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00:00Yeah, don't tell me you're a karaoke guy.
00:02Ah, I mean, I've done it before.
00:04It's not like my go-to or first thing, but, you know, he replayed his version of Train this morning.
00:09Yeah.
00:09I don't know what was better, his lead singing or you giggling.
00:12Yeah, well, I'll just tell you he is, he's a karaoke person.
00:16Like, he is, he loves to karaoke, so he comes by it naturally.
00:21I don't, not my thing, but there are people who love it, and Shime is certainly one.
00:25I like when people look at me.
00:27Yes, we are aware of that.
00:30You like the attention, Shime.
00:31Yes, I do.
00:33So, this team currently, first wild card spot as we sit here this morning, but they have the toughest remaining
00:42schedule in the NHL.
00:45So, it seems like from the outside, one or two losses, and you may be out playoff-wise.
00:53They're grinding away.
00:54Hey, what are they, 5-3-3 since the Olympic break, and they've definitely cobbled together some points.
01:02It was certainly good that they were able to pick up four of six on that road trip.
01:07I think that game in New Jersey, that's the one where you think about, okay, there's a point that got
01:11away there.
01:13But I think Marco Sturm and everybody else, you know, and I think we probably felt the same way in
01:18Montreal, that, you know, that was a pretty gutsy effort.
01:21Third game in four nights, you're playing back-to-back against a team in Montreal that was sitting there and
01:26waiting for you.
01:27And you were able to put together, you know, a really good outing and pick up a point against the
01:32Canadians.
01:33One of the things that we've kind of been talking about all year is just, you know, what are some
01:39of these, like, breakdowns and just the scheme or how, like, the Bruins are playing.
01:46And so I guess the question that I'm trying to get answered is, when you see these late-game breakdowns,
01:53turnovers, things like that, you know, lack of focus, is that more about the players or more about the coaching
02:01not having maybe guys prepared for the end-of-game situations?
02:06I don't know if I've necessarily seen that here lately, Wiggy.
02:08Like, if you look at what happened in New Jersey, I think the issue for the team is the Bruins,
02:12they got off to a great start.
02:13That was a terrific opening 20 minutes.
02:16But one of the things that, in listening to David Pasternak or Marco Sturm or even Pavel Zaka talk about
02:22after that game, the Bruins came out and started turning over pucks at the start of the second period.
02:26The start of the second period, and that fed exactly into what New Jersey's game is.
02:32And that's a speed transition rush attack game.
02:35And the Bruins, thanks to David Pasternak, who was terrific that night, he was the best player on the ice,
02:41scored twice,
02:42and helped the Bruins forge a point.
02:43But I can't think of here lately where the Bruins have had an issue, like you're talking about, whether it's
02:49with game management or unable to execute late in the game that's cost them.
02:55But I think it's a little bit of both, you know, whether it's the coaches or the players.
03:02I think it was more like, for me, it was a sloppy play.
03:04Like, the McAvoy turnover was, like, one of those plays that led to the three-on-two in the New
03:09Jersey game.
03:10Well, I'm just wondering, like, there are things, like, that you wonder and you say, okay, is that the player
03:15or does the coach got to make sure, like, guys get a little bit more focused towards in critical situations?
03:20Charlie owned that after the game.
03:22One of the things that he said is, you know, I know better in that situation.
03:27I think, you know, anytime coaches look at the blue lines, whether it's five feet just before it or five
03:32feet after it, those are typically called the danger zone.
03:35So anytime you see turnovers happen, that's when transition takes place.
03:39And against a team like New Jersey or a team like Montreal that really features a lot of speed and
03:44skill, that's where you really have to be careful.
03:46I think for the Bruins overall, and again, they've been grinding.
03:49So if you look at what made the team successful to this point, that's put them in a playoff spot,
03:55goaltending, power play, stingy and hard to play against.
03:59The one thing that has not been there since the Olympic break has been the man advantage.
04:04It was essentially top five basically all season until the Olympic break.
04:09But since the Olympic break, it's drifted near the bottom.
04:12That's the area that they really need.
04:14If they're able to fix that, you saw the Bruins score to open the game in Montreal, that maybe they
04:20can build on a little bit of that here tonight against the Jets.
04:23Do you feel that there are any meaningful adjustments that they can make through the rest of this tough schedule
04:30to improve their defensive play?
04:33I think defensively, they've been pretty good and the goaltending has been outstanding.
