Bruins Benders Podcast | Season 3. Episode 15. Streaking!

The Bruins are hot! Patrice Bergeron should stay retired. Yay or nay on Trevor Zegras. Jeremy Swayman is a true number one. Big Joe will get his day! Plus 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!

Hey, it's the Bruins Vendors Podcast,

Season 3, Episode 15, Streaking.

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I'm all about cookies.

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Oh, yeah.

What's your favorite kind of cookie,

by the way?

My favorite cookie,

I'll tell you right now.

When I was a kid, Archway Dutch Coco.

You know those Archway cookies?

Yeah, the Archway.

They had these big Dutch Coco ones.

I used to love those.

But I'll tell you what.

A Double Stuff Milano.

Don't hate it.

Double milk chocolate Milanos.

I'm a big fan of those.

You know what else I love?

The Oreo thins.

The yellow Oreo thing with the lemon.

I'm a big fan of those.

I can throw down a row of

those without any trouble at all.

I'll tell you what.

What are those?

What are those EL fudge with

the chocolate in the middle?

I love those.

A good old raspberry pillow

cookie from the old stuff.

throw down a million of those things.

I worked at the bake shop

there years ago and I used to,

they used to lose money on me,

lose profit.

Cause I used to eat, I used to throw them.

roll them on the ground

quotation fingers drop a

tray yeah right five second

rule yeah I'll have to eat

all of these 36 cookies

that I just dropped on the

ground yeah that's a shame

only on purpose crying

crying shame uh yeah so so

do all those good things

Hey, rapid review.

We haven't been around in

three or four weeks, but hey,

let's go through some of these things.

Since the three OT losses in a row,

which was a tough little stretch,

Bruins have won five in a

row and over some good teams.

Devils, Avalanche, Jets,

and they crushed Montreal

9-4 in the process.

The,

the rivalry is not very much alive at all,

you know,

basically because the Canadians

aren't very good, but that was a,

that was a good little ass

whooping to Montreal.

Yeah, that was fun.

I enjoyed the hell out of that one.

Dan Heinen with his first

hat trick in that game, right?

450 games or something.

First NFL hat trick.

So that was cool.

You know, we had some other milestones.

Pavel Zaka during the

stretch scored his 100th career goal.

Charlie Coyle had his 73rd, I believe,

as a Boston Bruin, which, you know,

was fantastic.

I don't know what that was.

Some kind of record.

It was 73 being a milestone.

Yeah.

I don't know why 73 was a big deal,

but it was, uh,

I don't know if it was like he, he passed,

but he scored with the wildest.

I have no idea what it was,

but some kind of,

he tied somebody somewhere down the line.

Uh, but he had some kind of a milestone.

So, uh, pasta had his what?

16th.

Patrick, too, in this little stretch.

Yeah, he had his 30th goal,

and then Martian had his

20th for 11 years now, 20 goals.

He's the all-time leading

consecutive 20-goal seasons

in Bruins history now.

Bruins history, yes.

Passed Bergeron and Busick for that.

So you have to imagine 63 is

going up into the rafters at some point.

No doubt.

I think there's no doubt that 63, 33,

and 37 are going.

Yeah, for sure.

I mean,

I think those are the next three

for sure.

And 63, you know, if he keeps this,

keeps this up is going to end up in the,

in the HOF too.

I think.

I think if you get a couple, you know,

I don't know how long he'll play.

I mean,

he has one more year in the contract,

but if he does go one year

deals out for another

couple more years after that,

at this rate, I mean,

he's still almost a point

per game player.

I mean, he's still right there.

Yeah.

He just, he just passed what?

900 career points.

Yeah.

900 career points.

So yeah,

he gets over a thousand points

probably without much

problem if he keeps playing injury free.

And then, yeah, then he's, then he's,

I think he's in, I mean, you know, 11,

11 straight seasons of 20 plus goals.

I think he's in, I don't think,

I don't think there's any question.

Want a cup?

I mean, all the things you can't,

I mean,

the only thing is his individual

milestones.

I mean,

he doesn't want any real awards or such,

but I don't know.

He hasn't really made

all-star games either

because of his reputation,

but I think if you ask

people around the league

who was the best left wing

in the league or one of the

two or three best left

wings in the league for the

last handful of years,

his name would be there.

It sure would.

So I think, you know,

when you talk about the top

players in the game during their era,

he's certainly one of them.

Yes.

I mean, he's definitely there.

So I think he does...

Boy, if you're Alexander Mogilny,

you'd get even more pissed.

Yeah.

That, to me, is a trap.

They have some against

Russian guys for some reason.

They do.

Something's going on there.

Yeah.

He should definitely be in.

I mean, rookie record, right?

In goals.

Yeah, at 76.

76?

Yeah,

he had... Maybe it wasn't a rookie

record.

Solani set the rookie record, right?

He just scored 76.

He scored 76.

Solani had 76 for the rookie record,

right?

Right.

I think they both had the same, but Jesus,

yeah.

I mean, McGillney was just unbelievable.

But you're right.

Maybe...

maybe that's part of it.

I don't know.

Um, so yeah,

so this has been a great stretch for,

for the Bruins and, uh,

they went five in a row and

they've gotten through a

couple little blips and

starting to get guys back from injury.

Um,

And, you know, fairly healthy now.

We'll talk about what that

might mean for the roster in just a bit.

But right now,

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Chirp number one,

should the NHL go to the

three-point system they're

using in the PWHL,

which is three points for a win,

two points for an OT win,

and one point for an OT loss.

I think they should.

I mean,

it would screw up all the pre past

records,

which is why they're not doing it.

But I think it would it

would it would force teams

to not play for overtime

and play for ties.

You know, if you you know,

if you're playing for an extra point,

there could be very

important come playoff time.

You're going to have teams

trying to win in regulation games.

At the end of games,

you're going to have teams

in overtime trying to win

instead of holding and

holding and holding and

holding and trying to delay

it and not have as much

action as you would otherwise, I think,

because you gain the extra

point if you're attacking

and trying to win games.

So I really do think that

it's something that they

should look to change.

I think it just puts more value on wins,

which I think you should have.

If a team has 12 overtime losses,

they shouldn't be able to

surpass a team that has

more wins than they do.

I think the other thing to do,

if you don't want to do that,

is just to take away the

extra point when you get into overtime.

Don't give the extra point

until you get to the shootout.

Make it right through the

overtime and see if you can just keep...

you know, don't give people a point.

Yeah.

If, if you're going to,

if you're going to take

away the point in OT,

you got to just take it away.

Cause you can't say, Oh yeah,

you can have it once we get

to the shootout.

Cause then teams will just

sit behind their own net.

Yeah.

And not play.

So yeah.

So I guess the extra point

is the way to go.

Yeah.

Incentivize them to actually

try to play and win.

Um,

but I don't have a problem if you want

to keep it at two points.

And then once,

if you get to OT and you lose, that's it,

you lost.

That's it.

You lost.

Yeah.

You lost.

Yeah.

Still have the shootout,

still have everything, but you lost.

But if you lose, you lose.

That's it.

Yeah, so I'm with that too.

But I like the three-point system.

You know, you want to, I think,

reward teams that get to

overtime and so forth.

And you don't want to shoot out, you know,

deciding whether a team

doesn't make the playoffs, you know,

if they don't get points.

You know,

if they did the thing where they

didn't award the points and

then you take it to a

shootout and those teams continually lose,

you know,

and then you don't make it to

the playoffs because you

lost in the shootout, you know,

six times or something.

