Bruins Benders Podcast

Brad Marchand is back! Can the Bruins find the right package for Noah Hanifin or Elias Lindholm? Brandon Carlo has been terrific. Are the Bruins tough enough to win the Cup? Plus, much more! 

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Creators & Guests

Host
Matt Barry
Co-Host of @Bruinsbenders with @foxboro_ty. Writer for @inside_the_rink @ErskineBoysBall Varsity Coach. Tweets are my own. #NHLBruins
Host
Tyler Smith
Co-Host of @bruinsbenders & @SportsNShitPod. Part of the @inside_the_rink podcast network. #Bs #Pats #Sox #UConn #Beer Tweets are my own.

What is Bruins Benders Podcast?

A weekly Boston Bruins Podcast by a couple of Benders. News, highlights, trades, rumors, and more! Can’t skate, weak ankles, but we know all things Black & Gold!

It is the Bruins Benders Podcast, Season 3, Episode 12, Trade Winds Blowing with Matty and Smitty, brought to you on the Inside the Rink Podcast Network, InsideTheRink.com, your one-stop shop for all your NHL and ECHL news, inside and analysis.

Follow us on X at Inside underscore the underscore Rink.

Download the Inside the Rink app for extensive Bruins coverage.

If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead and hit the subscribe button, and Smitty will tell you how to sign up for ESPN+.

for ESPN Plus.

I have it, ESPN Plus.

I love all the college sports, UFC, NHL, hockey, and much, much more.

So sign up for ESPN Plus at insidetherink.com slash ESPN today so you don't miss any of the action.

Yeah, you've got to see the NHL, the college hoops, the college bowl games.

Yeah, there are all kinds of UFC, all kinds of stuff on there.

You can get all of that right over there.

They still have the weed eater bowl.

They still have that thing.

pool and weed eater bowl i don't know the fenway bowl they got is that still a functioning business the uh weed eaters i don't know i don't think it is because i think uh like the the spray weeds company like gave people cancer or something yeah that's really that's the round i round up i think the round up like if you sprayed round too much round up and breathed it in

Like you could develop a lung cancer or something.

So I think that's probably all named after it.

Now the roundup.

Are you, are you spraying it at yourself?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I don't know.

The roundup, long cast of bulls starring, you know, Marlboro lights and pop parliaments.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Might as well be two, six and 16.

I mean, what's the difference?

Yeah.

I mean, probably, probably a four and seven team and a five and 18, but hell they'll get, you know, they'll get some nice, you know, bull swag, you know, the kids get a swag bag.

There's probably like a bottle of roundup and like a kind of cigarettes.

Oh, God.

Yeah.

Maybe one of those pushing lighters for the cars back in the day.

You get one of those, too.

500 grand to the schools.

There you go.

There you go.

The offensive line and 500 grand for the schools.

Where's that one held?

In the ghetto in Detroit?

Yeah, that's not a good... That's Mobile, Alabama or somewhere.

That's not a good spot.

That's not a good spot.

Middle of Baton Rouge?

Yeah.

Like Gatlingsburg, Mississippi or somewhere.

Yeah.

Good times.

Not a good spot.

Yeah.

Hey, Rapid...

Rapid review for this last four or five games.

Yeah, especially rapid.

Yeah, especially rapid.

Here goes.

Here goes.

4-3 win in overtime over the Leafs.

This is when Brad Marchand found his hockey stick and began playing the type of hockey that we are used to having him play.

Yeah, it was good to see.

It was good to see that he did find his hockey stick.

He had a little meeting there with Bergeron, and after that meeting, he seemed to kind of find his game.

So, you know, is it Bergie just giving him a shoulder to cry on?

Or, you know, is it, you know, a little tough love or something?

Or what do you think the conversation was about?

I think it was maybe calming him down a bit.

He was wicked frustrated, you know.

You could see it on the ice for a while.

Yeah.

And I think that Bergeron, just a calming voice, talked to him, reset his head, and then gets that fortuitous goal in overtime.

Played a good game up to that point, but then Pasternak makes the play with seven seconds left in overtime.

He's able to grab it out of the air, put it home after half the Maple Leafs decided not to back check on the play.

And then they have it.

They started, they got Marchand going just on that very play.

So it was a big one for him.

And then he goes on to score four more consecutive goals.

for the Boston Bruins, including three of them, and a hat-trick over the Blue Jackets, a 3-1 loss to the Blue Jackets.

No, they won.

No, they won that one.

3-1 win over the Blue Jackets.

Revenge for an earlier loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Marchand had three goals, hat-trick, and scored three of the goals in five minutes and 50 seconds.

yeah everybody was just like uh you know kind of standing around and and he was like off of my back boys that got us in this one and uh he took them home and uh they needed it because you know they're still having these stretches where they you know give up a lot of shots the odd man rushes to not playing great uh defensively uh long stretches his own time for the other team so they they still have some things that they need to take care of and clean up here but uh

they're still finding ways to win when they're not playing at their best right now.

For sure.

And then they lose 3-1 to the Sabres.

This was a stinker.

I mean, Charlie McAvoy, they lost him during the game.

It was just one of those really bad nights for the Bruins.

Haven't had many in the last couple of years.

Right.

But this was the Sabres, a team that they dominated in the past, recent past.

And the Sabres just come in and they get Tage Thompson back.

He scores early and 3-1 Sabres.

Yeah, the Sabres kind of just dominated this one.

I don't think the Bruins really... They look completely out of sync and never really seem to have it.

And, you know, I don't really know how to explain it other than that.

They just, you know, they just didn't have it that night and couldn't really complete a pass.

I mean, it's really frustrating to watch hockey when the team...

just looks completely out of sync.

It's like every pass is a half stride off or in the guy's skates or, you know, they just can't get anything going.

And it just seemed like it wasn't their night for the very good.

And it seemed to you, the Bruins whispers with that, there was some flu going around and some sickness and it's just all added up to a big fat, wet fart.

against the Sabres, and then they turn around and play a good Arizona team that's been hot, upstart, young team, good young team, and they win 5-3.

They go through large stretches here, though, where they don't play well.

Arizona carries play, but the Bruins really pounce on their opportunities.

It almost felt like Arizona tilts the ice, and then Bruins come down and score.