04:36I want to say that the Bruins, and there was a great stat that was in the Athletic today, that
04:40Jeremy Swayman, of all the goaltenders in the league, is leading the league in what is called quality starts by
04:45the analytics community.
04:47But I think defensively, the Bruins have been pretty sound.
04:50They have really cut down on the amount of minor penalties that they have taken.
04:55I think they were only shorthanded once the other night against the Montreal Canadiens.
04:59They are near the bottom in overall penalty minutes taken since the Olympic break, and I think that's helped them.
05:05Also, five-on-five.
05:07What you'd like to be able to do, and this goes back to your point, Wiggy, when it comes to
05:12puck management, can the Bruins get pucks deeper?
05:15They are built to grind teams down low.
05:17So, Megan, in answer to your question, when you have those opportunities, if you can't carry the puck in cleanly
05:23with possession, get those pucks deep and start to grind away.
05:27That's the way the Bruins are built.
05:28Any meaningful adjustments they can make to stop coughing up leads?
05:32Like, what would it be?
05:34Would they need seven, like a seven, eight goal lead?
05:37Is that what you would advise?
05:39Maybe.
05:40You know, I understand, you know, if we look, you know, here in the last couple of games, but if
05:45we look in the wider, if you look in the wider picture, I think the Bruins, they're unbeaten in regulation
05:51when they take a lead into the third period.
05:54Yeah.
05:54Has it always looked clean and perfect?
05:56No, but I think that's the case for a lot of teams.
05:59And for the most part, they have done a good job of managing games late when they've been tight.
06:04They've been pretty good.
06:06But I think in the bigger picture, you know, because the margins are so slim for this team to be
06:12able to get into the playoffs.
06:13So you start to think about, were there other games that maybe got away from them early in the season?
06:20Yes.
06:22Where they had an opportunity to manage the game a little bit better.
06:25I mean, you can go all the way back to October against the Florida Panthers or a game at Madison
06:30Square Garden where the Bruins had a lead late in the third period and it got away from them.
06:34But there have been other times where they've been able to rally and cobble together points.
06:38And at this point, that's what it's about.
06:41Let me get your opinion on this because you brought up the Devils.
06:43Jack Hughes wants his puck back from the Hall of Fame.
06:49And the man, we owe him a debt of gratitude for the gold medal.
06:55Does that puck belong to him?
06:57The Hockey Hall of Fame says they will not give it back.
07:01That it does not belong to him.
07:02Is the Hockey Hall of Fame in Canada?
07:04Yes.
07:05Well, then that's our break.
07:08Does Doug McAvich still have the 0-4 ball?
07:10Because that was a real waste.
07:11I don't know.
07:12No, but does the – it's an interesting question because does the memorabilia item belong to the player who accomplished
07:22the feat or does it belong to the game?
07:25Belongs to the player.
07:26It does.
07:27Belongs to the player.
07:28The player is the one who scored that goal.
07:29That's his puck.
07:30And, you know, we –
07:31Shocking cake from Wiggy.
07:32Well, but that's what it is.
07:34We've seen at the end of whether it's basketball games, football games, you know, guys run and get the ball
07:38so they can give it to that specific player.
07:42And I think in this situation, that puck should go to that player.
07:46How does it work with home run balls?
07:47Because we've seen guys in the past, like they hit, you know, some milestone home run.
07:51They have to pay the person.
07:52And then security goes and grabs it.
07:54But does the player then get the ball or does that go to Cooperstown?
07:57Well, sometimes the team will reward the fan to get the ball back for the player.
08:01But it's for the player.
08:02The player is the one who accomplished that feat.
08:06He's the one that accomplished that feat.
08:08He's the one who hit the home run.
08:09He's the one who scored the goal.
08:12He's the one who scored the touchdown, made the shot.
08:14That should go to him.
08:16When Tom Brady threw his – I forget what it was – touchdown and then Mike Evans threw it into
08:22the stands, that ball belongs to the player for his accomplishment.
08:28It should not belong to a museum first.
08:31That seems stupid to me.
08:32It should be private ownership.
08:34And then the person who accomplished the great feat should decide whether or not in time they want to donate
08:40to a museum.
08:42It's a great debate.
08:43You know, I know that I saw Jack's original comments, you know, about, you know, that should be my puck.
