Pucks with Haggs host Joe Haggerty and guest Mick Colageo discuss the Bruins OT loss to the Oilers and how B's goalie Jeremy Swayman needs to elevate his performance.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Pucks with Hags is brought to you by Prizepix and the Game Time app.
00:04Welcome to the Pucks with Hags podcast powered by Prizepix, the exclusive daily fantasy partner
00:10of the CLNS Media Network. This is the 151st episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast,
00:15so thanks for listening. Welcome on in. I got longtime friend and colleague,
00:19Mick Colaggio, here with me today to talk Bruins. Mick, why don't you tell everybody
00:23where people can find your work, my friend? I write a blog called Rink Rap, and I link to it
00:28on X and Facebook, and I'm in the seasonal issues of the Hockey News.
00:32There you go. Check those out. Seasonal issues are out right now, right, for the Hockey News.
00:36This is the seasonal time of year, so check out the Hockey News. Check out all of Mick's writing.
00:42I am Joe Hagerty, by the way, your host. You can find my work at joehagerty.substack.com.
00:47Subscribe and get yourself a premium membership. All of my NHL and Bruins writings sent straight
00:51directly to your inbox. I also write columns three times a week for the Boston Sports Journal,
00:55and I do a Q&A for them as well weekly with the readers, so get a subscription at
01:01bostonsportsjournal.com and get all kinds of great work on all of the Boston sports teams
01:06from Greg Bernard and the crew over there. Let's also thank our sponsors real quick.
01:10PrizePix, of course. Download the PrizePix app today and use the code CLNS and get $50 instantly
01:15when you play $5. That's code CLNS on PrizePix to get $50 instantly when you play $5.
01:21You don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. PrizePix, run your game,
01:27and also go through our friends at GameTime to get any kind of tickets in this holiday season.
01:32Stocking stuffers, tickets always make a great gift. Go to the download the GameTime app,
01:37create an account, use the code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply, of course,
01:41but download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code CLNS for $20 off your first
01:48purchase. Download GameTime today. What time is it, Mick? GameTime. It's Christmas GameTime,
01:56even better than regular GameTime. Stocking stuffer GameTime. There you go. What's better
02:03than that? All right. Let's go over it, Mick. Good end to the trip, obviously. In general,
02:11the last three games after a disastrous first two games, win in Vancouver that was excellent,
02:18very impressive. Win in Calgary that was equally impressive because they came back,
02:23especially where it looked similar to the Seattle game for a little bit there,
02:27like it was going down the same path. But this is the rub with the Bruins, right? This is where
02:33they kind of are right now. They put themselves in position to have a really good trip. They're
02:39up two to nothing against Edmonton, and they couldn't close the deal. And they end up getting
02:43an overtime loss. So it's like, yeah, you get a point. Yeah, you don't feel like super great
02:49about the end of the trip because of the ending and because they couldn't finish it up strong,
02:53but it was kind of sort of okay. And that's kind of like where the Bruins,
02:57like I sort of almost expected that ending for this team last night and expected that that was
03:02going to happen just because that's kind of the story of this team this year, is they show you
03:06some good. They show you some bad. They like, you know, they can't quite ever completely get
03:12over the hump into like getting on a really long roll or really feeling like they're, you know,
03:18clicking on all cylinders for a long period of time and different things are going wrong at
03:22different times. I felt like my own opinion. I thought the first goal swimming gave up was very
03:31soft. The second one kind of soft like it was obviously McDavid making a nice play. Both goals
03:38trickle through Swayman's leg pads. I feel like he definitely should have had the first one.
