Bruins legend Mike Milbury Joins!
Are you disappointed in this team so far? Did the B's make the right off-season additions?
Are you disappointed in this team so far? Did the B's make the right off-season additions?
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00:00Good morning and welcome back, Mr. Milbury.
00:02Hello, everybody. How are we?
00:04How was the off season?
00:06It was good. It was a great summer on the Cape. It was a perfect weather. In fact,
00:10it's still beautiful today. It's been awesome. But I want to talk about the pigs.
00:15Where was this pig pet from?
00:18Metro West.
00:19Somewhere in Metro West.
00:20Metro West. Well, I mean, if they have a big farm or something, I guess you can keep a pig, but...
00:24Are you looking to adopt?
00:25No, I was just going to advise people who live next to the WEI area, they could come in. They
00:30have their pick of pigs to pet. Pick of pigs to pet.
00:34I thought you wanted some bacon, like me.
00:37Do you have a pet? Do you have a dog?
00:40No, I don't have a dog. I don't believe in those pets. Sorry.
00:45We have neighbors down here in New Seabury who walk their dogs in carriages.
00:49That's going a little too far for me.
00:51Well, if they're a little older, then you got to get them around.
00:53I'm talking about the dogs? No, the dogs are fine.
00:55It's the people that are older.
00:57Oh, I see.
00:59That is a lot when you're walking your pet around in a carriage.
01:03They get tired.
01:05I understand, but...
01:06All right. Well, listen, this team, as we sit here this morning, about 500.
01:12Are you disappointed so far?
01:14No, I'm not disappointed. I'm not surprised either. There's a ton of changes.
01:19They needed a talented center, so they go out and get Lindholm.
01:22They need a big thumper and the blue line that gets the door off.
01:25Probably the two best guys at that position available, but they focused on size.
01:32We brought in a host of other guys.
01:34I don't know if that was a reaction to their losses to Florida the last couple of years,
01:39where they got beat up a little bit physically.
01:42But so far, the group, which is huge, looks a little slow, looks a little out of sync,
01:50and it looks a little undisciplined.
01:52If you recall the last couple of years, there were a puck possession team.
01:55I mean, they own the puck.
01:56They move the puck brilliantly around the ice,
01:58but they're still feeling the after effects of no Bergeron and no, you know, no Crecce.
02:05If they've gone to a more dump and chase style,
02:08that's sort of a throwback kind of approach, and hence the size.
02:11But the size is no good if there's not any speed.
02:14You know, if you've got size and no speed, it's a recipe for disaster.
02:19Checking requires that you've got to have a lot of hard work.
02:22You've got to have foot speed and anticipation.
02:24You've got to be able to get there, even if you don't bang.
02:26That's why the game has mostly been transferred to skating people.
02:31And if you get in the face of a defenseman trying to move the puck out of zone,
02:35it doesn't matter if you thump him, but you get in his line of vision,
02:39you can impair it and you can disrupt it.
02:42And, you know, the thump is great.
02:44I mean, that's what the Bruins did under Don Cherry,
02:47what the Bruins did under Harry Sinden.
02:49They were the big bad Bruins.
02:50But I don't know if there's time for that right now.
02:53And the last two games, even against, you know, against Utah in particular,
02:59but against Nashville too, for the most part, they were definitely a slower team.
03:03Mike, one of the other things that we've kind of seen pop up again this season,
03:07and we talked about it last year, is obviously defensively turning the puck over
03:12and then defensively losing track of guys, especially in front of the net.
03:17How can they clean up some of those issues?
03:20That should be easy.
03:21That really should be easy.
03:22I mean, McAvoy should be a dominant player on the blue line.
03:25He's been inconsistent and he's got to get over that inconsistency and earn his paycheck.
03:30I'm a little tired of Hampus Lindholm.
03:32It looks like he just blase out there.
03:34I mean, this guy was incredible in his first full season.
03:37And I don't know.
