Bruins at the Olympics: Team USA & Canada Breakdown | Ep. 130

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

0:04 Speaker 1: something to do.

0:13 Speaker 2: I'll Jack sit it out and talk about this, says Today.

0:20 Speaker 1: Here's a chance, pop right down with goalie scars. Oh

0:22 Speaker 1: my one a move by the rookie to.

0:24 Speaker 2: On one plaster not moving in marsh getting on his

0:29 Speaker 2: own oil dances in podcast.

0:32 Speaker 1: Home right away corner faster Chester. What is that for? Most?

0:50 Speaker 2: Welcome in everyone to another episode of Bruins Tape to Tape.

0:54 Speaker 2: I'm your host today, Caroline with a K, and this

0:59 Speaker 2: week we are talking about the Olympics, and I'm doing

1:02 Speaker 2: so with my fantastic co host Maria from Watertown.

1:05 Speaker 1: Hi Maria, Hello Caroline, how are you today? Good? Good?

1:10 Speaker 2: I've been watching a lot of hockey and I love it.

1:14 Speaker 2: I'm so glad. Uh how about you? Have you been

1:17 Speaker 2: keeping up with the games? I've been I've been trying

1:21 Speaker 2: to do my best when I can find them. The

1:23 Speaker 2: hunting and pecking with the streaming kisses me off, to

1:28 Speaker 2: say the least.

1:29 Speaker 1: But I was hoping for a little bit more compelling hockey.

1:34 Speaker 1: I don't think it's been that awesome yet. You know so,

1:37 Speaker 1: And I'm sure we can get into our thoughts on that.

1:40 Speaker 1: I have. I have some thoughts on perhaps why there's

1:46 Speaker 1: been a little bit of lack of drama in these

1:48 Speaker 1: preliminary rounds and and the hockey hasn't been as furious

1:53 Speaker 1: as I expected it to be. Yeacked.

1:55 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been interesting for both the men's and the

1:58 Speaker 2: women's side. Because on the women's side, so we are

2:02 Speaker 2: now in the semi final level of play, we've already

2:08 Speaker 2: seen some knockouts happen. It's definitely been a very lopsided tournament.

2:18 Speaker 1: There, and on the men's side.

2:23 Speaker 2: Going into it, I certainly thought that, Okay, this could be.

2:28 Speaker 1: Anyone's tournament, and there's definitely.

2:37 Speaker 2: One team that it's they're running away with it, and

2:42 Speaker 2: everyone else is.

2:45 Speaker 1: Playing a relatively even tournament. So that was a little

2:50 Speaker 1: bit of a surprise because I wasn't expecting that.

2:53 Speaker 2: Let's dive in and we can talk a little bit

2:56 Speaker 2: about some of the bruins that we've seen out there,

2:59 Speaker 2: and then we'll talk the Olympic Games.

3:02 Speaker 1: We saw Jeremy Swayman's Olympic debut.

3:06 Speaker 2: Which well, first of all, before we even talk about him,

3:10 Speaker 2: I have to get this off my chest because people

3:13 Speaker 2: think I'm crazy. I'm sure some of our listeners probably

3:17 Speaker 2: also disagree with me and think that I'm crazy. I

3:21 Speaker 2: gotta tell you, when I watched the very first team

3:24 Speaker 2: USA game, I could not believe whoever makes the final decision.

3:31 Speaker 2: I'm assuming the coach opted to go with Connor Hellibuck.

3:37 Speaker 2: I cannot believe that the choice wasn't between Jeremy Swayman

3:43 Speaker 2: and Jay Ottinger. I know I'm not the only one

3:47 Speaker 2: because I have heard other talking heads say that it

3:53 Speaker 2: was between the two of them, that both of them

3:56 Speaker 2: have earned the net, and yet it almost seems like, well,

4:00 Speaker 2: without question, it was handed to Hella Buck. Yes, and

4:04 Speaker 2: it drives me bonkers because not because they didn't pick, oh,

4:10 Speaker 2: Jeremy Swayman first, because oh he's the Bruins goalie and

4:13 Speaker 2: I must be biased. No, I'll tell you why. That

4:17 Speaker 2: man has the worst yips I have ever seen from.

4:22 Speaker 1: An elite goaltender.

4:24 Speaker 2: That sure, he's having a bad season, just like Jordan

4:30 Speaker 2: Bennington is having a bad personal season.

4:34 Speaker 1: The difference here is Jordan Bennington has shown throughout his

4:39 Speaker 1: career in big pressure, important games he is still clutch

4:46 Speaker 1: in those games, and that's why he had that net.

4:51 Speaker 2: Hunter Hellibuck, he he's I can't believe that they picked him.

4:56 Speaker 2: I can't believe that they picked him. What were your

4:59 Speaker 2: thoughts when you saw him starting well? Again, you know,

5:03 Speaker 2: we watch our team flag, we pay attention to what

5:06 Speaker 2: happens across the league to you know, a decent degree,

5:10 Speaker 2: and we follow people who are informed on these things.

5:14 Speaker 2: And leading up to these Olympics, we were all led

5:17 Speaker 2: to believe that, based on performances on the ice and

5:24 Speaker 2: how these keepers and netminders had fared through the course

5:29 Speaker 2: of the season leading up to the Olympics, that the

5:32 Speaker 2: net would likely go to Jeremy Swinmant, J Gottinger or

5:38 Speaker 2: j Gottinger.

5:39 Speaker 1: They want Hellabuck to be the guy. There's just there's

5:44 Speaker 1: no I mean, there's no questioning and no doubt about that.