03:44Maybe should have had both did make some good saves in the game, but really that first goalie
03:49allowed to Zach Hyman. It kind of opened the door for Edmonton to start feeling good and to start
03:55generating that comeback and I feel like, you know, a lot of the stuff that's been thrown at
04:03Swayman this year. I think a lot of fans are angry at him because he struggled and he hasn't had a
04:08good year coming off holding out at a training camp and all that's gone on. You know, I don't
04:15feel like he's been the problem in a lot of that what's happened with the Bruins because I feel
04:20like a lot of it was very poor defense in front of him and it was more to blame the guys in front
04:25of him than Jeremy Swayman, but I felt like kind of last night if they wanted to win that game,
04:30if they wanted to get the two points out of that game, Swayman needed to be better and that first
04:35goal really set them down a path to them ultimately losing that game and that's kind of on him,
04:40especially, you know, where he hasn't been as stellar and as, you know, superstar notable in
04:46as he was last season. So like, you know, it was Edmonton stars making plays. They kind of took it
04:53from Boston in a way, but I also think last night set up to be one of those nights where Swayman
04:59could have really stepped up and been the guy who was last year and stole the game from them and
05:03really slammed the door on the Oilers and he did not do that. So I kind of lay a little bit of this
05:08at the feet of Swayman and you know beyond that I'm even like I I'm a little like, you know, I love
05:16the guys at Nesson, but they also needed to I think say that a little bit more after the game
05:24last night and they kind of downplayed it and we're letting Swayman off the hook and kind of
05:29just being like, oh, you know must have skidded. I know Raycroft is a member of the goalie guild
05:34and he's not going to like really be down on another goalie, but like I just thought Swayman
05:38deserved to be called out after that game based on what happened and it didn't happen after the
05:44game was over and I think it kind of should have happened. I guess you're calling me out too then
05:49because my reaction in the moment was, I mean the default position is as our friend Chris Hurley
05:57reminded me before the season, the late great Pat Burns once said that I've never seen a holdout,
06:05a training camp holdout that didn't hurt the team and the player and Jeremy Swayman is capable of
06:13amazing, amazing performances as a technician and a pure reaction goalie and I thought his last
06:22home game was was excellent and I told him so afterwards. It was just I was just watching the
06:27way he managed the game and the way he handled everything and he's definitely been playing like
06:32Mick, he's definitely been playing better as of late. I feel like over the last month or so he's
06:38kind of more in mid-season form. He's playing much better like managing the game, playing the puck
06:43freezing the puck a lot more when the team needs it like all the different stuff,
06:47the sort of nuanced stuff that a really good goalie has to do. I think he definitely has been
06:51better at and you know that's why I feel okay saying this about last night's game because I
06:57think it was a real piece of evidence or a real game where you could say Swayman needed to be
07:02better in that instance where I think a lot of the time he's been taking strays because the defense
07:07has been bad in front of him and it hasn't really been his fault and but I do to your point, I
07:12absolutely think he's been closer to his normal level and what we saw to him last year over the
07:17last month or so, no doubt. Okay, that said, you know last night he would have needed to be
07:2520, 23, 24 Swayman. Yes. And I just don't think... 23, 24 Swayman, he's making eight million a year.
07:33That's true. You're paying him to be the guy that can steal games for them and be an elite goalie
07:37like he's getting paid to make those saves last night. And if you're a talking head...
07:41Hold on, let me finish this one thing and I'll let you go, I promise, for a while.
07:44The whole basis of what I'm saying is this guy held out, held the Bruins up to make sure he was
07:52going to get paid eight million a year, that he was going to get his money. He did it to the
07:56detriment of the team by knowing he wasn't going to be ready to start the year and was going to,
08:00you know, it was going to be a problem for this team and they were going to hit a speed bump early
08:04because he wasn't ready to go after skipping camp but he was willing to do that and hold the team
08:09up to make sure he got what he thought he was worth and to get his money and now he is not
08:16performing up to the money that he's being paid. He is being paid like 23, 24 Swayman,
08:21like a guy that is going to steal that game against Edmonton or at least not let up soft goals
08:27and he lets up a super softy to Zach Hyman on a quick shot at the net that goes right through
08:32his leg pads, a frankly typical shot that caught him by surprise from the faceoff circles that he
08:38should have been able to stop. If you're getting paid eight million dollars a year, you should
08:42stop that and you should get criticized if you don't stop it and I think Swayman wanted this
08:46contract, he wanted the expectations, he wanted the pressure on his shoulders, he wanted to be
08:50the number one guy, he wanted Allmar gone and somewhere else so he could be the guy here.
08:54Well, guess what? He got all that and he did not live up to it against Edmonton last night and that
09:00was a big reason they lost that game and he hasn't been up to it this year and that's why I'm sort of
09:05hot on this is because I think he deserves the criticism now, he wanted to get paid, he got
09:11paid, now the expectations come with it and he needs to meet those expectations and to be that
09:16good and he frankly was not last night and it's a big reason they lost so I think there needs to be
09:21more discussion, more talk about Swayman not being good enough in that game than I think has been
09:26going on where everybody's been treating with kid gloves. It's time to take those off and call
09:30things as they are. Yeah, I guess I'm just adjusted to the reality that it may take him
09:35most of the season to recover that form and while we see it in bits and pieces here and there,
09:44we see hints that he's getting there, we don't see it on an every game basis and of course,
09:51he wasn't playing last year on an every game basis so the fact that he's starting to show it
09:57and that Joe Sacco has entrusted him and said here's the ball, run with it, well he can't punch
10:04it into the end zone right now against the top teams. He's showing us that he can do some great
10:10things out there and that his level seems to me like it's recoverable and but on a consistent
10:19basis and in the fire, the hottest fire pot in the league, I think that that's really not going
10:30to be there. I thought Mason Lowry interfered with him on the final goal. Yeah, the last one I'm
10:38definitely less, I think it's less an indictment on him. I think you're right. McDavid made a great
10:44play. The defense has been out there for a while. That was right out of the annals of Bobby Orr.
10:50For him to see Zdorov's position and decide I'm going to take a hard step to my right and I am
10:58going to pull the puck around this guy and I am going to strong arm him and I'm going to get
11:02behind him and between him and the net and that was, people didn't get to watch Bobby Orr play.
