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Power play issues? Peterka as advertised? Bruins PBP Judd Sirott joins!
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00:00Judd Surratt, who will have the call of the Bruins-Mammoth game this evening on Nessun.
00:06Good morning, Judd.
00:07Good morning.
00:07Now you're playing some music that I like.
00:09I mean, we're talking about rap, which I also love when you and I were talking about it,
00:12but you're playing a little early Metallica.
00:14Yes.
00:14Bring it on.
00:15You look like a rap guy, just like me.
00:19And I look like a headbanger too, right?
00:20Right, right, right.
00:22Well, I wanted to start and ask you about what you're seeing when it comes to the power play,
00:28because the Bruins are just, have been, it's early, but been woeful when it comes to the power play.
00:33It's a big issue.
00:34You know, here in the last two games that have cropped up,
00:36whether it was the game you saw against the Ottawa Senators
00:38or the game that the Bruins finished off in Minnesota,
00:42you know, the power play played a role in their demise in those two games.
00:45But in the game against Ottawa in particular, turned over the puck at two critical times.
00:50You were down.
00:51As a result, you essentially gave up two shorthanded goals in the first 10 minutes of the game.
00:56That really took the life out of the team.
00:59But I think with the man advantage, you've got a multitude of different issues there.
01:03They're having a hard time passing the puck.
01:05If they do pass the puck, it's too slow.
01:08Shots that they get the opportunities to get are not getting through,
01:11are not getting through that first layer.
01:13If they get it through, they don't recover the puck.
01:15So there are all sorts of things that are going on.
01:18There was a spirited practice yesterday at Warrior.
01:20We'll see if they institute some of that stuff.
01:22But that's a big thing in particular because I think that's going to lead us to the top guys.
01:27Because whether it's the top guys for the Bruins or any other team around the National Hockey League,
01:32if that's the place where your skilled guys start to feel good about their game,
01:36when they start to get some success on the power play or generate some chances.
01:41And because the Bruins at this point are 0 for 10 through the first four games,
01:44I think part of that has bled into the 5-on-5 game for guys like Pasternak, Geeky, Zaka, etc.
01:51When it comes to the Senators game, we played Zdorov after,
01:56and he basically said we didn't come ready to play tonight.
01:58It's early in the season.
01:59It's a home game.
01:59It's a divisional game.
02:01How is that possible, and is that worrisome?
02:04I don't think it's worrisome at this point because we're so early in the season.
02:08But I was having a conversation with Mason Lorai the other day,
02:11and he said we got an early reminder of how difficult the league is.
02:15Brag of the week, by the way.
02:16We'll give that to Jones and Keefe.
02:19Sick brag, bro.
02:20You guys in the elevator together or maybe grabbing breakfast?
02:24Yes, exactly.
02:26But I think that's a quick reminder.
02:28I mean, you have to show up ready to play.
02:30And so even though the Bruins were down 2-0 at the end of 20 minutes of play,
02:34you know, you can still forge your way back into the game.
02:36But the first, what, minute and a half of the second period,
02:41you turn over a puck at the blue line,
02:42those are the danger zones that coaches always talk about.
02:45Now it's 3-0.
02:46And by the time you got to 26 minutes in, you're down 4-0.
02:50The Bruins just were not ready to play.
02:53Ottawa came in.
02:54Maybe they felt a little bit desperate.
02:56They had just lost Jake Sanderson, arguably their best defenseman.
03:00They won the bulk of the one-on-one battles,
03:02and they walked out with two points convincingly.
03:04You know, we were just talking about the power play,
03:07and you know how important that is in hockey.
03:09What would you like to see them do?
03:12You know, a lot of teams,
03:12it's always about who's carrying the puck into the offensive zone.
03:16What would you specifically like to see them do to fix the issues that they're having?
03:22Well, they have to up the intensity.
03:23I think you bring up a good point, Wiggy.
03:26Entries are a part of it.
03:27You need a clean entry.
03:28They haven't necessarily gotten those here in the first four games
03:32if you look across that small sample size to start the season.
03:35And then once you get in, the team has to be able to move it quickly,
03:41move it tape to tape, get shots through, be direct,
03:44and start to break down the penalty kill.
03:46So when shots go through, that box or the diamond starts to break down.
03:50You've got to recover the pucks.
03:52And I think for the Bruins, the other thing that Zdorov talked about,
03:55to your point, Courtney, was that the Bruins have,
03:58at least here in the last couple of games,
04:00maybe they've drifted a little bit from what their identity is,
04:03even on the man advantage.