08:48Look, I believe that he changed his tune the other day and maybe was a little bit more conciliatory where
08:56he understood why the Hockey Hall of Fame would want that puck.
09:00I don't know.
09:00I know it's a really good argument.
09:01Who has the puck from 2011?
09:03Bergey, Marshy, Timmy Thomas?
09:05Who's got it?
09:05Dale's got it.
09:06But it's the same way with the jersey, right?
09:08You go down to Patriots' place in Gillette and you see, you know, like a game-worn Brady jersey is
09:14in the Hall of Fame.
09:15I feel like that's that player's jersey.
09:18If he wants to then donate it back to the organization so they can put it in, you know, some
09:24type of, you know, glass case, then that should be on the player.
09:27Not them saying, well, you play for our team.
09:29It's technically our jersey.
09:31Texter says possession is nine-tenths of the law, so they have it.
09:34Do you remember that loser we had on, Greg, that, like, knocked kids out of the way to catch foul
09:38balls in the stands?
09:39Yes.
09:40Christian Arcand?
09:44I had a real – I had a question for Jack because we were talking about this the other day
09:48on whether this was a rebuild, a retool.
09:53How does the – how do the Bruins look at this season as more of a retool or do they
09:59feel like they're rebuilding?
10:01How about reset?
10:02Okay.
10:03You know, they're all sorts of R-words.
10:05I think the whole idea was, Wiggy, that they felt at the start of the season that this should be
10:09a playoff.
10:10That's what Don Sweeney and Cam Neely had talked about at the start of the season, and right now they're
10:14certainly in that position.
10:15That was always their goal, to be able to get back into the playoffs.
10:18Where I think the reset had to take place was with the culture.
10:21I think we had talked about it at the beginning of the season that with a lot of core pieces
10:26that were moved out,
10:27and certainly if you back up and look at, hey, some of the guys that the Bruins have had to
10:32replace over the years,
10:33that they needed to recapture, maybe another R-word, some of the culture that they had.
10:38And I think that they've been able to do that for the most part.
10:40You know, if you talk to the GM, Don Sweeney, and some of the guys around the Bruins,
10:44what it was like early in the season, it maybe took a while to figure out how the leadership was
10:48going to be able to function.
10:49That's not an issue at this point.
10:52You know, and if you look since January 1st, the Bruins have been one of the best teams in the
10:56National Hockey League.
10:57The hard time, they've had a hard time, however, gaining ground because so many of the teams in the East
11:02have been just as good.
11:04So I think it's a reset, but they also had to repopulate the roster with a lot of talent.
11:11You know, I think that that was the whole idea.
11:13I could keep going with the R-words, but they needed to take a look at what they had in
11:19their system, picks, prospects.
11:21They've been able to do that.
11:23And I think that that was part of the reason that you saw the Bruins, for the most part, stay
11:27fairly quiet here at the trade deadline
11:29because there was no need to trade some of those commodities to get a rental here to just get you
11:35over the hump and in the playoffs
11:36because I think there's a bigger goal.
11:38So we should just relax.
11:40Well, I mean, they basically have to win out.
11:45I don't know if they have to basically win out.
11:47You know, as we talked about the last time we were here, if you can get to 100 points,
11:52that usually is the marker that will get you in the playoffs.
11:56It's not going to be easy.
11:58So I think at that point when we were here last week, that was 11-7 in their last 18
12:02games.
12:03To this point, I think they are what?
12:06You know, they've still been able to put together points, but they need to go further.
12:11I want to say they now have to go 9-5 here down the stretch to be able to get
12:15to that numbers.
12:15Okay, 9-5, and they have to be able to win on the road.
12:18Yes.
12:19And they have some difficult road games coming up here.
12:23You know, after they play the Jets, they're going to go on the road against Detroit.
12:28Detroit, by the way, playing Montreal tonight.
12:29That's a game if you want to kind of keep an eye on, that's going to really impact the Bruins.
12:34And they're going to have to go to Columbus twice.
12:38That's the team that's right behind them in the standings.
12:40The other thing to keep in mind, because the margins are so slim in the Eastern Conference,
12:45keep an eye on the tiebreakers.
12:49So the first tiebreaker in the National Hockey League is regulation wins.
12:53And at this point right now, the Bruins have more regulation wins than Detroit and Columbus.
12:59And if the Islanders slip down, add them into the mix.
13:03All right, Judd.
13:03Great to see you.
13:04Great to see you guys.
13:05All right.
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