Down with Bruins Management! | Ep. 85

0:00 Speaker 1: So you know how at the end of every year we.

0:04 Speaker 2: Do the epitaph on the season, what was the cause of death? All right, So what was the cause of death for the Boston Bruins this year? What's on the tombstone?

0:18 Speaker 1: Inconsistency?

0:22 Speaker 2: Well, there you have it, the exact right end to this season, a loss and overtime.

0:32 Speaker 1: Dragging us to the end. So there you go. That was my father, moments after the Boston Bruins lost their final game in overtime to the New Jersey Devils, after clawing their way back up and having a pretty competitive game at points and then they just fell apart. So welcome in everyone to your final regular season episode of Bruin's Tape to Tape. I'm your host this evening, Caroline, and I am joined by my ever lovely co host, Maria. Hello Maria. How's they go on, Caroline? I'm good.

1:23 Speaker 3: I don't know how lovely I'm going to be as we get deeper into this episode, and I will do my utmost best not to blow a freaking gasket.

1:37 Speaker 1: I would tell people normally to watch us on YouTube, but I would say definitely switch over to YouTube at some point during this episode. So you can see the steam that's already starting to come out of Maria's ear.

1:53 Speaker 3: Your dad should have added, it was a slow and painful death this season. And why wouldn't they lose their last game in the manner and fashion in which they did, which has been occurring all goddamn season long.

2:17 Speaker 1: Yep, yep. It was everything that we experienced throughout the course of eighty two games all wrapped up into one game. But that's not really worth talking about specifically, because that actual game is neither here nor there. The players have since cleaned out their lockers and today, April seventeenth, they had their media availability where Boston's media had the chance to ask them to reflect, to think about the future, what they're going to be doing this summer. Do they want to come back? Which is always a ridiculous question, and actually I think Nikita Zidorov actually said that to one of the media folks, like that's you can't ask me that question, you know, whatever question it was.

3:12 Speaker 1: I loved it. I love watching him in these interviews. He scares me a little bit, and I like.

3:17 Speaker 3: Yeah, he scares me. I would be scared if I was in that locker room and was asking him a question exactly.

3:25 Speaker 1: But the Bruins are on the outside looking in for the first time officially since the twenty fifteen twenty sixteen season. And it's weird. It's I don't I don't know, I don't know how to feel. I forgot what this feels like, and a lot of those guys never felt this.

3:49 Speaker 3: You know what's even weirder is this. This was from Liam Mcue during a recent TNT broadcast. First time ever that four original six teams were not in the playoffs Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Detroit Red Wings.

4:14 Speaker 1: And on top of that, I believe Sportsnet also shared that it's the first time ever that the Rangers, the Bruins, and the Penguins are all not in together. So great two records set by this.

4:33 Speaker 3: We're not here to talk about those other teams. We're here to talk about what is now royally pissed us off because we want our management teams to talk. But when they talk out of their asses and they insult the intelligence of those of us who watch and pay attention, yeah, they can all kiss my ass.

5:05 Speaker 1: We will get to that after we have our break but just to give a quick summary and just a quick rundown about some of the conversations that were had, you know, besides the oh, how did you do? And blah blah blah, and you know, this is not my favorite media availability, and we'll talk a little bit about this, uh after our break. But the one piece that is always kind of interesting is to hear from the players themselves about maybe some of the injuries or setbacks that they had experienced during the season.

5:41 Speaker 1: Interesting tidbits. Nothing that really makes me feel any better about the product that I saw out on the ice, and I'm sure you agree with that. Maria will hardly agree with that, but you know, just some ah that's interesting. Charlie McAvoy, had the Boston Brewers actually made it into the first round, was probably going to be coming back, if not in time for playoffs shortly thereafter. It sounds like he had finally finished up all his course of antibiotics and everything that was kind of going on with that whole situation, which is pretty probably a little bit more scary I think than any of us truly truly realized that we all knew it was a serious thing, but the fact that he you know, this happened in February, and he's like only just now off the meds and everything to recover from that is just kind of reminds you like, that was a freak thing that happened to him.

6:38 Speaker 3: Yes, and the freakiness of the injury how it was handled, I think is still a question mark.

6:45 Speaker 1: Yep, yep, that was just crazy. I also didn't realize until this media availability that Hampus underwent a second surgical procedure. I think I maybe I thought it was a little bit different, but it sounds like again trying to come back a little bit too quickly, a little too soon. He actually felt back. He actually used the word and I don't know if he meant to say it or if he used the wrong words, but it sounded like he even said that he actually had refractured some element, not the main kneecap piece, but some element, and so there were some bits floating around and they had to get those taken out.

7:28 Speaker 1: So so that was a little bit of a surprise to me in the sense that it sounded like that second procedure was maybe a little bit more of a bigger deal than I had, at least initially thought when they said like, oh, he's just got to get a little bit of thing fixed up, and it's like, no, actually he had to have a second surgery. What so great, that's just you know, the cherry on top of the season. We also learned that probably one of the reasons why Elias Linnholm had such a lackluster start was the fact that he actually injured his back.

8:10 Speaker 1: You know, we knew he was injured during preseason and then you know, his wife had the baby and so he was like a little extra delayed and coming back. But like it sounds like there was actually legitimately something there, which again, all right, great, And then we talked.

8:32 Speaker 3: Air my tolerance for hearing about these things is waning at this point. Yeah, it's just waning. You guys, you had a terrible shit season.

8:45 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, just toilet that and the other one that kind of didn't even register on my radar and maybe others had noticed. But actually pavl Zaka had mentioned having some knee and their lower body issues in the final two months, but no surgery, So hooray. That means I guess we can expect everybody god willing to show up on the first day of training camp and actually participate in a full on training camp unlike this last season. But I think.