11:09That McDavid move on a tying goal last night on Zdorov was right out of the bar. That is what
11:17Bobby Orr could do. That is what he did. If you feel like, you know, I never got to see Bobby Orr
11:23in that moment, you saw Bobby Orr. That is what he did. And, you know, he could change a game
11:30that way. There are a few players who can just go ahead and say, you know, I'm going to tie this
11:35sucker up. That is the power of generational talent. That is what we saw last night in that
11:44moment. It is unfortunate that Laurie got involved there and I was hoping Sacco would
11:54challenge for goal interference on his own player, but it didn't come to pass.
11:59That would have been awesome.
12:00Yeah, but that whole game, I kind of felt like one of those late 70s games at the Montreal Forum
12:04where, hey, we're doing everything right. Don't anybody screw up.
12:11It's just the game was too long.
12:14I mean, yes. Look, part of greatness for any player like McDavid is recognizing the situation
12:21that he's in and recognizing all of the different factors at play. And clearly in that moment when
12:26he did that, he knew that Zdorov and Laurie had been out there for a long time and that if he
12:31really turned on the jets, they were not going to have the legs to be able to stop him or keep
12:36up with him and be able to get in there. And he made the right call. They were both gas. They
12:42were trying to get off the ice. They couldn't in that moment when McDavid got the puck outside the
12:48blue line and just swung it right back in and went into attack mode again. And the Bruins were kind
12:52of in disarray there trying to get off. And that's a great player taking advantage of a situation
12:58right there and knowing exactly how long they'd been out there, what he could do to attack and
13:03having the skill and the speed and everything, the natural ability to be able to make that play.
13:10So I credit him with all that stuff. And that's that one. I am a lot less, even though it sort
13:17of trickled through Swayman, even with all of that, like it still got through his leg pads and
13:22it kind of just got through. And yeah, maybe a little Ryan interfered with him a little bit,
13:26but it also is one of those ones that I feel like a great goalie will somehow come up with.
13:32Tim Thomas might have like checked Lowry out of his way and then made the save.
13:36Things like that, you know, improvisational moments.
13:40That one I'm much, much less...
13:45Less of an indictment.
13:46...worked up about than the one that he allowed to Hyman that opened the door for everything.
13:52That gave Edmonton a foothold. The Bruins were cruising two to nothing.
13:57They were really playing well. It was halfway point of the game.
14:03They were doing all the right things.
14:06And it gave Edmonton life when Swayman gave up that goal. And as soon as he gave up that goal
14:12and the way he gave it up, you're like, oh. And that's when you start having that feeling,
14:16Mick, like, okay, what's the other shoe that's going to drop? And this is eventually going to
14:20be a bad ending because when you see a goalie give up a goal in that situation, it almost always
14:25turns into this big momentum shift where you give a ton of life to the other team and it really
14:30turns against you. And that's exactly what happened. And I just, I blame Swayman for that.
14:35Like, he's at fault for that goal. That is completely on him. And I know Razor after the
14:41game, Andrew Raycroft, God bless him, he's a member of the Goalie Guild, was trying to give
14:44him like five different excuses saying maybe it hit a player, maybe it hit the ice and went on
14:49edge, like all this different stuff that he would say. It looked like he was reading pass and the
14:53shot caught him by surprise and he wasn't ready to stop it. And it's a soft goal. And you can say
14:58it's a soft, it's okay to say it's a soft goal. You don't need to continue to make excuses for a
15:03goalie that's making eight million a year that can't stop a shot like that. Okay. You need to
15:07be able to call him out and say it's a soft goal. He needs to stop that. And it's a really bad play.
15:12If we're going to single out all the guys that make defensive mistakes and all these issues that
15:16are happening in the D-Zone, when it actually is the goalie's fault, we got to say it's the
15:20goalie's fault. And it's okay to do that. And you've called out the Goalie Guild.
15:25Yes. Well, I know. Hey, look, my uncle was a goalie and is now a goalie coach and has been a
15:31goalie coach a long time. All my cousins are goalies. Like I know they all stick together.
15:36What does he think of the reverse V? Yeah, exactly. I think it leads to a lot of those
15:43short side shots off the goalie's head and in. Everybody's aiming upstairs for the goalie mask
15:48and trying to bank it in off the goalie mask now. It's a new shot. Yep. And they're going
15:54far side now inside the fire post. I think we start to see that a lot more because of the way
15:58the goalie's set up and what they're doing with that technique. It's interesting how the shooters,
16:04if we want to talk about that, how the shooters have adjusted to the newfangled goalie techniques
16:09that are competitive responses across the board. I'd love to see them in the game. I love it when
16:14the league stays out of it and lets the players figure these things out. I wish they had done it
16:18in 2004 after a spectacular final between Tampa Bay and Calgary in which speed and aggression
16:24was restored to the playoffs. And it would have been great to see where the hockey game would
16:29have gone had the league not stepped in and said, no, here's how we're going to do this.
