Bruins Find a Spark at the Season’s Midpoint | Ep 124

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

0:02 Speaker 2: Please? I need something to do.

0:13 Speaker 1: I'll jack sending out a trop a bock of this,

0:14 Speaker 1: says Tony. Here's a chance, PoTA right down the goalie

0:21 Speaker 1: scars Oh my one a move by the rookie on

0:25 Speaker 1: one plaster not moving in Marsha get it on his own.

0:29 Speaker 1: Oil dances in podcast home right corner, Faster Chesterton.

0:51 Speaker 3: Welcome in everyone to another episode of Bruin's Tape to Tape.

0:55 Speaker 3: I'm your host today, Caroline with a K, and I

0:58 Speaker 3: am joined by fantastic co host Maria from Watertown.

1:03 Speaker 2: How's it going Maria? Happy New Year, Happy new year

1:07 Speaker 2: to you as well. Here we are twenty twenty six,

1:10 Speaker 2: fresh pod indeed, and the halfway point of the hockey season.

1:15 Speaker 3: I know we're on the back half of the twenty

1:18 Speaker 3: five to twenty sixth season and it's gonna be quite

1:22 Speaker 3: the adventure to the finish because everybody's all over the

1:27 Speaker 3: place except for Colorado Avalanche. So who knows what's going

1:31 Speaker 3: to be happening in this race to the break and

1:36 Speaker 3: then the insanity that always happens post February break. But

1:42 Speaker 3: let's just dive right in because there's a lot of

1:45 Speaker 3: loose ends to talk about this week. It feels like

1:48 Speaker 3: there's all sorts of other news and things going on,

1:50 Speaker 3: not just for the Bruins but around the rink, So

1:53 Speaker 3: we shall waste no time. First and foremost, as we

1:57 Speaker 3: alluded to last week, the Olympic rosters were coming out,

2:03 Speaker 3: and sure enough we got rosters for Team USA, Team Sweden, Finland,

2:09 Speaker 3: and Chechia and no shockers. For the most part, Team

2:15 Speaker 3: USA we have Chucky and sway We already knew about

2:19 Speaker 3: Charlie McAvoy because he was previously named an assistant captain

2:23 Speaker 3: or an alternate captain Swayman, I think that was a

2:26 Speaker 3: pretty much guarantee for the most part. For the checks again,

2:32 Speaker 3: no shocker, we've got Pasta, We've got Zaka. For Team Finland,

2:37 Speaker 3: we have Yoki Haryu, which I don't know, I guess

2:41 Speaker 3: not a super surprise. There are only so many Finns

2:45 Speaker 3: in the NHL, and so he earned a spot there.

2:50 Speaker 3: The one that I think was a little bit of

2:51 Speaker 3: a surprise to many folks on Team Sweden, only one

2:57 Speaker 3: linn home got the nah from Sweden to go play

3:03 Speaker 3: for the three crowns, and that's Elias Linnholm no Hampus

3:08 Speaker 3: thoughts on that, Maria, Well, I wonder if it's a

3:13 Speaker 3: combination of the defensive depth that they had available to them,

3:20 Speaker 3: the fact that Hampus was injured for a little bit,

3:24 Speaker 3: and the fact that his game, really, let's face facts,

3:29 Speaker 3: his game hasn't been up to the level that we've

3:32 Speaker 3: all been accustomed to or expected it to be yet

3:37 Speaker 3: this season, for whatever reason that is, I agree, And

3:42 Speaker 3: I think an interesting take that I had heard recently,

3:45 Speaker 3: I think it was probably on thirty two thoughts, where

3:48 Speaker 3: this idea that the rosters for the most part are

3:52 Speaker 3: relatively unchanged from the Four Nations, and of course speculation

3:57 Speaker 3: here and there about why did so and so make

3:59 Speaker 3: it and so didn't, especially if so and so was

4:02 Speaker 3: there and last.

4:03 Speaker 2: Year but isn't there this year.

4:05 Speaker 3: And I think the Four Nations did a really interesting

4:09 Speaker 3: thing in that it gave the gms of those various

4:13 Speaker 3: teams a good sense of what to expect in terms

4:20 Speaker 3: of how different players play with each other on a

4:24 Speaker 3: national team. Because again, remember it's been quick math twelve

4:28 Speaker 3: years since the NHL had players in the Olympics twenty fourteen,

4:35 Speaker 3: so a lot of these guys while they maybe grew

4:38 Speaker 3: up playing together on their junior teams and their national teams,

4:42 Speaker 3: they haven't played in a lengthy tournament style together in

4:48 Speaker 3: a very long time. And so I think a huge

4:51 Speaker 3: piece of all of the roster building was what worked,

4:56 Speaker 3: what didn't work, And really they were only probably making

4:59 Speaker 3: minor tweaks here and there. And because Hampus was not

5:04 Speaker 3: there last year because of his injury, he was kind

5:08 Speaker 3: of an unknown entity.

5:10 Speaker 2: And quite frankly, the Swedes, they're stacked in the back.

5:13 Speaker 2: So and you know what, honestly, I'm fine with it.

5:17 Speaker 2: I don't really want any other Bruins or any additional

5:20 Speaker 2: Bruins going there. I mean, again, I sound like a

5:24 Speaker 2: nervous nelly, but the risk of injury, to me, you're

5:29 Speaker 2: just exacerbating that potential for that. And we keep hearing

5:34 Speaker 2: how important he is to the back end dynamics of

5:37 Speaker 2: the Boston Bruins, and we've seen he's suffered some injuries

5:41 Speaker 2: that have kept him in the past out of the

5:43 Speaker 2: line of for extended periods of time.

5:47 Speaker 3: And to kind of use the Bruins' words against them

5:50 Speaker 3: a little bit, the mental fatigue of the season, I

5:53 Speaker 3: think a lot of them deserve the downtime. You know what,

5:57 Speaker 3: the schedule has been insane. They've played a lot, They've

6:01 Speaker 3: had to deal with a lot. I'm okay with most

6:03 Speaker 3: of them going on vacation.

