Boston Bruins Road Trip Breakdown: Testing the Depth | Ep. 121

0:00 Speaker 1: Can you start a podcast with me? Please? I need

0:04 Speaker 1: something to do all Jack, send it out and talk

0:14 Speaker 1: about this, says today. Here's a chance pop fa right

0:21 Speaker 1: down the goalie scars, Oh my one a.

0:23 Speaker 2: Move by the rookie.

0:24 Speaker 1: Too on one faster not moving? Set it on his

0:29 Speaker 1: own Oil dances in podcast at home right corner pastor Chester.

0:40 Speaker 1: What is that for? Most?

0:50 Speaker 2: Hello, everyone, welcome into another episode of Ruin's Tape to Tape.

0:55 Speaker 2: I will be your host for today's episode, Maria from Watertown,

0:59 Speaker 2: where recording on Monday morning, December fifteenth, only ten shopping

1:06 Speaker 2: days actually left folks ten or nine. Technically, I hope

1:09 Speaker 2: you're not going to be shopping on December twenty five,

1:12 Speaker 2: so get crack and folks get brapkin. I want to

1:16 Speaker 2: welcome in my co host Caroline with a kay, and

1:20 Speaker 2: I'm sure that she's got everything wrapped and ready to go.

1:24 Speaker 1: Do you have my print? Absolutely not? Absolutely not. I'm flying.

1:28 Speaker 1: I'm flying by the seat of my pants here. But

1:31 Speaker 1: also a happy Hanukah to our friends who celebrate because

1:36 Speaker 1: yesterday was the first one. So lucky you guys, you

1:38 Speaker 1: get to be done sooner than us.

1:40 Speaker 2: Happy Honakah to all of our listeners and viewers, So

1:45 Speaker 2: we've were We've got a lot to talk about, none

1:48 Speaker 2: the least of which is kind of a somewhat ugly

1:51 Speaker 2: game in Minnesota on Sunday night. The Bruins had a

1:56 Speaker 2: rare six pm game coupled with a lost by our

2:00 Speaker 2: beloved New England Patriots. So not a great sports day

2:04 Speaker 2: on Sunday in Boston. But we'll get to that game

2:09 Speaker 2: and the two prior games, which were much better results

2:13 Speaker 2: for the Boston Bruins. But we'll do our usual Bruins

2:17 Speaker 2: news update, including injuries. I have a little food for thought,

2:22 Speaker 2: and your dad has a hot take for us, which

2:25 Speaker 2: we always find welcoming and entertaining. We'll do our quick spin,

2:31 Speaker 2: spin around the rink, stick tabs for our Bruins and

2:35 Speaker 2: penalty box for this week. So let's start with yep,

2:39 Speaker 2: the good news for the Bruins with regard to injuries.

2:42 Speaker 2: Both Pasta and McAvoy returned to the lineup in the

2:47 Speaker 2: game against was It Winnipeg.

2:49 Speaker 1: They both played well. Pasta came back for against Saint

2:53 Speaker 1: Louis and then Chucky came back in Winnipeg.

2:56 Speaker 2: And then of course you get and you lose because

3:00 Speaker 2: and the Winnipeg game, we lost Victor Ardwitdson and Jonathan Asparo,

3:05 Speaker 2: and unfortunately both guys playing well. Ardvitdson only recently back

3:11 Speaker 2: from some kind of an injury, and Marco Sturm said

3:14 Speaker 2: that there was no really timetable yet for these guys.

3:18 Speaker 2: They were going to wait until they got back here

3:20 Speaker 2: to Boston to reassess to maybe get some better insight

3:24 Speaker 2: as to what the status of their injuries are, which

3:27 Speaker 2: is which is pretty unfortunate for both of them, but

3:30 Speaker 2: especially Jonathan Asboro because he's been playing really, really well

3:33 Speaker 2: and I think that leaves that leaves somewhat of a

3:37 Speaker 2: defensive gap, defensive hole. And I wasn't thoroughly impressed with

3:42 Speaker 2: Mason Lori's game against Winnipeg. Seems like he definitely got

3:48 Speaker 2: a little bit exposed and maybe was targeted a little

3:51 Speaker 2: bit on his side of the ice because he still

3:54 Speaker 2: still has struggles making strong plays on the puck, aggressive

3:58 Speaker 2: strong plays on the puck. And that's I mean, it

4:00 Speaker 2: costs let you a couple of goals in that game.

4:03 Speaker 2: But we'll get to that game. So your thoughts on

4:07 Speaker 2: the injuries.

4:08 Speaker 1: It's frustrating, and you know, every team in the NHL

4:14 Speaker 1: is dealing with this right now. It's absolutely crazy. I

4:17 Speaker 1: haven't taken the time to explore it. I'm sure there

4:20 Speaker 1: are other analysts out there who have, so I would

4:23 Speaker 1: love to hear the info on this, but it almost

4:26 Speaker 1: seems like it's I can't tell if it's anecdotal or not,

4:30 Speaker 1: but it certainly feels like it's just amplified this year.

4:34 Speaker 1: And I'm sure it has to do with this condensed schedule.

4:38 Speaker 1: We've talked about it at nauseum. I would just really

4:41 Speaker 1: like to hear for certain that, No, this is definitely

4:44 Speaker 1: a crazy year, and it's not an injury bug. It

4:48 Speaker 1: is like a plague, and every team is losing multiple

4:54 Speaker 1: players at once. It's not there's no one team that's

4:58 Speaker 1: either got no injured or they're only losing one person

5:04 Speaker 1: and they're losing significant players. This morning, I was just

5:08 Speaker 1: taking a look around the rink and reading on substacks

5:11 Speaker 1: some of the other hockey blogs that I follow, and

5:16 Speaker 1: reading about Tampa Bay. I mean, that's a team and

5:19 Speaker 1: we've discussed this that there's no team in the East

5:22 Speaker 1: really pulling away and running away with it, and I

5:25 Speaker 1: think the injuries are really what's holding all the teams

5:31 Speaker 1: in the East back? Because I agree with you. You

5:33 Speaker 1: took the words right out of my mouth, right, I mean,

5:36 Speaker 1: Tampa Bay, by all other measures, should have pulled away

5:41 Speaker 1: from the rest of the East, and they've got the

5:45 Speaker 1: Vassie is down, Headman is down. Like how many? How

5:50 Speaker 1: many players there have been taken out? Look at the West.

