The Bruins’ Margin for Error Is Gone | Ep. 134

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

0:03 Speaker 2: I need something to do.

0:13 Speaker 1: I'll dreck sit it out a troup of bocking to say, today, here's a chance pop fa right down the goalie scars, Oh my one a move by the rookie too on one plaster not moving in set, Oil dances at podcast home right away corner faster Chester. What is that for? Moston?

0:50 Speaker 2: Welcome in everyone to another episode of Bruins Tape to Tape. I'm your host this week, Caroline with a cake, and I am joined today by my fantastic co host, Maria from Watertown.

1:01 Speaker 1: Hey Maria, Hey Caroline, how goes it?

1:05 Speaker 2: It goes? I believe we are about a month away from the postseason.

1:10 Speaker 1: It is.

1:11 Speaker 2: We're recording today on March sixteenth, and when you hear this, it'll be Saint Patrick's Day. So happy Saint Patrick's Day.

1:19 Speaker 1: For a shout out, we shout out to my son happy birthday.

1:23 Speaker 2: Today is his birthday. Ah, happy birthday. So we are pretty close to the end. And as a hockey fan, I'll take a step back and say, as a hockey fan, this is a very exciting time of year. In general, I think that this final stretch of anywhere's from fifteen to eighteen games remaining for all of the teams is going to be exciting and thrilling. And let's just hope we don't have a doodle bug race that whoever ends up in the wild card spots are two teams that actually want them. And I'm not sure that the Bruins are a team that actually wants that, because I'm getting a little bit of a doodle bug feeling from this team right now.

2:18 Speaker 1: Well, it's been a slog in the East from the drop of the pops back in October, right there have been right now, the only really two teams that stand out, I guess, for lack of a better word, at the Carolina Hurricanes and the Buffalo Sabers. Who would have ever thought we would say this, The Buffalo Sabers could very well win the Eastern Conference.

2:48 Speaker 2: Mind boggling. Not only did we not think that could ever be possible six months ago, I don't think we ever thought that would be possible ten years ago, fifteen years.

3:00 Speaker 1: Ago, right right, I mean, they both the Hurricanes and the Buffalo Sabers have a decent I don't want to say stranglehold on the East, but you know, Tampa. Tampa is still threatening, and Tampa has a couple of games in hand on those teams. But you know, right now, the Carolina Hurricanes sit atop the Eastern Conference with sixty six games played in ninety points, Buffalo sixty seven games played eighty eight points, Tampa sixty five games eighty four points, and everyone else is in what you refer to as that doodlebug race to get playoff positioning for a wildcard spot, and our Boston Bruins seemed to be doing anything but trying to control their own freaking destiny where this is concerned.

4:05 Speaker 2: The only thing that gives me some hope in spite of the let's call it uninspired play that we've seen since a great way of putting it. It has been totally ill inspiring. The only thing that I think is in Boston's favor right now again, Monday, March sixteenth, they do play tonight, so by the time you hear this things will have changed. However, Boston does have a positive goal differential, and that is very often a pretty strong indicator that odds are they will make it to the postseason. Right now, of the teams that I.

4:54 Speaker 1: Don't know, you are more confident than I because I'm looking at this schedule here from March and there are no easy games here.

5:02 Speaker 2: That being said, the only team right now in the East that currently sits in a playoff position that has a negative differential is the Detroit Red Wings. They have a minus six. And my next little kind of asterisk to all of this is the two teams that are really knocking on the door that are a legitimate threat to Boston losing that position of right now number one wild card. The Columbus Blue Jackets have a positive goal differential. They have a plus four and they have seventy nine points to Boston's eighty.

5:46 Speaker 2: And the Ottawa Senators has watch out the seventy seven points, so they're three points back, but they have a plus twenty goal differential. Now, all three of those teams also have played sixty six games, so it's pretty much neck and neck there to the end, because, like you said, Tampa Bay, somehow, how I just don't understand, has the most games in hand with sixty five eighty four points. I don't know that any one of these teams really can catch up. I mean, they've got a plus forty nine goal differential.