16:33And we never get to find out. Yep. A couple of things that now that we've put the
16:41Swayman stuff out there and to wrap this all up, I think at the end of a pre-Christmas
16:48body of work where he's got a 3-1-3 goals against average, an 8-87 save percentage,
16:53in a game like this now, he needs to really step it up in the next segment
17:00of the season. From after Christmas on, he needs to be able to win these games like last
17:06night against Edmonton. He needs to be a reason they won a game instead of a reason why they lost
17:11or one of the reasons why they lost. Or a reason we don't blame him for the loss. Yes. And it needs
17:16to change. The honeymoon period after the contract of allowing him some time to say, okay,
17:23he's working himself into regular season shape after holding out to get his money is over.
17:31He's going to start really, really hearing it from Bruins fans. I talked a lot about this in
17:37the podcast over the summer that as much as he was talking about what I'm worth and I know the
17:43business end of it and he needs to feed his family and all the stuff that he was saying.
17:48I said multiple times, and we talked about it multiple times, if you want the money,
17:55that's great. But guess what? Expectations change. The fans change towards you. Everything
18:00changes once you start getting paid that kind of money, especially in a salary cap era where
18:05you demanding that kind of money is taking money they could use to put other players, scorers,
18:10whatever into better the roster. If you're making $3 million more than you probably should be making
18:16at this point in your career, based on what you've done and where you are, you're costing the Bruins
18:21a very good depth player, somebody that could really help them win games by you taking that
18:26money. If you do that, guess what? The expectations change, everything changes, and people will start
18:32getting on you if you're not playing up to the money that you demanded and you ended up getting
18:37from the Bruins. That's basically where we're at with him. Who's the most underplayed player in the
18:42NHL over the last 10 years? He plays for the Bruins. Most underpaid? Underpaid player in the
18:48NHL over the last 10 years, and he plays for Boston. Right now? Well, I'm not saying today.
18:54Today, I'm talking last 10 years. Over the last 10 years, the most underpaid player in the NHL,
19:00and he plays for Boston. You're asking who it is? Yeah. Brad Marchand. Well, definitely.
19:08I mean, when you talk about this, I say to myself, well, you know, it's really,
19:12it's a different, it's a brave new world for the Boston Bruins and cap management.
19:16Because the Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Tuka Rask, David Krejci, Brad Marchand
19:22era is over. And it's just a whole different ballgame now.
19:32And these are the ramifications thereof. But yeah, it is. You're right. You're 100%
19:39right, Mick. But it's also unfortunate, like, you could see this coming from a mile away.
19:44Everything that's happened to this point with that player, and what's happened since he held
19:48out, you saw this coming from a mile away. You knew this was coming, all this was coming.
19:54And it was like a slow moving train that you couldn't get out of the way of,
19:58that ended up still crashing. And you're going to try to win every game zero to zero.
20:04Yeah, that's right. All right, let's take a pause in our podcast to thank our friends
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21:37run your game. All right, Mick, let's get back into the podcast. There were some positives
21:44right from last night's game. First of all, the overall positive, taking five out of ten on a
21:48road trip where you were absolute dog mess in the first two games. I think something needs to be said
21:53for that. They really salvaged the road trip. I like the way that they responded, so there continues
21:58to be some really good things about this team's resolve, their character, their willingness to
22:02pick themselves up off the mat. I think we're starting to see that being built into the cake
22:07with this team. That's a very good thing. Elias Lindholm, goals in the last two games. I think he
22:12was excellent in both Calgary and in Edmonton last night. I think he was very good in both games,
22:17scored in both games. Mark Kostelik, I think, continues to be a really good player for this
22:23team. I loved his goal last night where he just took it hard to the net and shoveled a backhander
22:27in. He's getting to be close to a pace of getting double digits and goals this season,
22:32which is great for a fourth line kind of guy, but he brings the energy every single night.
22:37When I looked at the box score after the game last night and he only had eight or nine minutes
22:40of ice time, I was like, he should have gotten more the way he was playing. I feel like he's
22:45a guy that you got to get at least ten minutes of ice to every single night just based on the
22:48way that he plays. He's been a real find as a piece that came. A lot of people, I think,
22:54pooh-poohed in the Linus Elmark trade. He was just some fourth line widget that wasn't going
23:00to be a real difference maker. It was just a dime-a-dozen kind of guy. I think he's exactly
23:04what this team needed for a physical energy player that was going to throw hits, that was going to
23:09bring a jolt of something to the team that drags them into the fight, has a little bit of offense.
