In this episode of Pucks with Haggs, Joe Haggerty is joined by Mick Colageo to discuss the current state of the dramatic up and down series the Bruins find themselves in with the Florida Panthers, and break down what it will take for the B's to climb back into this series in a game 6 at home. That, and much more!
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This episode of the Pucks with Haggs Podcast is brought to you by PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Football season may be over, but the action on the floor is heating up. Whether it’s Tournament Season or the fight for playoff homecourt, there’s no shortage of high stakes basketball moments this time of year. Quick withdrawals, easy gameplay and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what make PrizePicks the #1 daily fantasy sports app!
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00:00 He's become a very confident sort of outspoken leader and a positive guy on that team that
00:07 continues to believe and continues to put out the right message in these playoffs and
00:11 has helped keep the spirits within that Bruins dressing room high and the confidence high
00:16 because the goalie believes in himself and believes in them and is going to give them
00:20 a chance in every single game with the way that he's playing.
00:24 And I think that gives a little extra oomph and confidence to a team when they know their
00:28 goalie is just playing that good every year.
00:30 You're always going to have a chance when you have a goalie playing that good.
00:37 Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast powered by prize picks, the exclusive
00:42 daily fantasy partner of the CLNS media network.
00:44 I believe this is the 90th episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast.
00:48 I'm your host, Joe Hagerty.
00:49 You can find my work at joehagerty.substack.com.
00:53 Subscribe to a premium membership.
00:54 You get all of my NHL and Bruins writing sent straight directly to your inbox via the newsletter
00:59 on sub stack.
01:00 You can also find my work at Boston sports journal.
01:03 Go to bostonsportsjournal.com filing every day during the playoffs.
01:06 With me today, I have my longtime friend and colleague, Mick Colaggio.
01:09 Mick, tell everybody where they can find your work, my friend.
01:12 Okay.
01:13 Sunday's bostonhockeynow.com.
01:14 I do a column.
01:18 I'm in periodical issues of the hockey news when I do those special editions on the Bruins
01:22 end of it.
01:23 And I got a little blog of my own called rank rat, which I linked to on X and sometimes
01:29 on Facebook.
01:30 That's right.
01:31 Check all of that stuff out there.
01:33 Great stuff.
01:34 And he is a frequent guest on the Pucks with Hags podcast.
01:36 Let's not forget that.
01:37 Absolutely.
01:38 And I also go on the Pete Shepard show regularly.
01:39 Oh, there you go.
01:40 Pete the Pete.
01:41 I hope he's doing great down in Florida.
01:44 That's right.
01:45 Prize picks.
01:46 Let's go with our sponsors and thank them for a little bit too.
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02:45 That's game time.
02:46 All right.
02:47 So we have a quick two to one Bruins win in game five, a do or die elimination situation
02:53 for the Bruins.
02:54 They go down to Florida and for my money, this was the best game of the series for them.
03:00 You know, game one was obviously a good win, but like, I think game one is very much an
03:05 outlier in this series because the Panthers hadn't played in a week.
03:08 I think they were rusty and not themselves in that game.
03:10 I think the Bruins took advantage, but the combination of the Bruins riding the momentum
03:14 from game seven in Florida, just not being Florida in that game.
03:18 I almost throw that out a little bit.
03:19 I thought.
03:20 Game two as well.
03:21 Yeah.
03:22 Bruins hit the wall.
03:23 They did.
03:24 They did.
03:25 But I thought they had nothing.
03:27 No, I think that's true to a degree for sure.
03:30 But like, I also think it was a different story with Florida playing the way that they
03:35 did against the Bruins.
03:37 And the next three games basically played out that same way where they couldn't get
03:41 shots on net.
03:42 They couldn't get through the four check of the Florida Panthers.
03:45 Like those three games seemed like the real deal to me, even though I think you're right.
03:49 I think they did hit a fatigue while the Bruins in game two for sure.
03:52 The games in Boston are the ones that really spoke to me.
03:56 Yeah.
03:57 I extended to all three, but I will give you the extenuating circumstances in game two
04:01 for the Bruins for sure.
04:03 But like, I think game five, like them coming out, no shooting the Panthers 12 to four in
04:08 the first period, them really having a great start and seizing control early in that game.
04:13 The way Charlie McAvoy played you know, the, the way that they still kept with it, even
04:19 in the second and third period where Florida really came at them a lot harder.
04:23 I think they were able to withstand a lot of that pressure and make it a little more
04:26 even as far as possession went in the other team's zone and you know, getting second and
04:30 third chances.
04:31 Some of the things they were doing, playing low to high, simple hockey, like the things
04:35 they were talking about they did, and they got almost 30 shots on net where they couldn't
04:39 even break 20 in the previous three games.
04:42 So I left game five feeling like the Bruins were playing their best hockey of the series.
04:48 They certainly played with the desperation in an elimination game and maybe they got
04:53 Florida thinking about them a little bit, you know, as they go back to Boston for game
04:57 six there, they're obviously ultra confident in what they can do and kind of cocky the
05:01 Florida Panthers.
05:03 And I think game five was a good enough showing for the Bruins that it's going to give the
05:07 Panthers a little buzz.
