Pucks with Haggs host Joe Haggerty answers your Bruins questions in a mailbag edition of the podcast and goes over the 2-1 OT loss to the Utah Hockey Club.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Pucks with Hags is powered by PrizePix, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS
00:05Media Network.
00:06Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast powered by PrizePix, the exclusive
00:11daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:14I believe this is the 133rd episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast.
00:19I'm your host, Joe Hagerty.
00:21You can find my work at joehagerty.substack.com.
00:25Subscribe and get a premium membership, get all of my Bruins writing sent straight directly
00:29to your inbox.
00:30I also file columns three times a week for the Boston Sports Journal.
00:33Go to bostonsportsjournal.com and check it all out when you go there.
00:39Let's thank our sponsors too.
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01:18Download GameTime today.
01:19What time is it?
01:20Game time.
01:21Game time.
01:22That's right.
01:23All right.
01:24Let's kick off the show, which, by the way, it's going to be a mailbag episode.
01:27We're going to answer some of your questions.
01:29It feels like a good time to do that.
01:31With some events happening this week, a pretty entertaining good win over the Colorado Avalanche
01:36to kick off the Bruins' road trip out west.
01:38And then Saturday night, a rough game in Utah where they lost 2-1 in overtime.
01:44Frankly, did not deserve to win.
01:46It really felt like the right outcome happened in that game given the way that they played
01:52and a lot of stuff going on in that game.
01:56Jim Montgomery barking at Brad Marchand on the bench.
01:59Another underwhelming performance from some of Boston's best players like David Postranek,
02:03Charlie Coyle.
02:04Marchand was okay.
02:06Certainly not great.
02:10Some of the defensemen did not play very well.
02:12Jeremy Swayman was actually excellent.
02:14Cole Koepke scored his third goal of the season.
02:16The fourth line was, again, phenomenal.
02:19But too many guys, too many guys the Bruins are counting on among the forward group.
02:25Not really doing enough right now offensively and not really showing enough.
02:30It was a game, frankly, I felt like watching on Saturday night.
02:34Maybe it's part of the reason that Montgomery lit into Brad Marchand.
02:39It's because there were a lot of passengers, it felt like to me, in that game against Utah.
02:43A lot of players that weren't ready to win that game weren't playing like they were there
02:47to win.
02:50They were lucky, frankly, to get out with a point and a lot of that goes to Swayman being
02:53excellent in net in the fourth line again.
02:57But we're going to answer your questions on that with the Bruins kind of middle of the
03:00road right now.
03:01500 record.
03:02Win one, lose one.
03:05Playing okay, but nowhere near, I think, at the level that they should be playing at,
03:09that they could be playing at, that they have the talent to be playing at.
03:13But let's take a look at some of these questions here.
03:15All right.
03:16First one from Ray R.
03:17Joe, have enjoyed your Bruins coverage for as long as I can remember.
03:21Thank you, Ray.
03:22I understand the players, Pasternak, Lindholm, and Zaka, wanting to play together.
03:25It's not exactly lighting the world on fire.
03:28Agreed.
03:29Zaka, over last season, turned out to be a pretty dependable center.
03:32Why would we take a first or second line center and put him back on the wing?
03:36Last I checked, we lost two centers on Bergeron and Cretchey, and we're now using only one
03:40qualified replacement while expecting too much from Coyle, an outstanding third line
03:45center.
03:46Wouldn't the Martian line benefit from a top two center?
03:49Wouldn't that line be reunited on the power player, game-ending face-off situations, and
03:53not be on the same line at the expense of the team?
03:55Any merit to this perspective?
03:57Thanks for your time, Ray R.
03:58Ray, thank you for the thoughtful email, for the thoughtful question.
04:02I think it's a great question.
04:05Look, Charlie Coyle had over 20 goals over 60 points last year, was mostly playing center
04:13with Brad Martian.
04:14They had, yes, Jake DeBrusque.
04:17But it felt like they did pretty well.
04:19It felt like they actually had a good, successful season.
04:22Certainly, I thought Charlie Coyle, I had thought along the same lines you did, that
04:27at his best, he was probably a third line center and a very good third line center.
04:31But he changed my perspective a little bit last year with the way that he played and
04:35how good he was with Brad Martian and the chemistry that they had together.
04:40Yes, he's off to a slow start this year.
04:43I think he's got one point in six games.
