Bruins Hockey in Olympic Mode | Ep. 129

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

0:02 Speaker 2: Please?

0:03 Speaker 1: I need something to do. I Jack send it out

0:14 Speaker 1: A trunk a BOCKNNA says time today, here's a chance,

0:20 Speaker 1: popta right down A goalie scars, oh my one a

0:23 Speaker 1: move by the rookie.

0:24 Speaker 3: To on one faster not moving in shot.

0:28 Speaker 1: On his own oil dances in't podcast? Wait at home

0:32 Speaker 1: right away? Corner faster gusta, what.

0:41 Speaker 2: Is that for?

0:41 Speaker 1: Most?

0:50 Speaker 2: Welcome in, everyone to another episode of Bruin's Tape to Tape.

0:53 Speaker 2: We are recording this episode on Monday, February ninth. Officially,

1:00 Speaker 2: the NHL is on a break. The Olympics have officially started.

1:06 Speaker 2: Opening ceremonies took place on Friday. But I would be

1:11 Speaker 2: remiss before. Well, first of all, let me welcome in.

1:16 Speaker 2: Let me welcome in my friend, my co host, and

1:21 Speaker 2: the woman who likely will keep me sane during this episode,

1:26 Speaker 2: Caroline with a K.

1:30 Speaker 3: I hope you're staying warm, because today, my god, again,

1:33 Speaker 3: we're talking a month now, I'm a popsicle.

1:38 Speaker 2: Well, the temperatures are even more frigid in New England

1:42 Speaker 2: because Sunday was a Super Bowl. Yeah, and I would

1:47 Speaker 2: be remiss if I didn't say that it is a

1:51 Speaker 2: sad day in Greater New England because the New England

1:57 Speaker 2: Patriots were I don't want to say embarrassed, but they

2:04 Speaker 2: clearly weren't ready for the big stage against the Seattle Seahawks.

2:09 Speaker 2: Credit to the Seahawks, their defense ate Drake May and

2:15 Speaker 2: the offense alive like they ate more of Drake May

2:21 Speaker 2: than I did yesterday with the Super Bowl food that

2:24 Speaker 2: we had good and to me, now again, did any

2:31 Speaker 2: of us in New England expect the Patriots to get

2:36 Speaker 2: to the Super Bowl? Absolutely freaking not. Is the future

2:42 Speaker 2: relatively bright? Yes? For people who are calling Drake May

2:47 Speaker 2: a fraud, get a grip on yourselves. Okay, get a

2:52 Speaker 2: freaking grip on yourselves. Did he look out of sorts? Yes?

2:58 Speaker 2: Did he have a bad game, yes? Was it a

3:02 Speaker 2: bad time to have a bad game as a function, yes,

3:07 Speaker 2: But to say that he's a fraud, you've all lost

3:11 Speaker 2: your minds. People, you've all lost your minds. But I,

3:16 Speaker 2: for one expected a better game. I was shockingly disappointed

3:24 Speaker 2: by how out of sorts and anemic the offense looked.

3:30 Speaker 2: Defense for the Patriots kept them in that game throughout

3:34 Speaker 2: the course of the game. So it's not an awesome

3:38 Speaker 2: day in New England right now, lablab, that's lablamm that's

3:44 Speaker 2: a bummer.

3:45 Speaker 3: I feel for you. I'm not a football person, so

3:47 Speaker 3: I'm like, I don't really care one way or the other.

3:50 Speaker 3: But my husband is. He's a Pats fan, so in

3:53 Speaker 3: the morning, AGG give him a pat on the shoulder,

3:56 Speaker 3: said sorry about your football team, but that's football.

4:00 Speaker 2: Here for hockey, Here for hockey. We're here to talk Olympics.

4:04 Speaker 2: We are doing our annual kind of traditional awards show.

4:10 Speaker 2: Thank you to our listeners who participated and voted. I

4:15 Speaker 2: think we had some interesting, very interesting result decisions, which

4:21 Speaker 2: we'll we'll talk about you and I are going to

4:24 Speaker 2: disclose our own individual ballots. But before we get started,

4:31 Speaker 2: we've got a little bit of news to break down here.

4:34 Speaker 2: The late breaking news before the Olympics even started was

4:39 Speaker 2: that we had concerns about Pavel Zaka, and I know

4:43 Speaker 2: that I had been vocal on our last podcast about

4:46 Speaker 2: he's good to go. Why isn't he playing for his team?

4:49 Speaker 2: Apparently he is not good to go because he is

4:53 Speaker 2: a no go for the Olympics, which I'm sure is

4:56 Speaker 2: a disappointment to him.

4:58 Speaker 3: Absolutely, But I mean, on the flip side we're looking

5:01 Speaker 3: at he's getting almost two Well, he's definitely getting two weeks,

5:05 Speaker 3: maybe two and a half. Yeah, the non Olympians will

5:08 Speaker 3: start their practices before the Olympics is over, so he'll

5:14 Speaker 3: still get a good I think two weeks of break.

5:17 Speaker 3: Hopefully that's a good amount of time for him to

5:20 Speaker 3: rest and recover so that he can go with the

5:22 Speaker 3: distance when they come back, because it's gonna be hitting

5:25 Speaker 3: the ground running very intense hockey, basically pre playoff games.

5:31 Speaker 3: I'm glad that you know, in the long run, that

5:34 Speaker 3: was the decision that was made to hopefully give him

5:37 Speaker 3: an opportunity to get back. And last week you also

5:39 Speaker 3: had a similar critique against Elias Linnholm and he did

5:44 Speaker 3: go there. But let's see if he actually plays too,

5:49 Speaker 3: because I think teams are allowed a couple extra players,

5:53 Speaker 3: so it'll be interesting to see if is he going

5:56 Speaker 3: to continue to sit out or are they actually going

5:59 Speaker 3: to put him in play, So we shall see what

6:01 Speaker 3: happens there.