6:05 Speaker 2: Then I just make one comment about these Olympic rosters,

6:09 Speaker 2: just where Team USA is concerned. Is there a rumor

6:14 Speaker 2: circulating or percolating about who my captain Team USA? I

6:20 Speaker 2: thought it was already announced that it was Usin Matthews.

6:23 Speaker 2: It is what a dumb ask gust Okay, then that's

6:26 Speaker 2: fucking dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb dumb. I would have

6:31 Speaker 2: rather seen the sea on one of the Kachuk Boys

6:33 Speaker 2: than Austin Matthews. Please tell me, Please tell me where

6:39 Speaker 2: Austin Matthews has exhibited any leadership skills when it comes

6:44 Speaker 2: to the Toronto Maple Leafs and his captaincy there. What

6:47 Speaker 2: are we doing here? What are we doing here? I agree?

6:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think from the team that I saw a

6:55 Speaker 3: year ago at the Four Nations, I was super impressed

6:58 Speaker 3: with the team as as a whole because I thought

7:01 Speaker 3: that that was the first time in a very long

7:03 Speaker 3: time that Team USA had a legitimate shot that this

7:08 Speaker 3: is the closest that they've gotten.

7:10 Speaker 2: They came within one goal.

7:12 Speaker 3: I think this is the best chance team USA has

7:16 Speaker 3: had going into the Olympics in a very long time

7:19 Speaker 3: since probably Salt Lake and Vancouver like from that time.

7:25 Speaker 3: But to your point, who was the face of that team, right?

7:30 Speaker 3: Who really showed leadership on and.

7:34 Speaker 2: Off the ice?

7:35 Speaker 3: Not Austin Matthews. I mean, you think about Team Canada.

7:40 Speaker 3: I mean it's a given. You see with Sidney Crosby,

7:43 Speaker 3: the respect that he has I saw this is a

7:49 Speaker 3: total tangent. But I just have to say about his leadership.

7:52 Speaker 3: He saw a video where he was being interviewed with

7:55 Speaker 3: McDavid and I don't remember who the third guy was.

8:00 Speaker 3: Sid came into the room, sat down, took his hat off.

8:03 Speaker 3: The other two sat down and they still had their

8:05 Speaker 3: hats on, and right before it started, they looked at

8:07 Speaker 3: him and they took their hats off. That tells you

8:10 Speaker 3: the degree of respect. Even that little gesture goes a

8:15 Speaker 3: long way. I just don't understand the mindset or the

8:21 Speaker 3: thought process. Yeah, but do you really think it's going

8:25 Speaker 3: to propel him to elevate his game?

8:28 Speaker 2: Because I just don't see it.

8:30 Speaker 3: We've talked ad nauseum about, you know, the culture or

8:35 Speaker 3: the lack of what we perceived to be the lack

8:38 Speaker 3: of a culture in Toronto, and he wears the sea there.

8:43 Speaker 3: We've talked about what a mistake we thought it was

8:46 Speaker 3: for them to take the sea from John Tavirus, and

8:50 Speaker 3: he responded in a very diplomatic and professional way to it.

8:54 Speaker 2: And they gave it to Austin Matthews for what right?

8:58 Speaker 2: What has it sir?

9:00 Speaker 3: And you don't have to be a loud, boisterous type

9:06 Speaker 3: of captain. You don't have to be that super outgoing

9:09 Speaker 3: person like Brad Marshan or one of the Kachuck brothers. Again,

9:14 Speaker 3: look at Sid or look at Patrice Bergeron those are

9:17 Speaker 3: patrise right.

9:18 Speaker 2: They are quiet leaders. But they but you know, you

9:23 Speaker 2: we all.

9:24 Speaker 3: Had inklings and insight into the leadership abilities of those players.

9:31 Speaker 2: Where do we have that? What have we seen here?

9:34 Speaker 2: I don't know. I just think it's you're starting off

9:37 Speaker 2: to me on a foot with Team USA, where it's

9:40 Speaker 2: like I'm already I'm already scratching my head, going why

9:44 Speaker 2: oh that's all? Well, we shall see.

9:48 Speaker 3: We will do a little bit of a deep dive

9:51 Speaker 3: in a future episode, a little bit of housekeeping since

9:55 Speaker 3: I've just mentioned that in two weeks, so today we

9:58 Speaker 3: are recording. On January fifth, we will have a special

10:02 Speaker 3: episode with our Doctor of Dev's Mary Beth.

10:06 Speaker 2: Come on.

10:06 Speaker 3: She'll be coming onto the show to give us some

10:08 Speaker 3: updates on all those prospects. We'll have some new updates

10:12 Speaker 3: on our substack as well, if you'd like to read

10:14 Speaker 3: up on those folks. And then Bruins tape to tape.

10:19 Speaker 3: We will be at the Stadium series game release. Murrio

10:22 Speaker 3: will be so if you're going to be there, see

10:25 Speaker 3: if you can come and find her and say hi

10:27 Speaker 3: and get a sticker. It's going to be almost the

10:29 Speaker 3: last game before the break, and February fourth is the

10:34 Speaker 3: last game that the Bruins have before the Olympics, so

10:36 Speaker 3: it's quite literally a stadium series and then they go

10:42 Speaker 3: down to the Panthers and then we'll be doing, like

10:46 Speaker 3: I said, a little Olympics special episode. We'll be doing

10:49 Speaker 3: our mid season awards, so all sorts of fun little

10:52 Speaker 3: things coming up on the pod as we sort of

10:55 Speaker 3: hit the February Gray dol drums before the excitement of

11:01 Speaker 3: March and April.

11:02 Speaker 2: It's well the ray, yeah, the race race to the

11:05 Speaker 2: finish of the season, and based on the fact that

11:08 Speaker 2: no one in the East seems to want to just

11:10 Speaker 2: take a strangle. It's over. The Eastern Conference is shock.