So...

Well, that wouldn't help the Bruins.

No.

Because they aren't great in

the OT and they aren't great.

They've been better in the shootout,

but they aren't great in

that whole thing.

No.

So that wouldn't help a team

like the Bruins at all.

No.

I think they survive.

They're one of the teams

that survives by...

by the whole shootout and OT system,

to be honest.

But, uh, so we might be, uh, you know,

shooting our face to spite

our hands or whatever it is,

biting your hand to spite your nose.

Yeah.

One of those, uh, so anyway, yes,

spiting and hitting and, uh,

Fighting and a chirp.

Number two,

Jim Montgomery says this last year,

I could have fallen asleep

behind the Benjamin

nominated for the all-star game,

but this year we'd had to grind.

We're a lot simpler team this year.

He credits his staff for

their video work and the

way they've all adapted.

Does the coaching staff

deserve more credit, uh, for this,

the success they have this year,

which is fairly comparable

to last year after losing

two extremely key players.

I think they do deserve more credit.

Absolutely.

I think they've adapted the

way that they play a little bit.

I think they're trying to

play a little bit of a simpler game.

It's shown, especially after Christmas,

they really kind of...

the Martians and the

Pasternak's of the world, they still will,

you know,

make the turnovers that Madden you and,

and drive you crazy, but it's,

they're far less often.

It's, it's much more,

get the puck down low and

focus on the four check and

try to create turnovers and

offense that way.

They're not,

being as loose with the puck

in their own zone and in

the neutral zone to lead to

odd man rushes the other way.

And I think that's certainly helped them.

They've turned their defense into offense.

I think after, since Christmas,

they're the highest scoring

team in the league.

I'm, I'm almost positive of that.

So they,

they really have kind of turned it

on and found their game here lately.

And I think it does, you know,

the coaches do deserve a

lot of credit for that.

Yeah, they do.

And I,

I don't think they get

enough probably because it was a I mean,

this has been a really good

season for a team that some

people thought.

you know,

we'd kind of be middle of the

pack or maybe even struggle

to get into the playoffs if

certain things didn't go well.

So for them to be in the top

of the Eastern Conference

and riding high right now

is really a credit to, like Marty says,

the coaching staff and the

video work and being able

to simplify and change their game some.

Whereas last year they were

offensive juggernaut,

blowing teams out a lot.

And this last stretch here,

they've been much better offensively,

which I don't know where it came from.

But they were being a little

bit one-dimensional for a

while this season.

They've been better lately,

but they've really changed

kind of the way they play.

And they are still an excellent team,

and they're still doing really,

really well.

So they do deserve a lot of credit.

All right, Chirp, number three,

yay or nay?

And I'm going to give you

this one and then a bonus.

Okay.

Yay or nay?

Bonus.

on Anaheim Ducks player Trevor Zegers.

I would say nay.

Nay on Zegers.

I would say nay because I think he's,

obviously he's picked

higher and he's done more

at the professional level than Patra has,

but he's a similar player, I think,

to Patra.

And I don't,

I'm not sure what you would

have to give up to get them.

It would be a lot.

I think it would be.

Yeah.

So I'm not going to give up, you know,

Patra and low ride and a first to,

to get this guy.

When I think you may have a guy,

he may not ever get to the

level of Z of Zegers,

but a similar style guy in Patra.

I think.

And Patra may play a better

200-foot game already than Zegers.

And that's something that

the Bruins value.

So I would say I'm out on

Zegers because I don't

think he's the type of guy

that you are looking for in

a center at this time.

Well, I'll tell you this.

He's, he's six foot one 85.

So you're, so you're right.

He's right around me a little, uh,

just a little bit bigger than Patra.

He was a ninth,

ninth overall pick in 2019.

He is in the last three seasons,

the last two and a half seasons,

a combined minus 50, uh,

So there's one strike against,

as you said.

And then he has four goals

and three assists in 20 games.

He's been dinged up here and there.

It hasn't been a great season for him.

Sort of been uneven.

He has scored 23 goals in

each of the last two

seasons and has had 60-plus

points in those two seasons.

He's very skilled and gifted.

But I think you're right.

I think the return right now,

this is a sell low kind of –

proposition for the ducks.

Like he,

his numbers don't equal his value

right now.

So teams are probably going

to want to get a little bit

better return.

or a little less return,

and they're going to want

to get a really high return.

And I just don't think it's

going to match up unless

some team really takes a

leap of faith with them.

Like a leap of faith.

Yeah,

he's not a great face-off guy either.

So that's another thing, you know,

that the Bruins kind of value that,

you know,

Patra obviously was good early

in the year and has tailed off,

and now they have him

playing some wing a little bit.

So, you know,

there's just some factors

there that I don't think

he's the type of guy that

they would want in a center.

I think, you know,

obviously Calgary's Elias

Lindholm would be a better

fit for the Bruins because

he plays a 200-foot game

and he produces points.

So, you know,

I feel like that would be...

If you're going to give up

a bunch of assets to get a guy,

I would rather have them...

do it with him, um,

or just sign him in free agency.

He's a free agent right after this year.

Right.

Yeah.

I mean, that could be the other thing.

People just waiting for him.

Yeah.

I mean, why would you give up a ton now?

Um, you know,

if he's going to be a free

agent at the end of the year anyway.

So, I mean, so you, you wouldn't do like,

well, let's just play the game.

You wouldn't do like Patra

bussy something for him.

For the egress.

Right.

No, no.

I wouldn't.

Right.

I wouldn't.

I just don't think...

There's enough there.

I mean, he is offensively gifted,

that's for sure.

But I just don't know if he's, you know,

a playoff type of guy, honestly.

Yeah, I mean,

he doesn't fit the model of

the Bruins just because of

the way he plays.

I mean,

I almost envision him as Tyler Bertuzzi.

you know,

like not the grit and not the

other intangibles, the edge in the,

in that type of thing.

He not, not sort of the personality that,

that Bertuzzi brings to the thing,

but they're kind of similar

in that they're not great defensively.

They'll probably put up the

same type of points.

They'll do the same sort of, you know,

talented things on the ice.

They'll,

they'll have a couple of

highlights that are really cool and,

But at the end of the day, I mean,

how much do they really fulfill?

All they check all the boxes for you.

Um,

I think that that's probably the same

kind of boat and also a guy

that's been injured.

Yeah.

Um, you know, and that type of thing,

just like Bertuzzi.

So I think that's,

that's another maybe comparable again,

minus the,

minus the fact that Bertuzzi

will get in your face and

be a little edgy and stuff like that.

But, um,

Yeah, I mean, Zegras is really talented,

and I really like him,

and I liked him when he

came right into the league.

And now it seems like his

stock is really falling,

and I wonder how much he'll rebound.

And he could go to a team

like Toronto or somewhere

and just frigging blossom off the charts.

Yeah, I mean...

I mean,

the offensive talent is there 100%

and he's, you know,

in his first couple of years,

putting up 60 point seasons

is nothing to sneeze at.

But, um, so I,

I love the offensive talent.

It's just,

can he round out the rest of his game?

And maybe he would do that here, you know,

you know,

in this culture rather than in a

culture like Anaheim where, um,

They're not really used to

winning and that kind of thing.

Maybe the leaders here hold

him accountable more

defensively and whatnot,

and he performs better.

But I don't think he's a

great fit for the team.

But I really do love his

game and his offensive talent and skill.

All right, bonus yay or nay.

