On this episode of Poke the Bear, Conor Ryan and Evan Marinofsky break down what exactly is going wrong for the Bruins. With so much talent in the room, how is the team off to such a rocky start? Could it be a coaching issue? And if so, what does that mean for Montgomery's future? All that, and much more!
Topics:
- Same thing, different day
- Is the message not getting through?
- Are we ready to sound the alarm on Jim Montgomery?
- Lineup moves aren’t working
- Penalties, penalties and more penalties
- Fixing offensive issues
****************************************
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Topics:
- Same thing, different day
- Is the message not getting through?
- Are we ready to sound the alarm on Jim Montgomery?
- Lineup moves aren’t working
- Penalties, penalties and more penalties
- Fixing offensive issues
****************************************
Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS
Download the app today and use Code CLNS when you sign up & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!
Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying NHL tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Terms apply. What time is it? Gametime!
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SportsTranscript
00:00PokeTheBear is brought to you by PrizePix and the GameTime app.
00:07And welcome into PokeTheBear episode 271 presented by PrizePix.
00:11Go use that promo code CLNS to get $50 back when you play just $5.
00:20And we're presented by GameTime.
00:22Go use that promo code CLNS to get $20 off that first purchase.
00:26Terms, they apply.
00:27I'm Evan Maranofsky.
00:28That is Connor Ryan.
00:29That is Connor.
00:30What is up?
00:31Evan.
00:32I'm doing well.
00:33How you doing?
00:34Doing great.
00:35Doing great.
00:36Uh, not the Bruins are not so much.
00:39Not so much.
00:40No.
00:41Bruins.
00:42No.
00:43No, not so much.
00:44Those, uh, that those first place predictions that we made at the beginning of the year,
00:48uh, eight games in are not looking too hot, but you know what?
00:52There's time.
00:53There's a lot of time.
00:54There's time left.
00:55It can happen.
00:56I'm not right.
00:57I remember like everyone, uh, someone replied to me on Twitter on Monday or Tuesday night
01:02and said, man, they, they're not a playoff team.
01:05And they, they replied with like, no, they just don't look like a team or playoff team
01:08right now.
01:09But I was like, I need to respond to this, set the record straight.
01:11Like this should be a playoff team, uh, still holding out hope that our predictions turn
01:16out correct.
01:17Uh, Bruins lose to Nashville on Tuesday night for nothing during the frozen frenzy.
01:23I watched a little bit of it.
01:24I know you were at the Celtics, uh, banner raising ceremony.
01:27Yeah.
01:28Shout out, shout out to the NHL for being like, what better day to do it on a random
01:32fucking Tuesday in the middle of the start of the other one is for that whips your whoops
01:37your ass every single time.
01:39Like let's have it on the same day you have Celtics and then Lake is later on the same
01:44day.
01:45Good job.
01:46Horrendous.
01:47Horrendous.
01:48Yeah.
01:49I mean, most NHL thing ever to have that the same night as the NBA.
01:51And of course, you know, instead of promoting the frozen frenzy, ESPN spends all of their
01:55time on the two NBA games and proving the NBA season across almost all of their, um,
02:01networking.
02:02So yeah, I don't know why that was the Tuesday.
02:05I know it's, it must be difficult to find 16 arenas that can do that, but like you can't,
02:12there's no other times you could do that.
02:14Like a Thursday, a Saturday, like there's so many better times for that.
02:19When you pick and the start of the NBA season, going up against like five straight hours
02:25of Charles Barkley and the guys at city hall Plaza, I was, I was waiting for, yeah, I was
02:31waiting for Barkley to go down the, uh, the cop slide.
02:34I thought they were going to do that as part of the thing.
02:36Like talking about a missed opportunity.
02:37I know there's like 50 people who I think tweeted out that joke.
02:41So I'll give full credit to them.
02:42But like, just imagine like what a missed opportunity there.
02:46Incredible missed opportunity.
02:47I will.
02:48I'm going to pour some cold water on that though.
02:50I think they've like, or like they've slowed down.
02:52They've greased it.