04:45I think he's only got like six shots on net.
04:47Just offensively, we're not seeing much of anything from Charlie Coyle right now.
04:55Not strong enough on the puck, not aggressive enough with his shot, not really looking for
04:59his offense enough, just too much of a passive player and not playing up to his size and
05:04strength and speed.
05:05So, you know, I have not, he has certainly not played great.
05:10Zaka at center, I think has been okay.
05:13I don't think he's been a great center.
05:14He's not good on face-offs.
05:16I do think he plays like a center.
05:20The two-way hockey, great back checker, great defensive player.
05:24Maybe they felt like playing him on the wing was going to free him up to shoot the puck
05:27more and to score more.
05:28And, you know, maybe part of the thinking there is with Jake DeBrusque leaving and signing
05:34in Vancouver, they needed somebody to step up and score more goals on the wing and be
05:39more of a shooter and a finisher, and that Zaka has the talent to do that.
05:44He's had, I think, the most scoring chances of anybody on this team so far this year.
05:50He hasn't finished a lot of them, but he's had some great opportunities.
05:53He's got like, you know, 14, 15 shots on net in six games.
05:59And I think he's been set up quite a bit to be the guy with the really good offensive
06:03chances on that line with Lindholm and with Pasternak.
06:07He just hasn't been able to finish, and that's kind of been the story throughout his career.
06:11At times, either he doesn't shoot enough or he's not able to finish some of those chances
06:15that he gets, but he gets a lot of chances.
06:17So I don't hate him on the wing.
06:21I understand part of the thinking behind it.
06:25I just think, you know, Lindholm, you wanted to put Lindholm in a situation where he was
06:31playing with a couple of wingers and put him in a similar situation to what he was in in
06:36Calgary a couple of years ago when he was with Matthew Kachuk and when he was with Johnny
06:39Gaudreau.
06:40He ends up getting over 40 goals and 80 points, and it really unlocks his offense in addition
06:45to what he's able to do away from the puck and, you know, the two-way play and the Bergeron-esque
06:52qualities that he has that have been really good.
06:57So I think, you know, I like the thinking, and I think it's sound logic to what they're
07:05doing.
07:06I don't think a lot of what's happening right now has to do with the coaching decisions
07:10of where these players are playing.
07:12I think a lot of this comes down to, like, some of those guys are not playing well.
07:16You know, Charlie Coyle, not playing well.
07:19Not a good start to the year.
07:20And he has been in the past at times a little bit streaky, and he'll go into funks for a
07:24little bit.
07:25They avoided that last year, but it looks like the start of this year has been a little
07:28bit of a different story.
07:31Pasternak has, like, three or four goals already this year, but I really don't like
07:38the way that he's played, and I think by his own admission, he has not played well.
07:44I don't think he's skating particularly well.
07:46I don't think he's been very aggressive.
07:47I think at times he looks almost sort of careless with the puck and with what he's doing.
07:52You know, there was a play last night where a puck kicked out to him.
07:56I can't remember if it was a pass or, like, the puck just got out to him in the high slot,
08:02and he looked like he was trying to do that fancy, like, slingshot shot of his that he
08:07does sometimes, and he just lost the puck.
08:10And he went from having a potential, like, great scoring chance, grade-A scoring chance
08:15in the best middle part of the ice in the offensive zone, center-cut middle ice in the
08:20offensive zone in the slot, like, where you're going to get your offense, where you're going
08:23to score from, especially if you're him, you got to score on that 99 out of 100 times
08:27and get a goal out of a chance like that, and he just fumbled it away, and it looked
08:31so casual the way he did it, and it really just, it was an indication to me that Pasternak
08:37just was not into that game, just was not fully invested.
08:41And you look at the end result, he had, I think, 1945 vice time against Utah, two shots
08:46on net, that's it, three giveaways, takes a bad tripping penalty, needless one, in overtime
08:52that leads, you know, it wasn't a power play goal, but right after the penalty got killed,
08:57Utah ends up scoring the game-winning goal, so essentially it was because of the penalty.
09:01So you know, I just, it was one of those games, like, Pasternak has some games where, like,
09:08he's phenomenal, and most of the time.
09:10Great offensive producer, he's on, when he's on, like, he's dangerous, he's one of the
09:14most dangerous offensive players in the NHL, goal scorer, like, probably will end up being
09:19the most prolific and best pure goal scorer in Boston Bruins franchise history.
