Boston Bruins Miss Playoffs, Fire GM Peter Chiarelli

The Boston Bruins have fired general manager Peter Chiarelli, the team announced Wednesday.

"We are grateful for Peter's service to the Bruins organization over the last nine seasons," Bruins president Cam Neely said in the statement. "His efforts undoubtedly helped the team achieve great success during his tenure and he helped restore the proud tradition of Boston Bruins hockey. We ultimately feel that this change is necessary in order to ensure sustainable success for the club both in the short term and the long term."

The Bruins missed out on the playoffs this year for the first time in eight seasons. Under Chiarelli's nine seasons, the Bruins reached the playoffs seven times. They won the Stanley Cup in 2011, which was the team's first in 39 years.

Chiarelli acknowledged earlier this year that he knew his job was on the line. He had said, "Whether it's Cam or Charlie who said we're all under review, I understand that. We've had a lot of success here in my tenure and Claude's tenure. We're having a down year. It's unfortunate that we're under review for one year. But I understand. We've got to make things better."

The team announced that the search for a new general manager, which will be headed by Bruins Chief Executive Officer Charlie Jacobs and Neely, will start immediately. No interim manager has been named and no one else from the Bruins staff has been fired.

The Bruins finished this season 41-27-14. They were two points shy of making it to the playoffs.

Jacobs and Neely will address the media on Wednesday at 3 p.m.