It was just one of those days, and the Bruins get a 5-3 win over a good

good Arizona team and really kind of fortunate to win it.

Yeah, I thought so.

I thought they were fortunate.

It was kind of a reverse of the Sabres game in many ways where, you know, the Bruins in some stretches during that Sabres game might have the Sabres hemmed in the entire, you know, shift or two shifts.

And then all of a sudden Grizz like turns it over at the blue line.

Sabres come down and score.

And it was just one of those things where in this particular game, Arizona had large stretches of puck possession or whatever.

And then the Bruins would just come down, have a good shift and score.

So, you know, fortuitous, certainly.

But they did, you know, take advantage of their chances when they had the opportunities to do that.

Yeah, they certainly did.

And now they're 18-5-3 and up atop the Eastern Conference.

And if you asked, if you said that at the beginning of the year, that 26 games in, they'd be where they are now.

You'd take it.

Oh, absolutely.

100%.

Because everybody thought they would struggle.

Yeah, everybody thought they would struggle this year.

And, you know, they were, you know, missing Bergeron, missing Krejci going in.

And you thought the lineup would look a little different.

You know, Lucic is out.

McAvoy, you know, has missed some games with the suspension.

And now he's hurt a little bit.

So, yeah, you'll 100% take this where they're at right now in the standings.

Well, no question.

And all right.

Time for seven chirps.

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And number one is, do you feel better now about Brad Marchand after scoring five consecutive goals for the Bruins and seems to have his game back?

Maybe he's starting to get back to what he was.

Yeah, I think it was just kind of a little bad stretch for him where, you know, things weren't going his way and he was getting frustrated.

And it is nice to see him turn around.

And, you know, he's still you still at that point was like 19 points in 23 games.

So it's not like he fell off the face of the earth or anything.

Right.

but he just wasn't playing up to his capabilities.

And that's all where really that's the standard we hold him to is, you know, he's been one of the best left wings in the league for, you know, a handful of years here.

And, and that's kind of the standard that he's set for himself and the fan base.

So he wasn't kind of living up to that.

And it is nice to see him kind of get back to that.

He is seem to be shooting more too.

I don't know if that was something that was talked to him by the coaching staff or Bergeron or,

you know, some of his teammates, who knows, but somebody got it through his head that he needs to shoot the puck more.

And, and would you look at that?

It's going in.

It's going in a couple of those off-putted Martian signature goals.

When that hat trick, like, it's just, that's, I mean, he buries those.

He used to bury them.

He needs to take those shots for sure.

Trip number two.

Brandon Carlos has been flat-out terrific all season long.

He's just been really, really good.

I think he's at a plus 12 to lead the team.

You see that on YouTube.

Oh, yeah.

He's averaging 20-plus minutes per game.

Just a horse on a penalty kill.

He had almost eight minutes of penalty-killing time the other day against Arizona, I think it was.

Um, he's just been so, so, so good and really has quieted a lot of critics.

I think he is underrated.

And I'll tell you what, if you're watching on YouTube, you should be watching on YouTube.

Cause right now you would look at this picture of Brandon Carlo and you're like, that is the sexiest man alive.

2023 Brandon Carlo.

I mean, look at the guy.

He's just a stud.

Anyway, you're not watching on YouTube.

You just have to use your imagination.

But you should be watching on YouTube.

But he has been great.

And I think he has taken the be more physical in his net front to heart.

I think he's been more physical this year than he has been in the past.

And I think that's helped his game.

I think it's given him a little more room.

I think he's helping out.

in the net front being a little more physical, and he needs to do that.

He's a big guy.

He can take up space.

He's got a long stick.

That's what she said.

So he's got a lot going for him as far as the size and the skating ability, and if he can add that physicality to it, which he has done this year, he turns into a really complete shutdown defenseman.

I'll tell you what he's really great at is behind the net and the penalty kill.

Behind the net, goes against the pucks, and he's really good at sending up the center of the ice, like really good at that clearing thing.

Like he's really good at that, and he's been much better with the puck decisiveness, decision-making, making passes out of the zone.

Like he's just been so, so good, and I don't know.

He was better last year.

I think the Cassidy thing is definitely a factor, you know, not having him anymore.

but I think it's, it's just being so he's just being, you know, here, here's the thing that's always been true about Carlo when he, when he has, when he's in and out of the lineup, he doesn't, he follows out of rhythm.

Like he doesn't, he needs to put 20 games under his belt in a row, you know, good way.

And then he, then he's fine, but there's been too many times that he'd be out of the lineup or he'd be nicked up or he'd be just not being able to get a rhythm.

He's that, I think he's that type of player.

Yeah, the question I was going to ask is, do you think with it being the second year now in Montgomery's system that he feels a little more comfortable and that's kind of helped him too?

I think that's it.

Like you said, comfort is a big thing for him.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think that's the case.

And he's been playing with Lindholm.

Uh, who's a, you know, he's an excellent player.

Like he's a good player and he, he does a lot of the offensive cut.

He's more of an offensive type of players.

I think that takes a little bit of his, and he, you know, when he plays with grizzly grizzly, a smaller guys, you know, Carlo has to take on more, I think physically.

And although Lynn Holmes, not super physical, he's a bigger guy.

You know, he's a, he's a, he's a guy who can carry the puck and play heavy minutes and that type of thing.

And, uh,

I think it's a pretty good pairing.

I'd like to see them get another guy to play with.

McAvoy and keep Carlo and Lindholm together for another couple of years.

I'd like to see that.

Cause I think they do okay together.

I do.

I think, and I think Lindholm, you know, interestingly enough, is that a better defensive season than offensive season this year?

I think he's been pretty solid defensively.

He doesn't hit a ton and he doesn't, and you know, he's not physical, but he's been good positionally defensively this season, much better than typical, I think.

Uh, and maybe that has something to do with playing with Carlo, you know, because Carlo is so steady defensively.

So, but I think you're right.

I think the Montgomery factor, whether it's system or it's just the way he coaches him has been a really, it has been a real good positive for Brandon.

Uh, all right.

Chirp number three.

Yay or nay on Calgary defenseman, Noah Hannafin.

So that's interesting.

You say, find someone else to play with McAvoy, uh, as a left shot defenseman right there, who is, you know, six, three and, you know, 26 years old.

Um,

I mean, I'm in.

