Boston Bruins: What are We Even Doing Here? | Ep. 81

0:00 Speaker 1: Oh no, no, that did not just happen. Are you kidding me?

0:04 Speaker 2: Right?

0:05 Speaker 3: Enough of that really just happened.

0:14 Speaker 4: To that?

0:15 Speaker 3: Barshad Tigers allow Fisher the shot stars, Brad shot the center and that one kicked aside, but it dropping back?

0:24 Speaker 3: Why boy, bushats crap star Brad mar shot. He'll dump it up, shot take it, Marshan, He'll drag it right in for a chance here.

0:33 Speaker 4: Stop.

0:36 Speaker 3: Thanks about the boards of Brad Marshall bring suns Gone trips ahead.

0:40 Speaker 1: But Marsha Judge, I am flying solo tonight as my co host, and the person responsible for keeping me on track and driving this US is taking care of some family matters. Her daughter is in the thick of trying out for a travel hockey team, so I want to wish Caroline and her daughter, Allison all the best of luck with those tryouts. So, unfortunately you are all stuck with me tonight for what will likely be an abbreviated episode of Bruin's Tape to Tape as the Bruins get ready to start their West Coast road trip against the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

1:33 Speaker 1: And since we last had an episode, things have not gone well for our Boston Bruins, that is probably an understatement at this point in time. So before I take a dive into, you know, the game, since we had our last episode, we'll do our usual spin around the rink to catch up on some league wide news, and I'm going to start with Bruce cass who the Bruins will be facing his team tonight and came under fire for some comments he made postgame comments he made which those of us who remember Bruce Cassidy's tenure as the coach of the Boston Bruins was not shy about calling out players publicly in the media and it may have led to some of his demise as the coach of the Boston Bruins, and he hasn't really changed his ways with the Vegas Golden Knights, and specifically he came under fire for how his team performed or didn't perform, as the case may be.

2:43 Speaker 1: In a loss to the Buffalo Sabers recently, we have Bruce basically called out his team to paraphrase, didn't respect the game at all and cost them a win. And specifically he pointed his finger at Thomas Hurdle, who was apparently had an open net and tried to force a pass through to another teammate rather than taking the shot and icing the game with an open net goal. And Bruce Cassidy didn't mince any word when asked about that play, where he quote unquote said, I'd like to see him shoot the puck in the net and the end the game.

3:28 Speaker 1: That's what I'd like to see, said Cassidy, with steam practically coming off his head at this point. I think the whole team would like to see that. So of course that drew the attention of likely his team, which is what he wanted to do, but also the media in terms of again, this is not an uncommon tactic of Bruce Cassidy, and though he has seemed to rain it rained it in with the Vegas Golden Nuts, Leopard never changes this spot. So I wanted to touch on that because we remember, oh so well how many times Bruce called out players in the media, specifically especially during his last year as a coach of the Bruins.

4:16 Speaker 1: An update on ov watch is he has eight goals remaining to break Wayne Gretzky's record, with what likely is I believe about fourteen games left in the season, so not a tall task, but still a bit of a daunting task, and I think we as fans are maybe hoping that he gets it done this season so this doesn't linger to start into the following season. And I'm sure Ovie would like to get past this too, as his team is primed for a very deep playoff run because the Caps are just taking name and numbers every which way you look.

5:02 Speaker 1: So that's the update on ov Watch, And the last thing I want to touch on briefly is that general Managers and the Commissioner had GM meetings earlier in the week and there were a number of things that were on the table during the course of those meetings a couple of days meetings in Florida, but I'll just point out the most pertinent ones in that. Betman indicated that talks on a new collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA will start sometime during the first week of April. The current agreement that the players have is set to expire in September of twenty twenty six.

5:46 Speaker 1: Representing the NHL Players Union is now Marty Walsh, who has been instrumental in his leadership in the past. He's had experience at all different levels, including a stint in Washington d C as a labor union leader. So I am I'm excited in with respect to the fact that I think for the first time in a very long time, the NHLPA has someone who is an advocate for them, and he will be a pitbull and he will take no crap whatsoever from Marty or the owners. So I'm excited to see how these negotiations play out.

6:38 Speaker 1: So I'll be paying attention to that, as I think all of us will be paying attention to that. The other item that came out of it that I think is relevant is that there had been talk about exploring potential changes to the overtime format for regular season games and even the playoff format where it comes to seedings and whatnot. And it seems to me that that balloon was burst very quickly by Commissioner Betman, and he has no desire whatsoever to change the overtime format for regular season games or the playoff format.

