Bolland has earned the right to be more than a punchline

Former Florida Panthers center Dave Bolland is defended by Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak at TD Banknorth Garden. (Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)All David Bolland did in Chicago was his job.

Ask him to check, he checked. Ask him to scrap, he scrapped. Ask him to occasionally score, he would occasionally score.

That included a bang-bang, last-minute, Stanley Cup-winning goal with Chicago, his last game with the Blackhawks.

That was three years ago. Now Bolland, at age 30, has become something of a punchline, not a person or a player of any consequence in hockey, just salary cap space. That’s how he’s looked at by too many in the hockey world. His rather large contract was dealt from…