11:16 Speaker 3: It's going to be interesting to see us how everything

11:20 Speaker 3: plays out once this Olympic break is over.

11:24 Speaker 2: Hopefully everyone comes back to their teams healthy. Hopefully others

11:31 Speaker 2: who are currently injured yet healthier so that we can

11:35 Speaker 2: finally see where the where the cream will rise to

11:40 Speaker 2: the top other than the Colorado Avalanche. And just I

11:43 Speaker 2: have a little a little advice with the Colorado Avalanche

11:47 Speaker 2: and their fans. Take it from those of us who

11:50 Speaker 2: are very well aware of what a historic regular season

11:55 Speaker 2: looks like and where it can ultimately get you in

11:59 Speaker 2: the playoffs. A little losing and a little adversity is okay.

12:04 Speaker 2: Embrace it if it happens, because you will likely be

12:08 Speaker 2: better served if that does happen, as opposed to what

12:12 Speaker 2: happened to our Boston Bruins during their historic regular season.

12:17 Speaker 2: I agree. I agree, that's good advice.

12:20 Speaker 3: As I mentioned, obviously, after the Olympics, it's the whirlwind

12:27 Speaker 3: of March and April and for new listeners, for new

12:33 Speaker 3: hockey fans, why is this a big deal. Well, because

12:38 Speaker 3: it's the trade deadline and things have been a little

12:42 Speaker 3: bit quiet right now on the trade front. Typically that

12:46 Speaker 3: has been the case historically, although for a number of

12:50 Speaker 3: years we were seeing the big blockbuster trades happening January February,

12:57 Speaker 3: and because it's the Olympics, perhaps we won't see any

13:01 Speaker 3: of those big trades or even the little trades. So

13:04 Speaker 3: I would imagine we're going to be seeing a traditional

13:07 Speaker 3: trade deadline season where most of it's going to be

13:09 Speaker 3: happening in the week or so leading up. Again, if

13:12 Speaker 3: you're following us, we have a little trade tracker, so

13:16 Speaker 3: we'll be keeping that information, but as just a little

13:20 Speaker 3: bit of food for thought as we set the table

13:22 Speaker 3: and think about the season big picture, right because you

13:26 Speaker 3: said we're halfway through, now's the time where we start

13:30 Speaker 3: to reflect and think, Okay, what have we accomplished, what

13:33 Speaker 3: has not been, what's not happening, and what does this

13:37 Speaker 3: team still need to meet the goal of getting into

13:44 Speaker 3: the postseason. And Maria, you gave a call to a

13:48 Speaker 3: friend of the pod. What was the big question that

13:51 Speaker 3: they asked you about trade deadline and such? So the

13:56 Speaker 3: topic of that day's podcast, which was the eighth and

14:00 Speaker 3: T Hockey Show on ninety eight point five, hosted by

14:04 Speaker 3: Ty Anderson. Shout out to Ty because he's always very

14:06 Speaker 3: kind and gracious to me. And his question was should

14:12 Speaker 3: the Bruins buy or sell or do nothing?

14:17 Speaker 2: And he was going to be straddling the fence and

14:21 Speaker 2: just basically agreeing with everyone's everyone's take on it, but

14:25 Speaker 2: it was food for thought, and so I called in

14:28 Speaker 2: and I stated my case in that I have felt

14:33 Speaker 2: all along that the Bruins have been trying to straddle

14:37 Speaker 2: a verbial fence with this retool from day one, because

14:42 Speaker 2: it is abundantly clear to any of us who have

14:46 Speaker 2: been Boston Bruins fans throughout the tenure of the Jacob's

14:50 Speaker 2: family ownership of the team, that there is a mandate

14:54 Speaker 2: about making the playoffs. However you can do it, make

14:58 Speaker 2: the playoffs they want, and you know again, we want

15:02 Speaker 2: the playoffs to However, however, that comes at a potential

15:07 Speaker 2: price and a difficult situation for Don Sweeney to be in. Now.

15:12 Speaker 2: Don Sweeney only has a two year extension, so to me,

15:17 Speaker 2: it seems to me that him Neely and ownership have

15:20 Speaker 2: basically said to him, we've given you two years to

15:22 Speaker 2: get us back on playoff rap. But if you're telling

15:28 Speaker 2: me that you need to retool or rebuild and you

15:32 Speaker 2: want to get back to being a competitive hockey team

15:40 Speaker 2: that is poised and structured and built to make the

15:44 Speaker 2: playoffs year in and year out, I can't understand how

15:49 Speaker 2: you're telling me you're going to do this when you're

15:52 Speaker 2: in a retool or a rebuilt, because you have now

15:57 Speaker 2: we all know, we've we've got Higgins out there, right,

16:01 Speaker 2: and you know, maybe we'll see him at some point

16:05 Speaker 2: during this regular season, who knows, right, But again that's

16:10 Speaker 2: that's the future, right, So that's one of your building blocks.

16:14 Speaker 2: Who else on this team have you identified as your

16:18 Speaker 2: building blocks? We've seen this team.

16:22 Speaker 3: On the cusp of you know, sometimes they're good and

16:26 Speaker 3: sometimes they're not so good. They're not built right now

16:31 Speaker 3: to have long term sustained success in the playoffs. Do

16:37 Speaker 3: I want them to make any moves in the upcoming

16:41 Speaker 3: trade deadline? No, I don't unless what you're doing is

16:47 Speaker 3: being identified as part of your rebuild and your retool.

16:51 Speaker 3: If you're telling me that you can go out and

16:54 Speaker 3: get somebody who wants to be here and wants to

16:57 Speaker 3: be part of the rebuild that has NHL cashet and

17:02 Speaker 3: star power. Okay, I'm open to listening to that, but

17:06 Speaker 3: I don't think.

