- 2 years ago
Poke The Bear with Conor Ryan Ep. 212
Conor Ryan of Boston.com is joined by Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub to discuss whether Linus Ullmark can gain momentum after the drama following the trade deadline. They also delve into the Boston Bruins' 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, analyzing the team's performance and key moments from the game.
This episode is brought to you by PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Football season may be over, but the action on the floor is heating up. Whether it’s Tournament Season or the fight for playoff homecourt, there’s no shortage of high stakes basketball moments this time of year. Quick withdrawals, easy gameplay and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what make PrizePicks the #1 daily fantasy sports app!
Conor Ryan of Boston.com is joined by Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub to discuss whether Linus Ullmark can gain momentum after the drama following the trade deadline. They also delve into the Boston Bruins' 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, analyzing the team's performance and key moments from the game.
This episode is brought to you by PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Football season may be over, but the action on the floor is heating up. Whether it’s Tournament Season or the fight for playoff homecourt, there’s no shortage of high stakes basketball moments this time of year. Quick withdrawals, easy gameplay and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what make PrizePicks the #1 daily fantasy sports app!
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Poke the Bear is powered by PrizePix, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS
00:05 Media Network.
00:06 And welcome to Poke the Bear, episode 212, presented by CLNS Media and sponsored by our
00:13 good friends over at PrizePix and Factomeals.
00:16 My name is Connor Ryan, and once again we are joined by 985's What's Ups, Ty Anderson.
00:22 Ty, what's going on?
00:24 What's up, man?
00:25 How we doing?
00:26 I'm doing well, Ty.
00:27 Now that the deadline has officially passed, it's been a week now, I can actually get some
00:32 regular sleep back up to like seven, eight hours.
00:35 We're not worrying about like Kevin Weeks coming in hot, sending out like a tweet at
00:39 3am or anything like that.
00:42 We have this kind of little bit of buffer, right, between like the playoffs where all
00:46 hell breaks loose, and you feel like you're locked in 24/7, to now where we're just easing
00:52 our way into.
00:53 We already kind of know what to expect from this team.
00:55 Let's just move ahead to April.
00:56 I don't know if you're on the same wavelength.
00:58 Yeah, no, I think so.
01:00 I mean, you're at the point now where you're looking at it and now you're saying just stay
01:05 healthy, avoid anything catastrophic between now and game one, because you want to see,
01:11 you know, everyone here is committed, right, that you've seen 67, 68 games, and you want
01:16 to see the best possible version of the product you're going to watch.
01:19 So from here on out, it's like, yeah, just stay healthy, you know, have some entertaining
01:25 games, and then go from there.
01:27 Like, just don't give me 16 or 15 more of the Montreal game.
01:31 That's all I ask.
01:32 Give me something a little bit more juice than that.
01:35 Yeah, I believe Jim Montgomery said after the game, it wasn't a Picasso, and he was
01:39 right.
01:40 Not a whole lot happened in that game.
01:42 I feel like it was like watching Maestro, one of these really boring best picture ones
01:46 that got nominated.
01:47 It's like nothing's happening in these movies for about two hours.
01:50 That's how it felt for most of this game.
01:53 Bruins end up winning two to one.
01:55 Jake DeBrusque gets the overtime goal.
01:56 Denton Heinen continues to obliterate the Habs.
02:00 What's it now?
02:01 Four goals for him so far this season against Montreal.
02:05 So we'll talk a little bit about DeBrusque a little bit later on in the show.
02:08 But two guys, one guy makes his debut, Andrew Peake, on the third pairing with Parker Weatherspoon.
02:16 Wasn't flashy, but I think when you look at what the Bruins are hoping to get out of him,
02:21 what he projects as, you know, maybe his ideal player in the NHL, I think he'd be encouraged
02:28 by a guy who it's almost like an offensive lineman.
02:30 He's almost like an offensive guy.
02:31 Right.
02:32 Like if you don't see him that much on the tape, that's good.
02:35 You'll take that.
02:36 Yeah.
02:37 And especially when you look at sort of who he's replacing, if we're being completely
02:42 sincere about why he's here, he's here to eat the minutes that Derek Forbert couldn't
02:46 eat.
02:47 And you look at the way that you noticed Forbert every game for the wrong reasons.
02:51 And hey, you give him credit for trying to fight through the injuries.
02:54 But it was painfully apparent that he didn't have it this year.
02:57 And it was painfully apparent because it ended up in the back of your net at a higher clip
03:00 than anybody else on your team since his return to the action.
03:03 So that's where you look at it and say, that's great.
03:06 You didn't notice him.