9:18 Speaker 3: We'll see about that. It always seems like we hear about something in you know, August or I know, well that's what happened with Marshancel. Really, you guys, have you've got plenty of time now to fix yourself up between now and next September. Can you just take care of whatever aches and pains you have now since you're off and done on your vacations a little bit sooner than expected.

9:45 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, But you know, it's like the expression, this straw that broke the camel's back. All of these things are little pieces of straw that just for this whole season. You know, they couldn't string wins together. There was something happening clearly with the coaching staff and this and that and the other, and it was just it's one thing after the other, and the next thing, you know, you're falling faster than a rock down a well in the season and you know you're done. So it's it's pretty interesting stuff.

10:21 Speaker 1: If you if you you got to clean your house or you're you know whatever, to throw it on. I mean, that's how I got through listening to you know, an hour's worth of a lot of the same questions and a lot of the same answers and whatever. Poor u Whusinadinov needs to to take some some language lessons from I know, I know he was adorable, but I felt so bad listening to him because he just he just didn't have the English down and so everything that was good, he was like, it's perfect, it's perfect.

10:59 Speaker 4: So it was.

11:00 Speaker 1: It was great. But you know, if you have a spare hour, like I said, or you're fiddle faddling around the house, give it a listen. We'll put the links in in the show notes. But other than that, we will do a little to spin around the rink because even though you know, the Bruins season is over and there's not much news now left to say, there's still now the whole second season, if you will. It is now high holy days of the playoff season. So Mario, why don't you take us on a spin around the rink? When when are playoffs starting?

11:43 Speaker 1: And what else should we be watching?

11:46 Speaker 3: Playoffs begin April nineteenth, that is Saturday night. They kick off with the Let's See Minnesota Wild series, which is set in a peg.

12:03 Speaker 1: Which is gonna be pretty pretty fantastic. I do have to say, Gary Bettman, I'm sure is just pleased as punch because the matchups for this particular round are just absolutely off the chart. They are off the charts.

12:22 Speaker 3: And think that, you know, some good teams are going to get knocked out in the first first round, but the seedings are what they are. But you've got the Blues at the Jets to start on Saturday night. Then you've got the Avalanche and the Stars that should be rivalry there tremendously theories, the ones that I'm going to be keeping my eye on.

12:47 Speaker 5: You.

12:48 Speaker 3: Yeah, the the Senators and the Maple Leafs. I so want these senders to upset now. I extra want that right right for lest give me, give me something to make the season worthwhile.

13:04 Speaker 1: But let's go Ottawa. For listeners who don't necessarily know or you know, maybe are you aren't in our discord group. I think this is where you and I had this conversation that I cannot root for a Western Conference team. I just I can't. Don't ask me why. I can't explain it. And so when we've been discussing, you know, who are we rooting for that we want to see a lot of consensus supporting Ottawa. You know, it started for me for Lena's and then also finding out about the Battle of Ontario. My god, they need to wait.

13:46 Speaker 3: I think there are gonna be a lot of a lot of hockey fans that are going to be become bandwagon Ottawa Auto Ottawa Senators fans. You know, I'm not as adamant about not rooting for a team in the West. I frankly, I think at this point I don't even want to see the Stanley Cup in the East. Just let it live in the West at this point, Okay, just let it live in the West for the upcoming season. You know, I do like the Colorado Avalanche and Cale mccarr is like, you know, my ideal hockey player.

14:23 Speaker 1: Well, and Gabe Landeskog is slated to be back for his very first game in three years, right it was twenty two. Yep. His his loan has ended with the AHL affiliate out there, so he's literally making his comeback in that first game. So that's gonna be that's gonna be exciting. If you've been watching the documentary.

14:47 Speaker 3: McKinnon is a beast, so he's insane. You know, it's it's going to be fun watching those two teams, the Avalanche and the Stars go at each other. You know, the Canadians Capitals series. I can't see the I mean, the Canadians could win one game, honestly, that's my thought, in one game in that series. But the Capitals should make relatively easy work of them. But you know, I could look like a fool for saying that. Here's where I think the NHL and their quote unquote partner ESPN

15:32 Speaker 3: have totally mucked this up. First of all, the Panthers and the Lightning don't play their first game against each other until Tuesday night, and their start time is eight thirty friggin PM.

15:50 Speaker 1: Two East Coast teams. Who cares?

15:54 Speaker 3: Who gives a rats ass about the Hurricanes and the Devils at this point, those two Florida teams. That's all you've heard about? Oh yeah, people on thirty two, Top Thoughts, spitting chick lits. Even the podcasts are local podcasts. That's the series that people want to pay attention to. Those two teams. The Panthers and the Lightning do not like each other. Do not like each other. No, you might be showcasing that, yet you let your broadcast partner ESPN.

16:35 Speaker 1: Not showcase them.

16:37 Speaker 3: That's where I think the NHL can't get out of their own f and way back in.

16:43 Speaker 1: Fact facts, you know, I think my tag was saying the last time that they had a Florida, a Battle of Florida series, here was a blood bath, like it's going to be insane. That series is that, And I would argue in the West, probably the second most intense series is actually going to be Edmonton in LA only because this is the third year in a row that these two teams have played against each other in the first round. So there is going to be a lot of bad blood in that specific series because of the history that they have had for three years, three years, even the Devils in Carolina, they've played against each other, if not the last two seasons, they've played against each other three seasons maybe, but never neither has both been in the same round.

17:44 Speaker 1: And there's just developed this this tension between those two teams in LA and in Edmonton. So I think, you know, that's and that's a distant second to what's gonna happen in Florida. And then I would say the third one is also then the Ottawa and Toronto one only because it's the Battle of Ontario.