17:07 Speaker 2: You should be making any tweaks to solidify something on

17:11 Speaker 2: the back end or help with your defensive your offensive

17:16 Speaker 2: scoring depth. No, no, no, no, if you want to

17:21 Speaker 2: sell some pieces because you have to to open up

17:25 Speaker 2: cap space, because that's another problem that they still have.

17:29 Speaker 2: They still don't even with the cap going up next year,

17:32 Speaker 2: they don't have a ton of cap space. But if

17:36 Speaker 2: you're going to potentially trade a Jonus Corposalo or you

17:41 Speaker 2: can get Elias Linholm to waive his no full no

17:45 Speaker 2: movement to go elsewhere to open up money, Okay, But

17:50 Speaker 2: I just you can't play both sides of defense and

17:54 Speaker 2: tell us that you're rebuilding a retooler just because ownership

18:00 Speaker 2: wants you to make the playoffs. I don't know if

18:03 Speaker 2: that makes any sense, but that was my like. You

18:06 Speaker 2: can't have one foot in and one foot out right,

18:09 Speaker 2: and I think and correct me if I'm wrong.

18:12 Speaker 3: Kind of what I'm understanding you to be saying is

18:15 Speaker 3: if we're supposed to be seeing a retool you do

18:19 Speaker 3: also need to give it time to cook instead of

18:23 Speaker 3: just throwing whatever you can at the potential problem and

18:29 Speaker 3: with the possibility of making it worse. I think that

18:32 Speaker 3: I don't have a solid opinion of buy or sell

18:39 Speaker 3: at this point only because of just the very fragile

18:44 Speaker 3: nature of this team and how it's constructed. Again, the

18:48 Speaker 3: theme of the identity of this team this year is

18:51 Speaker 3: that Jenga tower, because if you take away a piece,

18:57 Speaker 3: is it going to be damage to the development of

19:02 Speaker 3: the process.

19:03 Speaker 2: Like, if this is the plan, stick to the plan.

19:07 Speaker 3: You know.

19:08 Speaker 2: See. I think I think they have to have open

19:11 Speaker 2: minds about anybody. I can't, yeah, open minds about anybody

19:15 Speaker 2: on this roster. If you're truly telling me, if you're

19:18 Speaker 2: truly telling.

19:19 Speaker 3: Me that you know you have to you need to rebuild, retool,

19:25 Speaker 3: then anybody should be open for conversation. Not named Pastora obviously,

19:31 Speaker 3: and I'll throw Swayman in there too. I'd even listen.

19:35 Speaker 3: I'd even listen for anyone interested in Charlie McAvoy. I'm sorry,

19:40 Speaker 3: but I would listen.

19:42 Speaker 2: Yeah.

19:42 Speaker 3: And I'm not saying that they shouldn't. I mean, I

19:45 Speaker 3: definitely agree with you. I think what I want to

19:47 Speaker 3: see is a degree of intentionality and understanding that and

19:53 Speaker 3: I'm sure that they know this obviously, and you're limited

19:56 Speaker 3: to what is available out there. I I wonder what

20:03 Speaker 3: possibilities could even be entertained beyond Corposollo, because I think

20:11 Speaker 3: at this point he's done a good enough job that

20:14 Speaker 3: he has. You know, the Bruins have increased his value,

20:19 Speaker 3: so he was always going to be a flip. So

20:24 Speaker 3: I think he's the only one that would be likely

20:28 Speaker 3: to be sold off. And if it's just for cap space,

20:35 Speaker 3: then so be it. Because who knows. I don't even know,

20:39 Speaker 3: Like it's so far away at this point.

20:41 Speaker 1: That the.

20:43 Speaker 2: Free agency who's going to be available.

20:46 Speaker 3: There's already talk that they're looking to extend Jonathan Asbroo.

20:53 Speaker 3: I mean in terms of a backup goalie. I think

20:55 Speaker 3: it's pretty obvious that they're going to be pulling one

20:59 Speaker 3: of the two front Providence.

21:01 Speaker 2: Providence.

21:02 Speaker 3: Yes, they agree that they should be open to all offers,

21:06 Speaker 3: but because of just how this team is so delicately constructed,

21:12 Speaker 3: what is a good answer?

21:15 Speaker 2: What should they do? I don't know. I don't know. Well,

21:20 Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's Sweeney's job. We can just speculate

21:25 Speaker 2: and throw out scenarios. But what I don't want to

21:28 Speaker 2: see them doing. If you're telling me that you're you're

21:32 Speaker 2: going to be potentially making a deal that's only a

21:35 Speaker 2: short term deal because you want to get into no

21:38 Speaker 2: rent playoffs as a wildcard team. Real thanks, you know, honestly,

21:42 Speaker 2: no thank you, I mean no thank you, and I

21:45 Speaker 2: would I would be.

21:46 Speaker 3: Shocked if they did it invests in a rental because

21:52 Speaker 3: you only really see that if you think you have

21:54 Speaker 3: a genuine shot at going deep. You don't do rentals

21:59 Speaker 3: when your focus right now is to make playoffs. That's

22:04 Speaker 3: a waste of time and money. You could be getting

22:08 Speaker 3: rid of somebody who is doing a fine enough job right.

22:13 Speaker 2: But anyway, it'll be interesting the trade deadline. There's not

22:17 Speaker 2: a lot of time in between when the league goes

22:21 Speaker 2: back to work after the Olympics. I think the first

22:24 Speaker 2: slate of games is scheduled for February twenty five, yep,

22:29 Speaker 2: and then the trade deadline is March sixth. Yeah, so

22:33 Speaker 2: phones will be phones will likely be burning at that point,

22:38 Speaker 2: and it'll be interesting to see what does happen, not

22:44 Speaker 2: just for our team, but across the league, particularly if

22:48 Speaker 2: there are any injuries, you know, long, any type of

22:53 Speaker 2: injuries that occur to any of these Let's face it,

22:57 Speaker 2: these are all elite players that are going to the Olympics. Yeah,

23:01 Speaker 2: they all make significant contributions and impacts. They are key

23:06 Speaker 2: to the NHL teams that they played for, or they

23:08 Speaker 2: wouldn't have been selected to go to the Olympics in

23:12 Speaker 2: all likelihoods. So if there are injuries that are sustained,

23:16 Speaker 2: it will be curious to see how GMS approach that.