6:33 Speaker 2: Montreal is sitting in that third position in the Atlantic with eighty two points and a plus thirteen. So you know, I think we're looking at Montreal is looking in their rearview mirror, like you said, the Penguins, the Islanders looking in that rear view mirror and paying very close attention to the Bruins, the Red Wings, the Blue Jackets, and the Senators. And I'm not so sure that we're that Philadelphia. I mean, unless those teams that I just mentioned have if any one of them has some sort of catastrophic collapse, I don't know that we're that the Flyers are really going to be in a position to make it.

7:19 Speaker 2: I'm not so sure about the Capitals either. So the Red Wings are teetering. They are without Dylan Larkin, and care's no information as to when he's expected he's expected back. And I also do believe that they have been struggling to string together wins since Larkin went out of the lineup. Yeah, but again that should not factor in when you're the Boston Bruins or any other team. You have to go about the business of securing points. Yep, exactly. And well let's talk really quickly, you know, as we set the table because there's a lot of stuff to talk about happening around the league, because it's been a busy it's been a busy week wide.

8:15 Speaker 2: Yeah, but let's really quickly since we're talking about the playoff picture and what we've just finished talking about kind of where the Bruins have been. You mentioned the upcoming schedule and the difficulty that lies ahead for Boston. So who do we have coming up and what are the concerns. Well, the concerns are is for the remainder of the month of March, you are facing the likes of New Jersey, Montreal, Detroit, Columbus, and Buffalo all on the road.

9:01 Speaker 1: How have we been on the road? We have sucked on the road. I mean, you can't put it any other way. And then the games that you have at home at the TD Garden, you will be facing the likes of the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, the Dallas Stars, and I believe the Toronto Mayle Leiefs Now the Toronto Maple Leafs. Who knows if this season is over? Their captain is I think they're not making the playoffs.

9:31 Speaker 2: So and they.

9:34 Speaker 1: Seem to be playing with a bit of a sense of urgency since Austin Matthews went down with the season ending injury.

9:42 Speaker 2: And we'll we'll get to all of that. But these are not.

9:47 Speaker 1: Cupcake teams that you're facing, whether you're at home or you're on the road. Yeah, And so if you want to prove they prove your worth and your worthiness as a potential playoff contender, then you need to play competitive games against you know, the likes of the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild and the Buffalo Sabers and the Montreal Canadians and potentially the Blue Jackets too. These are, right, if not already locked in playoff teams, they are preparing themselves to also be a playoff team, right well, especially considering.

10:38 Speaker 2: We're up against teams that are almost guaranteed a playoff spot. And again, like you said, they're fighting for it, So who wants it more? Who wants it more? Right?

10:52 Speaker 1: So? I just this is why when you have games that you look back on and you say to yourself, right, and we've talked about it, that's a bad loss. That game is going to leave a mark, not taking points when you play the likes of you know, the Nashville Predators for the games early on in October where you pissed away right points because you're your own worst enemy. So you know, I'm sure we're not saying anything that hasn't crossed the minds of the Bruins' coaching staff or the players themselves. However, it doesn't give me a great deal of confidence when I see that the guys that we were relying on at the start or middle of the season, or actually before the break, who have been contributing offensively to now being anemic.

11:56 Speaker 1: Yeah, when it comes to offense, that you can have all the great goaltending you want, and luckily we're getting very good goaltending, and we'll we'll, I'm sure we'll break down a little bit of the recent games, but you still have to be able to put the.

12:14 Speaker 2: Pack in the net.

12:16 Speaker 1: Yep.

12:18 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's been more than disappointing. It's certainly been frustrating to see the number of instances where when we're talking about the big the big boys, David Pasta, not Morgan Greek, you know, certainly, no.

12:37 Speaker 1: No, no, And I'm going to throw in I'm gonna throw in Elias Lindtome because he right where is he?

12:44 Speaker 2: He's disappeared he has allowedly disappear. The biggest difference I would say between him and let's say Pasta and Geeky, at least in the last this past week, Pasta and Geeky have had chances. They've they've been there, and it's just not converting players like Elias Linnholm. Are are you even there? I don't know. Well, at this point the second line it was contributing on the travel play.

