Hey, it's the Bruins Vendors Podcast,
Season 3, Episode 15, Streaking.
And it's with Maddie and Smitty,
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I think that's a great idea.
Action.
Yeah.
Look at the little QR code
action and you can just hit
that bad boy right there and,
And we'll throw a little bit
of cookies at us or
whatever the hell they call
it in the business.
Yeah.
I'm all about cookies.
I love me some cookies.
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.