“Just one of those things you’ve got to do once in a while as a coach. He’s missed some meetings. Obviously it’s not the first time. When it’s the first time, you give guys a break. But it’s happened more than a few times. At one point, he’s got to hold himself responsible. We felt he could have easily done that. Hopefully it’s a learning thing. He’s a good player and a good individual. He’s going to bounce back and play for us next game.’’

-- Claude Julien on the benching of Tyler Seguin in Winnipeg on Tuesday

Two ways to look at this.

Let's first take a gander with our Jack Edwards glasses on. This is a learning experience for a 19-year old kid, nothing more. Sure, he's skipped a few meetings, but weren't we all kind of dopes when we were teenagers? A smooth transition to the NHL in 2011 isn't a fair ask for someone born in 1992. OK, a mistake was made, a message was sent, and Seguin will never miss a single meeting, breakfast or church service again for the rest of his life. 

Does that sound about right? A couple of Revolutionary War references short, I suppose, but you get the point.

Now a more cynical view might lead one to this: Tyler Seguin is about to become the next superstar in this city. It is rare to see a player make The Leap (copyright Simmons, Bill) but it is happening with Seguin, who is -- again, still not yet 20 years old -- averaging a point per game and leading the NHL in plus/minus. 

Is it possible that this is a kid who might be thinking he's bigger than the team? If this was the first time Seguin had "attendance issues" you'd give him a pass. But Claude Julien told the media in Winnipeg that Seguin has blown off meetings "more than a few times." That could be three or four, could be six or seven. Who knows? But for the Bruins to take the step of publicly embarrassing a potential franchise player (and I'm sure they already view him as one) indicates a real problem exists. 

Right now, the only reasonable stance to take on this is the ol' wait and see approach. To bury Seguin would be a staggering overreaction. Do I believe the reason he missed a morning breakfast is a failure to adjust an alarm clock to Winnipeg time? Nope, there are about, say, 20 legitimate reasons why that one doesn't work. And I wasn't thrilled with the level of contrition from Seguin when he spoke to reporters last night. There was absolutely an "I'll say what I'm supposed to say, but this is complete bulls--t" vibe if you listened to his comments. 

(One quick aside: I'm convinced the overwhelming response to this whole mini-saga will be very-pro Seguin. I get why, of course. Fans are always protective of their own, and when it's a blossoming superstar on the defending Stanley Cup champions and currently the best team in hockey, the blind defense kicks up about 50 levels. Understandable. But let's be fair about this: If we were reading this stuff about Taylor Hall, wouldn't we be pointing to it as another reason the Bruins wound up with the right guy? Also this: I understand that it's 2011 and plenty of progress has been made when to comes to matters of race -- growing up in Winchester and now living in Central Mass., who better than I to weigh in on this one? -- but I do wonder which way the opinion wind would have blown if this happened to Rajon Rondo three or four years ago.)

Give Cam Neely, Peter Chiarelli and Julien credit for doing what many organizations would not even think of trying. Whatever the problems are with Seguin -- and maybe Tuesday's action by Seguin was just an "honest mistake," as Chiarelli told the media -- it is now public. The protection is over (and isn't it worth at least questioning the veteran leadership on this team? Didn't someone talk to Seguin the first three or four times this happened? And if so, why didn't the message take?) and this is clear: If Seguin misses another meeting, is late for another practice or has more alarm clock issues, this officially goes from a concern to a very real issue.

And maybe it'll never happen. A healthy scratch in Winnipeg could be the end of this. But it has to give any Bruins fan -- and I know they don't want to hear this, he's JUST A BOY -- some pause that Seguin has a history of this stuff (maybe all those healthy scratches last season weren't simply performance related) and it surfaced again right when this team was peaking. Tyler Seguin was irresponsible at best, selfish at worst -- and it cost the Bruins on Tuesday night. He's 19 years old, but he's collecting a paycheck. Either you are a professional athlete or you aren't.

There is no question that Seguin is having a superb season. He sure looks like a future Hart Trophy candidate, an annual 100-point player. Those things are true but so is this:

It's time for Tyler Seguin, Burgeoning Superstar, to grow up.