05:10 I think the Panthers end of this is going to be that it's hard to match the desperation
05:17 after the good work they did in winning three games in a row with best efforts, quote unquote,
05:24 that they came home and did what many teams have done, including the Bruins went up three
05:29 one and didn't have, we couldn't manufacture what it took to match the desperation of an
05:37 opponent that's good enough that they're going to put forth something that, Hey, and swimming
05:45 had to stop Reinhardt in the final seconds.
05:48 That's how close this game was.
05:49 I was just going to say, Mick, like, like you're right.
05:52 But like Florida had many great chances towards the end of that game.
05:55 And they were really coming in the third.
05:57 They're capable of pushing.
05:58 It just was too little, too late against a great goaltender.
06:01 So Hawaiian lights out.
06:03 So, and you know what too, it wasn't, I I'm glad I did not hear many people.
06:09 So they solve Swainman.
06:12 You don't solve a great goal goalie.
06:14 You may beat the hell out of the team that's in front of them and get opportunities that
06:19 are not realistic for that goalie to stop and break through and score some goals.
06:23 But solving Swainman never happened.
06:26 How many times the Bruins scored goals on a guy early in a series and then couldn't
06:30 get anything in the final three games?
06:33 You know, so I don't, so I never thought Swainman was always fatigued.
06:37 We've got to go back to all mark.
06:39 Now this kid, this kid is raised right there.
06:43 He's always been right there and any relishes the moment.
06:47 And you got to love that as well when a goalie, which is such a singular, unique position.
06:52 So really a high marks to the Bruins for getting to the Florida end of the ice with a game,
06:59 taking the game to their end and a high marks for Swainman to, to keep on showing that he
07:04 doesn't wilt.
07:06 To the, to that point, Mick, like the, he was the goalie and the Bruins gave up six
07:10 goals and back-to-back games in this series.
07:13 And Swainman still leads all NHL goalies in the playoffs and save percentage, despite
07:17 giving up a bunch of goals in both of those games.
07:19 Like that's how good he's playing.
07:21 That's how many shots he's faced.
07:23 I do give the Bruins credit.
07:25 Like you're saying for sticking with him and not even wavering at all when like it, it
07:29 could have been an easy decision as soon as there was an opening there and they gave up
07:33 a big number in a game.
07:34 And I'm sure there was some pressure on them to like get all mark in at some point.
07:38 And they did get them in at some point because they yanked Swainman from one of those games.
07:42 So he did get some game action, which was good for him, but like, just given who he
07:46 is you know, what the tandem was like sort of sharing the goaltending duties and all
07:51 the talk of that, I'm sure there was some pressure on them to think about all mark and
07:55 maybe putting him in.
07:56 And I give them full credit for recognizing that Swainman was playing out of his mind
08:00 continuously and keeping with him.
08:03 And I think the, I think Swainman's attitude throughout this series and throughout these
08:08 playoffs has made it easier too, because I think he's become a very confident sort of
08:13 outspoken leader and a positive guy on that team that continues to believe and continues
08:19 to put out the right message in these playoffs.
08:22 And this helped keep the spirits within that Bruins dressing room high and the confidence
08:26 high because the goalie believes in himself and believes in them and is going to give
08:31 them a chance in every single game with the way that he's playing.
08:34 And I think that gives a little extra oomph and confidence to a team when they know their
08:39 goalie is just playing that good every year.
08:41 They're always going to have a chance when you have a goalie playing that good.
08:44 Yeah.
08:45 Yeah.
08:46 I know I'm resisting every core puzzle inside my body to talk about the summer for Swainman
08:52 and offer sheets and everything else because of the way he's playing on a national continental
08:57 stage and he's being watched by teams who have seen internal solutions begin to crack,
09:04 you know, and still, you know, coming back to the mid season storylines, you know, as
09:09 far as the goaltending goes and personnel and teams that are knocking on the door to
09:13 cup contention and, and what would finish it off for them.
09:17 And right now Swainman is, is exuding that kind of play.
09:22 That's going to just turn all the burners and this grill up to full, full out.
09:30 And it's going to be a very interesting off season where the concerns him and the Bruins.
09:36 Yeah, I think so.
09:37 I mean, they're, they're going to match whatever offer sheet he gets.
09:39 So, you know, they're going to have the cap space.
09:41 They're going to have the wherewithal to do it and they have to do it.
09:43 So like, there may be some drama as far as that goes, but I think they're going to match
09:48 whatever he gets.
09:49 I think he's going to get a lot of money now.
09:51 Like there was some question going into these playoffs, if you should pay him like a number
09:55 one, cause he'd never really shown it.
09:57 Like I think you have to now, yeah, he's gonna, he's gonna get that money.
10:01 He's going to get the term.
10:02 All mark is going to get traded.
10:03 Like all these things are going to happen in the off season based on what we've seen
10:07 in these playoffs.
10:08 I just don't see it ending any other way than that.
10:12 Like even if he were to sign an offer sheet, like they're going to match it.
10:15 Well, you know, they have, he actually played the most regular season games he ever played
10:19 in the season in this year before Omar got here.
10:23 So, so, so it isn't as though he's that shy, that new a shiny toy.
10:29 He's just, he's, this has been a slow developing situation for a goalie of the year, you know,
10:36 in college and, and who is, but that's okay with a goalie, right?