6:02 Speaker 2: So that's and then team captains were named. It appears

6:07 Speaker 2: that our friend Charlie McAvoy is quite the spokesperson or

6:14 Speaker 2: Team USA, which honestly he likely has a better personality

6:19 Speaker 2: than Austin Matthews does, so I can understand why he's

6:24 Speaker 2: the more vocal and the guy who's somewhat putting himself

6:28 Speaker 2: out there. I still don't understand that decision. I don't

6:31 Speaker 2: want to go off on a tangent, but what a

6:33 Speaker 2: colossal waste of time of a seat. I know, and

6:36 Speaker 2: I know people have their issues with the Kachuk Boys,

6:39 Speaker 2: but they have more leadership ability than Auston Matthews does.

6:45 Speaker 2: And I know he's a prolific scorer, but that doesn't

6:49 Speaker 2: qualify you as a leader based on what we're seeing

6:54 Speaker 2: from the team that he plays for. So I just

6:57 Speaker 2: don't understand it. I don't get it well.

7:00 Speaker 3: And I think also we've talked a little bit in

7:02 Speaker 3: our discord and full ownership, I have not looked into this.

7:07 Speaker 3: Maybe there is a rule, maybe it is an unwritten rule,

7:10 Speaker 3: but we've had a discussion about why certain players maybe

7:15 Speaker 3: did not receive a C on their jerseys. And is

7:19 Speaker 3: it because in the NHL they only have an A

7:24 Speaker 3: or they don't have a letter and so they if

7:29 Speaker 3: they're an A, is it disrespectful to someone who is

7:33 Speaker 3: a C, you know, to jump them.

7:37 Speaker 2: It's it's likely an unwritten rule. Yeah, because there are

7:40 Speaker 2: a lot of them in the league, as we very

7:42 Speaker 2: well know. Okay, and I can understand that. But if you,

7:46 Speaker 2: as a coach and your coaching staff and the general manager,

7:50 Speaker 2: who have spent countless amounts of time hands selecting these players,

7:57 Speaker 2: but this moment, you know that stuff shouldn't that should

8:02 Speaker 2: stuff should right to go by the wayside the respect,

8:07 Speaker 2: I'm sorry, the respect thing is, is this the right

8:11 Speaker 2: person to lead Team USA? Right? And if a bunch

8:14 Speaker 2: of us and you know we're not qualified. But if

8:17 Speaker 2: many people are saying.

8:18 Speaker 3: What huh yeah, why yeah, I mean if if, if,

8:23 Speaker 3: if that's the unwritten rule, then I'd rather have seen

8:28 Speaker 3: Brady Kuchuk be named captain of Team USA because he's

8:33 Speaker 3: a captain. They're actually saying two there are two at

8:36 Speaker 3: least two other if I'm just off the top of

8:38 Speaker 3: my head of thinking of the roster, there's at least

8:40 Speaker 3: two other captains on that team, the other one being J. T. Miller,

8:44 Speaker 3: which hell no, no, it's such a shift show in

8:49 Speaker 3: New York. Yeah, but anyways, so yeah, I thought that

8:55 Speaker 3: was the great I mean, no shock really anywhere I

9:01 Speaker 3: think with any of the Olympic team captains that have

9:03 Speaker 3: been named Canada Crosby. That's a given, like that's a

9:09 Speaker 3: no brainer. Oh yeah, you'll have to remind me because

9:11 Speaker 3: I don't remember. I think this is the same as

9:14 Speaker 3: it was at Four Nations, but his assistants or alternate

9:17 Speaker 3: captains are mccarr and.

9:18 Speaker 2: McDavid, and I think there's something to that pattern. You

9:25 Speaker 2: bring up a good point with how the letters were

9:29 Speaker 2: distributed for these Four Nations tournaments. So maybe it is

9:33 Speaker 2: why rock the boat. I just don't I me personally,

9:38 Speaker 2: I don't see it like this player now, we don't follow.

9:41 Speaker 2: We somewhat follow the maple leafs, but it doesn't seem

9:46 Speaker 2: like there's a lot of vocalness that comes from Austin Matthews,

9:50 Speaker 2: even in front of the I don't know. I just

9:54 Speaker 2: I don't know why it triggers me. I don't know

9:56 Speaker 2: why it bothers me, but it does.

9:58 Speaker 3: Yeah, fair, I am an agreement Sweden. I didn't realize

10:03 Speaker 3: this until quite literally I saw a post about the

10:06 Speaker 3: Swedish players arriving in Italy that Gabe Landeskog made it

10:12 Speaker 3: that he recovered from whatever injury he had early in

10:18 Speaker 3: January I thought he was done the way that it

10:21 Speaker 3: was portrayed online and in the media, like, oh, there's

10:25 Speaker 3: no way that he's going to get back to full

10:27 Speaker 3: health in time. And then of course him being not

10:31 Speaker 3: only a member of not the Bruins, but then West

10:35 Speaker 3: Coast team failed to stay on top of that news.

10:40 Speaker 3: So I was thrilled to see him because this is

10:42 Speaker 3: a guy who, like I'm a huge fan, he's worked

10:45 Speaker 3: so hard to get back where he is thrilled that

10:47 Speaker 3: he could get back. So he's been named captain and

10:49 Speaker 3: his assistants are Headmon and Carlson. So I think that's

10:52 Speaker 3: going to be a great team, a great team to

10:55 Speaker 3: watch as well, and.

10:58 Speaker 2: For our Playersdavid Pasternach has been named as an assistant

11:03 Speaker 2: captain for Chechia Roman Cerevanka is the captain and radco

11:10 Speaker 2: gutis you know, okay, he's a personality. Higher right, he's

11:15 Speaker 2: a personality. He's an elder statesman. But listen, you know

11:21 Speaker 2: this is going to be some damn good freaking hockey

11:25 Speaker 2: to watch. Yep. Yeah, And I don't know that you

11:28 Speaker 2: can say that any team right now is a showing

11:32 Speaker 2: to win now like Team USA for the women looked tremendous.

11:37 Speaker 2: I mean never like, they just looked tremendous. And what

11:42 Speaker 2: did we see. We saw a neme or a post

11:44 Speaker 2: somewhere that someone had put it was hysterical that someone

11:48 Speaker 2: put out they're pretty sure that Women's Team USA could

11:52 Speaker 2: beat the New York Rangers right, especially at home, which

11:56 Speaker 2: I thought was hysterical.