5:47 Speaker 1: They want Hellibuk to be the guy. Now, maybe some

5:51 Speaker 1: of it is kind of to prop him up to

5:54 Speaker 1: some degree. I don't know what kind of a head

5:56 Speaker 1: case he is. You've seen him crumble on more than

6:00 Speaker 1: one occasion in difficult situations where his team needed him

6:05 Speaker 1: to step up. Now, let's see, let's see how things

6:10 Speaker 1: go with the next round. Because to me, this first

6:14 Speaker 1: round of games should have been and it was a

6:18 Speaker 1: shoeing for both Team USA Men and Team USA Men Canada.

6:24 Speaker 1: Let's see what happens when the next round of play begins,

6:29 Speaker 1: and if he starts to show any cracks, how long

6:35 Speaker 1: it will take Mike Sullivan and his coaching staff to

6:39 Speaker 1: make a decision. Now, I will say, I will say

6:43 Speaker 1: that our netminder, Jeremy Swayman, didn't do himself any favors

6:49 Speaker 1: with the start he had on Saturday. Two goals, I

6:54 Speaker 1: think very soft. I don't want to hear about the

6:57 Speaker 1: color of the boards, and he even he was asked

7:01 Speaker 1: about it and he said, it doesn't make a difference

7:04 Speaker 1: to me. I'm basically color blind anyways, So he didn't.

7:08 Speaker 1: He didn't help his case any with how he played

7:13 Speaker 1: in the start that he was given. And I understand

7:16 Speaker 1: why he was given the start. They were playing back

7:18 Speaker 1: to back games and seems like all of these teams

7:22 Speaker 1: are trying to manage their goalies with the schedules that

7:26 Speaker 1: they have been they have been given. So you know,

7:30 Speaker 1: I think if if Swayman had played better, I think

7:36 Speaker 1: he would make that he would make the decision from

7:39 Speaker 1: Mike Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff a

7:42 Speaker 1: hell of a lot harder, Yes, but I agree. But

7:44 Speaker 1: let's just see what happens in the next round of.

7:49 Speaker 2: Speaking of Jeremy Swayman, because we'll talk a little bit

7:51 Speaker 2: about the Bruins that are playing. Obviously, he did not

7:57 Speaker 2: have a spectacular game. He definitely had two goals that

8:03 Speaker 2: were just tear well, at least one that was terrible luck.

8:07 Speaker 2: The first goal allowed going off of Wrenski. That just sucks.

8:12 Speaker 2: I think I felt like that one was that was

8:14 Speaker 2: just kind of crappy, bad luck. You really hope that

8:17 Speaker 2: your goaltender can can stay on top of those. And

8:20 Speaker 2: who knows, maybe there were nerves this is the first

8:23 Speaker 2: big game. But I will say in an in another

8:26 Speaker 2: you know, argument for him to have been used perhaps

8:31 Speaker 2: in the first game and otter in this in the

8:33 Speaker 2: second game and whatever. Was the fact that Swayman took

8:36 Speaker 2: Team USA to the World Championship World Clash, and I

8:40 Speaker 2: think people were putting a lot of a lot of

8:43 Speaker 2: stock in his play in that tournament.

8:47 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think and I agree with you.

8:49 Speaker 2: You know, the shot from the boards that was just

8:52 Speaker 2: that was terrible, like that that was one hundred percent

8:55 Speaker 2: on him.

8:56 Speaker 1: Who knows, maybe he was just not paying attention because

8:59 Speaker 1: it was course to the end of the period. But

9:03 Speaker 1: he had his shot. I think. I hate to say it,

9:07 Speaker 1: because it's not that he was horrible. The team still won,

9:11 Speaker 1: but I doubt we'll see him again. No, I think

9:15 Speaker 1: that I think that that that long distance shot was

9:18 Speaker 1: one that sunk. I think it did sink him to

9:22 Speaker 1: some degree. I really and and this. You know this,

9:26 Speaker 1: this is not a tournament where the margin for era

9:32 Speaker 1: is very very tight. It's a very very tight window

9:36 Speaker 1: it is.

9:37 Speaker 2: And again hence the reason why I think it's insane

9:42 Speaker 2: that they're going with hellibuck, because this isn't the best

9:46 Speaker 2: of X number of games. It's one and done. So

9:51 Speaker 2: perhaps that first round was quote unquote low pressure and

9:56 Speaker 2: he did fine. I don't know that he necessarily held

9:59 Speaker 2: a necessarily faced a ton of shots to say, like,

10:03 Speaker 2: you know, oh my god, he was standing on his

10:05 Speaker 2: head like we saw with some of these other teams goaltenders. Yeah,

10:09 Speaker 2: you know, so he wasn't being put through the paces

10:12 Speaker 2: and the pressure very different preliminary round.

10:15 Speaker 1: Everybody moves on. Everyone's just out right. You're trying to build,

10:19 Speaker 1: you're trying to build your point status. Your goal differential status,

10:24 Speaker 1: which Canada is like freaking running away with like it's crazy.

10:29 Speaker 1: They're like a plus seventeen or plus nineteen. It's nuts,

10:33 Speaker 1: It's nuts. I mean that, yeah, that you know, that

10:36 Speaker 1: beat down against France, that ten to two, that's like

10:42 Speaker 1: that projected them to a goal differential that I'm not

10:45 Speaker 1: sure anyone's going to catch up to.