13:19 Speaker 1: He was contributing at least popping in some power play goals. But you know, I did a little research this morning because I was bored and I'm aggregated with the Bruins power play. So I went back and looked at from from the start of when the season re engaged after the Olympic break, how many power play opportunities the Bruins have had in the games starting February twenty sixth up through and including the most recent game on Saturday. And the Bruins have had no less than thirty two power play opportunity these and have scored four goals.

14:03 Speaker 1: But they've also given up two short handed goals. Yeah, the power play sucks right now.

14:10 Speaker 2: Yes, Yeah, they need it badly and it's completely non existent. It's not even a mimic. It's non existent. I mean, just looking at this past week, the number of times where they couldn't even maintain control. Forget the two shorties that they've allowed since the break. They can't even stay in the zone, they can't get set up, they're off. They're chasing after guys who are able to poke it out of the zone, and off they go. And again, you know, we say this over and over again. It's like all of these games matter because they are they are up against a lot of different expectations.

14:55 Speaker 2: They're the expectations of the fans, and let's let maybe clear what the expectation is is the same. But the different people, the different groups. You know, it's the fans, it's the ownership, it's themselves and their teammates. And we know again that they have what it takes. So where is it? Where is it? I don't know, Maria, I don't know. I mean, it's a little.

15:24 Speaker 1: It's a positive and a little bit of a negative to me when I look and I see that in these nine games played since the break, Charlie mckaboy is the leading scorer, the leading point getter for the Bruins, he has in nine games five goals, five assists, ten points. Right behind him is victor Ardbertson, Yes, four goals, five points, Pablosaka four goals, five points, Pasta only two goals but six assists. But he's got to start shooting, like he has got to start shooting the damn hup again. He has to, he has to, has to has to.

16:07 Speaker 2: Way low on goals, way all right.

16:11 Speaker 1: And then when you go down through the rest of this, you got Casey middle stat with five points and then Geeky only three points. Lindholm only three points in nine games, yep, him, Marrit Housta Dina only two points. The the energy line of krally E, Simont and Castelic between them, I think they have a total of maybe three points in nine games. Like you simply need more. This is not a good recipe for sustained success.

16:49 Speaker 2: I kind of wonder because I was thinking about when you mentioned something to me during one of the games about Charlie McAvoy, that the that the Olympics did something good for him, right that it it, I don't know, maybe energized him because we've always known that he has been that player deep down, we've seen the flashes of it in the past, and maybe this just inspired him and so he's brought it back to Boston. But why do you think and maybe there's nothing here. Why do you think his re energized play out on the ice isn't influencing any of the rest of the team.

17:33 Speaker 2: Why is he seemingly existing in this vacuum of I'm the one here excited, I got the energy, I've got the get up and go and like literally nobody else does.

17:47 Speaker 1: Right, I don't know, because normally, right, you follow the lead of your leaders, right yeah, So is it a question of and I don't I'm just I'm just talking off the top of my head, Right Are they not buying in to him being a leader?

18:08 Speaker 2: I don't know.

18:10 Speaker 1: But typically when you see a player who is exhibiting that type of play consistently, and you know, I have been a critic of Charlie mclboys, and I think I've been justified in my criticism because, right, yeah, I find it frustrating when a player of the caliber of what Charlie mclboy, We've been told this is the caliber of play we should have been expecting from him, right, needs that motivation of the four Nations or the Olympics. Dude, why haven't you brought that from the beginning? Okay, it's here now, great, Okay.

18:58 Speaker 1: I want you to maintain that. I want you to maintain that. But I don't understand why it's not permeating throughout the rest of the lineup. I don't I don't understand. Now, I'm not saying that, you know, players are dogging it. I don't believe that they're dogging it. I think that they are still playing with a sense of energy and commitment. But I did see in the San Jose game levels of frustration building up, and I think those frustrations definitely bubbled over during the game on Saturday, especially when they pissed away a five on three power play opportunity, and ESPN was kind of scanning the bench and you could see Pasta was pissed, just because I could read his lips, and there were other players who were chirping about their frustration.

20:03 Speaker 1: Now, if your sticks right, and I do believe that this is a thing, right, your stick starts to get tighter and tighter and tighter.