How about this Russian guy,

Maxim Siplyakov in the KHL?

I guess the stones are in on it.

That I would be for because

I don't think it's really

just signing him to a contract, right?

It's not, you know,

you don't have to trade anything.

Yeah.

And the Bruins need, you know,

the more good players you can get,

the better.

So if you're not sending

anybody out to get them,

I'm all for bringing in

somebody with talent.

Uh, so, so for me,

that's an easy one that I'm,

I'm in bringing,

bringing all the guys that can,

that can play and can score.

Um,

and especially if you don't have to

give up anything in return.

Yeah, I mean,

this guy is 29 goals this

year in a breakout year at 25 years old.

He's a pure scorer.

He only has 12 assists,

but he's a pure kind of wing scorer.

He had a four goal night the other night.

He's really blossomed this year.

And some teams are in the market for him.

It seems as though he wants to come over.

So if he can, you know,

I don't know what kind of

Contract it would be, I don't know,

for the Bruins or any team

for that matter, with limited cast space,

probably a bonus structure

of that type of thing.

Who knows?

That would be the smart way to do it,

incentive-based.

But, you know, like you said,

if he's a guy who can come over,

I don't know what he can do defensively.

I don't know 200-foot game

and all that stuff the

Bruins like and value.

I don't know.

uh, about that.

And again,

this is a one year kind of thing

for him where he's really

busted out at 25 years old this year,

how that translates into the NHL.

No idea.

So if he's comes over and he's Jaco Blauco,

or if he comes over and he's,

he's a guy who can, who can actually play,

is he Mariusz Tchaikovsky or is he, uh,

You know, Grigory Panteleev.

I have no idea.

So, you know, I give it a shot.

If you think it doesn't hamstring you,

if you're not going to put

a ton of resources into it

and you can just take a

flyer and see if he can

either help you this year.

or help you next year, you know, maybe,

you know,

if he can adapt to the NHL game.

So I'm with you on that one.

It's less risk than Zegers

or someone like that.

Chirp four is Linus.

Linus Allmark got hurt recently.

He's back now,

but has Jeremy Swayman

proven he can handle the

workload of a number one goalie?

And are you okay with that?

Giving him the deal he's

going to deserve and moving on with him.

Yes, I am.

Yes, yes, and yes, and yes, and yes.

I think he's still young.

I saw somebody tweet out the other day,

Jeremy Swayman's first, whatever,

100 games or 75 games and

Martin Brodeur's first 100 games.

Did you see this?

No.

And Marc-Andre Fleury's first 100 games.

No, but I'm so excited about it.

Swayman is extremely favorable.

Really?

Compared to two of the all-time greats,

yeah, in their first 100 games.

Now, granted, you know,

defensive structure and, you know,

the way the league is now

versus what it was then, the goalie pads,

that whole thing is different.

But he's held up.

But no one else has done it.

No.

Yeah, so...

I think he can do it.

I mean, they played him five in a row,

I believe,

when Allmark went out and he

acquitted himself pretty well.

Whether that can last over a whole season,

the only way that you will

know that is if he does it.

So, you know,

and I don't have any problem

with Brandon Bussey being a

backup that plays, you know,

25 games and swimming gets the rest.

So I think, you know, after this year,

I think you're looking to

move on from Allmark to

save a little bit of money there.

you're paying Swayman his, you know,

six times six or whatever

it is and bring him bust in on a short,

you know,

money deal and saving some cap room and,

and, you know, having Swayman be a guy.

I mean,

there's no reason that he couldn't

do it when, you know,

Connor hollow box doing it.

And there's other guys

around the league that, that can do it.

So I feel like he's, uh, he's definitely,

um, kind of shown that, uh,

it might be his time now.

I think you can probably

keep the two of them through next season.

Sure, you could.

You can.

But is that a smart thing to do?

Because you're going to end

up losing Allmark in free

agency for nothing.

It isn't.

It isn't a smart thing.

You deal him in the offseason.

Yes.

Without a doubt.

I don't think there's any...

any chance you don't yeah I

mean if you want to get a

return for the guy I mean

there's so many teams

around the league that need

goaltending like why I i

don't understand why you

wouldn't entertain it I

mean I i understand that

you're in love with this

tandem and they hug each

other and everybody loves

each other and that's great

and they both play really

well and they're both

together one of the huge

reasons that this team is

where they are right now.

I understand all that.

But if you have faith in Jeremy Swayman,

then you think that he

should be able to do this

over a larger sample size.

And,

and Brandon Bussey or might be DPA tro.

Both of those guys are

having pretty good years down in the AHL.

So one of those guys playing

20 something games in this system,

I think would be fine.

You might not get the level

that you're getting with

the two guys you have now, but a really,

really good Jeremy Swayman.

And one of those guys is a backup.

And then you save yourself a

couple million bucks and

are able to go out and get, you know,

another, uh,

top nine forward that can score or,

you know,

a slightly better defenseman on

the back end.

Cause you can pay him three

or 4 million instead of 2 million,

you know, that's a win in my opinion.

So I feel like you have to

consider dealing all Mark after the,

after the season's over to

get some kind of return for him.

It would be not to,

it would be malpractice not to.

and I think that if he does

well in the playoffs,

like if they rotate the goalies,

he does well,

that's the best case scenario.

If he doesn't do well, if he,

if he has a third year in a row,

we kind of, you know,

has a clunker that's going to make it.

That's the, the,

then you really have to

question the value of him more.

So that,

that's what I'm concerned about is

that he's got to,

he's got to play well and,

this off this post season

I'll mark because then you

can sell fairly high on

them and say okay this

guy's legitimate number one

in in a team like who I

don't name one edmonton

colorado whoever like teams

that really have a good

team but goaltending might

be holding them back or

some team that falls in

their face because of their

goaltending new jersey

devils devils perfect

example like carolina has a

bunch of injuries

I mean,

there's teams out there that would

be looking for goalies,

especially if he backs up, you know,

a Vezina season with

another really good season this year.

And then, like you said,

performs in the playoffs, you know,

Bruins went around or two.

You know, I feel like that's the time,

you know, sell high.

So, yeah,

I kind of feel like that's a no brainer.

You know,

why do I feel like they're going

to keep them?

And I just feel like they

are because they like to hug each other.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like,

I just feel like it's the safe thing

to do and,

and we'll lose them after next season,

but we've got bussy and you know, it's,

it's okay.

Like we're just going to plug bussy in.

So we're not really losing much.

Yeah.

You're losing a quality

number one for nothing.

Yeah.

That's what you're doing.

The thing.

Yeah, sure.

You keep them after next year.

His money comes off the books.

You know,

you have the money to spend now

and you plug bussy and that's great,

but you lose the chance to

add more value to your team, especially,

especially when you don't

have any goddamn draft

picks because you already

gave them all away.

Right.

So to,

to be able to add maybe a first

round pick,

I don't know what we can get

a first round of form or a

second or a couple of seconds,

whatever it is.

Right.

Any kind of thing that you

can add to that cupboard

that's barren right now,

you need to consider that.

So so that they really it's

like a no brainer, in my opinion,

that you that you entertain it.

Now, if you can just,

if like a fifth is the best you can do,

I don't think you do it.

That's, there's no value there.

Right.

If you can get, you know,

a third and a second or a

couple of seconds or a

second and a player, right.

You gotta, you gotta, you gotta do it.

You gotta do it.

You got to do it.

If you can get a quality

defenseman in a second or whatever.

I don't know.

Just name something.

I don't know.