09:25Now I, everybody's gonna say Phil Esposito, great scorer, he was a big body that scored
09:29a ton around the net, you know, was like a power forward type, sort of, but I mean, obviously
09:36great offensive player, had a lot of skill, but I think Pasternak, you know, has the classic
09:42sort of goal scoring skill that the Bruins haven't had a ton of players like that, you
09:46know, Rick Middleton's another guy that was kind of like that, that scored a lot.
09:50But I think when it's all said and done, you're gonna look at the numbers he's gonna put up,
09:53you're gonna look at how he plays, like, just what he was, the sort of electrifying skill
09:57that he has, and you know, the shot, and sort of the fancy things that he does, and some
10:03of the creative ways that he scores, and you're gonna look at Pasternak as the greatest goal
10:07scorer in Bruins history.
10:09So we're talking about a phenomenal, like, probably Hall of Fame level player here, but
10:15when Pasternak either doesn't seem fully invested in what's going on, doesn't have
10:21his A game, doesn't, you know, isn't operating at, like, a level, a high enough level, he
10:29can be tough to watch sometimes, and that game against Utah was tough to watch.
10:33Not only was he not a positive player, and not a player that was really doing anything
10:37to help them win, he was doing things that ended up causing them to lose, and he just
10:42was not a net positive player in any way, shape, or form in that game.
10:47And for my money, even though he's got a bunch of goals this year, I don't think he's been
10:51even close to as good as he can be in the early part of the season, and that's not good.
10:57You know, that's a bit of a troubling sign, and I think it's part of the reason that this
11:00top six has not been operating at anything close to full efficiency, and has been frankly
11:05outplayed by the fourth line at every turn.
11:09Too many guys, whether it's Pasternak, whether it's Marshan, whether it's Coyle, whether
11:14it's Zaka, whether it's Trent Frederick, whether it's Morgan Geeky, whether it's Justin Brezow
11:20who really hasn't done anything offensively, you go down the list, and Max Jones and Riley
11:24Tufte, those guys have not really caught on in any way, shape, or form with a line or
11:29in a role, yet with the Bruins as well, just not doing well.
11:34And it hasn't been good to watch, and it's a problem right now, and it's something that
11:38Jim Montgomery needs to figure out, and that this Boston Bruins team needs to figure out
11:43if they're going to start having success.
11:44So I don't think all of that is solved by putting Pavel Zaka back in the center spot.
11:51I actually am okay with Charlie Coyle being the second line center.
11:54I think he earned that right, and he showed that he could do it last year, and that I
11:58think until they get another bona fide top six winger, I think Zaka probably will stay
12:03on the wing because he's one of the better scorers that they have, and maybe they want
12:06him thinking about that and focusing on that more than, you know, being very...
12:13Because I have a feeling, when Zaka plays center, he's kind of like...
12:16My son Finn is this way too, okay?
12:18He plays center a lot.
12:20When he plays center, he focuses so much on the defensive side of it and so much on kind
12:25of being a third defenseman and making sure that everything is, you know, taken care of
12:29in the defensive zone, and he's very slow and low on the breakout and all that stuff,
12:36but he doesn't think offense enough, you know?
12:39He doesn't get out on offense, and he's not ever at the front of the offensive rush, and
12:44you know, he's always sort of trailing the wingers going up the ice because he's making
12:49sure the D zone is taken care of, as a good center should, before he goes up the ice.
12:53Zaka reminds me so much of that with the way that he plays.
12:56I think when he plays center, he's very much defense-focused, and I think it's because
13:01he wants to win.
13:02I think he's a competitive guy.
13:03I think that's what, you know, some players that play center, the ones that really want
13:07to win, the runs that really want to compete, the ones that are team-first instead of stats-first
13:11and offense-first, they think that way, and they play that way, and I think Zaka is that
13:15same kind of guy, and maybe they feel like him playing on wing kind of frees him up a
13:19little bit to think more offense and to just rush up the ice because that, you know, again,
13:23when I watch my son play, it's the same kind of thing.
13:26He, like, when he plays wing, he's a little more, like, you know, staying up high for
13:31the breakout, leading the rush, going up one of the side ends, and really, like, at
13:36the front of the rush instead of trailing it, and I think playing wing allows you to
13:41do that.