03:38It just looks like he's collecting a paycheck and not doing what he should.
03:42There's no passion to his game.
03:44And the game is passionate.
03:46You've got to have gumption.
03:47You've got to have some fire in the belly, for lack of a better phrase.
03:51But this guy just seems to be, you know, OK.
03:54Against Nashville, he throws a backhand pass up the middle of the ice that just goes through.
03:58Luckily, he got through everybody and went to the other end of the ice.
04:01But you don't do that when you're a veteran like that.
04:05You don't make that kind of silly play.
04:07He just seems careless and really not very committed.
04:11And that's not a good thing for a player of that skill level.
04:15Are you concerned about the lack of production from Brad Marchand?
04:19You know what?
04:21Three offseason surgeries.
04:23He's 36 years old.
04:25He's put on the second line.
04:27And, you know, I think he'll you can only hope that he's going to come around.
04:31And I'm sure he will.
04:32He's too hard a competitor not to have some better production than this.
04:36But, you know, they have a lot of players still not playing in the right position.
04:41And I happen to think Lindholm is a second line center, not a top line center.
04:45I don't think Zaka is a top line forward.
04:47I think Charlie Coyle, he's a favorite of mine.
04:49But every time I say that, I get in trouble because I say he's a favorite of mine on the
04:53third line.
04:54He's a beast there.
04:55That's where he's comfortable.
04:56That's where he should be comfortable.
04:57Give him credit for sort of stepping up a little bit when he was asked to play second
05:01line.
05:01But his position should be third line player.
05:05And so should Zaka.
05:06But that gives you holes somewhere else.
05:08No team's perfect.
05:09And the Bruins are trying to patch holes where, you know, it's really not the right
05:14spot for certain guys.
05:15But that's what every team has to do.
05:17And we'll see how it works out.
05:18But what does concern me is the lack of discipline.
05:21I mean, you know, against Utah, you know, Marshan turned the puck over and Utah scored.
05:26It got turned over because it was offside.
05:28But Montgomery went down there and smacked him on the shoulder pad.
05:31Didn't hurt him or anything.
05:32It was not child abuse.
05:33But, I mean, you could see the coach's anger.
05:37Zdorov has a penalty in every game.
05:39Lots of stick infractions.
05:40That means you're not getting there in time.
05:42You got to reach out and pull somebody back or trip somebody because you're there a day
05:46late and a dollar short.
05:48And that's not a good thing.
05:49Well, it seems to me like your fourth line has really been your best line so far.
05:52It's not even a question, Mark.
05:54I mean, everybody had Kostelik as a, you know, fourth line player.
05:59But he looks more like, and I know Montgomery said this, we were playing him 12 minutes.
06:03Maybe we should be playing him 17.
06:05He's probably right based on what the other lines have done.
06:08But, you know, you're not going to go far in the playoffs if you're relying on your fourth line,
06:13who's, you know, going to play that 12 minutes a game.
06:16It's just not going to happen.
06:17You've got to have better production, better and better performance.
06:20He talked about, and Montgomery talked about the process.
06:23What's the process?
06:25The process is everybody working together to get in on the four check with some speed.
06:30And if that's the process, you wonder whether they followed the right recipe in getting to that end.
06:37Mike, you talk about how many surgeries Marchand's had.
06:40That's going to be coming to an end pretty soon, that career.
06:43And there will be a changing of the guard.
06:45Obviously, it'll be Posta, Coyle, McAvoy, those guys.
06:48But when you look at the offseason acquisitions, who's the future of this team?
06:52Who do you think can actually make an impact and stay with the Bruins for the long term?
06:56Well, they have to be betting on Lindholm and Zdorov.
07:00They gave them long-term contracts and put a lot of investment into them.
07:06So they have to be there.
07:07I don't know about some of the other guys.
07:09What is Frederick going to be in the end?
07:11Can he push himself to a second line position?
07:13You'd like to hope that he could do that.
07:16Poitras, he looks a little, he's smart and he's cagey.
