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Can Benoit Pouliot redeem himself in Boston?

Benoit Pouliot is one of the more intriguing players of the last few years. He’s a former first round pick of the Minnesota Wild back in 2005, fourth overall. He’s also one of the most disappointing first round picks of recent memory. After three massively disappointing seasons with the Wild, he was traded to Montreal for Guillaume Latendresse in November 2009 and after a hot start in Montreal, things turned south for Pouliot again.

Pouliot’s legacy with the Wild is one as a total bust but his two more memorable moments in Montreal comes thanks to the Boston Bruins. During a regular season game he dropped the gloves with, of all people, David Krejci but his “biggest” moment came during the playoffs.

During Game 3 of their first round series, NESN’s Jack Edwards verbally destroyed Pouliot after he left his feet to try and hit Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk, missing his head. Andrew Ference took exception to Pouliot picking a fight with him giving Edwards all the time needed to berate Pouliot for his sub-par career. Edwards called Pouliot a “chump” and “one of the greatest disappointments of talent in National Hockey League history.”

While that’s a bit of hyperbole, it’s not far from the mark. Through 183 career games Pouliot had 37 goals and 35 assists while averaging just 12:30 of ice time in his career. For a guy taken fourth overall, that’s miserable.

Now Pouliot is hoping to spark his career in, of all places, Boston. The Bruins signed Pouliot this summer to a one-year deal hoping he can plug in and provide some offense and use his 6'3" 200 pound frame the right way and be a physical offensive force on the ice. For Pouliot, he’s hoping Bruins coach Claude Julien can help him tap into the talent it’s believed he has.

CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty
catches up with the Bruins’ “chump” for hire.

“[A new start] is always fun. I think my fresh start in Montreal went really good. My two years were definitely good and a lot more positive than negative,” said Pouliot. “Maybe there was a little bit of a slip there at the end. Coming to a new team you’ve got to earn the trust of the players and the coaches, and you’ve really got to just go out and do your own thing.

“It’s a business. Things happen. I’ve just got to play the way that I’m capable of. I’ve got a couple of strengths for shooting and skating, and I’m a pretty big guy. I can go into the corners very easily.”

So what went wrong in Montreal?

“I don’t know. I think there was a little bit of a lack of trust there between me and the coach . . . maybe in the end,” said Pouliot. “When I first got there things were going well and he was playing me 16 or 17 minutes a game, but things went downhill after that. Last year I had a good year on the third and fourth line and played a full season. So that was good.”

If Pouliot can learn from his days as a third and fourth liner and also take home the lessons learned from two failed stints in the NHL, he can make the most of it. Pouliot is still just 24 years-old and in Boston he’s joining a team where he’s the sole new guy in town. If seizing the opportunity and getting the opportunity to stick it to his old team isn’t motivation enough for Pouliot to figure it all out, perhaps it’s time to start believing more of what Jack Edwards has to say about him and help buy into the hyperbole.