In Neely We Trust

We love you Cam!

In one of the worst kept secrets of the off-season so far, the Bruins will announce today that Cam Neely is getting a sweet promotion to team President, a position that has not been hold in the Bruins organization since 2006.

We keep getting emails from our season ticket rep talking about a “big announcement” happening today. I guess no one told the Bruins organization that Joe Haggerty broke this story yesterday.

The Neely fan boys in us are excited. Chiarelli preached change and maybe this is the beginning. Maybe Neely’s fingerprints will be on the roster more than they are now. Maybe he’ll also be the President of Heart and Grit, and instill that famous Neely attitude in the players.

The non-fan boy in us says… what exactly does this mean? Will Neely wield Chiarelli like powers? Will he really have more of a say in the roster? Trades? Re-signings? Drafting? Is Neely actually good at any of these things? We don’t know. And won’t know for a bit.

The move could just be a sort of peace offering to a fan base that wants to see something, anything happen. The Jacobs may be greedy, but they’re not stupid. Promoting Neely will create a buzz. He’s a hero in this city. And rightfully so. Might even take a bit of the talk away from what happened a few weeks ago.

But what Neely does know is the tradition and history that goes with being a Bruin. He’s a huge part of that. He defined being a Bruin. We are confident that whatever Neely can do as President to make this team better, to restore them to glory, he’ll do it.

If you look up heart, grit and dedication in the dictionary, there’s a picture of Neely on his ass scoring a goal or nailing some poor soul into the boards. Much like with Orr, bad knees took Neely the player away from us much too soon. But the Bruins certainly could’ve used someone with Neely’s desire in the playoffs.

And that is what we expect him to bring more of to the organization. Neely is obviously comfortable in his role as Vice President. Perhaps taking the “Vice” off his title gives him more power. Perhaps it doesn’t. But he’ll be expected to do more from the fans. And we’re sure he will.

We’ve met Mr. Neely several times. We’re not bragging. We’re just saying. If you call him Mr. Neely, he tells you to call him Cam. He will sit and talk hockey with you even though you’re a bumbling idiot in his presence. He’ll stop and take pictures. He’ll act humble and modest when you drool over his achievements.

But he’s accessible to a Boston fan base that idolizes him. He understands how much we love this team. And so does he. He always says the right things. Unlike the coaches and other upper management, Neely had no problem being critical when the team was tanking. Unlike the coaches and other upper management, Cam Fucking Neely demands accountability. He wasn’t mean spirited, he wasn’t a jerkface. He just always seems to say what the fans are thinking.

Well, short of openly demanding Ryder and Ference be burned at the stake. But unlike other management types, we never feel like Neely is just giving us lip service. That never seemed to be his style. Here at Days Of Y’Orr, we consider this a positive step for the Bruins, even if we aren’t quite sure what the promotion means for the team. All we know is that In Neely We Trust.