This bounced because the list was down, but since I think it's got some points relevant to some of the current discussions I'm re-posting

[Kim Malo <kimmalo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The author was just on WZOU The ZONE and it's a good overview of the 
situation, especially some of the points on the effect on practice for 
players from JR to WalkerPierce. I don't think the significance of that 
sort of stuff - which is probably more than the effect of signing some 
league minimum player would have on most games - gets enough emphasis.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51662-2002Nov28.html
washingtonpost.com
Lots of Beans, but Limited Means
Boston's Celtics and Bruins Are Winning, Although Owners Aren't Spending
By Jeff Goodman
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, November 29, 2002; Page D04
BOSTON
The Boston Celtics are handcuffed by an owner unwilling to make the most 
minor roster moves, leaving the team carrying the league minimum of 
players. Management for the Boston Bruins has remained true to its ways, 
letting the team's biggest star walk away in the offseason without making a 
legitimate pitch to keep him.

Yet somehow, with the odds stacked against them, both Boston franchises 
have managed to excel this season. The Celtics are in second place in the 
Atlantic Conference with a 10-4 record, and the Bruins lead the NHL's 
Northeast Division with a 14-3-3 record, the best mark in the Eastern 
Conference.

Last season, Celtics Coach Jim O'Brien led Boston to the Eastern Conference 
finals, but instead of making moves to get Boston in a position to 
challenge for the NBA title, owner Paul Gaston wouldn't allow General 
Manager Chris Wallace to re-sign free agent Rodney Rogers or bring aboard 
any impact free agents in fear of eclipsing the dreaded luxury tax.

Wallace lost Rogers, Mark Blount and Erick Strickland -- three key 
contributors last season -- and replaced them with a trio of unproven, 
low-paid youngsters -- Bruno Sundov, Ruben Wolkowski and J.R. Bremer -- who 
received all of 72 minutes in the first 12 games this season. The one trade 
that was made in the offseason, dealing Kenny Anderson, Vitaly Potapenko 
and Joe Forte to Seattle for Vin Baker and Shammond Williams, was approved 
by ownership primarily because it sliced about $1 million off the payroll 
for this season.

Everything made sense when the announcement was made in September that 
Gaston was selling the club for a whopping $360 million. Now Wallace isn't 
even allowed to pick up a body to fill the roster when players such as 
Kedrick Brown get hurt. Gaston has made it clear that there will only be 12 
players under contract -- the league minimum -- until the team is sold.

"It is what it is. We've just had to adjust accordingly the best we can and 
that's the reality of the situation," Wallace said. "The deal we made was 
able to reduce our team payroll this year and make it a little easier for 
us to handle the luxury tax, but we're not out of the woods with the luxury 
tax by any means. It's still a major concern."

The Celtics have been relatively healthy this season, but if they lose one 
or two more players to the injured list, Celtics assistant coach and former 
NBA player Lester Connor will be pressed into practice duty.

"It's a big deal for a number of reasons," O'Brien said. "In practice we 
aren't able to have guys at their normal positions because we don't have 
enough players. A guy like J.R. Bremer, who we think can be a good point 
guard in this league, can't even play his natural position in practice 
because we don't have enough two-guards."

"When you play three games in four nights, you can't practice the same 
way," added O'Brien. "You'd like to give Antoine [Walker] or Paul [Pierce] 
a rest, but we don't have enough guys to do that. When it comes to player 
development, it's very difficult to be put in this situation. We don't have 
the luxury of being three deep at positions and having 13 or 14 players 
like the rest of the league."

Walker and Pierce are both among the top 10 in the league in minutes 
played, and the lack of depth on the team could take its toll down the 
stretch. It looked as though the lack of moves might put the team out of 
contention as the Celtics opened the season with back-to-back losses to 
Chicago and Washington, but they managed to win 10 of their next 12 games 
and keep pace with the Eastern Conference's top clubs.

The Bruins have been just as hot as of late, winning seven of their last 
nine games, including their last
three. However, no one was floored when Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs didn't 
allow his general manager, Mike O'Connell, to go after right wing Bill 
Guerin and goaltender Byron Dafoe when they became free agents. However, 
when both players were allowed to walk away without even an attempt to 
re-sign them, the backlash began yet again.

"He has no problem giving money to other people, but he doesn't re-invest 
in his own hockey team and it's frustrating to see," said 28-year-old Jon 
Siegal, a lifelong Bruins fan who chose not to renew his season ticket 
package this season because of the lack of offseason activity. "And he 
wonders why only 9,000 people show up for the games nowadays. No one buys 
into it and people realize that the team has no chance of winning the 
Stanley Cup."

Guerin, a local product who racked up 81 goals over the past two seasons, 
signed with Dallas. Dafoe, coming off one of the best seasons of his career 
with a 2.21 goals against average, was recently picked up by Atlanta. 
O'Connell opted to bring on less expensive alternatives in career backup 
netminder Steve Shields and defenseman Bryan Berard, who has revived his 
career in Boston after a career-threatening eye injury. The team's top 
defenseman, Kyle McLaren, hasn't played all season after requesting a trade.

"I hear the question all the time whether we're surprised at how well we're 
doing," said Bruins captain Joe Thornton, who watched management trade 
Jason Allison two years ago instead of paying him big money. "Not at all. 
We've got a great team here and we don't know what else we've got to do to 
prove it."

The Bruins haven't just had to cope with the loss of Guerin, Dafoe and 
McLaren, either. The B's have also been without Sergei Samsonov (wrist) and 
Martin Lapointe (broken foot) for nearly all of the season after both 
suffered serious injuries in the fourth game of the year.

Guerin, Samsonov and Lapointe combined for 87 goals last season, which was 
37 percent of the team's offensive production. The Bruins have also been 
without P.J. Axelsson, Jozef Stumpel, Mike Knuble and goalie John Grahame, 
who splits duties with Shields, for stretches yet they managed to become 
the only team in the NHL to rack up 30 points in their first 20 games.

"It's been unbelievable watching all the guys stepping up," Lapointe said. 
"Billy was a big part of the team and was also the leader and it was 
disappointing to see him go, but life goes on. Hockey is a business and 
you've got to turn the page and write another chapter."
) 2002 The Washington Post Company