10:47 Speaker 2: What this ring so exactly, the the preliminary round is

10:52 Speaker 2: more so about your offensive firepower, not obviously you have

10:57 Speaker 2: to win and you win bicycle and goals and then

11:01 Speaker 2: you get your seating based on the points and then

11:04 Speaker 2: goal differential. So it was obviously very important that for

11:09 Speaker 2: any of these teams.

11:11 Speaker 1: That their goalscorers are the ones who did the bulk

11:14 Speaker 1: of the work there.

11:15 Speaker 2: It's going to be, I would imagine potentially a little

11:20 Speaker 2: bit more of a defensive game, or you're going to

11:22 Speaker 2: see a little bit more defensive focus in the following

11:26 Speaker 2: rounds because then it becomes the knockout you that's where

11:30 Speaker 2: it matters.

11:31 Speaker 1: So well, it didn't seem to me that a lot

11:34 Speaker 1: of teams were playing with a sense of urgency because

11:38 Speaker 1: they were preliminary games and I think you're out, Yeah,

11:41 Speaker 1: and I found that to be a tad bit warring,

11:45 Speaker 1: to be perfectly honest with you, and I call it

11:49 Speaker 1: not compelling hockey. I'm also starting to wonder if the

11:55 Speaker 1: because the rink is not up to national hockey standards,

12:02 Speaker 1: right and so you know you've got a smaller ice

12:05 Speaker 1: surface to work with, if that is impeding some of

12:10 Speaker 1: the clipmaking. It just doesn't seem to be a lot

12:14 Speaker 1: of like good ebb and flow to the games. Yep, agreed.

12:21 Speaker 2: So let's take a quick look at some of our

12:24 Speaker 2: other Bruin players. David Pasternak with Chekia, he's had himself.

12:31 Speaker 2: I could have sworn more than one goal, but no,

12:34 Speaker 2: he's he's only had three points. Yeah, yeah, I had

12:38 Speaker 2: those stats this morning and in three games played he

12:43 Speaker 2: has only three points. Yeah, he's had a quieter one

12:48 Speaker 2: goal to assist. Now he's had opportunities on the power play.

12:54 Speaker 2: I think the other.

12:55 Speaker 1: Day was yesterday the wide open net. I know, I

13:02 Speaker 1: know he's bunched up with a bunch of other players

13:05 Speaker 1: with three point margin here with three games, three games played,

13:11 Speaker 1: I couldn't even find a stat for a line of

13:14 Speaker 1: slendle business.

13:15 Speaker 2: I know, well, I saw Loshmellis for Latvia. He has

13:19 Speaker 2: himself two points. Great, good job. We love to see that.

13:24 Speaker 2: And then we've got I know, I was looking. I'm like,

13:28 Speaker 2: I don't see.

13:30 Speaker 1: No, you got to dig down. You have to dig

13:32 Speaker 1: down deep here. But even like someone like Sebastianajo, he's

13:36 Speaker 1: struggling a little bit, he's got you know, in three games,

13:39 Speaker 1: he's got two goals. You expect a little bit more.

13:43 Speaker 1: I think your point of But even Brad Marshaan, Now

13:46 Speaker 1: Brad's only played one game, oh gay one and he's

13:52 Speaker 1: he's registered only one point. Now, John Cooper did say

13:56 Speaker 1: that Marshand would play in the quarter file fimals.

14:00 Speaker 2: So yeah, and I think again, I think that kind

14:03 Speaker 2: of backs up your point of everything in that these

14:08 Speaker 2: teams that have a lot of expectation put on them,

14:13 Speaker 2: the Canada, US, Sweden, Finland, those teams. I'm not saying

14:21 Speaker 2: that they didn't play hard, but I think they didn't

14:25 Speaker 2: put everything out there. And that's insane because if anyone

14:31 Speaker 2: watched Team Canada play even five minutes, first of all,

14:36 Speaker 2: holy crap.

14:37 Speaker 1: But second of all, holy holy crap. If they've got

14:40 Speaker 1: another level, which you know that they do. Yeah, they're scary,

14:46 Speaker 1: and I'm not sure that I could say the same

14:48 Speaker 1: thing about Team USA being a scary team.

14:52 Speaker 2: Let's before we dive into then our kind of breakdown

14:57 Speaker 2: and discussion about in particular Team can Team USA, because

15:01 Speaker 2: those are obviously the big ones. The women's tournament has

15:04 Speaker 2: been going strong an ass man, You know, when I

15:10 Speaker 2: think about the men's tournament and the women's tournament, the

15:14 Speaker 2: way I see the men's Team Canada play is exactly

15:19 Speaker 2: how I see the women's Team USA play.

15:23 Speaker 1: They are.

15:26 Speaker 2: Just, they are surgical, they are a machine. They are

15:33 Speaker 2: intense and.

15:38 Speaker 1: Right.

15:38 Speaker 2: They are playing right now as we record this, so

15:41 Speaker 2: by the time you hear this, the outcome will have

15:44 Speaker 2: been determined.

15:46 Speaker 1: They are currently playing Team Sweden in a knockout round

15:52 Speaker 1: and they lead one nothing. Thank yes, and I think

15:55 Speaker 1: it's in between periods right now. It is. They've only

16:00 Speaker 1: allowed one goal. This entire was just gonna go there

16:05 Speaker 1: twenty six goals for and only one goal against. It's

16:11 Speaker 1: unbelievable what these women are doing. They are just They're

16:19 Speaker 1: kicking serious ass. Yeah.

