Highs and Lows from first Bruins week | Pucks with Haggs - video Dailymotion

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Pucks with Haggs host Joe Haggerty and the NEHJ's Evan Marinovsky discuss the first week of Bruins action, and both the good and the bad that played out in the first two games.    Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!   Gametime - https://gametime.co Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the #CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for Boston #Bruins hockey. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the Boston sports. Get complete inside access to the Bruins at TD Garden, the game day skates at Warrior, and everywhere on the road. CLNS #NHLBruins' credentialed insiders Mike "Trags" Petraglia, Evan Marinofski, Conor Ryan, and Joe "Haggs" Haggerty. Providing instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else on Causeway Street.  For the CLNS award winning Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox, College hoops, NBA History, go here to featured channels- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP7KyKodc3OHuN_XhEyPPw?sub_confirmation=1

Transcript

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

00:05Pucks with Hags, we got another edition here of the Pucks with Hags podcast powered by

00:08Price Picks, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network. I believe it's the

00:14131st episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast, so thank you very much everybody out there for

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

00:24Subscribe yourself to a premium membership. You get all of my NHL and Bruins writing sent

00:29straight directly to your inbox via email. I also write three columns a week for the Boston

00:34Sports Journal, so pretty much the morning after every single game, check out bostonsportsjournal.com.

00:39You'll see my thoughts on the Bruins game there as well. Today I've got a friend and colleague,

00:44the New England Hockey Journal's Evan Marinovsky. You may see him on TV on NESN. You may see his

00:50stories in the New England Hockey Journal. You may see him at prep school rinks all across New

00:55England watching all the great young players out there, the great young hockey players in New

01:00England. Evan, how's it going, my friend? It's good. I hope they see all that because if they

01:04don't, something went very wrong. That's right. They better be seeing that. That's right. I'm

01:10good, Hags. It's a fun time of year. I like this. It is a fun time of year. There's no question

01:16about it. You know, I see like last night at the Bruins game when I was at the Canadiens game,

01:21you see agents huddled with talent scouting directors for the NHL teams. They're starting

01:28to talk about what the hockey season is going to look like and the young players they're going to

01:32be looking at. We're not quite there yet because it's not Thanksgiving and it's still early. We're

01:39not even at Halloween yet, so some of the hockey stuff is early as far as the prep schools go and

01:43all that other stuff. The wheels are starting to turn in that world. Yeah, I was at Seb's

01:51actually Thursday night. I missed the Bruins game. I watched it this Friday morning, but I

01:56was there for a river rats, junior Eagles, fourteens game. Billy Jaffe's son is actually

02:00on that junior Eagles team and it's, you know, it sounds very young, but those kids are coming up

02:06quick 2010. So underage kid still on that team too. That's like a year younger than everybody

02:13else. He's got, I think a Russian last name. I want to say ski. Yes, he is. He is on that team.

02:18They have another 2011 as well, but he was not dressed or he, I don't think he was able to play,

02:22but yeah, Prudofsky is good player. Good game. It was a great game. Yeah. A lot of prep school

02:28coaches. Cause it was credit to Dan Panciocco from the, from the river rats. He emailed us

02:34a couple of weeks ago and said, Hey, this is great. You know, we're going to play a game

02:37Thursday night at Seb's prep school coaches should come. And it was great. There were a

02:41lot of prep guys there watching and it was a good game two to one junior Eagles, one

02:46late goal for the river rats, got a close and good pace. So I liked it. And it was like an hour

02:51cause they didn't do any intermission. So I got home, watched the third period of the Bruins.

02:55It was perfect. I loved it. Beautiful. Sounds like a great little event for everybody to come

02:59see the talent that's out there. So kudos to the organizers of that game for getting everybody out

03:05there to take a look at the young players. A lot of talent, young Bruins fans, Bruins fans are

03:09listening to this. Like, can you please just talk about it? You shut up, Evan, please. No,

03:14Evan, we love this stuff. I'm glad you talked about that a little bit. Let's also thank our

03:18sponsors though. Before we get into a prize picks, you guys all know about prize picks.

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04:05What time is it, Evan? It's Game Time. It is Game Time. Thank you very much. That's

04:10absolutely true. All right. Let's get to the business at hand. Two games into the books right

04:16now for the Boston Bruins. Obviously very disappointing game against the Florida Panthers.

04:22They did not look ready to play in the first period. It looked like the speed completely

04:25caught them by surprise and they were flat footed and not ready for it. A lot of the same old,

04:30same old, where it felt like they were chasing around the Panthers looking for a fight and the

04:34Panthers were just kind of laughing at them and really taking advantage of it. It had a very like

04:40big brother, little brother, like big bully on the block against the kid trying to prove that he's

04:45this tough sort of dynamic between those two teams, as we've seen the last couple of years

04:50between these two teams. So it was a lot of the same old, same old. A lot of the defensemen still

04:55having a lot of trouble with the forecheck and the pressure that was getting thrown at them.

04:58There was a lot of that going on. Much better game against Montreal. The second night,

05:05a lot of the newcomers had good games. Elias Lindholm, Cole Koepke,

05:11Zdorov, I thought played really well. Marcus Stellick was fantastic.