11:57 Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I think on the men side it's

12:01 Speaker 3: going to be incredibly tight. I don't know that there's

12:06 Speaker 3: necessarily any guarantee one way or the other. Although as

12:09 Speaker 3: a sidebar, I will say that Team Canada has shown

12:14 Speaker 3: up ready for business. Everything that I have seen from

12:18 Speaker 3: this team not on the ice. They get off the plane,

12:23 Speaker 3: they're in their uniforms, they're walking around, they're unified. Their

12:26 Speaker 3: social media is giving everyone an inside low media is fire. Yeah,

12:31 Speaker 3: Team USA, they got off the plane looking like bums

12:35 Speaker 3: who have traveled halfway across the world and I know

12:38 Speaker 3: nothing about them except for Charlie McAvoy is out there,

12:42 Speaker 3: you know, having fun him and Swaymen and Ottinger and Wrensky.

12:47 Speaker 2: Apparently had been tapped to go in early whatever.

12:50 Speaker 3: But on the women's side, I mean, once again, this

12:55 Speaker 3: is going to just come down to Team USA and

12:58 Speaker 3: Team Canada. It's it's a growing sport. It was first

13:03 Speaker 3: introduced to the Olympics in nineteen ninety eight, and the

13:07 Speaker 3: rest of the world still has to play a little

13:10 Speaker 3: bit of catch up when it comes to just producing

13:13 Speaker 3: incredibly high end women's hockey talent. So I just suspect

13:20 Speaker 3: that it's just going to come back down to the usual.

13:23 Speaker 2: However, the usual suspects, but one never knows. You never know.

13:27 Speaker 3: You never know, because again, this is a tournament style

13:30 Speaker 3: where it's one game, and one game can go great,

13:34 Speaker 3: one game can go poorly. But I will say this

13:37 Speaker 3: Team USA, they have won their opening game in every

13:44 Speaker 3: Olympic game season that they've played, every all eight from

13:51 Speaker 3: Nagano to Milan. Their first game that they've played, the

13:55 Speaker 3: women have always won that game. That is insane, that's crazy. Yeah,

14:01 Speaker 3: And we're watching history in the making because Captain Hillary

14:08 Speaker 3: Knight has just recently, in their last game, tied the

14:12 Speaker 3: US Olympic Women's hockey career goal record with fourteen goals match.

14:17 Speaker 2: She'll certainly break it during the course of this tournament.

14:20 Speaker 2: She will become the standard. Yes, she will become the standard.

14:26 Speaker 2: And she's doing it at the you know young age of.

14:30 Speaker 3: Thirty mid thirty, thirty four, thirty five. I mean she's

14:36 Speaker 3: been in the Olympics.

14:37 Speaker 2: That is not all, that's not old, but but by

14:40 Speaker 2: hockey standards, given how long she's been doing this. Credit

14:44 Speaker 2: to her, man, credit to her. Yeah.

14:46 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's pretty it's pretty awesome to watch. So the

14:49 Speaker 3: I think Team USA is a pretty.

14:52 Speaker 2: Scary looking team. Bye Frankly, Yeah, yeah, it'll be It'll

14:55 Speaker 2: be fun. It'll be fun, fun, fun viewing. Yes, and

14:59 Speaker 2: so to all of our Olympians, ruins and local Olympians,

15:05 Speaker 2: including the women who are representing Team USA, we wish them.

15:11 Speaker 2: We wish them all good luck. We wish them all

15:15 Speaker 2: good luck.

15:15 Speaker 3: Yep. Yeah, and I want to throw in because again

15:19 Speaker 3: our episode today is a little bit different format. Yes,

15:22 Speaker 3: I do have a stick tap two in particular one

15:26 Speaker 3: to Signy a Hola. She's the goalie for Finland. She

15:30 Speaker 3: plays for the Ottawa Churge in the PWHL. Now I

15:34 Speaker 3: watched this game. This poor woman. I believe this. The

15:39 Speaker 3: United States beat Finland five to nothing.

15:42 Speaker 2: And at one point Finland only had two shots on goal,

15:47 Speaker 2: so allowing five goals. You may think that sounds terrible.

15:50 Speaker 2: What an awful goalie.

15:52 Speaker 3: This poor woman faced almost fifty shots on goal, she

15:57 Speaker 3: only allowed five, so she still had a nine hundred

16:00 Speaker 3: safe percentage at the end of this. So that was

16:03 Speaker 3: just incredible to watch. She was just absolutely phenomenal. I mean,

16:07 Speaker 3: basically facing a firing squad of Team USA. And then

16:11 Speaker 3: also my stick tap goes to the Olympic Hockey Tournament

16:17 Speaker 3: and the IIHF their tournament rules handout points in I

16:23 Speaker 3: believe the p WHL does this. I so badly want

16:27 Speaker 3: the NHL to do this, and I think a lot

16:28 Speaker 3: of people are in this camp now too. The three

16:32 Speaker 3: two one zero points system. They're using it in both

16:36 Speaker 3: tournaments for the men's and women's. It's just it's it

16:39 Speaker 3: just gets rid of that awfulness that creeps in with

16:44 Speaker 3: the loser point. And I'm it's just a much better

16:47 Speaker 3: way to reward actual winning because the Bruins and I'm

16:53 Speaker 3: sure many other teams even this season and in past seasons,

16:57 Speaker 3: have been penalized basically for not going and losing an

17:02 Speaker 3: overtime over actually just winning games.

17:06 Speaker 2: And then I agree with you. I agree with you.

17:09 Speaker 2: I mean, you know me, the gimmick stuff, I can't

17:13 Speaker 2: stand it. The's a professional. These are guys who have

17:17 Speaker 2: worked their asses off from the time that they were young,

17:20 Speaker 2: and we're now treating these games like their you know,

17:24 Speaker 2: arcade games with I love the three on three. Don't

17:28 Speaker 2: get me wrong, the three on three. You can keep

17:31 Speaker 2: that all day, every day. And if you told me

17:34 Speaker 2: that you wanted to extend it even by a couple

17:37 Speaker 2: more minutes and you would get rid of the shootout,

17:41 Speaker 2: I would be jumping up and down for joy. But

17:44 Speaker 2: that shootout shit in the NHL, I want to gone.