I don't think he's 100% the type of guy they need as far as the physicality part of it.

I still think you could get a guy like that for your third pair.

But if you're talking a top four defenseman that can move the puck and do all the other things, I think Hannafin is your guy.

So I would be a yay on Noah Hannafin.

Do you think that they are just too much stuck in their ways with this of having the same type of defenseman?

I don't know.

I feel like he's another Lindholm.

He's the same type of thing.

He's an offensive defenseman, doesn't play super physical.

Isn't that one of the problems with them is that they aren't physical enough, snarly enough?

I think it is.

I think it is.

And I wonder if that's something that can be coached into him.

I don't know.

It seems like maybe it was coached into Kylo a little bit.

So, you know, maybe being back home, maybe that helps him too.

I don't know the crowd.

Cause he knows how the crowd responds to physicality and so forth here.

So, you know, being a local kid.

So I feel like,

you know, maybe that's something that you could coach into him.

Maybe it isn't.

Um, but like I said, I, I think the size alone would help, you know, it's six, three versus Grizzlies, you know, five, nine, if he's lucky.

So, um, I think he withstands the rigors of the playoffs.

I mean, he's six, three, two Oh seven.

So he's not like he's some, you know, little fragile kid.

Um, and he can skate and he can do the offensive things they want.

And I think part of, um,

you know, the problem with getting one of those big physical guys, you know, four, but supposed to be a big physical guy and he can't skate to get out of his own way and he can't get the puck out of his own zone.

So if you can't go back to get the puck and get it out of your own end, then you're going to have problems and you're going to be stuck in the zone for a long time.

And I think that's part of the problem with Grizzly, even though when he's back to get the puck first, he's great.

But if he's going in at the same time as someone else, the other guys went in the park or Grizzly is not going to go in to take the hit.

He's going to let the other guy have it and then they have zone time.

So, you know, there's some issues there that, you know, I think Hannafin could probably help out with.

Would I give up all they need to give up to get them?

That's another story.

And is that included in maybe a bigger trade?

Here's my issue.

Is Lindholm, Hannafin, Lowry too redundant?

Because that's what it is next year if you get Hannafin.

Yeah, but I mean, is it all the same guy?

I mean, sure.

Yeah, it's all the same guy, but they're all pretty good.

Right, right.

Would you rather have three pretty good guys or would you rather have, you know, Grizzly Lindholm forward?

Right.

I think I would rather have, you know, low ride Lindholm and then the other three.

Right, and then maybe you do McAvoy, Carlo, and some snarly asshole with Lorai.

Yeah, I mean, I hate Radko Gudis, but if he was on the Bruins, I'd probably love the guy.

I know, and that's the whole thing.

He blows, but he would absolutely bring a different dynamic to your defensive core, for sure, 100%.

Um, so I think that that's true.

Uh, how about, okay.

Yay or nay on Pat, Pat Maroon.

I think I'd probably be a yay on him too.

I know he's slow as fucking dirt, but you put him in front of the net and he can cause problems because you can't move him because he's a fucking tub.

I don't know what, but he's a tub of something.

Just ask Jack Edwards.

He'll tell you.

And so, I mean, I don't know.

I'm in on Maroon because I think he can score goals.

He's been through the playoffs.

He knows how...

the playoffs work.

He's willing to stick up for his teammates.

He's willing to, you know, chirp and battle and that whole thing.

So I would be in on him, you know, and, and maybe it's not a every game thing.

Maybe it's a, you know, against the Florida Panthers type of thing, a matchup type thing where he's in against certain guys.

And then you have Loco and Steen and against other teams.

I don't know.

Um, but yeah, I mean, if it's, if you're talking about a fifth round pick or something like that, sure.

All in.

Yeah.

Yay.

Okay.

I think I'd rather have Pat Fallon than Pat Maroon.

But, you know, but I'll say I'll say this and I've said it before is one guy.

who plays 10 minutes a game doesn't change the fact that you almost have to change the culture of the thing.

Like you, I think you have too many guys who don't play that way.

Like there's one guy really make a difference that plays 10 to 12 minutes a game.

No, it's the culture.

I mean, it is.

And we talked about it before, but like the Florida thing, it's not having a guy there that's going to beat somebody up if he takes a run at your guy, you know, run at your stars or run at Pasternak or run at Marchand or McAvoy.

It's how your stars handle getting run by the other guys.

Are they going to stand up for themselves?

Number one, are they going to be able to take a hit to make a play?

Are they going to want to take a hit the second or third or fourth or fifth or 12th time to make a play in the playoffs?

And the Bruins proved against that Florida team, they were not willing to take hits to make plays.

They were afraid of getting run and they weren't going into corners to win puck battles.

And they just Florida took it to them.

So it's really how the other guys handle it.

And you're not getting rid of Boston ox and your McAvoy's and your March hands.

So the guys at the bottom of the roster don't really matter all that much.

You know, do you need a Hannah Finn or whatever to cross like somebody in the mouth in front of the net?

Uh, yeah.

I mean, it would be nice if you had a few guys who did that.

Um, but yeah,

ideally it's a guy who would go, he would go back, win a puck and get out of his own fucking zone before they have a time to, to set up the four check.

So, you know, I guess there's a, it's, it's two different ways of looking at it, but I think it really is how your stars handle getting obliterated over and over and over again.

You know, are they tough enough in a series to withstand that and still make plays and, and win games?

Well, the identity when they won it was Ference McQuaid.

Yeah.

You know, Boychuk, Seidenberg.

Yeah.

Beating the bag out of you.

Yeah.

I mean, a physical, but still skilled.

Yeah.

Physically intimidating.

Right.

Right.

And they don't have that.

They don't.

And that's something that I think is still an issue.

That was up and down the roster though.

And that, so it is a culture.

I mean, that wasn't that.

Yeah.

That team was like, they'll, they'll fight and scrap and, and chirp.

And as Thornton would, I mean, Thornton told somebody he could pick which hand he wanted to beat the shit out of him with.

I mean, for crying out loud.

He's like, who was it?

Yes.

Dale Weiss.

Somebody else.

Was it Dale Weiss?

It was a Canadian.

He's like, I'll let you pick which hand I beat the fuck out of you with.

Yeah, right.

And then, like, Campbell would fight.

Pae would fight.