02:53I would hope they don't grease it.
02:54They greased it.
02:55They'd be flying into like the frigging bell in hand.
03:00They'd be like across, they'd be flying across Congress.
03:01They'd be in the Dubliner before you knew it.
03:03Yeah.
03:04I know.
03:05Like it'd just, it right in.
03:06Uh, no.
03:07And I only know that it's like this.
03:08The easiest way.
03:09The easiest way to get to the north end.
03:11You're like late.
03:12You got a, you got a reservation over at like Brico or Estrega.
03:16Just go down the cop slide.
03:17You'll fly through Congress street.
03:19Yup.
03:20No traffic.
03:21No traffic.
03:22It's like, it's like the hyperlink that, uh, Musk was trying to like pitch like a few years
03:24ago.
03:25That's, that's the actual hyperlink is people going down the greased up cop slide.
03:29The cop slide with grease on it.
03:30Uh, no, I, it actually is, um, it's, uh, it's hard to go down.
03:35Uh, and I don't know if it's just cause like I'm an adult, but I've tried to go down at
03:39multiple times when I'm in the area.
03:41Because the cop, the cop wasn't right.
03:43Exactly.
03:44That's why I forgot about that.
03:47Um, you know, it is these utility belt on and everything, but it, I have to like, like
03:55bring myself down it like, so it's not, I think Charles would get like stuck.
04:01And so maybe I mean anything Charles does is perfect.
04:04So I don't know.
04:05Yes.
04:06I'm all for it.
04:07Um, anyway, uh, Bruins lose for nothing to Nashville on Tuesday night and it's just more
04:13of the same.
04:14It, and you saw it against Utah on Saturday.
04:16Um, you've seen it at different times at the beginning of the year or throughout the start
04:20of the year with Florida.
04:22Um, and just sort of just no offense.
04:27Um, just an inability to get anything going and they had some chances, but like Nashville
04:34also hit a number of posts and like, so I even made some huge saves.
04:39So like, uh, you know, yeah, Bruins had a couple of chances.
04:43Marcian on the doorstep a few times, but it just like uninspiring effort with a lot
04:49of the same themes popping up.
04:51Yeah.
04:52I think uninspiring is the right word, right?
04:53I watched a replay of it earlier today and I think that was the main thing was the urgency
04:58wasn't there.
04:59Like no reason to watch the full game.
05:02I watched, I watched, I watched a good chunk of it.
05:04Uh, but no, I mean, you look at Nashville going into it, what?
05:08Oh, and five, like an urgent team that needs to get his shit in order.
05:13Like you did not see that from the Bruins in this one.
05:14I mean, it's not good when you already like, you know, you're, you're having the, you know,
05:19being talked about with how tough sledding it's been for the Bruins out of the gate.
05:23You need to respond.
05:24You've got a desperate natural team, a good test on the road.
05:27How do you respond?
05:29And what is like Montgomery preached, right?
05:31Is like not taking penalties and Pasternak takes a penalty 13 seconds into the game.
05:35You finish with six penalties.
05:37Yeah.
05:38So you take, uh, six penalties, you have a, uh, what was that high stick against McAvoy?
05:43You kill it.
05:44And then they give up a goal four seconds later.
05:47Right.
05:48Um, it's just one, it's frustrating cause you're falling into the same errors, right?
05:52In terms of, uh, the penalties, stuff like that.
05:55But then it just, you're not seeing the urgency.
05:57You're not seeing these guys generate quality looks, not seeing, uh, players get into inside
06:02ice and nothing's changed from, you know, you look at like those first few losses against
06:08Florida.
06:09Right.
06:10That's a really good team.
06:11You got the baggage of what Florida, the, the mind games, all those things.
06:13Right.
06:14And I would write those ones off, right.
06:16As almost their own separate entity as to how good Florida, their own problems.
06:20Yeah.
06:21That is its own.
06:22That's the final boss, right?
06:24Like that's when you start a video game and they make you play like the, the big bad guy
06:27early on.
06:28He just like smokes.
06:29Yeah.
06:30Really early on.
06:31That's what Florida was.