17:50 Speaker 2: I don't know how many different ways I can say this.

17:53 Speaker 2: And it's not because my team stinks at it. Yes,

17:56 Speaker 2: I know the Bruins stink at it, but to me,

17:59 Speaker 2: it has no place in determining the result of a

18:06 Speaker 2: professional sporting event. Sorry, just how I feel.

18:11 Speaker 3: I think the solution is obviously very simple. I mean,

18:13 Speaker 3: I would be willing to live continue to live with

18:18 Speaker 3: the shootout if they just did the three to one zero.

18:23 Speaker 3: You you cannot. You just you have to award more

18:28 Speaker 3: value to a win in regulation, because the point is

18:32 Speaker 3: to win in regulation.

18:34 Speaker 2: I agree with.

18:35 Speaker 3: You, but that is neither here nor there.

18:38 Speaker 2: I agree with you, so penalty box I do have

18:44 Speaker 2: an okay, okay, because we didn't have an opportunity to

18:49 Speaker 2: chat or record after the Bruins played the Florida Panthers,

18:55 Speaker 2: where Charlie McAvoy took one of the I don't even

19:00 Speaker 2: want to call it textbook hits, but that hit that

19:05 Speaker 2: was levied on him is the very definition of targeting

19:10 Speaker 2: the head. And first of all, the broadcast team, you suck,

19:15 Speaker 2: You absolutely suck when your immediate reaction was to say that, basically,

19:22 Speaker 2: Charlie put his head in a vulnerable place. Look at

19:26 Speaker 2: the replay first, you absolute morons when you see the

19:30 Speaker 2: Florida Panthers player not only leave his skates, but elevate

19:36 Speaker 2: himself with the degree that he targets the head. And

19:41 Speaker 2: then right, okay, then we get to the NHL officials

19:48 Speaker 2: who have been given, they have been absolutely given the

19:52 Speaker 2: playbook as to how to address these hits. You call

19:57 Speaker 2: it a major immediately immediately, and then you go and

20:02 Speaker 2: look at it, but no, what do you assholes do

20:05 Speaker 2: you call it two minutes? It's not reviewable. Marco Sturm

20:10 Speaker 2: is losing his mind on the bench. The bench is

20:13 Speaker 2: losing their mind. We got this guy heading down to

20:16 Speaker 2: the tunnel with what looks to he's gotta go to

20:20 Speaker 2: have himself checked for a concussion, and to add insult

20:25 Speaker 2: to cripting injury, the Department of Player Safety doesn't even

20:31 Speaker 2: give it a look, doesn't he Even Paul Maurice knows.

20:36 Speaker 2: This is bad. This is bad, and I have to

20:40 Speaker 2: pull this player out of the game with a phantom injury. Okay,

20:45 Speaker 2: whatever they called it up about.

20:47 Speaker 3: He's not massacred on the ice, right right.

20:50 Speaker 2: I am so fucking sick and tired of this, so

20:56 Speaker 2: sick and tired of it. These are the hits that

21:00 Speaker 2: you can't tell me that you care about the safety

21:03 Speaker 2: of these players when all of you morons in Toronto

21:08 Speaker 2: and at the league office watch this stuff and deem

21:12 Speaker 2: it to be okay and not worthy of even a

21:16 Speaker 2: game suspension. It's a freaking joke.

21:20 Speaker 3: I'm in agreement because regardless, let's just say we're talking

21:26 Speaker 3: not even about that particular hit. If the league is

21:30 Speaker 3: serious about head injuries, which questionable, if they actually are whatever.

21:37 Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, let's just say they know. They

21:39 Speaker 2: don't care. They I am this is they don't stay.

21:43 Speaker 2: You're right, you don't care, you don't care. The league

21:46 Speaker 2: does not care.

21:48 Speaker 3: But I would say they are trying to pretend like

21:52 Speaker 3: they care, or they want to present maybe a facade, right,

21:57 Speaker 3: I think like they're they're pretending like care because they

22:01 Speaker 3: have certain elements in place, and and you know, those

22:05 Speaker 3: elements could have been brought into place because of the

22:09 Speaker 3: players association. However, if a player has a head injury,

22:15 Speaker 3: a hit to the head, whether or not, and we've

22:16 Speaker 3: seen instances where yeah, no it was the player. He

22:21 Speaker 3: just you know, did.

22:22 Speaker 2: A late turn and it happens. And we've watched enough

22:27 Speaker 2: hot we have watched enough hockey to know in most instances,

22:31 Speaker 2: when the player puts himself in that vulnerable position. We've

22:36 Speaker 2: talked about this with respect to me, okay, but there

22:41 Speaker 2: there is no seasoned hockey fans or viewer who didn't

22:46 Speaker 2: look at that hit. And those of you on Twitter

22:48 Speaker 2: who are justifying these pits, kiss my ass. All right,

22:52 Speaker 2: kiss my ass. You're all morons. You're all more awful.

22:55 Speaker 3: But regardless, if if a player is injured and receives

23:01 Speaker 3: a head injury and whatever whatever happens, that should be

23:07 Speaker 3: a and it causes a stop and play and requires

23:11 Speaker 3: medical assistance on the ice in that moment, the on

23:17 Speaker 3: ice officials should be reviewing. I don't even think that

23:21 Speaker 3: they should have to say, we're gonna call a major

23:25 Speaker 3: and review it. Because if you call a major and

23:29 Speaker 3: review it, if you you you your two options are

23:34 Speaker 3: only it must be a five minute major or it

23:37 Speaker 3: then can be a two minute penalty. So regardless, there

23:41 Speaker 3: has to be a penalty.

23:42 Speaker 4: That's that's the protocol there, and I yeah, and I agree,

23:46 Speaker 4: and they didn't follow the protocol. But even just with

23:49 Speaker 4: any head injury, any head injury, if they're for some

23:53 Speaker 4: strange reason afraid of, you know, start doing that protocol

23:58 Speaker 4: because they don't know if there actually was a penalty.