10:41 You can develop them slow like that.
10:43 And that's, that's perfectly fine to do.
10:44 I think that's the right way to do it.
10:46 Well, yeah, some goalies, you know, break in early and, and then never look back Patrick
10:52 WAA, but you know, I mean, it's on some break in and have a great start and flame out like,
10:56 you know, Carter Hart and the other guys like that.
10:58 They have these, you know, they come in with all these reputation and they, they get off
11:03 to a decent start and then nothing happens.
11:05 Cause I think they just don't have the development, you know, mentally and physically to, you know,
11:10 really handle the NHL when push comes to shove.
11:12 And I,
11:13 Jim Carrey, the late great main locker, you know, there's a lot of early, early achievements
11:20 that are hard to, you know, it's a little like the music industry, you know, it's hard
11:24 to keep doing it.
11:26 That's why the slow bake development for a goalie, I think is the right way to do it.
11:28 Cause especially with goalies, it's like, you know, there's a rush obviously with, with
11:33 specially forwards sometimes defensemen develop a little more slowly, but with position players
11:38 in hockey, there's a little bit more of a rush to develop them because like their peak
11:42 level is, you know, come so quickly, you know, and then once they get over 30, you know,
11:47 it starts to go down with goalies.
11:49 They can play well into their mid to late thirties.
11:52 So like you can afford to be patient developing them.
11:54 Jim Thomas is prime.
11:55 He was 38.
11:56 Yeah.
11:57 Yeah.
11:58 You know, so it's okay to like take a few years and have the situation play out the
12:03 way it did with, with all mark and have him sort of work up to it.
12:07 I think that was actually it for Swainman.
12:09 It was the right thing to do.
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13:42 McAvoy, uh, a huge game last night, Mick.
13:45 Um, game winning goal obviously had three shots in the first period on net when he didn't
13:50 have a single shot on net in the first four games in this series, ended up with a six
13:54 shots on net four hits, three block shots and 23 plus minutes.
13:59 Um, I thought was playing in control.
14:02 Um, wasn't out of position too much.
14:05 Wasn't trying to do too much, which I think he was at points during the, the, the series
14:09 was making sure he was getting shots close to the net.
14:13 Given the goal that a geeky scored, uh, to open things up, that was an intentionally
14:18 wide shot at the net from McAvoy at the point that, uh, DeBrusque was able to get behind
14:23 the net and then get it to geeky in front.
14:25 So I think there was obviously a renewed focus on going low to high, getting point shots
14:30 through from, from the high points and making sure they were creating that action around
14:35 the net.
14:36 And I think it was the right thing to do.
14:37 It worked.
14:38 And with McAvoy focusing on shooting the puck at the net and shooting it around the net,
14:43 I think it makes him a much more effective player and something he wasn't doing in the
14:47 first four games in the series, but he was a big difference maker last night.
14:50 Yeah.
14:51 And I think he had more veteran partnership last night.
14:54 I think the low-ride partnership was de-emphasized.
14:57 Um, Mason low-ride played just under nine minutes at even strength.
15:03 And a lot of that was with Andrew peak.
15:05 The McAvoy was paired a lot with campus Lindholm, but also Parker Watherspoon.
15:12 So, so there was definitely a changing up of the makeup of the player he was playing
15:18 with.
15:19 Um, and so, uh, I think that they thought, Hey, low rise, like a bigger Riz, you know?
15:26 So I skates really great, you know, moves the puck really great.
15:32 Let's let's put him with McAvoy.
15:34 Uh, and what we're seeing here is that, that, uh, McAvoy functioned a lot better, uh, more
15:41 solidly, more stably with either Lindholm or with Watherspoon.
15:45 Yeah.
15:46 Somebody that was a little more of a, a stay at home sort of component or, or more defensive
15:51 guy to go with Bobby or yeah, definitely.
15:56 Um, but I think in general, like they needed that kind of a game on a McAvoy.
16:00 He was minus four in this series, no shots on net going into this game.
16:04 People starting to ask questions if you'd like, he was hurt or something was bothering
16:07 him physically, which I don't think was the case.
16:09 I think he was just kind of struggling in this series.
16:11 And some of it was, you know, the partnership, some of it was the way he was playing.
16:16 I really think he was trying to do too much.
16:17 He was getting way out of position at points.
16:20 Uh, I think that's the nature of the, I think that's the nature of his partnership right
16:24 now is I feel like that's why I wanted so much for them and try to get a chicker and
16:28 type player with him.
16:29 Somebody who would allow him to not feel like he has to be Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermeyer.
16:34 Yeah.
16:35 Both.
16:36 No, you can't.
16:37 It's impossible.
16:38 You can't be both, you know, like both.
16:41 So, so, you know, it was really, it really allows McAvoy to, to settle down and, and
16:49 do what you do well and let that grow and build out from a fundamental standpoint, rather
16:56 than feeling like you gotta be, you know, Ray Bork, you know, in 1992 with, you know,
17:04 a very green Don Sweeney or Matt Hervey or somebody that they dredged up from the minors
17:09 to somehow.
17:10 What was that last one?
17:13 Matt Hervey, H E R V E Y.
17:16 Believe it or not.
17:17 I don't even remember that guy.