05:19So really good, I think, a much more representative, I think, effort of what the Bruins are and who

05:24they can be against Montreal. Granted, not against a great like playoff level team and

05:29they're playing their number two goalie. But still, I thought it was a good game. The one

05:33thing I guess I would take away from both games, Evan, and I'm interested in your thoughts on,

05:38the fourth line. Looks like they're onto something. Kostelik, very, very good in the preseason,

05:44has rode that momentum right into the regular season, had two goals against Montreal,

05:49is involved in tons of scrums around the net, is very physical, is pretty fast for a big guy,

05:54like six foot four, will go around the net and get his nose dirty, can really do a lot of

05:59different things. And I like what I've seen out of him. And, you know, even Jim Montgomery,

06:05after the Montreal game, kind of saying like... Someone really wants to call you.

06:12That's Finn, school just got out. He's probably telling me to come pick him up,

06:15but I'm not doing it. He is adamant. Please come get me.

06:20He's one of those people that, like, he keeps texting and texting and texting. I'm like,

06:24you are just going to be a hit with the girls someday when you're like crazy.

06:27I was going to say, that trend's got to be stopped at some point.

06:31It really does. Hurts his riz. Hurts his future riz, as the kids would say.

06:37That's right. That's right. His riz right now is not off the charts. He's going to work on the riz.

06:42He's going to work on the Sigma, the riz, the skibbity toilet, all that good stuff.

06:47I can't. I can't get into that. I can't. I can't do it.

06:50You know what? It's like dump the shark. When, like, I was in elementary school the other day,

06:53and all the, like, first graders, the six-year-olds are saying, I'm like,

06:55oh, the high school kids can't say that stuff anymore.

06:58I do. I see it all over, like, TikTok and Twitter. And my friends and I will say it jokingly to each

07:02other. But it's sad because we say it so much that it's like, oh my God, people overhear us. They

07:06think we legitimately talk like that. We don't. I got it. I did a... I'm doing a fantasy hockey

07:11league for the peewee team that I coach. So a bunch of the kids have teams, including Finn,

07:16a bunch of his buddies. And one of them calls themselves the wizards of riz. And there's

07:21another one that's like, you're a riz Harry or something like that. I don't know. It's like...

07:27You're a riz Harry. It's perfect.

07:28You're a riz Harry. That's what it was.

07:30There you go. Yeah. You know, the riz are so big on TikTok, you know,

07:34doing the riz face and everything. It's a whole big thing.

07:36Oh, yeah. The mewing when you do like this or whatever, like all that stuff is just stupid,

07:40ridiculous. I know that because I'm around those kids like all the time.

07:43Yeah. No, I would. Yeah, I would expect that.

07:47All right. So we totally did. Let's get back to it. The Bruins fourth line. Kostelik,

07:54two goals, like really good start to the season. I think it was Connor Ryan had that stat about

08:01like they've outscored five on five, their opponents four to zero already when they're

08:04on the ice. I mean, Connor Koelkepke last night was less than eight minutes, like 720 of ice time,

08:11had a goal in three points and was like a plus three and had great game. And I think he's a

08:17find. I am very much developing the opinion now after watching him in the preseason, seeing him

08:23for the first couple that he was buried in Tampa Bay, that he's a talented player, that it was

08:28in a deep organization where they didn't give him a lot of looks. And I think he's going to flourish

08:33with the Bruins. He looks like an NHL player to me, like he looks super fast, tenacious,

08:37like he looks like he's going to be able to really do like produce some offense and be

08:42very effective in that fourth line. And the bottom line is Johnny Beecher, Kostelik and Koelkepke,

08:49the three of them together after two games, extremely effective, extremely good fourth

08:53line. And I think the Bruins are onto something with these three guys. And it's going to give

08:57them a major upgrade on the fourth line than what they've had the last few years.

09:01I agree with you. And it's interesting because Kepke also had a great training camp. And you

09:06look at sort of the Bruins pro scouting staff and they keep having these finds of these guys

09:10were sort of AHL players or that they're sort of in their mid twenties. So there is still that

09:15tiny chance that they end up being an NHL guy and Wotherspoon. And now you've got Kepke. And

09:21obviously again, it's been two games, so things could change. And my guess is when Patra comes

09:25back, you know, they're going to try out a different fourth line. I think the fourth

09:28line is going to rotate around a lot, but I do think you're right. I think this is a good group.

09:33If we keep playing like that, they're not going to rotate like no, they can't. They're going to

09:38have no choice. You know, you're going to have to take Tufti off the third line or Max Jones

09:41or whomever. And so I like that fourth line. I think it brings you something. I think the identity

09:48of that fourth line is ultimately going to be one, as we've said, all off season before check

09:52the hell out of teams, long cycles, like physical, are they going to be the Corralia Chari Wagner,

09:58you know, shutdown line? I don't think it's going to be that. I think, you know,

10:01your shutdown line might more be that second line. But I do think you have something with

10:06that group. My big takeaway from the first two games, they gotta be better in front of their

10:13own net. Like that to me is the real, like, that was my takeaway from the first two games.

10:19And obviously it's two games in everything we say could be changed in a week. Like things

10:24change quick. You do have new D pairings and all that stuff, but some of it is fundamentals.

10:30You know, I mean, Nikita's door off with no stick in front of the net. I mean, you know,

10:33no stick, like I'm not going to harp on that too much, but even like, you know,

10:36that second, the, the Caulfield goal yesterday, right. That's geeky sky at the far post.

10:40Like it's not even fundamentals. I think Evan it's they're soft. They're soft.

