Bruins coach Claude Julien and GM Peter Chiarelli yesterday "spoke with uncertainty regarding their futures with the organization" during a season-ending news conference at TD Garden, according to Kyle Brasseur of ESPN BOSTON. Chiarelli maintained that he and Julien "will perform their jobs as they usually would until informed otherwise." Chiarelli: "The job uncertainty, the questions surrounding us -- it's part of the job, and you have to deal with it and just move forward. But it hasn't impacted my interviews, my discussions and my meetings with Claude. Business as usual." Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs in January said the season would be a "complete failure" and "absolutely unacceptable" if the team missed the playoffs. Chiarelli "echoed that sentiment last week," prior to the team's elimination from playoff contention. Chiarelli said that he "hasn't received any indication as to when a decision regarding his or Julien's future would be made" (ESPNBOSTON.com, 4/13). In Boston, Stephen Harris writes the fact that the GM and coach were still on the job yesterday "does not necessarily mean those jobs are safe." It "might seem logical" that Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs, Charlie Jacobs and Bruins President Cam Neely "have had plenty of time to reach decisions on Chiarelli and Julien" before the team's season ended Saturday. But maybe the trio "will decide that Chiarelli and Julien should get the chance to fix what went wrong this year" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/14). Also in Boston, Christopher Gasper writes regardless of "whether you fall into the keep’em or can’em camp for Julien and Chiarelli, the sooner the puff of white smoke comes up from Causeway Street to signal their fates, the better." A franchise-altering decision like this "should be handled with care and careful consideration." But "letting it linger is simply unbecoming" of the Bruins, especially after Charlie Jacobs "threatened in January to remove everything but the fixtures from TD Garden if the Bruins didn’t make the playoffs" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/14).