17:19 Well, the Bruins, when they went to NHL was in the, they had to strike that year.
17:23 Um, and, and Bork had played so much hockey in 88 and 90 runs to the final.
17:29 And then 91, you go to a conference final 92.
17:32 You're going back to the conference final after a very difficult year that you actually
17:37 got outscored in the regular season.
17:39 And um, you know, but the late thing that they had back then was that post Olympic infusion
17:45 of talent, which was, uh, Joe, as you know, from Canada and Steve Hines and Ted Donato
17:52 from the U S uh, simultaneously, Glenn Murray comes up from junior, uh, Dave Reed.
17:57 And it's like, they're a whole different team, you know, obviously early, but Dave Reed had
18:01 returned to the team that year.
18:03 So, so they really were much, had a much better secondary presence in the forward lines behind
18:10 oats.
18:11 And even though they didn't have an alien that playoff, uh, with the injury, uh, but
18:15 that was that, that happens in the end of a great book.
18:19 It's like the more mileage that was on Ray Bork to the prime years of his career, the
18:22 more it was heaped on his shoulders.
18:24 And he went through some straight strains in that 91, 92 season where, where it really
18:30 kind of, and really kind of, you know, it's the only time in his younger part of his career
18:35 that I ever thought he looked lost.
18:37 You know, it's, it was very rare situations, but one time that red wings came into Boston
18:42 and beat that crap out of the Bruins.
18:44 They were red wings and just starting to get really good.
18:46 And uh, and it wasn't the game with all the fights.
18:49 I don't think it was another one where they just came in and just scored a million goals
18:52 and, and, and Ray Bork, you just sell, he was frustrated out there trying to do too
18:56 much and nothing.
18:57 Everything was turning to crap, everything he touched.
19:00 And it's just, you know, this can happen to the greatest players in the history of the
19:03 game.
19:04 100% 100% it happens to, I remember as the Dano char's first year with the Bruins when
19:09 the talent level wasn't that high.
19:11 And maybe he felt the pressure of, you know, the captaincy and sort of coming to Boston
19:15 and, you know, proving himself or whatever.
19:18 Um, after coming over and free agency and signed a big contract, but that first year
19:22 Zidano char, I thought tried to do too much and was not as effective as a player.
19:26 He's a big, my example, great example to bring up.
19:29 Because look at the work Peter Shirelli did.
19:32 They try to find big Z, the right defense partner.
19:36 It's kind of like trying to find your team, the right coach.
19:38 There's a million great coaches.
19:40 The right one's tough million great goalies.
19:42 The right one's really tricky.
19:45 And for Z, it turned out that Shirelli went from, you know, we, we know what happened
19:50 with Nick Boynton.
19:51 Um, Jeff Gordon, you know, had a deal in place and got overruled and he went and came Paul
19:56 Mara came, uh, Paul Mara.
19:59 You know, wound up going to New York for Aaron Ward who wasn't getting along with Yaga in
20:02 the room.
20:03 So every board comes and now that seems like it's going okay for a while.
20:07 And now she decides he needs to tweak that.
20:08 He goes from there for net to Derek Morris promises, Derek Morris, he's not going to
20:12 trade him.
20:13 He has to apologize later because you realize this ain't working either.
20:17 He winds up with Dennis Seidenberg and Dennis Seidenberg becomes, even though he played
20:21 a lot of regular season with, with boy Chuck, you know, emerged from within.
20:26 And that continued, he would end up playing a lot with boy Chuck during regular season,
20:30 but it was always like during the playoffs, you would shut down partner and boy check
20:35 anchor the second pairing with Andrew Ference.
20:37 Yep.
20:38 So, so, uh, uh, that, that was, um, it took, you know, I mean, you think of each guy succession
20:44 all the way through trying to get Z that right guy and Z and sides wound up being that guy
20:48 for the top.
20:49 Yep.
20:50 No.
20:51 And that makes all the difference when you find the right pairing that's working together.
20:55 And that's why honestly I've advocated and I'm glad that they put Lindholm and McAvoy
21:00 together in the last few weeks of the season to get a look at it and to also view that
21:05 as a very viable option in the playoffs, because I do think Lindholm helps McAvoy out quite
21:11 a bit when the two of them are playing together.
21:13 And both of those guys are capable of playing a lot of minutes, um, you know, for, and they're
21:17 in the prime of their careers.
21:19 So you don't worry as much about sort of them wearing.
21:21 I also want to answer the question, can, how is Carlo going to be without Linholm?
21:25 Right.
21:26 And how will he do?
21:27 And what are we, what are we going to give him as a left defenseman in that position?
21:33 And is it going to be a grinder like Wotherspoon who's just fundamentally sound, you know,
21:38 welterweight who punches above his class, or is it going to be, are we going to try
21:42 to do this, um, with Grizz obviously, um, give him the traditional Grizzly Krook kind
21:48 of guy that he's always had as his partner, which seems to have worked pretty well.
21:52 And I, honestly, I think Carlo needs somebody that is a little, is adept at moving the puck,
21:58 especially against a team like Florida.
21:59 That's going to throw heavy for check at you.
22:01 Like they did okay.
22:02 Um, with Wetherspoon, uh, yesterday, uh, last night.
