WILMINGTON, Mass. (AP) – Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs proclaimed “a new day” for the Original Six franchise on Friday, saying the job of ending the team’s 34-year Stanley Cup drought now falls to general manager Peter Chiarelli and his hand-picked coaches and players.

“It’s Peter’s team and his organization,” Jacobs told reporters at the team’s media day, one day after veterans reported to training camp. “He should have the right to run it his way.”

The Bruins haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1972, hitting a low point last season when they missed the playoffs and traded away soon-to-be league MVP Joe Thornton.

Out went the general manager, the coach, and many of the players that presided over the team’s last-place finish, as well as the longtime face of the front office, Harry Sinden, who last month resigned as president after 17 years to become an adviser to Jacobs.

In came Chiarelli, coach Dave Lewis and top free agents like Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard.

“It’s a new day,” Jacobs said. “We’ve got a new coach, a new general manager. I think we have credible people in all those positions. Time will tell how good they are.”

The Bruins finished last in the Northeast Division last year with a 29-36-17 record that left them out of the playoffs for the first time since 2001. They have not advanced past the first round since 1999.

In an attempt to jump-start things in the middle of the season, general manager Mike O’Connell traded Thornton, who went on to win the Hart Trophy as the league’s Most Valuable Player, and Sergei Samsonov. But that didn’t work, and O’Connell was fired on March 25; Sullivan was replaced in June after Chiarelli came on board.

Jacobs, whose son Charlie is becoming more involved in running the team, said he liked Sullivan and O’Connell but realized that the team couldn’t go on doing things the old way. Chiarelli takes over a team that signed Chara, one of the top free agents on the market, along with forwards Marc Savard and Shean Donovan.

Phil Kessel, the fifth player chosen in this year’s draft, is also in camp after deciding to leave Minnesota after his freshman season.

“We’ve got a significantly strong group of new players that I think have heightened the excitement of everyone that works here, everyone that’s going to play here,” Jacobs said. “It was time for a change.”

Players said Friday that the mood has improved around the Ristuccia Arena, where the team trains.

“I’m really looking forward to this year. I don’t remember last year having a smile on my face,” said forward Glen Murray, who spent four seasons in the Bruins organization in the 1990s and returned in 2001.

Defenseman Brad Stuart said proof of the team’s new attitude showed when many of the veterans reported two weeks early for training camp.

Goaltender Hannu Toivonen agreed.

“I feel like I’m 5 years old,” he said. “I can’t wait to get to the rink every day and do my job. I think all the guys in the room feel that way.”