06:32And then you, you hopefully you build your game back up and you play them at the end
06:35and you kick their ass.
06:37Yeah.
06:38That's what the Bruins hope the storyline is.
06:39I just watched the karate kid.
06:40That's sort of like what the whole premise of the movie is.
06:42Yeah.
06:43Yeah.
06:44You know, it's like, uh, you know, you, you fight the bad guy, this side of the Pokemon
06:47game and you lose and then you're like, all right, well, here you go.
06:50Take, take charm and then go out into the woods and then like the butterfly kicks your
06:55ass too.
06:56That's like what the Bruins are doing right now.
06:57They're getting smoked by like Evie and all these like little, that's like essentially
07:02what's going on and they're not doing anything to correct it.
07:04You can't have easy Evie kick your ass.
07:06And that's pretty much a squirtle is.
07:08Yeah, exactly.
07:09Yeah.
07:10Yeah, exactly.
07:11So, and it's the same things, right?
07:12It's, again, you can look at the roster construction and we'll talk about that.
07:16We'll talk about the penalty issues, but the other day it comes down to urgency at this
07:20point.
07:21Like you have what you have and you're good enough to win some of these games or at least
07:24be a lot more competitive than what it's been.
07:26You look at the results, the last couple of games, look at the underlying numbers, which
07:30are dour, like in terms of like just a short term graphics, citing Scott's statistics.
07:37Like Instagram was picking up how bad those statistics were.
07:41And again, like the numbers, right?
07:43The Bruins are 18th in goals scored there.
07:46And a lot of that is being lifted up by their ninth and shooting percentage.
07:50You have the fourth line.
07:51We all talked about them.
07:52But then you look at five and five play their 29th and shot attempts, 27th and shots on
07:57goal, 27th and scoring chances, 29th and high danger chance.
08:01So they're not getting pucks on net.
08:02And we talked about this thing on Bruins beat.
08:05They're not generating quality chances.
08:07They're not doing the quality over quantity outlook like nothing's working right now.
08:11And again, we can look at what they can do line of wise to maybe get more offense out
08:17of it.
08:18But it also comes down to urgency.
08:19And for the first two periods of that game on Tuesday, didn't see any of it did not seem
08:23like a team that is feeling the pressure of like being of saying we need to get our shit
08:28in order.
08:29Because that's got to be how a lot of Bruins fans feeling right now.
08:31Like, again, we're not, you know, we're not playing the violence on the Titanic yet, Evan,
08:36right?
08:37But like, we're seeing trends that good teams write the ship.
08:42That is a Titanic joke, I guess, but nailed it.
08:44There you go.
08:46But good teams wrap it around.
08:47I like that.
08:48Yes.
08:49Good teams identify these things and they correct them.
08:52It takes a couple of games.
08:53You fight through it.
08:55Right now, you're not seeing a lot from just the usual suspects make you think, all right,
09:00they're going to write the ship, you know, going into Thursday's game against Dallas.
09:03Things need to change.
09:04And you can look at the lineup, what have you.
09:06But it comes down to the players out there need to ramp up the intensity and get this
09:10thing rolling.
09:11Because right now, a whole lot of nothing is kind of what you view the Bruins right
09:15now.
09:16It's a whole lot of nothing.
09:17A lot of guys further than the lineup that are carrying or doing almost all the heavy
09:21lifting right now.
09:22You're not going to win with that formula.
09:24100%.
09:25And I also, I look at, you know, again, teams go through ebbs and flows in a season.
09:31The last two years, the Bruins have started out so hot.
09:33I think people have gotten very accustomed to that.
09:36And so when they don't, people start to panic and I get that.
09:40And you are just seven or eight games into the year.
09:43Things can happen.
09:44Things change.
09:45A lot of teams, you know, you overcome this adversity and you power your way through the
09:49rest of the year.
09:50And you, you know, the last two teams, especially that 22, 23 team didn't face much adversity.
09:56So, you know, they didn't know what to do when it happened to them in the playoffs.
09:59So yeah, it's good to have these experiences.