10:47Yes. Yes. It's part of fundamentals in the sense that like, you know,

10:51Brandon Carl is going to tie up Brendan Gallagher. And yes, you can't let a smaller guy like that.

10:57Just get inside on you and tip that shot. You've got the same thing with the goal,

11:01the Florida goal, the one that Sam Bennett scored where the puck is at peaks feet and he gets it

11:08and scores. Like he's got to be tied up physically there. He can't be allowed to get that puck and

11:12get off a good shot when the it's a 50, 50 puck battle in front of the net and peak is right there

11:17and peaks a big body. Like he, there's no way Bennett should have been able to shoot that

11:21puck. Like he did. It's like what you probably teach, you know, Finn Finn's team and your

11:26daughter's team of like, when you're a defenseman and the puck is loose in front of your own net,

11:28you don't go for the puck. No, go for a body. You grab someone like tie them up. It's not

11:34interference. And so I think that, and those net front battles they're losing. And you know,

11:40again, like was Swayman's read perfect on that Caulfield gold? No, sort of lost the shot from

11:44the point and we can get into swimming in a sec. But again, it just goes back to like,

11:49you know, you have big guys, your, your thing in the off season was you upgraded on paper on

11:54defense. It's a door off to grizzly to Zdorov, you know, you're bigger, you're meaner, you're

11:58stronger, all that stuff. Yep. That front of the net battles is part of it. You're not supposed to

12:03get pushed around. You're not supposed to have smaller guys come in and, and, and, you know,

12:07tip pucks and, and grab rebounds. And to me, like, that's the biggest thing that I took from,

12:12there was a trend among both games, as well as the fourth line where it's like,

12:16you know, it is a little concerning when guys like Brandon, Carlo are getting beat in front

12:20of their own net or peak, or some of these, you know, guys you were supposed to rely on

12:24defensively aren't bringing that. And of course, as I said, two games in could change should change

12:31better change, but I do think it's, it's something to watch. Yeah, I agree. And that

12:36was definitely like the positive was the way the fourth line has played through the first game,

12:40two games. The negative is, well, that's fine. Evan, I, you know, that's why we have you on,

12:44you know, you got, you're going to be captain negative here. You're going to,

12:47Oh, I got to do it. Yeah. I definitely, I agree with you a hundred percent. Like,

12:54I do think though, that like some of it is just a bad couple of games. Like

12:58Carlo's not going to be that bad defensively for the balance of the season guys in the league.

13:02Part of it, he was really bad. I thought in the Florida game and part of it was,

13:08he was getting engaged physically away from the net and he was having a hard time getting back

13:13to the front of the net when he needed to get there. And I think that was the issue that I saw

13:17is there was a couple of different times he was trying to throw a hit on somebody or something

13:21was happening a little bit away from the net. And then he was getting beaten by somebody else

13:25to the net because he couldn't recover fast enough to get to where his responsibility was

13:29in front of the net. And that happened multiple times in that Florida game. And I think it's just

13:33a by-product of like how physical and fast they are that you could see he was having problems in

13:37that game because of that. I don't, I don't think Charlie Mack have always been all that great in

13:43these first couple of games. And I think that is a huge issue as well. And that first game,

13:47I thought he was bad. I really did not like his game. That shorthanded goal was awful. It was

13:52awful. It, that is on him. A hundred percent. People want to say that was Corpus Sala. It was

13:56not like he, in that situation, he's a number one defenseman. He's a, he's a, you know, a $9 million

14:02a year guy. He's got to find a way to not let Sam Reinhardt get off a shot there and certainly not

14:08get off a shot. Even if it's a wobbly wrister, you're not get out of a shot. That's going to

14:12be right under the bar. Like he can't let him get that shot off shield him away from the puck

14:16and allow him to let that shot go off. Like that is a hundred percent his responsibility.

14:21And I felt like there was a few times and he had a drop pass last night by the blue line.

14:25That was horrendous and turned into a scoring chance for the Montreal Canadiens. And that

14:29could have been like a point in the game where things could have changed if they went in and

14:33scored. Um, and granted offensively, he's done some things, you know, he's gotten on the board,

14:37like he's, he's, he's been okay. The two goals are encouraging. I mean, I agree with you on all

14:41the points with him, but I think it is encouraging that he has to just in terms of his own offensive

14:46game, you want to see him be a little more shot first. I agree. But like, we can't have him going

14:50so far offense that he's like, no, it's done offensively. And I think, I mean, if you say,

14:54well, I don't like, like that, the tip goal by Elias Lindholm, I think it was McAvoy streaking

15:00far post and it's like, okay, I mean, I like that, but you gotta be careful. You gotta be

15:05careful at times. That's yep. Um, and like, we, you know, we, we talk about Zdorov. Zdorov,

15:10I think has been fine in the first two games. He was one of the few guys that I don't think

15:13was a huge issue. Like he did take a penalty or two against Florida. He was trying to be physical.

15:18Um, and there was maybe one time I thought I found him to be, and I've seen this a few times now

15:24where he's another one that will get engaged in something way away from the net, even when the

15:28puck is in the defensive zone. And he's like, not even close to the net front. Um, and, and

15:33oftentimes he is so strong and big that he can win the battle right there and get the puck out.

15:39And he doesn't have to worry about covering the net. Cause he like puts out the fire right there.