5:54 Speaker 1: I think Colorado has just gotten a little bit lucky

5:57 Speaker 1: because none of their major players are out.

6:00 Speaker 2: I think that's why there's such a wagon right now.

6:02 Speaker 2: They're stayed healthy.

6:04 Speaker 1: Right, all their key players have been able to stay healthy,

6:06 Speaker 1: and it just they're good. I don't mean to diminish

6:09 Speaker 1: they're very very good. They're very very deep. But they've

6:12 Speaker 1: also had the benefit of good health thus far. Yeah,

6:16 Speaker 1: So it's tough. It's tough to watch. It's beyond frustrating

6:20 Speaker 1: because and as we will talk about in particular in

6:24 Speaker 1: the Minnesota game, Boston has struggled when push comes to

6:29 Speaker 1: shove against solid, solid teams, they've struggled to be able

6:34 Speaker 1: to finish. They will be on it like you know

6:40 Speaker 1: that it's close, you know they're about to score. They're

6:42 Speaker 1: doing all the right things, and they just simply can't.

6:46 Speaker 1: And I think this injury bug is the issue around

6:50 Speaker 1: that because in the past seasons it's been because they

6:55 Speaker 1: don't have the talent. This year, I think they have

6:58 Speaker 1: the right combination of guys working together to get the

7:02 Speaker 1: scoring done. But when you take out a single piece,

7:06 Speaker 1: it's like a Jenga tower for this team, you take

7:10 Speaker 1: out one piece and it all falls apart. You need

7:14 Speaker 1: to have all of these pieces together to have a

7:17 Speaker 1: really strong Bruins team this year. And that that's just

7:20 Speaker 1: how they're constructed. And it's let's let's let's turn this back,

7:24 Speaker 1: as you said, wait into the Bruins and then the

7:27 Speaker 1: two guys they got back this week and the impact

7:31 Speaker 1: that they've had now pasta in the first two games

7:36 Speaker 1: that he played coming back from his injury, what he

7:38 Speaker 1: had like seven freaking points, crazy two goals in two games.

7:43 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then Charlie macavoy, you're thinking he's gonna get

7:46 Speaker 2: limited minutes in his first game back.

7:49 Speaker 1: No, just a mere twenty four plus minutes in ice time.

7:52 Speaker 2: Like it's it's it's crazy, but in a good in

7:56 Speaker 2: a good way to have those two guys back in

7:59 Speaker 2: the line up. And you know, Marco didn't waste any

8:03 Speaker 2: time in being very decisive about the fact that Charlie's

8:06 Speaker 2: going back with Zadora and then adjusting the defensive pairings accordingly,

8:12 Speaker 2: and Pastuff is playing on a different line with younger guys,

8:17 Speaker 2: and as he put it, just three young kids having

8:20 Speaker 2: fun playing hockey.

8:21 Speaker 1: Yeah much, yep, Yeah, it was. It was fun to

8:25 Speaker 1: watch him play, and I'm sure he enjoyed. Not that

8:30 Speaker 1: it was like a break or that it was necessarily easier,

8:32 Speaker 1: but it allowed him a refreshing little change that sometimes

8:37 Speaker 1: in the slog fest that is the season, sometimes that

8:42 Speaker 1: can also be a little bit of a mental break,

8:44 Speaker 1: a little mental recovery as well, not having to place

8:47 Speaker 1: all of that responsibility of carrying the team. So you

8:51 Speaker 1: could tell he had a lot of fun. I mean,

8:53 Speaker 1: he was pasta was pasta. He was great. I'll tell you.

8:56 Speaker 1: The one person I was a little bit surprised who

8:59 Speaker 1: was quote unquote quiet, although only in the goal scoring department,

9:04 Speaker 1: was Morgan geeky, but he was still pretty darn active.

9:07 Speaker 1: He was pretty much everywhere he needed to be, So

9:10 Speaker 1: that was kind of funny to observe, like, oh, finally

9:13 Speaker 1: he's not the only one score.

9:15 Speaker 2: Well, you know, and again this has been a slog

9:17 Speaker 2: fest for them. I think they're likely they may not

9:20 Speaker 2: openly say that they're looking ahead, but they're probably looking

9:23 Speaker 2: ahead and looking forward to having a little.

9:26 Speaker 1: Bit of a breather here. Yes, they're going to be

9:30 Speaker 1: after this game that happened last night in Minnesota. They're

9:34 Speaker 1: coming home for a home stand. Yet I don't know

9:37 Speaker 1: if that's good or bad at this time of the year,

9:40 Speaker 1: with the hall that goes along with preparing for holidays

9:44 Speaker 1: and family coming in and the poland tug with family

9:47 Speaker 1: matters and your spouses and kids and whatnot. But be

9:51 Speaker 1: that as it may, I think coming home is probably

9:54 Speaker 1: something that they might have been looking ahead to a

9:57 Speaker 1: little bit. Yeah, and you know, I'll I'll forgive them

10:01 Speaker 1: in this case for a couple of reasons. First of all,

10:05 Speaker 1: that we knew Minnesota was going to be a tough

10:08 Speaker 1: game even before the insane trade that happened, So we

10:15 Speaker 1: knew it was going to be a tough one to

10:16 Speaker 1: begin with. That's why I said last week it was

10:19 Speaker 1: really important that Boston win the first two games on

10:24 Speaker 1: that road trip so they could they were those were

10:27 Speaker 1: insurance wins, those were must wins because Saint Louis being

10:30 Speaker 1: kind of not a great team, right Boston, the expectation was, indeed,

10:36 Speaker 1: that's a winnable game, you need to win it. You

10:38 Speaker 1: did your job, You did your job, you took the points. Winnipeg,

10:43 Speaker 1: while they are a good team, was down their goaltender,

10:48 Speaker 1: who is I would say, their best player, and they

10:50 Speaker 1: have a ton of good players. So for the Winnipeg game,

10:54 Speaker 1: it was a you need to take advantage of while

10:57 Speaker 1: they don't have their full compliment of players, you need

11:00 Speaker 1: to take advantage of opportunities. And those are the thing

11:04 Speaker 1: issues that plagued this team in October, not winning winnable

11:07 Speaker 1: games and not taking advantage of opportunities. And they did

11:10 Speaker 1: exactly that because we knew it was very possible, very

11:16 Speaker 1: likely that they would not win against Minnesota, just because

11:19 Speaker 1: of how great they've been, and they played twenty minutes

11:22 Speaker 1: of that game pretty well, maybe forty, and then they

11:25 Speaker 1: decided they were done understandably. Yeah maybe yeah, I'd say

11:30 Speaker 1: maybe forty. I'd say maybe forty from what little I

11:33 Speaker 1: was able to plan.

