Boston Bruins free fall mirrors the decline in NHL fighting

Everyone has theories as to why the 2015-16 Bruins have regressed so far from their Stanley Cup winning season in 2010-11.

And I have mine. It is the lack of physical play including fighting. Quite frankly, the product they put on the ice this was not only inferior skill wise but a thoroughly boring product. How many times did they fall behind and show no fight, physical or mental? I'll answer, a lot.

Which team has paid the price for the NHL cracking down on fighting? Your Boston Bruins. Why? Because Chiarelli, Neely, Julien (select all if you prefer) were too slow to react to the non-contact NHL. The Bruins roster was loaded with dump and chase players. Now the Bruins are in no man's land, not tough enough or skilled enough. Why have the Chicago Blackhawks started a dynasty during the same time period? They never depended on physical play to be their calling card.

Look at the digression at home since the Cup year and the years when they were fighting and playing with grit. The Bruins were (71-22-13) in the previous 3 seasons at the Garden (2012-2015) compared to a pathetic (17-18-6) in 2015-16.

The Bruins basically lost as many games at home this year as they have in the previous 3 seasons combined.

YEAR	GAMES	W	L	T	PCT	PTS
2010-11	41	22	13	6	0.610	50
2011-12	41	24	14	3	0.622	51
2012-13	24	16	5	3	0.729	35
2013-14	41	31	7	3	0.793	65
2014-15	41	24	10	7	0.671	55
2015-16	41	17	18	6	0.488	40

Now let's look at the grit and intestinal fortitude in the years since the Stanley Cup winning season of the Boston Bruins.

TEAM	2015-16	2014-15	2013-14	2012-13	2011-12	2010-11	Grand Total
Boston Bruins	34	27	46	32	61	71	271
Columbus Blue Jackets	38	44	39	34	57	54	266
Anaheim Ducks	42	35	40	23	44	67	251
Philadelphia Flyers	28	30	45	33	57	47	240
Ottawa Senators	35	33	39	26	53	46	232
St. Louis Blues	26	30	32	21	42	78	229
Toronto Maple Leafs	10	24	48	44	35	50	211
New York Rangers	15	20	25	18	65	62	205
Vancouver Canucks	26	31	43	28	38	29	195
Pittsburgh Penguins	9	33	27	22	31	71	193
New York Islanders	23	16	39	18	27	68	191
San Jose Sharks	31	26	31	18	35	48	189
Edmonton Oilers	26	30	36	13	27	55	187
Buffalo Sabres	21	33	36	25	40	30	185
Los Angeles Kings	31	25	27	19	33	49	184
Colorado Avalanche	22	31	30	22	36	43	184
Dallas Stars	21	30	25	26	28	51	181
Washington Capitals	19	31	36	16	26	45	173
Montreal Canadiens	16	27	41	25	28	32	169
Calgary Flames	20	24	32	22	35	35	168
Minnesota Wild	11	24	27	24	42	32	160
Winnipeg Jets	29	32	33	26	35	33	155
Florida Panthers	29	16	30	20	31	24	150
Tampa Bay Lightning	21	23	30	31	23	20	148
New Jersey Devils	22	22	10	16	39	37	146
Nashville Predators	28	17	37	21	19	18	140
Arizona Coyotes	21	26	18	16	27	23	131
Chicago Blackhawks	12	15	16	16	41	28	128
Carolina Hurricanes	12	17	8	23	19	25	104
Detroit Red Wings	8	8	7	14	15	13	65
TOTALS	686	780	933	692	1,089	1,284	5,431

* - The Winnipeg Jets were the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010-11

** - 2012-13 Shortened season due to lockout

Source: hockeyfights.com