10:02To me, what really stands out from the last bunch of days is, so they go into Utah on
10:09Saturday after a really nice win against Colorado on Wednesday, uh, you know, lay an egg against
10:16Utah on Saturday, losing overtime, Montgomery screams at Marshand on the bench, like screams
10:23at him.
10:24Uh, you know, that's a, there's cameras like that.
10:27People are seeing that.
10:28They know that they're being seen.
10:30They know that's going to get played.
10:31They have a really tough practice on Sunday.
10:33Montgomery talked about it.
10:34We talked about that on Bruins beat and then they go out and lose for nothing to Nashville
10:40on Tuesday with a lot of this again, penalties, no, no offense.
10:46We'll get to these lineup changes that didn't come close to working.
10:51Are we like, are we getting close on the Jim Montgomery thing?
10:56Because again, like that's where like, and I'm not saying they should fire him.
11:00We're not, we're not there yet, but I think it's very interesting that with him being
11:05a lame duck head coach, they are not, they are not producing enough.
11:13They are, they are not responding to anything to me.
11:17The message isn't getting through and that's the first tell because you know, I want coaches
11:23to stay around a while.
11:24I believe coaches deserve a legitimate shot more than two or three years.
11:28It takes time, but if the room turns you out and the message is stale, which over the last
11:34four or five days it has been, is that a sign that we're coming near the end?
11:39And then you look at these lineup changes, Max Jones with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederick
11:44Zaka down on the third line with Morgan Geeky and Matt Padra and, and bolstering that top
11:52line with Martian next to, to Lindholm and Pasternak, like, are we there yet?
11:58I don't know.
11:59I don't think we're very far off because again, like just the message isn't, isn't getting
12:04through.
12:05Yeah.
12:06I think that's the concerning thing.
12:07Right.
12:08And you know, it's almost like, you know, with this smoke, there's fire.
12:10So yeah.
12:11Are we, are we calling the fire department yet?
12:13I don't know, but you smell a little something, right.
12:16And just something just feels off gas.
12:18Yeah, exactly.
12:19And I think it was what Nesson mentioned it in the post game that they were like, something
12:23kind of just feels off and that's kind of your first, I think, you know, inkling as
12:28if maybe something else deep, you know, that's rooted more into this, right.
12:32And I mean, not rooted into the, there's some very dour thing going on here, but if it comes
12:36down to what the messaging is and it's not getting across, as you said, when you look
12:40at the optics of like your coach yelling at your captain, like, you know, give them
12:45like a push, right.
12:47Like again, with cameras in full, in full sight, like, you know, that's going to be
12:51out there.
12:52Then you have a, as you said, a very vocal practice the next day, you're taking the team
12:55to task, you're shuffling lines as if it's a playoff series where your five on five offense
12:59goes cold.
13:00Right.
13:01And we're not, you know, we're straight in October.
13:03Like this feels like a very team where the urgency shit is being preached, but the players
13:08aren't getting it yet.
13:11Now, is that just the waiting for the cohesion to settle in or is there something more to
13:15that where it involves the messaging and what do we hear for the whole thing of the reason
13:20why the Bruins moved on from Cassidy messaging, how the message is being presented, how it
13:25was being relayed, how it was coming across to the players.
13:29Is that something that is playing into it now?
13:33We'll see.
13:34We'll see how they respond.
13:35Like if they lay another egg on this, this homestand and it doesn't help that they've
13:39got a pretty tough, like you're playing Dallas, playing Toronto, all these things.
13:43But if it's another four nothing loss and then you get, you know, Saturday night game
13:48at the garden and it's a Toronto team you don't like that also is kind of playing up
13:52and down and they smoke you too.
13:54Like what is the, what's the come to Jesus moment here if you've already kind of been
13:58ramping up this urgency?
14:00So is, you know, am I hitting the siren yet?
14:03No.
14:04But like you're seeing the breadcrumbs, right?
14:07You're seeing the things that when you look at it, it's the same thing with like the Patriots
14:11or like Gerard Mayo and everyone's now like, are you going to fire the guy?