16:23 Speaker 2: I mean, you watch you watch them play, and it's

16:27 Speaker 2: fun to watch.

16:28 Speaker 1: They are fun to watch.

16:30 Speaker 2: It's like a ballet. It's just beautiful to watch. And

16:34 Speaker 2: you've got players out there like Abby Murphy who she

16:38 Speaker 2: is a future superstar, and she can skate circles around anyone.

16:45 Speaker 1: She can. It's almost like she can.

16:47 Speaker 2: Just will the puck to go where it needs to go.

16:50 Speaker 2: It's just absolutely just surreal to watch. Again, this is

16:54 Speaker 2: a team with high expectations, but I don't think that

16:59 Speaker 2: they went into this tournament. I mean, I don't think us,

17:03 Speaker 2: as fans whatever the world was looking at them and saying, yes,

17:08 Speaker 2: you are the ones who are going to do it.

17:10 Speaker 2: I think Canada is always going to have that mantle

17:13 Speaker 2: placed on them, regardless.

17:16 Speaker 1: That the expectation is that they they go all the way.

17:21 Speaker 2: And since nineteen ninety eight, Canada has won most of

17:27 Speaker 2: the tournaments. The United States has done it I believe

17:31 Speaker 2: only twice once or twice before, and it's been not

17:35 Speaker 2: since when were they in Korea?

17:39 Speaker 1: Oco, Yeah twenty eighteen.

17:42 Speaker 2: For a while, it's yeah twenty eighteen because fourteen is

17:46 Speaker 2: so very excited to see what they can do. Because

17:51 Speaker 2: they haven't lost sight there of what's in front of them.

17:55 Speaker 2: They don't seem to be playing with any other thought

17:59 Speaker 2: in their mind. Than what's right in front of them,

18:01 Speaker 2: and it's just watching them plays.

18:04 Speaker 1: They are fun to watch, and it's just it's a

18:07 Speaker 1: testament to USA Hockey and the growth of the sport here,

18:13 Speaker 1: particularly particularly from from the women's side of things. It's

18:18 Speaker 1: just it's just amazing and these women just their dedication

18:23 Speaker 1: to their craft is super just super.

18:27 Speaker 2: Yes, in less awesome news, we've seen our first serious

18:34 Speaker 2: injury of an NHL player, Kevin Fiala, when they played

18:40 Speaker 2: against Team Canada the Swiss.

18:44 Speaker 1: He got tangled up with Tom Wilson.

18:47 Speaker 2: I got to tell you forever, I was watching the

18:50 Speaker 2: clip over and over again and I couldn't even really

18:53 Speaker 2: understand what happened because it didn't seem like anything terrible.

18:58 Speaker 1: It was. It was just an innocuous tangling up with

19:03 Speaker 1: a bad result. And I did see on social media

19:06 Speaker 1: because it's some Wilson and Barb be it for any

19:08 Speaker 1: of us as Ruins fans to defend Tom Wilson in

19:11 Speaker 1: any way, shape or form. But there was no friggin

19:15 Speaker 1: sloof look there. Agreed. That was just an unfortunate hockey

19:19 Speaker 1: scrum that ended in probably the worst results that you

19:25 Speaker 1: would want to have happen. Which is a season ending

19:29 Speaker 1: injury to Kevin Fiala, who suffered what is being referred

19:36 Speaker 1: to as fractures, not just fracture, fractures in his lower

19:41 Speaker 1: left leg. The underwent surgery. The LA Kings put out

19:46 Speaker 1: a statement yesterday He's resting comfortably, will begin recovery and rehabilitation.

19:53 Speaker 1: He's going to miss the remainder of this NHL season,

19:58 Speaker 1: and then he'll be reavoun You waited at the end

20:02 Speaker 1: of the regular season, so this was one of my concerns,

20:05 Speaker 1: right And I know this injury could have happened during

20:08 Speaker 1: a regular season game because again it was just you know,

20:12 Speaker 1: along the boards, a pet battle, It got tangled up.

20:16 Speaker 1: It was nothing more than that. But it just had

20:19 Speaker 1: a terrible, terrible results for Kevin Bialla. But I hope

20:24 Speaker 1: that there are no more of these types of injuries now.

20:28 Speaker 1: You hate to see it. It's just awful, all right.

20:32 Speaker 2: So as a quick recap just of where the tournaments

20:37 Speaker 2: stand as of today, February sixteenth, we have women's team

20:44 Speaker 2: USA and Sweden. Like I said right now live as

20:47 Speaker 2: we speak later today is Team Canada versus Switzerland. The

20:54 Speaker 2: winners of those games are going on to the gold

21:00 Speaker 2: medal game, which will be on February nineteenth, and then

21:05 Speaker 2: the other two teams that don't win also play on

21:11 Speaker 2: the nineteenth earlier in the day for the bronze medal.

21:15 Speaker 2: So effectively, you see, we've got our four. Three of

21:19 Speaker 2: the four remaining teams are going to be walking away

21:22 Speaker 2: with medals, so we will know what happens by the nineteenth,

21:29 Speaker 2: which is great. They've been playing a long time already.

21:31 Speaker 2: They're probably pooped.

21:33 Speaker 1: I know, it seems like they have been playing a

21:35 Speaker 1: lot longer than the men playing. Yes, is the case.

21:39 Speaker 1: Even they started before the Olympics. They did, they even

21:42 Speaker 1: officially began, so they did.

21:44 Speaker 2: Yeah, they've been playing for I mean, not every day

21:47 Speaker 2: for ten days, but they've already been there for probably

21:50 Speaker 2: they've already been in Italy for probably about two weeks.