23:14I really like him as a player. I thought Oliver Wallstrom looked pretty good last night. Again,
23:20only had eight minutes of ice time, had a couple shots on net, had a good scoring chance off a
23:24pass from Charlie Coyle, but I liked the plays he was making along the walls. I thought he was
23:29good playing with his teammates. I thought he was pretty good defensively. Overall, I thought it was
23:34a real good first game for him. So I think there were plenty of positives on this trip and in these
23:38last couple of games to look at and like. A lot of adrenaline there for Wallstrom.
23:43I'm sure. I am dead sure this season's going down to the last game of the season. Everyone's
23:49going to need to win a shootout in order to make the playoffs and Oliver Wallstrom is going to
23:54make that move. Oh yeah? You calling that now? I'm calling him right now. So he's going to do
23:59the spin backhand to put the Bruins in the playoffs. As long as Jeremy Swayman doesn't
24:03go to buffs before the game and have to ask out of the game because he's having intestinal
24:08distress, I think they should be okay. Uh-oh. Hashtag. So yeah, I was thinking the same thing
24:16about Kastelik. I know that it was through the arrangement of the line reshuffling that Kastelik
24:27was centering the fourth line again or at least playing on the fourth line. He didn't take that
24:31many face-offs. But 8-48 for him is not enough. I feel like I got a fever. It's not from Mark
24:43Cowbell. It's from Mark Kastelik. They needed to find a way for him to play more. They got to get
24:49him in the game more. I do love the energy that comes with those brief opportunities. And same
24:56for Mark McLaughlin, who has really held up his end of things in his role. I think he's been
25:01terrific in his role. He plays so hard. Wallstrom is an interesting study. We'll see if being a
25:09Bruin can bring out of him something that the Islanders could never tap into. I do wonder in a
25:17fast game like that if he can keep up. But the kid's obviously got some talent. And so, oh,
25:26what the hell? Now it's a better option than Tyler Johnson had been. I don't understand the
25:32circumstances of Tyler Johnson's prior absence or the Bruin's decision to move on at this point.
25:38It almost sounds mutual. Yeah, I think so. I was wondering the same thing when I saw that,
25:44because usually completely waving a guy is not the Bruin's MO. Or maybe they had some kind of deal
25:50where he just wasn't going to go to the minor leagues and wasn't interested in that and wanted
25:55to pursue things elsewhere. And that was kind of in a tacit agreement that they had. It could be
25:59any of that stuff. I do think, yes, when it comes down to it, there's two things I think at play
26:06here. One of them is Oliver Wallstrom being definitely a better option for them as far as
26:11a guy they want to keep around as a forward in the mix. He's younger. He's definitely got more
26:19potential as far as he could grow into something. He also threw a hell of a hit last night.
26:23He did. He did. He played great. He was excellent along the walls. I thought he was fantastic along
26:28the walls in throwing that hit that you mentioned. Just be invested in all three zones. But I think
26:35he's a guy also, let's face it, when you get waved by a team and you're a former first-round
26:40pick, I think that's a wake-up call that you're heading towards the last stop saloon pretty soon
26:45for your NHL career if you don't turn things around and really put everything into every
26:50shift and everything that you're doing. And maybe we'll see something a little different out of him
26:55with that kind of a reality going on. So that's going to be interesting to see.
27:00But the other part of this with the waving of Tyler Johnson, I think, Mick,
27:04is Matt Potra having scored goals in seven straight games in the AHL and Providence and
27:11really becoming exactly what you want to see when for developmental reasons you send a young player
27:19down to the AHL to get playing time, to get confidence, to play in all situations, to play
27:24a bigger role, to take more ownership of the team, to really get your mojo back. And this worked,
27:31I think, for Lowry last year too where they did that a couple of times and it turned into him
27:34being a really good player in the second half of last year for the Bruins at the NHL level.
27:40I think we're seeing that with Potra now in Providence where he is really becoming the
27:45player they want him to be and he's really got his offensive mojo back and he's got all of his
27:50swagger and his confidence back. And that, I think, is going to pay dividends for them in
27:54the second half where I think they're going to have to find a spot for him to play as well.
27:58And that's probably part of the thinking with Tyler Johnson is eventually Potra's coming back
28:03and there's really going to be no place at the end for Johnson at that point definitely when
28:07you've got Oliver Wallstrom and you've got a guy like Potra that's pushing to come back as well.
28:12So I think all of that factors into the Tyler Johnson move as we start to see what's going
28:19to happen. Wouldn't it be interesting, Mick, as an option to look at if Potra comes back you
28:25have him as a third line center and you move Charlie Coyle to wing and you have him play with
28:30maybe like Marshand and Lindholm as a winger, Charlie Coyle as a wing with those two.
28:38And that really solidifies that line and you can allow Potra to play with a couple of guys
28:43in the third line where he could be a little bit more of an offense driver. I think that's
28:46something that you would definitely want to look at in the second half of the year before you go
28:50out and maybe go invest in a trade deadline winger that can score you some goals. See what you have
28:55internally with all these different options. And I think Potra and the way he's playing
28:59in Providence is turning into an internal option they're going to definitely have to
29:03look at at some point soon. I don't know. The whole thing gives me a very Coyle-Crider vibe.
