The Boston Bruins have promoted long time team executive and former player Don Sweeney to general manager, replacing the departed Peter Chiarelli, who was fired by the club and joined the Edmonton Oilers front office in April.
Rumors had been swirling about Sweeney’s appointment since Chiarelli left, with CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty going so far as to say it was “Sweeney’s job to lose.” While the Bruins had many options to fill the vacancy, Sweeney ultimately topped the list for the Bruins.
The 48-year-old had a lengthy NHL career, playing 1115 games, 1052 of which were with the Bruins (3rd all time). The 1984 Bruins draft pick complied 52 goals and 273 points in 16 seasons patrolling the blueline before retiring in 2004.
Sweeney joined the Bruins front office in 2006 as the team’s director of player development and was largely responsible for professional scouting and keeping tabs on the club’s prospects playing in lower professional leagues. In 2007, director of hockey operations was added to his title, and in 2010 Sweeney was again promoted, this time to assistant GM.
Sweeney was a key member of the executive team that guided the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 2011.
The club will be hoping that Sweeney is well seasoned enough to step into a general manager role, and all accounts are that he will be, after a disappointing season that saw the Bruins miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007. With the Bruins roster already boasting some hefty contracts and a number of players heading to free agency, Sweeney will very likely have to be busy this summer if he and the team hope to become contenders again in the Eastern Conference next season.
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