BOSTON -- Harry Sinden, president of the Boston Bruins for the last 17 of his more than 40 years with the team, resigned Wednesday to become an adviser to club owner Jeremy Jacobs.

The move is the latest in the reorganization of a franchise that last won the Stanley Cup in 1972 and hired Peter Chiarelli as general manager and Dave Lewis as coach after last season.

The team said it would not hire a new president, but instead align all hockey operations under new general manager Peter Chiarelli.

Sinden said the timing is right for him to step down, as he's been moving toward an advisory capacity with the Bruins for some time.

"With Peter now settled in Boston, I initiated discussions with Mr. Jacobs on changing my focus and he agreed with me that this is the right time to formalize the direction in which we have been moving for some time," he said.

The 74-year-old Sinden began in the Bruins organization in 1961 as a minor league coach in Kingston, Ontario, and became head coach in Boston in the 1966-67 season. In his fourth and final full season as coach, he led the Bruins to the 1970 Stanley Cup, their first in 29 years.

Sinden spent the next two years in private business before taking over on Oct. 5, 1972, as general manager, a job he held until Nov. 1, 2000. He also served as president since 1988 and began overseeing operations of the Bruins home, the TD Banknorth Garden, as its chairman in 2002.

In March, Sinden fired his successor as GM, Mike O'Connell, and the team missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. In previous years, Sinden's role in making deals decreased and he began serving more as an adviser to O'Connell, who traded star center Joe Thornton to San Jose early last season.

Thornton went on to become the NHL's most valuable player.