Lucic would fight.

Horton would fight if he had to.

You know, Marchand was beating the bag out of the Sedins.

Every single player on the defense would fight.

Well, that's how they beat Vancouver.

I mean, that's how they beat Vancouver.

100%.

Answer the bell.

That's how St.

Louis beat you in 2019.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I mean, it's it's an issue until they prove otherwise.

It's an issue.

It's an issue.

Right.

So it's going to be an issue again if that happens again.

And it's just going to be one of those things where you can't deny it.

Like at some point you can't say, well, it's not that big of a deal when it is every single year.

Like, yeah, if you keep losing the teams like that.

If those are the teams that you lose to every year and it's an issue, then it's a problem.

And, and, uh, uh, our ACE producer, Connor Ryan just put up Tim Thomas equals fighter and he would fight too.

He was.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sorry.

Sorry, Connor.

we have the better connor right we do um tim times would fight you he he was he was throwing blockers into the face of uh of canucks in the crease in that series yeah yeah i mean that that was the whole reason why he won i mean they tried to play that you know alex burrows they tried to do that bite the finger and burrows and bx uh yeah it didn't work no it didn't work

Because they were up to the task.

All right, shirt four.

Let's play this game.

Who would you deem untouchable after McAvoy, Pasternak?

And we'll put Martian in there because they're not going to trade him.

So anyone untouchable on the roster than those guys?

I would say one of the goalies.

Okay.

Right.

Right.

It doesn't, I mean, I mean, to me it would be Swayman.

I think you keep Swayman cause he's younger and, and you have, you know, more years of control and so forth.

So I, I guess I would say Swayman on that list, but if you want, if you could trade Swayman for Connor McDavid, I'm trading Swayman for Connor McDavid.

So, so untouchable.

How about Nylander?

That won't happen.

Yeah, it won't happen.

But I would say Swayman is untouchable.

And after that, nope.

You can have anyone else on the roster in the right deal.

What?

Anyone in the right deal.

Yeah, I agree.

Even Patra, in the right deal, sure.

Trade.

I would too.

I 100% would.

Because look, they were the 32nd worst prospect pool.

They're still probably 28, 30.

Yeah.

I mean, I love, I love potential.

I love low rise potential.

I think Lysol's going to turn out to be pretty good.

Merkula is having a fantastic season.

He just had a five point game in Providence.

Crying out loud.

Farinacci looks pretty good.

Regula is looking pretty good.

So they have some, some guys that have looked pretty good and I'm excited about, but I would still trade any of them.

Yes.

In a heartbeat in the right trade.

The only one I would remotely hesitate would be low rise just because I think he has a,

he has the most upside skill set of anyone.

I think he's, I think he's a top prospect, a hundred percent, but I mean, cause you have Lindholm and, and you know, you have, you know, I mean, you have some pieces there longterm Lindholm and McAvoy and Carlo and, and,

You know, you still have some guys there.

Well, here's the question.

If you trade for Hannafin, does he go in the Hannafin deal?

If I'm Calgary, I ask for him.

I mean, that's who I target.

Absolutely.

Especially if it's Hannafin Lindholm, Elias Lindholm.

Like, if that's the thing, that starts with Lowry, I would imagine.

Yeah, it has to.

Yeah.

I think it has to be Lowry Lysel, a number one, maybe a guy off the roster too.

Maybe a Jake DeBrusque.

Yeah, absolutely.

But then you have to decide who, you know, what the return is, is that better than you would have had?

So again, like Hannafin, who do you want to have Hannafin or Lowry?

So you have to make that decision.

Hannafin plays the same position.

Do you want to send Lowry in that deal thinking Hannafin takes the spot?

You know what I'm saying?

So you have to play that game.

You do.

And then there's also the whole low-rise, low-cost right now in Hannafin, isn't there?

And that's another thing where you're in good salary cap position next year, especially if it goes to 87.7, whatever they said it is.

So now you're at 26 million or so, 27 million in cap space.

And you have some flexibility there, which you haven't had.

I think you want to look.

Don Sweeney's not going to make any trade that's anything less than Hall for Anders Bjork and whatever the fuck.

He's going to make a trade he's going to win going away.

I have heard, though, and I don't know who I heard it from, but I have heard in the ether out there that it's possible that Hannafin is pulling a Taylor Hall type of thing and saying, if you trade me, the only place I want to go is Boston.

And that, I don't know true or not.

I have no idea, but yeah.

Cause then you're like Laoco and fucking, you know, I mean, it's the same thing.

Laoco and a second round pick or whatever, or Laoco and whatever Harrison, the second round pick.

We'll give you a, we'll give you a Brett Harrison and a second for, for Hennepin and just be happy that you got that much.

Sure.

And Laucorstein or whatever.

I don't know.

Throw another guy in there.

Sure.

All right.

Chirp five.

Can the Bruins really get Hannifin and Lindholm?

And should they trade the package of prospects it would take?

I don't think they will during the season.

That's just not Don Sweeney's MO to trade off the roster.

Do you think that Dabrowski is in play here?

Do you think that that could happen?

I still don't know how they really feel about him.

Yeah, I don't either.

But I don't see, I don't think I would consider him a major piece on the roster right now, even though he's not playing up to his capabilities.

I mean, he's still a top six winger that scored, you know, 25, 30 goals, you know, a few years.

So he's still a major piece.

I can't see them giving up a major piece off the roster.

I just don't think they will.

He hasn't really done it.

He'll do it in the offseason.

He'll make the Zaka for Hall a thing in the offseason.

But in season, he's not giving up people off his current roster that aren't just like a fringe guy, you know, like an Anders Bjork or, you know, a Ryan Donato, you know, in the Charlie Coyle trade.

You know, he's just not giving up.

prime top six, top nine wingers or centers off the current roster.

I don't think he will.

So I don't think you, I don't think you have to worry about whether or not they make that trade unless Hannah Finn is like, I'm only going to the, to the bronze.

Right.

Interesting.

I don't I don't know.

I think if that happens, I think you'll you'll see them definitely pull the trigger on that.

But that would be a heist if that was the case.

Yeah.

All right.

Chirp six.

Matt Patras was sitting in third periods, had a meeting with Monty.

Monty did mention that he wanted to play the guys that were giving them a chance to win.