03:07 I think that when it comes to guys in their first games with a new team, a new system,
03:11 a new structure, they are playing to not be noticed.
03:14 I think that's typically how it goes.
03:16 You don't want to be noticed for the wrong reasons.
03:18 Listen, if you're to me, you're allowed to come in and you, you know, you score the lights
03:22 out and go for it.
03:24 But that's not Peake's game, as we know.
03:25 And so to have that kind of game, a steady game, couple of blocks, I think a couple of
03:29 hits as well.
03:30 You know, that that's that's solid.
03:32 And I think he'll take that because that's what his role is going to be here.
03:35 They have guys who can carry the puck, transport the puck, you know, and make plays happen
03:40 for him.
03:41 It's going to be about shutting it down at the other end.
03:42 I think he did his job.
03:43 Yeah.
03:44 I think you look at I know hockey stat cards that gets dropped after every single game.
03:48 And I feel like it's an automatic retweet from a lot of people in terms of just as a
03:51 quick kind of glance before you dive into the numbers as to how guys were.
03:55 Andrew Peake was number one again, 17 minutes of ice time only played what I think like
04:00 45 seconds on the PK, but started adding him to it there.
04:03 One hit two blocks again, mostly played with Parker Welderspoon in their 14 minutes of
04:09 ice time.
04:10 They had an 18 to eight edge and shot attempts, which is encouraging for a group that is not
04:14 going to get a lot of ozone time.
04:16 I would imagine if they kind of stick with those two guys together.
04:19 But I think, yeah, it's an encouraging performance from a guy like Peake, who, again, I think
04:24 it's all about setting the reasonable expectations.
04:26 There's Bruins fans who probably think, all right, this guy is going to be in this system.
04:29 And, you know, we've seen how many times have we seen players jump into the Bruins system
04:33 and they elevate their game to another level.
04:35 And it's not to say that all of a sudden, you know, this guy is his underlying numbers
04:39 weren't like you could look at and be like, this guy could be a transition God if he's
04:42 in this right system.
04:43 Like, no, but like if he can be a very dependable meat and potatoes, third pairing guy that
04:49 gives you 16 to 18 minutes a night, kill some penalties, have a game in the playoff where
04:54 he eats up like six blocks and that's his kind of standout game.
04:57 Hell, you will take that for what you need in this playoff run, because Bruins is going
05:01 to have a lot of very stressful games, depending on how far they go, defending their, their
05:05 end of the ice in critical moments.
05:07 And a guy like Pete, who's six, you know, what, six, three has a knack for delivering
05:12 hits, blocking pucks.
05:13 Those are when those, you know, those are the times of the year when those guys really
05:16 do come in handy.
05:17 Yeah, absolutely.
05:18 And, you know, the other part of that is like the identity of this team, they want it to
05:24 be blocking shots and clearing the front of the net.
05:27 And if so, if he can do that and help out in that regard and that you're not overtaxing
05:32 Brandon Carlo and Hampus Lindholm and Lindholm, you know, averaging half a point per game
05:36 in the new year, he's been really good for you.
05:40 You know, you want to get him out of the constant D zone minutes as good as he's been.
05:45 And so I think for the Bruins, like this is a guy who's going to alleviate some of the
05:50 pressure that you put on your top guys.
05:52 Right.
05:53 And, and I think with peak too, like, you know, I like the idea of like, you get them
05:58 in now and you figure out what he can do.
06:00 And then you kind of adjust on the fly from there.
06:01 I know he has two more years after this, but you know, you got some, some wiggle room here
06:06 a little bit.
06:07 Like, do you want to try with Mason Lowry?
06:08 Do you want to try them, you know, with, with, with last night again, Watherspoon, you know,
06:13 do you want to get a look at maybe Lindholm and peak?
06:15 Like you have options now that you didn't prior, you know, he's just a bit more, I don't
06:21 know, trustworthy is the right word because Kevin Shanker has done a lot of things good
06:24 in this league over the, over time, you know, he's won a Stanley cup, but at this point
06:28 in his career, perhaps peak gives you more options and dependability.
06:32 And when it comes to deployment and usage versus Shattenkirk.
06:35 Yeah, absolutely.
06:37 And I think I'm looking at another guy who did not make his debut, but it's been a while
06:42 since he's been back in the lineup.
06:43 Johnny Beecher hasn't played for the Bruins since January 20th, I believe is when he was
06:48 sent down to Providence.
06:49 Yeah.
06:50 It was a month back up for the Montreal game.
06:51 Yeah.
06:52 So, yeah.
06:53 Right.
06:54 So back up there, stepped in for Kevin Shattenkirk was six.
