The Bruins’ season will end in either a matter of hours or a matter of days, and no matter what, Claude Julien will be a popular man. He’ll either be the guy who brought the Stanley Cup back to Boston, the one whose team fell just short, or, as could be expected given the lunacy in this town, the man whose team won in spite of him. 

Admittedly, this is a space that does not fall within the group of “Claude bashers,” as it’s my personal opinion that he’s a far better coach than he gets credit for. For those who like to question Julien’s methods, he’s done a fine job this postseason. Has he always been right? No, but looking at some of his more highly scrutinized decisions this postseason, to have anything but praise for the Bruins’ coach at the end of the day (and season) is more of a head-scratcher than any of his decisions. Here’s a look at some of the moves he’s made this postseason:

SITTING SEGUIN/STICKING WITH RYDER

If you see the name “Seguin” in this post more than 30 times, all apologies, but most of the talk about Julien by your average talk show host or fan also happens to be about Seguin. 

In the case of the initial decision to sit Seguin in favor of the likes of Daniel Paille, Shawn Thornton and Michael Ryder, the Bruins’ coach was not given a free pass by media members and fans alike. After all, Julien wasn’t the guy who brought the B’s to the Cup finals yet. He was the guy who kept losing in the second round, and people didn’t think (or didn’t want to say) he knew what he was doing. 

In the end, it proved Julien knew what he was doing. Michael Ryder came alive as the Montreal series went on, and Paille began what has been a very strong postseason on the penalty kill. Thornton gave what he gives: a million-mile-an-hour approach to the gritty stuff. 

Seguin’s time would come, and when he did, he exploded for two games and played like an NHL player in the next. The larger sample has shown that he still isn’t ready to handle significant minutes yet (he’ll be one of the best scorers in the league within a matter of months or perhaps another year), so when it comes to Julien scratching Seguin off the bat, it seems he was doing the right thing.

HANDLING KABERLE

Some thought the Bruins hit a home run with their acquisition of Kaberle, some thought they gave up a ton but got a great player (guilty) and some thought the B’s got taken. No matter what they thought, nobody envisioned him being as bad as he was through parts of the first three rounds of the playoffs.

A few things were learned quickly about Kaberle when he came to Boston: his passing was as advertised, but his skating, conditioning, lack of shooting and susceptibility to turnovers weren’t terrific. He stayed on the power play through its struggles in the playoffs, and the turnovers he caused in 5-on-5 play were costly on multiple occasions. Julien stuck with him, but cut the 33-year-old’s minutes down significantly.

In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, Kaberle played 11:35, which is the lowest time on ice total in his career aside from two games in which he left due to injury. The idea that Steven Kampfer should have taken his spot in the lineup was kicked around in this space, but Julien never yanked Kaberle from the lineup. That's one of the few cases in which I've disagreed with Julien, but he proved why one of us coaches hockey and the other one writes about it.

Sticking with the veteran worked out, just like it did with Ryder. Kaberle has turned in fine work in the Stanley Cup finals and hasn’t been on the ice for any of Vancouver’s goals. He has played at least 15 minutes in each of the last three games.

CHARA ON THE POWER PLAY

After the power play’s lack of success reached humiliating proportions, Julien moved Chara from the point, where the B’s benefited from using the hardest slap shot in the league, to in front of the net to disrupt the goalie.

Though the power play was not successful with Chara in front, and it seemed he had difficulty handling rebounds, Julien’s decision to go away from it in recent games not might be the best one. Using Chara in front every once in a while in front of the goalie is a pain in the you-know-what for any goaltender, and especially if the Bruins are fighting for their lives and each goal seemingly counts as five, having Chara pester Roberto Luongo is a good idea. 

Yes, there’s also the physical element of it. Chara plays a ton of minutes and has looked tired late in some games, but putting him in front every once in a while can’t hurt too bad – and the results could help plenty. 

PEVERLEY ON THE SECOND LINE IN GAME 7

Prior to Game 7 against the Lightning, Julien told Mark Recchi that he would be giving some of his shifts to Rich Peverley. This was not a move anyone in the media or in the crowd had been calling for or claim was their idea. It was a decision that Julien made, and it was likely a big reason why Recchi was as sharp as he was with his reduced minutes. 

SITTING SEGUIN (PT. 2)

The Seguin fans in both the stands and the national media didn’t like the idea of Julien taking the rookie out of the lineup in Game 3 of the Cup finals in favor of Shawn Thornton, but the move clearly fired the team up, and the B’s went on to destroy Vancouver, 8-1. 

Losing Nathan Horton meant Seguin would obviously return to the lineup the next game, and since Seguin’s return people have questioned how Julien has utilized him. He’s seen time both in his usual role on the third line and, at points in Friday’s Game 1, on the first line in place of the concussed Horton. Seguin did look good playing with Krejci, but Rich Peverley plays more physical and is a bit more dependable than Seguin, who is unquestionably more explosive.

CAMPBELL ON THE POWER PLAY

This one was the most perplexing of Julien’s postseason moves, and it never got a chance to prove itself. Julien put the aggressive Campell out there for each of the four Bruins’ power plays in Game 5 with the intention of having the fourth-line center provide a net-front presence. Unfortunately for the Bruins, they often had difficulty getting set up on one of their worst nights for the man advantage this postseason.  

The sight of Campbell on the power play and Seguin sitting on the bench (though they man different positions on the power play) was too much for some to see. Assuming the Bruins find themselves on the man advantage at any point Monday, it seems Seguin will get more than the 12 seconds of power play ice time he got in Game 5. Seguin saw time with the second unit in practice, while Campbell not being out there suggested Julien’s experiment with playing him on the man advantage may be over. 

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So, does Julien have anything else up his sleeve? We'll find out in Game 6. If that happens to be their last game, the criticism will undoubtedly begin, but should it really?