18:08 Speaker 1: Because I mean, there's gonna be a ton of new fans coming out of the woodwork for Ottawa. But that's the fan base, isn't there. I don't get it. I don't, I don't. I don't understand.

18:18 Speaker 3: But what what's so important on ESPN Baseball right now, April and Ape? I mean, is it the We all know the NBA, the NBA is gonna win out over.

18:28 Speaker 1: They start a week later. Their playoffs are always like a week or two later.

18:33 Speaker 3: So their Celtic the Celtics start their playoffs on Sunday.

18:38 Speaker 1: Then that's either early or the NHL is late because it's usually at least a week I know.

18:44 Speaker 3: Still, but it's just again, I just don't understand why the NHL is allowing this to happen.

18:54 Speaker 1: This is supposed to be.

18:56 Speaker 3: This is when you showcase your sport, okay and hockey. Yeah, with series you are showcasing. I'm sorry, you should be cherry picking them.

19:12 Speaker 1: Yeah, well leave it up to Gary Bettman and ESPN two. And yet can I say the ESPN broadcast teams, well, you know, I feel you know, I know, but row cannot shut up to save his life. I just want the person calling.

19:33 Speaker 3: The game to the T and T crew cannot hold a candle to the TNT crew in any way, shape or form.

19:43 Speaker 1: It's it's yeah, it's brutal. It's brutal. It is brutal. But we do get to watch, uh, the local broadcasts first round because typically first round is still done by the local affiliates, so you've got that at least, But still they're at the mercy of the scheduler for ESPN, so and that's a lot of sitting around on that.

20:09 Speaker 3: When I saw the schedule for that, and I'm like, first of all, why the hell are they not playing until Tuesday?

20:15 Speaker 1: Well, Colorado has been done since Sunday or Monday. They're done. They're sitting for five days.

20:24 Speaker 3: Like that's terrible, I know, right, So again, I know, maybe we're missing something. I don't know, maybe we're missing something. But you know, you mentioned the Minnesota Wild.

20:39 Speaker 1: They captured their spot in pretty fantastic fashion. It went into overtime. If you haven't seen the video clips, I mean they've been all over my social media. But then again, I follow a lot of hockey stuff, so my algorithms are on point, but they they or gust of Sin himself tapped Marc Andre Fleury to go in and be in the overtime and he made a two pad stack like he made some saves in that overtime.

21:11 Speaker 3: I think he kissed the post and they got over time. Yep, yep they he was caught tapping the posts.

21:17 Speaker 1: I had to or show my daughter and uh yeah, they made it through. And you know, that could very well have been his absolute final time actually playing playing the game that he loves so much. Obviously, Gustafson is their starter and he's gonna probably be the one going all the way and unless something crazy happens, uh, you know, he's officially done, which is crazy to see there there. There won't ever be a goaltender like him again in every way that you could possibly quantify that statement.

21:51 Speaker 3: And I may be mistaken, but didn't they punch their ticket into the wild card with that event.

21:58 Speaker 1: Yes, yep, they did that very at the very last game there so and then the other playoff hopeful team in the Boston area, of course, the Boston Fleet. They've got three games remaining. Nesson does carry that so again highly recommend watching their games on Nesson and hopefully they've they've finished strong. I think like they've been slipping in the last couple of games.

22:24 Speaker 3: But they're the last two games, which is, you know, not how you want to develop some steam heading into the playoffs. But they've they've got some time to write the ship before their playoffs begin on May fifth.

22:39 Speaker 1: And remember their playoff is obviously shorter, doesn't go as far into the summer because there are only six teams and only four right go in. Yes, so it's but shorter, but still very exciting and actually kind of fun. Fact, Montreal is the only city that has all of their teams, all their professional sports teams going into the postseason right now, the only one. So yep, yep, NHL, p w HL, whatever else I saw. I don't know what other sports, but I did see it said all of their sports, so I thought that was kind of cool good, I don't know, but I'm not for the Montreal Canadians now

23:31 Speaker 1: ever wherever. So with that, we're gonna take a quick break from our sponsor and then brace yourselves because we're about to go. I was gonna say unhinged, but that sounds terrified. We're gonna unleash on this spot.

23:50 Speaker 3: We are going to unleash on our management and ownership.

23:54 Speaker 1: Yeah, so stay tuned, gear up, and support the pod. The Bruins are making their push and there's no better time to show your support. Whether you need a fresh jersey, a cozy hoodie for those chili playoff nights, or the perfect hap to rep the team every day. The NHL Shop has you covered with the trade deadline, playoffs, and off season all coming up. Now's the time to stock up on all your Boston Bruins and NHL gear. Plus, when you shop through our affiliate link, you're not just supporting the team, you're also supporting your favorite Bruins podcast.

24:27 Speaker 1: So grab your gear and help the pod. Check out the affiliate link in our show notes.

24:33 Speaker 3: The NBA eighty two game grind is done, and now the real fun begins. The NBA Playoffs are here and it's time for all the high stakes drama, clutch moments, and jaw dropping plays.

24:45 Speaker 1: I can't wait.

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26:11 Speaker 1: So, Maria, before we really dive in, we were having a conversation about some of those interviews that we heard today, and we heard a couple of things that we really liked to hear, and we're going to play them for you. But first let's listen to this clip from Morgan Geeky.

26:34 Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean anytime you can stick around. Like I said it, I love it here and I'd love to be here as long as I can. So that's set a goal. But you know, especially with the family now and being able to be in one spot would be would be awesome. But like I said, it's a business at the end of the day, and people are going to have their opinions and they're going to decide what they want to decide. But it was up to me, I'd love to stay as long as I can, and I can't say about good things about the organization and the guys and the culture here, so definitely I would love to stay for as long as I could.