29:10You know, I think that at the end of the day the Bruins are going to go get themselves a winger
29:15who can pop a few in the net. And Coyle was a very key acquisition for John Sweeney in 19,
29:24bringing in the ability to play center and be a horse, solidify the bottom six, deploy to wing
29:31as needed. And he just hasn't really been a successful winger in those roles. He's really
29:40settled into a center position. So I'm looking at the return. Has he really played that much?
29:47I think he's predominantly played center. I don't really feel like he's gotten an extended look
29:54at wing in a really good situation. They haven't liked it. When there are situations that would
29:59have called for it, they didn't like it. So when Jim Montgomery, and this is my opinion,
30:05Jim Montgomery determined at a certain point, he agreed with me, that Pavel Zakha was their
30:11best forward. He was playing the most tenacious game, the most second, third effort game. And
30:17with the talent that he has, he was rising above. He was the best player before Marcian really got
30:22himself together for Pastas, really started hitting stride. He was the guy. And he needed
30:28to have him in the middle of the rink to affect more of the game. That leveraged Matt Potra off
30:33the lineup because there was no place for him and they weren't going to play him at wing. It
30:38was a much better option for him to play in Providence and go do exactly what you just
30:44described. Now that Potra is trying to play his way out of the AHL back into the NHL, and because
30:50the Bruins need offense, they've got a situation. And I don't think Coyle to wing is going to be a
30:56solution. It wasn't before. I'd love it if it were the case because Charlie Coyle has been such a
31:02good impact performer for the Bruins, playoff style player, puck protector, physical along in
31:10the battle and also with his elite stride. I just don't feel like this has been easy. One of those
31:15guys who inexplicably came out of the gate really kind of off. And I do feel like he's been a lot
31:22better. And I feel like he's starting to beat Charlie Coyle, do Charlie Coyle stuff. So I would
31:29hate like hell to see him go. But my suspicion increases here with Potra's surge that they got
31:38to be thinking about this. So you're talking about a Charlie Coyle for Chris Kreider trade,
31:44basically. Something that would be built that way. I look at the salaries. I look at the career
31:50stage. I look at their ages and I look at what the Bruins needs are. And I know as much as that
31:56would just be such a non Don Sweeney type of move to get a pure winger to give up a center
32:05for a pure winger, that this is this is going to be something that they're talking about.
32:12Yeah, that's interesting. I'd be surprised if that happens. But I think you're right in that,
32:20especially if they feel like Potra is pretty close to ready. I think that would necessitate unless
32:26you decided to move Zaka back to the wing that would necessitate Coyle going to the wing. And
32:30like, look, wouldn't even in the short term, I think you should give that a look before you're
32:36going to make a move of the deadline. To my point, everything will be internal first. Get a long,
32:40extended look and see what it looks like first before you make that decision and see,
32:45you know, you give him a chance to see because he's obviously got great chemistry with Marchand
32:49already, Coyle. And if you put him with Lindholm and that's really a stacked line that's got three
32:55bona fide, very good NHL players on it, you may start to see great play in all three zones and
33:02them being able to complement each other in ways that it feels like a lot of times now with the
33:09top two lines, like there's two top six guys and there's a guy that's not really a great fit in the
33:14top six on both of those lines. You know, I think if you can find a way to get as many bona fide
33:20top six guys or guys that can play at that level playing together, I think it's only going to help
33:24you with the play that those lines are going to have, because I just think, you know, Brazil will
33:28make a play sometimes and he does. It gives you good effort. And I think he's going to he's
33:33definitely an NHL player. There's no question about it. I just don't think he's a top six guy
33:38on a good team. And he's more of a third line guy. And same thing with Morgan Geeky. I think
33:43he's more of a third line guy, even though he's playing better now. He's definitely being much
33:47more of a factor and much more like he normally is. But I just think you're asking them more out
33:55of them than they're capable of by playing up where I think Coyle is a little more of a fit
34:00in those positions, given what he's done in the past and given what he is as a player.