06:57 So Bresa bumps up Johnny Beecher is back on the fourth line and was, I think as advertised
07:03 in terms of, I think what we know what his strengths are, but I think showed a little
07:05 bit more than just that, right?
07:07 Like he wins eight of 11 face-offs.
07:09 We know how much it's been missed further down the lineup in terms of having a guy that
07:13 can win those D zone draws can start, you know, puck possession, these critical moments
07:17 of games.
07:18 But I think it was even Mark Diver said it before the game even started, like the Bruins
07:22 know that he's going to probably win his fair share of face-offs, but if he wants to stick
07:26 up here, he needs to deliver hits, be aggressive on the four check, generate chances.
07:30 And I thought he did that.
07:31 He had a couple of heavy hits, had a couple of grade A looks in the Bruins had a full
07:36 on edge and shots on goal when he was out there on the ice.
07:38 And again, same thing as peak, not a lot of ozone time.
07:41 So if that's a guy that can be kind of a spark plug for your team.
07:44 And I feel like he's the perfect mix of like the two different like identities, the Bruins
07:49 are trying to find in that fourth line.
07:51 Like he's one of the best skaters they have and cause a lot of anxiety, but he also is
07:55 a bigger body that if he's playing physical, you can really do some damage out there as
07:59 well.
08:00 Yeah, absolutely.
08:01 And, you know, watching Beecher last night was watching a guy who has no interest in
08:07 going back to the minors.
08:08 And you want to see that, right?
08:10 Like you, you never want to see a guy get called back up and almost be resigned to the
08:14 fact that he's going to go back down.
08:16 Right.
08:17 Like that felt like Beecher trying to say, hell no, I'm not going back down.
08:19 Like I'm staying up here and figure out how you want to make that work, you know, elsewhere.
08:24 And so you like that, you like that fire, you like that compete from your guys and,
08:29 and you got that.
08:30 So, you know, I think the biggest thing for Beecher is that he wins faceoffs and he wins
08:34 faceoffs late in his own zone.
08:37 And I think that's, what's important.
08:38 That's what this team needs more of.
08:39 So if he can continue to do that and then you look at your fourth line, like you have
08:44 Boquist who can play the wing and center.
08:46 I think he's probably better on the wing than center, to be honest with you.
08:50 Brazil, I thought had a monster shift in the third period on that power play.
08:53 It was fantastic.
08:54 But like you have competition on that fourth line, which I think is so important that,
09:00 you know, we talk about the identity of that fourth line, how it's not really established.
09:03 Well, I think last year the roster was pretty much set.
09:07 Everyone knew where they were going to be playing between, between, you know, the deadline
09:10 and game one, you knew what everyone was going to be doing.
09:13 This is different if you have competition and let's say that competition elevates to
09:17 the third line as well.
09:19 Like now you have a roster that's going to be pushing each other and that might be better
09:22 for you come game one versus everyone being comfortable in knowing what they're, where
09:26 they were going to be come game one of the playoffs.
09:28 Like that, that might make a huge difference for this team as well.
09:31 Yeah.
09:32 And you even look at like the fact that a guy like Brezzo steps up on that third line
09:35 and he said, had a couple of like takeover shifts.
09:38 The dude was like a Cinder block, right?
09:39 The guy was not budging anywhere around the net.
09:42 Like if he's a guy that can like step up if needed, if like Montgomery is trying to add
09:45 more size and it's pushing a guy like, you know, if it's JVR or Kiki or someone else
09:51 like that, like all of it does is adds more, you know, competition.
09:54 And that's something that I feel like it's every single year we get to training camp
09:58 in September and Don Sweeney mentions internal competition, how much this team kind of feasts
10:03 off of that.
10:04 So it does give Montgomery options that over the course of whoever they play in a playoff
10:09 series, whatever the tone needs to be, you know, not just based on opponent, but based
10:13 on the tenor of the series, right?
10:15 Like how many times have we seen it where like the Bruins have been knocked around in
10:19 a game and Bruce Cassidy would switch up his fourth line and they'd come out guns blazing
10:23 the second game, right?
10:24 Like we've seen that multiple times before.
10:26 So if you have the option to have a fourth line, it's very fast, causing anxiety there.
10:32 But also you can turn to, you know, Bresa or, you know, Pat Maroon or what have you
10:37 like that does give you options for a part of your lineup that still isn't set, but you
10:42 do have different ways to kind of toggle how you want to approach that part of the roster.
10:47 Yeah.
10:48 And I'm not going to lie.
