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Andrew 'Razor' Raycroft joins LIVE! What does Razor make of the Bruins offseason moves? Thoughts on Peterka? Could the Bruins be contenders this season? What can we expect from Pasta this season? Better roster than last season?
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00:00As a player, when you were playing for the Bruins, you were a part of this,
00:03which is, you know, I don't want to make anybody feel bad,
00:06but that's quite some time ago.
00:08It's quite some time ago.
00:10Every year we do this, it gets further away from what I did then.
00:14And, yeah, it feels horrible every time.
00:16But that's what the coolest part.
00:18I always tell that story about being here.
00:21And the first time you get here, you're just coming into town this time of year
00:24as a hockey player to get ready for the season.
00:27And you hear about the Jimmy Fund.
00:29And it's one of the first things you learn about.
00:31You do the hospital visits, of course, as a player.
00:34And now, as an old guy that I am, to be a citizen of Boston,
00:40to live here and have my family and my kids live here,
00:43it's kind of wild to think back to 25 years ago that I was doing this
00:48and now sitting here I never would have thought.
00:50So it's special to be a part of.
00:52You guys mention it all the time.
00:54Everyone mentions it.
00:55And I think I can say it even from a different perspective from not being here,
01:00just how Boston this is and how New England this is and how everyone rallies around it.
01:06It's awesome.
01:07Yeah.
01:07I mean, that relationship that has existed between the Jimmy Fund and the Red Sox
01:12goes back to 1953, which is incredible, you know, because it had to, you know,
01:18oftentimes new people come in and they do, you know, they do different things
01:21and they're focused on different things, which is fine.
01:23But for that to exist for as long as it has is pretty incredible in professional sports.
01:30It is.
01:31It's wild.
01:32There's not much loyalty in professional sports anymore across the board, right?
01:37So this is the gold standard of that and also how much work gets put into it, right?
01:44It's a year-long thing.
01:45Like, everyone's going to start working.
01:46You're going to take a couple days off after the telethon this week,
01:49and then next Monday everyone's starting to ramp up for next year and how do we do more
01:53and how do we make more of a contribution?
01:56So it's awesome.
01:57No, we have to say thank you to our crew and Ken Laird and Carolyn and Mike Thomas
02:04and everybody back at the radio station who works really, really hard on this all year long.
02:09I'm sure Ken has been hitting me.
02:11He counts me nonstop.
02:13Is there anything worse than a call and it's Ken?
02:16Nothing.
02:18What did I do?
02:19I usually get anxious.
02:21It's like a Bill Belichick interview.
02:24We'll come to the principal's office.
02:26No, I can't do any interviews with Razor anymore because they always end up bad.
02:31How has your summer been?
02:32It's been good.
02:33It's been good.
02:34It's been – like it always feels long, but now we're here and now it's over.
02:40Lots of traveling back to Canada and now it's, yeah, like starting to get into hockey mode,
02:46Bruins mode, be exciting.
02:47What is your expectation for this team this season?
02:50Well, they did a fantastic job last year of getting out of from underneath and having that retool, right?
02:58That word that everyone was worried about at the end of the season.
03:02Before that went so badly.
03:04The bar was pretty low and, of course, they exceeded it.
03:07Marco did an unbelievable job getting everyone together.
03:10They did a good job putting the culture back in place.
03:13So, everything went really well for them last year and now that will be the challenge this year.
03:18They're probably not going to win 19 in a row at home.
03:20They're probably not going to, you know, come out of the gates winning three, losing six, winning six.
03:26Like, I'll be curious just their resiliency.
03:29And Charlie McAvoy out of the lineup for the first eight games as well.
03:32So, I think it's going to be a little bit harder for them to fly under the radar like they
03:38did last season.
03:38But, of course, the way Sturmy coached, I like J.J. Paterka coming into the lineup, Jeremy Swayman in goal.
03:45I think it's going to be a battle in the Eastern Conference again.
03:48Do you think they feel any pressure internally to do something while you have David Pasternak here?
03:56And he, you know, he kind of alluded to that end of the season, like time is running out.
04:01I mean, he's not my age or Wiggy's age.
04:04But, you know, do you feel it?