27:08 Speaker 1: So, Maria, you've heard now straight from the horse's mouth. He really loves it here in Boston. Are you feeling confident in how this summer is going to turn out for him, both on the financial side and also maintenance side going into the new year? What are your expectations on that front.

27:30 Speaker 3: No, I don't expect anything to go well for him, because, first of all, I don't because I don't trust. I no longer trust Don Sweeney nor Kim Neely when it comes to negotiating contracts with players. And while I appreciate what Morgan Geeky said, what he has done now is given them a negotiating tactic that they could potentially use against him.

28:02 Speaker 1: Oh.

28:03 Speaker 3: Look, he really wants to stay here, he really wants to.

28:07 Speaker 1: Be a bruin.

28:09 Speaker 3: Let's see if we can nickel and dime him and low ball him. The other thing that I expect them to use is the fact that he's had so much success by playing along David Pasternak. And my expectation is, because Neely is a snake, that they will also then try to use that against him. Right, And what I would have because of him, right, And I know we want honesty from the players.

28:41 Speaker 1: What I would have preferred him to say is right.

28:46 Speaker 3: We just ended the season. I need to wrap my head around how this season ended, and that's something to think about down the road.

28:57 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I want him to stay here. Do I think you should stay here?

29:04 Speaker 3: Yes, because I've said it before. If Pasta is happy, then everyone in the organization should be happy well.

29:14 Speaker 1: And then so speaking of David Pasternak, you know, of course the question came up in his interview about the future of the captaincy and leadership, and this is what he had to say, would you like to wear the secret?

29:32 Speaker 8: Listen? You know, it's like I said, like the leaders I had around me, he was never about who wears the lead C or who wears the A. Everybody in the room is bequl here and we need to make sure that, you know, that's one of the things that we have to found a group of the core again that you know, willing to put the work in. And and like I said, it's not about one guy, It's going to be multiple of us, and we need to be be working together. And you know, well, like I said, doesn't matter who's going to end up wearing any letter, but starts in a group.

30:07 Speaker 8: Everybody's think equal here. No matter if you're a young older and that's you know, that's what always been like and we have to keep you going.

30:16 Speaker 1: So Rio, what's your take on what he said about, you know, everyone being equal and everyone doing the work and not really interested in it sounded to me that he wasn't really interested in having that conversation. You know, he wasn't willing to entertain that idea at all. You know, because anybody who anybody could say, oh, yeah, no, of course that would be great, but like, that's not my decision. He didn't even he didn't give thee anything to hang on to correct. I thought that was a master class in this is how you don't show your hand too, especially the people who are actually watching.

31:00 Speaker 3: Yeah, and that to me is all the reason why you should consider him as your next captain for the Boston Bruins.

31:10 Speaker 1: Yep, what he.

31:12 Speaker 3: Did this season, given everything that went on, the fact that the fact that David Pasternak is not in the post season is fucking sinful, sinful and shameful that he is not on a team that is at least going into the first round of the playoffs. Be that as it may be, that as it may I know he made reference to the fact that and again that to me speaks to a culture that has been built over time that he clearly has received the benefit of, has been listening, has absorbed right, wants to carry on that foundation.

32:02 Speaker 3: Yep, because you know, and he also referenced, you know, the void left by Charlie McAvoy not being.

32:12 Speaker 1: Available.

32:13 Speaker 3: He had to slend home not being available, even though he didn't have a letter on his sweater. The one thing he neglected to say is the void that was created when they actually traded their captain at the time.

32:31 Speaker 1: Yep. But I think that just kind of goes to

32:36 Speaker 1: lends to his savvy in that, you know, his growth and maturity. Yeah, you know, he didn't have to talk about well, you just got rid of all of the leaders. Other players talked about that, But for him, I think he knew, you know, that's something that he didn't have control over, right, he didn't have control over the fact that all of a sudden, in an instant, they were all gone. It sounds like from some of the other interviews that they all went at the exact same time too, So like a lot of people found out boom boom, boom, bom boom, that all four of these guys were gone, and so I think it was smart of him to kind of not really focus on any of those guys being traded away, and more so saying like I didn't even have access to the people who were still on this team who could have helped me correct, and I still took it on.

33:29 Speaker 1: I did all that work. And so for that reason, small plug obviously for ourselves as an NHL Shop affiliate, I am personally holding off on purchasing my new Boston Bruins jersey because I now have none. Both guys are gone. I'm gonna wait and buy using our link and code in the fall to get a Posternach jersey. I'm just waiting to see if it's gonna come with a letter or not. So I don't know about you, Maria, but.

34:01 Speaker 3: How I feel about the Jacobs family right now, I wouldn't give them a penny for a jersey.

34:08 Speaker 1: I know, I known for a jersey.

34:12 Speaker 3: I might change my mind when I see if in what happens in the off season. But I do think that you saw other players coming to David Pastronach's aid because of you know, not having Charlie McAboy available and in the room the fact that they Brad marchand who was wearing the seat was traded to the Florida Panthers, and you saw guys like nikita'sador Off and even Elias Lindholm, you know, speaking honestly and openly about you know, their their frustrations and you know, taking on some leadership responsibilities to aid that, you know, the guy who's basically been carrying them on the ice since January one.

35:08 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it was pretty clear. And you know, obviously one of the things, as I had teased at the start of the show, that I don't love about these media availabilities, Like, yes, there are great things you know, we get to hear from some of the players that maybe we don't hear from a lot or we you know, maybe hear a little personal antidote anecdotes and things like nice little fluffy things that we like. But the other thing is that they can't be completely honest about everything. Right. Still,

35:43 Speaker 1: the clearly it was a significant impact on the team psychologically, and one or two players mentioned it from that perspective as well. Others just said how it was.

35:54 Speaker 9: Hard that these guys were gone, that it was it was a it wasn't just a hole that was left behind because one player was, you know, traded away.