23:22 Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, and for Boston, the added challenge to all

23:27 Speaker 3: of this is the fact that Don Sweeney he's a

23:31 Speaker 3: GM for Team Canada, so he's he's he's busy with

23:37 Speaker 3: non NHL things right now, and correct, he might be

23:41 Speaker 3: a little bit distracted, little occupied, Yeah, which maybe might

23:45 Speaker 3: not be a bad thing for the Boston roament.

23:48 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.

23:50 Speaker 3: Well, let's take just a quick spin around the rink.

23:53 Speaker 3: Lots of things have been happening outside of Boston. The

23:56 Speaker 3: World Junior's.

23:59 Speaker 2: Team US a out No.

24:02 Speaker 3: Three pet for these guys unfortunately lost to Finland in

24:09 Speaker 3: a shootout, which is just horrible and an awful way

24:14 Speaker 3: to end end their journey. But I think the Boston

24:19 Speaker 3: Bruins Bruins fans won in this case because of the

24:25 Speaker 3: sheer effort uh put out there by Zellers and Hagen's

24:30 Speaker 3: well done by them. Team Canada also done, although they

24:35 Speaker 3: are playing for a bronze or.

24:37 Speaker 2: Bronze tonight, I believe tonight, which is Monday, Yes, is it?

24:43 Speaker 2: It's Finland and Sweden? Who had who had that not

24:47 Speaker 2: on the dance card for the World Junior.

24:51 Speaker 3: Well, those are two teams you know, on the on

24:53 Speaker 3: the international stage, they have been producing incredible hockey talent,

25:00 Speaker 3: as you can see by the fact that I mean,

25:03 Speaker 3: I think it was a no brainer for the four

25:05 Speaker 3: nations that we saw Sweden. I was surprised pleasantly that

25:10 Speaker 3: Finland was that fourth team because they've kind of been

25:12 Speaker 3: a dark horse, adding more and more players to the

25:16 Speaker 3: NHL and being legitimate contenders in national and international competition.

25:21 Speaker 3: That's very exciting to see that little rivalry because that's

25:24 Speaker 3: apparently a very big that's like Canada and US level

25:28 Speaker 3: of rivalry, So that's probably going to be a pretty

25:30 Speaker 3: good game.

25:31 Speaker 2: We have also heard Matthew Kuchuk.

25:34 Speaker 3: He's nearing his return from his pretty significant injuries and

25:40 Speaker 3: surgery done over the summer, Curious to see if he

25:45 Speaker 3: can help turn things around. For Florida because there's only

25:50 Speaker 3: so much that Marshi can do for them.

25:53 Speaker 2: That team is they've been staying afloat by the second

25:57 Speaker 2: of their freaking teeth. But they're they're in not much

26:01 Speaker 2: better shape than the Bruins are right now when it

26:05 Speaker 2: comes to well, they're in a little bit better shape

26:07 Speaker 2: than we are when it comes to wild card races.

26:10 Speaker 2: But right now the two wild card teams are Pittsburgh

26:16 Speaker 2: and Washington. But there's no more than a couple of points,

26:21 Speaker 2: you know, no more than two to three points separating

26:24 Speaker 2: other teams, right and then they're the whole game and

26:27 Speaker 2: hand situation. So you know, this is why it's crucial, crucial, crucial.

26:33 Speaker 2: We've talked about this into a blue in the face

26:36 Speaker 2: to take points, take points, especially from winnable games. When

26:42 Speaker 2: you leave those points on the table, this is the result.

26:47 Speaker 2: If you had two more points, Boston Bruins, you'd be

26:50 Speaker 2: in that wildcard spot right now, exactly.

26:54 Speaker 3: Well, and I love when the playoff picture is not

26:59 Speaker 3: complete until literally the last day.

27:02 Speaker 2: I love to see that. So what do you call

27:04 Speaker 2: them doodle bug race? Doodle bug?

27:06 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, hopefully not, because the doodle bug means nobody

27:10 Speaker 3: wants it, and they're going, that's what we want.

27:15 Speaker 2: I know it's probably gonna be another doodle bug race.

27:18 Speaker 1: Uh.

27:19 Speaker 2: But speaking of winnable.

27:20 Speaker 3: Games, let's shift gears and talk a little bit about, uh,

27:28 Speaker 3: what we saw in the past week.

27:31 Speaker 2: So we saw.

27:33 Speaker 3: A road trip after post ridiculous Buffalo game, we saw

27:40 Speaker 3: the Bruins go to Calgary. That was a frustrating loss

27:44 Speaker 3: of a winnable game. That was one of those games.

27:46 Speaker 3: I was just speaking up yes and sidebar because we

27:50 Speaker 3: forgot to mention this in the around the rink. Former

27:53 Speaker 3: Boston Bruin Johnny Beecher, who is in Calgary now, recently

27:58 Speaker 3: got himself suspen ended for a little bit of a

28:01 Speaker 3: sucker punch in some exto curriculars. Yeah, douchemove shortly after,

28:07 Speaker 3: shortly after the Bruins came to town, so that that happened.

28:14 Speaker 3: I don't think we are missing him in really any way,

28:19 Speaker 3: shape or form. No, But so Calgary, that one was

28:24 Speaker 3: really frustrating. I know for me, I was just shouting

28:28 Speaker 3: at the TV because again, these moral victories.

28:32 Speaker 2: At least we got a point.

28:34 Speaker 3: We talked last week about, Okay, every loss that we

28:39 Speaker 3: were seeing next game has to be a win, and

28:41 Speaker 3: then they would lose.

28:43 Speaker 2: Next game must be a win, and that pressure would

28:45 Speaker 2: keep building.