04:08Oh, you're a rage-raiser.
04:09No, no, no.
04:10You're smiling over there.
04:12Do you think they feel that internally?
04:15I think so.
04:16So, I think they would feel that either way.
04:19I think we've seen, like, Bruins have gone for it.
04:22They have.
04:23They've gone for it the last six to ten years when they've had the opportunities.
04:29And that's why we have the conversations about no first-round picks or no draft.
04:33Like, you get one or the other.
04:35Yeah, like, so Don Sweeney went for it.
04:37Correct.
04:38You know, best record in the NHL.
04:40And then it doesn't happen.
04:42And then that screws you up.
04:44Yeah, well, you have to change just your mentality just a little bit.
04:47And I think they've done that.
04:48They've restocked the cabinet.
04:50They've got some good young players.
04:52You know, let's hope that James Higgins hits.
04:55Again, this Paterka kid's a young kid.
04:57He's got term.
04:58He's a mid-20s kid.
04:59So, they have younger legs that hopefully surround David with.
05:03And maybe he doesn't have to pass the puck quite as much as he had to last season.
05:07And he can let it fly a little bit more.
05:10Sorry, when you look at Swayman and you look at the uptick in fandom this season compared to the season
05:15before,
05:15you think he can keep that up this season?
05:17Yeah, I do.
05:17I think that the outlier in his career to this point was the poor season and the lockout and everything
05:25that came with that.
05:27I think that's the outlier at this point.
05:29I think what he did last season in goal is completely repeatable.
05:33You watched him on a nightly basis.
05:35It was really consistent.
05:36He didn't do anything that he couldn't do every night this year.
05:41Of course, it's going to be a little different.
05:43He's got a younger goalie now, and Mikey DiPietro's his backup.
05:46Corpo Salo's gone.
05:48So, that changes the dynamic a little bit.
05:50He's now, I dare say, more of a mentor, I guess, or at least the first time where he hasn't
05:58had a veteran goalie with him.
05:59So, he's the real starter now.
06:01But I think that will only help him stay focused and stay improved.
06:06And I think, again, the outlier of his career was the bad season, not the good ones.
06:11Just to be clear, the difference in perspective, the former athletes, the athlete calls it a lockout.
06:17We call it a holdout.
06:19Just to be clear about that.
06:22Yes.
06:22It is definitely a lockout.
06:24No strikes.
06:25He was allowed to go to the anytime he wants.
06:27He could show up.
06:28A lockout.
06:29Yep.
06:29Do you feel like, though, Reza, do you feel like, because I think we always have this conversation around the
06:35Bruins, like, expectations, right?
06:37And we talked to some of those guys last year, and some of the expectations that we heard was, oh,
06:44they felt like they had a playoff team.
06:46Do you think, like, the expectations are now, like, we now need to make a deep playoff front?
06:52Are we still in this kind of, like, retool, rebuilding type of mindset?
06:58Yeah, it's a good question, Wiggy, because it is, because the NHL, the way the NHL is set up now,
07:06it really is about getting in.
07:09And then you kind of hope that the matchup goes properly for you.
07:12Look at the Montreal Canadiens.
07:13They went on a run last year.
07:14They get to the conference finals.
07:16No one would have saw that at the start of the year with the young group they had.
07:19Even Buffalo at November, they looked like they were dead to rights, and they end up coming through, and they
07:25get through Boston, of course, in the first round.
07:27I think it's really difficult to make the National Hockey League playoffs now.
07:32It's as hard as any sport the way that the extra teams have gotten in the NFL, the extra teams
07:38have gotten in baseball.
07:39It's still half the league in the NHL to get in.
07:42And in the Eastern Conference, in the Atlantic Division, there's a bunch of good hockey teams.
07:47So, for me, the expectation, like, just get in the playoffs.
07:50I don't – it doesn't – eighth place, seventh place, third place, I don't think that really matters.
07:56I think the focus is to build your game and get in the playoffs.
07:58I think right now their roster is better than what it was last season.
08:02I think they have a better opportunity to be a better team than what they were in the playoffs.
08:07But it won't be easy to get in by any means, and I don't think it really matters.
08:10Minus that Sunday – that horrific Sunday afternoon blowout.