7:16 Speaker 1: And I frankly think that the overtime format for regular season games is not true to the game of hockey. I'm not a fan of the shootout. I have never liked the shootout. I don't believe in their heart of hearts that the players like the shootout, I think a majority of them would rather keep playing until there is a winner. And I don't see the harm in extending the overtime from you know what it is right now to an additional two or three minutes, because I think it's exciting hockey, it's pure hockey.

7:57 Speaker 1: I don't think the shootout is pure hockey. But that's just one woman's opinion. But be that as it may. The commissioner said said no, so we will move on. The other pertinent piece of information that came out of these meetings is there's been a long conversation about video review and video replay and coaches challenges and a lot of controversy with regard to goaltender interference and the review of those goaltender interference calls. Now, you know, most of you who listen to this podcast are fans of the Bruins, and we have been on both the winning and losing ends of goaltender interference calls, as likely every team across the league has experienced.

8:50 Speaker 1: And it makes absolutely no sense to me how some of these video replays are going down. When we can all rewind our TVs, we can all look at the big screens in the arenas and see that in a lot of instances, the contact that is being made with goalies is incidental or the opposing player is being pushed in to the goalie by one of his own teammates. Now, I understand that, you know, it's exciting to have goals and it's exciting to keep goals, and I thought that was the point of the video replay. But when we're taken away good goals because you simply can't make a common sense decision when you can see clearly that there's incidental contact.

9:56 Speaker 1: And honest to God, it seems to me that the league is getting to a point where they're treating goalies like the NFL treats quarterbacks. You can't so much as sneeze on the goalie, in which case the officials are ruling it a goaltender interference calls. Now, I want to share some stats with you that that is on NHL dot Com. You can read this for yourself. But so far this season, there have been one hundred and eight reviews for goalie interference, with sixty two of them resulting in overturned goals.

10:37 Speaker 1: That's more than half and we haven't even finished the season. Yet the season before, eighty eight reviews with forty eight overturned again more than half, twenty twenty two to twenty three, eighty five reviews with forty two overturned again more than half. Now, the league believes this is a result of parody in the league and how close games are being played. And I say to them, I beg to differ with you, because I think if you take a deep dive into a lot of those, you'll see that the result is the incompetence of the officials in making a determination between an actual interference call on the goalie and incidental contact on the goal.

11:27 Speaker 1: So I'm not buying what they're selling when it comes to goaltender interference and the logic that is being applied as to how they're being reviewed. But they seem to think that they're doing a good job. But I don't believe that I am the only fan that feels the way that I feel when it comes to goaltender interference calls, because frankly, the fact that you have one hundred and eight of them all ready before the season is even over tells you all you need to know. And I think goalies are getting much more savvy about how they're selling goaltender interference calls, so kudos to them for, you know, making the system work for them.

12:13 Speaker 1: But I still don't believe that all of these that were overturned were legitimate goaltender interference calls. So there's our spin around the rink. I am going to take a brief pause so that we can hear from our sponsors, and then I'll come back to take a quick look at what the Bruins did or didn't do in their most recent games.

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14:57 Speaker 1: Slash terms Welcome back, folks, and thank you for hanging in with us, and thank you to our sponsors. So the Bruins have played three games since we last had an episode. They played on March thirteenth and they lost to the Ottawa Senators miserable loss by a score of six to three. They then faced the Tampa Bay Lightning two nights later on the fifteenth that was a six to two loss. And then the icing on the cake was on Saint Patrick's Day where they lost in overtime to the Buffalo Flippin' Sabers.

15:39 Speaker 1: Now I know For those of you that do tune in, you likely may have listened to our snapshot episodes on these games. So I apologize if I'm repeating myself, but let me start with the game against Ottawa and the issue that totally totally pissed me off with regard to this game is Joe Sacho and Jeremy Swayman. First of all, Swayman was absolutely horrendous. He sucked in that first period, sucked and you could tell he wasn't ready to play, wasn't getting set, wasn't tracking the puck, whatever it was.