10:50 This this JVR thing is kind of interesting to me because I know it's an illness, but
10:56 he's kind of been I don't want to say lacking, but like he he looks a little bit slower now
11:01 than he did, you know, in October, November.
11:04 So I wonder if they're going to try to work in maybe some more rest days.
11:07 Yeah.
11:08 Some more maintenance days, if you will, to try to get him to be, you know, close to 100
11:12 percent for the playoffs.
11:13 And, you know, illness can make you slower.
11:15 We all know, but he's the guy that I'm watching, I think, down the stretch to see where he
11:19 fits in with this team.
11:20 Yeah, absolutely.
11:22 And before we go to break another thing on the fourth line, you concerned at all about
11:26 Pat Maroon and that what Montgomery said, I really don't know how exactly to wait yet.
11:32 I'm not really hitting the button for DEF CON one, but it is, I think, something worth
11:37 monitoring as we get down there, because it's almost like you put in like a Madlib, right?
11:40 Of like thirty five year old physical forward back surgery, not skating.
11:46 You put it all.
11:47 It's like, all right.
11:48 All doesn't sound like good words in terms of just how you know what his status is and
11:52 when the Bruins can expect him back out there.
11:54 Yeah, I'm not too worried about it yet.
11:57 And I don't the Bruins are because I think the Bruins said that when he arrived, like
12:02 he was probably three weeks out, I think is what their estimation was versus the two that
12:07 the initial timeline had.
12:08 So they kind of seemingly knew there was a setback or an adjustment coming in some fashion.
12:15 You just want to get him in for some games, though, like you don't want him to miss the
12:19 entirety of the remaining regular season games.
12:21 And you put him out there for a playoff game.
12:24 And now the pick converts and oh, he's ineffective, by the way, and he's not going to play again
12:27 for the rest of the playoffs.
12:28 Like like that's like that's like the worst case scenario for them.
12:33 So I think you want to get him in there.
12:34 You know, you're going to have some games on the stretch.
12:36 And I think what's interesting is I think those games are going to come against some
12:39 teams that you may want to see him against.
12:41 I think there's like a Florida game late in the year.
12:43 Yeah, Carolina game late in the year.
12:46 So you may want to see that.
12:47 And so it's not worth panicking over yet.
12:51 But talk to me in two weeks.
12:52 And if you're still not skating, it's like, oh, we're running out of time now.
12:55 Now we're officially running out of time.
12:57 So it's it's not totally worrisome, but it's it's something to watch, I would say.
13:03 Yeah, Bruins fans do not hit DEFCON one button, maybe like the little like the little flip
13:08 thing before you hit the button, like just know that you can unlock that easily.
13:12 But like, don't do it yet.
13:13 Well, right.
13:14 And we're the voice of reason here.
13:16 So don't fret.
13:17 We tried.
13:18 We tried.
13:19 We tried.
13:20 We tried to do it, Ty.
13:21 And before we kind of dive into more about Jake DeBrusque, Linus Allmark and a few guys
13:24 who have had a couple of eventful weeks, I would say, let's take a quick break and hear
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15:10 All right, Ty, I said we're done with the trade deadline.
15:13 We're moving on.
15:14 Well, we're not.
15:15 Of course not.
15:16 We're still going to talk a little bit about the deadline in terms of two guys who very
15:21 well could have been playing for different teams this week in Linus Ullmark and Jake
15:26 DeBrus.
15:27 We all, I think, know full well about the drama involving Ullmark.
15:30 He's talked about it.
15:31 We've talked about it quite a bit.
15:33 DeBrus, same boat.
15:35 Doesn't have a contract going into UFA status.
15:38 Bruins were, I think, exploring whatever options were out there for a guy that still remains
15:43 to be seen.
15:44 They want to hand him the bag this offseason.
15:46 But since the deadline, both guys have been playing quite well since then.
15:52 You look at Jake DeBrus, obviously gets the OT goal against Montreal.
15:55 He's got two goals, three points.
15:57 I think, what is it, 12 shots on goal in the three games since the deadline has passed.
16:02 And then Linus Ullmark, 2-0, stops 38 shots.
16:07 I think it was a season high against Pittsburgh.
16:09 A little bit of a quieter game against Montreal, but still 18 of 19.
16:13 I think it's, what, a 9-6-6 percentage, I want to say, in these last two games.
16:18 So he's playing at a high level.
16:19 I think you look at the way those two guys are.
16:23 Maybe the motivating factor is a little bit different.
16:26 For DeBrus, it could be a bit of relief that he's not traded.
16:29 For Ullmark, it could be the motivation of proving the Bruins wrong again after almost
16:34 getting dealt.