11:34 Speaker 2: I mean when you look at the at the game

11:36 Speaker 2: Center report, yeah, it wasn't as lopsided as the score shows.

11:40 Speaker 1: The problem. No, not the first period.

11:43 Speaker 2: That game is again, penalties are costing you game, right.

11:48 Speaker 2: You gave up two power play goals. You take away

11:52 Speaker 2: those power play goals and you're out a point where

11:56 Speaker 2: you're still in the game with the possibility of taking

12:00 Speaker 2: a point.

12:00 Speaker 1: Yeah.

12:00 Speaker 2: But I'll tell you, the Minnesota Wild pulled off a

12:03 Speaker 2: trade to get from you in a Minnesota Wild's uniform.

12:06 Speaker 1: Yeah.

12:07 Speaker 2: And he made his debut on Sunday against Boston Bruns

12:11 Speaker 2: and scored. And I'm looking at the injuries right now

12:15 Speaker 2: that the Minnesota Wild has and I can't imagine how

12:19 Speaker 2: good that team is likely going to be when they

12:23 Speaker 2: get all their injured players.

12:24 Speaker 1: Back the foal. Yeah that's good. Yeah. I mean they've

12:28 Speaker 1: got six guys out right now and they're not shop guys, even.

12:32 Speaker 2: Marcus, bill Hanson, Matt Zucarello, Marcus Folino. That's that's some

12:38 Speaker 2: good quality hockey talent right.

12:40 Speaker 1: There, exactly. But take us around the ring.

12:42 Speaker 2: Okay, So, speaking of trades and had the trade.

12:46 Speaker 1: Can I just throw out there one thing that's just

12:48 Speaker 1: been driving me absolutely bonkers everywhere. Of Course, everybody wants

12:53 Speaker 1: the storyline of the of the Hughes brothers together and

12:57 Speaker 1: for whatever reason that the algorithm is feeding me, people

13:01 Speaker 1: are saying that it's as if that dream is dead.

13:06 Speaker 1: I would like to remind folks that Quinn has the

13:11 Speaker 1: rest of this season and one more season to go

13:14 Speaker 1: in a year and a half. It's still a very

13:17 Speaker 1: high possibility, very plausible. That door is not closed. It's

13:21 Speaker 1: just not happening right now. And you know what, the

13:23 Speaker 1: Devil's may be the better for it because they won't

13:26 Speaker 1: necessarily have to give up somebody for him. I just

13:29 Speaker 1: got to throw that out there because I kept seeing

13:31 Speaker 1: that everywhere and I'm like, what are you talking about

13:34 Speaker 1: his contract? He didn't He can't sign an extension because

13:37 Speaker 1: he's not in the final year of his contract. Until

13:40 Speaker 1: you see either he has signed an extension or not, relax,

13:45 Speaker 1: but anyways, continue might rant for the day. No, no enough,

13:49 Speaker 1: and credit to Bill Garrant for what he's been building

13:51 Speaker 1: there in Minnesota. The other trade that was pulled off

13:55 Speaker 1: was between the Edmonton Oilers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, where

14:00 Speaker 1: they trade. The Penguins traded Kristin Jari or Stewart Skinner

14:04 Speaker 1: Bret Kulak, So I don't know, does Jari make the

14:08 Speaker 1: Oilers any better from a goaltending standpoint, better than Skinner?

14:12 Speaker 1: Can we say better than a Stewart Skinner? No. First

14:15 Speaker 1: of all, I think the Penguins won that trade because

14:18 Speaker 1: even though you're trading UH for the exact same player,

14:22 Speaker 1: I think both goalies they're they're they're average goalies. Okay, Remember,

14:28 Speaker 1: if you are a regular playing, starting goaltender in the NHL,

14:34 Speaker 1: clearly you have some degree of talent. So I am

14:37 Speaker 1: not saying that either of these players are talentless. Clearly

14:42 Speaker 1: that is the baseline, right, but I will say they

14:46 Speaker 1: seem to be equally average. The other thing is Skinner

14:51 Speaker 1: is probably the personal winner out of all of this

14:54 Speaker 1: because I can't imagine being in a in a Canadian

14:58 Speaker 1: market and then being in that market as well. Yes,

15:01 Speaker 1: it's not the same as Toronto or Vancouver markets. However,

15:06 Speaker 1: Edmonton has kind of turned itself, at least in recent

15:10 Speaker 1: years in the McDavid era, into the microscope. So personally,

15:13 Speaker 1: he's only gonnait leaving that environment. Maybe it'll make him better,

15:18 Speaker 1: who knows. The second thing, I've always believed that you

15:22 Speaker 1: have to be incredibly sure that the goaltender is the problem.

15:28 Speaker 1: If you're trading a goalie during the year, for me,

15:32 Speaker 1: it just feels like that you have to be certain

15:35 Speaker 1: that that's the problem. That leads into my third like,

15:39 Speaker 1: thank god, this is not my circus and not my monkeys,

15:41 Speaker 1: because I think that that particular trade, unless it was

15:46 Speaker 1: done specifically just for Skinner and his mental health and

15:52 Speaker 1: well being, it still makes me question what the heck

15:55 Speaker 1: is Edmonton's management doing because you traded your goalie who's

15:59 Speaker 1: been there, who's a part of the team, who's You're

16:02 Speaker 1: now going to disrupt the locker room for a guy

16:05 Speaker 1: who isn't particularly excellent. I mean the guy signed Yari,

16:10 Speaker 1: signed a five year contract in Pittsburgh and then almost

16:14 Speaker 1: immediately was sent down to the AHL because he wasn't

16:17 Speaker 1: doing the job. It just makes me question Edmonton's management

16:21 Speaker 1: and the choices that they're making the GM whoever in

16:25 Speaker 1: roster construction, because one of the beautiful things about the