21:53 Speaker 1: That's a long time already to be away.

21:55 Speaker 2: And then for the men's again, we just got out

22:00 Speaker 2: of the preliminary round robin. The four top seeds, as

22:07 Speaker 2: determined by points and gold differential, ended up being Canada

22:12 Speaker 2: with number one, USA with number two, Slovakia with number three.

22:18 Speaker 2: That was a pleasant surprise, and Finland and I'm not

22:22 Speaker 2: surprised by Finland only because in their final game of

22:26 Speaker 2: the preliminaries, I believe they finished a game with a

22:32 Speaker 2: final of eleven to zero.

22:35 Speaker 1: I feel the poor Italians have just been like beat down,

22:44 Speaker 1: beat down in every single one of these games.

22:48 Speaker 2: Just I think for both again, the men's and the

22:52 Speaker 2: women's Italian teams.

22:53 Speaker 1: I know we're not doing our.

22:55 Speaker 2: Usual stick taps, but they they deserve a tremendous stick tap.

23:00 Speaker 2: Those goaltenders just unreal the number of shots that they're

23:05 Speaker 2: facing and the fact that they didn't allow that many goals.

23:10 Speaker 2: Considering the shots, those goalies still walked away with probably

23:14 Speaker 2: a nine hundred save percent.

23:15 Speaker 1: No, no, no, they do have, they do have reason

23:18 Speaker 1: to be proud. It's just unfortunate that you know, as

23:23 Speaker 1: as the host nation you're participating in the sport that

23:28 Speaker 1: clearly you don't have the how do I put this,

23:35 Speaker 1: you're just not ready. You're just not ready for prime time.

23:39 Speaker 1: Yet they're still in a developmental phase. Yeah, certainly.

23:42 Speaker 2: And I have to say, at least for the women's goaltender,

23:46 Speaker 2: PWHL scouts better be giving her a very very close

23:53 Speaker 2: look because some of the saves that this woman made

23:56 Speaker 2: were unbelievable. She came who they were playing, I want

24:02 Speaker 2: to say Team USA. She made a diving save with

24:08 Speaker 2: the paddle of her stick on Abby Murphy. It was unbelievable.

24:17 Speaker 2: I couldn't I was blown away. So whenever the PWHL

24:23 Speaker 2: goes to expand once more, because they are going to

24:27 Speaker 2: continue to expand, I hope we see this woman in

24:32 Speaker 2: the league because I mean not to knock any of

24:36 Speaker 2: the Italian clubs, but that woman.

24:40 Speaker 3: Holy cow, holy cow, she was able to survive and

24:46 Speaker 3: thrive against some of the best players in the world.

24:51 Speaker 1: Unbelievable, unbelievable. Well done them. Well, at least they've had

24:55 Speaker 1: an opportunity. Those players, you know, have had an opportunity

24:59 Speaker 1: to show case themselves to some degree. To your point,

25:04 Speaker 1: you know, I'm sure that there are many many scouts

25:08 Speaker 1: and organizations, you know, in Milan Cortina watching these games.

25:14 Speaker 1: So at least they've had that opportunity as posts and

25:19 Speaker 1: ambassadors for Sea Olympics. Yeah.

25:24 Speaker 2: So the first games for the knockout round for the

25:30 Speaker 2: men's tournament will begin on the seventeenth. We've got Germany

25:36 Speaker 2: and France playing against each other, as Switzerland and Italy,

25:41 Speaker 2: Czech Republic and Denmark, Sweden and Latvia the winner.

25:46 Speaker 1: Of and then those winners will play the seedings as

25:51 Speaker 1: there they basically stand on February eighteenth, So there's going

25:56 Speaker 1: to be a lot of hockey, and yes, the next

26:01 Speaker 1: three days with three days, yeah, yeah.

26:03 Speaker 2: Very exciting part of the men's tournament is coming up now.

26:09 Speaker 1: And I know people are complaining about the gold medal

26:13 Speaker 1: game and what time the gold medal game will take

26:16 Speaker 1: place on Sunday, February twenty second, But here's the reality books.

26:23 Speaker 1: These athletes are all there to absorb all that, I

26:28 Speaker 1: would hope and think all that encompasses the Olympics, including

26:34 Speaker 1: participating in the closing ceremonies. That's why these games have

26:39 Speaker 1: been scheduled when they have been scheduled, so as to

26:44 Speaker 1: provide the opportunity for whoever is participating in those gold

26:49 Speaker 1: medal games to then be able to go to the

26:52 Speaker 1: closing ceremonies. Yeah. Absolutely, And it's for them first and foremost.

26:57 Speaker 1: This isn't like the NHL.

26:59 Speaker 2: Where it is exclusively a product of entertainment for consumption.

27:05 Speaker 2: That's not what the Olympics is. It's for the athletes.

27:11 Speaker 2: So the focus is very different and quite frankly, I

27:14 Speaker 2: have zero problem with getting up. What the game is

27:19 Speaker 2: at two o'clock local time there, so it's at eight

27:23 Speaker 2: o'clock in the morning.

27:24 Speaker 1: Yeah, it will be at eight ten, I believe, on

27:27 Speaker 1: Sunesday morning. What's a big deal. That's fine? What do

27:30 Speaker 1: we I mean? Honestly, this is what drives me. Not right.

