00:00But we go away from baseball a little bit and check in with Judd Surratt,
00:03the voice of the Boston Bruins on Nesson, because Bruins are back at it.
00:07Olympic break is over. Judd, good morning. How are you?
00:10Good morning. So you guys are leaving Fort Myers,
00:12and I'm seeing 80-degree temperatures. Don't you have this backward?
00:15No, no, no. We're here. Show is here through tomorrow,
00:20and then I will be here for the whole weekend because the Red Sox have a big weekend down here.
00:24So I'm here. I'm going to enjoy all the beautiful weather.
00:26I'm not going to an event across the state, too.
00:28Yeah, and if it's going to snow on Monday, 19 inches or whatever it is,
00:33I might not ever come back. I might be done, Judd.
00:37Where are they going to put all this stuff? That's the problem.
00:40I know. It really is. It really is.
00:43Well, listen, you've been off for a little bit,
00:45but certainly unbelievable win for the U.S. here
00:50and so meaningful based on the fact that it hasn't happened a lot here in America
00:57in Canada's sport and certainly hasn't happened in 46 years.
01:01It was amazing.
01:03No, it was awesome, and it was a game that I think was fitting for a gold medal,
01:07especially with everything on the line.
01:10You know, and one of the comments that I really loved after the game,
01:13you know, in addition to Jack Hughes and how proud he was to be an American
01:16and win a gold and how great it was at that team in a very short amount of time
01:20that came together and was able to achieve the ultimate at the Olympic level.
01:25But one of the things that A. Olchek had mentioned about Matt Boldy
01:28and the way that he scored that opening goal for the United States,
01:32if you remember the play, he makes a flip self-pass in the air,
01:36splits the two defensemen, and then beats Jordan Binnington.
01:40There are going to be kids that are going to emulate that.
01:43But that's what they're going to be thinking about.
01:45And as big as 1980 was in helping to grow the game,
01:48I think you're going to see the same thing here in 2026
01:51with what that American team was able to accomplish.
01:54Well, it was, and not only kids, but like grown-ass old adults like me
02:00and just so excited about it and so emotional about it.
02:05And you brought up Jack Hughes.
02:10He made his return to the ice last night for the Devils,
02:13and that place was going absolutely crazy.
02:16And it's just, it's such a great thing for the country.
02:20It's an unbelievable thing for the United States.
02:23Oh, it was so good.
02:24And I loved, you know, not only what Jack Hughes had to say in Italy
02:28after they had won the gold, but the way he approached it
02:30when he came back home in the game yesterday,
02:33he didn't have to recognize Tash Thompson who was playing on the other team
02:36for the Buffalo Sabres, but he's like, hey, we did it as a group.
02:39This guy was a big part of it, and he brought that into the celebration.
02:43Were you surprised by the blowback that these guys got,
02:47whether it was going to the White House,
02:49what happened with the president and his comment about the women's team?
02:55Like, did that surprise you?
02:59I think, unfortunately, it's just a function of the times that we live.
03:03And I started to think about it because I recently re-watched on Netflix.
03:08There's a great documentary, if you haven't seen it, on the 1980 team.
03:12And after Michael Ruzzioni and that group won in Lake Placid,
03:17Jimmy Carter was on the phone, and he invited them,
03:19and they came to the White House.
03:21And I don't remember, you know, I was a little bit younger back then,
03:24but I don't remember the uproar, and I don't think it caused any uproar,
03:29nor should it have at the time.
03:32But I think that we live in a very different time.
03:35So I can understand why it generated as much publicity outside of the United States
03:42winning the gold medal that it did.
03:44Judd, how do a lot of the guys that hadn't been playing, you know, in the Olympics,
03:50how do they kind of get back into the mix of, you know, getting back on the ice
03:55and now be having to turn things up full speed, ready to go again?
04:00Wiggy, that is a great point.
04:01So, obviously, everybody is hand-rested and ready.
04:04But the biggest thing, I think, for a lot of these guys is, you know,
04:09physically they're going to have the ability to compete.
04:11You know, it's going to take a little bit of time to get back the timing
04:13and get back the feel of the game.
04:15But it's the ability to re-engage mentally.
04:19Sean Corrales was talking about it the other day,
04:20that you are completely detached for the game.
04:24This is not an All-Star break.
04:25This isn't a Four Nations break.
04:28The Bruins haven't played since the first week in February.
04:31And they haven't played on home ice at home since the end of January.