08:14Like, they were competitive in that series.
08:16Man, I –
08:17Who was at that game?
08:18Oh, you're the jinx?
08:20You're the jinx?
08:21I'm not the jinx.
08:22Okay.
08:22Yeah, but –
08:23Were you at game seven for the Celtics, too?
08:25I assume you were there for that.
08:27I'm not –
08:29But they were – like, they were in that series.
08:32Like, they were competitive.
08:33They had them on the ropes.
08:34It felt like you had them on the ropes in those first two games in Buffalo.
08:38Again, it became clear that Buffalo had more talent at the end of the day.
08:43But, no, there was an opportunity to – you could, in hindsight, see a path where they could have won
08:48that series with a bounce in one of the first two games.
08:52And, unfortunately, they just played really bad at home.
08:54And that leaves a more bitter taste in everyone's mouth at the end of that.
08:58But, again, it was a pretty good season from all points of view.
09:01And I think that's what will make it challenging to repeat it and be a good hard work for them.
09:07And you're around them all the time doing your work for Nesson.
09:10And it seems like Cam Neely, Don Sweeney, really happy with Marco Sturm and what he's done for that hockey
09:16team.
09:17Yeah, you'd have to be.
09:19Again, I think I sat here a year ago when Sturm, he was hired because I remember him being here
09:24in the building.
09:25And just talking about how great of a teammate he is, how positive he is, how good of a pro
09:29he was, and how I think because he's put his time in to make his craft better, being in the
09:36minors, being with the German Olympic team, the national team, having six or seven years of coaching experience, I thought
09:43he was going to do a good job because of all those things.
09:45And he did put all of those together.
09:47He probably exceeded my expectations in his ability to stick to his process because anytime NHL coaches come in for
09:55the first time, they get punched in the mouth, you don't know how they're going to respond through the bad
09:59times.
09:59And Sturm just stayed like this the whole way, even keeled.
10:03So I think he's got a better handle on the group now, too.
10:06I think he can do a better job of and really probably understands exactly what he has in certain players
10:11that he didn't at this time last season.
10:13And I'm sure he's he's worked knowing Sturm, he hasn't not thought about this team all summer long and how
10:19he's going to make it better.
10:20Will this team be able to name a captain?
10:23Somebody get a sweater or what?
10:26Yeah.
10:27It doesn't matter.
10:28It doesn't matter.
10:30I don't think.
10:31Come on.
10:32But it's perfect for you guys, man.
10:34It is so perfect for further.
10:36Look at this.
10:36He's distancing himself from us.
10:38No, no, no.
10:39I'm sad because, you know, and I.
10:41Dale would never say that.
10:43No.
10:44I knew it was coming.
10:47I have no idea.
10:49This is the one thing I literally have no feel for this.
10:53I have I I don't get a sense.
10:56I have a lot of senses of just being around the league for a long time.
11:01This one, I don't.
11:02I didn't last season.
11:03I could see I can.
11:05But sorry, Razor.
11:06Why wouldn't it be pasta?
11:07He's the most talented guy on the team.
11:09He's the highest paid guy.
11:10Everybody seems to like him.
11:11Like, I feel like it's a no brainer.
11:14Yes.
11:15No, I can't argue that.
11:16Right.
11:17And I can't.
11:17And if you said Charlie McAvoy in the same things, I probably wouldn't argue that either.
11:22And that's, you know, to team gold USA, gold medal, you know, the face of he could be a face
11:27of the franchise.
11:28Willing to lose teeth and body parts.
11:31Right.
11:31100%.
11:32Can we get Roman Anthony to learn from him?
11:33Yeah.
11:34How much input, though?
11:36Because it's so different from the NFL, right?
11:38Yes.
11:38Because we vote on our captains as players, you know.
11:42And I think Bill kind of sullied the line.
11:44I think there's a little input from, but the majority of teams, right?
11:47How much input do players in that locker room have for being like, whether it's going to the head coach
11:53or going to Cam or, you know, Sweeney and saying, hey, this guy is who we rally around.
11:59I mean, you know, yeah, no, most of the time it's really obvious.
12:03Right.
12:03That's that's the difference.