20:15 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Well, and I think the narrative that they've been so bad on the road probably has also been getting to them, and it was a combination of what you just said, you know, with the power play and converting on those chances, and then also them being on the road compounded things. And I completely agree. I think we're starting to see them just grip those sticks a little too hard, and maybe the win in Washington will be enough to kind of make them feel like monkey off their backs. I would be a little surprised if it did the trick because it didn't really it wasn't like a real win.

21:01 Speaker 2: It was a shootout win.

21:03 Speaker 1: And can I just say this for the record, Yes, both the Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals of stuck at shootouts.

21:12 Speaker 2: That was torturedout to it absolutely brutal.

21:17 Speaker 1: And if the league doesn't take a look at that specific shootout and say we bored our viewers to death, we bored our viewers to death. Say what you will about the commentary about the three on three and they need to make changes to that because of the coming in of you know and coming out of the zone. But the shootout that was an abomination, an abomination on Saturday nine rounds.

21:45 Speaker 2: But Jeremy Swayman now holds the record for longest perfect number of rounds of a shootout for the Boston Bruins, beating out Tim Thomas, who had a record eight. He now has nine, so Willagan Thompson. And if if the posts or the pipes were animated objects, they should both take they should both take their pipes out to dinner because they were saved on more than one occasion by pucks. I mean, I have just never seen such uncreative shootout shop. I mean, it was bad. It was so bad. Oh my god, just yeah, they were just all terrible.

22:27 Speaker 2: Stick needles in my eyes. Yeah, I wanted to stick needles in my eyes. And I'm just at that point, I was like, I don't even care who scores. I just need to move on from this. Okay, Yeah, no, that was that was brutal. But anyways, so we've we've talked a little bit about what's coming up ahead. Ahead is not easy. The RoadHead is not easy. You know. There there are a number of divisional games that are yet to be played, and the fact that the the Columbus Blue Jackets Boston still has two more games to play against them, because that was the latest team, the last team to play for any of the other teams.

23:19 Speaker 2: Basically, it was the last first game of a series to happen across the league. So they literally only just played them the first time and they still have two more games against them. They're a very legit threat. And I don't know that Boston really they one, right, I can't even remember now, but yes, they did, they did, they did. It wasn't like a blowout, No, no, it was let's see four to two.

23:54 Speaker 3: That was right after that that That game happened right after It was the first game coming out of the break, and it was in I believe it was in Columbus.

24:07 Speaker 1: Oh no, no, no, it was at the TV Garden and they Bruins won for two. One was a empty net goal by Ardbitson to seal the deal. So and actually it was Felius Proposalo played pretty well in that game, but since then had not played well. And so again, you know, we we can talk about this too, but I think it was imperative on the part of the Boston Bruins to have Jeremy Swayman. He has got to bear the brunt of the workload moving forward. You're being paid as a number one. You yourself said you wanted to be the guy, so to speak, and it's put up or shut up time, because you're going to be the guy that's going to be taking the net for any playoff games that the Bruins play, So you've better get your bleep in order and be ready to see a good amount of rubber until the season ends.

25:12 Speaker 1: That's just my unless they have you know, the only time I think that maybe they should deviate is they've got is it this week?

25:24 Speaker 2: They have back to back?

25:26 Speaker 1: Yeah, so tonight they have New Jersey and then tomorrow, So tonight being Monday on the sixteenth, on the seventeenth Saint Patrick's Day, which is it should be a hoop at the TD Garden on Saint Patrick's Day. Oh no, Actually, they're playing in Montreal, so these are back to back games and they're traveling, so I have a little bit of a jaunt, I mean.

25:51 Speaker 2: A little bit of a flight.

25:52 Speaker 1: And so yeah, so I don't know if they'll split the net. I mean, it's I have to imagine. So they're gonna split, right, They're gonna have to split the net. So short of that, I short of that, Swayman's got to be the guy unless you're playing back to back games. I'm sorry, Swayman's got to be the guy he has to.

26:16 Speaker 2: I agree. So let's talk a little bit about what's going around the rink, because, like we said, there's a ton of things happening that are they're not just interesting as hockey fans, but also could we could see the repercussions and things for for the Bruins. But first of all, of course, I don't want to forget that team USA has for the first time ever gone three for three gold medals in Olympic hockey. The pair of team took gold against Canada, so I think that's also pretty hilarious that it was against the same team in all three games.