Second and a third or whatever.

Yeah.

Then I say two seconds.

Well, whatever.

Then I yes.

Then I do it because you can

a replenish your system, your drafting,

or you can get a guy that you can use.

going forward so you know

that's uh that's that's a

big deal so it looks like

right here on youtube our

uh you know high-end

producer put this into

perspective I flubbed this

I was just trying to share

the screen earlier to make

it easy but it didn't work

right so I just pulled a

clip of this but uh I saw

this this morning when I

scrolled through twitter

and it made me chuckle

because the new jersey

devils are an absolute

dumpster fire in the standings right now

But because Vitek Vanacek

plays more than other

goaltenders in the league, this yo-yo,

Vinny Parise, if you listen to this,

you're a yo-yo,

is bragging that Vanacek

has more wins than Jeremy Swayman,

Sorokin, Olmark, Ottinger, and Vasileski.

Now,

I was going to scroll through the

comments so you could

giggle at some of them,

but you won't be able to see.

Yeah, I mean, he plays more, so yeah.

But, you know,

I wouldn't say that he's

hurt for the last portion of the year,

too.

Neiman Elmark essentially

played half the game.

Vitek Vanacek has a 3-2-8

goals against average and

an 8-83 save percentage.

Yeah, wow.

You can take that and shove

it up your asshole.

Right, right.

I mean, I picked the Devils to win the Cup,

and Vitek Vanacek is the

reason I will lose it.

Like, he's the reason.

Like that's not, that's, that sucks.

They need a goaltender big time.

Yeah.

I don't know if the Bruins

would trade Elmark to, you know,

an Eastern conference

contender to make them better.

Yeah, and their other goalie, Nigel Dawes,

I believe, Nico Dawes,

is 7-3 with a 3-19 goals

against and a 9-3 save

percentage in seven games.

So Vanacek's played 27 games.

That's why he has 16 wins.

He's 16-7-2.

So apart with injuries and

with the 88 save percentage,

get out of here with the

dust of the times they played them.

So, uh, oh, well, by a chart five,

who should be the odd man

out in the decor?

If everyone is healthy, who's your,

who's your six?

Uh, give me your pairs.

It is, let's see, Lowry, McAvoy, Lindholm,

Carlo, Wotherspoon, Shattenkirk.

You know what?

I'm with you 100%.

That group right there in

Wotherspoon is kind of the

surprise wild card there

because I never thought

we'd get anything out of them.

But yes, I'm with you on that.

I think Overforbort, Grizzlik.

Those are the two,

Overforbort and Grizzlik.

I think you're right.

I would go with that group

you just said right there.

I would.

They won't.

But I would.

I mean, tonight in the Canes game,

Wotherspoon out, Schottenkirchen,

Schottenkirchen, and Forbort stays in.

Forbort's been...

Oh my God.

How about, and I tweeted this out.

I, he,

his first shift was a complete

handcuffing pass up the

right side to someone.

Maybe it was Pasternak or

someone just handcuffed and

puck exploded.

It was awful.

And then he gets the puck

toward the left of the

goaltender and literally

shoots it to the goaltender.

Like almost like shoots it in.

Like that's his first shift.

And I put out there like those two things.

I was like, go Bruins.

Like, this is like, I mean, my God.

I mean, I understand the guy's rusty.

All right.

I do.

I understand that he's rusty,

but he has not been good.

He hasn't been.

And we talked about it before.

And I think while the spoon

gives you every bit of what

four book gives you with any,

any seems to be even maybe

a little more nasty in

front of his own net while

the spoon and floorboard.

Uh,

You know,

maybe he's not the penalty killer

because he doesn't have the

same experience that Forbert does there.

But you have a really good

penalty kill anyway.

And I don't think, you know,

Derek Forbert is changing

your penalty kill from a, you know,

from a middle 10 to a top 10.

Like,

it's not that big of a difference to me.

And then Gryzlik has been...

all year has been below average.

I would say lately he's been

better lately.

The last, you know, a couple, two,

three games.

Um,

But prior to that, he's I mean,

he just hasn't been.

I mean,

I know he's coming off injury and

so forth, but, you know,

it's the same stuff over and over again.

You know, he doesn't want to get hit.

So he's, you know,

pushing the puck through

and jumping out of the way

or he's making a pass where

he's trying to get rid of

it before someone's really

bearing down on him.

And it only that only gets

those things only are

heightened during the playoffs.

So it's more magnified than

when he's trying to get out

of the way of getting hit or getting run.

And it's, you know, in the playoffs,

every single time you go

back to retrieve a puck, you get hit.

And, you know,

after a while that wears you down.

And so he'll end up with a

little ding or an injury or whatever,

and he'll be less effective.

So to me, you go with Shattenkirk.

He has experience.

He knows how to get pucks through.

He's not the fastest guy, certainly,

but he has poise with the

puck that I think they can

use back there that a lot

of other guys don't seem to have.

Like he just,

he doesn't get rattled

because he's been around so much.

Um,

and he's not great by any stretch of

the imagination,

but he's a right shot defenseman,

which they don't have a lot of.

Now,

if you're going to tell me they're

going to pick someone else

up at the deadline,

that's better than chatting Kirk to play,

you know, third pair, right side.

Great.

I'm in.

But until that point,

I'm riding with Wotherspoon

and Shattenkirk.

Honestly,

I don't know if you can get

someone better than Shattenkirk there.

He's a former top 20

defenseman in the league,

and he's a third pair,

so he's going to play 12

minutes or whatever.

And he's been totally fine, in my opinion,

this season.

In fact, at times, better than I thought.

So who are you going to get

that's going to be better

than Shattenkirk, who's a veteran,

who's been there before,

who's played in big games,

who's played deep in playoffs?

I say that he is fine.

It's Wotherspoon that, yeah, I mean,

he could fall off the map anytime.

Sure he could.

Yeah.

So maybe someone there.

The problem is with Grizzly

and forward is the value that they bring.

Is it that much higher than

the weaknesses that they bring?

to make it worth playing them,

if you know what I'm saying.

So if it's like his four boards,

penalty kill acumen,

that much greater than the

fact he can't skate very well,

he's just a mess with the puck,

like those types of things.

Like,

is it that valuable that you live

with the other stuff?

Same with Gryzlik.

For years, we've been saying, well,

Gryzlik has the capability

of being pretty good offensively,

but he never puts any...

And he points up.

He never puts any production up.

So here's the numbers.

I'll give them to you just

so everybody knows what

we're talking about.

Grizzly's played 32 games.

He has two goals, five assists,

seven points, plus six.

He has...

37 shots on goal, 21 hits, 32 blocks, um,

four boards played in 22 games,

four assists.

He's plus 10, uh, 30 hits in, uh,

in 22 games.

I said, uh, Wallace spoon, 18 games,

three assists, uh, three points, um,

plus three.

He has 29 hits and, um, yeah.

So, uh, basically those guys are identical,

uh,

And,

and while the spoon is played in four

less games and four board four,

but it's a plus 10 while

the spoons are plus three.

How many blocks does forward have?

Forward has 30 blocks in 22 games.

While the spoon has 29 blocks in 18 games.

So one less block and four less games.

Right.

Oh, he's blocking shots.

Um, um,

Well, Grizzlik, no.

Grizzlik has 32 blocks, but in 32 games.

So that's one game.

Yeah.

And then Shattenkirk, five goals,

eight assists, 13 points, minus five.

And he has 48 blocks in 39 games.