12:04Where and to those points, the players would have a lot of say, like, it's just easy.
12:08It's obvious.
12:08You've you've got the guys who are, you know, Patrice or Zidane or Martian, like those are all like very
12:14obvious.
12:15This is just an interesting scenario or dynamic with this team where the leaders are all kind of the same
12:20age.
12:21They've all been around around the same time, the same length of time.
12:24And you might not need to choose one of those guys.
12:28Razor actually had a one man insurgency against Ray Bork.
12:32I didn't think he was getting it.
12:34Yes.
12:34I tried so hard to get that captaincy taken away from Ray.
12:37I worked so hard.
12:39He wasn't getting the job done.
12:41For some reason, they never called me up.
12:43I couldn't understand why I couldn't make it to the NHL.
12:46But every exit interview, I said, I don't think Ray should be captain.
12:50Not material.
12:52Not good enough leader.
12:53You brought up Swayman, right?
12:55And how he's going to be more of a mentor.
12:57And has there ever been a goalie who's been in the position to wear the C on the jersey?
13:05Yeah.
13:06So I was in Vancouver when Roberto Luongo, they actually put the C on Roberto Luongo.
13:11And it was an absolute disaster.
13:13Okay.
13:13Um, it's a position because the goalie position, you have to worry about yourself and you're
13:18the leader.
13:19It's, you're like the quarterback.
13:22It's more like the field goal kick to get the C.
13:24If, if, if, if Drake May didn't have a C on his, you still know Drake May is the leader.
13:28No matter what, like everything goes through him.
13:30Swayman, everything goes through him.
13:32I think in that position, you don't need anything extra.
13:35You don't need to go talk.
13:36You don't need to do the media.
13:37You don't have to go talk to the GM about days off.
13:40You don't have to talk to the coach about moving practice.
13:42Those are all things that captains have to do in hockey that a goaltender is already
13:46the leader.
13:47Everybody's already looking to him and to put any more of that.
13:50I saw it firsthand when, when Roberto was, it was, it was an absolute disaster.
13:55Okay.
13:55Yeah.
13:56Too much stuff for a goaltender.
13:57All right.
13:58Well, it's great to see you.
13:59Yeah.
13:59You guys too.
14:00Summer's officially over when we come here.
14:03It is.
14:04Yeah.
14:04I know.
14:05Thanks for the wildfires, by the way.
14:08Jesus.
14:09It was just smoke.
14:10It was just a little smoke.
14:13Why do we, why are we, why is the smoke affecting us so much now from Canada?
14:18That's a good question.
14:18Because you've always had, I'm assuming you've always had wildfires.
14:21I assume we did too.
14:23It's revenge for the tariffs.
14:24Well, believe me, I've spent a little bit of time in Canada.
14:28Right.
14:28Yeah.
14:29Yeah.
14:29It's, it's quite the non-conversation that I have at every dinner table with everyone
14:35as my American passports rally.
14:37But you have Drake though.
14:38That's what matters most.
14:39What's that?
14:39You have Drake.
14:40Yes.
14:41As long as it's Canada.
14:42The other Drake.
14:42We have Drake.
14:43I'm sure Drake's spending a lot of time in Canada.
14:45By the way, big Bill's guy, that football stadium is a disaster.
14:48I know.
14:50My friends are not happy.
14:51Bill's Mafia is not happy about the railings.
14:54The obstructed views.
14:54The obstructed views.
14:55What are we doing?
14:55And the whole thing.
14:56But they're very happy about Josh Allen.
14:59All right.
14:59How about Josh Allen being in all like the convenience stores here?
15:02Have you guys noticed that?
15:03Yes, I have noticed that.
15:04I thought that was quite interesting.
15:05He's a big New Balance guy now.
15:07Is he?
15:07Yeah.
15:08He's the face of New Balance when it comes to football.
15:11Is that allowed?
15:11Wardrobe all set for the season or is that an ongoing process?
15:15No.
15:15You should probably get to that and make sure everything fits still.
15:18Where do you go?
15:19Get a walk-in or something like that.
15:21I got a guy for you if you need it.
15:22Of course.
15:23I got a guy.
15:23I got a Quaz over there.
15:24I don't.
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