27:00 Speaker 1: So we've got the women, the men, and our para Olympians congratulations And it was a clean sweep yet as the brooms of Team Canada in all hoy instances.

27:13 Speaker 2: So who's better at hockey now? Exactly well. And then also speaking of international plays, as we've mentioned before in a couple of years, in twenty twenty eight, the NHL is going to be hosting the World Cup of Hockey and the cities were narrowed down back in December to sixteen cities, with Betman mentioning, you know, the desire to have most of the games in North America, but also having a European host city as well. And actually literally today they announced Prague as the European city, and then Calgary and Edmonton as the North American cities.

28:06 Speaker 2: So we're getting a little bit closer to more international play.

28:11 Speaker 1: And apparently there was a video circulating somewhere, we'll need to find it at some point where this was all kind of the beings were spilled in a video by the likes of David Pasternak, Cale mccarr and Honnor McDavid. Yep, yeah, I think it.

28:29 Speaker 2: Makes a lot of sense that they did end up with an Edmonton Calgary pairing for North America. They're very close to each other physically, and I mean, yeah, you could make the case like, oh but you know, the California teams or the New York teams are really physically close, but like, let's also be honest, there's more room and it's probably more affordable for them to host these games in a place like Alberta. So yes, and.

29:07 Speaker 1: Prague hosted the world This is also a way a kind of you know, like I don't know if I would call Calgary a small market team, but at some point, you know, you've got to spread the wealth, so to speak, across the lias, right, So yeah, I would imagine that this is all agreed to by members of the Board of Governors and league officials.

29:32 Speaker 2: So yeah. And I think if you're going to be doing a World Cup of Hockey for the first time and at this point, like I can't even remember how long it's been, you want to make sure that it's in the right venues. This is not an event to experiment like Florida outdoor games for a Winter Classic like or is in Canada when they have the heritage Classics, like this is meant to showcase and celebrate the traditions of hockey and having it in Canada first and foremost. I mean, certainly, I think they could have gone with the two states of hockey in North America, but those two states are very far away from each other massa, not very close, not good for travel, So it makes a ton of sense that the North American venue is there.

30:37 Speaker 2: And then in Europe, you know, Prague has been and the Czech Republic has been growing as a hockey force for quite some time. Like I said, they hosted the i HF I h I i HF World a couple of years ago when pasta one or when when Boston had their early exit. So fantastic, And these.

31:05 Speaker 1: Are the type of things to events where this is where the NHL takes the opportunity to grow its sport worldwide. This is this is where they are legitimate ways to grow your sport across the world exactly.

31:24 Speaker 2: So the other news that's kind of impacting every team is honestly the injury to Austin Matthews from Rad gogutis who clearly committed the crime of the k neon knee, which can be discustrisingly damaging. Surprise, like, it doesn't seem like it would be something that you can ruin, you can ruin someone's career. I'm going to go off on a tangent on this because it went off on a tangent, not a total tangent on Morning Brew.

32:02 Speaker 1: But they agreed with me. There are certain hits in the beautiful sport of hockey that should never happen.

32:11 Speaker 2: Fits to the.

32:11 Speaker 1: Head and neon knee chunks, those are potential career ending hits. They have no business, no place in the game, and I don't care who you are or who you hit. Yeah, okay, you deserve to have the friggin' book thrown at you. And the fact that goddess, well, I don't give a shit that he hadn't been suspended in seven years. I don't give a shit he ended Austin Matthews, Caesa m okay.

32:53 Speaker 2: Pray serious.

32:54 Speaker 1: Five five games, and anyone that I have listened to either or on the set of TNT or the set of ESPN or podcasts are all in agreement.

33:09 Speaker 2: It was not et enough.

33:11 Speaker 1: And but George Parros and the rest of those boneheads that look at this stuff and say that five games is enough, you're all idiots. You should all be stripped of your jobs. You should all be stripped of your jobs because you know not what you are doing any longer.

33:37 Speaker 2: Right, I think this? Do I think anything is necessarily going to come of it? No. Unfortunately, However, it's good that there is additional conversation happening. You know, the GMS are having their meeting this week, and I'm sure that this is going to be a topic of conversation in general.

