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WEEI’s Morning Bru host Andrew “Razor” Raycroft joined the show to discuss the Bruins season so far and what to expect moving forward, including the lack of offense, shaking up the lines, and the importance of getting Charlie McAvoy next week.
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00:00I'm actually going to the game tonight.
00:02I'm going to my first Bruins game of the season this evening.
00:05Love it.
00:06Let's hope you bring two points.
00:09Utah's cooking, so it's going to be a good game.
00:12There should be some action, I think.
00:15I just don't want to see them get booed off the ice like they were on Monday.
00:18That was one of the tougher games I've had to watch in a while.
00:22I'm still confused, Razor, about what kind of team this is.
00:26It's wild watching a team where you've got so many weapons who just can't score.
00:33Like Pasternak, Lindholm, Zaka, I think that they're all scoreless so far out of four games.
00:40What is going on?
00:41Can I look forward to some goals being scored soon?
00:45Yes, you will get goals.
00:47Those guys will get goals.
00:48Morgan Geeky as well hasn't scored yet.
00:51You have three 30-goal scores from last season past this 29, but that's 30 for me.
00:58And they haven't scored yet.
00:59The power play, it all comes down to the power play, guys.
01:02That's what the problem's been the first four games.
01:04That's why they haven't been able to score.
01:06They've had opportunities late in the third period in Minnesota against Ottawa.
01:11Their power play gave up essentially two shorthanded goals
01:15and didn't create any opportunities on top of that.
01:18So the power play is a big one.
01:20And that's where a lot of the teams get going, like this Utah Mammoth team
01:23that you're going to see tonight.
01:24Their power plays are fantastic.
01:25So they've got to get that going.
01:27A lot of that's timing.
01:28A lot of that's early in the season.
01:30And listen, there's 80 more hockey games left.
01:33So there's a whole lot more and a whole lot more time to understand what this team really is.
01:40That said, Razor, I did see that Stern was tinkering with line combinations.
01:45Whether or not he does that tonight, we'll see.
01:47But do you think that's a sign of early panic?
01:50Or is that just what coaches do this time of year?
01:52And do you like any of the changes?
01:54No, that's what coaches do.
01:56Especially when you have a new guy like J.J. Paterka,
02:00where you're trying to really find what he is and how he's going to benefit and help your team the
02:08most.
02:08You've got young guys like Hagen, Frazier Mint.
02:11And you're trying to get him further up into the lineup because you expect him to take another step.
02:16And the only way to really do that is with better players and more ice time.
02:20So I'm not – there's tons of tinkering with these lines for all teams in the NHL on a week
02:27-to-week basis as it is,
02:28but especially at the start of the season.
02:30Do I like – I don't know if I like anything yet, to be honest.
02:34I think, you know, you look at last year and the line of Zaka, Middlestad, and Arvidsson was arguably the
02:40best line front-to-back.
02:42But they didn't get put together until late October.
02:45There was 10 or 12 games prior to that.
02:48Middlestad was actually a healthy scratch.
02:50And he ended up being one of the best five-on-five players for the Bruins.
02:53So, again, especially with a short training camp, guys are – and the older guys, the guys that have been
03:00around,
03:00they're going to take just a little bit longer, and I think that might be the case here.
03:05Okay, Razor, I'm curious what you think four games in with James Higgins.
03:09You know, he had a couple goals, but in a goal in this last game for – you know, in
03:15a losing effort.
03:15But he also had a bad turnover.
03:17And I was impressed – I don't know if you heard his comments after the game.
03:20I was impressed how he basically owned his mistake.
03:23Like, it's very rare that you see a young player kind of own his mistake like that.
03:28I'm just curious what you think of his game through four games and him holding himself accountable
03:32after that last loss against Ottawa.
03:36Certainly love the fact that he's holding himself accountable.
03:40I kind of thought he went a little overboard on himself.
03:43I mean, there's lots of mistakes in the game, and it wasn't like that one was in double overtime
03:47of a Stanley Cup playoff game where that was the deciding factor.
03:51It didn't happen at a good time.
03:53It never does.
03:54But, again, the accountability is how you become a better hockey team
03:59and certainly become a better professional athlete.
04:02So that's a good sign for where James is going to go.
04:06And if he bounces back and never makes that play again, then he learns.
04:10And that's the whole idea.
04:12So I haven't minded his game.
04:14I thought it was more direct in the preseason.
04:17I think he's maybe thinking a little bit.
04:19But, again, he got two goals.
04:21I think that's a big deal for him to get those out of the way and be able to continue
04:26to build confidence.
04:28I think the big thing, the turnover he made that everyone was talking about was in the neutral zone.
04:33I think those are the places where he has to be a little simpler.
04:36But I want him to make mistakes in the offensive zone.
04:39I want him making mistakes trying to be creative and trying to make plays in the offensive zone.
04:44That's okay.
04:44It's just a different one to do it defensive and the neutral zone.
04:49And that's what young players learn.
04:52And I think he probably learned pretty quickly.
04:54I thought Marco Sturm handled that well, too, like afterwards.
04:57You know, he said, I'm not putting any of the blame on the young players for this one.
05:01And he continued to – like, he didn't do anything drastic.
05:05He let him continue to play.