16:27 Speaker 1: game of hockey is the fact that you cannot win

16:31 Speaker 1: a championship on the back of one player, and they've

16:33 Speaker 1: continued to invest in all the wrong players to support

16:38 Speaker 1: said superstar, plus Leon eight year contract for Trent Frederick

16:43 Speaker 1: Darnell Nurse, Like, what are you thinking you let someone

16:47 Speaker 1: like Perry go Miles Shadenfreuda over here, because Edmonton and

16:53 Speaker 1: the Edmonton fans, they're starting to irritate me, Like, all right,

16:56 Speaker 1: calm down. Well, you know, I think that sometimes it

17:00 Speaker 1: change of scenery for some players, and a reset is

17:03 Speaker 1: not a bad thing. Oh yeah, clearly, yeah, clearly Skinner

17:07 Speaker 1: was never going to be the guy in Edmonton. We

17:10 Speaker 1: knew that two years ago, Jesus, and they should have

17:13 Speaker 1: addressed it.

17:13 Speaker 2: I don't know why the hell it took them so

17:15 Speaker 2: long to get this addressed, other than their superstar Conor

17:19 Speaker 2: McDavid might be losing some semblance of his patients, right

17:24 Speaker 2: and who knows. Maybe Yari is the answer, maybe he's not.

17:27 Speaker 2: He's certainly a better answer than Skinner right now. And

17:31 Speaker 2: Yari was having his issues in Pittsburgh because again, maybe

17:35 Speaker 2: he was told he was going to be the guy.

17:36 Speaker 2: Maybe he thought he was going to be the guy.

17:39 Speaker 2: Then he gets some competition. Everyone responds a bit differently

17:43 Speaker 2: to that competition. We'll see what happens. You know, Edmonton,

17:46 Speaker 2: their first game that Yari played, they played the Washington Capitals,

17:50 Speaker 2: which is a good team, and Edmonton won that game

17:53 Speaker 2: by a score of six to two or six to three,

17:56 Speaker 2: and then proceeded to lose to the Montreal Canadians the

17:59 Speaker 2: next night. However, Yari start that.

18:01 Speaker 1: Game and the one last thing I'll say about this

18:04 Speaker 1: so we can move on, because enough of Edmonton, But

18:07 Speaker 1: in defense of all goaltenders, I would like to remind

18:11 Speaker 1: everyone that it's never, in my opinion, it's never fair

18:16 Speaker 1: to one hundred percent place the blame on a goaltender.

18:20 Speaker 1: The five guys in front of him also have to

18:22 Speaker 1: not have done their job, So you can't necessarily say, well,

18:27 Speaker 1: he didn't do his job when those other players also

18:31 Speaker 1: didn't do their job. Now, if they did, maybe that's

18:34 Speaker 1: a different conversation. But I think in this case the

18:37 Speaker 1: sentiment stands, yeah, well, the other teams in the leagues, yeah, well,

18:43 Speaker 1: we'll see how it all plays out. But we have

18:47 Speaker 1: three games to discuss. The Bruins played the Saint Louis Blues.

18:52 Speaker 1: They won that.

18:53 Speaker 2: Game five to two. Then they played two days later

18:56 Speaker 2: the Winnipeg Jets. Bruins won that game six to three.

19:00 Speaker 2: Took advantage of the fact that Connor Hellibuk was not

19:03 Speaker 2: a Net. I believe Connor Hellibuck came back after the

19:06 Speaker 2: Bruins played them ew and yeah, Winnipeg ended up winning

19:12 Speaker 2: that game. We saw some a little bit of line shuffling.

19:17 Speaker 2: We also alluded to that at the start of our pod.

19:20 Speaker 2: And we've got some balanced scoring to talk about, yeah too.

19:25 Speaker 2: So let's start with the win against Saint Louis. Now,

19:29 Speaker 2: that game started in not an ideal manner. First shot

19:33 Speaker 2: on goal.

19:33 Speaker 1: Yeah, the Saint Louis Blues score, and you think to yourself, please,

19:37 Speaker 1: are you kidding me right now?

19:39 Speaker 2: With this one shot one goal? But to the Bruins credit,

19:43 Speaker 2: they took advantage of some power play opportunities yeah, and

19:49 Speaker 2: pushed right back.

19:50 Speaker 1: Yeah. It should come as no surprise that the Bruins

19:55 Speaker 1: worst period of that game, which was the first period,

19:59 Speaker 1: had all the penalties. First of all, no surprise there.

20:03 Speaker 1: What I was pleased about was the fact that last

20:07 Speaker 1: week on this podcast, you and I had talked about

20:10 Speaker 1: how Boston on the whole has done a good job

20:14 Speaker 1: of not allowing Funk to bleed from one game to

20:19 Speaker 1: the next, a malaise as Jim Montgomery famously referred to

20:24 Speaker 1: it at one point in time, and we said it

20:28 Speaker 1: would be great if they could do that in game,

20:32 Speaker 1: and do it in fewer than three periods, do it midgame,

20:36 Speaker 1: do it in two periods, or whatever where they figure

20:39 Speaker 1: it out for they get it out. And they did

20:42 Speaker 1: it in one period in this game, which I loved

20:45 Speaker 1: to see. Similar thing ultimately then happened in Winnipeg. The

20:50 Speaker 1: first two periods were not ideal. Also not a surprise

20:56 Speaker 1: there all the period. All the penalties happened in the

20:59 Speaker 1: first and the second period, and then Boston came in third.

21:02 Speaker 1: They had done the adjustment like we wanted to see

21:05 Speaker 1: in game, no penalties in the third period and they

21:09 Speaker 1: dominated that period. I loved seeing that happen that play

21:15 Speaker 1: out in both of those games, because I found them

21:17 Speaker 1: to be kind of similar in theme, you know, starting

21:21 Speaker 1: out with that less than ideal start and then really

21:25 Speaker 1: pulling it together and taking control and just dominating in

21:30 Speaker 1: that Bionus played the game against Winnipeg and he basically

21:35 Speaker 1: he saved their asses in the second period of that

21:39 Speaker 1: game because Winnipeg, yeah was showing some hard, yeah hard push,

21:43 Speaker 1: hard push in that game, and the Bruins were also

21:47 Speaker 1: playing down one forward and down one defenseman because Ardvidson

21:52 Speaker 1: went down and Aspero went down, and it would have

21:56 Speaker 1: been really in the part.