24:02 Speaker 3: Then remove that barrier in that case that if someone

24:07 Speaker 3: took a head hit, that that requires someone to go

24:11 Speaker 3: out on the ice to tend to them. Just look

24:16 Speaker 3: at it and then see, like you know what I'm saying,

24:20 Speaker 3: like if if if for whatever reason, that threat of

24:23 Speaker 3: I can't I can't have a wrong penalty, if that's

24:27 Speaker 3: what was going through your mind, which is stupid, but whatever,

24:30 Speaker 3: then take it, take that that threshold away, prioritize player safety.

24:36 Speaker 3: And I got to tell you this one was so egregious,

24:39 Speaker 3: so egregious and seeing everything online, you know, with the

24:43 Speaker 3: joke kind of was, you've got Habs fans and Leafs fans,

24:49 Speaker 3: uh supporting the Bruins in this and right, I think

24:56 Speaker 3: for as obvious as Chucky feels like he can be,

25:01 Speaker 3: because you know a lot of players, they feel like

25:03 Speaker 3: they have to be really careful about how they criticize

25:06 Speaker 3: the league publicly, he was I think pretty obviously upset,

25:12 Speaker 3: you know, and I wouldn't be.

25:15 Speaker 2: And then you, because you screwed out as officials, then

25:19 Speaker 2: you give Marco Sterm a bench minor. Well, of course

25:22 Speaker 2: he should lose his freaking mind. I'm surprised he didn't

25:26 Speaker 2: throw sticks and gloves out on the ice after that,

25:28 Speaker 2: because that's what I would have done. You watch this,

25:32 Speaker 2: this that you know, one of your star defencemen, a

25:35 Speaker 2: key component to Team USA, who just came back from

25:39 Speaker 2: a horrific injury, who is now playing some of the

25:42 Speaker 2: best hockey we've seen him play in quite some time,

25:45 Speaker 2: and you watched him, You watch him take a blow

25:48 Speaker 2: to the head, and you're supposed to sit there quietly

25:50 Speaker 2: because you morons screwed up. And then nobody holds these

25:54 Speaker 2: referees accountable nobody holds them accountable for them.

25:59 Speaker 3: Now, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear something comes

26:03 Speaker 3: of this in regards to the Players Association because I think,

26:07 Speaker 3: I think Charlie McAvoy is he's a very smart person.

26:12 Speaker 3: He's a very he's articulate and an eloquent speaker. I mean,

26:16 Speaker 3: he's very well educated, so he can advocate, I think,

26:19 Speaker 3: And I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the end.

26:24 Speaker 3: We may never know what happens after the fact, but

26:28 Speaker 3: I wouldn't be surprised if Players Association was contacted like

26:33 Speaker 3: that was just that was pretty pretty awesome.

26:36 Speaker 2: I'm going to put my black and gold rose colored

26:39 Speaker 2: glassism because I would bet a month's pay that if

26:44 Speaker 2: that hit had been levied on Connor McDavid, e, Connor, Bdard, Naplin, Celebrini,

26:51 Speaker 2: your name, and Dar anybody beyond a Boston Browen, that

26:56 Speaker 2: that would have been an immediate five minute major call.

27:00 Speaker 2: Immediate five minute major call. And I stand by that

27:02 Speaker 2: this this type of incident is not a small sample

27:08 Speaker 2: size when it comes to the way calls are made

27:12 Speaker 2: are not made as it relates to stars on the

27:16 Speaker 2: Boston Bruins.

27:17 Speaker 3: Yeah, agreed, I agreed, don't But anyway, let's maybe talk

27:22 Speaker 3: about something a little bit more fun.

27:24 Speaker 2: Let's get into our awards. So yay, we put together

27:30 Speaker 2: our own little awards ballot, which we have been doing.

27:33 Speaker 2: Now what is this our third year? Now we're doing

27:37 Speaker 2: this and it's fun. You know. We got some of

27:39 Speaker 2: our our listeners and viewers to chime in. We had

27:44 Speaker 2: some interesting results. So how do we want to break

27:50 Speaker 2: this down? Do we want to do them based on

27:54 Speaker 2: your vote, my vote and viewer votes and then dissect Okay,

28:00 Speaker 2: so my ballot is in my hot little hands here.

28:03 Speaker 2: You can't see it, people, But so Caroline has no idea.

28:08 Speaker 2: Don't where I'm going with some of my decisions. Some

28:13 Speaker 2: may be a little bit surprising, but I think for

28:16 Speaker 2: the most part, we're somewhat all on the same page.

28:20 Speaker 2: So we'll start with the Heart Trophy, the Bruins Heart Trophy,

28:26 Speaker 2: which is awarded to the player judged most valuable to

28:30 Speaker 2: his team. So our listeners voted for Pasta. Yes, my

28:36 Speaker 2: friend Caroline voted for Pasta. My vote is for Morgan Geek,

28:41 Speaker 2: and I'm going to make my case fascinating. I'm going

28:45 Speaker 2: to make my case no, based on the fact that

28:48 Speaker 2: we are looking at this, you know, I don't know

28:50 Speaker 2: if we're at the midway mark. However, I do recall

28:54 Speaker 2: me saying and I think there was consensus in the

28:58 Speaker 2: past and early pods where would this team have been

29:02 Speaker 2: without Morgan Geek at the start of the season and

29:06 Speaker 2: the scoring tear that he had been on. And so

29:10 Speaker 2: based on the sample size that we were looking at,

29:14 Speaker 2: and I Pasta is the superstar of the team most definitely,

29:21 Speaker 2: and he has been in the running in the past

29:24 Speaker 2: for the most valuable player in the league. But if

29:26 Speaker 2: I'm looking at this from a Bruins standpoint in terms

29:29 Speaker 2: of you know, he Pasta was a little bit quiet

29:33 Speaker 2: for a little bit to start the season, and Morgan

29:37 Speaker 2: Geek basically had the team on his back. So that's

29:41 Speaker 2: why he got my vote.

