How will the Bruins look under Joe Sacco | Pucks with Haggs - video Dailymotion

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Join Joe Haggerty and Evan Marinofsky on this episode of Pucks with Haggs as they dive into the Boston Bruins' recent coaching shake-up, with Joe Sacco stepping in after Jim Montgomery's departure. The guys analyze the team's rocky start to the season and how mixed feelings about Montgomery's coaching may have impacted player performance.  Following a promising 1-0 victory over the Utah Hockey Club, they discuss the noticeable improvements in the Bruins' defensive play and overall strategy under Sacco's leadership. With a focus on Sacco's background and potential to revitalize the team, the hosts express cautious optimism about the Bruins' direction moving forward. Tune in for insights on the team's current challenges and what the future may hold as they navigate this pivotal moment in their season!  0:00 - Intro 1:00 - Finn's great game 4:02 - Montgomery firing discussion 6:57 - Coaching concerns arise 9:10 - Team's lack of unity 12:40 - Montgomery's coaching impact 15:50 - Simpler game strategy 18:02 - Joe Sacco's coaching style 20:34 - Local connection matters 24:12 - Trade considerations discussed 26:06 - Evaluating team performance 27:59 - Market interest analysis 30:24 - Trade deadline strategies 34:34 - Artistic merit discussion 36:07 - High-end kids at Rivers 39:01 - Beautiful Holderness campus   💰 Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!  🎫 Gametime - https://gametime.co Take the guesswork out of buying NHL tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Terms apply. What time is it? Gametime!   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the #CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for Boston #Bruins hockey. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the Boston sports. Get complete inside access to the Bruins at TD Garden, the game day skates at Warrior, and everywhere on the road. CLNS #NHLBruins' credentialed insiders Mike "Trags" Petraglia, Evan Marinofski, Conor Ryan, and Joe "Haggs" Haggerty. Providing instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else on Causeway Street.  For the CLNS award winning Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, College hoops, NBA History, go here to featured channels- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP7KyKodc3OHuN_XhEyPPw?sub_confirmation=1

Transcript

00:00Pucks with Hags is brought to you by Price Picks and the Game Time app.

00:04Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast powered by Prize Picks,

00:09the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network. I believe this is the 143rd

00:14episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast. Welcome on in. Thank you very much for listening.

00:18I'm your host, Joe Hagerty. You can find my work at joehagerty.substack.com. Subscribe and get

00:23yourself a premium membership. You get all of my Bruins and NHL writing sent straight directly to

00:27your inbox. I also write columns three times a week for the Boston Sports Journal. Usually after

00:32Bruins games, we have an NHL notes column on the weekend as well. So get a subscription there and

00:37check that out as well. And the other talented folks that are working at Boston Sports Journal,

00:42guys like Mike Giardi and Greg Bedard. With me today, I have the New England Hockey Journal's

00:46Evan Maranofsky. Evan, what's going on, my friend? Not that much. How are you, Hags?

00:50I'm great. I'm great. Just came from a New Hampshire Avalanche game where Finn had two goals

00:56against Lovell Winter Club. So he had a really nice game today. He had a. That's awesome.

01:01He won. He and his Vipers team won the Waterville Valley tournament last weekend. He had,

01:06what was it, five goals and 13 points in four games. So he kind of went nuts last weekend on

01:12the way to any of the game winning goal in the championship game, which was pretty awesome.

01:15Bruins would kill for a guy like that, right? I know. So he's he's on a little bit of a tear

01:19the last couple of weeks. So we need to knock him down a few pegs. You know,

01:23need to bring him back to earth. But yeah, that's awesome. Keep him humble. I'll make

01:26him do some road work while I'm driving the car. Now he can run behind me like Rocky style.

01:31Get some training. You want a kid? You want to make this work like the NHL?

01:38You ever sign your watch Seinfeld? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Remember the Mandel bombs that Jerry running

01:43behind the car, you know, as he's driving it. And then I think Kramer messed with like the switches.

01:48So Jerry got dragged. So yeah, you could do it with Finn and really wanted Finn. There you go.

01:53You got to go get it. That's right. You got to want it bad. All right. So we're going to talk

01:58about a few things today. Obviously the beginning of the Joe Sacco era, we'll circle back and talk

02:02a little bit about the Monty firing. Definitely the one nothing win over the Utah hockey club

02:08and what we take from that game. And also whether, you know, there's still the shoes to drop here

02:13with this Boston Bruins team. We'll talk about that. And we're going to talk a little prep hockey

02:16with Evan too, because I know he's getting started in that world and it's getting cranked

02:20up. It was funny listening the other day to Billy Jaffe and Brad Marchand talking about their sons

02:26and the tryouts and fitness testing at Belmont Hill. And I know Fluto's son, Fluto Shinzawa's son

02:32with the athletic is in the running for being one of the goalies on the varsity at St. Seb. So

02:37there's a lot of cool stuff going on with the prep world and even like with the media people as

02:41well. So we can delve into that world as well, but let's thank our sponsors first real quick.