16:35 But I know we don't like talking about, these guys you're holding on to are your trade deadline
16:41 pickups.
16:42 I'm not saying that.
16:43 But in terms of just what their situations are, it does seem like the Bruins can benefit
16:46 from two guys who are in different situations maybe than they thought they were and are
16:53 kind of building their game right now at the perfect time.
16:55 Yeah, I think with Ullmark, it's a galvanizing kind of moment for him that he's still here
17:01 and that he wasn't going to waive his no trade.
17:03 And the fact that they wanted to trade him in the first place at all, maybe that pisses
17:07 him off a little bit.
17:09 I think there's something to be said for a goaltender channeling frustration into fuel.
17:14 Any player for that matter.
17:15 It takes a certain kind of mental makeup, I know, but it can sometimes be your biggest
17:20 weapon.
17:21 I broke into the sport covering Tim Thomas, the ultimate, "I'm pissed, I'm going to show
17:27 you guys how pissed I am" kind of player.
17:31 And so it's not a foreign concept to me, but you've got to...
17:36 Not everyone is Tim Thomas.
17:38 And I'm not saying Lena Ullmark is, but it's going to be interesting to see how this level
17:43 of play, does this continue?
17:45 Because if it does, I don't know how you go away from him for game one as your starter
17:51 for the playoffs.
17:52 So that's worth watching.
17:53 I think with Tabruska, I think it's the other end of the spectrum.
17:55 I think it's mentally, he's able to just take a deep breath here and realize that he's here.
18:02 He's not going to have to move across the country or down south or Pittsburgh, wherever
18:07 he could have ended up.
18:08 And so I think it's a great example of the mental aspect of the game, but on two different
18:16 spectrums entirely.
18:17 Yeah.
18:18 And with Tabruska, it's like, this is what makes him so difficult to trade.
18:25 How do you get value for a guy who can just turn it on?
18:28 If he's feeling good and he can be, again, your third best player.
18:32 I've said this a thousand times on this podcast, but your third best winger behind Paz Arkan
18:37 Marshan, when he's going like he was last night and against Pittsburgh, he is your third
18:41 best scoring option.
18:43 And so how do you move that and how do you get fair value on that when he's kind of up
18:49 and down like this?
18:50 So the Bruins are not, they're not, the roller coaster is not unusual, unusual to them, but
18:57 now they're on the good part of it.
18:59 And now you got to hope that stays because the mental reset has been there because he
19:04 did not get traded.
19:05 Yeah.
19:06 I think absolutely.
19:07 You look at like the way the breast plays and it's why, again, it's so frustrating.
19:11 And as much as he's become such a steady player in terms of, he's not really costing you down
19:15 the other end of the ice.
19:16 It's not, I think really been games where you look at him and you're like, what the
19:20 hell is he doing in the D zone or like that, you know, pass into no man's land, getting
19:24 picked off, ends up in the back of the net.
19:27 But it's why it's so frustrating that when he is channeling it down the other end of
19:31 the ice, like again, the whole team looks completely different.
19:34 And you have that extra wave of support beyond the usual suspects, like, like Marshan and
19:40 Pasternak.
19:41 He's, he makes impact every time he's out there on the ice.
19:44 And I think you look at all mark, it's the same thing in terms of if he's motivated and
19:49 you know, this is, you know, who knows how many times he's been, you know, face to trade.
19:54 How many times he's heard things, even mentioned it last year at the draft that he is well
19:57 aware that he was kind of on, on steady ground.
20:00 And again, like just cause he's not traded now doesn't mean it's going to, you know,
20:04 it's going to not happen again in the off season.
20:06 Right?
20:07 Like the writing is on the wall.
20:08 If Jeremy Swainman signs a long-term extension here and it's for 7 million, seven and a half,
20:14 I can't see the Bruins moving forward next year being like, unless they win the cup with
20:18 a goalie rotation, you're like, this is our cheat code to get back in.
20:22 I can't see them allocating 12, 12 and a half million, the goaltender position.
20:27 So for Omar again, like he has leverage with that no trade list to some degree with the
20:32 amount of teams he has, but he also very well could be like kind of the last hurrah.
20:37 If like, you know, as, as beloved as he is in that room, who knows how much longer it's
20:42 going to happen.
20:43 It's very, it could be the last run we have regardless of, of Omar can swing.
20:47 Yeah, it does feel that way.
20:48 I mean, it really, I can't see a scenario in which that they keep both these guys, unless
20:55 Jeremy Swainman comes down on the report of asking price.
20:59 And it's interesting because there's been, there's been two themes of the commentary
21:04 from Jeremy Swainman.