21:57 Speaker 2: Yeah, it would have been really easy for the brow

22:00 Speaker 2: ones to no potentially fold like a deck of cards,

22:03 Speaker 2: but to their credit, they did not. And I have

22:06 Speaker 2: to say that line of janeau Kerally and Castle Lick

22:11 Speaker 2: love it. What a bitch it must be to play

22:14 Speaker 2: against those guys. Those guys are a real problem to

22:20 Speaker 2: play against.

22:21 Speaker 1: Yeah, love that line. Love to see it very quickly

22:25 Speaker 1: becoming my favorite personality line. When they get out there,

22:30 Speaker 1: I think that's good. Things are gonna are gonna happen.

22:33 Speaker 2: Because and it's funny, you know Corall is referred to

22:36 Speaker 2: as the old man I know of that line, crazy

22:40 Speaker 2: can you You know, you imagine those guys get out

22:43 Speaker 2: on the ice and you don't know who's going to

22:45 Speaker 2: bash you first, Castle Lick or right credit to Marco Sturm.

22:51 Speaker 2: And you know, we'll we'll we'll talk about this because

22:53 Speaker 2: I want to go back to you know, the Food

22:56 Speaker 2: for Thought and your dad's hot tape. But in the game,

23:00 Speaker 2: you didn't have macavoy right and Pasta it was his

23:04 Speaker 2: first game back.

23:05 Speaker 1: But you know what, no problem, right, No prop mean,

23:10 Speaker 1: you had two goals from two goals each from Casta

23:13 Speaker 1: and Minton that was great, and Pavel Zaka, for crying

23:16 Speaker 1: out loud, got a goal Andazka added the empty net

23:20 Speaker 1: goal and the Bruins only had six minutes of penalties

23:26 Speaker 1: in that game. It's critical in past seasons I would

23:31 Speaker 1: find something that would be the bell weather of the

23:35 Speaker 1: game in so in previous seasons it was tracking their

23:39 Speaker 1: shots on goal because they for whatever reason were not

23:42 Speaker 1: shooting the puck. I think it was maybe even last

23:44 Speaker 1: year and the year before this year, it's it's the penalties.

23:49 Speaker 1: So track those penalties, see how it's going. As long

23:53 Speaker 1: as they can stay out of the box, and if

23:57 Speaker 1: they get on the power play, they can they score

24:01 Speaker 1: right right right, But that seems to be that's that's

24:05 Speaker 1: the key, that's the key. These two power play didn't

24:08 Speaker 1: look awesome against Minnesota last night. They did have a

24:12 Speaker 1: couple of opportunities and they gave up to power play goals.

24:17 Speaker 1: So you know, you can what if, do the what if,

24:20 Speaker 1: but we're going to do the what if.

24:22 Speaker 2: What if you met yourself a power play goal or

24:25 Speaker 2: two and you're able to kill up a couple of

24:28 Speaker 2: those penalties or even one of them, right, you could

24:30 Speaker 2: have been looking at a different game. Instead you end

24:34 Speaker 2: up with a six to two loss. And for me,

24:37 Speaker 2: it was simple. The Bruins, to me, simply did not

24:41 Speaker 2: have enough offensive by your power to counter what the

24:45 Speaker 2: Minnesota Wild have available to that.

24:47 Speaker 1: Because, first of all, their goaltender is phenomenal. Philip Gustafson

24:53 Speaker 1: is an incredible goaltend. He was good, and he was good.

24:56 Speaker 2: He had to make some hard saves he was Yeah,

25:00 Speaker 2: he's fantastic. But also Quinn Hughes.

25:04 Speaker 1: Yes, I know he missed some passes and whatever, but

25:08 Speaker 1: at the end of the day, he's like a generational defenceman.

25:13 Speaker 1: He put in twenty six minutes playing with these guys

25:18 Speaker 1: that he's really not played with before. Literally just met

25:22 Speaker 1: literally just met literally just who knows if he even

25:25 Speaker 1: on safe So you know, yes, I agree, maybe Hughes

25:32 Speaker 1: wasn't as dangerous as he has the potential to be,

25:35 Speaker 1: but my god, he still put in twenty six minutes

25:38 Speaker 1: and scored a goal. And then you have him and Gustavson.

25:42 Speaker 1: Forget it. Forget it the fact that Boston was only

25:47 Speaker 1: down by a goal after the first period, and they

25:50 Speaker 1: genuinely had so many good chances and a lot of

25:55 Speaker 1: the goals that came in the first two periods were

25:59 Speaker 1: weird goals, deflections, crazy bounces, like, yeah, this game was

26:05 Speaker 1: the hockey gods in full action up until that third period,

26:10 Speaker 1: and then Boston was like, you know what, we'll go home.

26:12 Speaker 1: We'll see ourselves out.

26:14 Speaker 2: If you look at the game stats, yeah, right, and

26:17 Speaker 2: you look at the score and you say, wow, how

26:19 Speaker 2: did that happen? Shots on goal were even, Bruins had

26:23 Speaker 2: the edge in face off percentage. The glaring issue in

26:28 Speaker 2: this game was Minnesota was two to three on the

26:31 Speaker 2: power play and the Bruins were ozerver two. But in

26:34 Speaker 2: terms of the Bruins out hit the Wild, they had

26:38 Speaker 2: a couple more block shots. Yeah, giveaways and takeaways were

26:42 Speaker 2: relatively even. This came down to it was as simple

26:46 Speaker 2: as their goaltender was better than our goaltender could be

26:50 Speaker 2: last night.