02:48Prize picks, download the prize picks app today and use the code CLNS and get $50 instantly

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03:18download the game time app, create an account and use the code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.

03:23Download game time today. What time is it, Evan? It is game time. It's always game time. Evan knows

03:29it's game time. It's always game time for Evan Marinoski. It is always game time for me. Some

03:34days more than others. Some days less than others. But yes, I try to always make sure it's

03:38game time. There you go. You got to answer the bell for game time. All right. So let me get your

03:45quick thoughts just on the Monty firing, how it went down, that it happened, sort of the aftermath,

03:54what you heard from the Bruins, sort of anything that developed after that as far as what Sweeney

03:58said. What was your general overall take from the Bruins firing Jim Montgomery? Yeah, I mean,

04:04I wasn't shocked. I don't think anybody was. I did like I liked Conroy's tweet the day that

04:10Montgomery got fired. He's like, all of you yesterday were willing to drive him to the

04:14airport. And now you're all on Twitter being like, oh, poor Monty, which I got a kick out of,

04:19because it's true. There were a lot of fans who then, you know, switched. Oh, the Bruins suck.

04:23Sweeney's so mean, this and that. No, the default, Evan, the default is always Sweeney and Neely

04:29don't know what they're doing. They need to be fired. Everybody needs to clean house.

04:32That is like the frigging default for every Bruins fan. And it's like

04:38we're talking about a team that I think has got the most points or the best record since Sweeney

04:42took over as GM. I know, like I understand that the playoffs have been a little disappointing

04:47in general, but like we're talking about a front office. It's been yeah. And they have

04:52draft issues. There's no question about it. They made mistakes for sure. Yeah,

04:55they're not perfect. But like, I think when you look at them on balance, they've run a very good

05:00NHL organization after the last over the last 10 or so years, they've been stable. And again,

05:05I know they haven't delivered a cup since 2011. I get that. And I hear people on that. And do I

05:10think they're the best GM president tandem in the league? No, but I think they're up there.

05:15They're you know, they're in that top 10. You know, other the athletic did a poll of league

05:19executives and they had the Bruins in that top 10. Like, I would agree with that. I think this

05:26is chalked up to a couple things. I mean, number one, the players have not been playing near

05:29where they need to play. And number two, I think Montgomery is a solid coach, you know, but I think

05:36he falls into sort of the this sounds so mean and I don't mean it like this, but like, you know,

05:45in sports, there are Jags, just another guy. Like, I think he is a higher end, just another coach.

05:50I would say this, Evan, he's not a star NHL coach. He's not a Bruce Cassidy. He is not a guy that

05:56you look at and say, he's a difference maker as a head coach. That's what I would say. Like,

06:01you're not going to say we have the edge in the playoff series because we have Jim Montgomery,

06:05like, no, and that wasn't the case the last two years either. Like, well, and I don't think I

06:08may not ever be the case. You know what I mean? Like, I just know I'm not sure he's that guy.

06:13So, like, I agree. I think it turns into it. Like, I wish the guy the best, you know, like,

06:18and that's the thing. And I do think he is a good coach. I mean, the stats show it. And that's the

06:23thing. Like, he's a good coach. This is not he'll get hired by someone, be it Detroit, St. Louis,

06:27whoever it is, like, he would have another job. But, you know, I just go back to the playoff

06:34stuff. And I think that's why, like, a lot of the comments that Sweeney and company made sort of in

06:41the summer and preseason about Montgomery were really surface level stuff. It was not in depth.

06:48It wasn't this, you know, banging the table going, this is our guy forever. Like, we this is our guy.

06:53We believe in him. Head coach. Like, it was very, yeah, we've, you know, talked extension,

06:58this and that, blah, blah, blah. I don't think and they clearly weren't sold on him in the playoffs.

07:04And I think, you know, the twenty three, that twenty three first round really hurt him again,

07:09like Ty Anderson wrote it. You know, Montgomery was a campus Lindholm shot and a David Posternak,

07:15you know, overtime winner away from being the first head coach in North American sports history

07:19to lose two straight three one leads in the series. And I think to me, like, I just don't know

07:26if they ever believe in him for that. And I wonder, like, if they had if they had extended

07:30him this summer. Right. And they started the season the way that they did. They just say,

07:34all right, you know, we believe in Montgomery. We're going to, you know, you got to overcome

07:38this adversity, this and that. Whereas I think their bad play to start the year,

07:44which is really bad. I'm not trying to, like, minimize that. It's on the players

07:48paired with their hesitancy on him in the playoffs, I think spelled the end.

07:52Well, let me take it one step further of it. Perhaps the players felt that same way about

07:58Jim Montgomery, that he was not the guy that can lead them to playoff glory, that he was not the

08:03guy they were. The jury was out and they did not have 100 percent confidence in him that he was

08:08going to be able to lead them and be a difference maker as a coach leading that group. It seems to

08:13me that the players and the way that they played, they had the same sort of mixed feelings and not

08:19being all in that management was with Jim Montgomery. It felt like that was a feeling

08:25that management had. And that's why they didn't sign him to a contract. And it felt like that's

08:29kind of where the way the players played in those first 20 games is that they kind of weren't all in

08:33with this coach, like they weren't buying what he was selling anymore. There were doubts about,

08:38like, is this guy really going to be able to take us there? Is this the right system for us?