13:42Like, it's funny, you know, when they're young, they're all over the place, and they don't
13:46necessarily play good positioning and play up high when they're on the wings, but once
13:50they start doing that and learn the position, like, I think wing is the easiest thing in
13:54the world.
13:55Like, the responsibilities are fairly simple.
13:57Most of the time, you're just thinking offense and going and pushing the puck up the ice
14:01and sort of skating your lane when you're regrouping or coming up, but it really frees
14:06you up, I think, when you play wing to just think more offense and not have to worry about
14:09the defense.
14:10So, maybe that was the thinking behind, part of the thinking, anyway, behind moving Zaka
14:14to wing, but I think it's interrelated with Nebraska leaving and the personnel that they
14:18have and, you know, not really, basically being one top six winger short until the trade
14:23deadline, which it seems like now.
14:26But great question, Ray.
14:27Thank you very much.
14:28I appreciate it.
14:29And I'm glad you've enjoyed my Bruins coverage, and I hope I can continue to provide you with
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16:20All right, Charles Viglione1 says, Breazeau, Coyle, and Geeky not producing so far this
16:24season.
16:25Maybe time for call-ups from Providence.
16:29Not yet.
16:30I think it's still early for that.
16:33But Breazeau and Coyle need to get it going.
16:35There's no...
16:36Or Breazeau and Geeky, excuse me.
16:37Geeky especially, I think, really needs to get it going.
16:40But Breazeau, if he gets in the top six spots, he needs to get it going as well.
16:44These guys need to take advantage of these opportunities because what's going to happen
16:50Geeky started the year with Coyle and Martian.
16:52But what's going to happen, I feel like, is what I think is what I anticipated was going
16:57to happen all year, which is that the Bruins are going to go through like an audition of
17:03sorts for different players there.
17:04They're going to go by committee and try a bunch of players there and see if anybody
17:08can be a good fit.
17:10With most likely this scenario being that nobody really seizes it.
17:15Nobody can really take hold of it for the entire year.
17:18And then when you get to the trade deadline, they're going to bring in somebody and it'll
17:21push everybody down a slot and maybe make the forward group a little more functional.
17:27Because it feels like right now it's missing a piece.
17:30But in the meantime, these guys, Breazeau and Geeky, is coming off his best offensive
17:38season.
17:39He's a guy that I think Martian and Coyle wanted to play with, but he was not able to
17:44do much with it.
17:45He's not the fastest guy in the world.
17:47I like his rugged play.
17:48I like how strong he is in the puck.
17:50He's got a good shot.
17:51He thinks the game pretty well offensively.
17:53He's got kind of an old school style game to him that I really like.
17:58But not the fastest guy in the world.
18:01Definitely not going to light the world on fire with a skill level.
18:05It's hard skill more than like eye popping, dazzling skill, but still really effective.
18:09I just feel like he's probably, and there's a lot of Bruins forwards that kind of fit
18:14under this category.
18:15He's probably better off as a third line player, a third line winger than a second
18:19line winger.
18:20Breazeau though, I think he's a guy that if you put him there for a little while, I think
18:25he would produce.
18:26And he's got a classic big man's game around the net.
18:28He's got great sides.
18:29There's a lot of things he can do well, but he's also still a little bit of an unproven
18:33talent offensively and what he can do over the course of a whole season.
18:37Even though he's shown that he can play, obviously, at this level.
18:40You need to be able to produce consistently if you're going to be a top six guy.
18:44And he hasn't been able to do that to this point.
18:48So we'll see.
18:49But as far as call-ups from Providence, I don't, yeah, look, Myrkulov, Lysel, Riley
18:55Duran, Farinacci, there's a bunch of guys down there.
19:01None of them had super great camps and I don't think they're going to get called up until
19:04they really light it up in Providence and show that they're worthy of the call-up and
19:09really earn it.
19:10I just don't think they're at that level.
19:11I think the only viable solution, the only other solution, the only other thing that's
19:16out there that they can try right now is Tyler Johnson, who is still with the team, still
19:20practicing at home, not traveling with the team, not signed to a contract, still on the
19:24veteran tryout agreement.
19:28But I feel like the Bruins would have cut him loose by now.
19:31I feel like he would have left the organization if he was not going to eventually get signed.
19:36I think the Bruins have told him to hang tight, wait, and they will eventually figure out
19:41a way and free up the salary cap space to do it.
19:44Signing Jeremy Swain, Swain would do a bigger contract than they anticipated.