26:50 Speaker 1: It could be. I mean, you're absolutely right. If you

26:52 Speaker 1: look at the stats and looking at the Corsey measures,

26:59 Speaker 1: the game was Boston's theme, the game was Boston's and

27:05 Speaker 1: in this case, again I'm not mad about this particular loss,

27:10 Speaker 1: because what's different from this game and those winnable games

27:16 Speaker 1: that we saw them lose left and right at the

27:18 Speaker 1: start of the season. It's not that I think that

27:21 Speaker 1: they lost a winnable game. Certainly, I'm not happy about

27:26 Speaker 1: the fact that they just couldn't finish some of these

27:29 Speaker 1: phenomenal plays that they had out there, but it's not

27:32 Speaker 1: like it was a winnable game when you have a

27:34 Speaker 1: goalie like Gustavsen, you know, and it's you know, those

27:38 Speaker 1: winnable games that they had where they were in control,

27:41 Speaker 1: but then they would go and they would give up

27:43 Speaker 1: a goal. So it was like, you know, the six

27:45 Speaker 1: to five, seven to six, like that was just a

27:48 Speaker 1: circus and should definitely have been won by Boston. This

27:51 Speaker 1: one was incredibly still incredibly tight, in spite of all

27:57 Speaker 1: of those metrics that you mentioned that typically lead to

28:00 Speaker 1: a Boston win. But again we said at the top

28:02 Speaker 1: of the pod, this team is fragile. It's that Jenga tower,

28:08 Speaker 1: and even just losing one little piece, I think even

28:13 Speaker 1: if we had lost just Arvidson or just Asproom, I

28:16 Speaker 1: think the result probably would have been the same.

28:18 Speaker 2: I agree with you in this game, and you jokingly

28:21 Speaker 2: said in our discord because I made a comment about

28:24 Speaker 2: you know, I'm going to cut them some Christmas slack

28:27 Speaker 2: for that game, into which you responded, you are getting

28:31 Speaker 2: a little soft, right, which was a sterical I am

28:34 Speaker 2: getting a little.

28:35 Speaker 1: You are, Maria. I had to hold you to a

28:36 Speaker 1: high standard year. I'm a soft one.

28:39 Speaker 2: Come on, it's that time of the year. But you know,

28:42 Speaker 2: they went out on this three game road stand. They

28:45 Speaker 2: had a potential of six points and they're coming home

28:49 Speaker 2: with four. How pisstop? Can you get now? I would

28:54 Speaker 2: get really pissed off if they tucked their tail and said, oh,

28:59 Speaker 2: well right, no fight, no pushback, no nothing, which was

29:03 Speaker 2: what would happen in games last season.

29:07 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they would have rolled over in the first

29:09 Speaker 1: They're not.

29:10 Speaker 2: They're not doing that this season. They're still continuing to

29:15 Speaker 2: try to push back and fight their ways back into

29:18 Speaker 2: into games. And isn't isn't that something that we can

29:23 Speaker 2: and should give this team credit for us? And you know,

29:27 Speaker 2: I listened to a lot of Boston sports talk radio here.

29:31 Speaker 2: We all had the same assessment of the Bruins to

29:35 Speaker 2: start the season, like, oh my god, it's going to

29:38 Speaker 2: be who the hell knows what we're going to get

29:40 Speaker 2: this year, where some people were downright saying this is

29:43 Speaker 2: going to be an awful team.

29:45 Speaker 1: They're not an awful team. No, they are playing better

29:49 Speaker 1: than any of us who follow watch this team could

29:52 Speaker 1: have ever expected them to play. Yeah, at the end

29:57 Speaker 1: of the day, I want to watch my high key

30:00 Speaker 1: team play, play competitively and right. And the most painful

30:07 Speaker 1: part of last year was I had to force myself

30:11 Speaker 1: to watch them because they didn't want to be there,

30:14 Speaker 1: and that was obvious. So why would I want to

30:17 Speaker 1: be here? I want to have fun watching them play, right,

30:21 Speaker 1: even if they're not having a good night like last night.

30:25 Speaker 1: I mean, it wasn't ugly hockey. I mean I don't

30:28 Speaker 1: I don't believe it was ugly hockey. Yeah, I mean

30:31 Speaker 1: just at the end. Yeah, it's a Sunday night.

30:33 Speaker 2: You want to get home, you know, you know you're

30:35 Speaker 2: going to be home for what the next five six

30:38 Speaker 2: games are at home. That's okay, you got four out

30:42 Speaker 2: of six. You're staying the course, right, and that's all

30:46 Speaker 2: right now that we can ask for until you know,

30:50 Speaker 2: they give us any reason to look at them a

30:53 Speaker 2: little bit more harshly, and it could likely happen.

30:56 Speaker 1: We hope that it doesn't, but if it does, then

30:59 Speaker 1: we'll talk about it. But in the.

31:01 Speaker 2: Meantime, stick taps. Who do you give your stick taps to?

31:07 Speaker 1: So this week obviously the Catholic Correljano line. I mean,

31:14 Speaker 1: well done, fantastic, Love those guys. David Pasternach didn't skip

31:20 Speaker 1: a beat. Doesn't matter honestly what line you put him on.

31:23 Speaker 1: The man is going to create magic out there. Love

31:27 Speaker 1: love seeing him this week, in particular, especially with him

31:32 Speaker 1: moving up all time goal scoring for Boston.

31:37 Speaker 2: He has jumped to fifth overall in Bruin's history.

31:41 Speaker 1: Yeah, so he's coming right up next on his former

31:45 Speaker 1: teammates there, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marshans and then Chucky

31:51 Speaker 1: My god, for a guy who lost twenty pounds and

31:55 Speaker 1: was needing to bring up his stamina as well. Not

31:59 Speaker 1: only did he play twenty four game of twenty four

32:02 Speaker 1: games twenty four minutes in Winnipeg, he had the most

32:06 Speaker 1: time on ice. Also of all the Bruins outside of

32:10 Speaker 1: Jeremy Swayman against the Wild another twenty four fifties, he

32:14 Speaker 1: has not missed a beat. And I actually thought he

32:18 Speaker 1: had a couple of great chances. I thought he was

32:20 Speaker 1: actually gonna get his first goal a couple of times theirs, and.

32:23 Speaker 2: I think he was a plus two in the game

32:25 Speaker 2: that he came back. What a machine by in Winnipeg.

32:28 Speaker 1: Credit to him. Yep, now we get to our penalty box.