21:06 One he's mad about arbitration.
21:08 He's mad that he had to go to arbitration.
21:10 Wait, really?
21:11 Yeah.
21:12 He's only said it four times now.
21:14 And two, he loves Lena Selmark.
21:16 Okay.
21:17 Well, those things naturally conflict because if you're mad about the arbitration and you
21:22 want to get paid as a make good for that, which his agency probably wants him to get
21:26 paid a for that.
21:28 And B just because he's, you know, in theory, the future of the team in net, you're not
21:33 going to have Lena Selmark.
21:34 Like it's like, it's just not going to work out that way.
21:36 So unless they have some sort of compromise where they say to him, Hey, you love Lena
21:41 so much, we're going to have to trade him.
21:43 If you don't take less money, we're going to have to trade him.
21:45 And you're not going to have, you know, your best friend on a team anymore.
21:49 And you know, it's easier to walk away from a guy at the end of his contract versus trading
21:53 him to keep, to keep swimming.
21:54 You know what I'm saying?
21:55 So like this, this is a naturally conflicting sort of belief here from, from Swain and,
22:02 and what he wants and what his camp may want.
22:05 So this does feel like the last hurrah for them.
22:07 So what's the best way to end it?
22:09 A championship.
22:10 And, you know, maybe that gets to, you know, to your point that makes them go, no, no,
22:14 this is worth it for us.
22:15 But at the same time, like, like how that motivates those guys is going to be really
22:20 interesting.
22:21 I think for, for the goaltenders and for, for Jake to brush a guy who wants to be here,
22:25 I said, he loves being a Bruin.
22:27 All right.
22:28 Have a good playoff run.
22:29 Let's see what happens here.
22:30 Right?
22:31 Yeah.
22:32 That's the easiest way.
22:33 If DeBrusque wants to stay here, the Bruins are still, I don't think they've been like,
22:35 all right, we're not paying this guy, whatever it is.
22:37 But if he all of a sudden goes off and plays a key role in punching your ticket to the
22:41 next round, or you win a couple of rounds and he's on an absolute heater.
22:45 That probably changes things a little bit.
22:46 So that's the easiest way if DeBrusque wants to stick is have that show on the ice.
22:51 So before we kind of wrap this podcast up, Ty, let's take another quick break here from
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24:09 Now back to the show.
24:11 Once again, shout out to our good friends over at Factor Meals.
24:16 All right, Ty, we'll wrap this one up by looking ahead to what we want to see over these next
24:22 couple of weeks of the regular season and more specifically, what kind of clarity you're
24:26 looking for from this roster between now and then.
24:30 And it's hard to say that like, I think we've already mentioned this before.
24:34 I think we're going to expect more to line up shuffling, especially upfront from a Jim
24:38 Montgomery team.
24:39 But whether it be another area of the roster, the identity of a group of players, what's
24:44 one thing you want to at least get a little bit better grasp of before playoffs officially
24:49 start here?
24:50 Yeah, you know, honestly, I want to see if Mason Lowry can challenge for an actual full-time
24:55 roster spot.
24:57 You know, he's no longer roadblocked by Derek Forbert.
24:59 He's no longer, I wouldn't say he's roadblocked by Kevin Shattenkirk because his deployment
25:04 has been greater than Kevin Shattenkirk.
25:06 So really this feels kind of like a, you know, it's a bit of a two horse race here, in my
25:10 opinion, you know, when, when they're fully healthy between a Grislyk Watherspoon or three
25:16 horse race, I'm sorry, Grislyk Watherspoon and Lowry for two spots and on that left side.
25:21 So I'm curious to see how that shakes out.
25:23 You know, I think Lowry has made some strides of late.
25:26 I also think he's had some ugly shifts, some ugly games, but overall, I mean, he's in the
25:31 thick of it.
25:32 Right.
25:33 So if this is a bridge year, and this is a year where they want to give their younger
25:36 players a shot, if Lowry earns the opportunity to, to play in playoff games, I want to see
25:43 that.
25:44 So I want to see his push down the stretch here.
25:45 I want to see if he can solidify his role, solidify a spot on this roster and go from
25:49 there because you know, as much as I like Matt Grislyk and I think Parker Watherspoon
25:55 has been great.
25:56 And I think Kevin Shattenkirk has been as advertised for what he's getting paid as a
25:59 veteran status, all that.
26:00 Like this should be a scenario in which if Lowry outworks those guys, he gets the nod.
26:06 Right.
26:07 And so I want to see if that does happen for the Bruins because you know, a six foot four
26:10 guy who can round out his game, you know, a little bit better.