19:49His average annual value going much higher than that or a decent amount higher than they
19:53thought it was going to, I think wiped out whatever extra money they thought they might
19:57have had to sign a guy like Johnson to a $750,000 contract or something like that, the veteran
20:03minimum that a guy that's on a tryout agreement would get.
20:07But eventually with IR, maybe they make a trade.
20:12There's different ways where they'll free up salary cap space to, I think, eventually
20:15put enough away, stow enough away where they'll be able to sign him and make it work salary
20:20cap wise.
20:21They're just not there yet.
20:22Don't forget, and I've mentioned this multiple times, Danton Heinen last year was on the
20:26same situation, was a veteran camp tryout, did not sign until October 30th, right before
20:33Halloween.
20:34So he signed for like eight or nine games into the regular season and then finally he
20:37signed after hanging around for the first month.
20:40So this is kind of the way of doing business and how the Bruins operate as far as maximizing
20:44the salary cap and getting the most out of it.
20:48So I wouldn't be shocked if in the next couple of weeks, Tyler Johnson signs.
20:52And if and when he does, I feel like he showed that he can absolutely be in the mix here
20:58and he can add to what they're doing and he can add some offense, he can add some veteran
21:03ability to be flexible and versatile and play up and down the lineup, play different
21:08positions.
21:09I think he would help them quite a bit.
21:10And I think he has the, you know, the offensive wherewithal and he's got the track record
21:14to be able to play a top six role potentially with guys like Coyle and Marcian too.
21:19So I feel like Tyler Johnson is signing and putting him in the lineup is more likely as
21:25a reinforcement type move than bringing guys up from Providence.
21:28I just don't see that as better than the status quo.
21:31I think we saw that in training camp and I think it's going to take some time for the
21:34opinions to change as far as the Bruins go with those players.
21:39So I like the suggestion, but I would say it's probably going to be more likely Tyler
21:43Johnson than Providence call-ups and maybe that happens in the next week to 10 days.
21:46And maybe the urgency goes up if the Fords continue to kind of flail around and underwhelm
21:51and not play up to their potential, but you know, we'll see.
21:53All right.
21:54This is from Garrick 27.
21:55They are not as talented as they have been recently, but give it a minute.
21:58They are still a good team and we'll play better.
22:00I mean, it's early in the year.
22:03It's a work in progress.
22:04I think the Bruins last year did not play particularly well in the first month to six
22:07weeks of the season and they kind of built and they were getting, the thing is last year
22:11they were getting results even though they weren't playing well.
22:13And even now they're still winning some games.
22:16Like they're treading water.
22:17They're not killing it by any means.
22:19But they're not like, you know, basement dwellers like the Buffalo Sabres and the Atlantic division.
22:24So I think they're doing okay.
22:27And they're not as talented as they've been recently.
22:30Are they that much less talented than they were last year, especially after adding guys
22:34like Zdorov and Elias Lindholm?
22:35I'm not sure.
22:36Like I, I think there's a comparable talent level of last year, probably even more just
22:41given the upgrades that they brought in.
22:42But still now, and this was the case last year, it feels like, and this, this is kind
22:49of like the old Harry Sinden days.
22:50It always felt like there were like one sniper short, you know, there were one offensive
22:55player short from really having a full deck.
22:57It feels like right now, and it felt like this last year too, the Bruins were one top
23:01six forward away, and last year it was the number one center, but one top six forward
23:06away from having like a full set, a full complement of weapons, a full sort of roster of forwards.
23:12You know, they let Jake DeBrusco and they don't have a replacement.
23:16So like right now, until I think they bring somebody in, probably at the trade deadline,
23:20I feel like they're going to, they're going to be patching holes and making do, missing
23:25a top six piece.
23:27And, you know, having, they have a, like a, it feels like to me, they have a bevy of third
23:31line, third line candidates that they're just going to cycle through in the second line
23:36and keep trying to make do.
23:37And maybe one of them like has a good few months or can fill that hole for a while.
23:42But it feels like the general philosophy for Don Sweeney, and we, I think we might even
23:47have somebody that may have written this in a question or an email.
23:51The general philosophy is to put like sort of bottom six candidates or talent out there
23:56and see if one of them can rise to the occasion where you end up with a bunch of third line
24:01level guys and you're maybe like a top six forward short.
24:07You know what team Boston sports fans are most excited about this time of year right
24:12now?
