The Bruins Have the Most Loathed Management in Boston

Photo via AP

It’s been two years since the Bruins have made the playoffs, and five years since the halcyon days of duck boats and Peverley pizza parties.

This year’s New England Sports Survey, conducted annually by Channel Media and Market Research, Inc., shows that fans are beginning to fully understand the old Mediterranean saying, “The fish stinks from the head down.”

Sixteen percent of the survey’s 14,000 respondents considered the Bruins their “favorite team,” good for third behind the Patriots and Red Sox. Garnering a stellar 2 percent, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs ranked dead last in “ownership performance,” even behind Bob and Jonathan Kraft, whose leadership of the New England Revolution once earned them the odious distinction of worst owners in MLS.

Just three percent of respondents thought the Bruins had the best chance of winning a championship. And the cynicism—hardly a foreign agent in Boston sports—is only growing worse, with 13 percent believing the Bruins are getting better, and 52 percent believing they’re on the decline. Four percent thought the Bruins were making their product better.

Even team president Cam Neely seems to be falling out of favor. The former fan favorite ranked third in “management performance” with 16 percent, a 33-percent plummet in two years. Compare that to Bill Belichick’s sterling 85-percent vote of confidence.

The bright side? However bad this year’s Bruins squad could be, there’s good reason to believe the Habs will be even worse.