22:07 Um, but I wonder, you know, I wonder if you're getting Florida's, if you're getting Florida's
22:13 best, most suffocating for check, how Carlo and Wetherspoon are going to fare together.
22:18 You know, if you leave them together for long stretches of time, it'll be interesting to
22:21 see.
22:22 Yeah.
22:23 But, but, but, you know, the, the, the good thing about Montgomery is he switches those
22:28 guys around a lot and they're all used to playing with each other.
22:30 So he makes a lot of in-game adjustments, switching around the partners anyway, if something's
22:35 not right.
22:36 Um, last night, uh, Brad Marchand made the trip.
22:40 Um, he'd skated on, he skated, uh, I believe in morning skate.
22:45 Um, they had his Jersey hanging, uh, in the locker room during the game.
22:49 They kept it hanging during the game.
22:51 Uh, he spoke to the team during, before the game, definitely a presence down there.
22:56 Um, and an inspirational one for sure.
23:00 Um, do we think that we're going to see Brad Marchand play, uh, in game six?
23:05 What's your gut instinct?
23:06 Obviously we don't have any like, you know, inside instincts here.
23:10 I think maybe he'll be the banner captain.
23:15 That would be interesting.
23:16 I'd love it.
23:17 I think that'd be great.
23:18 Cause I think it would shock the crap out of the crowd and they go nuts.
23:21 Well, I don't, yeah, I don't know.
23:22 Has there ever been an active player that's been a banner captain in any situation like
23:28 that?
23:29 I don't think so.
23:30 Why not be first?
23:31 There's no, there's no, I don't think there's any rule saying they can't do it.
23:35 No, no, no.
23:36 I'm not going to play.
23:37 Why the heck not?
23:38 I just think it would be really great to, to, to pull out a stop like that.
23:42 They would really kind of, um, of course if Marchand is well enough to withstand the noise
23:47 that that's going to cost, right.
23:49 That's going to cause, sorry.
23:51 And um, then I think it would be a great ploy because the fans need something special.
23:56 Um, you know, rather than just another franchise icon, uh, in a, in a routine that's is very
24:03 well oiled and works nicely and gets the crowd revved up.
24:07 But some surprise that really kind of lights them on fire and gets them chanting in the
24:11 first period before a Florida fan starts anything, uh, before anything bad happens to the team.
24:19 Just, just, you know, being at the crowd, they need the crowd to be a six player Friday
24:25 night.
24:26 Uh, most definitely.
24:27 And I would expect they will be with the season on the line.
24:29 You know, sometimes I've found like the last few years, sometimes during the week, like
24:35 middle of the series games, you do see the, especially if it's not the first game of the
24:40 series, you do see the Bruins fans get a little sort of not as, uh, they lose a little energy.
24:45 They lose a little steam.
24:46 They're not quite as enthusiastic, but I find that the first game of the series that's at
24:50 the garden and definitely when they get to like elimination situations towards the end,
24:55 that's when you'll see the liveliest crowds anyway, but that would definitely add a lot
24:59 to it.
25:00 And you're right.
25:01 That would spice it up.
25:02 I just think, I just think it's interesting.
25:05 Like they're going to have two days off in between the games.
25:07 He is now on the ice skating a bit.
25:09 He's traveling with the team.
25:11 He's definitely getting closer to a return.
25:13 And this is the playoffs.
25:14 I think there's more days here as we go forward.
25:18 So I wouldn't rule it out, but I'm not optimistic based on him, you know, looking like he was
25:23 doing Christmas, uh, priority skating.
25:26 Yes.
25:27 Yes.
25:28 But they do, they do have the little toddlers around them, but they do have a couple of
25:33 days.
25:34 So we'll see where he's at.
25:36 But I think it's certainly, um, I wouldn't rule it out at this point, um, especially
25:41 with it being an elimination game at home, uh, and they could definitely use him.
25:45 Uh, but you're not going to obviously risk anything if, uh, you know, there's any lingering
25:49 effects or if there's any question whatsoever, you just don't do it in those situations with
25:53 a concussion, husband, dad, number one, um, the team's second.
26:01 And if he's ready to go in the dark to say, yeah, we're a hundred percent here.
26:04 Let's do this.
26:05 Like it's no different than answer than you would have gotten two months later.
26:09 If that's really the circumstance, then bring it on.
26:13 You getting excited about the Boston Celtics, Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, the entire band
26:18 of Celtics players, uh, looking like they have what it takes.
26:22 Even if Porzingis is a hurt every once in a while, man has to miss a few games.
26:26 Uh, they look like they're going to put a blow torch through the Eastern conference
26:29 and have a lot of exciting games.
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27:58 Another too many men in the ice penalty last night, Mick, that is six in the playoffs that
28:02 is now hide the NHL record.
28:04 Interestingly enough, they were talking about it on Nesson after the game last night and
28:09 uh, several of those teams that have gotten six, too many men in the ice penalties in
28:13 the, in the playoffs have, we're Stanley cup champions.
28:16 A bunch went to the Stanley cup files, including I think the 2013 Boston Bruins.
28:22 Um, but you know, uh, once again, they, they just gifted a power play to the opponent in
28:30 the playoffs.
28:31 And, uh, you know, you feel a little bit for Jim Montgomery because this was definitely
28:34 a player jumping over the boards when they shouldn't have.