08:42I'm tired of all the forward lines being changed every two seconds. And I want to get used to

08:46playing with certain players. The special teams isn't working. Like, why are we doing quantity

08:52over quality and hanging on to pucks when we're more of a shot volume team, get pucks to the net,

08:58create rebounds, get the puck down low, use our size and strength? Like, the system maybe doesn't

09:02work as well to us as it may have when we had Bergeron, Crecci, all these other guys. So I think

09:10all around, I just, it felt to me like this entire beginning of this season, nobody was on the same

09:16page. Nobody was really believing in everybody else and the person next to them. There was no

09:22connectedness whatsoever when you looked in that locker room. And when you looked at the way the

09:26coach was operating with the players and even down to, you know, Montgomery, like shouting at

09:31Marcian on the bench and then benching Pasternak and him trying to be more of the hard line tough

09:36guy coach this year, which just didn't work, you know, like they did not respond to any of that.

09:41You know, I think, and I said this before on the podcast, I think he was a player's coach. I think

09:46he's kind of a nice guy. I think he's a rah-rah sort of college guy. And I think when he tried to

09:51turn into the hard guy, mean guy, like, you know, really playing the, you know, the Mike Keenan,

09:59you know, tactics, I don't think they responded. And I think they responded in a bad way. I think

10:04it got worse rather than better, you know? And it really does speak to, I think, at the end of the

10:11day, if you're a coach, you have to be you. You can't try to be somebody else. And I think he

10:16started trying to be somebody else based on the way the team was responding, based on his contract

10:20situation, based on everything. And I just don't think it worked, you know? And I think that that

10:25was a huge problem. No, it didn't. And I also, like, I was also given this, like the situation

10:31he would, the hand he was dealt wasn't amazing. I mean, you look at the Swayman situation in camp,

10:37that was a disaster. And, you know, I think to start the year, like you mentioned that,

10:43and I agree with you, like, they look like a team that wanted to get their coach fired. I'm not

10:47saying that they essentially were, but they played like it. I mean, they were awful. You know, you

10:51have, again, there's a couple guys who aren't underachieving and they're, and those are the

10:57Castellic Corposalo, like Andrew Peake. It's nobody that's like, okay, Hampus Lindholm was the one.

11:04Yes. Hampus Lindholm was great. I think was okay. Like there's, there's a handful of guys that I

11:08thought were okay. He didn't start out great, but yes, he found his footing, but like, oh my God,

11:13you know, you can start with Pasternak, Marchand, Elias Lindholm, you go to Zaka,

11:17you can go to Frederick, Coyle, Geeky, Charlie McAvoy, Charlie McAvoy, like, you know, so many

11:22guys, Zadora, Swayman, like you have the majority of your roster, not half, not 25%. The majority of

11:30your roster is playing at their worst case scenario. I would say all of your best players

11:36outside of Hampus Lindholm were way below what their usual standard is. We're way below what

11:42you would expect out of them completely. And, and that's not all the coach. There's some in that,

11:47of course, you know, how do you get guys out of that? How do you help them out of it? But players

11:51got to play. And that's the other part too, where it's like, and that's sort of where that the

11:54crappy hand he was dealt came in. And I, you know, again, like they've, I've been wrong. I was

12:00completely wrong about this team pre-season. I thought, you know, Frederick's in a contract

12:03year, Geeky's in a contract year. And again, maybe they rebound maybe, you know, in the next

12:07month that, you know, we're sitting here, maybe not December 23rd, that's two days before Christmas.

12:12I love you Hags, but I don't know if December 23rd, you know, maybe December 23rd, you know,

12:15maybe, maybe not the 24th, maybe the 23rd, but you know, we're sitting here in a month,

12:20like, and they're much better. It's like, oh, the, you know, Sacco got it out of them and we can get

12:25into that. But, um, I do, there's some underlying stuff with this team that is concerning and the

12:31numbers, the stats, the baseline stats, advanced stats are terrible. Like, you know, and that's

12:37not all Montgomery, but certainly he's not blameless either. No, I don't think it's all

12:41Montgomery, but I will say this. Okay. And we're, we're, uh, talking before they play the Red Wings

12:47on Saturday night and that'll obviously be the next test. And it'll be a big, uh, example and,

12:53and more to work with as far as, um, information to, to make a judgment on how they're playing

12:59post, um, Montgomery and with Joe Sacco. Um, but I will say the one nothing win over Utah. Yes,

13:07it was a one nothing win. Yes. Utah has an expansion team or not expansion team, but like

13:11a new team that moved from Arizona to Utah and they're not great. Um, but I thought a lot of

13:19what they did look different. I, it just did, you know, the, the way they were back checking,

13:24the way they were hustling, the way they were working, the special teams look completely

13:28different. The power play looked as good as I think it has all season as far as puck moving,

13:33creating chances. They easily could have had like three goals on the power play.