04:36So I think it's going to take some time mentally,
04:39at least here in the first week or so, for everybody,
04:42whether it's the Bruins or everybody around the National Hockey League
04:46to try and get back into that rhythm.
04:48Because this is what the schedule looks like, at least for the Bruins.
04:5125 games in 47 days.
04:55Yeah.
04:58Trade deadline is next Friday.
05:00What is your feeling about what they do, if anything?
05:06That's a great question.
05:08And, you know, I think, you know, they're not going to have a lot of time
05:11to be able to figure it out because of the trade embargo
05:13that took place during the Olympics.
05:15But I think that everything is still the same for the Bruins,
05:18as we talked about beforehand.
05:19I think one of the things that really benefits them coming out of it
05:23is that they are completely healthy.
05:25Remember, they headed into the Olympic break without their top two centermen,
05:28Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zaka.
05:30Both of those guys will be back on the ice.
05:32So I think that that changes a little bit of the calculus
05:35for a guy like Donnie Sweeney.
05:37But I don't think that the Bruins are in the rental market
05:40as we look ahead to the trade deadline that's going to take place on March 6th.
05:44I think if they can add some difference makers,
05:46especially in their top six,
05:48that that's what they'll look to do with some of the assets that they have.
05:53Judd, why did the NHL not have the players in the Olympics every year?
05:59I mean, it's just such a sensational couple weeks for the NHL,
06:04for the product, for the players.
06:05It highlights so much of what makes the league so great.
06:10Well, I think that there's a lot to that.
06:13You know, first of all, the National Hockey League has to deal with
06:16the International Olympic Committee, which I don't think is very easy.
06:20And I think that there were certain demands,
06:21whether it came to some expenses and insurance and travel
06:25and the ability to use highlights.
06:27There's a lot of business aspects that I think have been involved
06:30that maybe would have hampered that.
06:32I think in addition to that, you know, remember,
06:34and I don't know if we've had this conversation in the past,
06:37but you're essentially shutting down your business
06:39at one of your biggest times for three or four weeks.
06:43So there's a business aspect to this.
06:45Like, how does this impact the bottom line?
06:47So I think when it comes to how it impacts the business,
06:52how the NHL was able to get things done with the International Olympic Committee
06:56and the things that they wanted,
06:57I think that that really precluded the NHL from going to the games for 12 years.
07:03Judd, one of the things that we've kind of been talking about is, you know,
07:07how successful it was for the Olympics and people watching it.
07:11Does this – do you think that carries over into, you know,
07:15back into the regular season and with the NHL where you start to get
07:19some of these fans that might have just tuned in to support their country now
07:23say, okay, I want to become a fan of the NHL?
07:28I do.
07:28I do.
07:29In the same way that, you know, Wiggy, I don't think, you know,
07:33how big, how substantial that's going to be.
07:37I think that we're going to have to be able to figure that out
07:40over a greater period of time.
07:42But I think that there were a lot of people and casual fans
07:45who may not have tuned in, and I think the final ratings on the Olympics,
07:49I think NBC got 18 million people watching,
07:52and it probably peaked at, I don't know, somewhere in the mid-20s.
07:56There were a lot of casual hockey fans that clearly tuned in,
07:59and I'm sure that the National Hockey League was able to latch on
08:02to a handful of those that will now either start to watch, follow,
08:06or go to games.
08:08All right, Judd.
08:09Well, back at it, back to work.
08:11Did you do anything other than watch the Olympics?
08:13Did you do anything good on the break?
08:16It was good.
08:17The conditions up in Vermont for skiing were great,
08:20and then I just went on to some college business with my youngest.
08:23What did you order last night at Buffs?
08:25What wings, that's our favorite spot.
08:29I think there was some garlic perm, or actually sriracha perm,
08:34and some honey hot wings.
08:37Sounds good, man.
08:38And who paid?
08:39Oh, yeah, to go along with a couple of Miller highlights,
08:41that's the way it goes, baby.
08:43Yeah, but who paid?
08:44Was it you or Jaffe or Mike Thomas?
08:49I took out the wallet, but the boss took care of it.
08:53All right.
08:53All right.
08:53There you go.
08:54Very good.
08:55All right.
08:55Well, Judd, we will talk to you again next week.
08:58All right.
08:59Enjoy spring training, boys.
09:00Absolutely.
09:01And the sun is out, and it's beautiful down here.
09:03We're back.
09:04Florida's back.
09:05Exactly.
Comments