36:05 Speaker 1: This was a gaping hole left behind because of how many people went.

36:10 Speaker 10: Away and was gutted, right, And I think what I think it was Pasta who said that, you know, we just got to create a new core.

36:21 Speaker 1: Now, we just have to identify those new guys who can be that new core and move on with them. And I was pleased to hear him say a lot of the same things that we've known about the Boston Bruins culture because I like it. I think it's very different than the locker room of a lot of other teams that, you know, maybe are a little bit less healthy. And to hear him kind of still continue to talk about it because he was around with Chara, right, he was, and he got that all from Bergie, and he got that from Marsh and he's living it and he's teaching and talking about it, and that's great to hear that kind of be able to continue.

37:06 Speaker 1: I was honestly surprised, and I guess kind of impressed by Nikita Zadorov and his at least off the ice leadership. I will still say I am mixed feelings about him as a player, his performance on the ice, I'm like, I'm not You're not alone. I mean, his his decision.

37:31 Speaker 3: Making right, some of his hockey IQ was yeah, yes, very very questionable, and I started to wonder, like, what's what's here?

37:41 Speaker 1: Level is your hockey IQ at right now?

37:45 Speaker 5: Right?

37:45 Speaker 3: I mean, it sounds like I'm being demeaning and insulting and that's not how I'm tending it no to be. But the decision making sometimes was like dude, what what are you thinking right now?

37:56 Speaker 1: Yeah? But I and I have to say, again with full disclosure, coming from a if a Polish family and Slavs and they're very direct nature and how they speak to you. I don't know if it's like a comfort thing, but listening to him talk, not the accent, but the way that he talks very direct. You know, we joked about this offline earlier. I said, you know, he is kind of a scary dude. He's gonna be very motivational, but in a scary way, Like he'll come in and say you need to skate harder, you need to skate faster, okay, okay, you need to believe in yourself, you need to have faith okay, okay, Like like equally supportive and holding you accountable, but in a yelling way.

38:43 Speaker 1: But the yelling is love.

38:44 Speaker 3: I don't know, well in a season that didn't bring a lot of chuckles to my face.

38:51 Speaker 1: Yeah.

38:51 Speaker 3: His when he was asked about the Jeremy Swayman almost fight and his response, Oh, that is that what we're calling it? No comment to me, I was just like, all right, give me that all the time. I love that. I love that stuff because I think more often than not that if that first response is typically the most honest and reactive response. Right now, I get it. You walked it back right. You can't hurt your eight million dollar goalies feelings. I get it, I get it.

39:28 Speaker 1: Yeah, but I think he's going to have a voice. Uh now, That not that he couldn't write, It's just that it wasn't maybe his place too, because of you know.

39:43 Speaker 3: Right you're in now, you still had Charlie McAvoy available, You still had Randon Carlow available, Charlie Coyle was still around, Brad marshand had the c ASTA had a letter, So right, it wasn't his place and he wasn't in his place.

40:06 Speaker 1: It was his first season. But I I think my opinion about him in terms of what he is going to bring to this team has changed, because we talk about this on the podcast all the time, that everybody has a job, right, not just a job on the ice, but a job off the ice, right. And I can see him now filling a void, you know, in his brand of leadership, his very direct leadership, calling it as he sees it is a is a great accountability tool because I don't think he's gonna he's not gonna sugarcoat it because people don't do that.

40:51 Speaker 1: He shouldn't and he shouldn't and I don't know that there was truly a voice like that on the team six months ago. Maybe Brad Marsham, but he is the one person, and he was a captain, and he's doing all the other things that a captain does, right, you need someone else to also be doing that, you know. Maybe maybe that's what Uncle Nick kind of was doing in a way right with his form of accountability and granted in a softer way, but who knows. But understanding this about Zadorov and his leadership and seeing him step in has completely changed my perspective of how he can truly contribute to this team in a really meaningful way.

41:33 Speaker 1: I don't know about you, no, no, no, I agree with you.

41:36 Speaker 3: I would like to see, you know, his his a decision making improve with the upcoming season or over the course of the summer. But that could be said about a lot of our players. I mean, you know, Louri while we're doing an up ataf okay, Mason LORII was a disaster stir to finish the season. Like I don't know what happened to him after. Like he he was playing, he was amazing, He was very, very good immediately after Charlie McAvoy's injury, and then his progression defensively just took a nose dive that he couldn't recover from.

42:31 Speaker 3: I don't even know what his plus minus finished at, but it was pretty gross. And I know that's not the only stat that's disgusting. I'm sorry, that's disgusting. And well, we had conversations in our discord. Does he really want to be a defensive defenseman because he seems to want to focus on his offensive skills a defenseman. But kiddo, you still got to play some defense.

43:01 Speaker 1: Well, And to your point, you know, we didn't have an opportunity to have a obviously a podcast between when the Bruins played Pittsburgh and today, because that's just when it happened. And at the very start of that game, something really struck me.

43:21 Speaker 11: Was it?

43:22 Speaker 1: Oh it was not It wasn't anessen, It was a it was a national game. So it was one of the announcers play by play color guys, uh talking right before the puck drop about you know, different players on the team, and they talked first about Carlson, who has notoriously been known as a defenseman who you know, tries to score a million goals and like that's obviously how he won the Norris in spite of having a terrible actual defensive stats. And the way that the announcer was kind of talking about Carlson was kind of not derogatory, but like, you know, that guy only flowers out him.