32:32 Speaker 1: Oh my god. All right, well this I mean, okay,

32:35 Speaker 1: I'll save the worst for last. Obviously they can't score

32:39 Speaker 1: when they need it. That's been a frustrated, frustrating point

32:42 Speaker 1: for a couple of years now. I feel like that's

32:45 Speaker 1: just what it's been. It like, it's just beyond frustrating

32:49 Speaker 1: because it they deserve it. I'm not even just saying

32:53 Speaker 1: that as a fan, like objectively watching some of these

32:55 Speaker 1: plays and you're like, yes, yes, yes, amazing. That should

32:58 Speaker 1: be rewarded with ah did that go in? And then

33:01 Speaker 1: there are other times where they're just being bums and

33:03 Speaker 1: making any old m look like asn't a trophy winner?

33:07 Speaker 2: Now, well, sometimes they still have a propensity to overpass. Yes,

33:11 Speaker 2: it's a bad habit, it rehears its ugly head. Still

33:14 Speaker 2: it's maddening because you can see it when you're watching

33:17 Speaker 2: the game, going just take what the good board gives you.

33:21 Speaker 2: If the shot is there, god damn take it.

33:24 Speaker 1: Well. And I agree because I think that's also partly

33:26 Speaker 1: what had happened and what was part of the issue

33:29 Speaker 1: in the wild game. Yes, both teams finished with very similar,

33:34 Speaker 1: if not identical shots on goal. Boston was behind in

33:38 Speaker 1: their shots for a good chunk and it was when

33:41 Speaker 1: they had all these opportunities they got to still try

33:45 Speaker 1: and get it on net. Injuries, I mean, for crying

33:47 Speaker 1: out loud, that's just going to be a standing irritation.

33:51 Speaker 1: I know. I just wish we could get to a

33:53 Speaker 1: point where don't just get everybody back for an extended

33:57 Speaker 1: period healthy. We had like what five minutes five minutes

34:00 Speaker 1: of that in Winnipeg, Arvidson went down and Asparo went

34:05 Speaker 1: down so quickly it was basically like, here's five minutes

34:08 Speaker 1: of everybody together and you're done. Oh I did forget

34:13 Speaker 1: one other person to give stick tabs to. Yeah, Steve's

34:17 Speaker 1: he just keeps, he just keeps. My God, making his

34:21 Speaker 1: case peep in Marco's hands tied and not taking him

34:24 Speaker 1: out of the lineup. Good for him, Good for him. Yeah, yep,

34:28 Speaker 1: he's he's making a very good he's creating a very

34:31 Speaker 1: good problem. That's that's all I have to say. Yeah, yeah,

34:35 Speaker 1: you know what, I want to beat a dead horse. However,

34:38 Speaker 1: I want to hear from listeners if they agree with

34:41 Speaker 1: this hot take. Again not necessarily my hot take, although

34:45 Speaker 1: I'm not going to say I disagree, but Mason Laurai

34:49 Speaker 1: belongs in the AHL. That's the statement, that is the

34:52 Speaker 1: hot take. I would agree. I don't know if he

34:56 Speaker 1: can be sent down well.

34:58 Speaker 2: Logistics aside, Mason Lorii still frightens me. At one point,

35:05 Speaker 2: he had a bad night against the Winnipeg Jets. They

35:09 Speaker 2: clearly targeted his side of the ice because there are

35:12 Speaker 2: still weaknesses there with an ill inability to make a

35:17 Speaker 2: strong defensive play on the puck. And at one point

35:21 Speaker 2: I texted my son and I said, how fast can

35:25 Speaker 2: you pack a bag and get to Winnipeg, because I

35:28 Speaker 2: think you can play better defense than Mason Morii is

35:31 Speaker 2: playing right now. So I understand, and I asked this

35:36 Speaker 2: question when I called the Morning Bru Show on Saturday morning,

35:41 Speaker 2: and I asked them what they thought. And I understand

35:45 Speaker 2: that these are the pros and cons with a young

35:49 Speaker 2: player who is still developing and growing and maturing his game.

35:55 Speaker 2: But but what I see and what I saw in

36:00 Speaker 2: those defensive plays, like you're a defenseman and you have

36:04 Speaker 2: your goddamn back to the guy who's coming in.

36:08 Speaker 1: I just the the issue behind that. I mean, first

36:11 Speaker 1: of all, the Morning Brew guys, they're never gonna be

36:15 Speaker 1: critical in any sort of meaningful way. Well, Razor World,

36:21 Speaker 1: to some degree, usually doesn't. He's he's very diplomatic. He's diplomatic,

36:27 Speaker 1: diplomatic about it.

36:29 Speaker 2: Billy will go a little bit Billy Jeffy will go

36:33 Speaker 2: a little bit deeper. But I understand their points. But

36:39 Speaker 2: I'm specifically talking about certain plays and certain things that

36:42 Speaker 2: I think should be inherent and automatic in an NHL defenseman.

36:48 Speaker 1: The the problem is, this is a self inflicted issue

36:53 Speaker 1: by Boston Bruins management. If he hadn't been offered that

36:59 Speaker 1: insane kind tract insane contract. He's almost twenty five years old,

37:04 Speaker 1: He's got a birthday in January, he'll be twenty five

37:06 Speaker 1: years old. He'll be in the league. This is what

37:08 Speaker 1: his third I think, second full season, Yeah, second full season.

37:12 Speaker 1: If he'd been offered a more reasonable contract, and let's say,

37:19 Speaker 1: you know, I don't disagree that he's a young player,

37:23 Speaker 1: maybe he needs a little bit more development. The solution

37:26 Speaker 1: is typically sending them to the AHL for that development,

37:30 Speaker 1: and management's hands are tied. How do you justify sending

37:36 Speaker 1: a three million dollar player down to the AHL. They

37:41 Speaker 1: they've bungled some of his development progress, which is not

37:46 Speaker 1: uncommon with these this Cousta Bruins organization. Right, So this

37:51 Speaker 1: is not to say, you know, to forgive him or

37:54 Speaker 1: acquit him of his defensive crimes, but they, yeah, he

38:01 Speaker 1: needs he needs AHL work and unfortunately, unless the Bruins

38:09 Speaker 1: are willing to part with him permanently, it is it's

38:13 Speaker 1: just not an option, no, and it doesn't seem like

38:16 Speaker 1: the organization is ready or wanting to go that route.

38:21 Speaker 1: So you know, we'll like, you're going to have to

38:24 Speaker 1: put up with these pickumps. This will be a curious test.