04:04They're built to play a heavy game.
04:06They're built to play a direct game.
04:08And here in the last two, they've sort of strayed from that.
04:12Judd, so Hagen's had a couple mistakes in that game.
04:14But after the game, Marco Sturm kind of put it more on the veterans.
04:18How patient are they going to be with Hagen's?
04:21I know he's really young.
04:22He's really kind of learning.
04:23But I believe Sturm in the past has also said this isn't a developmental league.
04:26How patient are they going to be with him?
04:28I think they are going to be patient.
04:30And I think the way that Marco phrased it was, yeah, he made some mistakes.
04:35But I think that the guys around the Bruins also made some mistakes.
04:39And good on James Hagen's that he owned it after the game.
04:43You know, carrying the puck through the neutral zone, you're down 2-0.
04:46You can't turn that puck over in the neutral zone,
04:48especially in the second period.
04:50That led to a great opportunity there for the Ottawa Senators,
04:53and Drake Batherson potted that.
04:56Listen, I think when it comes to James Hagen's, he's off to a pretty good start.
05:00He scored twice here in the first four games.
05:03I think for an offensive-minded guy, it's good to see some early success.
05:07But I think he's also learning about puck plays, plays that he can make,
05:13or getting trapped out there.
05:14We saw in the Winnipeg game, I don't know if you had a chance to catch it,
05:17so the Bruins rallied.
05:18They tied the game.
05:19And before they hit overtime, all the kids, it wasn't just James Hagen's,
05:23but Hustodinov and Minton, those guys were sort of trapped in the defensive zone.
05:29They survived.
05:30Can he learn to do a better job of using his stick to win some of those puck battles,
05:35choosing when to make some of those plays?
05:38They talk about it all the time, playing the time and playing the scoreboard.
05:42I think it's going to be a process.
05:44He is 19 years old, but I do think that they're going to be patient with him.
05:48I think one of the things that was interesting for me, since you bring that up,
05:52so some coaches in the past, 19-year-old makes a mistake like that early in the second period,
05:57cost your team a goal.
05:58Would he come out for the next shift?
05:59And he did.
06:00And I think that that's important because I think they still want to make him understand
06:06that's a mistake you can't make, but we want to be able to build your confidence
06:10and build your game.
06:11So I thought that was one of the things that was interesting to see.
06:13J.J. Paterka plays his old team tonight.
06:17I think he has two goals.
06:18Has he been as advertised so far from your perspective?
06:22I think he's been good.
06:23Listen, he factored in those first two games into two critical goals,
06:27wins against the Rangers, and he scored the overtime winner of beauty
06:31against the New York Rangers.
06:33He's provided some speed and skill to juice that top nine,
06:37so I think that's good.
06:39And hopefully he's a little – he's added some motivation here from tonight's game.
06:45You know, he admitted it wasn't a good fit for him last year,
06:48and he also admitted that he didn't play well in Utah.
06:51That said, he still had 25 goals.
06:53So if he's able to elevate that – and he's playing in a different situation here in Boston.
06:58He's going to get more of a look in the top six.
07:01Even though that the Bruins have kind of moved their top unit on the power play around,
07:06I think if we're going to talk across the bulk of the season,
07:10they're going to give him those number one power play minutes,
07:12which he didn't get in Utah, that there's no reason if he produces like he's expected
07:18that he shouldn't get close to 30 goals.
07:20Wiggy had a lead the other day about Ovechkin retiring
07:25and whether or not he could, if he wanted to, could play a couple more years.
07:29I was speculating about whether that has anything to do with the campaign ad he did
07:36for Vladimir Putin.
07:39What's your opinion on that?
07:41I don't know.
07:42It's a really good question, Greg, because I'm always interesting when things happen.
07:46Why the timing?
07:47Why didn't he do it before the season and just say, okay, this is my last year?
07:52Why did he choose to do it just as the season started?
07:56So I don't know the answer on that one.
07:58I'd love to be able to talk to some of the people, the Washington Capitals,
08:02because they were in town here for the first preseason game,
08:05and I didn't really get an inkling that Ovechkin was going to call it a career at this point.
08:10So I do think that the timing is something that, you know, it does raise an eyebrow.
08:18Like, why now?