28:37 And it was a combination of that and, you know, coil throwing a puck, uh, East West
28:42 towards the bench instead of getting it deep.
28:44 And that like causes the whole sort of scenario to happen.
28:47 Uh, Dennis Weidman award goes to, yeah, but like, but this keeps happening.
28:52 You know what I mean?
28:53 This is like not an isolated incident when something continues to happen execution wise
28:59 over and over like that to a team, like you do blame the players because there's definitely
29:03 like execution problems in it.
29:06 No question.
29:07 But like, it also is a reflection on the coaching.
29:09 I'm sorry if you make the same mistake over and over again, like that as a team, that
29:13 is a reflection on the players and you can throw them under the bus and say it's their
29:16 fault, but it's also the coach's fault for not making sure
29:20 He's hiding his reactions from the camera work.
29:22 And this, you know, now, nowadays the cameras are all over the coach.
29:27 Anytime anything bad happens.
29:29 And, uh, and, and he's right now, we're going to become a rock star on social media with
29:34 some of these little gifts that we're starting to say, Oh yeah, those are going to, those
29:37 are going to keep us around forever.
29:38 The diving one.
29:39 And then the one when, uh, Bennett got the penalty for like snapping his head back, those
29:44 are going to become a long, long time.
29:47 Jim Montgomery memes on, uh, on social media.
29:50 There's no question about that, but like it, it did, it showed the urgency that he was
29:54 feeling in the game and he was coaching his ass off, you know, like to try to get them
30:00 to the next game.
30:01 And I think it'd be maddening because everybody cares.
30:03 They all care.
30:04 Of course they do.
30:05 I don't think there's a, there's no, there's not such, they spend these hours.
30:08 They hold themselves up all freaking day for these games and these, in these offices and
30:14 go through every little turnover, every rock 15 times and try to figure out if they got
30:20 the right thing happening and try to go send all the messages, right.
30:25 To the players, talk to everybody meetings, video, um, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's
30:31 coaching is such a thorough, uh, Uber, a full-time job nowadays.
30:37 There's probably more done as a coach and a college level than that was done in the
30:44 NHL, uh, in the eighties, um, maybe even the nineties.
30:51 I mean, the emergence of video certainly is, is changed at all.
30:57 Again, um, the tablets on the bench, all that stuff, it's just never stops.
31:02 Hockey is too cluttered and maybe that's challenging players from some of these things that used
31:10 to be so first language to their hockey experience.
31:16 You do this your whole life.
31:17 You say, uh, Hey, you know what?
31:19 I went for the athletic to do a feature on asking of doing a secret poll of NHL players.
31:25 How many times in junior hockey did you ever have, did your team have a too many men on
31:30 the ice penalty?
31:31 How many times?
31:32 You know?
31:33 So maybe in prior areas of the game, when things were simpler, this didn't happen as
31:37 much.
31:38 Maybe it's a function of that.
31:39 I don't know.
31:40 I think it's a function somewhat of just a lack of sort of game instincts for players
31:46 in general, uh, in this generation of players, um, as opposed to other generations of players,
31:53 as far as the, you know, because the coaches do too much thinking for them.
31:57 No.
31:58 Well, maybe when they're younger, but I think it's more because they spend so much time
32:01 on skill development instead of actually playing and developing the instincts while they're
32:05 playing the game, you know, and, and developing what they should be developing instinctually.
32:11 They're so reliant in the, so much of a focus now on, you know, spending hours and hours
32:16 with silk skill coaches doing drills that will help you toe drag a guy, uh, all the
32:21 way down the ice, but are not going to help you when you're getting to situational stuff
32:26 in a game.
32:27 Everybody loves the video of that kid skating backwards while he's handling the puck in
32:31 the middle of that giant, uh, Lake and then with the mountains and a hundred percent,
32:36 you know, and I, I see it at the, but, but you know, it's like, it's like South American
32:40 soccer kids.
32:41 They grow up on the beach playing.
32:43 That's how they develop that incredible cohesion.
32:46 Yeah.
32:47 And the instinct, they don't need to teach it because it's, they keep the ball on the
32:51 ground because it's second nature to them because they grow up doing it.
32:56 And that's the thing, Mick, is that like, now I see it at the youth level, like kids
33:02 don't play pond hockey anymore.
33:04 Kids don't play like any kind of pickup hockey.
33:06 Like it's all structured, organized, and there's very limited amounts of time when they're
33:11 allowed to just play and just like instinctual and not have coaches in their ear or coaches
33:16 telling them you should do this, you should do that.
33:18 Like all that.
33:19 They don't have enough time where they're just playing with each other and developing
33:22 those instincts and figuring things out and trying things that may or may not work like
33:27 all that stuff.
33:28 It's way too much devoted to skill stuff where kids will have all the skills in the world,
33:34 but they don't have the instincts to play the game and they won't make the, instead
33:37 of like making the right play and making the smart play, they try to like go end to end
33:41 and skate to where everybody in score.
33:43 And they continue to do that when they're at the older levels.
33:45 And it's sometime around 20 years ago, I went to a Hetland arena in New Bedford where I
33:50 was at when I was at the Standard Times there.