29:42 Speaker 3: Nice well, and I have to say so folks who

29:46 Speaker 3: are listening, obviously you can't see, but I'm going to

29:48 Speaker 3: be posting this also in our substack. The results so

29:52 Speaker 3: for listeners and followers who voted, all of our categories

29:58 Speaker 3: were done in rank choice order, so you could move around,

30:02 Speaker 3: you know, and rank the different players as his custom

30:06 Speaker 3: in a lot of these categories in real life, and yes,

30:10 Speaker 3: I also voted for David Pasternak, but Morgan Geeky he

30:15 Speaker 3: was my second choice. And for our listeners who voted,

30:20 Speaker 3: David Pasternach received the most points, followed by Morgan Geeky,

30:25 Speaker 3: Jeremy Swayman, Charlie McAvoy, Nikita Zadorov, and so on and

30:28 Speaker 3: so forth. So it was actually pretty uh, I bet

30:32 Speaker 3: you we probably had that David Pasternach and Morgan Geeky

30:36 Speaker 3: one two two one a handful of times. You know,

30:40 Speaker 3: I think it's a no brainer for either of them,

30:43 Speaker 3: because David Pasternach he is he is the He is

30:48 Speaker 3: the foundation of this team. And in the past year,

30:52 Speaker 3: especially since the trade deadline, he has entered another year

30:58 Speaker 3: another level that makes him that much more valuable because

31:03 Speaker 3: he's not just your best player, He's not just your

31:06 Speaker 3: best goalscorer. He's become a tremendous playmaker and his overall

31:15 Speaker 3: ability to contribute in every possible way, to me is

31:20 Speaker 3: just that little bit that tips him over the edge.

31:22 Speaker 2: Now, no, no, no, this this was no disrespect to Pasta.

31:26 Speaker 2: There's no wrong answer here. Yeah, there's no history. I mean,

31:30 Speaker 2: he clearly again and I've said it before, how lucky

31:33 Speaker 2: are we to have by David Pasternach on this team.

31:36 Speaker 2: But if I'm looking at it holistically and based on

31:41 Speaker 2: you know the fact that he was somewhat quiet to

31:44 Speaker 2: start this season Morgan geeky. I mean even David Pasternach

31:49 Speaker 2: had said it at one point in time, I bet

31:51 Speaker 2: he can score sixty goals, you know. So that's where

31:55 Speaker 2: my mindset came from with regard to this award. Ye

32:00 Speaker 2: how our next award is called what we're referring to

32:04 Speaker 2: as the New Bruin Trophy, which to us is kind

32:08 Speaker 2: of the quasi called a Memorial Trophy, which is Rookie

32:12 Speaker 2: of the Year. We do have a lot of new

32:14 Speaker 2: players on the team this year, so you know, we

32:18 Speaker 2: wanted to kind of take a look at and include

32:22 Speaker 2: the players who came in at the deadline last year

32:26 Speaker 2: and include them in this because their time was relatively short. Yep.

32:31 Speaker 3: So our listeners, yep, Fraser Minton.

32:35 Speaker 2: Caroline chose Fraser Minton, and I myself also chose Fraser Minton.

32:41 Speaker 2: So this was a landslide win for Fraser. I think

32:43 Speaker 2: it was basically a no brainer.

32:45 Speaker 3: Although I have to say for our listeners. And I'm

32:49 Speaker 3: trying to remember exactly how I ranked these different folks.

32:52 Speaker 3: I believe I my top three were the same as

32:56 Speaker 3: what our our audience voted, which was for a Metten first,

33:01 Speaker 3: Victor Arvidson second, and Marat Husnadinov third. Those were all

33:06 Speaker 3: very tight, close in points. And I I mean I

33:10 Speaker 3: I was in agreement with what the audience had to say.

33:13 Speaker 3: So definitely our top our top new guys for sure.

33:17 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, And and you know, Fraser has been

33:21 Speaker 2: a he's been a revelation this season. And it's again

33:25 Speaker 2: it's it's somewhat silly to look at the fact that

33:30 Speaker 2: the maple Leafs just gave up, gave him up for

33:33 Speaker 2: it nothing, not a lot, not a lot. So moving on,

33:38 Speaker 2: moving on. So now we have the seventh Player Award,

33:42 Speaker 2: and this is an award that is I forget how

33:45 Speaker 2: long Nesson has been Neisson, in conjunction with the Bruins,

33:49 Speaker 2: has been running this contest and it's it's it's a

33:52 Speaker 2: fan award and anyone can vote on it. You can

33:56 Speaker 2: vote early, you can vote often, and it's typically given

34:01 Speaker 2: to the player on the team who works hard every

34:04 Speaker 2: day for the good of the team. Without any expectation

34:07 Speaker 2: and who you say to yourself, Wow, I didn't see

34:12 Speaker 2: this coming. I didn't see the ability for this player

34:17 Speaker 2: to make this kind of contribution to the Boston Bruins. Yeah,

34:23 Speaker 2: so our listeners voted for Marat Ustadinov. Caroline you your

34:32 Speaker 2: vote went to Pablo Zaka did and mine went to

34:37 Speaker 2: Mark Castello.

34:38 Speaker 3: Oh see, I love all of these though, they're all excellent.

34:44 Speaker 3: These are all very excellent. I mean, you know, I

34:47 Speaker 3: think for me, when I did my rank choice voting,

34:51 Speaker 3: I mean, it was so hard because there's been there's

34:55 Speaker 3: been a lot of quiet contributors that just has surprised us.

35:01 Speaker 2: But here's my view of Mark castle It. In my justification,

35:05 Speaker 2: I mean, this guy came in and he's embraced everything

35:09 Speaker 2: related to the Boston Bruins and the culture. He works

35:14 Speaker 2: his ass off shift after shift after shift, he has

35:19 Speaker 2: his teammates back time and time again. He's becoming pretty

35:24 Speaker 2: decent in the faceoff dots where Marco will send him

35:29 Speaker 2: out there to win a particular specific face off, and

35:34 Speaker 2: she's become a penalty killer. So that's my you know,

35:41 Speaker 2: the rationale from my voting from Mark castle It, that's excellent.