27:37 Speaker 1: People will wake up to watch a flip an NFL

27:40 Speaker 1: football game at an ungodly hour. But we're complaining about

27:45 Speaker 1: We're complaining about a gold medal hockey game. You know,

27:48 Speaker 1: what are we doing? Exactly?

27:51 Speaker 2: Let's talk about the men again as a quick overview,

27:55 Speaker 2: the Team USA men, because we're going to just talk

27:58 Speaker 2: mostly Team USA and Team Canada because these are obviously

28:01 Speaker 2: the the big the big guns here. Team USA won

28:07 Speaker 2: five to one against Latvia, sixty three against Denmark, and

28:11 Speaker 2: five to one against Germany. Team Canada won five nothing

28:16 Speaker 2: against Chechia, five to one against Switzerland, and ten to

28:21 Speaker 2: two against France. And the ten to two win had

28:26 Speaker 2: nine different goal scorers.

28:29 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that that game had a little

28:32 Speaker 1: bit of feistiness late in the game, I think, and

28:36 Speaker 1: rightfully so, I'm sure that France just felt so embarrassed

28:42 Speaker 1: and moralize frustrated that. You know, things did get a

28:45 Speaker 1: little little chunky chippy in that game. Yeah, but I

28:50 Speaker 1: do want to say it was you know, Matt Kuchuk

28:55 Speaker 1: is being Matt Kuldchuk. And I forget what game it was,

28:58 Speaker 1: if it was yesterday at the day before where you know,

29:01 Speaker 1: he said to an opponent, you know, always the bride.

29:04 Speaker 1: I mean you could see it clearly without even the

29:07 Speaker 1: need for him to be miked up, always the bride'smaids.

29:11 Speaker 1: So I guess, you know, if he thinks that's what

29:15 Speaker 1: his team needs to get them a little bit more

29:18 Speaker 1: emotionally engaged in the game, or you know, who knows

29:22 Speaker 1: if something was said to him, you know, if if

29:26 Speaker 1: something was said to him first, then you feel compelled

29:29 Speaker 1: to re fond and kind I'm fine with it. I

29:33 Speaker 1: just I thought it was a little funny, you know.

29:35 Speaker 1: But I know a lot of people don't like his antics,

29:39 Speaker 1: don't appreciate his antics because he does have a little

29:44 Speaker 1: bit of a you know, rat behavior. But let's not

29:47 Speaker 1: forget that. You know, we had the King of the

29:49 Speaker 1: Rats as a member of the Boston Bruins for many,

29:51 Speaker 1: many many years.

29:53 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think for me like with his play and

29:56 Speaker 2: his brother's play, because they've gotten a little pushy, chovy,

30:01 Speaker 2: a little chippy. It's not that I have a problem

30:03 Speaker 2: with them necessarily being chippy in a game. I don't

30:08 Speaker 2: trust them in to not take it too far in

30:14 Speaker 2: an international game where the rules of decorum are different,

30:19 Speaker 2: that yes, I would agree with you, even if you're

30:23 Speaker 2: playing against another team that is also one hundred percent

30:26 Speaker 2: and nhl RS. The rules are different, the written and

30:31 Speaker 2: unwritten rules of decorum are different, and I feel like

30:34 Speaker 2: I just can't trust them because that's who they are

30:40 Speaker 2: through and through, and I don't know how you can

30:43 Speaker 2: expect someone who, whatever their personality is, to then not

30:51 Speaker 2: be that thing in the game.

30:54 Speaker 1: I hear what you're saying. I get what you're saying,

30:57 Speaker 1: and far be it from me to defend these boys. Listen,

31:00 Speaker 1: I'd be a hypocrypte if I didn't say that. I

31:03 Speaker 1: would take either one of them on my team in

31:06 Speaker 1: a heartbeat. In a heartbeat, because they can play. They're players,

31:12 Speaker 1: they're big game players, they are leaders, they're leaders on

31:17 Speaker 1: their respected teams. They know how to play. But I

31:22 Speaker 1: believe that they understand the dynamics of this tournament and

31:30 Speaker 1: they understand what's at stake here. It's not only it's

31:35 Speaker 1: not only respect and reputation that you carry, but it's

31:40 Speaker 1: also of your team and your nation. So I think

31:45 Speaker 1: that these boys, I would hope and think that these

31:48 Speaker 1: boys understand that, and that there are other people on

31:53 Speaker 1: the team that will in fact get them to understand

31:57 Speaker 1: that if it seems like they're stepping over that line.

32:00 Speaker 1: But there are instances where guys like Matt Kuchuk and

32:04 Speaker 1: you know, Brad marshand and Tom Wilson's they need to

32:09 Speaker 1: have that little bit of dog or dirt in there

32:14 Speaker 1: way to the level that they expect of themselves. It's

32:19 Speaker 1: just tempering that, knowing your audience, knowing when to use it,

32:24 Speaker 1: and knowing when to stow it away. Yeah, I have

32:27 Speaker 1: to imagine kind of the way USA just went up

32:30 Speaker 1: to Zepp. You must be in the future, because I

32:34 Speaker 1: still only show one ye no during the second period.

32:39 Speaker 1: Here they just here comes it is there, it is there,

32:43 Speaker 1: it is They just got off the Oh that was

32:47 Speaker 1: a bad goal. To let it all a look who's

32:50 Speaker 1: on the ice, Abby Murphy.

32:54 Speaker 2: The way that I feel about those brothers, I'm I

32:58 Speaker 2: have to imagine is how a lot of Team Canada

33:01 Speaker 2: fans feel about Tom Wilson. You heard about it going

33:06 Speaker 2: into the Olympics, like just a ton of concern like

33:08 Speaker 2: can he can he keep it under control?