Is this load management or lack of confidence in the rookie?

I know he's been a little up and down, but not god-awful bad.

So I'm not sure.

I don't know what to make of this.

Is this something that Patra has shown signs that he needs a wake-up call?

Or is it something that they're just planning to do here and there?

It just seems odd in the third period, especially in the game where you lost Saka.

and you're down to two centers without Potcher in there, that seems sort of strange to stay with that play in that game.

It does seem strange to me, the whole thing and how they're handling him.

It does.

Because I thought they would have him up here, and once they determined he was going to stay, that they would kind of let him...

kind of play through his mistakes and, you know, have some growing pains so that later on in the year and, you know, hopefully into the playoffs that you could trust them to put them out there and situate.

Like if you can't trust them in the third periods of games in fucking December, you're going to trust them in the playoffs.

No, you're not.

Yeah, so what are we doing then?

That's a good point.

You're not going to play the kid now.

When are you going to fucking play him?

What sign is he going to show you without playing in the third that he's going to be ready for in April?

Yeah, exactly.

You're going to play him against the Florida Panthers in April if he's not playing against Arizona in December?

I mean, are you kidding me?

I don't know what the hell we're doing.

It doesn't make any sense to me.

I don't like it.

I feel like you have the kid up here.

Let him play, especially in a game when one of your other centers is hurt.

So you're just going to overtax geeky and coil now and maybe Freddie a little bit at center just because, you know, you don't want to play the kid in the third period of a close game that doesn't really matter all that much.

I mean, yeah, you want to win games.

You're all professionals.

I get it.

But it's not like he's out there just passing the puck to the other team all the time.

I mean, he's had some bad turnovers, but he also helped Heinen score the goal in one of the games there with a nice play along the board.

So it's not like he's out there just completely throwing up all over himself and not being able to handle himself at all.

Like, there's been some good moments.

There's been some bad moments.

He's 19.

That's going to happen.

But you got to let him play through some of that stuff, I feel like, especially at this point in the season.

You know, I thought that that game, he did have a turnover that led to a goal.

But then the response was to play to Heinen.

Like, it was almost like he made up for it.

And then they sat him anyway.

He always seems to make up for it when he makes a mistake.

He makes another play, which...

Yeah, I mean, I guess if you get into April and May and so forth, if that play happens in overtime, then you lose.

And I get it.

That's bad.

But it's not April and May now.

It's December.

So let them play through some of that stuff.

Let them figure it out at this level before...

Before the playoffs come.

I think they're in a bind.

I think they're in a bind.

Because they don't have someone with his skill set.

As a centerman.

The alternative is to play geeky at center.

And bring up Farinacci.

Or whatever.

Or get some guy off the scrap heap.

That's the alternative.

You don't really have a guy.

Like Patra's skill set.

At center.

They're thin there.

If they send him to Guelph.

then you are stuck with, you know, Geeky at center or whoever the hell, Merkulov at center now.

So is Merkulov as good as Patra?

No, probably not right now.

Like he hasn't played in the NHL.

So I don't, to me, I would bring Merkulov up to just to see what you have in him and maybe put Patra on the ninth floor for two games, three games.

Yeah.

And give Merkulov a chance to see what you have there.

I don't know.

I feel like, to me, if you're going to bench the kid for long stretches of games, then you should go with how Anaheim's doing the kind of load management with Leo Carlson, where second night of a back-to-back or whatever, he just doesn't play.

Just don't play the kid at all.

And don't shorthand yourself.

Right.

When you get into the third period of the games, now there's a guy just sitting on your bench that's not going to be an option for you.

If you're going to do that, just sit him the whole game, let him watch, and have someone else slot in there that you're going to trust in the third period.

So I feel like if you're going to do the benchings, you might as well do a load management thing where he's sitting whole games out instead of periods here and there.

Right, because right now you're exposing him.

You're leaving him exposed on the bench.

Everybody's talking about why is he sitting?

Why doesn't he believe in him?

Now it's a story.

The load management thing, you could just say, look, it's a load management.

Second day of a back-to-back, he's not going to play.

Right, and people would understand that.

Sure they would.

He's 19 and he's 160 pounds soaking wet.

We get it.

That's fine.

But why do this thing where the spotlight's on him?

He's like Steve Martin, the fucking lonely guy at the restaurant sitting there.

I mean, everybody's looking at him like, why is he on the bench for 20 minutes?

I don't get this thought process.

I don't think they're handling it well.

I really don't.

What the hell is that?

I just don't, I don't know what this is.

Like, I just don't know.

And it's happened multiple times now.

It wasn't like one day they were like, you know what?

Send them the message.

Fine.

But they're doing it like as a plan and the plan sucks.

Yeah.

The plan is not a good plan.

No, it doesn't help him at all.

And he said the right things today by saying, Hey, it's the NHL.

Every day is a good day.

And yeah, of course.

But for God's sakes, like this, this can't be a good thing.

Does I'm going to sit the whole third period and watch the team play.

Like, it's just insane.

Like just bring it, bring someone up and, and have them sit in the ninth floor every third game, fourth game, back to back, whatever.

Yeah.

Jesus.

I don't understand this at all.

All right.

Trip seven.

Mike Milbury is on the Greg Hill show.

He wants the Bruins to have more bite to their game.

Will this be the ultimate downfall again?

Yeah, I mean, we've talked about it.

And until they prove otherwise, it will be the downfall because that's been the MO in recent years.

That's teams they lose to.

St.

Louis, Florida, you know.

So that's...

Until they prove otherwise, it will be their downfall and they're going to need to.

They're going to need to either add to the team some guys that will add a little more bite.

They tried to do with Luchich.

That's, you know, kind of by the boards now.

So either they're going to have some other guys in to address it or they're going to have to have some guys within the dressing room nut up.

that's all it comes down to.

You're going to have to just, and Monty has talked about this from the beginning of the season.

Like we need to be more physical.

We need to put that in our DNA and all that they need to, because they're not, it doesn't look like they're going to fix it right now.

Like it, it's a whole, like, like you said, like a philosophical change that needs to happen on how they build the roster.

And they haven't built the roster.

It's also about guys like Forchuk and stuff.

Right.

This Bruins team, you watch them.