44:05 Speaker 1: He wasn't throwing flowers out him, right, that guy, you know, he's a guy, but he's old, so you know, it is what it is, but he should spend more of his career focusing on actually being a defenseman. And then he pivots and he says, this is what Mason Lauri is facing right now, that he needs to decide now because he's twenty three years old. He needs to decide, now, do you want to be a defenceman? Because if not, you're going to be like Carlson and be no good as a defenceman. And so I mean basically so so as an offensive player who is a defenceman, Like you're not a forward, so you can't compete with forwards if your job is defense, like, do you want to be one of the other You have to decide now.

44:56 Speaker 1: It's at a pivotal point in his career. And I thought, holy cow, I never even thought of it that way, But he's absolutely right, what do you want to actually be?

45:05 Speaker 3: But how much of that do we put on the player? And how much do we put on hunters coaching and scouting stuff, because they're the ones that have putting this kid in the position of we want you to quarterback the powerplay.

45:17 Speaker 1: You're the quarterback of the power play.

45:18 Speaker 3: We want you to quarterback the power play, which is fine, which is fine, yes, but.

45:24 Speaker 1: That needs tack me a freaking balance, right, And I do wonder you make an excellent point then, because I have firmly believed that while some of it his on ice mistakes are him because he's a kid and he's learning and he's got to get exposed to these things. But what is that messaging? You know, was he to some degree either overtly or tacitly, told like, okay.

45:54 Speaker 5: Well now that Charlie is out, Hampus is out, like you're our next most offensive defenceman, be like them, Except wait a minute.

46:06 Speaker 1: Those guys are pushing thirty and he's barely old enough to drink. So there, you can't like, there's clearly a disconnect there because those guys have had years of experience doing both of those things, and you're now maybe asking a twenty three year old to pick up the offensive and defensive pace of these two veterans. So I think there was something not right in that either communication.

46:35 Speaker 3: And I think some of this is a damnation of the coaching staff as well. Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, you can, you can tell me all you want, right, Okay, I get it. Joe Sako was put in an untenable position, an untenable position. But this management team, this management team doesn't know what to do with themselves. When they have good coaches, they don't know how to manage them, or or are they just not capable of identifying, okay, of identifying a good coaching staff. You left Jim Montgomery to start the season flailing around in the wind with no contract.

47:26 Speaker 3: Didn't seem like they were having conversations. Story was they offered him. He said no, wasn't sure what he wanted to do. This, that and the other thing, all the freaking something, and they gave him random of Neelie and Sweeney when it comes to these types of decisions, okay, and now now they use the Boston Globe as their mouthpieces, all right, as their mouthpiece to throw the outgoing person under the bus. This is out of the book, chapter and verse of what Robert Kraft has been doing since he fired not fired, but he did fire Bill Balichuck.

48:16 Speaker 1: Okay, exactly when you, I mean, how many times have we seen this in other facets of our own lives, right where you kind of set someone up and say, oh no, no, no, you're in charge, but you're not given the resources, you're not given the support, you're not given the time. We're going to keep these guys. We like these guys, right, Okay, So you didn't then let Jim Montgomery have his own coaching staff and you knew that the relationship was probably starting to go south, so you just let him flail, like you said, and then wait and see what happens, and then we can just fire him.

48:54 Speaker 1: And he saw the writing on the wall. You could see his demeanor change as the time the clock went by. But even with Joe Sako, they never replaced him on the staff. So he was doing his job and the interim had coaches job. What why would they not then just say like, oh, well, let's bring someone up from Providence, right like have them be interim or whatever, or freaking hire some I don't understand why they can't hire a non head coach in season, Like why didn't they fill that role? Wasn't he He wasn't the penalty kill.

49:40 Speaker 1: Wasn't he was penalty killed? He was a piquet. No wonder it suffered because a man can't do two jobs like you can't. No it.

49:52 Speaker 3: For an organization that has used hard accountability how many times over the course of this season, When when are Charlie, cam and don going to look in the goddamn mirrors and hold themselves accountable for where we find ourselves now? When how many how many more kicks at the goddamn can are we going to give.

50:25 Speaker 1: Don and Cam? Well, I will pose this to our listeners and make sure you find us on all of our socials to tell us what you think or join us in our discord. But per Charlie Jacobs to the Globe quote, it's hard for me to wrap my head around why people call for Cam Neely and Don Sweeney's heads rather than blow up the Bruins. They quote need to build, to use Don's term specifically, to retool.

50:56 Speaker 3: Are you joking? And he also used the word recovery. We're going they're going to work on a recovery. So let me let me set the table for this.

51:09 Speaker 11: Okay, job, Charlie Jacob, No, Marialy froze.

51:22 Speaker 1: Okay you froze. You have to start over, all right, all right, Marien? So what what is it?

51:36 Speaker 3: Charlie Jacobs is a jock sniffing buffoone.

51:41 Speaker 1: Okay.

51:43 Speaker 3: He insults the intelligence of every and any Bruins fan that pays time, attention and spends money to watch this team. How dare you say that you are a Bruin? You have no fucking clue what it means to be a Bruin.

52:11 Speaker 1: You don't bleed black and gold. The only thing your.

52:16 Speaker 3: Family bleeds is green from money. Okay, that's all you care about. You don't care about winning a Stanley Cup. You don't care about championships, you don't care about You care about making sure that they're abuts in those seats.

52:35 Speaker 1: But even then they don't care because and you reward you. What's happening in Seattle. Immediately at the end of their season, their management came out and they said, this was unacceptable. We are recommitting ourselves to the fans and to this team. They're offering lower prices for their tickets. They're giving special discounts on things like concessions and what have you to season ticket holders. Like, that's a commitment, and.

53:10 Speaker 3: What do we get, Dad, We got this guy.

53:13 Speaker 1: Saying, I don't I don't understand why people want them fired. My dude, good sir. When your team fails to actually win a Stanley Cup with the roster that we have had over the last ten years, and you keep getting these players who either walk out the door, who don't become something, and you also throw away your franchise captain. Just like when your team go down the toilet, you fire the coach you can't.