38:27 Speaker 1: Would management allow Marco to bench him again for a stretch? Like? Okay?

38:35 Speaker 1: They maybe they let him, gave him the freedom to

38:38 Speaker 1: do that before, to send a message, but is management

38:42 Speaker 1: going to be okay with him doing that again for

38:45 Speaker 1: a three million dollar player? Not necessarily because they think

38:48 Speaker 1: that it's not warranted. I'm sure they think it would

38:51 Speaker 1: be warranted. They all have eyeballs. It's the but he's

38:55 Speaker 1: he's making this kind of money and if we're going

38:57 Speaker 1: to be paying him that, we need to have him playing.

38:59 Speaker 2: You know what, I saying, I just found it a

39:02 Speaker 2: little bit maddening and frustrating, like, dude, what what are

39:07 Speaker 2: you doing?

39:07 Speaker 1: What are you doing? Yes, yes, And they likely might

39:12 Speaker 1: have a tough decision to make when some of these

39:15 Speaker 1: defensemen who were hurt come back, So we'll see what

39:19 Speaker 1: happens with that. But you know, I thought it was

39:22 Speaker 1: a little he needed to go in my our penalty box.

39:26 Speaker 1: I think I think he needs another time out. Yeah,

39:29 Speaker 1: he might. It might be working towards towards that. I mean,

39:32 Speaker 1: he did have an assistan in that game, but still

39:36 Speaker 1: he's not a forewhirl. I know, I know, I know,

39:39 Speaker 1: food for thought, Just to give us something to think

39:42 Speaker 1: about and give our listeners something to think about, and

39:44 Speaker 1: we can expand on this at a later pod, maybe

39:48 Speaker 1: during the holiday break. I alluded to the fact that

39:52 Speaker 1: I believe that the Boston Bruins are surprising many people,

39:57 Speaker 1: including IT fans and other people across the league with

40:00 Speaker 1: the way that they have been playing thus far this season.

40:05 Speaker 1: And while I know it's early, I wonder if there

40:09 Speaker 1: will be any discussion about a potential vote or Macrossturm

40:14 Speaker 1: as a Coach of the Year candidate. If this team.

40:18 Speaker 2: Continues to progress in the manner in which they are progressing.

40:23 Speaker 2: And the reason this food but thought came into my

40:26 Speaker 2: head is because the New England Patriots here in Boston

40:30 Speaker 2: have had a dramatic turnaround and part of that is

40:34 Speaker 2: largely due in part to the hiring of Mike Ravel,

40:39 Speaker 2: who's a former player and a Super Bowl champion. I

40:43 Speaker 2: didn't know that more than one time. And so I

40:45 Speaker 2: look at how the players have been responding to Rabel

40:50 Speaker 2: as a coach and looking up to him, and him

40:53 Speaker 2: having that cachet that he comes in as a former champion,

40:58 Speaker 2: having played in the order organization for a great deal

41:02 Speaker 2: of time. And then compare and contrast also to Marco

41:05 Speaker 2: Stern who was a former player in the Bruins organization

41:10 Speaker 2: and the work ethic that he brought game after game

41:14 Speaker 2: as a member of the Boston Bruins and being a

41:17 Speaker 2: part of a very integral growth in the development of

41:21 Speaker 2: the culture of the Boston Bruins. And I think that

41:24 Speaker 2: says something about these the current.

41:26 Speaker 1: Roster in how they're playing and wanting to play for

41:30 Speaker 1: him and wanting to play for each other. So just

41:34 Speaker 1: my boot for thought.

41:35 Speaker 2: We'll see how the season continues.

41:38 Speaker 1: And plays out. I would think that that should be

41:40 Speaker 1: a consideration. Everybody loves the underdogs getting better story. Typically

41:46 Speaker 1: that's who wins the Jack Adams. I wouldn't be surprised

41:49 Speaker 1: if Marco ends up being a nominee and a finalist,

41:52 Speaker 1: but I think we all know who's probably going to

41:54 Speaker 1: win that. Yeah, I agree with you, So yeah, Coinvolle

41:58 Speaker 1: probably yeah, because again, everybody loves an underdog story where

42:01 Speaker 1: the bad team gets becomes good. And as bad as

42:06 Speaker 1: people thought Boston was gonna be, they've never been as

42:09 Speaker 1: bad as Anaheim has for the last couple of seasons,

42:14 Speaker 1: right right, right right, But I would like to think

42:16 Speaker 1: maybe you know, he gets a vote voter to or

42:20 Speaker 1: or at least gets consideration or is in a conversation

42:23 Speaker 1: at some point in time if things continue progressing in

42:27 Speaker 1: the way in which they've been so far this season.

42:30 Speaker 2: So we talked about a homestand coming up with the Bruins.

42:34 Speaker 2: Their schedule doesn't get any better because they've got an

42:37 Speaker 2: every other day game starting Tuesday against the Utah Mammoth

42:43 Speaker 2: was seeing them for the first time. Then we get

42:45 Speaker 2: the Edmonton Oilers coming into town, which is always musty

42:50 Speaker 2: TV anytime Connor McDavid takes the ice. We've got the

42:53 Speaker 2: Vancouver come Ucks, and then we've got Ottawa and Montreal

42:58 Speaker 2: coming in game. And again, these games are out at home,

43:01 Speaker 2: and I know that there can be distractions once you

43:04 Speaker 2: get home, but these are critical, crucial points that you

43:09 Speaker 2: want to take advantage of. Oh my's it's it's a must,

43:14 Speaker 2: it's a must. Must get some points. Boys get some points.

43:18 Speaker 2: So as always, folks, thank you for tuning in, Thank

43:21 Speaker 2: you for listening. You can like and sub subscribe for

43:25 Speaker 2: more contact content. Be sure to leave us a rating

43:29 Speaker 2: and review to help other Bruins fans find us. You

43:33 Speaker 2: can support our podcast by joining our Patreon or following

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43:40 Speaker 2: at Tape to Tape MK and on Substack at Tape

43:45 Speaker 2: to Tape MK dot substack dot com. You can find

43:51 Speaker 2: me on x at Maria of H two O town.

43:55 Speaker 2: Any closing thoughts obs go bes.

44:12 Speaker 1: STI still b