13:37Yup. Cause they had a bunch of, a great freaking goalie. Yeah. Yeah. He played great. Um, the

13:42penalty kill I thought was excellent. Um, I do think they are, you are seeing for whatever reason

13:50that they're playing better too. When Corpus Allo is in net than swimming right now. And

13:53it's hard to make a read on exactly what's going on there and why that is, uh, whether it's a

13:58confidence thing, whether there is something going on in the locker room, uh, you know,

14:02with swimming and others based on the contract stuff or something else who knows, like, it's

14:05hard to put your finger on it and say, but it does look like they've played better consistently

14:10this year on the Corpus Allo. But I just thought they looked like they were thinking defense first

14:16in that game against Utah, that they were going back to basics as far as working as a five man

14:21unit, having layers defensively, you know, that, and I saw at the offensive end, they were putting

14:26pucks on net, they were shooting first, they were creating rebounds. They were like shot volume

14:31funneling pucks and doing stuff that they didn't do earlier with Jim Montgomery that just wasn't

14:36working. And I feel like those were things that Joe Sacco talked about right after, uh, he took

14:42over from Montgomery that he wanted to get back to and things that they wanted to change. And I

14:46think that's a better fit for this team is, is shots on net creating rebounds, creating chaos

14:52in the defensive zone, you know, relying more on their size and strength and ability to play down

14:56low, um, then to try to, you know, make pretty plays off the rush and hang on to bucks, pucks

15:02and skate through guys and, and create plays, um, between that and paying attention defense and

15:07having better defensive zone structure and structure defensively through all three zones.

15:11I think that's Bruins hockey. And it felt like to me watching that Utah game, it could have been

15:16three, nothing, four, nothing. They could have won that game. They outshot Utah 31 to 21 Corpus

15:20Allo did play well. He did not steal that game for them. I thought they dominated long stretches

15:24of that game, especially with puck possession. And they look like a better team. They looked more

15:28like the Bruins. I thought they were going to be, and I don't want to get too crazy about one win,

15:32but I they'll lose like five to two to Detroit tonight.

15:38I took note when I was watching of what I was watching and said, this looks much more like

15:42the team I watched last year and the year before than what I've been watching this year. It looked

15:46far different. And I think that's a good sign moving forward. Yeah. I also think they just

15:51kept it simpler coming out of their own zone. They didn't dick around with the puck, you know,

15:56that there weren't, they didn't leave a lot of, uh, areas and, um, chances for Utah to get

16:01turnovers and to pick off breakout passes. And like the last five minutes of the game,

16:05it was just chip and pucks off the glass and out. Now that's not a, that's not a fun, uh,

16:10brand of hockey to watch. It's not entertaining, but for a team right now that is struggling

16:15and trying to find itself and trying to revert back to what it thinks it can be,

16:20you need to make those simple plays. You need to limit those turnovers and those potential

16:25long offensive zone stretches for Utah. And I liked that. Like you just have to keep it simple.

16:30And if, if you do have to win games three to one and four to two and all that stuff,

16:35then that's how you got to win games. And until the offense, you know, sort of finds itself. Um,

16:40cause again, like your D should be a strength. Your defense should be a strength. I know

16:45Hampus Lindholm is out right now, but like on paper, that's a good decor. Um, you know,

16:51upfront obviously. Yeah. You got, you know, you're completely missing the mark, but yeah,

16:55keeping it to me, like everything you just said, plus keeping it simple. Um, if they can continue

17:00to do that, it should be a recipe to at least not lose games like seven to two, you know,

17:04at least if you're going to lose games, you keep it close and you're competitive the whole game.

17:07So I think that's another big thing. Yeah. And, and build on a team that is for,

17:12for as much of a dumpster fire as they were there for the first 20 games. You're right over there.

17:16I, I like moved my elbow. I, I don't know if you can see it, but I had it. And then I like

17:21bent it. I think I need Tommy John on my left hand. I'm not going to be able to podcast injury

17:26right there. That's that it's, it's hard out here. I mean, this, you know, I'd say we're

17:30braver than the troops. This is a jungle out here. We're just trying to survive fighting for our next

17:37meal, tearing our elbows out. It's hard, man. Jeez. I, I, what do you think of Joe Sacco?

17:44Just impressions of him and, and what he said and, and kind of the way he wants things to go.

17:49Like, I think, you know, he's a, he's a straightforward guy. He's no nonsense. He's

17:54not going to have a lot of one-liners. He's not going to be one of those coaches. That's going

17:56to be like a lot though. A lot of press press clippings will be out there of things that he

18:01says, you know, um, Tortorella style or anything like that. But I think he could be like a good

18:06fit for this team. Just no nonsense tells it like it is. We'll be honest with the players.