Interesting that he's a

minus five and the others, like,

forwards a plus 10.

That's interesting.

Well, I mean,

he's played with a bunch of guys who,

you know...

He was playing with Lowry at

times when Lowry was bad

earlier in the season.

Like, you know, he gets... I mean,

and like I said, he hasn't been great.

But, you know,

I feel like he has experience.

And he puts the puck in the

net occasionally.

Yeah, I mean,

I just think that Shattenkirk

is probably...

As good as you're going to get,

unless you can get a nasty

guy that's really like a

defensively stout guy there.

I think that Jack Kirk is

the type of guy that you've

got to go with there.

I'm fine with that.

It's just, you know,

the Wotherspoon thing.

Right now,

you strike while the iron's hot.

Like, you ride it.

You ride it right now while

he's playing pretty well.

And you just keep it right there.

And Gryzlik is going to have another...

You know,

it's going to be the same song

and dance with Grizzly.

And I like Grizzly a lot.

Like, I've always liked the guy.

And he typically has a high

plus minus and all that.

Like, Jesus.

But, you know, in the playoffs,

he doesn't.

And he gets beat up.

And they target him.

And, you know,

it becomes like then he's

kind of passing the puck

too quickly and moving it

like hot potato.

And it becomes he starts to

go down the spiral a bit.

And then you end up, you know,

subbing them out anyway.

And last year was Clifton, right?

That went in for that one

game and he was a frigging disaster.

Like,

and then you start to just revolving

door of third pair defenseman,

which you really don't want to do.

I mean, it's just,

it becomes a weakness that

shouldn't be when they're

playing 12 minutes a game.

Yeah.

I mean, post seasons, 2017 minus two,

2018 minus three, 2019 minus five,

2020 minus two, 2021 minus six,

2022 minus one.

Yeah.

So minus, minus, minus, minus,

minus when he's a career plus guy,

high plus guy.

Yeah.

So he's six years.

He's been minus every single year.

Yeah.

Um, and in, you know, contrast, uh,

here we go from, for regular season,

2017 plus 21, 18 plus nine, 19 plus 15,

20 plus 11, 21 plus 22, 22 plus 46.

Yeah.

2023 plus six.

So in, in 2022,

he was plus 46 and then he

got into the playoffs and

he was minus one with no

points in four games.

Yeah.

So your third pair guy or whatever,

can't be that guy.

Can't be giving up goals.

Like can't be, can't be minus,

just can't be, be,

be even be just exists for

your 12 minutes.

Um, so that, yeah, I'm, I'm with you on,

on your pairs.

All right.

Uh, chirp number six, Patrice Bergeron,

you're talking on, uh,

shit and giggles or whatever it is.

It's fits and chitlets that, uh,

that Bergeron was going to

come back and then he's

working out and then he's

really working out higher

end than just some guy who's

working out for the alumni

game and everything.

Well, Bergeron comes back and says,

absolutely not.

Capital NLT is not coming back.

And I am on,

and I am in the camp that says,

do not come back.

I am with you.

I am.

I don't, I don't,

I just don't think you should come back.

I think it's to the point where obviously,

great player and you love

the guy and everybody loves him.

St.

Patrice, the whole ball of wax.

But at this point,

he hasn't played in half a

season or a full season.

Now you're expecting him to

come back in February and

ramp up for the playoffs at his age and

And now just let the guy

enjoy his retirement.

He gave everything that he

possibly had to the Bruins,

punctured lungs, you know,

broken noses after broken

nose after broken nose.

I mean,

he's done all he could possibly do

for this organization.

Let the guy enjoy some time

with his family and skate

and an occasional alumni game and,

you know, leave him be.

Yeah, I'm with you.

I just think that, like you said,

too much time off.

Last year, he wasn't great in the playoffs,

got injured again.

There's always that risk of

getting injured one last time.

Then you're really kicking

yourself like a bad injury.

Now you can't walk right,

playing with your kids.

I don't know.

I just don't think...

Yeah, I'd love to see him play again,

but I just don't think I

just don't think it's going

to be the same if he came back.

I just I just don't.

And I just think right now

I'm OK with him being done.

I can I can revel in his memory.

I can think of him fondly and that's it.

I just,

I just don't want to risk being

totally bullshit at him

when he fucks it up in the post season.

Like I don't want to,

I don't want to stain of any type.

We already had a little

stain last year that we're all kind of,

I feel like we're all kind of letting go.

Like we're letting it go

because he was hurt and he tried.

And we get it.

We gave him a mulligan there,

even though we probably

should be more pissed about

it that he didn't play well at all.

But okay.

We don't though, because he's him.

He's him.

He's he, he is who he is.

Yeah.

But I don't want to do that again.

So I'm done.

I'm done with him playing.

That's it.

All right.

And also done with Joe

Thornton playing chart number seven.

Joe Thornton will have his

number 19 retired by San

Jose next season.

Where does he rank in this era's players?

I'm telling you,

it should be higher than it

is just because he was so

frigging sensational as a player.

When you see the stats here on YouTube,

like 548 power play points,

like for God's sakes.

Where the air is rare.

Yeah.

1700 games played.

I mean, that's a career.

I mean, the only, the only stain,

the only tarnish is, is no cop.

I mean, is it fair?

Like, is it fair?

I mean, really?

I mean, if that's anybody else who,

let's say he won a cup,

then he's up there, you know, in, like,

people are talking about

him in discussion for, like, I don't know,

top 20 player ever or something.

Like, he's up there.

He's up there.

Tell you what, though,

they do hold that stuff

against you because when

you talk about the greatest

quarterbacks of all time,

Dan Marino's name, it's up there,

but it's not where it

should be probably because he didn't win.

It's always Montana.

They go Montana first,

and then they go Elway,

and then they're like, oh, Marino,

but Marino didn't win one.

So those other guys are ahead of him.

Whether you think they should be or not,

that's the way people look at it.

Yeah, I hear you.

Like you said, 1,700 games, 1,539 points,

which is just like – I mean,

it's just unbelievable.

You know what's unbelievable?

You know what really is unbelievable?

It's the incredibly poor

return that the Bruins got.

Oh, my God.

The wrong primo and somebody else.

Who was it?

Like it was –

Don Primo.

It was the Primo that sits

at the kids' table at Thanksgiving.

It was that Primo.

The wrong Primo.

Look at the playoffs.

People tell about his playoff thing,

and he had some playoffs

that were stinkers, for sure.

But Jesus, he still had, with San Jose,

he still had 115 points in

144 playoff games.

Like, I mean,

he still had some... He had

one in 2015-16 where he had

21 points in 24 playoff games.

Like, I mean, there were some stinkers.

Yeah.

I mean... It wasn't a complete...

No,

you can't ask really much more than

that from your superstar guys.

If they're putting up close

to a point of game in the playoffs,

because they're facing

every team's best defenseman.

The other team's goal is to

shut down Thornton.

So, you know,

he's going to see everybody's best.

And if you're a superstar

and you're putting up close

to a point of game in the playoffs,

you really can't ask for

much more than that.

You know,

most people know in the playoff games,

in the playoffs, it's the depth.

that makes a difference.

It's the third and fourth

lines that decide series, you know,

the Bruins third line and, and, you know,

10, 11 was, was it Ryder, Kelly, Peverly,

or I mean,

I was instrumental in them

winning series.

Yeah.

So I, that's what it comes down to.

It's,

it's the superstars usually will

cancel each other out and it's how the,

how the, you're right.

You're absolutely right.