The other team will go D to D. And instead of finishing the check nine times out of ten, they just spin off to go...

chase the puck or follow where the puck goes instead of going through the guy.

Like that's, that's, that's the difference.

That's the difference between Florida and you is Florida.

All those guys coming in are going to hit that defenseman, not, not stay by him after he passes the puck away.

Right.

And I think that if you look at the hits and I don't know, I don't trust the hits that I think the hits that's terrible is terrible.

I think they need to get rid of that frigging thing or or decide that they really want to take it seriously.

But Frederick and Beecher are two two guys who played like the least amount of average ice time at 12 and 10 minutes all year long and then one in two.

And then it goes south in a hurry after that.

Not a lot.

And there's been times this year where the defense, especially the last few games, has had one hit total or zero hits.

That's another part of it.

Their zone coverage doesn't really allow for...

things like that to happen it's like you can't finish a guy in the corner because if the puck goes somewhere else somewhere else and then you're beat to the front of the net like you're missing your zone coverage yeah so you know there's things where like part of it is the system i think where it doesn't allow them to really unless they stand up in the neutral zone which they don't like to do that either because they you know nine times out of ten that they've

get beat down the boards, and there's a two-on-one going the other way because they go out of position to make a hit, which was...

part of Clifton's problem, which he's having a great time in Buffalo.

The fans there are like, why did we sign this guy already?

$3 million a year for three years?

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Do you bet on the hockey?

Yes, I do.

Do you?

Sure, I do.

Yep.

So every bet is like one and a half plus one and a half minus one and a half.

Yeah, no, I don't do that.

I'll bet like money line or I'll bet like single game props, like first to score or final score or shots per game or things like that that will pay a little bit better too than the one and a half to two and a half puck line things.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's interesting.

I haven't partaken in baseball or in hockey because of the small spreads.

Yeah, do the money line and make it a little parlay.

Pick three or four games on the money line, and then you can get a little plus 500, 800.

You might be able to get a profit boost out of that.

Get a little professional better over here.

Get a little something, something.

I've hit a couple of huge college football ones.

like a 18 and a 12 team won like 180 or $200 on a 10 team bet, a $10 bet, another two 50 something on, on a $10 bet.

So interesting.

Yeah.

I don't bet a lot, but you know, a lot of money.

I mean, often, but not, not a lot of money.

Yeah.

You bet often, but it's just play money.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's just, you know, 10 bucks.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

A beauty for this week, and our beauty, is one Bradley Marchand.

This will teach those filthy bastards who's lovable.

That's right.

Who knows?

The lovable rat.

Brad Marchand, five goals in a row, and he has been terrific this last week or so since the Bergeron talk, and I still think he's done after next year, but he's back to being point-per-game guy.

Yeah, it's good to see.

It's good to see that he's kind of turned his game around here and found it.

We need him to find it.

He needs to be, you know, that guy on this team.

There needs to be kind of another star player, another option other than Pasternak that opposing teams need to kind of key on to take some of the pressure off Pasternak too.

So it's good to see that he is back playing up to the level that we all expected.

Yeah, no question about it.

I'll tell you, the bender here is one of your faves right here.

Bender is John Tavares.

Yeah, he, how about that back check by Jones in the Toronto game?

He was just like, I don't think so.

Did he think the time was out?

Like, did he think there was no chance they were going to get him a score?

I don't know.

He just stood there.

Yeah, I don't know what he thought was happening, but he was the one guy that had a chance to catch either one of them, and there was zero effort.

I'm going to ask Connor, our producer, does he take the ration of shit in Toronto that he should, John Tavares?

Probably not, but...

I feel like he produces enough points if you take the metric of every 10 points is worth about a million dollars and add the plus minus, slap the C on him.

He kind of equates, but I feel like when you're in Toronto...

can you really get any amount of shit unless you're a defenseman?

Right.

That's a good point.

I feel like, I mean, Matthews gets shit because they haven't won and all, but I think it's 100% Tavares.

Like, I think it's Tavares needs to get the screws.

He needs to get...

you know, the hose.

So that's, I mean, that's his culture, right?

He's the captain of the team.

That's his culture.

And that's a, that's a, that's an awesome, that's a top notch example.

You're setting the rest of the team.

You're out there in overtime.

Against the Bruins.

Against the Bruins.

Add your number.

Yeah.

Who are your nemesis?

Guy blows a tire at center ice.

The Leafs might call it a penalty on Marshawn, but he lost an edge.

Let's, let's be realistic.

Yeah.

He's played 24 games, 7 goals, 16 assists, 23 points, and a plus 3 this year.

Okay.

So he's been right there.

Been pretty good.

But the example that he sets is not pretty good.

It's pretty terrible.

No, it wasn't pretty good.

As he watches Pasternak going on a breakaway, and then Marchand somehow beats him to the front of the net.

And, you know, it's funny because Pasternak goes in on the breakaway, no one in the screen with a Maple Leafs sweater on except for the goalie.

And then he flips it back out.

Marchand has the time to glove it down, put it down, and shoot it in.

And there still was not a single Maple Leafs player in the screen.

So that's a terrible...

example of the set as the captain.

Yeah, that was not very good at all.

He would be third in points overall on the Bruins for context there.

Yeah.

I wanted him.

I'll tell you.

I wanted him.

Oh, at the time.

Remember that?

Yeah.

We were like all in on Tavares.

Yeah.

Let's go get him.

Because honestly, I think him coming here, he would have been better off.

He wouldn't have had the hometown pressure.

He would have been able to slot in behind Bergeron.

He wouldn't have had the speed.

Yeah.

Do some Jesus.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And he could have, you know, he could have learned kind of the defensive side of the game, maybe a little bit more from Bergeron.

So I think he would have fit really, really, really well here.

Um, but, um, you know, he chose a different path and, uh, it hasn't really quite worked out for him.

No, it hasn't panned out for John, John Tavares.

All right, Centennial Season Spotlight.

Wayne Cashman is our guy this week.

I love Cash.

Wayne Cashman.

I'll tell you, our buddy Bill, his father hated Wayne Cashman.

Really?

He did.

He had such a – well, at the end of his career.

Oh, yeah.

He was playing to pass his prime.

Yeah.

But Wayne Cashman had similar – I'm telling you, Wayne, I'm telling you similar.

I mean eerily similar numbers to David Krejci.