18:11We'll be honest with every us. And, you know, it seems like he's a hard nosed enough guy too,

18:15though, that he will hold them accountable when he needs to. And he's, you know, confident enough

18:19the second time around he's in similar, it's interesting, similar to Mike Sullivan, Bruce

18:24Cassidy, where he's over 10 years between his NHL head coaching gigs, um, Colorado way back when,

18:31and that was like 11, 12 years ago. And he won, he won a Jack Adams in Colorado. I forgot about

18:35that with the avalanche when he was a coach. Was he a finalist? I think he won. And, um, maybe he

18:41was a files, but I thought I saw that he won, um, either way though, you know, did a really nice job

18:46there and got some credit for it. And now over 10 years later, he has a lot more perspective.

18:51He was 39, 40 when he took over that job. And maybe that also like will allow him to really

18:56be effective here, uh, having learned and paid his dues after getting that first gig.

19:01Yeah. It's funny. Like I saw so many people and again, it's just Twitter. So it's not everything

19:05but you know, people kind of being like, Oh, this Joe Sacco's gonna be terrible. This and that.

19:09I disagree. I, you know, you mentioned the 10 years between gigs, he's been here for a long

19:13time and people forget, like he wasn't just here through Montgomery and Cassidy. He was here with

19:17Claude too. And so that's three good NHL head coaches. You've seen, you've seen what what's

19:23worked. You've seen what hasn't worked. You, you, you know, you don't have to speak at all times.

19:27You can sort of, you can take this all in. And, and, and so I think like taking bits and pieces

19:32from all three of those guys. And I think kind of being that happy medium between Cassidy and

19:37Montgomery, I think is what he needs to kind of try to achieve. Um, but I'll say this, you know,

19:43through the press conferences I've seen of him, I mean, he's a better guy in pressers than

19:47Montgomery was, you know, that's not everything, but it does, you know, it is something. I also

19:52think like he's from Medford. He gets it. Yes. Gets it here. He understands this culture.

20:00And I think there's something in a way that I'm not sure Monty ever did.

20:03No, and that's not his fault either. And you're right. You're a hundred percent right. And then

20:07he was just looked a little out of place. You know, it wasn't brought up through this system

20:11and maybe that's on the team. Maybe that's on the birds. They didn't let him have his own staff.

20:15Yeah. But like, I do think that, you know, Bruce Cassidy grew up a Bruins fan, Joe Sacco

20:21grew up a Bruins fan, you know, played at Medford high, like BU that stuff matters here. And yes,

20:27maybe it doesn't matter in Dallas and it doesn't matter in Seattle and all that stuff, but it does

20:32matter here. And I, and I, I, you know, I was saying this the other day, like,

20:36if things go south with this team it probably won't be Joe Sacco's fault unless he does some

20:42egregious stuff. Like if they just stink, like that's, that's roster construction. That's the

20:46team. That's the, that's the groceries, not the cook. And so like, I think no matter what,

20:51I think people are going to like Joe Sacco. It's kind of, he's sort of comes into an

20:55underdog situation. He gets a second chance. He's coaching his dream team, his hometown team.

21:00Like it's a really cool story. And maybe that's the New England hockey journal side of me talking,

21:04but I do think that that's legitimate. And I think fans will or should at least try to

21:08appreciate that. And maybe he'll be a whore. Maybe he'll be awful. Like maybe there will

21:13be stuff that we're like, oh my God. But the reality is like you said, 10 years between gigs,

21:18he's had a lot of time to think you mentioned Cassidy Sullivan. A lot of these guys,

21:22when they get that second chance it go, it usually goes well because you've had so much time

21:28to take all that stuff in. So I wouldn't be shocked. I know like we obviously,

21:31we don't throw out the year. We'll mention names. Oh, you know, Jay Leach or,

21:35yeah. You know, drug galant, all these guys. And that's another one we do have to discuss. Yes.

21:42But I do think that there's a good chance Joe Sacco could end up just being the guy.

21:47And we're sitting here five years from now being like, man, remember when we thought that was like,

21:51you know, going to be like a two month thing ended up, you know, so I could, I could see it.

21:55And I think fans could like him. I do. He's a likeable guy. He's got the accent down.

22:00I smell Joe Sacco cover story for the New England Hockey Journal. But for now,

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23:26It's guaranteed. PrizePix, run your game. All right, Evan, getting back into this,

23:35does a trade still have to happen in your mind with this team or does it really like,

23:42do you think they should be active looking for a trade right now and to move somebody

23:47in addition to firing the coach? Or is the more prudent approach and the more likely approach

23:54as a deliberate Don Sweeney will evaluate and measure three times before he cuts,

23:59he's that kind of a guy. Is he going to now replace the coach in the equation,

24:05see how everybody performs and then make a move based on that? Because I think that feels like

24:10the more responsible way to be a GM and a decision maker in charge of an NHL organization

24:15rather than listening to the Twitter horde that wants to trade like half the roster right now,

24:20blow it up and panic based on 20 games. That's the likely move. I think that's

24:26what happens. I think if they have a stretch of somewhat easy games coming up, not easy,

24:30but like easier opponents. Bruins are at that level, by the way. So like this is not like

24:36the Bruins of the last two years playing this year's Penguins and the Red Wings and the Islanders

24:41and teams like that. You know, do I think a trade needs to happen now? No. I mean,

24:47if they lose their next like four games, I think you absolutely have to consider like

24:51trading a Frederick or doing some sort of roster shakeup. I think now you fired the coach.