53:47 Speaker 3: So, and and this is how I know that he is a fraud because now, okay, Sam don Charlie, right, they only sit down with the Boston Gloat. They only sit down with the Globe. So you don't even have the Cajonis to sit down with. Oh, I don't know other members of the media that are covering your team day in and day out for eighty two freaking games. You only go to the soft landing spot, okay, because what are you afraid of?

54:19 Speaker 1: Are you afraid of the line of questioning you may receive because nobody will ask these questions next week, which, by the way, we have to wait a whole extra week to hear from management. Yes, know, anybody who would even have maybe the guts to ask a question like this or say what do you mean? You don't know what? Why people are saying this, they would never be allowed back into Katie Garden, you know, Helting.

54:50 Speaker 3: It's insulting to all Bruins fans for him to say that we can't understand or.

54:57 Speaker 1: We can't wrap his head around.

54:59 Speaker 3: Why there would be conversation and anger about the fact that we're letting you are letting this duo, this duo potentially make important and critical decisions because for the first time in a long time, you are actually entering a draft that will have meaning and significance, and you need a bigger sample size from these two than what you've already seen about their drafting capabilities. Please what happened in twenty fifteen, please, sir? His first draft?

55:43 Speaker 1: Okay?

55:44 Speaker 3: And so okay, you see now this is him talking allegedly. This is him speaking talking about now him Charlie talking about how training camp looked, that it was jointed, it was unorganized.

56:03 Speaker 1: They weren't doing this breakout.

56:04 Speaker 12: They weren't Who's who's the owner? What owner talks like that? He's getting that, he's getting that from camp? Is BFF camp.

56:17 Speaker 1: Okay, Look, Cam has him right whereone wants him.

56:22 Speaker 3: He has the Jacob's family there right wrapped around his little finger. Okay, be that as it may. Now, you, mister owner, this is your team. No, this is your team, right? You see this training him that's turning into a potential shit show, And you don't think to have a conversation with your GM or your president saying.

56:48 Speaker 1: What the hell is going on here?

56:50 Speaker 3: Or if the president is seeing this, he doesn't have a conversation. Nobody out of that trio thinks about having a conversation raining in the coaching staff saying what the hell is.

57:02 Speaker 1: Going on here? What is going on here? I mean? Am I crazy?

57:06 Speaker 3: Isn't that the responsibility of a GM is a fact part of his job.

57:12 Speaker 1: The fact that he comes across and I'm sure it will come across exactly the same in a week, like everything is copasetic. Blows my mind. It blows my mind because even if he let's say, Cam has him right where he wants him right, you know he's got him. He can do whatever he wants right because he's Cam Neely, He's he's got his number up there like okay, maybe he's whatever, right, But sir, you gotta have eyeballs. Even if you don't watch any of these games, which I can't imagine that you genuinely actually watch any of these games, but then you have to surely be checking the score sheets.

58:00 Speaker 1: If not for yourself, you're hearing it from the other owners, because I'm sure those o their owners, even though not all of them are sports people there are they know enough if their team is good or not to tease you or whatever. When you all go to Florida, Like, how can you then not look at that and then turn to the two people who are in charge of the product that is on the ice and the people behind the best and not say exactly the words that you just said, which is, what the hell is happening here?

58:31 Speaker 1: You need to fix this or you're done. How is that not a legitimate threat?

58:36 Speaker 3: Because I would like to think that if I'm a general manager and I'm seeing disjointedness or disorganization from my coaching staff during training camp, when I've gone out and I've signed high priced guys to bring them in, I would like to think that I'm having a little sit down. I'm having a little sit down and saying, what the hell are you guys doing here? What is going on here? Do we have a goddamn plan? Because we could all see, we could all see at the start of the season that things did not look bright.

59:20 Speaker 3: The veterans looked out of sink. People who we thought were being tagged to play on lines together had virtually no chemistry whatsoever. Areas that were strength for your team, like your your power play, your penalty kill gone gone?

59:45 Speaker 1: Like whose responsibility was that? This was all?

59:52 Speaker 3: Jim Montgomery's fault because hold on a minute, Hold on a minute. Okay, Jim Montgomery was fired and five minutes later was hired by the Saint Louis Blues and they are now in the playoffs. So how bad of a coach was Jim Montgomery?

1:00:12 Speaker 1: Right? How bad of a coach was Jim Montgomery? And and side was a non was a non variable in the whole situation because it's almost as if you know not to knock his head, coaching abilities whatsoever. But like nothing changed, They didn't get worse, they didn't get better, They stayed the same. So does that mean like a potato could have coached this team just as well? Like you you can't do that, mean you.

1:00:42 Speaker 3: Can't you you you can't say that. You can't wrap your head around why we would be upset as fans saulting because I you you yourself, okay, saw and claim you saw the just joint goodness and yet what you thought just firing the coach?

1:01:05 Speaker 1: Right?

1:01:05 Speaker 3: This this is the m of this this trio. Okay, anything goes wrong, just vire the coach. This is what we're going to do.

1:01:14 Speaker 1: Just fire the coach, right, Okay?

1:01:17 Speaker 3: How we started fires? Now we've started firing players and shipping off players to what end, To what end we're supposed to have faith. We're supposed to have faith that this duo who has had now ten years, ten years, and.

1:01:42 Speaker 1: We haven't had a reasonable run in five six, six years, six years since we were at a Cup final six years, this sixty percent failure rate are yes.

1:01:59 Speaker 3: This season, their record was the worst that it's been since nineteen fifty nine. Courtesy of Hockey Reference. Okay, you if if the Philadelphia Flyers managed to get one point in their game tonight, you will clinch the fourth worst record in the league. The Boston freaking Bruins two.