33:11 Speaker 1: Can he keep it under rightfully? So these are all

33:13 Speaker 1: valid concerns because we have seen the slip ups in

33:17 Speaker 1: the past where these types of players sometimes can't help

33:22 Speaker 1: themselves and they take it sometimes to a level where

33:27 Speaker 1: you're like, did you really have to do that, dumb ass?

33:31 Speaker 1: And I know I've said this about Brad in the

33:34 Speaker 1: past too, like really, what are you doing right now?

33:38 Speaker 1: That was stupid? Our whole season, Our whole Bruins season

33:42 Speaker 1: this year has been exactly that, with stupid penalties that

33:47 Speaker 1: cost them in the long run a win, and again

33:51 Speaker 1: now entering the phase of the tournament where it's you're

33:55 Speaker 1: one and done, that's it. If you lose, you're done,

33:58 Speaker 1: you go home. It's just again this team.

34:02 Speaker 2: And I know you kind of started talking about this

34:04 Speaker 2: a little bit and definitely let's move into this. But

34:08 Speaker 2: for me, the biggest difference between Team Canada and Team

34:13 Speaker 2: USA is Team Canada. I don't know what it is.

34:18 Speaker 2: It's not just their pure talent, because Team USA has

34:22 Speaker 2: a ridiculous amount of talent as well. Yes, for me,

34:26 Speaker 2: the difference I think comes down to on Team Canada,

34:31 Speaker 2: it is a seamless integration of each of these parts

34:35 Speaker 2: that come together to create this singular team that just

34:40 Speaker 2: works together so perfectly.

34:42 Speaker 1: I don't know if that if you then call that, is.

34:45 Speaker 2: That chemistry, their energy, whatever ridiculous thing you want.

34:50 Speaker 1: I think they seem more together as a unified team,

34:55 Speaker 1: cohesive units right now than Team US, say does.

35:01 Speaker 2: Yeah, and maybe, and again this could be, this could

35:06 Speaker 2: be the result of the team culture that has been

35:12 Speaker 2: developed and created by Sid for the past however many years,

35:16 Speaker 2: right since all twenty time. He's been an Olympian since

35:20 Speaker 2: twenty ten, and that certainly seems like his style of leadership.

35:25 Speaker 2: It's don't yep with your mouth, yep with your skill

35:30 Speaker 2: set ability right where? And so I don't know if

35:34 Speaker 2: that's a sid led team culture thing. It could be

35:37 Speaker 2: a Canadian personality cultural thing. I don't know, but I

35:42 Speaker 2: feel like that's very much. But look at the players

35:47 Speaker 2: that they have assembled on Team Canada, and again all

35:52 Speaker 2: great players on both sides of the fence. But when

35:54 Speaker 2: you look at the skill set and the leadership ability

35:59 Speaker 2: of the players that have been put together on Team

36:03 Speaker 2: Canada because most of these guys are leaders on the

36:07 Speaker 2: teams that they play for. Yep, and I feel like

36:12 Speaker 2: they are very much so a similar brand of leadership.

36:19 Speaker 1: What they bring is different. Each one of them brings

36:22 Speaker 1: something different, but their brand of leadership. Again, it's the

36:26 Speaker 1: I'm going to just go out there and play versus

36:30 Speaker 1: with Team USA. It feels like a bunch of parts

36:34 Speaker 1: that have been brought together, mostly working well together, but

36:39 Speaker 1: it just feels a little more individualistic, a little bit more.

36:48 Speaker 1: I almost want to say all star teamy, and I

36:52 Speaker 1: don't mean that necessarily in a bad way. It's just

36:56 Speaker 1: still very very much a group of individual parts. I

37:04 Speaker 1: don't know it. It's so hard to articulate and to

37:07 Speaker 1: watch them play out there.

37:10 Speaker 2: Seems very much full of effort that, like you said earlier,

37:19 Speaker 2: can they sustain this, because I think they look like

37:25 Speaker 2: they're trying very hard.

37:27 Speaker 1: And I'm not saying that the other teams aren't trying hard,

37:29 Speaker 1: but no, you can tell that they are trying very hard.

37:35 Speaker 1: You have high shots on goal, but they're not walking

37:38 Speaker 1: away with ten gold games. And it kind of feels

37:42 Speaker 1: like it could be a slog and can they raise

37:46 Speaker 1: it another level for three more games. That's why I'm

37:51 Speaker 1: going to be really curious to see at this next

37:55 Speaker 1: level here, because again I didn't see a lot of

38:00 Speaker 1: sense of urgency in their play. Yeah, well they don't

38:05 Speaker 1: even play there. They're definitely they're definitely not as deep

38:09 Speaker 1: in my view, They're definitely not as deep as as

38:12 Speaker 1: Team Canada. I mean, you even look look at a

38:15 Speaker 1: kid like Hey Macklin, celebrity freaking nineteen years old. He

38:19 Speaker 1: scored two goals three games, He's got four goals to

38:23 Speaker 1: six points. He's he's behind Connor McDavid in points score, right,

38:30 Speaker 1: And I'm not discounting I'm not discounting Team USA because

38:35 Speaker 1: it's you know, anything, anything is possible, anything can happen. Yes,

38:42 Speaker 1: based on what I'm seeing of both teams, for a

38:46 Speaker 1: Team USA is going to have to play if and

38:49 Speaker 1: when they face each other in whatever round it is,

38:53 Speaker 1: they're going to have to have I think, the game

38:56 Speaker 1: of their lives, of their lives, because this is not

39:01 Speaker 1: like the Four Nations. It's where you know, you can

39:05 Speaker 1: just drop the gloves and get the crowd going and

39:08 Speaker 1: pose your physical will, because you know, any questionable hits

39:14 Speaker 1: can have you sent from the game's no fighting. I

39:17 Speaker 1: think those are I think that's the difference with these

39:21 Speaker 1: two teams. I think Team USA might need to play

39:25 Speaker 1: with a little bit of that. And will they be

39:29 Speaker 1: able to play a little bit of that? Can they?