24:58They had a good first effort against Utah. You let this simmer. You see what they,

25:03this roster that John Sweeney's put together and that they had full confidence in coming into the

25:07year can do. And if that's what it is and you absolutely do that now in terms of deals down

25:16the road, and I'm sure we'll talk about this, you know, in January and February,

25:20as the trade deadline gets closer, like what position they will be in come the deadline.

25:24I don't know. My guess is they're going to be sort of a. They're in the playoffs,

25:28but, you know, not convincingly. And it's like, do you retool or do you try to go all in with

25:33this crew and think that this is going to be the team? And that's a conversation for another day.

25:38But back to your point, like I do think I think they're not going to be making a trade, you know,

25:44today, tomorrow, next week, unless things go bad over the next two weeks. And then I think then

25:50that would probably be when that might happen. I would suspect at least the next 10 games

25:56the next month, I would suspect that you're going to see and it wouldn't happen. It happened,

26:01obviously, until after the holiday roster freeze, like all that stuff. That's right. I would suspect

26:06it's basically going to be about a month now, maybe a little month plus of evaluating what

26:12everything looks like with Joe Sacco, what these players look like with a different coach, who has

26:16changed, who has improved, who has gotten the message that they clearly sent down when Montgomery

26:21was fired about having some pride in the crest, having some pride in the way you play and getting

26:27back to the way you're supposed to be playing and you have played in the past rather than,

26:31you know, believing your press clippings going into the season that it was going to be a little

26:34easier or that you would have the league figured out and that, you know, you were going to start

26:39putting up bigger and better numbers. You know, there's a lot of players on this team that had

26:42good career high years last year and have completely fallen on their face this year.

26:47And so maybe there was a little arrogance there and a little bit of, you know, feeling like they'd

26:52figured some things out when they really hadn't. And, you know, I think there's time to reverse

26:58course on that. But I think, you know, for a lot of those players, they need to get back to the

27:02basics of just work ethic and, you know, playing a team game instead of like thinking that they're

27:09going to be able to do it all by themselves or that they've carved out a bigger role for

27:13themselves in the league or anything like that, or even worrying about, to your point,

27:18the contract after this year, you know, like worrying about where you're going to be and all

27:22that stuff. Like that's another whole element, too, with a lot of the players in this team of,

27:27you know, there's some uncertainty with some of those guys that are struggling about what's going

27:30to happen for them and where they're going to be. But I think that there's going to be a good,

27:36healthy amount of time where John Sweeney is going to allow them to revert back to form

27:41and then maybe make an analysis, make decisions based on which guys revert back to form,

27:48which guys get to where they should be and have been in the past and which guys are still

27:52struggling. And maybe, you know, a new locale is what they need. And it also is going to come down

27:59to who's interested in who's garnering market interest and who's generating, you know,

28:04offers from other teams. Trent Frederick is a guy that I think we've heard his name a bunch already.

28:09And if they don't, if they can't, if they know they can't afford him, if they know he's going

28:16to want a bigger deal, then they're going to be able to get him based on last year and based on

28:20what he's done in the past, based on also being a power forward that will drop the gloves occasionally

28:24and a big sized guy that there's not a lot of those in the league. So I'm sure other teams

28:27will want a player like that. Maybe you do have to entertain moving a player like that. You know,

28:32maybe it comes down to a business decision where you have to trade a guy like that and you make a

28:37hockey trade, especially if he's, you know, struggling and you can kind of, you know,

28:41still sell them with some value, but you know that, you know, maybe it's not going to happen

28:45for him this year. I don't know how much interest Morgan Geeky is going to have out there if you

28:48want to trade. I don't either. I don't know what that's going to be. It really is five times this

28:53year. Like, I don't know. I don't know. I think it's really going to come down to like potentially

28:58moving. You would have to move players that have interest around the league. Frederick is definitely

29:02one of those. But after that, like maybe Carlo would definitely have interest too. I think

29:06you mentioned peak. I think he's a guy that would probably have interest as a young player. That's

29:10not a potentially or a, you know, a really high price tag. But then you're talking about like

29:15big, like core important players on the team too. So I think you would, you know, pause quite a bit

29:21before you would make any move like that. And I know Felger loves to like, say, nobody else on

29:25this team is untouchable and he wants to trade Pasternak yesterday. And I heard them even talking

29:29about the Brady Kachuck, you know, not happy in Ottawa stuff. They love that. They love doing

29:34that. They love that. But like, I mean, obviously the Bruins would have to listen if he was ever

29:39going to engineer a trade to Boston or want to get out of Ottawa. Like that's something where I think

29:43all, many of your best players would be on the table to get a guy like that. Yeah. God. Yeah.