34:05And you're asking less of him to be something he's not than you are with Geeky and Brazil
34:11by putting him in those spots. But to your point, he hasn't played a ton of wing over the last, what,
34:16five years now. So you're asking him to play a different position than he's played in a long
34:21time. And that's certainly a part of the whole thing as well. Before we get into this more,
34:26Mick, though, let me talk about game time. We'll take a break in the podcast and
34:32ask you what you're doing in this holiday season, folks. Are you still buying presents? Are you
34:37still looking for stocking stuffers? Are you still looking for gifts that will be memories,
34:42core memories for people? And that's why I think tickets to concerts, tickets to sporting events,
34:48all that stuff makes a great gift because it's an experience. It's not just something
34:52you open up out of a box and play with for a few minutes and then put it away. This is something
34:56you can take family members to, you can take friends to, you go to games, you go to comedy,
35:00you go to concerts. Game time can help you with tickets to that. So take the guesswork out of
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35:27tickets. The game of the week for this week that would make an outstanding Christmas stocking
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36:22and use the code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Game Time today. What time is it,
36:28Mick? Game time. Game time. And that stub, that's the first row of the stadium seats
36:37behind the big concourse aisle in Boston Garden. What year, Mick? 6970. Wow. Pittsburgh Penguins,
36:45Joe Daly and Nett, no mask. Oh man, you could go game for game with my dad talking about the
36:541969-1970 Bruins. That's way back. My parents were less than a year old. That was obviously way
37:01before I was born and they had an apartment in Melrose and their date night was like watching
37:06a Bruins game on TV together in the apartment after they had had dinner. That was like what
37:10they did every night in the wintertime. So I'm sure they were watching that game as well.
37:15Frozen in time. That's awesome. I love it. All right. So yeah, just your thoughts on
37:22where the Bruins are at at this point. Any thoughts, any other lingering thoughts you
37:26have from this road trip as a whole now that you look at it? I think, like I said before,
37:32I feel like the Bruins encapsulated this whole season. There was some good, there was some bad,
37:38a little bit of a disappointing ending and you felt like they could never super get on the role
37:43that you'd like to see them get on to make you feel like they're going to make a lot of noise
37:48in the playoffs. I just feel like at the end of the day, and we're starting to see this bear out
37:53in the standings, they got passed by Tampa Bay. So they're no longer in the Atlantic division
37:57playoff structure. They're in a wild card spot now. And I feel like to your point, when you
38:01were talking about a, you know, a shootout at the end of the season to determine the playoff spot,
38:06it feels like they're going to be battling for their playoff lives with like Ottawa,
38:10who by the way, Linus Allmark has been amazing for them. And they are pushing into a playoff
38:15spot and they look like a team that's emerging from the Atlantic division depths.
38:19Pittsburgh Penguins are finally come back from the dead and they're playing good hockey as well.
38:23It looks like there's going to be some teams that the Bruins are fighting tooth and nail with
38:28to try to get into the playoffs here based on the games in hand that the other teams have on them,
38:32based where they are in the standings and based on the way that they're playing.
38:36So it feels like to me, a wild card team, they're going to have to fight for it. And
38:40there's not going to be a lot of noise in the playoffs with this team, just given
38:43some of the flaws and some of the mistakes and some of the things that keep popping up with this
38:47group. Someone on X this morning who goes by the name Jacob Voracek tweeted that the Crosby,
38:59Malkin and Letang should be that much more a slam dunk first ballot hall of fame trio
39:07for if the Penguins make the playoffs. Yeah. I mean, when you look at what they've accomplished
39:12here, they and the Senators are both seven, two and one in the last ten. And the Sens have two
39:17games in hand on the Bruins. And all they have to do is keep doing what they're doing and they're
39:22going to pass them. So, you know, this is a very 0-9-10 type of season for the Bruins.
39:29It was a post-Kessel year and it was the year they were trying to win 0-0. And it was everything was
39:36hard, hard sledding. They didn't have a winter classic to break it up. And they wound up winning
39:42a playoff series. And that was the infamous one with Philadelphia, where David Krejci went down
39:46swinging the momentum and causing them to go into the lose every game by a little instead of win by
39:54a little. And yeah, didn't they beat Buffalo that year? Six games right without home ice.
39:58I remember that. So, so, yeah, they'll talk about that series because my son loves I'm
40:07Still Standing by Elton John and like plays it all the time. And that was what they played in
40:13Buffalo every time they lost a game at home after the game was over in Buffalo is that that would
40:19be playing through the concourse as the fans were getting up and leaving unhappy that the Sabres had
40:23just coughed up a playoff game. But the series wasn't over for Buffalo. Yes. Yeah. It's it's
40:30a it's a rough road there. But yeah. So, I mean, this is this thing is this thing. Division is
40:36finally doing what everybody said it was going to do for a few years where the senators have emerged
40:41as the best of Detroit, Montreal and Ottawa. And Detroit ain't far behind them. So as far as team
40:50building goes there, they're right there. So the Sens are now becoming formidable. They made the
40:55big move for the goalie and look who's winning more percentage of their points than the Boston
41:00Bruins right now this morning 563 to 559. So, so yeah, this is going to be one of those years.
41:07And I do think that, you know, with echoing your respect for Brezo's effort,
41:15when you watch him try and so hard doing everything he's supposed to do, he's so coachable,
41:20he battles so hard. He's not blessed with great speed, but he's worked himself into such great
41:26shape that he can keep up with the game and get get chances here and there. But, you know, he's
41:33just like he's almost Charlie Simmer, but he's not Charlie Simmer. So all hell is not breaking loose
41:39around the net for him. So every once in a while, there's a tease. And if this is it, then
41:46then the Bruins are definitely going to be looking to upgrade at that position.