39:32 Speaker 1: Can they do that? Can they do that? What is

39:35 Speaker 1: it too much without crossing lines or without getting themselves

39:40 Speaker 1: into a prover, you know, a hole that they can't

39:43 Speaker 1: get out of.

39:44 Speaker 2: And even thinking about the comparison of this team to

39:47 Speaker 2: the team that played in the Four Nations, which again

39:50 Speaker 2: it's mostly the same. I remember thinking after Four Nations

39:54 Speaker 2: last year, I was so so impressed with Team USA,

39:58 Speaker 2: and I thought, and I said, if this is the

40:01 Speaker 2: team that shows up to play in the Olympics, this

40:04 Speaker 2: is the best chance that they've had in a very

40:06 Speaker 2: very long time. But looking at the team that I

40:10 Speaker 2: have seen play over the last week, that's not the

40:15 Speaker 2: same team that I saw in the Four Nations. I

40:20 Speaker 2: can't necessarily articulate it, but I don't get the same feeling.

40:28 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I'm just you know, I think to some degree,

40:32 Speaker 1: and I don't want to say, you know, there's no

40:34 Speaker 1: players should be holding that, but it just seemed to

40:38 Speaker 1: me that they haven't reached their highest level yet. Right,

40:43 Speaker 1: It's just my opinion. I could be totally totally wrong.

40:47 Speaker 2: Right, Well, hopefully what we saw wasn't it, you know

40:52 Speaker 2: what I mean like that that it wasn't right.

40:54 Speaker 1: No, no, no, I know, I know, I know because

40:56 Speaker 1: if not, yeah, breaking, And this is if if you

41:00 Speaker 1: end up facing Canada, they're going to wax your doors.

41:04 Speaker 2: Right and Team USA is going to be playing either

41:10 Speaker 2: Sweden or Lavia.

41:13 Speaker 1: So that's that's who they will take on on February eighteenth,

41:18 Speaker 1: the winner of that particular game, the winner of that game, yep, yep,

41:21 Speaker 1: yep yep.

41:22 Speaker 2: And then only then if they win, and if Canada

41:26 Speaker 2: beats the winner of Chechia Denmark.

41:28 Speaker 1: And that Lackedvia team They've got some feistiness to them,

41:32 Speaker 1: you know, they do, they do. They have some spice.

41:38 Speaker 2: But that's where things are as of today, February sixteenth,

41:44 Speaker 2: in the Olympics, and it's going to be an exciting

41:48 Speaker 2: week to come.

41:49 Speaker 1: We're gonna see who walks away with a medal.

41:53 Speaker 2: The NHL teams are going to be back at it

41:57 Speaker 2: very very soon. In fact, there are practices already scheduled

42:03 Speaker 2: before the folks who are in Milan, the Ruins.

42:08 Speaker 1: Are practice, they're going to begin practicing. Those Bruins who

42:11 Speaker 1: are not participating in the Olympics are being called back

42:16 Speaker 1: to work on February eighteen, and I believe their first

42:23 Speaker 1: game after the Olympics, I want to say, is February

42:27 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, twenty fourth or twenty fifth.

42:29 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's midweek that week. So presumably you've got any

42:35 Speaker 2: of the teams that are playing in the gold medal game,

42:41 Speaker 2: which is the twenty second, the bronze medal game, which

42:43 Speaker 2: is the twenty first, they'll all be coming back.

42:46 Speaker 1: They'll have like a day or two of rest, and

42:48 Speaker 1: then it's actually the Ruins may not start right away.

42:53 Speaker 1: Some teens are Ruins start right away. I want to

42:56 Speaker 1: say the Bruins first game is the twenty fifth, but

43:00 Speaker 1: by that right now their first game back for Boston. Yeah,

43:06 Speaker 1: so and their home which is.

43:08 Speaker 2: Good, like that's that's good for our players who are.

43:12 Speaker 1: Charlie Coyle comes back to Boston on the twenty sixth,

43:18 Speaker 1: so and then and then it's then it's like then

43:20 Speaker 1: it's a free for all. It is an unmitigated free

43:25 Speaker 1: for all. Get ready, It's it's like when you look

43:30 Speaker 1: at this, it's it's fricking nuts.

43:35 Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's the Sprint. But that being said, I want

43:41 Speaker 2: to thank everybody for tuning back in. Make sure you

43:45 Speaker 2: like and subscribe for more content, and be sure to

43:47 Speaker 2: leave a rating and review to help other Bruins fans

43:50 Speaker 2: find us. You can support the pod by joining our

43:53 Speaker 2: Patreon or following us on our socials at Tape to

43:55 Speaker 2: Tape mk and on substack at Tape to Tape mk

44:00 Speaker 2: dot subseac dot com. Any final thoughts, Aria, go team

44:05 Speaker 2: U s A.

44:07 Speaker 1: As always, go Bes and go Olympics. Go Bes