33:57 Speaker 1: This is a big topic of This is going to be a big topic of conversation.

34:02 Speaker 2: And you know, the the solution is season has begun.

34:06 Speaker 1: Is this what we're doing now, We're going to take out star players or players?

34:14 Speaker 2: Well here's the thing, right, So first of all, don't expect any sort of significant major changes immediately because these rulings from player safety, things like suspensions and what have you, those are all negotiated via the CBA. So it's not just a simple like we're going to just change and reform player safety. But what I would love to see because we've also talked on our podcast about a number of times when player safety has seriously screwed up, which was the swing to the head of Trent Frederick by Ruba, Jacob Truba, Truba truebase tro check yes by Truba and there was nothing.

35:09 Speaker 2: And then the recent reinjury to Charlie McAvoy's head by that flying elbow from Florida and there was nothing. Nothing came of that this league. And again I understand it can be a complicated thing to make a decision, right, there's always gonna be somebody who's not happy. But if this league is actually committed to player safety, they would decide that these are the injuries or the penalties that are non negotiable, zero tolerance hits to the head and to the knee. Let's just say, I'm sure there are others, but as an example that if you commit this crime, it doesn't matter what your record is, you could be totally clean, first time offender.

36:21 Speaker 2: But because the risk is so great to ending another person's career, their ability to be you could permanently damage somebody and and they and they'll now be disabled or what have you. And so you have to make a decision. Is it legitimately important that these things stop? Because Department of Players Safety Gary Bettman, the league, they have the ability to change the behavior of the players. They have done it before. They did it in the nineties when they decided there needed to be a lot less just random fighting, you know, and all the clutching and grabbing, and they told refs to crack down on no more of this, and it's and it backed way off.

37:17 Speaker 2: So if you are serious about player safety, you're serious about protecting these players from significant head injuries. Forget even CTE like at this point, you know, he's never gonna admit that that's a thing, but we all know head injuries are bad. Knee injuries can cost you everything and be serious. Because I was listening to thirty two Thoughts and they did an evaluation of all of the decisions that have been handed down for I don't know whatever stretch of time, how many games were handed out as suspension and there is no common number.

38:02 Speaker 2: It's it's willingly. So is this a serious injury? Is this a serious problem or is it not? Because I think it is and the league just needs to

38:16 Speaker 2: do something about it.

38:17 Speaker 1: I would like to and I understand about right that it was a lot of this has been negotiated by the players themselves. But as players, don't you think you want to see this change?

38:33 Speaker 2: Oh? For sure? How do you?

38:35 Speaker 1: How is that okay that you see one of your colleagues, a teammate, a friend, whatever the case may be, it's taken out at the knee like that, or suffer such a severe and sustained concussion that it could be career ending and a guy only gets five games for that. He gets to continue his livelihood after five games, while you're sitting at home having to wait for doctors and surgeries and therapies and conditioning and all this other stuff so that you can get back and get healthy. To be available to your team and your teammates.

39:18 Speaker 1: Again, it's just it's bullshit.

39:21 Speaker 2: It is it is. And since we're ranting about player safety, I also think it is complete and utter bullshit that it is quite literally against the rules for somebody like Charlie McAvoy to want opt to wear a bubble because that man is not going to have any teeth by the end of the season, Maria, and he is not allowed to wear a bubble. I don't know if he doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. I don't know if he wants to wear one, but the fact that he's not allowed to if he wanted to,

40:01 Speaker 2: he's going to need to be drinking his food for a long time, no, likely for most of the summer, yes, right, because he's going to have some extensive dental work done. Yes, yeah, I like serious dental work. So you know, Department of Players Safety is and always has been, at least since Paris has been around, a joke. And the fact that nobody it's right.

40:33 Speaker 1: Everybody knows. Everybody knows that when they say to you, right, we're going to have an in person hearing, it's a minimum of five games, right, It's a minimum, We've seen enough of this stuff to no. But then you decided, like what, you didn't have time to finish the phone call with them to tack on, because what I'm hearing is people, I think people would have.

41:00 Speaker 2: Been okay with eight to ten games.