33:52 And because they were having a junior tournament and junior hockey back then was still fragmented
33:57 in a way that you didn't really know how much of it was hucksterism and how much of it was
34:03 legit structured tier one, tier two, tier three.
34:06 Anyway, it was good enough hockey that I was curious about it.
34:10 So I went there and a new team from New York called Apple Corps came in.
34:14 I know them.
34:15 Okay.
34:16 They came in to play against whatever the local entry was at the time.
34:20 And the coach of the Apple Corps team, and this was probably like high school age, maybe
34:26 a little older than that, like American Legion baseball age.
34:31 His team dumps the puck and they set up the one, two, two, which everybody was still fascinated
34:36 with Jacques Lemaire at that point.
34:40 And he tells her, he yells at his center, "More, more, more, stop."
34:48 The guy gets to like between the circles, maybe a little high, a little north of the
34:53 dots, the F1.
34:56 And I'm thinking, "Oh, cut the crap.
34:58 These are kids.
34:59 Let them play the damn game."
35:00 I was disgusted.
35:01 I actually started screaming.
35:02 I'm a journalist.
35:03 I'm in the bleachers back there.
35:04 I'm like, "Come on.
35:05 This is crazy."
35:06 Let them play.
35:07 Let the kid forward check.
35:08 For Christ's sake.
35:10 I felt like one of the Bruins brass in the back row in Wilmington when Vladimir Ruzicka
35:17 had a breakaway in training camp and the linesman they hired to do the scrimmage blew him offside.
35:22 Blew a two line offside.
35:24 They all got up screaming.
35:25 They were throwing their notepads and everything.
35:27 That's hilarious.
35:28 They were being robbed of an experience that's crucial to their development.
35:34 Yes.
35:35 Joystick coaching at its finest right there.
35:37 That is definitely part of the problem.
35:39 Analysis by analysis.
35:41 Yep.
35:42 The big question, Mick, is can the Boston Bruins replicate that Game 5 effort?
35:50 20 block shots, the best period they've played in the series, and the first period when they
35:54 outshot them 12 to 4.
35:57 As we've mentioned a couple times, Reinhart missed the net a couple of times in the third
36:01 period with great chances.
36:03 And then Swayman makes that save on the last one.
36:05 But Florida had at least five or six grade A scoring chances in the last 10 minutes of
36:11 that game where they missed the net a bunch and didn't execute.
36:17 So it was the margin.
36:19 The Bruins played their best game and the margin of them not having to go to overtime
36:23 was like this in that game.
36:26 So can the Bruins-
36:27 How has this good chuck scored since the beginning of the series?
36:30 First goal of the series, has he scored since then?
36:32 I don't think so.
36:33 No, he's assisted on a bunch of goals, though, but he has not-
36:37 Okay, so yeah.
36:38 Great hockey player.
36:39 You know, easy not to like, you know, so perfect Panther.
36:44 So I think we hear from him.
36:50 I think we hear from guys like Verhege.
36:54 You know, he was trying to replicate his overtime Game 7 goal back in Game 4.
37:00 He was trying to cut around from behind the net and shoot from the circle on the forehand
37:04 and Swamon-
37:05 Sorry, come on, no big deal.
37:08 And you know, so there's just a lot of stuff going on right now from a Florida side that
37:14 I'm saying, can the Bruins-
37:15 The question is, is can the Bruins replicate?
37:18 I don't think they'll have to manufacture it.
37:20 I think the desperation will still be there.
37:22 I think the question is, is how effective will that be against the Florida team?
37:26 That's going to be a whole lot more revved up-
37:28 Yeah, that's going to bring it.
37:29 It's going to bring it back from what they know was a flat Game 5.
37:32 Right.
37:33 They're going to get to their end of it.
37:34 It's a flat Game 5.
37:35 The Bruins have played a million.
37:37 We know the drill.
37:38 You got to come back and you got to win the tough one now in their building.
37:41 Florida knows how to do that.
37:42 It's shown they can do it.
37:44 So I think we've got ourselves a, you know, a real true measure coming up as to what the
37:49 Bruins have for the long run of the series against a team that I look at and see the
37:55 championship.
37:56 I see baseball caps on these guys' heads.
37:59 And I might be wrong because there's other teams with that are performing really well
38:05 right now.
38:06 Yeah.
38:07 Dallas is playing great hockey in the West.
38:08 Absolutely.
38:09 They're getting such great speed out of their young guys that it's really negated a lot
38:13 of the, you know, Ben has slowed down.
38:16 You know, 16 is a million years old.
38:20 And Sagan's not what he was at one point either.
38:23 He's a smarter.
38:24 He's a smarter, more competitive, grizzled veteran.
38:27 But from an athletic standpoint, youth is wasted on the young, my man.
38:33 So yeah, but somehow they're doing it and it's really, they're really effective right
38:38 now.
38:39 And they're a big three team in the back end there.
38:42 They just got a terrific defense.
38:44 You know, I think that moving on from number three, there was a huge move for them.
38:49 And now they've got the horses back there and then they added Tanev to it.
38:53 So they're tough.
38:54 You know, so I liked, I liked them.
38:58 And Vancouver, I got to admit, they just, they keep on impressing me and Florida.
39:03 I mean, Edmonton's fighting like hell to stay even with them.