41:51Yeah, I, the one thing watching Brezo play that I wish he was a little more of was
41:59just an a-hole. I wish he had a little more FU in his game, you know, like given the size and
42:05strength that he has, I think he would clear out even more space for himself if he had a little
42:11bit more of that. Yeah, a 90 point player would win the Lady Bing. What's that? If he was a 90 point player,
42:18he'd win the Lady Bing. Yes, that's right. And the Bruins have too many Lady Bing candidates.
42:22Yeah, if he was dirty, mean and nasty, a little bit more of that, I would, I really would like
42:26him a lot more. And I think he would be more effective, to be honest with you. I think he
42:30would clear out more space for himself where guys would, you know, steer clear of him a little
42:35bit more. And I think playing like that, really finishing checks, really making people feel it
42:41when he's in a battle with them. I think he would be a little more effective offensively, too. He
42:47would have more room to operate. And, you know, maybe the speed wouldn't always be such an issue.
42:52That's just a little thing. If he had Castle's personality, it'd be Cam Neely. Yes. I mean, Cam
42:58was a better skater straight down the ice. He got a hell of a stride. Yep. But like there's times
43:04where he doesn't finish checks when he could. And I think his size, he needs to do that a little bit
43:08more. And, you know, I think if he has a little bit more of that in his game, I think it would
43:13help him in his overall game. Maybe a little tweakery can put him over a line. I remember
43:19Glenn Murray, how he was a horrible skater when he first came up to the NHL in 92,
43:28right before those playoffs. And as his first tenure with the Bruins, he could never quite
43:32get on the four check. He could never quite get there. While he was gone to Los Angeles,
43:38Pittsburgh, wherever it was, he definitely learned how to skate because there was something that
43:42happened. The Bruins reacquired him in the 0-1-0-2 season and then, you know, Jason Allison
43:48went the other way. And Murray came back to be a Bruin throughout that decade. And his stride
43:55had gotten to that point where it's almost Neely-esque, where he would just push and you'd
44:00feel like the rink was going to break. And he would just, he got over that fine line where
44:07all of a sudden, he could disrupt the retrievals. He could cause havoc. He could score goals because
44:14he's a great shooter. And he really was an effective player for the Bruins for a long time.
44:19And his second time around here. You know, Brazzo, I don't know if that gear is in there.
44:27He looks to me like he's done just about everything possible. They can think he can
44:33ring out of himself. Maybe, you know, going to a hypnotist and finding out he's being told he's
44:39Mark Gastelick. That might do it. I don't know. But yeah, I just don't think the reality
44:46is setting in for me that this is kind of it. And if this is it, then this is where the
44:53Bruins got to be looking. And, you know, Tyler Tavoli makes probably too much money. He's not
45:00that old. He just seems like he's been around forever. So you feel like, man, can that guy
45:04still even get up and down the ice? He can still play. He can still score. Yeah. You say, well,
45:08who is it? What are they going to do here? And you're talking internal stuff. You know, I'm sure
45:14they'll look at that before they look at anything else. Yeah. I mean, they got to look at that
45:18first. But I think ultimately they will. They're going to bring somebody in at the trade deadline.
45:22I don't think there's any doubt. It would just ease the game a little bit for them if they could
45:27get the odd goal that they missed right now. Yeah. And I'm not going to say that I was like
45:33last night. I don't miss Jake to break last night, for instance, scoring another goal to make it three
45:38nothing instead of two nothing. Like, yeah, that would have made a huge difference in that game,
45:41I think. And that was another part of the, you know, castigating Swayman for a soft goal
45:47is part of it. Another part of is not being able to extend the lead to three to nothing when they
45:50had a bunch of chances to pasta, passed up a shot. He did. It's just like he did. You know,
45:56it looked to me like he was trying to get Walsh from his first goal there or something. I'm not
46:00sure. But yeah, if they could just ease some of these games, just ease it a little bit by getting
46:06another stick there and say, well, what are you doing, DeBrusque, DeBrusque, DeBrusque?
46:11If you are going to keep Jake DeBrusque, you're going to have to pay core player money.
46:14You can't pay core player money to a guy who comes and goes the way Jake DeBrusque comes and goes.
46:19Especially not when you're paying eight million dollars to a goalie to let up soft goals in a
46:23game. Thank you very much for joining us. Let's also thank our sponsors again real quick. Download
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46:54download the game time app, create an account, use the code CLNS for twenty dollars off your
46:59first purchase. Download game time today. What time is it, Mick? Game time. Game time. Mick,
47:06happy holidays, my friend. Merry Christmas. You too, Joe. All right. Everybody else out there,
47:10happy holidays to you. I think we're going to have one more show maybe on Christmas Eve next
47:14week. We'll see. But enjoy the holiday weekend right now before Christmas. Thank you for
47:18listening. We'll see you at the.