And I, and I think that that's, you know,

Joe does get a lot of grief for that.

And there were some stinkers in there.

There were some times.

I think in Boston, though,

one of the problems that

people have with him is

that he was so big that

there was this he's not

physical enough thing.

That was one.

And then Pat Burns would be on his ass.

He was a young guy at 18, whatever,

as a top overall pick.

He was going to be the franchise guy.

They were bad.

They had the number one in eight pick.

They were bad.

So I think if he came in and

had someone like the other

time they were bad, it was in 06,

when they had Bergeron, Chara, Savard.

But Joe didn't have really

anybody else besides Sam Zanoff.

Like they had nobody else.

So if he had a support system like a Chara,

so if it was like 06 and he

was entering with Chara,

or even bergeron it would

have been a much I think it

would have really benefited

him he was kind of on an

island as the face of the

franchise at 18 super

talented wasn't physical

enough they were bad and I

think that that was part of

the issue with him in

boston because you're right

the return was so friggin

bad and he was so friggin good it's crazy

Yeah, I mean,

he wins an MVP the year after

they get rid of him.

So that was cool.

Right.

He was like sensational.

Yeah, it was like an all time season.

Yeah,

it was just and it was so good with

Marlowe and him like they were so good.

And he was so good and he deserves it.

And it's too bad that I

would love for him to get

some sort of recognition in

Boston because he was just

such a great player.

He's one of the greatest

players ever to play for the Bruins.

I mean, you could say that.

You can say that.

Yeah, without a doubt.

So it's too bad.

Big Joe gets his day in San

Jose next year at some time.

His number 19 goes to the Raptors.

So good for him.

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All right, beauty for this week.

And I feel like we have to

do this guy every other

week just to make up for

the total ass reaming we

gave him last year on the

Whipping Boys segment.

And this week, again,

the beauty is Trent Frederick.

This will teach those filthy

bastards who's lovable.

And I'm one of the filthy

bastards because I thought

Trent couldn't play in the

league last year,

and here he is playing in

the league and being a real

integral part of what's

going on in Boston.

13 goals, 12 assists,

25 points in 46 games, plus 14,

and has showed tremendous touch.

And he's on track to score

20 goals at least,

and he's just been terrific.

He has been.

And pretty much anybody that

you put on his line breaks

out of their slump.

I'm not sure what it is

about him and the way he plays,

but whatever it is,

it rubs off on the guys around him.

He's making his line mates better.

How about the feed to Jacob

Lauko all the other night?

Just a great little short two-foot pass.

Lauko gets to put it into an open net.

He's really playing...

really really well he's got

a great shot he's a big kid

uh he's learning how to use

his body uh to protect

pucks and and forecheck and

um you know he's he's

really a guy that Bruins

fans uh are falling in love

with if they haven't

already and and he's

probably uh if he's not

going to win it he's

certainly one of the front

runners for the some player

award uh no doubt about it

Yeah.

I mean, I think he'd,

I think he'd be my pick.

I think he'll be the fans pick.

He's a fan favorite anyway,

even when he wasn't playing well.

Uh, and he's a Bruin type, I guess,

type of player,

or at least Bruins fans

have wanted him to be that type of player,

but you're right.

And you've been a fan of the

two foot pass.

You're, you're an advocate for, I love it.

I mean, you, you are.

And, uh, it's true.

Like you make those little

tiny little passes to set up space,

time and space.

And he made a great pass to

local for sure.

So Freddie's been terrific.

And, uh,

Um, it's a great deal for them now, Jesus.

I mean, a two year deal.

Like we,

we kind of scratched our head last year.

Like, why would you give him two years?

Like, you know,

but they did give him two years and it's,

it's a great deal.

And it's a really affordable

deal now for what he's

bringing to the table.

I mean, Jesus.

Um, all right.

So bender time.

Yeah, the vendors.

We got a couple.

There's some stuff in the news.

I don't know if you noticed.

But first,

we're going to go with

Philadelphia Flyers fans.

Um,

so cutter got the air decides that he

doesn't want to play for

the Philadelphia flyers and

their fan base just

absolutely loses their shit.

Now this is the same fan

base that when Eric Lindros

did the same exact thing.

Right.

Same thing.

Yeah.

They were perfectly fine

with getting Lindros on

their team at that point.

But once he does it to them, Oh,

they're vengeful.

They don't like it.

They don't like it at all.

So there,

there are a bunch of them got in

their cars and they drove

from Philadelphia or, you know,

from the swamps of New

Jersey or from the gutters of, you know,

wherever they come out of

drive to Boston to, uh,

heckle kind of gothier when

he gets back in college from the,

from the world juniors, uh,

after he was traded to Anaheim and, uh,

he, he, they, they,

it's just like grown men

driving to heckle a 19 year old kid.

Cause he doesn't want to

play for their team in their city.

Just fucking grow up for crying out,

grow up.

I mean,

it's not unprecedented that players

have not wanted... I mean,

the Mannings...

Eli Manning did this.

I mean, John Elway did this.

I mean, it's not unprecedented.

People are avoiding teams.

There's talk that Kayla

Williams might try to avoid

the Bears and stuff.

Like, it happens.

Like, it just happens.

So, you know,

it's just one of those things.

He decided for whatever

reason he didn't want to go

play for Philadelphia.

I don't know what it is.

It's been kind of hush-hush.

There's been rumors about

what it might be.

And, of course,

it always turns into

someone's banging someone's

girlfriend and stuff.

I don't know.

But I don't think it's any of that.

I just think that he said, you know what?

I don't want to go.

I don't want to go play for the Flyers.

I don't.

So it just decided because

the Flyers haven't been good for a while.

No, they haven't.

No, number one.

So let's sort of act like

they're playing well now.

Yeah, they're playing fine now.

I think it might have a lot

to do with who the head

coach of that team is.

Oh, yeah.

I think it has a lot to do with that guy.

And yeah, I mean,

some guys just don't like...

the style of a guy like Tortorella.

And I mean,

I don't have any problem with

someone being like, I mean,

I'd love to play for Tortorella, you know,

you know, he's a fiery guy.

He's going to get the most out of you.

I think in, he certainly fits how, uh,

you know, Philadelphians, is that,

is that what that is?

Yeah.

The Philadelphiites.

That's certainly how they want their coach,

uh, you know, to represent the city.

but he's, you know,

not everybody likes that style.

So if he's like, you know,

that's not a fit for me, uh,

you know,

who's to say that that's a bad decision?

Really?

I mean, they feel scorned.

They feel, they feel let down, but, and,

and fine.

You want to yell into the

fucking Twitter verse, you know,

fuck him or whatever you do it.

But to drive, like,

I know a few hours to

heckle him at a hockey game.

I mean, at a college game,

not even a pro game.

Right.

I mean, nothing.

Really?

Yeah.

I mean, that's, that's unbelievable.

I mean, just the cost alone to go, to go,

to go yell, yell different words,

different dirty words.

Yeah.

You are good enough for my city.

Oh, great.

super uh uh you know what

else isn't good enough is

the the nhl uh and canadian

hockey's handling of the

2018 um alleged sexual

assault and uh kind of the

cover-up that happened so

uh the nhl will be the

other bender I'm a bender

I'm a bender I'm a bender I'm a bender

Yeah, they deserve it.

There's five of them.

All five of them.

Yeah, I mean,

it's a real tough look for

Canadian hockey and the NHL

to let these guys go on

playing through and covering up what,

you know, was an alleged incident.

