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DAN SHAUGHNESSY

For Bruins, four is a lowly number nowadays

“The pressure to compete for championships is always there,’’ Bruins president Cam Neely said.jonathan wiggs/globe staff/file 2017

Four is a number always associated with the Boston Bruins.

Bobby Orr — the greatest hockey player of all time — wore No. 4. Black-and-Gold No. 4 jerseys pepper the stands wherever the Bruins play. The best Boston sports bar is The Fours on Canal Street.

Now, as the Bruins get ready for a new season, they once again are all about number four . . . but this time not in a good way.

There is little dispute as to where the Bruins rank on the local sports totem pole at this hour. In terms of overall interest and championship hopes, they are a distant fourth. When it comes to fireworks and buzz, the local hockey team ranks far behind the Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics.

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Being Fourth In The Market: It’s Called Bruins.

The Bruins simply aren’t in the conversation. They can’t even see the medal platform. They might be closer to the Revs (gulp) than the bronze-medal Celtics. (OK, that’s hyperbole, but you get the point.)

Local hockey boss Cam Neely knows the score. Neely grew up in Canadian hockey culture, but he has been in the Hub more than 30 years and he understands how it works around here. The Patriots are hotter than “Game of Thrones,” the Red Sox have designs on playing deep into October, and the Celtics just made the NBA Final Four and picked up 11 new players, including Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving.

That leaves the Bruins, a team that fired their coach last season, registered a one-and-done in the playoffs (after missing the postseason in the previous two years), and made little splash in the offseason. They signed free agents named Kenny Agostino and Paul Postma. They drafted a Finn who is playing in Europe this season. And with a clunky combination of age and youth, they are (at best) probably destined to compete for the seventh or eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Their biggest move was retaining young David Pastrnak for six years ($40 million).

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“The pressure to compete for championships is always there,’’ Neely said before Tuesday night’s preseason game with the Red Wings at the Garden. “We felt we made some strides last year and hopefully we’re going to make some strides this year.

“When we looked at the roster a couple of years ago, we knew we needed to do a better job drafting. We knew it would probably take a couple of years. We didn’t want to force it.

“When we were interviewing for our new GM, Don [Sweeney] talked about putting together a team that could compete and told us it was going to take a couple of years to really get the lineup he felt would be able to compete with the players that we have who have already won.

“They [ownership] were prepared to go that route. We didn’t have players that were quite ready to step in last year. We’re hoping to have players that are ready to step in this year.’’

While the Bruins rebuild, it’s impossible to ignore the success and noise around the other three teams in town.

“I am a sports fan,’’ said Neely. “I like the other teams to be successful. I think it pushes everybody. You want to be the last team standing. I think the success that the other organizations have had certainly pushes everybody to get to that level of success.’’

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Where would he rank today’s Bruins in terms of local team popularity?

“It’s really hard for me to say,’’ said Neely. “Obviously what the Pats have been able to do over the last 10 years is very impressive. The Red Sox have always had a huge following and they’ve had their share of success. Same with the Celts. So, if you’re winning and winning championships, you’re at the top of the heap.’’

The Celtics dominated the offseason conversation. Does Neely feel compelled to compete with “fireworks”?

“We can’t really look at it that way,” he said. “If making a big deal makes sense, great. If it doesn’t materialize, we’re not going to get frustrated by it. We spent the bulk of our offseason trying to get David Pastrnak re-signed, and we got it done.

“We still want to improve our club, but it’s not going to be based on what other teams in the market are doing.’’

How is the level of patience with Bruins fans?

“I think last year they saw, probably more than in previous years, they saw the skill level of Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo who made an impact,” said Neely.

“Ultimately it comes down to, do they see a team that is competing and working hard and winning? When you’re in a city like this that has had success and has an Original Six franchise, hockey is ingrained in our fan base and they want to see you do well. They want to feel good about how their team’s playing.’’

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I could not let Neely go without revisiting one of the more regrettable episodes in team history, which was the team’s firing of longtime coach Claude Julien last February at the exact moment the Patriots were parading through downtown Boston to celebrate their stunning Super Bowl LI victory.

Any regrets about that one?

“Maybe,’’ he started. “The problem with that is today’s social media and the information that a lot of reporters get, and they get it out there right away whether it’s right or wrong. We were looking at our own schedule and when it was going to make sense to give [new coach Bruce] Cassidy an opportunity to get some practice time.

“Maybe we could have pushed the announcement back, but as soon as Don was going to let Claude go, that was going to get out right away.

“For me, I would have understood the comments that ‘They’re trying to tuck it in under what’s going on with the Patriots,’ but with today’s social media, that’s impossible to do. It was really about our own schedule more than anything else.

“I’m just speculating here, but I don’t know if Bill Belichick would care too much what the Boston Bruins were doing if the situations were reversed.’’

Roger that.


Dan Shaughnessy can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com