14:14Like no, I think you're getting ahead of things, but you're seeing characteristics or things
14:19that you've seen in the past with other coaches where things have either gone awry or relationships
14:24between coaches and players have soured and you're seeing the correlations, right?
14:30And I think when it comes, when it comes to Montgomery and the urgency that's being preached
14:34and the fact that it hasn't translated on the ice, that's very concerning.
14:38I agree.
14:39I agree.
14:40I want to talk a little bit more about this.
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16:21Now let's get back to the show.
16:23So I think another interesting thing with Montgomery and, and this whole sort of topic,
16:27you know, clearly he feels some pressure, um, not signed yet.
16:33I know he says, Oh, you know, I'm focused on the team and this and that.
16:36And of course he's going to, he's not going to come out and be like, you know, I'd really
16:38like this blows.
16:41He's not going to say that.
16:43But the reality is, um, he's not an internal guy.
16:47They went out and got him.
16:48So it's not like he came through their system, um, and they have, you know, Sacco on the
16:53bench who was a former NHL coach, a NHL head coach, and they have Jay Leach who they just
16:59brought in, who was a head coaching, who's been a widely known head, head coaching candidate
17:05for a while.
17:06So like you have that, you have guys internally that you know, can take your job.
17:11And then on top of that, you're not extended past this year yet.
17:15And you know, I know Sweeney says they want to bring him back.
17:18And again, we don't know what the extent of the, uh, of the negotiations are.
17:22No agent has come out and said, maybe Jim Montgomery will go on that.
17:25Shut up, Mark podcast, uh, and talk about, uh, that stuff.
17:29Maybe you want to set the market for, uh, for head coaches.
17:31That'd be nice.
17:32Um, we don't know anything about the extension, uh, extension talks and negotiations.
17:37So we don't know where they are and all we can go off of is what's out there.
17:40And what's out there is he ain't, he's not signed yet for next year.
17:44So like, I, I think he does feel pressure and I do think, you know, if we get two weeks
17:51from now and they're hovering around 500, a little under it, these problems continue,
17:57like is he going to be here?
17:59I don't know.
18:00I mean, you have the guys in house if you wanted to make that move.
18:04So I don't like, I, I think it's very possible.
18:07Yeah.
18:08And again, you look at the urgency, not just from Montgomery, which makes plenty of sense
18:13as we said of how they're already shuffling lines to this extent where it, it feels like
18:17we're in, you know, middle of May and like, we're checking out the lines before game three
18:22of a series.
18:23And we're like, Oh wow.
18:24They're putting this in a blender.
18:25They're trying to get things rolling.
18:26We are very early on in this year and we're still seeing these kinds of changes, but the
18:30urgency isn't also just coming from Montgomery and his contract and how that plays into things
18:35like Cam Neely and Don Swinney both set very high expectations during the season opening
18:40press conference.
18:42Cam Neely fully expects his team is better equipped for the playoffs.
18:45And so far they're not playing the team that's going to be in the playoffs.
18:49And again, I think that it's probably an alarmist way to look at things, but like they have
18:53not offered much in terms of encouraging signs that this is a team that's going to be a tough
18:57out, you know, especially offensively.
19:01And I think when you add in like the expectations, this scene, the fact that committed all this
19:06money in the off season and things just look so disjointed.
19:11I think is maybe the best way to put it right now.
19:13Right?
19:14Like you're not seeing promising signs.
19:16I've been down the depth chart other than that fourth line, which you can't expect them
19:19to keep on doing that.
19:21So yeah, like when you look at, I think the name of the game early on this year, and maybe
19:26it's just not fair when you have so many moving pieces is urgency and whether it's what's
19:30being preached from up, up top with the front office from what's being preached by Jim Montgomery
19:37you know, what he's mentioned, how I think visibly frustrated he's been the line changes.
19:42And then the lack of urgency from, I think a lot of guys on the ice, pretty concerning
19:47and leads to a thing where, again, as you said, if the results are really middling through
19:51the next couple of weeks, it's going to come to you ahead because you committed all this
19:55money.
