Japanese maple this year not doing well

In 2012, we had may type warmth in march that was followed up with hard freezes in April. At the time, it looked like most of the maple leaves were burnt and they didn't bloom very well. This year, we had a much more stable warming phase and where the maple bloomed it looks great. But look at how big the dead branch section is :( the sticks appear to dead and dry. I'm not sure if I should prune them off or see how they do next year. If I prune them, I'll only have half a tree left.

Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/1414563/japanese-maple-this-year-not-doing-well site