35:46 Speaker 3: And also I didn't realize until just now that I

35:49 Speaker 3: didn't include him as a choice for our audience. So

35:51 Speaker 3: I'm sure they also would have agreed with you if

35:54 Speaker 3: given the choice, because I forgot about him.

35:55 Speaker 2: I'm so sorry. I got him there and I got

35:59 Speaker 2: him there.

36:00 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, for me, I chose Zaka because you know,

36:05 Speaker 3: we love we love this guy, but we also love

36:07 Speaker 3: to tease him that, you know, he can't hit the

36:10 Speaker 3: broadside of a barn when it comes to the net,

36:12 Speaker 3: and this, that and the other. And I think that

36:14 Speaker 3: he this season, he's just really been able to produce

36:19 Speaker 3: in a way that we haven't seen in a very

36:21 Speaker 3: long time. I mean, he's one of the top goal scorers,

36:25 Speaker 3: his points, I mean, he's he's been just having a

36:30 Speaker 3: season and so that was just kind of nice, unexpected,

36:35 Speaker 3: especially coming from somebody who's been on the team for

36:39 Speaker 3: a little while at this point.

36:41 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, there's no there are no

36:43 Speaker 2: wrong answers, folks, But we're just you know, making our

36:47 Speaker 2: cases and justifying those that we did we did choose.

36:51 Speaker 2: The next one is the the tre Spurs are On Award,

36:57 Speaker 2: which is also known as the Frank Trophy, and it

37:02 Speaker 2: is awarded to the forward who excels at the defensive

37:07 Speaker 2: aspects of the game. This one was a tough one

37:10 Speaker 2: for me. This one was a tough one for me

37:12 Speaker 2: because I kind of had Mark Castelick in that category

37:18 Speaker 2: as well, just because you know, I'm seeing how Marco

37:23 Speaker 2: uses him now and the trust that Marco has in

37:27 Speaker 2: castle Lick. But I will say that our listeners, our

37:33 Speaker 2: listeners went with Mark Castelick. Yep, you my friend went

37:38 Speaker 2: with Elias Lindt Holm. I put Pavel Zaka in here. Ah, so,

37:45 Speaker 2: but I tell you it was a struggle for me. Yeah,

37:48 Speaker 2: it was a real struggle. Yeah, I agree.

37:51 Speaker 3: I think, first of all, it's always going to be

37:55 Speaker 3: a struggle for me to pick this one because in

38:00 Speaker 3: my mind, the standard is Patrice Bergeron and there's nobody

38:06 Speaker 3: who's coming close to what he was able to do.

38:10 Speaker 3: So it's kind of hard, Like I'm.

38:11 Speaker 2: It's really hard comparison I'm putting. Yeah, I'm fair.

38:15 Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm putting an unfair comparison. Uh, you know in

38:20 Speaker 3: my mind. But I think you're right again, no wrong answers,

38:25 Speaker 3: because I think all of our centers have done pretty

38:29 Speaker 3: decent jobs out there this year. You know, we've we

38:33 Speaker 3: talked for a couple of seasons about how well we

38:36 Speaker 3: don't have good centers. We don't have good centers, and

38:39 Speaker 3: I think that this year is finally a season where

38:43 Speaker 3: that's really not the bulk of the conversation because they're

38:45 Speaker 3: all doing.

38:48 Speaker 2: Really great jobs out there. They're all overperforming well. And

38:52 Speaker 2: also it speaks to the defensive structure of the team,

38:55 Speaker 2: because if you're going to play the system that they

38:57 Speaker 2: want to play, everybody has to be defensive responsible. It

39:01 Speaker 2: just can't fall to certain players. And I think that

39:07 Speaker 2: might have also made it a bit difficult to pinpoint

39:13 Speaker 2: someone on this team, this current roster who was excelling

39:18 Speaker 2: at that. Yep. Yeah. So our next award is the

39:23 Speaker 2: James Norris Memorial Trophy. And I know this is a

39:26 Speaker 2: particular stickler for you because this has basically become like

39:30 Speaker 2: a I don't know, it's lost somewhat, It's become a

39:35 Speaker 2: little watered down from the league standpoint. So we've tweaked

39:38 Speaker 2: it a little bit to say this is for the

39:42 Speaker 2: defenseman who demonstrates a commitment to defensive play, not to

39:48 Speaker 2: just padding their stats with goals and assists and a

39:53 Speaker 2: high plus minus so, and we were very specific in

39:58 Speaker 2: explaining that as part of this vote. So, Caroline, you

40:02 Speaker 2: went with Jonathan Asparo, Yes, is that correct? I did,

40:06 Speaker 2: our listeners went with Nikita Zadoro, and I myself am

40:11 Speaker 2: also going with Nikita Zadora because I think, me personally,

40:17 Speaker 2: from day one, he has been the bruins steadiest and

40:23 Speaker 2: best defenseman all season.

40:25 Speaker 3: Low true, Yes, no, I agree. For me, my number

40:30 Speaker 3: two choice was Nikita Zadorov. I think, you know, when

40:35 Speaker 3: we're looking at that back end, we don't have a

40:40 Speaker 3: high number of truly truly defensive defencemen at home defenceman,

40:46 Speaker 3: so obviously, in that regards, it's one of two. Basically,

40:51 Speaker 3: we have some two way players that were in the

40:54 Speaker 3: mix as well. But I ended up with going with

40:58 Speaker 3: Asparo for two reasons. One and I think he is

41:03 Speaker 3: even more a pure at home defenseman, even more than Zadorov.

41:09 Speaker 3: I think Zadorov has a little bit more variety in

41:14 Speaker 3: what he does out there. And then also simply because

41:20 Speaker 3: when Asparo was out for what was it five a

41:24 Speaker 3: handful of games, the Bruins were terrible. They did, and

41:30 Speaker 3: as soon as he came back, they had a not

41:34 Speaker 3: just a winning record, a dominantly winning record. They were

41:38 Speaker 3: like five and one or five and two or whatever

41:40 Speaker 3: it was. So, uh, he's clearly some kind of secret

41:45 Speaker 3: sauce there in regards to the defense. So that's why

41:49 Speaker 3: he got my vote this time.