29:47But the chances are low. I also think like, again, I haven't said this for a while, like the trade,

29:53like people get crazy around the trade deadline, right? Teams overpay for talent consistently. So

29:58like, you know, if they are in, if they have a similar record to this in February and they're,

30:04you know, second wild card falling out one day and the next, you know, if they're truly a fringe

30:11playoff team, I punt and I look at what I can get for, and I don't think they're going to do this

30:18because I think they just want to get in the playoffs, which like, you know, that's their thing.

30:22I think that's a bad move though, because I think, you know, if you, if you could deal a Frederick

30:25and get a good amount of picks back or, you know, a legitimate, a way better return than you get for

30:29Frederick at any other time in the year, or, you know, if someone came, you know, I, um, I know

30:35Zaka and coil both have trade protections, but if one of those two guys, someone came and offered a

30:39lot for like, yeah, how do you not listen? And I know Zaka's posturonics guy. So that's kind of

30:44hard to, it's hard territory to stomp all over, but like, you know, and I love Brandon Carlo.

30:49I think Brandon Carlo is phenomenal. And I know he's been, you know, iffy to start the year,

30:52but overall and what he's been as a brew and I've loved, but even that, like if someone came

30:57and offered a ton like that, this could be your year where you can sort of retool on the fly,

31:03uh, get recoup, some picks, recoup, some projects, maybe a roster player, you know, here or there.

31:08And I think that would be a good opportunity for you to sort of reset ahead of next year.

31:12You don't have a new coach going into next year, all that stuff. But again, if they're,

31:16if they're great over these next two months and they're in the playoff picture, you know,

31:20no issue, then, then that's a whole nother thing. And then I got to do what they're going to do,

31:23but please, please do not trade that first round pick in June. Don't don't move that.

31:29This team isn't that good. That's all I'll say.

31:31Covet your long-term future assets right now and have the long view with this Boston Bruins

31:36team rather than panicking for the short term. I think that's a smart thing to do.

31:40Another smart thing to do, Evan, let's take another pause on the podcast and take the guesswork

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32:08tickets. The game of the week this week is Saturday night's Bruins game against the Detroit

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32:43Yeah, get over there.

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33:24your first purchase. What time is it, Evan? It's Game Time. Game Time. It's Game Time.

33:30Game Time. Game Time. Go to Game Time. Get your tickets. All right. We're going to wrap this up,

33:36Evan, with some prep talk. Cool. I like this. The floor is yours, my friend. Anything you

33:42have on your mind, anything that you're looking at here at the start of the season,

33:46what you think the storylines or narratives are going to be like, what's what's piqued your

33:49interest? Well, I'll keep it. This is a Bruins podcast, so I'll keep it Boston-centric. I mean,

33:54I think the number one team in the region is Salisbury, but I do think the overall field

34:00is very wide open. I don't think this is a year where it's, you know, Cushing Avon and Salisbury

34:04at the top and then everybody else. I think that this is very much, you know, a team that I have

34:08ranked 12th could win the Elite Eight. I wouldn't be, you know, completely shocked at that. In terms

34:14of, you know, teams around Boston that people, you know, should want to go watch, Dexter's going to

34:20be really good. They do have Brian Leach's son, so that's an interesting angle. Oh, is he a team?

34:26No, he's a forward. He's a good forward. We actually, he was one of the three kids we shot

34:30for the cover, and he didn't end up getting it just because we picked the best shot. We don't

34:34pick, you know, based on how good the kid is, although the kid that did get picked.

34:37Artistic merit, you're saying?

34:38Yes, artistic merit. Yes. Noah Cervelis was our cover in 08. Dexter kid, really good.

34:45So, Dexter's going to be a really good team. Andrew Raycroft's son is in their program,

34:52so Razor does a lot with Dexter, so there's a connection there.

34:54Is the older son a goalie?

34:56Yeah, Mason is. Yeah, Mason's in 08, so Mason is a goalie, and a good one at that.

35:04An interesting one, like, the one that I keep telling people is Rivers.

35:09There are a lot of fans I know, Bruins fans and hockey fans in the area, who want to see sort of

35:13the next generation, and they go to watch college, which is awesome, and keep going to watch college

35:17hockey because, you know, the college hockey scene is fantastic around here. But I'd say,

35:21if you want to go even lower, and you want to see, like, really high-end kids before they

35:25go to the program and go to college, go to Rivers. Go watch a Rivers game. It's obviously just over

35:31in Weston. They have 309s. One of them is Freddie Meyer's son, Carter.

35:36Carter, and Finn Sears, and Sam Gandolfo, too, right?

35:40Jay's son, Sam, yes, and they're phenomenal. I mean, they dominate at a level that I have not

35:46yet seen anybody dominate at the 15 age group. And they dominated in prep last year as 14-year-olds

35:54against older, stronger kids. I remember watching them beat Kimball Union last year, and Kimball

36:00Union won the Elite Eight, won the whole thing in March. So, they're phenomenal. They, you know,

36:07at least two of them are going to be locks, I think, for the NTDP. I don't, you know, whoever

36:11the third is, I think, could also make it. Jim Montgomery's son is also at Rivers. So,

36:18there is an ex-Bruins tie there. And he's a good defenseman from Winchester. So, he's good.