28:45 Speaker 3: And we talked last week about the fact that them

28:48 Speaker 3: going up to Edmonton, what was going to be their response,

28:54 Speaker 3: because it could go a multitude of ways.

28:58 Speaker 2: They could either put.

28:59 Speaker 3: The heads on straight and play that smart hockey that

29:03 Speaker 3: we've seen them play, or are they going to be

29:07 Speaker 3: buckling under the pressure because they're going into play against

29:11 Speaker 3: Connor McDavid, who is effectively just like a one man show,

29:16 Speaker 3: one man team, And are they going to be gripping

29:20 Speaker 3: their sticks too tight? What kind of which Boston Bruins

29:23 Speaker 3: team is going to show up? And it was my

29:27 Speaker 3: favorite one. It was the one where oh yeah, we

29:31 Speaker 3: do know how to play the game of hockey. Oh yeah,

29:34 Speaker 3: we're going to be a little bit smarter with our

29:36 Speaker 3: play and not be affected by the pressure of the

29:43 Speaker 3: fact that we have lost five games and that we're

29:45 Speaker 3: playing a generational talent.

29:48 Speaker 2: And that was a complete game, complete game. What did

29:53 Speaker 2: you think bring it aside from aside from the fact

29:57 Speaker 2: that you gave the number one how we're play team

30:00 Speaker 2: in the league? Five opportunities? Yeah, now they went the

30:05 Speaker 2: Oilers went zero for five, So I am giving stick

30:11 Speaker 2: tabs to the PK units that carried over from Calgary,

30:16 Speaker 2: which was good, that was that started there. But what's

30:20 Speaker 2: not good? And we again seem to be talking about

30:25 Speaker 2: this ad nauseum and I am so ready for Marco

30:29 Speaker 2: Sturm to beg skate these guys to stop them from

30:34 Speaker 2: taking more than three penalties per game. Yeah, one one

30:38 Speaker 2: penalty per pure and I understand the roughs of Collins shit,

30:42 Speaker 2: but you know they're calling it. You know they are

30:46 Speaker 2: calling it. It's not a small sample size. Now, Marco

30:50 Speaker 2: begskate these guys to get them to understand that you

30:55 Speaker 2: can't keep giving teams, any team four five sick right

31:00 Speaker 2: how to play opportunities a freaking night, because if this

31:05 Speaker 2: team is going to serve itself, well, the only way

31:12 Speaker 2: to do that for them is to play five on

31:16 Speaker 2: five hockey. Yeah.

31:17 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's still continuing to be an issue. It's still

31:22 Speaker 3: continuing to be an issue. I mean you're still seeing slashing, holding,

31:29 Speaker 3: high stick, slashing, paying. I mean this Oilers game, Honestly,

31:37 Speaker 3: I am shocked that Boston ended up still pulling it

31:41 Speaker 3: off because they had two penalties in.

31:46 Speaker 2: The first period.

31:47 Speaker 3: They had two in the second, and then everything just

31:53 Speaker 3: kind of went sideways in terms of conduct because.

32:00 Speaker 2: You had yeah, and I offset those to me, you

32:03 Speaker 2: know those are offsetting because you've got opposing players that

32:06 Speaker 2: you've taken out. Sure, all right, you've got a game misconduct.

32:10 Speaker 2: You'll get everybody gets a game misconduct. What I'm what

32:12 Speaker 2: I'm talking about is the penalties that you had referenced

32:16 Speaker 2: just a few minutes ago, where like, you know, for example,

32:20 Speaker 2: last night's game, Pavel Zaka is trying to make a

32:23 Speaker 2: play on the board and he's out of position, and

32:27 Speaker 2: he's got one hand on his stick and one hand free,

32:30 Speaker 2: and what does he do. He puts his free hand

32:33 Speaker 2: around the other guy because he's got shitty stick positions. Right, Okay,

32:37 Speaker 2: that's got called. That got called. You can shake your

32:40 Speaker 2: head all you want, but that was stupid. It was

32:44 Speaker 2: it was and they were doing kind of well.

32:48 Speaker 3: I think I'm looking at the penalty summary right now.

32:51 Speaker 3: I mean they had just the one in the first

32:54 Speaker 3: period Victor Ivanson, okay, or forenalties in the second period. Yep,

33:02 Speaker 3: you're absolutely right. You know, we saw Marcastlik with a

33:05 Speaker 3: high stick. We saw Hampus once again your favorite dude.

33:09 Speaker 3: At this point, I'm tired of him. I'm really am

33:12 Speaker 3: tired of seeing him. I just don't understand.

33:15 Speaker 2: I don't either. Why is this guy? I mean, what

33:18 Speaker 2: are you doing? What are you doing? Yeah, I don't understand.

33:21 Speaker 3: He's going to be rivaling Zadorov in Castle Lick for

33:26 Speaker 3: team penalty minutes.

33:27 Speaker 2: Like, well, it's it's funny you say that because I

33:31 Speaker 2: happened to pull this up earlier today courtesy of stat News. Now,

33:37 Speaker 2: leading leading the charge in penalty minutes or the Bruins

33:42 Speaker 2: is Nikita's adoroff now, But Nikita has played every game. Yep,

33:47 Speaker 2: he has played every game, and he's a plus eight

33:50 Speaker 2: on the season. Even with leading the team in penalty minutes.

33:55 Speaker 2: Mark Castilik is just behind is behind him with eighty minutes.

34:01 Speaker 2: He's played every game this season. He is a plus five.

34:05 Speaker 2: Then we jump down to Hamphuslingdholm, who's only played thirty

34:09 Speaker 2: four games. He's got thirty six minutes and penalties, which

34:13 Speaker 2: doesn't sound like a lot, but since he's come back

34:15 Speaker 2: in the lineup, that is a lot.