39:07 And but I'm just looking at Vancouver strength down the middle of the rank.
39:10 It's just really impressive.
39:11 You know, those players they got.
39:13 And I think that Florida is a team like that too.
39:16 I think that that as much as I love Charlie Coyle and appreciate what a great player he's
39:20 been for the Bruins this year and in a much heavier role I really look at Florida and
39:27 say that's where they have the massive advantage in this series is Barkov is a beast.
39:33 And Bennett is a beast and Lundell has been more than serviceable.
39:39 Well I mean for forward wise guys out of the lineup forward wise and center wise, they
39:44 have the depth and the talent advantage over the Bruins.
39:47 There's zero question about that.
39:48 Like they they they can throw a lot of very good forwards out there like good centers,
39:53 good wings, like good hard players play off.
39:57 Develop team.
39:58 Yes.
39:59 I mean, do 122 points in 21-22 season and then get rid of eight guys and re reconstitute
40:06 their core and bring forward and develop within.
40:12 And so that you have the list of players that was on the team that won the President's Trophy
40:17 blow 122 points that year that is no longer part of that team because Bill Zito decided
40:23 no I got to redo this thing.
40:25 It's not right.
40:26 And he any because the second round they get swept up by the lightning and they knew that
40:31 they still had work to do with that roster and they had the courage to do it.
40:35 And and last year it took a while for them to gel to be healthy and it came together
40:40 at the right time and they wound up going on a run this year.
40:45 They get the regular season and they look to me like a payment cousins and Lombard can't
40:50 get into this lineup against a team like the Bruins that hate those guys that you can't
40:55 get in.
40:56 That tells me something about how effective Ruslan and Luster and when I'm getting.
41:05 Messed up on my on my fins.
41:09 But Stenland big body you know terrific fourth line center for them a fundamentally sound
41:16 that just they just got they got the team they got it all and and there to me there
41:22 a baseball cap team waiting to happen.
41:25 And the question is is do they have this intangible stuff to take the final steps.
41:31 I think they do like I've been from them Friday night.
41:34 I've seen enough from them to believe they have it.
41:36 It's just a matter of staying healthy and getting the bounce here or there.
41:38 But I think they have all the ingredients to win a cup.
41:40 That's why they got to the Stanley Cup.
41:41 I think they're the best set up team left.
41:44 Yeah.
41:45 Yeah.
41:46 I'm not I don't think anybody set up for the playoffs.
41:47 Absolutely.
41:48 I think that yeah they're in and they had a good regular season.
41:50 You know it was pretty good.
41:52 No no.
41:53 I think they definitely are a quality team like I think they're the best team in the
41:57 East.
41:58 I think they will you know beat the Rangers Hurricanes whoever ends up coming out of that
42:03 other series.
42:06 And I think we're going to see the real deal on Friday night in game six.
42:09 I think it's going to be difficult.
42:11 So we'll build the Bruins throw at them being that may I the kitchen sink might not get
42:15 it done.
42:16 I will know it might not.
42:17 But what could what could make what could get it done as if Jeremy Swain and makes like
42:21 45 saves and stands on his head and stops everything that he sees.
42:25 And that's always a possibility.
42:26 So like they go into it knowing they have a shot because of the goaltender that they
42:30 have even against a team like Florida.
42:32 But I do think it's going to take some replication of the effort that they had in game five in
42:37 game six.
42:38 And the question is you know did they empty the tank in game five to make sure they got
42:43 it back to Boston for game six.
42:44 We see that a lot of times when a team gets to this elimination stage where they give
42:49 everything they have to extend the series and then the next game they just don't have
42:53 any more to give and it's kind of you know over at that point or they have two days off
42:58 for the first time since like much earlier on in the Toronto series.
43:02 They finally get a little bit of rest.
43:03 Maybe they get a second win and they're able to replicate that kind of effort with swimming
43:07 behind him.
43:08 I think that's the million dollar question is try.
43:10 Yeah.
43:11 Of course they will.
43:12 It's a million dollar.
43:13 But Florida is going to push early.
43:15 Right.
43:16 Because they want to take the crowd out of the game.
43:17 They want to dishearten the Bruins.
43:18 They want to make the Bruins feel the wall.
43:21 And so they're going to come out hard in the first period.
43:23 So I think that I'm I feel like the first five minutes of this game are going to be
43:27 just awesome.
43:28 You know the whole game is going to be good.
43:29 I mean it always.
43:30 It's going to be a Hagler-Herns fight for the first in the first round there.
43:35 It'll be fun to watch.
43:36 There's no question about it.
43:37 All right.
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45:03 time getting your tickets Mick.
45:04 Thank you very much.
45:05 I will see you at game six on Friday night.
45:07 It'd be great.
45:08 It should be great.
45:09 We're looking forward to it.
45:10 I'm glad you mentioned Hagler Hearns.
45:11 That was a legendary fight.
45:12 All right, everybody else out there.
45:13 Thank you for listening.
45:14 We'll see you next time.
45:15 Take care.
45:16 Bye.
45:17 Bye.
45:18 Bye.
45:19 Bye.
45:20 Bye.
45:21 Bye.
45:22 Bye.
45:23 Bye.
45:24 Thanks for listening.
45:25 We'll see you at the rate.
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