26:13 I mean, that's, that's big.
26:14 That'd be a big addition to this team on the backend.
26:16 Yeah.
26:17 And it's like, how much of a great springboard would that be when you look at, so I like,
26:22 I feel like Bruins fans, regardless of how this year goes, unless they get swept in the
26:26 first round or they lose, God forbid, like the Maple Leafs, that would be a bad way to
26:30 end like this year.
26:31 That thing has exceeded expectations, but in terms of getting that springboard for next
26:36 season, when you already know, you're going to have a bunch of cap space, you're going
26:39 to have a chance to really aggressively retool this team with, you know, potentially a couple
26:43 new additions, maybe one of the big fish out there.
26:46 But when you also look at the younger players on this roster and you know, we've talked
26:50 about Potcher and yes, he's out for the year, but a guy who legit just turned 20, who already
26:55 knows the expectations, the grind of the NHL can go into next year with a clean slate and
27:01 build off of, you know, what he learned at just 20 years old.
27:05 That's exciting.
27:06 But also you'll get a guy like Laurie who again, sticks for puck mover, so talented
27:10 offensively who's already gone through almost 50 plus games now of the NHL.
27:16 And he comes off of a playoff run where hopefully he builds that into his game.
27:19 Like we saw it again, different in terms of how they started off with like McAvoy, he
27:23 jumped into that Ottawa series.
27:25 You saw right away, like, all right, this guy could be a building block.
27:28 This guy looked how good he performed under those bright lights.
27:31 If Laurie, you know, not to say this guy's going to all of a sudden have six points in
27:35 a seven game series, but he has a game or two where he takes over, has a key goal as
27:40 a, you know, just a really sound game offensively and does his job down the other end of the
27:45 ice.
27:46 How much of a momentum lift would that be for this team going to next year?
27:49 Knowing you have a guy like Laurie that's poised to take another huge step forward with
27:54 all that experience already, you know, under his belt.
27:56 Oh, it'd be huge.
27:57 Like, like, and it may, you know, it may lessen the sort of the, the, the need for you guys,
28:07 you know, for the Bruins to want to go out and say, okay, you guys got to spend $12 million
28:12 on the, on the backend on the left side right now, between Noah Hanifin and somebody else
28:16 you want to bring in.
28:17 Like you got to bring in somebody because the guys you have aren't ready, like to, to
28:21 be able to jump timelines as you put it like that, like that is, that can get you out of,
28:26 you know, the bridge, the rebuild, the retool, whatever you want to call it, right?
28:30 Like that can get you out of there faster than anything else.
28:32 And I've mentioned this before, but like, you know, David crazy playing the minutes
28:35 he played in 2007, 2008, set the stage for 2008, 2009, when he exploded for 70 points
28:42 and had a great playoff on a, on a busted hip essentially.
28:44 So yeah, I think that's, that's how you have to look at this.
28:48 If you're the Bruins, if a guy earns the role, the younger player earns the role, a beacher,
28:53 a low ride, whatever, like you got it, you like, you got to let them earn it and you
28:56 got to let them play because right now this roster, they need guys like that to, to emerge.
29:00 Yeah, without a doubt.
29:02 And I think for me, obviously the obvious one is how they handle the goalies.
29:06 I still, I think we're on the same boat that I think you're, you gotta, you gotta keep
29:10 the rotation going, see what it even just see what it looks like after wasting everyone's
29:15 time last season by, you know, deviating from the script.
29:19 I don't imagine all of a sudden we're going to have a stretch here where it's, you know,
29:23 Omar getting three straight games or anything down like that.
29:26 I think for me one thing I want to see is just how some of these lines form an identity,
29:32 not the guys who are on there in terms of the personnel, but like which, you know, what
29:37 other lines are going to step up to be kind of your de facto shut down line?
29:40 Because unless like, you know, maybe beachers out there on the fourth line, he can win draws.
29:45 I don't know if a line with like led by Boquist, you know, Lauco, Bresau, I don't know if that's
29:50 like your, what we've seen in the past, like your de facto line, that's going to get 9%
29:56 ozone starts and freeze up other ice time.
29:59 So like where are those kind of shut down minutes going to be allocated up front?
30:02 Is it going to be coil line, which means you're going to maybe negate some of their offensive
30:06 firepower with guys like Marchant and DeBrusque.
30:10 Is it going to be your third line with like a guy like Geeky and Frederick who takes some
30:14 of those minutes?