36:25Overall, though, I mean, I think Dexter's going to be real good. I think Belmont Hill is going to

36:28be really good. You can all, anytime you go to a Belmont Hill game, there's a chance you can see

36:32Mr. Grizzlik, because he still goes and watches a lot of the Charlestown kids, because they end up

36:37at Bell Hill. So, Bell Hill is going to be really good. Nobles will be really good. They're a great

36:42team. And obviously, they're over in, I don't know where they are, but I just go where the

36:47GPS tells me. It's like Norwood, isn't it? Yes. Well, yeah. It's a crappy rank, but good team to

36:55watch. And, I mean, outside of this area, I mean, Cushing, I think, is going to be really good

37:00again. Kimball Union is going to be trying to defend their title. So, NHL draft prospects,

37:10so I don't know if people are aware of this, but prep is not really a hotbed for NHL draft talent

37:16anymore. Kids are leaving prep to go to the USHL and to go the junior route. If they're a high-end,

37:22high-end kid, it's when they're 15 or 16. A lot leave right before their senior year when they're

37:2617. Kind of rare for kids to stick around if they're high, high-end kids at 18. But the region

37:33does have, I would say, one definitive NHL draft prospect, Everett Baldwin at St. George's.

37:38Really good defenseman, dynamic, great skater. You're never not going to notice him. Has a

37:44pro shot, pro pat. Just plays the game like a pro. If you could drop the gloves, he would drop them.

37:49He's rushing the puck every shift. Phenomenal player. And he's over at St. George's. If you

37:54want to take the trip down to Newport, I actually almost did this afternoon,

37:58but it's the first game of the year. There's going to be many more of those.

38:02But it's a nice, it's a beautiful campus, obviously. And St. George's does play a lot

38:06up around Boston. Rivers, St. Mark's, Roxbury Latin, all those places. So he's someone you're

38:12going to hear his name most likely called in June. So if you want to go check that out,

38:16I would highly encourage you to go watch him. And so I would say he's the definitive draft

38:22pick in this area. There's some others. Conor Davis at Salisbury, Graydon Robertson-Palmer

38:26at Andover, Tyler Russo at Cushing. There's a kid actually for Holderness, Victor Samal,

38:31who played for Chechya's Holinka team. And he transferred into Holderness, which I always find

38:37fascinating when players come from other countries and jump on into the prep space.

38:43Holderness is a great campus, by the way. When Finn was playing at Waterville Valley

38:48last weekend, I had to drive back and forth from Maine to Waterville Valley a couple of times,

38:53and I went right through, right through the Holderness campus, like right on that road

38:57that goes right through it, right by the highway. Beautiful campus, great school.

39:01Outdoor rink. It's an outdoor rink, and it is a great place to watch a hockey game at.

39:05It's heated around it, which is nice. And there's like a couple of hot rooms you can go into.

39:10Watch them play Kimball Union there last year. It was awesome. So like

39:14there's a lot of great storylines to go watch. I would highly encourage people to check that

39:18out. I know obviously a lot of people listening to this are just Bruins fans, and that's awesome,

39:22but it is cool to watch, you know, I always use the example, it's like watching, you know,

39:28like what's a big band? Like watching The Who play at like a little bar before they become The Who.

39:34I think it's very much that type of thing, and there are a lot of kids in this region

39:37who are going to be real impact college players one day, and there's even a couple who are going

39:41to be high-end or, you know, good, serviceable NHL guys later. I mean, this is the Mark Diver

39:47world. Like, this is what he does. So I would highly encourage people to get out and to watch

39:53some of the great stuff around the region. Absolutely. Me too. I will definitely be there

39:58with Finn at some of these games this year. I am sure we will go. I always see you. I always see

40:03you. Finn Sears and Sam Pandolfo and Carter Meier at Rivers will definitely go there. I'm sure we'll

40:07go to St. Sebs a couple times and Belmont Hill as well. Hit all the local places, see some of

40:13those players. So I look forward to seeing Evan's smiling face when I go to those rinks, because

40:17he's always at those prep games talking to the scouts and talking to the coaches and all the

40:22people there. Getting an inside scoop for the New England Hockey Journal. I'll try my best. Thank

40:26you. I appreciate it. Absolutely. All right. Let's thank our sponsors real quick. PrizePix,

40:31again, download the PrizePix app today and use the code CLNS and get $50 instantly when you play

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41:16What time is it, Evan? It's Game Time. Game Time, Game Time. Evan Maronofsky, thank you very much

41:21for joining us. Thank you for having me, Hags. Check out all of his work at the New England

41:26Hockey Journal at their great website. Get yourself a subscription to that as well and

41:30watch him on Nessun 2. He's a TV multimedia star, Evan Maronofsky. Thanks for joining us, my friend.

41:35Everybody else out there, thank you for listening. We'll see you at the rink.

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