24:13It's not the Patriots, definitely not the Red Sox.
24:16I mean, there's plenty of Bruins fans that are very excited about the Boston Bruins,
24:20but I've got to tell you, I think the team that everybody's most excited about is the
24:24Boston Celtics.
24:25They're excited about NBA hoops coming back.
24:27They're excited to go to the garden and watch the Celtics play defending that world championship
24:32and watching Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, and all of those guys that they've loaded up on
24:38on their roster.
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26:11What time is it?
26:13It's Game Time.
26:15And I think that's kind of what's going on right now.
26:17We'll see if that changes, but I feel like that's where we are right now.
26:20But to Garrick27's point, they are a good team.
26:23I think they're a playoff team.
26:24I think they're going to be better than they are.
26:26The one question I would have at this point, especially after watching the video of Jim
26:32Montgomery like barking at Brad Martian on the bench after, and Brad Martian had a terrible
26:37offensive blue line turnover.
26:39He was trying to hang on to a puck, which, by the way, the coach wants them to do that.
26:44He tells them to hang on to pucks and make plays.
26:48That's not something I think any hockey coach wants to see, is you trying to staccato through
26:52two or three guys and then give it up to the offensive blue line.
26:55But there's also that other part where they're being encouraged to hang on to pucks and to
27:00make plays.
27:03Maybe at times that can be a difficult tightrope to walk.
27:09He gives up an offensive blue line turnover.
27:13It goes the other way.
27:15It turns into a goal.
27:16The goal gets overturned because it was offside and it got challenged successfully by the
27:19Bruins.
27:20But that didn't stop Jim Montgomery from lighting into Martian on the bench.
27:23It looked like he was dropping F-bombs.
27:24It looked like he was yelling at him, kind of gave him a tug on the shoulder on the bench
27:29to let him know that he was talking about him.
27:32There was no reaction from Martian.
27:34He was just looking straight forward, staring straight forward the whole time.
27:40My question and my wonder is just with Montgomery's contract situation, with the way the team
27:47is performing, with all this stuff swirling around, is it going to get to a point where
27:53something's going to happen here?
27:56If they underachieve at all, that could be a time to make a move with the coach, especially
28:01if it's something the Bruins have been considering anyway.
28:03I think this is something we're going to watch closely and take a look at.
28:09That may be one of the moves to get more out of this team.
28:11That may end up being where Jim Montgomery pays the price in order to get a message across
28:16to everybody if they're not playing up to the level.
28:20We'll see if that's the case.
28:22Certainly with guys like Joe Sacco, Chris Kelly, Jay Leach on the Bruins bench, there's
28:27a bunch of candidates of people that could be a head coach on this team if they want
28:30to make a move, internal candidates that I think the Bruins would feel very good about.
28:36That is something interesting to watch.
28:40It's very noticeable when you don't see Montgomery doing that much on the bench, really going
28:44after his players, and you see him go after the captain.
28:47In this case, it's a guy you can go after, and he's going to be able to handle it, like
28:50maybe some of the younger players wouldn't be able to.
28:53But how is that going to play in the room?
28:54How is that going to play with the players?
28:56How is that going to play with Marcian?
28:58I think all that stuff's going to be interesting to watch.
29:01I think that is something where that's a developing situation.
29:08I would keep an eye on it.
29:10This is from C02062, Joe, the Bs lost the Blues for the Cup and were tossed around.
29:17Zero physical presence, no power forward, no accountability.
29:20Sweeney put together a team of third liners, and it hasn't changed.
29:23There you go.
29:24Not a team of third liners.
29:25There definitely are maybe one or too many third liners on this team, and they could
29:31use another pure goal scorer, another guy that's like a top six wing talent.
29:35Maybe not even a pure goal scorer, maybe more of like a power forward type guy.
29:39But they also brought in guys like Max Jones, Riley Tufte, a bunch of candidates to look
29:43at.
29:44Cole Koepke, who's been awesome.
29:48Maybe he gets some chances there, too.
29:49That's somebody I didn't even mention yet that I think you don't want to break up the
29:52fourth line because they're playing so well right now.
29:55But Cole Koepke looks like a guy that could play higher in the lineup, and is playing
29:59at a level that you may want to look at him with guys like Marchant and Coyle.
