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Bruins coach Claude Julien defying expectations (von fighting889)

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http://www.authenticbruinsshop.com/authentic-46-david-krejci-jersey.html FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Here he is.Some people had him fired last summer. A Las Vegas betting site had him listed as the likeliest coach to get axed first this season. And he was asked at a media briefing three games into the season about his job security.Well guess what, folks, Claude Julien not only made it to the Winter Classic, the league's biggest regular-season stage, but he's a Jack Adams Award candidate right now to boot.Surprised? Don't be. The 55-year-old from Orleans, Ontario, is a blue-collar battler if there ever was one.Marc Staal Kids Jersey "He's resilient," former Bruins winger Gregory Campbell said over the phone this week from Columbus."All you have to do is look at Boston's record -- not only in the past five years, but over all the time Claude has been there, they're a contending team," added Campbell, who spent five years with the Bruins before signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer. "That's real difficult in this day and age to compete year in and year out. I know when I left Boston that there was talk he could be in hot water, but I certainly didn't think that was from anything Claude wasn't doing. He prepared his players every day, he's adamant about being professional. And he's fair, too."It's worth remembering that Julien was rumored to be on the chopping block had the Bruins lost to the rival Montreal Canadiens in the opening round of the 2011 playoffs. But Boston rallied back from a 2-0 series deficit and went on to win the Cup.His job security became an issue again last offseason after the team missed the playoffs and the general manager who hired him in 2007, Peter Chiarelli, was fired.The Bruins' season ended in April, Don Sweeney was named general manager on May 20, and Julien had to wait until June 5 for an announcement that he would return as coach.Oscar Robertson Kids Jersey Bruins star Patrice Bergeron remembers chatting with Sweeney last summer, but the head coach wasn't a topic of conversation."I think he knew what I thought of Claude anyway, that I love playing for him and I've learned so much from him," Bergeron said Tuesday night. "So he didn't need to ask me the question. I think he just needed time to figure out things is all."It wasn't ideal for Julien as other coaching jobs around the league were filling up, but Julien also understood that Sweeney needed to size up the organization before making that call.http://www.authenticyankeesshop.com/authentic-44-reggie-jackson-jersey.html "Through it all, I had a sense that it was going in the right direction," Julien said this week. "Nobody had confirmed anything, but my feeling was it was going in the right direction. At that time, there's nothing you can do about it. So you have to respect the new GM as far as giving him time to figure things out. That's what I did. Whether it took longer than expected or not, at the end of the day you got a contract and you have to honor it. Had they decided to go the other way, that's part of the business. The only thing I was hoping for was that it wasn't too late where you've missed out on other opportunities. It all turned out well where we made the decision to go forward as a group. And I'm still here."

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