19:56There's only so much you can do with this lineup.
19:58What's usually in the NHL, the move you make when you have to kind of either hit the reset
20:02or give everyone a kick in the ass usually involves the coach.
20:06Yep.
20:07A hundred percent.
20:08Yeah.
20:09And again, I mean, you look at these lines and, and, and by the way, like, you know,
20:12is it Jim Montgomery's fault that Trent Frederick has done virtually nothing?
20:15Is it Jim Montgomery's fault that Morgan Geeky has done virtually nothing?
20:18Is it Jim Montgomery's fault that Justin Brezow, who has missed games, who has been scratched
20:23for sure.
20:24Like, is it his fault, you know, Max Jones gets elevated to coil with Coyle and Frederick
20:30and takes two more penalties on, on Tuesday night.
20:35I think Nashville scored on at least one of them.
20:37Yeah.
20:38Um, and so again, like you have these guys and I think sort of, you know, when we go
20:42back to our own predictions, Frederick and geekier and contract years, you would think
20:47that, you know, and by the way, there's a lot of time left.
20:49I want to like, you know, it's eight games in whatever, but like through those eight
20:53games, there's not much to show for those guys.
20:57And so, you know, again, they're not going anywhere.
21:02They're not getting dealt, you know?
21:04So as you said, the move that you would make in two weeks, if things continue like this,
21:11it's the head coach, the head coach, and like for better or worse for right or wrong, that
21:17is what teams do.
21:18Um, I mean, again, the last time the Bruins fired a head coach mid season was clode in
21:242017.
21:25Um, and you're right.
21:26I mean, they have high hopes.
21:27During the Patriots, during the Patriots, if they're going to do, they wouldn't do it
21:31during the, uh, I guess it wouldn't match up with the game being played, but during
21:34the Celtics ring ceremony, the banner raising ceremony during frozen frenzy.
21:40Yeah.
21:41Um, yeah, I mean, I think like, I don't think it's crazy to think that if they continue
21:46like this and through the next two weeks that he's gone, I, I just, I don't, and I'm not
21:51saying that they should, like, I, I think coaches should have a longer leash.
21:55I think you need to have time with a team and an organization.
21:58Um, but again, if they've tuned him out, if the messages messaging isn't getting through,
22:04And like, you can't just keep trotting him out there.
22:07You can't do that.
22:08Um, this team needs a kick in the ass and he's given them multiple kicks in the ass
22:13over the last week and nothing has changed.
22:15Um, and you bring in the red foreman from that 70 show.
22:19That's right.
22:20Yeah.
22:21You could, you gotta just get, you know, you gotta go scorched earth.
22:23So I don't know.
22:25I mean, I, like, you know, I mean, I look at the lines from, from Tuesday and it's like,
22:30you know, in fair.
22:31And I also wonder if he's laying the groundwork where it's like, you know, Hey, Max Jones
22:35is my second line left wing.
22:37Hey, like, look at my middle six.
22:39They're not doing anything.
22:40And when that, when the, when this middle six doesn't do anything, Connor, like it looks
22:44bad.
22:45Cause like, it looks bad on paper too.
22:47And so I wonder if there's laying the framework for that.
22:50I want to get to that a little bit more first, a quick word from our friends over at game
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24:08Now back to the show.
24:10So I mentioned kind of laying the groundwork for, you know, and, but what I mean by that
24:14is sort of like, um, you know, uh, so actually Ty Anderson and I were walking back from like
24:21Bruins game recently.
24:22I forget.
24:23I think it was the one against Florida on, um, on the holiday.
24:26Yeah.
24:27Monday.
24:28Um, and we were kind of saying how, you know, it's interesting how, like he's switching
24:31the lines up so much and you wonder if he is laying the groundwork for if and when he
24:34did get fired.
24:35It's like, Hey, like how am I supposed to win with Max Jones as my left wing at second
24:40line?
24:41And I do think that I think the main goal of these changing up the lines is trying to
24:44get scoring going, trying to find trios that work.
24:47Uh, but I do think it is interesting, um, that it's already happening.