15:43He just decides I'm going to get the guy by the blue line, take care of it and just, you know,

15:47get rid of it. Um, and he was great offensively last night too. Great passing the puck, getting

15:51the shots through. Like I thought he was very good and physical and all that. Uh, but I, I think he's

15:57actually been pretty good. It's some of the, it's Carlo, it's McAvoy. It's somebody, uh, Mason Lowry

16:01was a minus three in that first game. He definitely struggled. Um, so there was a lot of guys that I

16:07think struggled, uh, on the back end to your point, it's simple things as far as clearing bodies in

16:12front, being strong enough in front, um, definitely being like caught by surprise and sort of panicking

16:19with the puck at times when Florida was attacking them. Like they were making really bad decisions

16:23with the puck a lot in their own end, uh, on breakout opportunities. And when they had the

16:27puck and were retrieving it because they felt the pressure and they were just like panicking with it.

16:32And that was, that was a bad sign too. It has been a trend for a couple of years now with,

16:36with Florida just causing fits with their four check and the Bruins on inability to break the

16:40puck out. And, you know, it also stems from Florida clogs, the neutral zone. So one, if you

16:45get past Florida's four check, you got to deal with just a bunch of guys in the neutral zone

16:49and you got to dump it in, or you have to risk trying to dangle someone and you turn it over.

16:54And I mean, again, it's one like with the Panthers thing, it's one game, you know,

16:58they were hyped up from their, from their, uh, banner racing, um, Bruins beat them all four

17:04times. I guess he's in last year. It didn't mean anything come to playoffs. Like, could it be the

17:08opposite? I mean, I think the Bruins would certainly like that this year if it's, if it's

17:11the other way around, but I just think it is a concerning trend that that has been a problem for

17:17three years and they really haven't been able to fix it against Florida. I don't remember the ins

17:21and outs of each regular season game last year against Florida. Um, obviously the Bruins won

17:25all four of them. So I assume they did okay, but they were also missing bodies for some of those

17:32games too early in the year. Yeah. And, and I think that's one of the things where it's like,

17:36if you want to beat Florida, you have to score more goals. Duh. But to do that, you've got to

17:42move the puck out of your own zone. You have to have cleaner exits and zone and offensive zone

17:46entries. And the other thing against Florida that really peeved me in that first game was just

17:51the desire to settle the score with physicality and trying to fight. And it's like, I get it.

17:57I get that you hate them. And I liked that. It makes it, it's good. It's entertaining,

18:01but at the same time, like you got to beat them on the scoreboard. Like Chuck's not dropping the

18:07gloves with Nikita Zadoroff or, um, Trent Frederick. And I wish he would. I agree with you.

18:12I wish you would, but it's not the way to do it. My thing is they just need to beat on those guys.

18:17Cause Chuck and Bennett, like, don't even try to fight them. Like don't do it the honorable way.

18:21Just beat the crap out of them. Like make your life miserable, hammer them. Like, you know,

18:25that's what they have to do. And they don't do enough. Like I, I give Trent Frederick a lot of

18:30credit for stepping up, going right after Bennett and wanting him to answer for the hit he threw on

18:35Marcian last year in the playoffs right away. Uh, and he wouldn't fight him and neither would

18:40could Chuck. And they both like, instead it turned into like three Panthers trying to gang tackle

18:44Trent Frederick, which is ridiculous. Um, but you know, it's, it's hard. It's a hard challenge

18:50because like, there's so many things that Bennett does on the ice that he does not even get called

18:54penalties for. No, it isn't. Even though it's, he's clearly doing things that he should be getting

18:59penalized and that's going to be frustrating as well. But, but I think you just have to not,

19:03you know, you can't depend on them, like doing it the honorable way and trying to fight you.

19:08You just have, they totally clean their clock when they put themselves in any kind of a vulnerable

19:14position, you know, and that's really what you have to do, um, to make them pay either that

19:19or go after Barkoff, go after Reinhardt, go after their, their skill guys and hammer them and make

19:24them be the ones that get pissed at can Chuck and Bennett and have to tell them like, cut the crap.

19:28I'm getting hammered because you guys did at the beginning of game. What was it last year in the

19:34playoffs? There was like open ice hit, like first shift, like I think it was for Hagey maybe, um,

19:40who regrets to him just signed a huge deal. All these guys are signing these massive deals. Um,

19:45so good for him. But yeah, I mean, just like that, I agree with you. That's the way to do it.

19:49That's it. You know, it's like, if you, if there's a defenseman that you want to go after,

19:52you dump it in his corner and put them through the glass. Like, you know, and I know it's harder

19:56with Bennett and, and, um, and Chuck, especially for guys like Frederick, because how much are you

20:02going up against them? How many times are you actually getting a chance to hit them? But

20:06Frederick in particular, he's a big, strong guy,

20:10but he does not really get in there fast enough to lay big hits on people. He's not a big hitter.

20:14He's never been, that's not really his thing. Like he's definitely tough and he will fight.

20:19Um, but he's not the guy like Lou Cheech, that's going to throw a puck in the corner,

20:23find the guy and like, just hammer him on the floor. It's a hit like he used to like,

20:27and murder defenseman with the hits. Like he just doesn't get there fast enough and that's not really

20:32his thing, but they do have guys whether it's Castellic, like they have other guys that I

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22:28big thing. I just think the way to beat the Panthers is ultimate. You have to figure out

22:34the breakout. The Panthers are not going to be scared of your physicality. They just aren't.