30:04So that could be another interesting guy, and maybe that's somebody that eventually
30:10played so well that they want to look at him there, and he performs in that role and never
30:14gives it up, and changes the way that people look at him around the league, and sort of
30:18changes his profile.
30:19So that's also another possibility, although I would be loathe to change the fourth line
30:24right now because they're playing Kostelik, Beecher, Koepke have been awesome.
30:29And you don't really, I think, want to mess with that.
30:33But look, what's going on with the Bruins right now, how much of it has to do with the
30:372019 Stanley Cup loss to the St. Louis Blues?
30:40Not much, I don't think.
30:43They're a good regular season team, they need to be better in the playoffs, they need to
30:47be better than they've been early in the season, but I don't think we need to rehash old history
30:52on this Bruins team.
30:56This is from Transcript Toad.
30:58Kosta is so damn bad in extra time, so bad defensively, can somebody tell him to just
31:02curl and skate with the guy to lower angle?
31:05We would be better off without him in overtime, and I mean that.
31:09We were saying that the other night when he was out there with Mason Lowry and Matt Potra,
31:12and he scores the game-winning goal because the three of them were so dynamic offensively.
31:17You could see immediately, I think that was against Montreal, right?
31:20You could see immediately when they were out together on the ice.
31:23Like I thought, I was watching in the press box, and as soon as I saw Lowry and Potra and
31:27Pasternak out there, and I saw the way they were passing, the way they were moving without
31:30the puck, just the way they were coexisting as a trio in three-on-three OT, I was like,
31:37this game's over, they gotta score.
31:38You could see it.
31:39You could see it coming from a mile away, because they looked dangerous as soon as they
31:43got out there.
31:45So Pasternak has that in his bag, too.
31:47You can't ignore that, and it's always there, and he's that good.
31:52I would always look at that as the upside, yes, he's a high-risk player, yes, he's gonna
31:56kill you in overtime sometimes because he's gonna make a mistake, that was a bad tripping
31:59call.
32:00Yes, you can argue maybe it wasn't a trip, but his stick was by his skates.
32:04What do you expect?
32:05That's gonna happen sometimes, even if you don't mean it to happen, so you probably shouldn't
32:09do it in the offensive zone in a play way away from your net where it's kind of meaningless.
32:14Don't take a risk there to put your team down and make them shorthanded in overtime.
32:18Just don't do it.
32:20Pick your spots with that stuff.
32:23In general, we've already talked about Pasternak, he did not have a good game last night, and
32:26he needs to be better.
32:28And I think you can look at him at the forefront, along with some other players and forwards
32:31that we've mentioned as guys that need to be better.
32:33Brandon Carlo is a guy on the back end that I think has not been great at all, and I think
32:37he needs to be better, too.
32:40So we'll see, it's a work in progress with all these players, but a lot of Boston's best
32:46players really need to step it up, and that's kind of the bottom line.
32:49And I think that's kind of what you're getting at with your question and your observation,
32:53and I agree with that.
32:56I think we focus on the most recent results, and we focus on a Utah game that was not good,
33:02that they underachieved.
33:03We focus on that they haven't really put it all together so far this season.
33:06We focus on guys that haven't really set the world on fire offensively to start the year.
33:12But it's a long year, and this is a good team, and let's see where we're at a week, two weeks
33:16from now.
33:18The one thing I would focus on is how Boston's best players continue to perform, how the
33:24interaction between Jim Montgomery and the players is on the bench and in different situations,
33:29how they respond to him challenging them at certain points, and how that whole thing is
33:34going to play out as it's happening pretty early in the season.
33:39And I think there's people paying close attention to the way Montgomery's going to sort of act
33:44without contract security, without additional years, with kind of in a lame duck situation
33:50right now.
33:51That is very difficult for anybody to deal with.
33:53And I think it's something that we've all sort of been directed to watch, because it's
33:59a situation that bears watching and observing to see how it all plays out.
34:03Maybe he's feeling a little of that pressure, and that turns into him doing what he does,
34:09and really reacting and snapping that way on the bench.
34:12So we'll see.
34:13But I think that's something that bears watching just as much as the players and the way that
34:17they're performing.
34:18I think that whole thing is all baked in the same cake.
34:21So it should be interesting.
34:22Thank you very much for the questions.
34:23That'll wrap up this mailbag edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast.
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35:09Thanks, everybody, for listening to this mailbag edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast.
35:12We'll see you at the rink.