big healthy nucleus moving forward. They may only be a player or two away from making a real run at the Cup.

Looking forward to next year.

Have a great day,

Mike

JH: Rask and Tim Thomas should be an excellent duo provided that the young goalie can come up and be a consistent understudy paired with their $5 million a year goaltender.

I think they trade Kessel, but that’s just a hunch on my part. There aren’t many players out there with Kessel’s combination of skating speed and shooting touch, and they aren’t easily replaceable. But something tells me the finances are going to be a real sticking point with Phil the Thrill this summer.

If Kessel wants to, he can simply wait until July 1 and then try to attract an offer sheet or two from any of the other NHL teams with tons of salary cap space (think Montreal or Toronto, teams that could use Kessel and weaken an Eastern Conference adversary by signing away their top sniper). The one silver lining in an offer sheet situation is the bevy of draft picks that would come back Boston’s way depending on how much the contract was for. To wit: here are a pair of average annual value contract offers along with the draft compensation the Bruins would receive should Kessel, or Krejci for that matter, sign somewhere else:

$3,923,437 - $5,231,249 – first-, second- and third-round pick.

$5,231,249 - $6,539,062 – two first-round picks, one second- and one third-round pick.

I’m with you, though, Mike. I think they sign Kessel and trade him, and then try to get themselves a better defenseman out of the deal along with draft picks. Doesn’t necessarily have to be the Pronger talks revisited from the trade deadline, but something that will shore up a clear defenseman weakness on this Bruins team going forward. The next few years of the franchise (and perhaps beyond) will be shaped by the decisions this summer, but no pressure or anything on Chiarelli and Co.

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Joe,

I'm glad someone is calling out the Bruins last night for not bringing their best effort.  How does a Bruins team bring their ‘B’ game to Game 7? Carolina outworked them and appears to have wanted it more. Bruins took light years to get the puck out of their own zone, and on one occasion it cost them a goal. After 37 years, this is only a "good" season. I am looking for is a Cup.  I guess the sting for me this morning is that the B's got outworked at home in a Game 7. Perhaps the B's fans can mail the "We Want It" banner to Raleigh.

Peter Mis

Berkley, MA

JH: It was obvious by the spontaneous “We Want It” chants sparked by the B’s Faithful during lulls in the action of Game 7 that the fans clearly wanted to taste Game 7 victory. It was probably the best thing about that night looking back on it now.

The heartfelt chant told me that hockey has been reawakened in the city of Boston, and that the Bruins organization did enough this year to wake up the once-dormant fans in the Hub.

Now they simply need to keep building on that momentum just as they did this season off last year’s momentum. Don’t forget, Peter, that the Bruins weren’t even a lock for the playoffs by many so-called experts prior to this season’s beginning. The Black and Gold have come a long way in the last two years, and now they need their executive leadership to make the right decisions this summer to keep it going next year and beyond.

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ONE FINAL E-MAIL BLAST FROM FITZY

Haggs,

I was at (Game 7) and I was wondering why the hell did Montador get so much ice time? He was caught up ice on the 2nd goal and one PP in the 2nd he was on that same side as his partner on the half boards with no one covering his side. He is the most undisciplined guy I’ve seen in the NHL in a very long time.

Fitzy

JH: I know, Fitzy. Montador played 29:30 in Game 7 and that’s way too much for a guy with his skill set. But I’m not blaming him because that wasn’t the role he was brought in for on March 4. He was supposed to be a fifth or sixth defenseman able to play a physical role and provide more veteran leadership. Once he was given Top 4 minutes this team was in deep, deep trouble.

I wrote about this several weeks, and I’ll say it again. Check James Wisniewski out. Take a look at his age, his statistics, his performance after he was traded at the deadline and what he was traded for in going from the Blackhawks to the Ducks -- and tell me he wouldn’t have looked better in a Bruins sweater at the trade deadline. Chiarelli nailed it with Recchi, but I think he could have done a bit better than Montador with hindsight being flawlessly 20/20.

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Haggs you know who has been playing his best hockey of the year? Mark Stuart! He is playing his ass off and no one seems to have noticed. He is certainly better than JD Ference... 

Fitzy

JH: C’mon Fitzy. Andrew Ference killed off a penalty after suffering a broken leg during the same shift earlier this season against the Canadiens. That’s not something you’ll ever see out of the Ultimate Warrior, J.D. Drew.

As far as Mark Stuart goes, he played well but Claude Julien didn’t trust him enough to play him more minutes than Montador in Game 7 against Carolina. That tells me something. He’s still got a way to go in his offensive development before he’s a true Top 4 defenseman.

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Haggs

At last years Whiney’s I had a debate with (Fred) Smerlas over who was tougher, a Jedi or a guy from the Enterprise. The Jedi is clearly better trained more versatile and had better equipment. Fred is one big sci-fi geek.

Fitzy

JH: There you go. We started with Star Wars and we’re ending with Star Wars in the final 2008-09 Bruins edition of the Hagg Bag. May the Force Be With You and whatever it is the true geeks say on Star Trek. What is it, “Nanu-Nanu?” “Shazbot?” I’m not a “Star Trek” guy.

See you in a month.