22:38They are not built that way. They are sort of the aggressor. I don't see the Bruins overtaking them

22:43in that sense until they beat them in a playoff series. I know you and I might disagree on this,

22:50but I like that the Bruins have gotten bigger. I think it's good for the playoffs. It helps,

22:55but in terms of deterring stuff, the same stuff was happening with the Panthers the other night.

23:00I don't know if Max Jones being on the ice is really deterring someone from doing something.

23:04Now, we'll never know. Maybe something didn't happen. It's not slashing referees instead of

23:08slashing Florida Panthers players. Well, there's the problem. There's the other thing.

23:11That's not going to deter anything. Yeah, and again, like Evan Rodriguez.

23:14If you ever get a call from the ref, that's about the only thing you can deter.

23:18Yeah, you can't hit the... You can't Dennis Weidman the ref.

23:22No to Max Jones. Do not Dennis Weidman the ref. Bad idea.

23:25Please don't do that. Please don't. It's funny. Evan Rodriguez puts the stick on his shoulder

23:29and laughs at him. That narrative of big guys deter other guys from doing stuff,

23:36maybe it's just the league is different now because you've covered the league longer than I

23:40have. You've seen it, but in this day and age, I don't know if that's really a deterrent.

23:45I think it's going to take time for that to like... I read that game as a continuation extension of

23:54what's been going on the last couple of years. The Bruins didn't quite make the statement they

23:58wanted to make, but I think they will continue to learn from that and that the tide will turn

24:04on that as the season goes on because of the personnel they have. And because frankly,

24:08I don't think the Panthers are as good this year as they were last year.

24:12No, I agree with you.

24:13Losing players and everything else. So I think the tide is going to turn to a degree,

24:18and I think the investment they've had in heaviness, physicality, size, strength,

24:21all that stuff is going to pay dividends. It's just going to take a little while. It did not

24:26happen... It could.

24:27It did not happen on opening night when they raised the banner and they were all jacked up

24:30emotionally. And it really felt like it was more of the same of what we've seen to this point.

24:36There was no distinct change or difference between the two teams and the way the game

24:41played out in that first one. But give it some time because frankly, and this is not a good

24:49thing for Jim Montgomery, that it didn't look like the Bruins were ready to play in the first

24:53period of that game. It did not look like at all they were ready to play. It didn't look like they

24:57were ready for the speed. They were not prepared for it. And the whole team, it looked A to Z.

25:02It looked like they were not ready to go. And that starts to become a reflection on the coach,

25:07unfortunately, when you see that happen, especially against that team that ended your

25:11season the year before.

25:13And they've been hyping it up for a month.

25:15Yeah. And you should know it's going to be a fast physical game. You should have your best.

25:19You should be skating around like your hair is on fire for the Bruins, playing that team in that

25:23environment. And it was not anything like that. It was exactly the opposite.

25:27No, that was a brutal one. I mean, like, and it's funny because it, you know, the game kind of in

25:32the second and third, not even doubt, but it just kind of got into the swing of things. But when it

25:37was four, one after that first, all I could think of was that 2018 opener against the caps where it

25:42was like seven or eight to one. I was like, this is, this might be headed down the exact same road

25:47of just like a brutal night, a brutal night. That game always remains reminds me. It was,

25:55I think Matt Porter's first game, uh, as when he was on the beat, I'll never forget this

26:01after the game is over, Bruce Cassidy's talking to us. First question, right out of the gate,

26:05Matt Porter, first game covering it as a Bruins beat writer. So did you see that one coming?

26:10I was like, what? And Cassidy just looked at him and cocked his head and was like, no, I did not.

26:17You want to, you just want to leave the room. You're like, no, I can't. This is too much.

26:21This is like Larry David and curb. I cannot welcome to the beat moment right there.

26:26Yes. See that one coming. I've heard that from someone before. And I, I laughed my

26:30ass off. Cassidy's face was like WTF. Like what? Like who is this goober they have

26:36covering this team now? What the hell? Thankfully for Matt Porter, it went way

26:39uphill and much better from there. But that was, that was a rough, uh, starting right out of the

26:44starting shoot. It turns into a pretty funny story though. After that, it turned into a great season.

26:50It turned that actually ended up. Yeah, it worked out. So it did. It absolutely the same this year.

26:55Um, so, all right. Yeah. Great observations for the first couple of games. Like that's basically

27:00what I had to like a Lindholm obviously look good. Uh, last night I really liked his contributions,

27:07the way he looked with Zaka and posture. You could see like the, the smart winning plays that he

27:14makes. Like you could see what they're talking about, what the reputation's about, why there's

27:18some Bergeron like qualities that he has. Like there was one play towards the end, uh, when the

27:23goalie was out for Montreal and they were furiously trying to come back and, and, uh, Lindholm got the

27:30puck down in the offensive corner with no goalie in the net. And like a lot of players I think

27:35would like frantically try to like carry the puck out of the corner and try to like go for broke to

27:39get the empty net goal. Instead, Lindholm just pinned the puck against the boards and was

27:44battling like three or four guys and allowing the rest of the team to change while he was holding

27:49the puck in the offensive zone and killing like 10 seconds off the clock when they're trying to

27:53run out the clock with the empty goalie situation with the six on five. And I was like, that's a

27:58really smart, like that is such smart hockey, like such an intelligent play that an experienced

28:04smart player that's concerned more about winning than getting empty net goals is going to make

28:08that gets the team concept that understands what's going on, that really knows what he's doing.