34:18 Speaker 3: Yeah, right to me, And he's a minus seven. It

34:21 Speaker 3: feels like he's just a constant every other night. Every

34:27 Speaker 3: night he's racking up penalty minutes. I mean, it's just

34:32 Speaker 3: and he's he's in fourth place right now, behind Tanner Jane,

34:38 Speaker 3: who is out right now, and he's only three minutes

34:42 Speaker 3: behind him.

34:43 Speaker 2: I mean, what are you doing? What are you doing?

34:45 Speaker 3: I know, I know, I mean will I will give

34:48 Speaker 3: Hamphus credit because I have him both in our stick

34:52 Speaker 3: tap and penalty box, because he did get on the

34:54 Speaker 3: score sheet.

34:56 Speaker 2: Finally, m and another Bruins defenseman got on the score sheet.

35:00 Speaker 2: I believe they both scored in the Edmonton game.

35:03 Speaker 3: So we had two goals in that game against Edmonton

35:07 Speaker 3: from defenceman, which as something else we have talked about

35:13 Speaker 3: needing to see improvement on.

35:16 Speaker 2: Yep, what our record is.

35:18 Speaker 3: We've gotten two wins in the three games since Asparo

35:24 Speaker 3: has been back. Yeah, so he's clearly our lucky penny.

35:31 Speaker 2: And I think that Edmonton game too, was a lot

35:35 Speaker 2: of it was we're goddamn sick and tired of losing. Yeah,

35:39 Speaker 2: we can play better. So again, whatever whatever the reset did,

35:44 Speaker 2: and they have been doing those resets relatively consistently, it

35:49 Speaker 2: was just a little shocking during that six game losing

35:52 Speaker 2: streak that we didn't see it. Usually the bounce back

35:55 Speaker 2: factor was a lot quicker than that, and we all

35:58 Speaker 2: know what. You know, the remark made about mental fatigue,

36:01 Speaker 2: which didn't sit well with this podcast. But be that

36:05 Speaker 2: as it may, they have at least to some degree,

36:09 Speaker 2: righted the ship.

36:10 Speaker 3: Now.

36:10 Speaker 2: As good as they played against Edmonton, I thought the

36:15 Speaker 2: game against Vancouver, why they had that had to go

36:18 Speaker 2: to overtime is beyond me. Beyond me. Now they wanted

36:22 Speaker 2: in overtime thanks to the fact that that the building

36:26 Speaker 2: was full of family and friends of Profaser Minton as

36:30 Speaker 2: the hometown boy. But put good for him for scoring

36:33 Speaker 2: two goals and one of them being the overtime the

36:36 Speaker 2: first and the last, right right? Any better? But I

36:40 Speaker 2: mean again and again, you know the Canucks, they were

36:43 Speaker 2: all professional hockey players that are all likely playing, you know,

36:47 Speaker 2: for for pride and for you know, wanting to keep

36:51 Speaker 2: their jobs maybe and stay in Vancouver. Yeah, that's the

36:55 Speaker 2: kind of game that you know that that would have

36:58 Speaker 2: been another one of those frustrating games. Yeah the Ruins

37:02 Speaker 2: hadn't pulled out that overtime winner.

37:05 Speaker 3: I agree, and I think once again, those those are

37:09 Speaker 3: the games that are particularly frustrating. Not just because they

37:12 Speaker 3: were winnable, not just because they were clearly the better team,

37:16 Speaker 3: but you also had phenomenal goaltending.

37:21 Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Hesus the save, that's the Swayman made on Debress,

37:25 Speaker 2: the skates save on one of the power plays. I

37:29 Speaker 2: mean it was fantastic and I think he robbed Debress

37:33 Speaker 2: alone twice, yes, during that game.

37:36 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, we've got Jeremy Swayman back. He's been

37:42 Speaker 3: back to his peak form for the last couple of games,

37:47 Speaker 3: certainly because he was even in the the five or

37:51 Speaker 3: six game losing streak. He was okay, but he wasn't

37:55 Speaker 3: quite as sharp, and he's just turned it around.

37:59 Speaker 2: He's back in it.

38:00 Speaker 3: The rest of the Bruins need to follow suit, because

38:02 Speaker 3: I was getting, legit worried that they were going to

38:06 Speaker 3: waste his incredible effort from that game.

38:10 Speaker 2: From that game. No, I'm no, He's fantastic.

38:12 Speaker 1: He was.

38:12 Speaker 2: He was definitely one of their best penalty killers. Yeah,

38:16 Speaker 2: in that in that game, and you know, and the

38:19 Speaker 2: other the other plus from that game, which was a

38:22 Speaker 2: three to two victory, and over time that the Bruins

38:27 Speaker 2: were two for three on their power flight opportunities. So

38:31 Speaker 2: I'm also putting the special teams in our stick tep box,

38:37 Speaker 2: both the PK units and the power Play units. I

38:41 Speaker 2: just wish that the PK units were spending less time

38:46 Speaker 2: on the ice because that makes it again, I don't

38:50 Speaker 2: want to see this. We don't want to see. I

38:54 Speaker 2: want to see you guys playing five on five with

38:56 Speaker 2: your regular linemates. Can we do that, please? Yeah? Five

38:59 Speaker 2: on five or on the power play. That's it.

39:02 Speaker 3: I don't want to see anything else. I don't want

39:04 Speaker 3: to see any of it else. I agree, So let's

39:06 Speaker 3: talk about the stick taps, because again, this is crazy.

39:11 Speaker 3: Not only did we have do we have these West

39:14 Speaker 3: Coast games, which makes turning around a snapshot for you

39:18 Speaker 3: folks a.

39:18 Speaker 2: Little bit trickier on our part. Yeah, we apologize for that, folks,

39:22 Speaker 2: but I'm sure you're not losing sleep over it.

39:26 Speaker 3: But they've also they've only played They've also only played

39:30 Speaker 3: two games, and they still haven't played their third and

39:32 Speaker 3: final game of their far West Coast road trip, which

39:36 Speaker 3: happens on Tuesday in Seattle, which I'm honestly a little

39:41 Speaker 3: surprised that they didn't make it a back.