They were just all...

recently let go of the leave

of absence from their particular teams,

uh, throughout the NHL and one, uh,

in Europe.

But, uh, yeah, just a, just a terrible, uh,

bungling really of the whole thing.

And I don't really

understand how the league

and Canadian hockey can let

this go for this many years

without some kind of, um, you know,

discipline or, uh,

Inquiry or something,

anything is better than how

they handled it.

I mean, it's six years in the making now.

I mean, it's, it's really,

it's really tough look.

And then Carter Hart's

probably the highest profile guy.

That's probably going to be

involved in this.

I mean,

there hasn't been any proof of it yet,

but he was definitely one

of the people who were

given a leave of absence in

this situation.

And rumors that the flyers

are trying to trade him

during the off season prior

to this season,

because he may be involved in it.

And I don't know the,

the direct result of it or

no one does or what,

exactly happened.

Uh, it's not good.

It's all going to come out

by London police on

February 5th and a press conference.

Um,

it happens to be right after all-star

weekend, which is a convenient timing.

And then of course, once it's, once this,

at this, the story comes out, uh,

Just recently, Utah,

Salt Lake City decides that

they're going to announce

their intent to expand into

Salt Lake City with the NHL

right after it.

So try to throw a curveball,

a little bit of misdirection at it,

get people's attention on

that rather than on this.

Yeah.

That was poor timing, too.

And that that seemed to be

pretty deliberate.

So the whole thing is just

reeks of we don't take it that seriously.

And it's, you know,

and they're kind of making

a mockery of it.

And it just puts a real poor

taste into into your mouth.

And and I think that you're

going to see if these guys are involved,

I think you're going to see

these guys banned at least

for a year and potentially

never being allowed back into the league.

Yeah, I think they'll be banned,

and I don't know if it

would be like a league-wide

thing where they would be

blackballed permanently,

but I just don't think

teams would touch them.

I mean,

there's a reason why the alleged...

I don't know.

He's not the co-conspirator,

but the lead conspirator in

this whole thing is already

playing in Europe.

It's because no team over

here would touch the guy.

So, you know,

it's just... It's a terrible look.

throughout all levels of

hockey in Canada and the NHL.

And the people that covered

it up within Team Canada

really need to be held accountable, too.

It can't just be these guys.

I mean, obviously,

these guys should be held

accountable and prosecuted

to the fullest extent of the law.

But those people that are

covering things up really

need to take a hard look at

themselves and face some

serious discipline for this, too, because

You can't be doing something

like that and and get away with it.

It just that's not the way it should be.

No.

So this is going to be

interesting on February 5th,

what the actual statement

is from the London police.

And we'll see for sure what happens then.

But I think that you're going to see.

you know, all of these players, uh,

probably be exiled from the

league and for a long, long time,

if not ever.

And, um, you know,

it's just not a great look.

It's just none of it.

None of it is good for the

league and a league that is

really dealt with a lot of, um, you know,

poor decision-making and, and, uh,

know bad headlines and all

those things for a while

now and it's just another

one where they're going to

have to try to repair their

image and it's uh it's it's

unfortunate all right

centennial season spotlight

continues and we're going

to focus on one cam

Neely Cameron Neely was

obviously a terrific bro.

And one of the best of all

time injuries cut short his career,

but in 726 games, he had 694 points,

395 goals, 299 assists.

And he was a great playoff

performer as well.

Never won a cup with the

Bruins or went to two cup finals.

89 points in 93 playoff games,

including 57 goals in 93

playoff games for Cam.

He had 17 hat tricks in his

career and was the

prototypical power forward.

Yeah,

I think that he was the one that they

coined the term after, right?

Yeah, he was.

Yeah.

The original.

The original power forward.

Yeah, the OG.

The OG power forward.

And he had this at the end

of his career as we were in

high school and going into early college.

He would score literally every game.

And he didn't play every game.

But when he got back in the line,

it was uncanny.

He would take nights off and

he would not play back to

backs for a while because

of his injuries.

But then he would go in the

lineup and score at least a

goal like every single time.

It was unbelievable.

We had the 50 and 44, right?

Yeah, 50 and 44 against the Capitals.

It was a hat trick.

I was at the game.

It was a hat trick to score

his 50th in 44 games.

And that was at a time where

he wasn't playing every game.

Right.

And,

and he would just come in and just

score goals.

And he was, and he had, you know,

Craig Janney was an excellent playmaker.

And of course Adam Oates was

one of the greatest of all time.

So that certainly helped,

but he had incredible

accuracy with the shot.

And he also had some real, uh,

skill with the puck.

Great hand-eye coordination.

He had really good skill too.

He could tip pucks and he

could pick corners and all

that type of stuff.

He had a great shot.

In the slot,

you talk about bumper position

with Bergeron.

In the slot, Neely was like

he was like Brett Hall.

He was, it was like automatic.

Yeah.

And he could beat the living

bag out of you too.

He could.

He could just knock you nuts

in the next week.

Yeah.

I mean, if you looked at him the wrong way,

he was going to beat the

living bag out of you.

Oh my God.

He, he would get really angry.

You think he's angry on the ninth floor?

He was really angry on the ice.

Go back and watch some

YouTube highlights of

hockey fights and some other things.

If you want to see, uh, see a guy with, uh,

some blood running through his veins,

some anger.

He had a, he had a fight with,

I wonder what it was.

Maybe it was Rick talking to

someone that was just like a bloodbath.

Yeah.

Of course he was after Elf Samuelson.

One time he grabbed him.

after Alf tried to injure him for his,

you know,

and it really ended his career

eventually.

And he,

I thought he was going to kill him.

I really thought he was

going to kill him on the ice that night.

But he was such a gifted player too.

And talk about, I mean,

he was traded for Barry Peterson.

Bruins also got the pick that got Wesley,

right?

Is that what it was?

Yeah.

I believe so, yeah.

It was a pick that got Wesley too.

So that was a great trade for Boston,

even though Barry Peterson

was a really great player.

He was.

But he ended up being in heaven.

Yeah,

he had most of his great years with

Boston,

but that trade with Vancouver was

a great one.

Great foresight by Harry

Sinden and everyone.

And now Neely's a team

president and has been a

lifelong Bruin and just one

of the really great players

in Bruin's history for sure.

And if he played longer,

he would be probably up

there with Orr as he would

certainly be the greatest

forward probably ever.

I mean,

he would have probably passed Espo

and Busick and all them if

he had been healthy.

Yeah, probably.

Banging forward that he that he was, but

And you know what?

When people talk about a Milan Lucci,

it's like,

why doesn't he hit every night?

Why doesn't he do this and that?

And that's the result, is Cam Neely.

When you go out and hit

every night for 82 games

and through the playoffs,

it shortens your career.

So you have to make that decision.

Are you going to do that every night,

or are you going to try to

get through and play more seasons?

Providence Bruins Beauty of

the Week is Anthony Richard.

15 goals, 18 assists, 33 points.

He's a 27-year-old,

but he was a fourth-round

pick in the 2015 draft as

the Bruins have continued

to accumulate 2015 draft picks.

And Anthony has been on a

little bit of a tear,

a little bit of a heater lately.

He's a good player.

You know, he's a good AHL player.

Does have some speed and

skill and ability to score goals.

He's doing it this year.

And he's a second point,

second point getter on the

team behind Makulov.

And he's had a really good year for them.

Yeah, he's a good player,

and he's a nice little add to the team.

I think he's probably a 4A guy.

He does have probably NHL speed.