Like, it's eerily similar.

Really?

Yeah, Cashman had, let's see, 1,027 games, 277 goals, 516 assists for 793.

He was right.

He had 1,041 pims.

Yeah, he, he, Cashman could scrap.

He would, he, he would scrap.

He was a plus, you know, 4,000 as, as the rest of that team was.

But, uh, yeah, he was, but he wasn't the, you know, he had some playoff years where he was good.

You had 30, how about this?

He had, he had, uh,

32 penalty minutes in one uh playoff series one playoff uh back in uh was it 79 80 um but he had you know he had a couple of decent playoff runs there um but not too spectacular not crutch playoffs no he wasn't went took it to another level in the post wasn't playoff at all but uh but cashman was a pretty pretty darn good player

He really was.

He had 20 plus goals, like, you know, eight or nine times.

Yeah.

Consistently consistently good.

Yeah.

And he's 78 years young.

While you're talking about a Cashman and some old stats here, you, you piqued my interest.

So I searched it up.

I want to throw you guys a quick question.

Okay.

I looked up who has the best plus minus of all time in the NHL in the top three.

Two of them are former Bruins players.

Could you name any of the three?

Well, or.

Correct.

And he's number two at a plus 582.

I think it's Bork.

Correct.

Bork is number three at plus 527.

And you guess at who is in number one at a whopping plus 722.

Is it a defenseman?

One second.

I have a guess if it's his offenseman.

722.

Jesus.

It's not Paul Coffey, is it?

I was going to say Nick Lidstrom.

It is not Nick Lidstrom.

It is not Paul Coffey.

Hold on.

Okay.

I've heard of this player's name, to be honest with you, but I don't know his exact position.

So I want to just double check before I open my mouth.

I mean, it must be a defenseman.

It's not Larry Robinson.

No, that wouldn't be.

Ding, ding, ding.

Larry Robinson.

Yeah.

So he, he was on all those Montreal teams that were wagons.

Yeah.

yeah wow 722 that's insane yeah that's insane i i believe that i believe that you played a long time too larry where he played a long time a long time yeah he played a long time gretzky came in fourth at a plus 520 so he is the top forward by yeah gretzky's top forward

yeah wow that's wow 520 is a ford jesus yeah that's that's craziness it's just craziness well i mean talking about yeah arguably the greatest greatest player yeah i mean you're talking about or and gretzky

The next Bruin on the list is a ways down there.

Looks like probably about 10th.

It is Brad Park at plus 363.

363, Park.

Wow.

Yeah, he was with the Rangers too for some of that.

Park was so good.

So underrated.

So good.

He had the goal that made me fall in love with the Bruins.

The overtime goal was the first time I was like, I love this fucking team.

Me too.

That was unbelievable.

That was after the other loss to the Quebec Nordiques, the Stastny's in 82.

And then in 83, they won that series in game seven in overtime.

And the play, the Frank Cusick's call, the place was just bananas.

It was unbelievable.

It was unbelievable.

I think I, I I'm almost positive.

I don't know if it was the 82 series or the 83 series, but I went to a playoff game against the Nordiques that the Bruins got down three, nothing on the,

uh, goals, all goals by the Stastny brothers.

And it may have been a hat trick by Peter Stastny.

The Bruins were down three, nothing going into the third.

And they came back and, and one, four, three.

Oh, it was one of the best that made me, that was that.

And the goal that made me fall.

I did.

That atmosphere was just unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

Uh, all right.

Providence Bruins, beauty of the week.

How about Alec Regula came over in the Taylor hall trade.

He's a plus 16.

The season tops in the AHL tops.

Having a pretty good year.

14 PIMs in 21 games.

So he gets after it a little bit physically, maybe.

Not really.

But two goals, six assists is pretty good.

And plus 16, you know, he's doing things the right way.

Right shot defenseman.

You know, is that somebody that could step in and play if Shattenkirk was dinged up or, you know, somebody like that?

I don't know.

Is that a guy that you would rather see than Ian Mitchell?

I don't know his size.

Is Regula kind of a bigger guy?

Because Mitchell's not really.

Mitchell's not.

And Ian Mitchell is more Connor Clifton than anything.

I mean, he's kind of a skate around the world kind of guy.

He is without the physicality.

Without the physicality, right, because that's something that Connor Clifton would bring to the table for sure is he would beat a guy.

You know, Regula's 6'4", 207.

Okay.

Yeah, he's a big one.

He's a big, he's a big kid.

So he's, I wouldn't mind seeing step in at some point just to see, just to see how it looks.

23 years old.

Doesn't turn 24 to August.

Like he's still young.

He still has some upside.

I think he's played eight, eight NHL games, I believe for the Blackhawks.

Yeah.

No more than that.

He's played 18 and four.

He's played 22 total games with the Blackhawks.

Um,

He played with the London Knights of the OHL and had a phenomenal year as a defenseman his last year there.

It was picked in the third round in 2018 by the Red Wings.

Maybe he's a guy that's kind of a sneaky... Sometimes it takes D-men a little bit longer to develop and find their games because it's not an easy position at all.

No, it's not at all.

So I think that that's a good little bright spot.

I mean, look, they dumped Hall and Foligno.

Well, the opportunity to sign Foligno at the time, but

you know, I think that's, they got Mitchell and Regula who are two serviceable guys.

So, you know, it's, it's a decent, it's a decent trade.

Anyway, you don't want to trade a guy like Taylor Hall usually for nothing, but they got a little something in the pipeline there.

So, you know, good for them.

And then the prospect spotlight, how about Phillips Vedback?

Another goaltender.

He is playing with the Providence Friars.

They are ranked this year, just lost a tough one of the Eagles of Boston college, but,

Sped back has a two one three goals against a nine Oh eight safe percentage is nine wins.

And as a good goalie prospect for them, he was a draft pick of the Bruins.

And just add him to the list.

Michael DiPietro, who was on our show, has been terrific.

He's been excellent this season for Providence.

And, of course, Brandon Bussey is very good.

And you have Reed Dick, who's playing pretty well for Swift Current, the Broncos, and the Western Hockey League.

So, again, Bruins do a great job of goaltenders.

Just a phenomenal job.

you know, identifying and developing.

Goaltending is kind of like, kind of like pitching.

Like you can never have enough.