39:44 Speaker 2: To back for Boston. But this whole thing has been weird.

39:47 Speaker 2: It just speaks to the craziness of the schedule because

39:50 Speaker 2: even Bob Beers It spoke to it on the radio

39:53 Speaker 2: the other day that they're going into these cities and

39:57 Speaker 2: they've got two days off in between. Yeah, but they're

40:02 Speaker 2: not getting really that benefit at home.

40:04 Speaker 3: Hopefully it allows them to clear their minds and to

40:09 Speaker 3: just refocus, I don't know, do something to not lose

40:13 Speaker 3: that momentum that they've started to build back up. But

40:15 Speaker 3: you know, we talked about the special teams getting stick

40:17 Speaker 3: taps Minty his two goals fantastic, especially to see him

40:22 Speaker 3: at home. I don't know if anybody else caught the story.

40:25 Speaker 3: Last year at about this time, when he was with Toronto,

40:29 Speaker 3: they were heading out to play Vancouver. That would have

40:33 Speaker 3: been his first time playing at that arena because he'd

40:37 Speaker 3: never played there before, even though he grew up out there.

40:40 Speaker 3: And he got sent down on the flight to Vancouver,

40:45 Speaker 3: so you have to get off that plane, turn around

40:48 Speaker 3: and fly back. Pretty crappy move on behalf of the leaps.

40:53 Speaker 3: But then what do you expect David pastornok. I mean

40:57 Speaker 3: when he's on, when he is cooking, God, is he amazing.

41:03 Speaker 3: I think the speculation is he's he's he's got still

41:07 Speaker 3: some injuries, some banged up stuff that he's dealing with, which, again,

41:13 Speaker 3: does it make me feel very warm and fuzzy about

41:15 Speaker 3: him going off to these Olympics if he's got some

41:18 Speaker 3: aches and pains, but if he's feeling better and the

41:22 Speaker 3: result is those two goals in Edmonton, Okay, we'll take it, right.

41:28 Speaker 3: And then you mentioned Hampus Linnholm is getting a stick

41:33 Speaker 3: tap and he's getting sent to the penalty box. Elaborate, Okay,

41:38 Speaker 3: so I'm giving him stick taps because you know, we

41:43 Speaker 3: we saw the Hampa slid home against the Oilers that

41:46 Speaker 3: were accustomed to seeing and the actively engaged both offensively

41:52 Speaker 3: and defensively. The guy can skate, he's got some decent hands.

41:57 Speaker 2: But my god, my god, my god, my god, the

42:01 Speaker 2: freaking penalty calls and again he is not the only one. Yeah,

42:08 Speaker 2: I understand that, but it seems like for some reason

42:16 Speaker 2: it's like perpetual with him this season since he's come back.

42:21 Speaker 2: I don't understand what is going on, but he's he

42:27 Speaker 2: is part of those penalty killing you. He needs to

42:30 Speaker 2: be on the ice if and when the Bruins are

42:34 Speaker 2: killing off penalties, not causing the rationale the Bruins having

42:42 Speaker 2: to kill penalties. So I've got him in both places. Sorry,

42:47 Speaker 2: but I have him in both places. Fair. Sorry, not sorry,

42:52 Speaker 2: very fair. I am in agreement with you on that.

42:56 Speaker 3: So the schedule for the rest of this week there

43:00 Speaker 3: are four games, which that's just this is the crazy

43:03 Speaker 3: number of games for four games.

43:06 Speaker 2: I know, I know, I know.

43:08 Speaker 3: They're in Seattle on Tuesday, they turn around, they head

43:13 Speaker 3: right back home to play against Calgary for the second

43:16 Speaker 3: and final time. I'm really hoping to see some good action,

43:21 Speaker 3: try to get that win back. Then they're playing the Rangers,

43:25 Speaker 3: and you know, and the Rangers they like to scolt

43:29 Speaker 3: loads of goals when they're not at home.

43:33 Speaker 2: Case in point, the Winter Classic, they laid a beat

43:35 Speaker 2: down on the Florida Panthers. So took the words right

43:39 Speaker 2: out of my mouth, Maria. Yeah, Mika Sabanajad was a machine.

43:43 Speaker 3: And he's just getting warmed up because he's heading off

43:46 Speaker 3: to the Olympics as well. And then the very next

43:49 Speaker 3: day they're hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins.

43:52 Speaker 2: Yeah, a five o'clock game on a Sunday, highly unusual,

43:57 Speaker 2: but again, another team that's that's no Joe. They're feeling it.

44:02 Speaker 3: The Penguins, they they have gotten a taste of the

44:06 Speaker 3: potential to make the playoffs when they were certainly written off,

44:11 Speaker 3: and they have not made the playoffs. They believe now

44:14 Speaker 3: for the last two seasons and the fact that they

44:16 Speaker 3: just keep finding themselves in and out of a wild

44:19 Speaker 3: card spot. You know that the compete level of the

44:23 Speaker 3: leadership core on that team is second to none and

44:28 Speaker 3: they're going to do everything they possibly can too. And

44:31 Speaker 3: the Penguins are currently in that first wild card positioning

44:36 Speaker 3: right now, so that game is it's important, huge for

44:41 Speaker 3: both teams.

44:42 Speaker 2: Yeah, the Bruins and the Penguins agreed. Agreed.

44:47 Speaker 3: Well, any final thoughts, Maria on everything that we've talked about,

44:53 Speaker 3: everything that you've seen this week from the Bruins.

44:55 Speaker 2: Before we say goodbye, No, just can we can we

44:59 Speaker 2: please to of the penalty box? One one penalty per period,

45:04 Speaker 2: not a lot to ask, no penalty for period, just one? Fine? Yeah,

45:09 Speaker 2: just one? I agree?

45:11 Speaker 3: I agree, well, and we want to make sure you

45:14 Speaker 3: are always in the know, so make sure you like

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45:32 Speaker 3: dot com, and as always, go Bees, Go Bees,