28:13Um, and, and just has experience. You could tell in those like last minute situations where you're

28:18protecting tight leads and doing all that stuff. So like, and, and that's on top of like, you

28:23finished with three points. He had a great pass to a posture neck. Um, no, was that, that was Zaka.

28:29That was not, that was not behind the net, but, but Lindholm scored that big goal at the end of

28:34the first period. That was the go ahead goal, uh, redirected a shot, a point blast from Zdorov.

28:40I didn't have a ton of shots on that. Didn't have like a huge stat sheet game,

28:45but like was in the mix offensively looked really good at center, really smart player.

28:49And like, I frankly felt like exactly what he should be the frontline center. They did not

28:54have at times last year that they really needed. And it was going to really fit in and make them

28:58better. Like I, as, as discouraged as you couldn't should be about the Florida Panthers game.

29:04I think you were encouraged by what you saw against Montreal, like that they're going to

29:08be even better than they were last year based on the way some of the new players came in and

29:11perform. Well, that's the thing is like, you know, I harped on the negative stuff defensively,

29:16but I think when you look at the two big acquisitions, they made Lindholm and Zdorov

29:20through two games. Yeah. I've liked what I've seen. Like they have been worth it. Now it's

29:25two games. You can't say that enough, but like four points in two games for Lindholm, that top

29:30line clearly works. I mean, they already, the offensive chemistry is really there.

29:36They are awesome below the dots in the offensive zone. And Zdorov has been solid to assist last

29:44night. You know, no one looked great in that first game, but I didn't think he was, you know,

29:49particularly bad. But I think he wasn't as glaring as some of the other defensemen.

29:56That low right Carlo pairing was, that was a tough night. But I do think like Elias Lindholm,

30:02what he brings, and I think you and I, we've talked about this a lot over the summer is just

30:06kind of the upgrade. And I, that's why I never understood. Like I say, I was doing Bruins with

30:11Pete Blackburn earlier today. And we were both kind of saying like that Lindholm signing got a

30:15lot of crap from Bruins fans or from some Bruins fans. And then from some, definitely some national

30:21people. And to me, like, it's such a clear upgrade. They needed a number one center.

30:26He was the best number one center to go out and get, and they got him. And does that mean that

30:31he's Connor McDavid? No, but I think he fits this team's identity really, really well.

30:35He does. And not only that, he's a guy they've clearly liked all along. He's a guy they liked

30:41during his draft year. He's a guy that tried to trade for before. Like they have, the Bruins are

30:45very predictable when it comes to players that they're interested in. They stay interested in

30:49these players. It's like they're on a quest to eventually get these players on the roster.

30:53So I'm surprised Noah Hannafin never got here.

30:55Seriously. I know. Like I'm sure if there was a way that it could have happened,

30:59it would have happened because that's another guy they've really liked. But you can always,

31:03like, it's very easy to tell, like, they're very deliberate. They're very predictable.

31:06Like they don't make any secrets about the players that they like. Like you can understand

31:10pretty quickly what the Bruins are about and what they want. And, you know, part of that is,

31:15I think them at times keeping it simple instead of like overcomplicating things or trying to like

31:20use all the subterfuge to hide the guys that they like, or what, like they don't do that.

31:24Like they let it be known if they like a player, the player knows, like finds out pretty quick,

31:30all right, the Bruins really like me. Like that in turn makes them like a lot of times

31:34want to play for Boston because everybody wants to feel wanted. Like, I like the way that they do

31:39that because they stay on players. They keep the scouting reports that they've had from when

31:43they're 18 years old and they hold onto them and they track these guys as they go through their

31:48careers. And it's very obvious that they do that. And it pays off when it comes time to potentially

31:53get some of these players, or it comes time to get these players that have been buried in other

31:57organizations, like a Cole Koepke, that they clearly were watching and decided, you know,

32:02this guy would be a good fit here. And he absolutely has been. So you start to really

32:06give them the benefit of the doubt on big ticket players and little ticket players when they bring

32:12them in that they're going to be good fits and that they're going to be exactly what the Bruins

32:16want them to be. Like, I, I, I never, I, they almost never put the, the round peg in the square

32:22hole or the, the square peg in the round hole with the players that they're looking for and

32:26the players that they bring in, you know, they, they do an extremely good job of identifying what

32:31they need, identifying who the player is and, and having really good fits. So like, I almost assume

32:37now when they sign somebody, that's just going to work out because so much of the time it does.

32:41Do you think Jack Eichel would have been a square peg in a round hole here?

32:44Yeah. Yeah. I don't think it would have been good. I don't think he would have been good as a,

32:47as a guy playing in his hometown either, to be honest with you. I just don't,

32:51I don't think he's the kind of guy that would have had like a, at least early on, maybe he

32:55would get to a point where like, you know, he could be really good. Oh man, my face is frozen

33:00in a great pose right now. There we go. That was good. I think he's one of those guys that maybe

33:05when he was younger I don't think would have had a lot of success playing in Boston and being a

33:11hometown kid playing like maybe as he gets older. And Charlie Coyle actually has talked about that,

33:16how when he was younger, it was a blessing for him to be in Minnesota. And he wasn't sure if he

33:21would have done as well if he were here when he was really young and got a chance to like find

33:24himself, become an individual, like, you know, be away from home for a while, like all that stuff.