16:19 Speaker 1: You could tell early on that Swayman wasn't going to be able to bail his team out given the ferocious and aggressive and relentless for check of the Ottawa Senators. Yet the head coach sits there and watches one goal go in, two goal going, three goals go in, four to one, and you don't think that it may be feasible to utilize your time out and rain your guys in, have a conversation, have a you know, green yell, do whatever a coach does, but at a minimum, to stop it. Our attempt to stop the momentum of the Ottawa Senators.

17:04 Speaker 1: In my mind, Joe Saco and Jeremy Swayman gave their teammates and the players no chance to win that game because you had a goalie who couldn't stop a beach ball if it was shot at him that night, and a coach who stood there with his hands in his pocket and didn't react. Yes, he pulled Jeremy Swayman to start the second period and put Jonis Copersalo in, but by at that point to me, too little, too late. And I've seen coaches do this across the league, some some a more adept at doing it than others.

17:47 Speaker 1: And I get why you feel the need to hold on, But when your team is drowning in the manner in which it was, and that those are that was a game that was huge point swing for your team, and you don't pull out all the stops, to me, you failed as a coach. Okay. So then we move on to the game on the fifteenth against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jeremy Swayman back in net. I think some of us were a little surprised to see that he was back in the net after the debacle in Ottawa, but he was better and he kept the Bruins in that game, and things were looking really good for the Bruins at the end of the first period because it was a one to one game and Swayman looked like he had his head on straight for this game.

18:46 Speaker 1: And then we go to the second period, where again the Tampa Bay Lightning come out with a fierce and ferocious and aggressive for check as if they took a blueprint from the Ottawa Senators game. They are skating into the Boston Bruins neutral zone untouched, untouched. And in the second period, the Boston Bruins, who has a roster full of NHL professional hockey players, do not get one shot on goal, zero, zero shots on goal? And how how do you think that you're going to win a freaking hockey game when you take no shots on goal?

19:38 Speaker 1: It was one of the worst periods of hockey that I have seen them play, and there have been lots of them this season. It's a sad testament. It's a sad statement, but it's a true statement that there have been many unfortunate periods. But ja as the second period against the Tampa Bay. But you should be the desperate team. How are you not playing like a desperate team if you truly want to give yourselves a chance to even make the playoffs in a wildcard spot. It's it's it, And one has to ask the question because now we're at the point where we have transitioned a big part of the roster, a relatively big core part of the roster, and we're still seeing the same issues that have plagued this team from the start of the season.

20:39 Speaker 1: And when do we start pointing our fingers at this coaching staff? When is anybody going to start holding the Boston Bruins coaching staff accountable for where we find ourselves this season. I'm waiting for anybody to answer that question because I want them held accountable at this point. And I'm not sure that if we're going into a new era of Bruins hockey, I'm not sure I want to go into it with this current coaching staff, maybe except for Goaliebob. But I even have to wonder about Goaliebob because we've seen instances of Jeremy Swayman not looking like the franchise goalie that we're expecting him to look like.

21:29 Speaker 1: But again, those are all those are all questions and issues that Don Sweeney cam Neely, the ownership needs to figure out, because if we believe what we hear that they want this to be a quick, quick retool, I don't see how you're going to get there with this current coaching staff. So the Bruins finished their three games at home while these this three games with a loss to the Buffalo Sabers, and they started that first period basically sleepwalking through that game. And I don't know if it was a matter of maybe they don't respect the Sabers, maybe they thought the Sabers weren't going to show up to play.

22:19 Speaker 1: But if it wasn't for Nikita Zadorov's fight in that first period, there would have been absolutely no energy coming from the Boston Bruins. So I'm going to give him credit for at least injecting some type of life into them to basically say, let's wake the hell up, because these guys, the Sabers came to play a real hockey game, and the Bruins in the first period, for the most part, did not come to play a real hockey game. And I have to say that. You know, Jonus Corposalo has been doing his job well all season long.

23:03 Speaker 1: You know, he's had a little leak here or there, but for the most part, given how long he goes idle between games, the fact that he has played as well and as competently I think is a big credit to him, and you know, relishing his role as as the backup goalie for the Boston Bruins. And these are my stick tacks, folks. So I'm going to give Jonas Corposalo a stick tap for doing his job. Well, I'm going to give Nikita Zadora some kudos for stepping up. I think he's trying to establish himself as a bit of a leader on this team.