41:04 Speaker 1: I don't know if that would have appeased Austin Matthews agent, who was furious in general, but I think the players in general, people across the league, eight to ten games would have been sufficient.

41:21 Speaker 2: Right. And again for the type of infraction that he committed, I don't care if it has been since twenty nineteen that he hasn't been suspended, I don't care. And the fact of the matter is he did it three weeks ago to Sidney Crosby, so clearly he knows what he is about, which again leads us to our next kind of fun, little fun little thing that happened around the rink. Well, that was a serious thing. That was a serious thing. This is the silly thing. Oh my god. Yeah. So, Uh, Mitch Marner, I don't know if it was inadvertent or not told the world what happened to Sidney Crosby.

42:14 Speaker 2: Uh, and his the extent of his knee injury which I mean, I think we all know it's always generally pretty uh secretive throughout the season, not just because you don't want other teams to strategize around your the health of your team, but there I still think that there's a legitimate concern and fear that some other player who's a terrible person may then try to exploit your your weakness and your right right, right right.

42:47 Speaker 1: But you know, so but there's you know, maybe some people think that, you know, the thing with the NHL and the and they're not unwillingness to disclose injuries and maintain into upper lower body injuries. I guess I understand that to a degree, because you don't want a guy coming back from an injury where everybody knows what that injury is and make that player somewhat vulnerable to you know, another hit in that.

43:15 Speaker 2: Area, right or no know when he's going to come back, because you can also be pretty vague and say, oh, yeah, like three to six weeks, so you know, all those teams that they're going to be playing against during that time period, they don't know if this player is going to be back and if they need to change up their lines like about how they want to play against because is he giv be there? Is he not going to be there? That's the question. So, needless to say, all of this situation buddhas Matthews sid has gotten to the point where even Connor McDavid has been asked and he did weigh in on the situation, which if if you know anything about the state of hockey at this point, it would seem that Connor McDavid is the unofficial official mouthpiece of players across the league that if he says something, if he says something, he's not one to just randomly say things.

44:26 Speaker 2: But we know that Gary Bettman values his opinion. You know, he was involved in the revamp of the All Star Game directly and things like that. The fact that he said basically this we need to rethink maybe how Department of Player Safety makes decisions on things like suspensions. You know, he didn't specifically mention the situation that happened with Matthews, although Matthews and McDavid share an agent. But you know, every player saw what happened, and every player most certainly has an opinion on what happened, because either you very well could be someone like Matthews or you have been or could be someone like goddhas and you're going to have an opinion on what's happened.

45:23 Speaker 2: So and seems like no party is satisfied with what's happened.

45:27 Speaker 1: No, and I mean Austin Matthews agent was For those of you who didn't read his comments, he ripped George Parros and the Department of Players Safety up and down, backwards, forwards and sideways. He basically called for the suspension of the Department of Players Safety. Now I understand, you know, he's it's his player, his agent. Someone's got someone, someone has got to speak up. And I think it's a very slippery slope for players to say anything. I think it's a very slippery slope for coaches or general managers.

46:15 Speaker 1: They literally cannot. He is not bound by any of that stuff. So I can't say as I blame him, because he's saying what we all feel, things that we have said in one way, shape or form. And if Gary Bettman and the rest of his cronies doesn't take a deep dive into this, then they're really friggin tone death, right.

46:42 Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, I agree. So that being said, uh, let's.

46:52 Speaker 1: We'll just get quickly to on the Aston Matthews piss the other part of that because we have discussed this as it relates to the aren't a Maple Leafs in the past and feeling like there's a lack of culture, camaraderie, call it what you want.

47:08 Speaker 3: Yeah.

47:09 Speaker 1: After Austin Matthews was laid out in the manner in which he was laid out in, mm hmm, no one came to just no one. No one in a Maple Leafs Jersey did a damn thing about it. No one, to the point that when Craig Beruby was asked about it post game even he said that it would have been nice to see some type of a response when you see you captain out on the ice like that.

47:43 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. If I were not a Bruins fan, I would say you got to throw away that whole team. But I am a Bruins fan, So screw the Leafs and hope they continue to be terrible forever. Well.