08:20You know, because not only did he do the ad, but all of a sudden the Athletic came out,
08:24a former Washington Post columnist who's now writing for the Athletic,
08:28I thought wrote a really poignant column about Alexander Ovechkin
08:32and his connection to Vladimir Putin and Russia and what he's done in the United States.
08:38Listen, I don't want to take away at all what Alexander Ovechkin has done
08:41in the National Hockey League.
08:42He's the greatest goal scorer in the league, in league history.
08:46Not the greatest goal scorer in the world, that is Vladimir Putin.
08:50Right.
08:51It's his fellow countrymen.
08:52Yes.
08:53Two of them both professional hockey players.
08:55He couldn't score on Putin.
08:57But, Judd, you're around these guys a lot.
08:59My take was, like, I don't think it bothers Ovechkin because he's a guy that loves his country.
09:07It's about his country.
09:08We don't know all the ins and outs in the relationship with him and Putin.
09:12I feel like when you look at these guys, like some of them and a guy like him,
09:17I don't think it bothers him that Americans might see it as something being wrong
09:22because for him, I think he's just one of those guys, like, this is my country
09:25and I can care less what anybody says.
09:27I'm there to play.
09:28I'm in the NHL to play hockey.
09:30And you either like me for the hockey player I am and all that other stuff
09:34is because I'm from Russia and this is what I know and love.
09:38So then why is he retiring?
09:39I think he's retiring.
09:40They had talked about this before the season or last year.
09:44Could this be Ovechkin's last year?
09:46I mean, like, this has been a question that's been going around for a minute now
09:50and I think he's just got to the point where it's like he's done everything
09:53and maybe he looks at it and goes, all right, are we going to be a Stanley Cup contender
09:59for me to continue to play for another two or three years or should I just hang it up?
10:05Well, they should definitely be a contender this year,
10:07but I think there were a lot of people that after he broke Wayne Gretzky's goal-scoring record
10:11that thought, okay, maybe he's just going to hang him up
10:13and he decided to come back and play another year.
10:16I think, listen, father time is unbeaten.
10:19That's true.
10:20Except in my case.
10:23So, you know, while Ove is still a threat and if memory serves,
10:29I think he led the Capitals in goals and points last year.
10:32Last year they were a non-playoff team, but I still think that the legs and the hands
10:38and all that stuff at some point, that starts to pile up.
10:43So, it was a little bit of a surprise to me that he came back to play this year,
10:48but if he feels like he has an opportunity to win a Stanley Cup again,
10:52and I don't know if you remember what his celebration was like in 2018
10:55when the Capitals won it then, that was epic.
10:57So, I'm sure he'd like to be able to experience that again before he finally calls it.
11:01In Twitch, they're wondering if you're already in your Nesson game day shirt
11:05or if this is the shirt before the shirt.
11:07No, no, he's ready to go.
11:08I would assume he's ready to go.
11:10I don't know.
11:11We might have to have a wardrobe change.
11:12We'll see.
11:13I had to leave the sweater vest.
11:14Greg could never do a full day shirt and then a game.
11:17Oh, well, hey, well, kind of a shot at me at it.
11:21Yeah, you talk about it all the time.
11:22I mean, I do.
11:23How long is too long?
11:26I don't point out things that are going on with your body.
11:29We're saying he'd get it dirty.
11:30I think we did a pretty long segment about that before.
11:33You're saying he's getting dirty like he'd spill something on him?
11:35No, no, no, like I sweat it.
11:35Oh, sweat like a pig.
11:37No, I didn't say those were your words.
11:39Oh.
11:40Like how long will that shirt last today?
11:42All day long.
11:43Oh, Courtney just texted me.
11:44Greg looks fat.
11:47He looks great.
11:47I mean, I wear deodorant.
11:50I go for the extra special all-day protection.
11:53It just doesn't always work.
11:55The worst part of the new studios is that we share a thermostat with you.
11:59I am in a freaking meat locker.
12:01Yeah.
12:01It is freezing.
12:02Well, that's, I mean, honestly, I like it cold.
12:05I think most men do.
12:08No offense.
12:09All right.
12:09Calling Curtis a girl.
12:12Not the worst thing I've been told today.
12:15Great to see you.
12:157 o'clock puck drop this evening.
12:17Yep.
12:17On Nesson.
12:186 o'clock pregame with Soph and the Voice.
12:20Okay.
12:20Did you tell Brick we said hello?
12:22I did.
12:22All right.
12:22Tell Brick we said hello.
12:23And we'll talk to you next week.
12:25That is Judd Surratt from Nesson on the Bruins.