FOXBORO — On the eve of last season, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs declared then general manager Peter Chiarelli to be “the best in the business.”
Less than a year later, Chiarelli was fired, replaced by his top assistant, Don Sweeney.
“What a difference a year makes, huh?” Jacobs said yesterday with a slight smile.
Attending the Gillette Stadium press event for the Jan. 1 Winter Classic to be held between the Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, Jacobs was for the first time addressing his club’s massive overhaul following the team’s 2014-15 finish out of the playoffs.
While he said that the decision to fire Chiarelli was mostly made by team president Cam Neely and his son Charlie, Delaware North’s CEO of its Boston holdings, he did support the move and the reasons behind it.