33:29And then was able to come to Boston when he was ready for it, instead of having it all

33:33thrust on him when he was like 19, 20 years old. So I think it's tough for those young guys.

33:39Yeah. Michael's not alone in being a guy that probably it wouldn't have been great for him to

33:42be a Bruin. Ironically though, it works out in Vegas. He works in Vegas, but good for him. I

33:48agree with you. I, I I've wondered that. Cause he's not like Eichel was always wanted by Bruins

33:54fans, but he was never the type of player that they would covet. Like he was an, he would be

34:00an upgrade. No doubt. Even when they would have had to trade for him, but he, he doesn't fit the

34:06mold of a Bruin. Elias Lindholm doesn't, I'm not saying I'd rather Lindholm than Eichel. I'm not

34:10getting into all that, but like Lindholm fits what they need, what they've historically had

34:15sort of the blueprint for what kind of, even like Zdorov fits sort of the blueprint of a defenseman

34:20that they would go after. So like they did go out and get two guys who fit their culture and mold

34:26and who loved the city, which I think is a huge part of it. I love that in other, like in other

34:31sports Boston can be viewed differently by some guys, but in the NHL, Boston's a pretty good city.

34:38Like players love Boston, which is a good thing. So it helped it helped in this case.

34:44Absolutely. No, it's the Bruins are a destination spot. NHL wise. There's no doubt about it

34:51for the culture of the room, for the way that the players are treated for the history and success of

34:56the, the organization for a long time, like, because it's original six, which means a lot,

35:01especially to Canadian players. It's a big deal. All that stuff. We'll be back to show in a minute,

35:06but let's thank our sponsors right here. And then right now we've got game time.

35:12Do you remember your first NFL football game? I do. I remember going into the New England Patriots

35:18and the Cincinnati Bengals. It was 1985. It was the last game of the regular season and the

35:26Patriots had to win to clinch a wild card spot in the playoffs. And what did they do? They went out

35:32and beat the Bengals. They won the game. And I honestly remember this game very vividly because

35:38I was 11 years old at the time. And after the game was over, all the fans stormed the field,

35:44ran down, ripped off the goalposts and carried it right out of the stadium. I wanted to go down and

35:49do it and join the crowd. My dad said, absolutely not. There was no frigging way you're going down

35:53there. And that was my first memory of going and seeing an NFL football game live. It was an

35:58awesome game. It was back in the Tony Collins, Steve Grogan, Tony Eason era, Stanley Morgan,

36:06all those guys, Andre Tippett. Great time to be a Patriots fan. But that brings me back to game

36:12time and going to NFL football now and going to a Patriots game at this point and how great that is.

36:17Wouldn't you want to have tickets to any of those games? Well, that's what you can get at game time.

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37:21What time is it? Game time. Well, I found it interesting in the Prime documentary when

37:26Pasternak was walking the streets and was like, this feels like a European city. So for a lot of

37:31European guys, it feels, you feel right at home. Yep. That's definitely part of it too. Like North

37:37End feels kind of European when you're there. Yes. Very. All right. Tweet of the week. This

37:43Bruins team is it's from Bevan's Keith. This Bruins team is missing a real number one center

37:48and another scoring wing, like a middle of the road forward, like Jake DeBrusque. People got

37:54to keep in mind that this is still not a complete roster. It takes longer than one off season to

37:58replace 37 and 46. Just saying. I don't think this team is missing a real number one center.

38:05I think Elias Lindholm is a perfectly good number one center. And to your point, we're talking about

38:10people under underscoring or under rating Lindholm in the signing. Part of that was just because he

38:16ended up a three center at the end of the year in Vancouver after they traded for him and that he

38:21didn't have a great year in Calgary. And his numbers had been down since he wasn't playing

38:25with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Kachuk anymore. But I think you put him with Pasternak and Zaka.

38:32That's similar, I think, to, you know, when he had his best numbers at his best season,

38:37at his best performance. So I think you all of a sudden, he very much,

38:41because of the way he plays, because he's a 200 foot player, a two way center, a smart player,

38:46and he's got the ability to play with those high end players and put up big numbers when he's with

38:50them. Like he's absolutely a number one center. I don't think there's any doubt about it.

38:55Now, the point about the scoring wing, I think, is going to end up being true. You know, I think

39:01the Coyle, Marchand, Geeky line, if it stays that way, is going to go through some times

39:05where they're not going to score as much. I just think until they get a dynamic guy on the wing

39:10instead of Geeky, I think they're going to go through ups and downs offensively. And maybe

39:15you're not going to get the best offensively that Coyle and Marchand have to offer until you've

39:18found somebody that could be a little bit more of an offensive catalyst than I think. And I like

39:23Morgan Geeky as a player. I think he's very solid. I think he'll do okay there. Certainly, he's been

39:29on an uptick every year offensively, and he had a good year last year. But I think he's more of

39:34a third line guy than a guy that's going to give you like 25 goals and 50 to 60 points. So I do

39:40think in that sense, it's an incomplete roster until you put somebody in there. And I'm not sure

39:46if there's anybody here. Maybe there will be. I still think it might behoove them to try some of

39:52these other third and fourth line guys in those roles to see if any of them, especially the

39:56younger guys that are still establishing themselves, like a Kepke, for instance, like some of those

40:01guys, put them in those situations and see how they move. Well, yeah, Brazil, definitely another

40:06one. So I would try also like I would try Patra on the right side of, I would rather be down the

40:10middle. I'm like firmly team Patrick down the middle. But if, if, if you're, if that third

40:16line ends up solidifying, I would love to see Patra try that second line right wing. I also

40:21think like the perfect guy is like a Tyler to Foley for that, for that right wing on that second,

40:27that'd be the perfect kind of guy. 2025 goals. You see last night with Celebrity him and those two

40:32have quite the connection. So someone like that. And I also think if you, if you went out and got

40:37someone like that, it moves everybody down like to their right spot. Like you'd have geeky on the

40:43third line. You know, I don't know, like a Tufti or a Jones moves down to the fourth. And I know

40:49it's kind of a mishmash right now, by the way, that shark's team, I find fun to watch. Maybe

40:55I love Will Smith and Celebrity, but I think it's great. I, I, I think it's awesome.