23:49 Speaker 1: And even though you know, there's been some issues with you know, his play on the ice, particularly defensively, I will give him credit for trying to be a leader right now when there is a leadership I believe a leadership void on this team. And stick taps go to pasta geeky and soaka, because if these guys don't put the puck in the net, this team is porked night after night. And here we are again in twenty twenty five, talking about a Boston Bruins team that only has one line that can actually score.

24:33 Speaker 1: How far back do we need to go before we solve this problem? This is an issue, and this this blame lies squarely with Don Sweeney because he hasn't addressed the needs and the gaping holes that we all know this team has had as far back as I likely could go even further back, but I'll go back to the dreaded two thousand in nineteen year where they lost to the Saint Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup finals because again, we only had one line that could score. So you know, you can swap out players all you want, but until you remedy this situation and get real balanced scoring on this team, I think the Boston Bruins are going to be in a world of hurt for the short term.

25:25 Speaker 1: So those are my stick taps, My overall penalty box is And I said it earlier. You know, I'm I've been disappointed in Jeremy Swayman. I understand he missed time because of his contract negotiations, but he's had an ample amount of time to get his shit together, and there are instances where you see what he can be. But then there are those instances such as the game against Ottawa, where you're like you got to bail your team out, like you've got to stop the bleed, either with a key save or you just can't let in soft goals.

26:06 Speaker 1: My friend, that that is demoralizing to the guys in front of you and the guys on the bench. You have got to be the guy that plugs the leaks. I'm sorry, but that's what you're getting paid for and you need to start. You need to start doing it or the fan base is going to turn on you and Nail turn on you in a quick hurry. Just ask took a rask about that, mister Swayman, and you know I'm keeping down Sweeney and cam Neely in the penalty box. I'm still not over the trade of Brad Marshand. I still think there's something that is missing in the details of how that trade went down.

26:50 Speaker 1: And it really pisses me off that now Brad has been in a full participant twice now with the Florida Panthers in no contact jersey, which leads me to believe he's likely going to be ready sooner than any of us thought he was going to be ready to play for his new team. And again, what do we have currently in return for this player? Do we have anything to show for it? Right now? When we needed something to show for it right now, we do not, So for that, I'm keeping these guys in the penalty box. So the Bruins start their road trip tonight in Vegas, and you know, for the most part, I think a lot of us are waving a white flag on this season.

27:42 Speaker 1: I don't see how the Bruins stand a chance of getting in as an eight seed in the Wildcard short of them pretty much winning out all of the rest of their games. And folks, I don't know about you, but my confidence level in that happening is pretty close to a zero level. And when I hear people like Andrew Raycroft, who covers the team, has his podcast with Billy Jaffey on Morning Brew, basically acknowledging at long last that this team doesn't have a chance of missing of making the playoffs. I don't know how else we can look at this at this point.

28:27 Speaker 1: So they have games against tonight, They're playing the Vegas Golden Knights. Then they're playing the San Jose Sharks, who are by statistics, the worst team in the NHL right now, the worst team in the NHL right now. But am I going to pencil that in as a win for the Bruins. Hell no, not the way I've seen the Bruins playing all season long. Then you've got the LA Kings and the Anaheim Ducks. Now these teams are all so. The Los Angeles Kings are eleventh overall in the league, the Vegas Golden Knights fifth overall in the league.

29:09 Speaker 1: Then you've got the Ducks, who are your twenty fourth overall in the league, Boston Bruins. The Ducks are twenty fifth, and the San Jose dead last worst team in the league. So you tell me what your faith level is at, because I believe that this is not a team that is likely to make the playoffs. Do I want to see competitive hockey? Of course, I want to see competitive hockey. But am I going to stay awake to watch games at ten o'clock ten thirty, ten pm? Yeah? No, my DVR is going to be working overtime, Folks.

29:46 Speaker 1: I will watch these games, but I likely won't watch them in real time. If, in the interest of full disclosure, if things were different, and they were, you know, right on the cusp of a playoff seating, okay, then you have my attention, and you know I'll pour myself coffee all night long to stay awake to watch these games, but not so tempted to do it right now. So with that I leave you with thank you for listening, thank you for watching. Please follow us on all of our social medias. You can find me on X at Maria of H two otown.

30:24 Speaker 1: You can find the show account on X as well at Bruins Tape to Tape. You can like us, subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. And we thank you all for the time and for the support. And let's see if we can watch some good fun hockey in the upcoming games. Until next time, folks, go bes SI