07:20I'm a little worried about his foot speed.
07:22And he's agile, but not very fast going from point A to point B.
07:27Lots of question marks for me as to who's going to be there.
07:30But they certainly need another centerman with good skill and good speed
07:34and can deliver pucks to the wingers that should be able to put it away.
07:38Mike, sensitive topic, I know.
07:40But what do you think of the big long-term extension for the young goalie in the Bruins?
07:44I thought they should have given it to him two months earlier.
07:47I think he's going to be a bargain in five years.
07:50He's their best player by far.
07:52I'm worried about the second goaltender that was kind of a salary dump from Ottawa.
07:56I think it was a salary dump.
07:58I don't think the Bruins were in the market for a goaltender.
08:01They've got some other options in the minor leagues right now.
08:03But Swayman is, you know, he's their best player.
08:08He's going to be their best player for a while.
08:10And I just don't know how many games he can stick under his belt and be as effective.
08:14He's not a very, I mean, he's a really skinny kid.
08:17But he's a competitor and he works efficiently.
08:20So I think he's going to get 60 games,
08:22which is what the old-time goaltenders used to get, or at least in the last 25 years.
08:27Talking a lot lately about job security as it relates to Gerard Mayo.
08:31But how about Jim Montgomery?
08:34You know, it's really hard to pin it on him.
08:39He's had such, well, but he's had great regular season success.
08:43And that's not what counts, right?
08:45I mean, what counts is going deep into the playoffs.
08:47But I don't know that you could argue against the position
08:52that he's taken them as far as they could go.
08:55And, you know, Florida beat them the last two years.
08:58And they've lost to them twice already.
09:00Once without Tuchuk and Barkov in the lineup, which is not a good sign.
09:04But again, it's early.
09:05But I think probably he maxed them out.
09:09I mean, you could argue the first year that they lost to Florida,
09:11he should have made a goaltending change and that might have made a difference.
09:14I would agree with that, but we'll never know.
09:18But, you know, if this thing falls apart,
09:20then they may want to make a change because they've made investments in a lot of people
09:24like Lindholm and Zdorov for the long term.
09:27And they expected better results from them.
09:29But it's early.
09:31Let's wait and see how it goes the rest of the way.
09:33They need some time to come together as a group.
09:35But there are definite concerns.
09:38I mean, the questions about their speed, about Lindholm and players out of position.
09:46So and Marcian, he's going to find his mojo.
09:48I think he will to a certain extent.
09:50But, you know, Courtney's right.
09:51It's 36 years old and the end is closer than the beginning.
09:56Mike, we've kind of had this conversation here.
09:58Obviously, you are the expert.
10:00You know a lot better than us.
10:01I think a lot of our expectations, you know, here,
10:05we believe that the Bruins should be able to get to the Eastern Conference Finals.
10:09And if they don't, then there's a good chance that Montgomery gets fired.
10:14What is your expectations with this team?
10:17Is it Eastern Conference Finals?
10:20I'd say that would be my expectation.
10:24I don't see them being better than that.
10:27You have one center who's a bona fide top six center and not another one.
10:33Until you find another one, there's a major hole in your lineup.
10:37And it's not easy to find them.
10:39But as again, I refer to Krejci and Bergeron, that was such a great tandem for so long.
10:46And they left such a big hole.
10:48And now they've patched it a little bit with Lindholm.
10:51And they need to find some magic in another center position
10:54because it all drives through that center position as far as I'm concerned.
10:59Mike Milbury, so great to have you back on Bruins Thursday.
11:02All right, guys.
11:02Good to see you.
11:04I enjoy walking the pets or whatever you're going to do.
11:06And I enjoyed Wiggy's theory on beers or I don't know.
11:10You can't go wrong Googling anything.
11:13Everything's good on Google.
11:14It's 100% true, isn't it?
11:15I mean, that's what it is.
11:16I appear he is way off.
11:19Google it.