41:01There'll be a lot of interest from new England fans to watch that shark's team. And like,

41:05they're always going to have a heavy new England flavor because Greer's the GM and Tim bark is

41:09like a big person in their scouting department. So they like, they are very attuned to what's

41:15going on in Massachusetts and new England. I said, so they're always going to have like local talent,

41:19I think on that team. And it's always going to feel like a little bit of Bruins West

41:22out there in San Jose, almost swaymen out there could have been swaymen too. Great. Yeah,

41:29that would, well, if they want to ship it to Siberia, that's where they, one of the places

41:32they would have shipped them to if they were, if it was a punitive trade, it might've shipped

41:37them out there. But yeah, I think that was fun to watch. I definitely think, you know, the Bruins

41:46are onto something with some of these other guys. I will say one last observation.

41:52I'm not sure either. I'm not seeing enough out of Max Jones or Riley tufty to like,

41:59seize a spot here on completely agree. One of them needs to step up and show something. Cause

42:04they're not showing at the first. And to be honest with you, like Max Jones gets a little

42:08bit of a mulligan because he was hurt for most of the training camp. He's kind of getting,

42:11he's playing catch up right now. And I think that, you know, you see the talent with him and

42:14you know what, you know, that it's there. Riley tufty. I just haven't seen it. Like,

42:19I know he scored a goal in the preseason, but I just don't see enough out of him to think he's an

42:24NHL player. He feels like an AHL player to me when I'm watching him play. Like he was, there was a

42:29point last night where like, he couldn't win a puck battle along the boards against the like

42:34much smaller guy on the Canadians. And I'm like, dude, if you're like six, seven or whatever you

42:39are and you can't like win the puck battles along the boards, like that's like, that's gotta be,

42:45that's gotta be automatic. Like if you're going to be that player at the NHL, you automatically

42:49have to win those battles every single time. Like that, even if you're not going to be a

42:53dynamic skater, you're not going to like score 30 goals. Like if you're that big and you're a wing,

42:58you need to win all the puck battles along the boards. And for him to not do that in that

43:02situation, I was just like, I don't, I'm not seeing it. I agree with you. I, I don't either

43:08with him. I will say, speaking of small guys from the Canadians lane, Hudson boy, can that kid move?

43:13Yeah. That kid can move. I don't know how much offense was created from him, but

43:16um, I, it's funny to watch basically the exact game. He played at BU just right to the NHL in

43:24the sense of just dancing around the blue line, you know, just that edge work. I mean, I think

43:30he was a North Jersey avalanche back in the day. Those guys, those guys translate, those guys

43:34always translate, you know, good for him. I like to see it. When you see that skill, jump off the

43:39ice at the, even at the hockey East level that translates like those guys are going to go to the

43:44NHL and be able to have success. Like some of them, there's, there's just no doubters. You can

43:48tell right away, you know, the Will Smith's in him and Ryan Leonard, when he goes to the NHL,

43:52same thing, he's going to have a lot of success too. I agreed on him. I also think kind of goatee

43:56is going to be big for Anaheim this year. I think that kid, that kid's built for the NHL. I like him.

44:01Yeah. I like him. One of those, uh, one of my goddamn Peewee players, uh, took him one pick

44:05before me in the fantasy drafts. And I was in the later rounds. I was like, I saw kind of goatee.

44:10I was like, Oh, he's going to have a good year. I'm getting him. Yeah. Somebody stole him right

44:13out from under me. Those sharks, ducks games are going to, uh, in new England are going to have

44:17like a 0.00001 rating out of a hundred. It'll be like me and you watching those games at 10

44:22PM and Denver, of course, watching as well. Yeah. Some, some East coast dude, Mark Diver,

44:29some, some new England hockey guy. Yeah. So when some new England hockey,

44:34all right. Um, Evan, thank you very much for joining us. This was fun. Uh, let's thank our

44:38sponsors download the prize picks app today and use the code CLNS with our, for our friends at

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44:49get $50 instantly. When you play $5, you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus.

44:54It's guaranteed prize fix, run your game. Let's also thank our friends at game time,

44:59take the guesswork out of buying any kind of tickets with game time, uh, download the game

45:04time app, create an account, use the code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase terms,

45:08do apply, but again, download the game time app, create an account and use the code CLNS for $20

45:13off your first purchase. Download game time today. What time is it? Evan? It's game time.

45:18Game time. That's right, Evan. Thank you very much for joining us today, my friend.

45:22Of course. Thanks for having me. Everybody else out there. Thank you for listening. We'll see you

45:26at the rink.

Highs and Lows from first Bruins week | Pucks with Haggs

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