30:15 I feel like for years now, you know, getting all the way back to Julian, to Cassidy, to
30:20 last year when you had like Nosek leading the way, you have situations where, you know,
30:25 you've had that fourth line you could throw, feed to the dogs with those baptism by fire
30:29 ugly minutes, and you've held that, you've held strong and you've allowed the rest of
30:32 the line to benefit from it.
30:34 I don't know where that, where those minutes are going to be this year.
30:36 And I think finding that identity of which line is going to take those minutes is going
30:40 to be key down the stretch here.
30:41 Yeah.
30:42 I mean, they've tried it with other guys like that Vegas game.
30:45 I think Geeky got a lot of them and it didn't really work out.
30:48 I think he was like three for 12, three for 13 on D zone face offs.
30:53 And so, you know, Zaka, it's funny because Zaka has been one of your best, if not your
30:57 best defensive zone face off option.
30:59 I think he's clicking that.
31:00 I want to say 56% something around there.
31:02 I guess I looked, but there's so much on his plate already, you know what I mean?
31:07 To, to beat out there for the offensive situations with David Pasternak.
31:11 So they have a lot of kind of plug and play options, a lot of, you know, moving parts.
31:16 So to your point, to get it, to get a line that, you know, okay, this is your identity.
31:21 This is your role.
31:23 Go out and do it.
31:24 Like think about how often you saw that, that Nordstrom Corrali, a chari line.
31:29 I mean, they were out there for every single moment where you could set the tone or respond
31:33 or just do something, you know, to, to counteract what the other team was doing.
31:37 This fourth line, they're not that level yet.
31:40 They're not at that level yet.
31:41 And they may, they may not get to that level between now and game 82, but you got to give
31:45 it a run.
31:46 You got to give it some rope.
31:47 You got to see what they can do.
31:48 And maybe they can be annoying.
31:50 You know, I thought they were pretty good against, uh, uh, not Pittsburgh, the, uh,
31:54 the other game before that, uh, whatever.
31:56 Yeah, I thought they were pretty good against that, against that line, against that team.
32:01 So, um, and I thought they had some moments against St. Louis where, where they were their
32:04 better lot.
32:05 They were one of their better lines in terms of creating and for checking and energy and
32:09 effort.
32:10 So I want to see more of that.
32:13 And we talked about earlier, the competition of that line, does that bring the best out
32:17 of them?
32:18 You know, like you want to continue to see that.
32:19 So that's a great point as well.
32:21 Yeah.
32:22 So, uh, obviously about a month, I think left in the air.
32:24 No, the, the, the playoff start a little bit later.
32:27 So I think we've got a, I believe is the last 16th or 17th is the game 82.
32:32 Yeah.
32:33 Yeah.
32:34 It's a weird, right?
32:35 Yeah.
32:36 Why is that?
32:37 I like, you know how great it was last year when game one was the day of the marathon
32:40 and we lost it.
32:41 It was like a full day.
32:42 You had that, I think you had Otani pitching the Patriots day game.
32:45 And I think, I think unfortunately it like rained or I think he only went like two innings
32:50 or something like that, but it was a great, like just overall Boston day.
32:53 The Bruins of course, when that, when that first game felt like it was going to be a
32:56 nice little series there.
32:57 But um, the fact that it's starting a little bit later, it also means it's going to carry
33:01 in later.
33:02 Again, we'll see how far the Bruins are going to be playing.
33:03 I don't know if they're going to be playing into late June.
33:07 I think it was like, I think game seven on the cup final, the last day is like the 21st,
33:11 which is crazy.
33:12 Cause I think it was like June 12th was game seven and 19.
33:16 So again, getting ahead of ourselves, but as a question, yes, but about a month.
33:23 Left to the regular season, uh, tie as we all brace for the playoffs.
33:27 Where can we read your stuff?
33:29 Hey, you want the airwaves, all that good stuff.
33:32 You can find me on a Twitter slash X at a at underscore Ty Anderson.
33:36 You can also listen to me on 95, the sports hub.
33:39 I'll do, I'll do a segment here and there on the hockey show.
33:42 I also do an hour a week on Zolak and Bertrand now, uh, from now until the end of hockey
33:48 season.
33:49 And then also do my podcast with my pal, Matt, uh, the sports of undergrounds.
33:54 You can catch that every week as well.
33:55 Uh, how about you, my friend?
33:57 Yes.
33:58 You're going to read my stuff over@boston.com and the globe.
34:01 Um, and you can also find me on Twitter X, whatever it is at Conor Ryan underscore 93.
34:07 So this was episode 212 of poke the bear presented by prize picks and factor meals.
34:13 I'm Conor Ryan.
34:15 That's Ty Anderson.
34:16 You fans have to have a great rest of your week.
34:18 [Music]
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