I don't know if he has other

NHL attributes,

but he certainly gives

Providence a really good

forward and Bruins some

depth if they get in a bind.

But yeah, a really good player,

and he's having a really

good year for Providence.

Yeah, he is.

And he's a good, you know,

he's a good age.

Like you say,

he's a good AHL kind of

veteran guy that you plug

in on your AHL team to,

to produce points and play all season.

And, you know, like Justin Bresel,

they have a couple of those guys, guys,

you know, they score goals.

I think they're a good role model, too,

for some of the younger guys.

They have, you know,

kind of doing things the

right way and going about

things the right way and

producing at that level.

So good for him.

No question.

And then prospect spotlight

is one Chris Pelosi,

who was picked in the 2023

three draft by the Bruins.

They had to pick

further down the draft

because of trading away

their picks but chris has

been terrific 16 goals and

20 assists and 32 games

played he's a plus 34 uh

and he's going to

quinnipiac next season he

looks to be a late round

find for the bruins yeah I

i think that's a really

good find for the bruins

and and hopefully he'll go

to quinnipiac and continue

to produce that's a really good

team they have there.

They won the national title.

Uh,

I don't know if it was last year or the

year before that.

So, um, you know,

a really good squad there and,

and hopefully he can develop more and,

and come to the Bruins and, and, uh,

give them a boost.

Yeah.

Beckett Hendrickson as well.

Another.

Yeah.

So they, uh,

it's nice to see some of these

later round picks, uh,

hitting for the Bruins

cause they need that, you know, they do.

Yeah.

They don't have a lot of high picks.

They pick usually later in the first round,

too,

because of the fact that they've been

good for so long in trading

the picks away.

They need to hit on some of these third,

fourth,

fifth round picks in order to get

some people into the

prospect system and the pipeline there.

Here's a question.

Here's a guy I'm just going

to throw out there is Brett

Harrison and the witness

protection program.

What's he been doing lately?

I haven't really struggled in Providence.

He did have a little bit of a hot streak,

I believe like a few weeks

ago where he's starting to

turn on a little bit, but yeah,

Overall,

I don't know if his skating is

good enough for the NHL level.

I think he has an NHL shot,

but if you can't skate and

get to the areas where you

need to shoot from,

it's going to be tough to score goals.

If everyone else is in the

offensive zone and you're

still in the neutral zone

because you can't get there, that's

That's the problem.

Yeah.

Typically they don't wait for you.

I'm not saying he's that bad.

Cause I,

I haven't watched a lot of

Providence Bruins.

Um, but the, the knock on him is, is,

is his skating.

So unless he really improves that, I think,

you know,

he's probably going to be a

career AHL guy or ECHL guy, you know,

when the, when the time comes to, uh,

you know, that's,

that's what his sailing probably is.

Well,

that we've seen that with Trent Frederick,

like he improved his

skating because he wasn't a

very good skater.

Uh, but he wasn't, I mean, he's a,

he's always been like a third line guy.

Like he's,

he hasn't had the expectation to

be like Harrison needs to

be a top six player.

This is the same thing as Jackson.

They get to me like he's a

pro he fits the profile of

top six forward and

he's not a guy you're going

to put in on like the bottom two lines.

Cause he's just not that type of player.

Yeah.

I mean, that's, that's the thing though,

like about both of those guys is like,

was there anything like I said,

NHL shot with Harrison?

I'm not sure.

Yeah.

It's something elite you do.

Right.

You have an elite skill, right?

Anika didn't have any elite skills.

He was pretty good at everything,

but that gets you to the AHL level.

And it gets you a cup of coffee in the NHL,

and then it gets you traded,

and then it gets you sent down,

and then you play in Europe somewhere.

So that's what it gets you.

So you can be pretty good

and have a pro career.

It just won't be in the NHL,

which is fine.

And that's probably what

Harrison's going to be.

You know,

I don't know if his shot is an

elite shot or just a very good shot.

But like I said,

if you can't do anything else,

at least pretty good,

then you're not going to

get a shot in the NHL.

That's for elite talent.

Right.

And you're right.

And this year he has three goals,

five assists in 23 games.

And even in the OHL,

like he had a season where

he had 27 goals.

He had 16 goals.

He had 18 goals.

He's not putting up like

Lysel numbers at WHL or...

or numbers that are off the charts.

It's kind of goal scoring wise.

So yeah, I think,

I think you might see him

being a career 4-H, 4-H, 4-A.

I mean,

he's not even doing that well in the AHL.

So if they,

if the Bruins get some guys that can,

that are, you know,

get Christopher Pelosi's of

the world to come in there and, or,

you know,

other undrafted free agents or

whatever that, that are better off, um,

I mean, there's some guys, you know,

Riley Duran, whatever it is,

there's some guys there

that could be coming into

the pipeline and the next

couple of years here that

could knock his ass back to, you know,

the Savannah swamp rabbit.

So, you know,

Is that the new team, Connor?

The Bloomington Bisons and the ECHL?

That is correct.

The Bloomington Bison.

And just to clarify,

it is the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.

I went with Savannah for the alliteration.

They have a team, though, don't they?

Savannah Ghost Pirates.

Yes.

There you go.

Boom.

Can you move the team to Savannah?

I mean, please.

I mean, Dubuque Dingbats?

What was it?

Oh, Jesus.

Yeah, we'll be one of them.

Swamp Pirates, wasn't it?

Swamp Pirates?

No, Ghost Pirates.

Swamp Pirates.

Are there pirates in the swamp?

I don't even get it.

That was my fault.

It's the ghost pirates and

the swamp rabbits.

He'll be on one of those.

We'll let his agent figure that out.

I don't know who the hell that is.

Hopefully he does well.

All right.

Week ahead for the Boston Bruins tonight,

Wednesday night at home

against the Carolina Hurricanes.

And then on January 27th on

Saturday night at

Philadelphia before the All-Star break,

we'll all have 10 days off

from Bruins hockey.

Wow.

That's a big, that's a big, uh,

I think February 6th, get back at it.

It's a big break there for the,

it is after the, so, you know, you'd look,

you'd look for them to try

to finish strong here.

Two tough opponents though.

Tell you,

Carolina is playing really well lately.

Yep.

And they've had the Bruins

number and passed.

They have.

So that'll be a tough matchup for them.

And then Philadelphia is

playing really well.

They're in playoff position.

They play extremely hard under Tortorella.

I don't know if you saw some

of the goals that Owen

Tippett scored the other night.

He scored a tennis-avowed special,

a little spinorama backhand

roof job the other night.

That was beautiful.

So they're playing really well.

So it's going to be a couple

of really tough games.

here for the bruins in the

next few but you know you'd

really like to see them

kind of end on a high note

here before the before the

all-star break so I don't

know ride in they could

ride right in with a seven

game win they could ride

right in with it yeah let's

go we'll go streaking honey yeah

Right.

Seven game streak.

Let's let's try it.

Let's try it.

Yeah.

Just to say how it feels.

You're a big fan of roof jobs.

All right.

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I'm going to look for some...

We're actually going to go –

I'm going to try to go with

you guys to the Tampa Bay

Lightning Colorado

Avalanche game in February.

Yeah, I'm excited for that.

Yeah,

that would be good to see two other teams,

two other good teams in another venue.

Yeah, another best team.

To see how the other half lives.

Yeah,

we'll be down there in Tampa for that

one.

Looking forward to it.

Absolutely.

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Thanks so much for listening

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Thanks a lot.

Bye-bye.