48:02 Speaker 1: I will tell you one person who has been a loyal Maple leaf supporter, and the one, Paul the Sennette is basically said on the set of T and T last night that they really should rip it down to the studs. It might be time to consider ripping it.

48:20 Speaker 2: Down to the studs. It's poison in there. I agree. So, I know we've talked a lot about what's happened in the league and kind of the Bruins in general. I mean, there's no point in rehashing a lot of the uninspired play that we've seen since we last spoke. So let's just talk about who's in the penalty box this this week.

48:47 Speaker 2: The power play. Yeah, the power play is in the freaking penalty box. It's just it is.

48:57 Speaker 1: You simply mean the fact that you've had thirty thirty two how will play opportunities? Actually in both games against the Capitals, I believe they received four how will play opportunities in each of those games, one of which was a five on three. Okay, you simply you simply can't waste those opportunities. You have scored only four goals and you've given up two short handed goals. It sucks. It sucks.

49:31 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's at this point. I'm just I'm at a loss because how are we here?

49:42 Speaker 3: Again?

49:42 Speaker 2: How are we here? I don't know, I don't know, and I don't want to. Oh, the movement is good. No, it's not good.

49:50 Speaker 1: Unless you freaking score, because I would give you credit if yes, your movement's good, you're generating energy and off chances, and then you continue that into your five on five play. But it's not even bleeding into the five on five play because you're not scoring five v five either, Right?

50:10 Speaker 2: Right?

50:13 Speaker 1: What else is in the box? Campus, Lindholm, I am sick and tired, Campus, I am sick and tired of your stick in fractions. I've had a freaking enough of your stick in fractions. And honestly, I don't know what's going on with Hampus, but he simply doesn't seem to be the same player since he sustained these injuries. Because this was a guy who exhibited offensive skill, good offensive skating skills for a defenseman, and I haven't seen any of that.

50:53 Speaker 2: No, I haven't seen any of that.

50:55 Speaker 1: So you know, I don't know if he's still hampered by injuries or if the significance of those injuries have hampered is skating.

51:05 Speaker 2: But he he doesn't look like the same same player. No, I agree, I agree, stick taps.

51:16 Speaker 1: Let's end on a positive note. I I gotta give it. I gotta give stick taps to Charlie McAvoy. Yeah, because you know I've i have criticized him. I've been waiting to see this, Charlie McAvoy for I don't know how many years now. I still get a little frustrated by the fact that you know you needed this incentivization. Okay, fine, bye. He he has been in beastmall man, an absolute beast mode. So anyone else I'm gonna put uh Jeremy Swayman in a stick staff because you know, he has been playing net for the most heart like a big dog.

52:02 Speaker 1: Need him to be a big dog. And he's you wanted the moniker of thede number one guy. So it's it's yours. It's yours to tip, and it is yours to keep.

52:18 Speaker 2: Agreed agreed as long as he can continue to play consistently. I think he's he's been a little bit up and down, but quite frankly, with the way that everyone else has been playing, I think his his stick taps are well deserved. And let's just hope that we can see our big guys start scoring. You know, we need we need to see goals. At the end of the day, they have to score goals, and they're just question your preach into the quiet and again, and I'm sure they're very well aware of this struggles and I know it's got to be a thing too, where right your grip and your stick a little bit, a little bit tighter with each passing game when you're on the offensive.

53:07 Speaker 1: Struggle bus, Yeah, but they've got to find a way out of it because even if they make the playoffs, which I'm still concerned about that based on their strength of schedule, but right right, you're not going to get very far if you if you're not scoring goals and your special teams and is not clicking so agreed.

53:31 Speaker 2: It would it will be brutal. It's going to be tough the next couple of weeks. But any final thoughts, Mariam.

53:41 Speaker 1: Pasta, please Pasta, if you're listening to me, I know you had your second baby, girl and you probably tie it. Please shoot the puck when you have the opportunity, shoot the.

53:53 Speaker 2: Puck, please please. Uh Well, make sure you like and subscribe for more content, and be sure to leave a reading in review. To help other Bruins fans find us, you can support the pod by joining our Patreon or following us on our socials at Tape to tape mk and on substack at tape to tape mk dot substack dot com, and as always, go Bes, Go Bes.