1:02:30 Speaker 1: Years after breaking the league record most wins in a single season, and Charlie Jacobs can't understand or wrap his head around why. It's mind modeling. It's mind boggling.

1:02:48 Speaker 3: It's so goddamn it's so goddamn frustrating. And when I read things from him, I'm incredibly proud to be a Bostonian.

1:02:56 Speaker 1: No, you're not. You're only here because Daddy puts you.

1:03:00 Speaker 3: Okay, Okay, Daddy put you in the seat that you are in charge.

1:03:08 Speaker 13: Yeah, Well, in one week's time, we will hear from the MENSA brain trust that is Boston Bruins management.

1:03:23 Speaker 1: I'm not optimistic that Joe Socco will be at the Helm because he had his media availability today, which if you recall in the past it's been the four people leading the team and a little bit of his interview. I mean, you could read it in a multitude of different ways, but it sounds to me like no decisions have been made, and that in and of itself tells you what probably going to happen, which is he's not going to continue on as the head coach, interim or otherwise, because if they wanted him, he'd know they they they'd have had that conversation, right, They're waiting to see what happens, likely with they want to see or they're going to wait to see who's available.

1:04:18 Speaker 1: Correct, correct, They're going to wait and see potentially what other teams do who might be getting let go.

1:04:28 Speaker 3: And again, I just I just can't get past the fact that this ownership had and this man had the balls. The balls says he right, right, And I have no tolerance. I have no tolerance when anybody in any work environment throws the last person who was there under the bus, because you know, what any mistake missteps that were made were made under your god, damn wat.

1:05:11 Speaker 1: The buck stops with the president of Hockey Ops and then really, Charlie.

1:05:18 Speaker 4: Jacobs, right, okay, and if if, if, if there's failure to such a degree, such a catastrophic whatever the inverse.

1:05:32 Speaker 1: Is of meteoric failure in such a short period of time.

1:05:41 Speaker 1: I I'm just speechless. I am speechless that someone could witness this, who has even an iota of understanding of this team to then just say, well, I don't really know what's the problem. We're gonna have look at this answers.

1:06:01 Speaker 3: We're not the only ones saying this and referring to the Bruins as being in a mess.

1:06:09 Speaker 1: They were a mess.

1:06:10 Speaker 3: When is the last time we heard Bruins and mess in the same sentence. Now, it's it's an organizational disaster.

1:06:27 Speaker 1: It started.

1:06:28 Speaker 3: It started with okay, it started with the contract negotiations between Jeremy Swayman and let's call a spade of spade Cam Neely, Yes, okay, that went off the rails in a quick hurry. The player did not do himself any good by speaking, and Kim Neely.

1:06:53 Speaker 1: He can speak. It's you I'd never speak what he I like, I'm it's an other episode.

1:07:00 Speaker 3: Well, that's another episode. He needs to get his head like. Next season, he better he better be ready to play lights out because that the fan base. Okay, he's getting a pass, he's getting a pass this first Okay, but next season, dude, you better be playing lights out or this fan base will turn on you, just like we're turning on.

1:07:36 Speaker 1: Jacob's Neely. Okay, Look, we got a vacancy. We don't have a mac Rislick anymore, we don't have a Trent Frederick. There's a vacancy for villain on this team. He could be it. He could be it.

1:07:51 Speaker 3: I don't want him to be it. No, I don't want him to be it, but he was. He was a part of the problem. Well he's not the only problem, but he was a part and he has.

1:08:05 Speaker 1: To understand justified or not. It doesn't ever have to be justified to be labeled the villain. I mean, look at Tukarask, the winning ast goalie in franchise history, and how quickly the city would turn on him in any game. You know, we constantly turning on him. He was the villain.

1:08:28 Speaker 3: Yeah, well right now, we have our three villains right now, focus on them. It's just it's just I would just not even rather hear you, right, if that's the kind of stuff you're going to say.

1:08:46 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a slap in the face to fans.

1:08:50 Speaker 3: You put out a ship product all season one. Nobody likes this, ok, and and you reward fans and seasoned ticket holders by once again increasing forget good prices and you want me, you want me to buy in to the to the bullshit that you're shoveling. Yeah, no, I'm good, No, I'm good.

1:09:16 Speaker 1: No, no, thank you. No. Well, we shall know in a week. Like I said, it should give me time to either get more mad or cool off. I can't tell yet because I'm pretty mad right now. Thank you, Maria. Very stimulating. Come you you you teed me up.

1:09:37 Speaker 3: You told me you wanted to tee me up, I sir did, I sure did, and you got me teed out. And I sound like a lunatic, not at all, But I'm just like I cannot tolerate when someone is trying to insult our intelligence.

1:09:57 Speaker 1: M h. Yeah. Well, with that being said, we will still have weekly episodes throughout the summer. Join us will be of course going live at the start of our new year, which is July first. If there are any trades, any significant things, we might have a live in that instance, but otherwise, you know, we'll have plenty to talk about over the summer, from trades, free agency signings, and just a whole bunch of other really interesting little tidbits and player reviews as we get closer. So your home for Boston Bruins news and interesting things is still around for the summer.

1:10:46 Speaker 1: But with that, any other final words, Maria.

1:10:53 Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to watching some good NHL playoff hockey absolutely and I'm telling you right now I am going to root for the Florida Panthers. You are, yep, only because I want to stick this.

1:11:18 Speaker 1: Well if it comes to it, and I have to.

1:11:21 Speaker 3: I know, I know it's difficult for you. I'm an addictive you know what, and.

1:11:28 Speaker 1: So I know. But make sure you rate and review the podcast to help us get discovered by other fans of the Boston Bruins, and follow us on all of our socials and as always, go Bees, Go Bees.

1:12:01 Speaker 7: Game