Quick Recap of Chia's Conference Call

Peter Chiarelli held a conference call for all of us season ticket holders this afternoon. I can only imagine that renewals have been way down since prices went up and the Bruins game went into the tank this year. It also doesn't help that so many pink hats jumped on the bandwagon just to get tickets to the Winter Classic this year. Here's a synopsis of what he said:

• The team's identity is the greatest disappointment to him this season. He spoke to the team prior to the Philly game as we all know and he said this is what he primarily addressed. He said he had worked since he got here to develop the identity the team displayed last year and is doing everything he can to help them regain that identity.
• He said that addressing the character of the players was a priority in the offseason. 
• He said that there are a number of reasons why Dennis Wideman's play has fallen off and specifically said that complacency is one of them.
• He said that the losses of Axelsson, Hnidy, and Ward specifically may have hurt. He said teams need good "backroom" guys to support the leadership and those three may have filled that role last season. He added that you can't keep everybody in the salary cap system.
• One fan asked him why Bruins fans should renew their season tickets and Peter said that this season should be a blip.
• He believes this team is still capable of making a run in the playoffs.
• He cannot explain why the Bruins have been so bad on home ice this season.
• One guy asked him what he was proud of this year and it caught him off guard. He said he had only prepared to defend himself on the call. He mentioned that Bergy and Rask were the bright spots.
• When asked about the Thomas contract, he mentioned that the organization did not want to throw Tuukka to the wolves by making him the guy this early in his development. He said that historically, goaltenders don't truly come into their own until they reach the age of 25 or 26 and Tuukka is just 22.
• A season ticket holder who may or may not be a friend of mine that I play softball with asked about Mark Stuart. He may be the only guy in Boston who likes Mark Stuart more than I do. Chiarelli did nothing but praise Stuart, but of course would not divulge any information on if they planned to re-sign him or not.