24:52Yeah.
24:53I mean, even you look at like the first line of getting Martian going, right, where you're
24:56kind of bringing back the, the discounted version of the perfection line, right.
25:01With putting, putting Martian and that spot with Lintelman Pasternak, right.
25:04Like that feels like a move that's, you know, desperately trying to get your, your captain
25:09rolling there.
25:10And again, it didn't lead to production, uh, on the ice on Tuesday, but yeah, you look
25:15at like Max Jones and where he fits into that equation.
25:19You look at like a guy like Matt Potra and who sees who he is with.
25:22And the fact that you've got guys like Geeky who aren't producing and Frederick and guys
25:27that were key cogs last year.
25:29Um, and then like, you're just looking at, again, going back to how disjointed it is,
25:33like you've taken all these penalties, um, and like Pasternak's whistled thrown as well.
25:37But the more penalties you take the last five on five time you're, you're have to have Pasternak
25:41out there.
25:42And like, you look at early on last year, um, when the Bruins got up to such a hot start,
25:48a lot of it was goaltending was really good out of the gate and defense really good out
25:51of the gate.
25:52And then it was how it's been the last couple of years, leaning a lot on Pasternak to lead
25:56the way early on.
25:57It always feels like whenever the Bruins started hot the last couple of years, it also would
26:00be like Pasternak with seven goals and nine games, or, you know, he had as usual kind
26:05of scorching hot start.
26:07Then you'd have like, Van Riemsdyk was strong out of the gate.
26:10Like you had one or two guys in the middle six that were also carrying the weight and
26:13landing punches.
26:15And I was doing just enough for you to get on a roll here, win some games and you're
26:19just getting nothing out of the group so far.
26:21So yeah, like it comes down to, um, the guys on the roster and we can look at like lineup
26:27changes, what have you, but there's more guys that are going to be here from now until April,
26:32barring a unforeseen fire sale that you need to them to, to write the ship and get rolling
26:38here.
26:39Cause it's, you can make a move here and there, you can call up a guy, you can try to sign
26:43a player, try to trade for someone, but it's not going to plug in all these holes.
26:48You need guys like Frederick, geeky coil, Martian to step up and start right now.
26:52You just haven't seen it yet.
26:54No, you haven't.
26:55And Marchants in that group.
26:56It's funny.
26:57Like when I said, preseason, like Marchant, you're going to see a little bit of a stack
27:00feel like connect the great, huh?
27:02Yeah, I feel, I feel I, I, I, my crystal ball.
27:06Yes.
27:07And I, you know, again, like he's still valuable.
27:09He had a lot of score.
27:10He had some good scoring chances on Tuesday night.
27:12I'm not saying he didn't, but I think people have to understand that these 36 double hip
27:17surgery two summers ago, like he's going to slow down a little bit.
27:21Like you're not going to get the same 90 to a hundred point guy.
27:24You just aren't.
27:25And we've seen a little bit of a slowdown the last two years.
27:29But you still need more.
27:31You need more from him and you need like you nailed it with like, you need more from geeky
27:35and Frederick and, and coil.
27:38You need production from those guys and you aren't getting anything close to it.
27:43So again, like if Montgomery does get canned, it's like, we'll look at Charlie coil with,
27:49I'm assuming at that point, you know, it'd be like two points in 11 games or like Frederick
27:53or geeky or things like that.
27:55And then you also, you know, penalties to like the undisciplined play is horrendous.
28:01And that's the other part of it where it's just like, as you said, you need five on five
28:05time.
28:06You can't just be killing penalties all the time.
28:08Hashtag isn't a penalty killer.
28:09So that takes him off the ice for quite a bit and it completely fucks with your momentum
28:13completely.
28:15So that those have been two things that have just kind of continued on, continued on in
28:21terms of getting offense going, obviously everyone now is looking towards what can they
28:25do in house to, to, you know, plug in a good score.
28:32I still think Patra on the, on, you know, next to Marcia and coil would be interesting
28:37if they wanted to bring Marcia and back down.
28:40But now you also have to look like Tyler Johnson, Fabian, Lyselle, where are you on this?