Sure.

But at the same time, I wouldn't mind seeing the Bruins kind of deal a little bit from a strength here and see if you can deal one of these goalies to somebody and get something in return that could benefit the, the big club benefit the Bruins.

You know, can you get a tough, uh,

You know, defensemen, can you get, you know, a forward?

You'd have to probably include some other stuff in it, depending on who it is.

But, you know, can you put one of these goalies into a trade to help the Bruins?

I mean, they have a lot of guys here who are good prospects.

as goals.

They do.

And they do.

And, you know, yeah, Kyle Kaiser hasn't been great, but he's, he's another guy who's been in the mix there too.

And, um, so I, I'm with you.

I think that maybe you can add one of these guys and into a deal somewhere, especially if it's a deal where like Hannah friends playing strong arm, um,

Maybe you put in DiPietro or someone in the thing, you know, just to sort of get some value for one of them.

You're not going to need them all.

So, um, especially with Swayman and Allmark and they'll probably, I think, I still think they're going another year with Swayman and Allmark.

So I think you're right.

I think they will.

I really think they are, especially with their cap room they have next year.

I think they are.

I really do.

I mean, I told you, I think in the playoffs, they're going with the platoon.

I think they're going with the straight platoon in the playoffs.

I really do.

Wacky.

Yeah.

We'll see.

That's either going to...

blow up in their faces or or be just genius i'm gonna go with the latter or the former rather on that one i don't have a lot of faith in that thing but okay um anyway week week ahead for the bruins december the 13th at new jersey december the 15th at the islanders and then the rangers back at home the next night the 16th and then the minnesota wilds

at home on the 19th.

So a four-game stretch here of some pretty good teams.

And the Bruins will be back at it.

They've been off since, what, Saturday.

So they have a chance here to get a little bit of rest, hopefully get McAvoy back.

He's day-to-day, as is Zaka.

He's day-to-day.

So hopefully a chance to get those two guys back and see what happens.

See what you have coming up this week as we head toward Christmas in the Bruins atop the Eastern Conference.

Also, what we need to mention is the 13th is Maddie's birthday.

Yes, yes.

One of the great days in history.

Yeah, it is.

The 13th of December is your birthday.

And so, you know, we need a big win out of the Bruins.

New Jersey.

That's where I should be on my 51st birthday is exit 16W over in New Jersey.

Yeah, to see the Devils and Bruins.

I should be there.

You should.

It's trivia time, evidently.

What's Connor saying trivia time for?

Yes, I am going to jump in yet again today and just let it all out.

So I got a little bored while you guys were talking about some of the old school Bruins stuff and something crossed my mind.

There's a couple Bruins trades within the last couple decades that are really barn burners.

So I'm going to give you some of the general ideas of the trade and I'm going to see if you guys can pick the player.

In 2015, the Bruins and the Minnesota Wild connected on a trade.

The Minnesota Wild acquired the 2015 fifth round pick of the Boston Bruins and gave them a 2016 fifth round pick.

I know this, yeah.

The Bruins pick that they acquired from Minnesota in 2016 became Cameron Clark.

The pick that Minnesota got in 2015.

Perfect.

Great one.

Let's go back.

Let's go back to 2007.

The Columbus Blue Jackets traded Adam McQuaid to the Boston Bruins for a 2007 fifth round pick.

Now, this player is a center in the National Hockey League, and he does not play for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but he is the captain of his respective team.

Okay.

do do do 2007 fifth round 2007 so crisis in the league he's that was 16 years ago and whenever you guys get a little dry i'll give you another another hint that might uh get you across the finish line um

Somebody out there right now is driving through traffic.

Oh, they are.

Screaming at the radio right now.

Yeah, they are.

These assholes don't know hockey.

Now, this player also plays on a team, a power play unit, and most of the time a line with a former Bruins first round draft pick.

Oh, Nick Foligno.

He is the current captain of the team he plays on, I said.

Current captain of the team he plays on.

And he plays on a line power play unit with another former first-round pick.

Isn't 07 the Zach Hamill year?

I think it is. 07.

Western Conference team.

Western Conference.

Jamie Benn.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Jamie Benn.

Wow.

Wow.

I'll tell you what.

That was from the ass region.

That was a nice job.

Jesus.

Jamie Benn.

Wow, fifth round pick in 07?

Wow.

Wow, they could have had Jamie Benn.

That was the time where the Bruins went bananas on defensemen.

They acquired Andrew Ferenc, Aaron Ward, Dennis Weidman, Adam McQuaid, and drafted Tommy Cross in the second round all within a year span.

Wow.

All of them turned out to be pretty good, except for Tommy Cross, who never really broke into the NHL, but he was like a career AHL guy.

He played 500 games in the AHL or something.

Yeah, he did.

He played a long time.

I believe he was the captain of the P Bruins for sure.

He was.

He was.

He was.

And he finally got a shot with the Bruins like once toward the end.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was when he was kind of past his prime a little bit.

Right, yeah.

It was in the playoffs as well.

Right, yeah.

That's right.

I remember that.

Injuries.

We'll have to mix in trivia time.

Anywho, I will try to bring some fun little random Bruins trivia or things like that and random crappy stuff.

Make sure it's stuff that we can answer, though, because if we don't know it then and we look like assholes and people want it.

Yeah, yeah.

I'll keep milking you the good ones.

Yeah, go ahead and milk me.

Can you milk me?

Brandon Carlo.

Milking him.

You can milk anything with nipples.

For those of you on YouTube.

That's making.

That's a great album.

That's a really good album cover right there.

It is.

He should be a country singer, shouldn't he?

He should be, yeah.

Brandon Carlo.

What would his hit song be?

My truck is better than my ex-girl.

I like my dog better than my ex-girlfriend.

I like my dog better than you.

Or off the kick plate.

Long on highway.

Something.

Well, long.

Tyler said something about him having a long rangy stick.

He does.

There you go.

The long range.

Long range.

You stick.

Yeah.

The long range you stick.

That's a country.

If you guys do not let that be the episode title now, I think you failed.

No, I think, I think it should be the long range.

We're changing it.

Yeah.

We're changing it.

For all the ladies.

All right.

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Until next time, folks.

Thanks a lot for listening and go Bruins.

Thanks a lot.

Bye-bye.

Thank you.