41:51 Speaker 2: So then what we'll stick with the defense defenseman category

41:56 Speaker 2: and we made this award up ourselves and it's called

41:59 Speaker 2: the Bobby or Defenseman Award. I still think that the

42:03 Speaker 2: James Norris should be changed to Bobby or trophy Bob.

42:06 Speaker 2: What the hell do I know? So this is for

42:08 Speaker 2: the defenceman who demonstrates skill in two way play and

42:14 Speaker 2: can be called an offensive defenseman. Yes, And so our

42:20 Speaker 2: listeners went with Charlie McAvoy. You, my friend went with

42:24 Speaker 2: Charlie McAvoy, And I too went with Charlie McAvoy. Yep.

42:29 Speaker 2: And I don't know if that's like, you know, processed

42:32 Speaker 2: by elimination for me, just because now Charlie has been

42:36 Speaker 2: playing a lot better and has been getting more involved

42:42 Speaker 2: offensively than many of the other defensemen we currently have

42:48 Speaker 2: on this roster.

42:50 Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, and I think for me, I went with

42:54 Speaker 3: Chucky because when I was ordering my list, I and

42:58 Speaker 3: immediately just took the the more defensive defenseman and you know,

43:03 Speaker 3: dragging them down and looked at kind of what I

43:04 Speaker 3: had left and Hampus he is a great two way player.

43:12 Speaker 3: He's just not having that year this year.

43:14 Speaker 2: He's not having another year. And the injury, I mean,

43:17 Speaker 2: both players have been injured, right, but his injury I

43:21 Speaker 2: think has had an impact on him more so than

43:24 Speaker 2: we likely even know about. Yeah.

43:27 Speaker 3: And with Mason LORI, yes, he is a and an

43:34 Speaker 3: offensive defenseman. You know, he's great at goal scoring and

43:38 Speaker 3: points and things like that. But at the end of

43:40 Speaker 3: the day, I was thinking more, Okay, you want to

43:46 Speaker 3: have someone who can balance both because they are still

43:48 Speaker 3: a defenceman. So to me, it's it's Charlie all the

43:53 Speaker 3: way in that regard. Mason just doesn't have that defensive

43:57 Speaker 3: piece at all.

43:59 Speaker 2: Yeah.

44:00 Speaker 3: Yeah, So I was like, I can't vote for him

44:02 Speaker 3: for this.

44:05 Speaker 2: So now we're making our way to the Lady Ban

44:09 Speaker 2: Memorial Trophy, and this is typically awarded to player a

44:13 Speaker 2: player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined

44:20 Speaker 2: with the high standard of playing ability. So our listeners

44:24 Speaker 2: went with Pavel soaka you my friend went with Elias Lindholme,

44:30 Speaker 2: and I went with Victor Arvidson just because I wanted

44:36 Speaker 2: to show him a little bit of love. I think

44:38 Speaker 2: he has he has been quietly playing very well for

44:44 Speaker 2: the Boston Bruins. I don't think he gets a lot

44:46 Speaker 2: of recognition for his level of play and his effort

44:52 Speaker 2: on the ice for the Bruins, and that that was

44:56 Speaker 2: my rationale for voting for Victor.

44:59 Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, again, I had no wrong answers. I think

45:03 Speaker 3: that the Boston Bruins have a lot of players who

45:09 Speaker 3: play really hard, they play really well, and they behave

45:13 Speaker 3: out there on the ice.

45:17 Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, you know, keeps his nose clean, right,

45:21 Speaker 2: keeps his nose clean, does does his job. So that's

45:25 Speaker 2: why I gave Ardbitson my vote. And we're we're gonna

45:30 Speaker 2: wrap up our voting with the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy Award.

45:36 Speaker 2: This is awarded to a player who exemplifies the qualities

45:39 Speaker 2: of perseverance and dedication to Hoteyle. Our listeners went with

45:45 Speaker 2: Charlie McAvoy. Caroline, you went with Jonathan Asboro and I

45:50 Speaker 2: went with Mikey Simont. Oh very nice, and I did

45:56 Speaker 2: so because you know, he's had his ups and downs

46:00 Speaker 2: the Bruins. He's been scratched, he's been back in he's

46:03 Speaker 2: been scratched, and when he comes back, he comes back

46:08 Speaker 2: and works hard and plays hard.

46:11 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, I went with Jonathan Asboro because I just

46:16 Speaker 3: love his story that he's played six seasons in the

46:21 Speaker 3: AHL and typically when that happens, it's probably not really

46:30 Speaker 3: gonna happen for you at the NHL level, and who

46:32 Speaker 3: knows what the future will bring for Jonathan Asbro. But

46:38 Speaker 3: since he's gotten the call up early in the season,

46:42 Speaker 3: I mean, he has just made the most of it.

46:46 Speaker 3: He's earned himself a two year deal and the fact

46:50 Speaker 3: that you know, it seems like he never gave up

46:54 Speaker 3: when he was in the AHL and committed to making

46:58 Speaker 3: it and just playing the game for the love of

47:01 Speaker 3: the game. That's he got my vote. And then my

47:04 Speaker 3: number two was the listener's number one, which was Charlie

47:07 Speaker 3: McVoy because I mean, the man has had just an

47:09 Speaker 3: absolutely horrific year.

47:11 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's got a he's had a tough goal over

47:14 Speaker 2: is very much so earning that nod as well. So

47:21 Speaker 2: that wraps up our Ruins Awards. We thank you all

47:27 Speaker 2: for participating. If you have any any comments or critiques

47:31 Speaker 2: about anyone that we voted for, Please feel free to

47:35 Speaker 2: share them on our social media's you can. You can

47:40 Speaker 2: find us on x you can find us on substack.

47:45 Speaker 2: Our social handles are at tape to tape mk and

47:49 Speaker 2: on substack. You can find us at tape to tape

47:53 Speaker 2: mk dot substack dot com. Please feel free to give

47:58 Speaker 2: us a rating, a review and make it easier for

48:01 Speaker 2: other listeners to find us and find our our content

48:06 Speaker 2: and uh.

48:07 Speaker 3: Of course, as always, go Bees and go Olympics, Go Bes,

48:13 Speaker 3: Yay Team USA