28:46Yeah, I think you have to explore all options.
28:48And I, I do agree that like, I think Patra should be in a featured role and see if that
28:52playmaking can unlock more of other guys, especially in terms of getting them to shoot
28:57the puck more.
28:58But yeah, like would not be surprised the next couple of days, like whether it's waving
29:03a guy like Tufti or Jones to create the gap space, to bring up, to sign Tyler Johnson,
29:09bring up guy like Lyselle and this one, and you've got to leave no stone unturned.
29:14And also like, listen, I got a Tyler Johnson who looked pretty solid during the preseason.
29:18You look at Lyselle and his skill at that will help, but also it's still going to rely
29:22on these other guys that are still up here to, to shoulder that burden as well.
29:26Right?
29:27You can't expect 34 year old Tyler Johnson to be your savior.
29:31You can't expect all of a sudden Lyselle who's been up and down with what you've seen so
29:35far that you, you sent them packing back to Providence 10 days into camp to now be entrusted
29:41to score 25 goals, right?
29:43Like you need other guys to step up.
29:46I just hope that if you're the Bruins and you're, you're, especially with a guy like
29:49Lyselle and if they make that call, whether it's now, whether it's a week from now, like
29:54If you're going to give guys like Max Jones and Tufti a shot here, and you're going to
30:00stick with them when they're committing offensive zone penalties.
30:03If Lyselle is rusty in the D zone or has a lapse up there, does the plenty of other things
30:08look at like Potter getting out muscled with that puck in that game against the Panthers
30:11leads to a short end goal by Reinhardt.
30:14You better stick with the guy because I'll, I'll take more of him getting through those
30:17growing pains, contributing in the offensive zone and rolling with those punches.
30:21When a guy like Tufti or Jones committing nonstop offensive zone penalties, like you
30:27gotta, I think you gotta, you know, give some leeway to some of these players, especially
30:32the offensively gifted guys.
30:33And that's not usually the Bruins MO, but look what you got.
30:37You're not having anyone score right now.
30:39Some drastic measures or tweaks to how you approach things.
30:42I think need to be taken right now.
30:44They do.
30:45They do.
30:46And I think that's the thing is like, they're trying to play it safe with guys like Tufti
30:50and Jones, and it's not working.
30:52They're actually doing the worst thing they could do, which is take offensive zone penalties.
30:57It's not like they're tripping guys, you know, going past them in the neutral zone.
31:00They're tripping guys on the four check.
31:03I mean, that is the worst thing you can do.
31:06You take an offensive zone penalty, typically you get benched, um, and they're doing it
31:09with regularity and they're not producing a thing.
31:14So to me, like I'm with you, like swing for the fences here, Lysel, like Johnson, I'm
31:20for either.
31:21And I think Patra is also a great in-house solution, moving him up in the lineup.
31:25If you don't want to waive someone, I think that's a legitimate option.
31:29I think that empowers him.
31:31I think that could also kind of unlock Martian, um, if you're going to put Patra, uh, on that,
31:36on that line with Martian and Coyle, if Montgomery decides to go back to that.
31:39So yeah, not the most positive episode in the world is, uh, not great, but that's where
31:47we're at on Wednesday night.
31:49Never know how things change, but on Thursday, yeah, something's got to give.
31:55So they need again, like against Dallas and or Toronto, you need a phenomenal 60 minute
32:02effort.
32:04pounding on them.
32:05Um, if you want to reverse this unfortunate course, um, anyways, Connor, what can people
32:13look forward to from you over at the globe and boston.com?
32:15Yeah.
32:16Yeah.
32:17We have you covered every step of the way, uh, this season over at the globe and boston.com,
32:21whether it's recaps, features, columns, breakdowns, all that good stuff.
32:25You can read all of it over at boston.com and the globe.
32:28Uh, and if you want to follow me on Twitter, you can add Connor Ryan underscore 93, go
32:33do all that.
32:35That's Connor Ryan.
32:36I'm Evan Marinovsky book.
32:37The very listeners of great rest of your week.