05:07And, like, when you see the way he handles these young guys as opposed to the veterans,
05:13do you think that's going to be a successful formula to kind of give a little more grace
05:17and not be the hard ass on these younger players and instead, you know,
05:22try to squeeze the veterans into stepping up and delivering on what they're supposed to be?
05:28No question.
05:30Marco's been around forever in this league.
05:32And he was in the minors and he coached a lot of young guys like James Higgins
05:36that were high picks or coming out of college.
05:38And he understands how hard this league is, the margin of error,
05:45and the reality that at the end of the day it's your stars that win you and lose you hockey
05:51games.
05:51And it's the power play.
05:53Again, when you're playing a game – playing a National Hockey League game,
05:58and, again, it wasn't technically a shorthanded goal, the second one,
06:01in the first period against Ottawa.
06:03But for practical matters it was.
06:05If your power play is minus two in an NHL hockey game,
06:09James Higgins can turn the puck over 100 times and the other team's not going to win.
06:15Like, you just can't do that.
06:17You can't play like that.
06:18But it's like the Patriots – it's like the Buffalo Bills turning the ball over seven times in a game.
06:23You just can't win that way.
06:25And that's the power play at this point for the Boston Bruins.
06:29So Marco completely understands – completely understands that it's up to the big guys.
06:35And last game was not the time to make an example for the young guys.
06:39My guess is there will be a time to make an example of the young guys as well
06:43when the older guys get going, but it wasn't Monday night.
06:48And Marco has a very, very keen sense of that because he's been around for so long.
06:54Sounds like there's a little sensitivity there at the Bills' turnover problem, Razor.
06:58Dan, I told you.
06:59You did, man.
07:01You were right.
07:01You called it.
07:02I knew it all the way.
07:04All the way.
07:05So was that a fluke, or do you think the Pats are for real now?
07:11Well, you definitely can't say they're for real now, can we?
07:15We have to see what happens on Sunday.
07:16Yeah, that's true.
07:17But if Greg May's good again, then they'll be fine.
07:19But, yeah, no, I'm not willing to go there yet because, again, the Bills –
07:25Josh Allen's hurt.
07:27Something's wrong.
07:27They weren't very good.
07:28He's hurt.
07:29I haven't hurt.
07:30Shoulder, shoulder, shoulder.
07:31Hold my arm.
07:32Back shoulder.
07:33Knee, knee, knee, knee.
07:34How does he not run yards, guys?
07:36How does he only run two yards all the game?
07:37Oh, yeah, that's a good point.
07:39Could be.
07:40Now, speaking of conspiracies like that one, Drake May came on our show this week
07:44and talked about the moon landing and various things.
07:46So it's made all the national news.
07:48Now, Razor had a great original conspiracy theory that he surfaced on the
07:52morning show, filling in one day, that Africa is made deliberately to look
07:56smaller on world maps to diminish its importance and – I think – do I get
08:00this right, Razor?
08:01And reinforce Western dominance.
08:03You have a great Africa conspiracy theory.
08:05Wow.
08:06Well, and it's become – it's become real because they've changed everything,
08:11right, Ken?
08:12Like, I know the morning show talked about this, and I need more apologies from
08:16everyone because that clip was played over and over and over again out of
08:20context on numerous occasions.
08:22Yes.
08:23But at the end of the day, I've been right about this, and I actually did the
08:26work on this.
08:27It was great.
08:28Yeah.
08:29Thank you for bringing that up.
08:30Razor's more right than he's wrong in a lot of his predictions.
08:32And it was shocking to everybody.
08:33It was just out of nowhere.
08:34Razor was like, I've got this theory on Africa.
08:36I like it.
08:37And we were, like, blown away.
08:38I just love how that came out.
08:39That's amazing.
08:40Free thinker, man.
08:41Now, if I was, like, a random guy on Twitter, I'd be like, concentrate more on
08:45broadcasting and less on Africa, like the guys did with Patrick May, which was
08:50too much.
08:51Oh, man.
08:52Living in the limelight.
08:53The universal dream.
08:54Let me ask you a quick question, if you don't mind.
08:56What is your take on home teams booing, being booed by their fans like they did on
09:02Monday night?
09:03Yeah, four games in.
09:04What is your take on that?
09:07Well, you just said it.
09:09It's the world we live in.
09:11And it's in this social media world where everybody's been given a voice.
09:19I guess I'll allow people to debate whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.
09:23And I will put my two cents into that.
09:26But a long time ago, it was a big deal, right?
09:30It was a huge deal if you booed your team off the ice or off the field.
09:35It was much more.
09:36Now it happens on a Monday night, three games into a season.
09:39So it's kind of like everything else.
09:42I just don't take any of this seriously.
09:46Like, everything's a grain of salt.
09:47Everything will be thought about the next day.
09:50Whereas, again, prior to social media, people just didn't act this way.
09:55They just didn't act so negative so instantly.
09:58But, again, people feel the need to do that now.
10:01And we're obviously not putting that toothpaste back in the tube.
10:04But, again, I just don't.
10:06Because, again, it used to be like you'd have to lose 10 games at home in a row to get
10:10booed off the ice.
10:11It's the pink house.
10:12Now people.
10:13Now, yeah, exactly.
10:15So it's just people are on Instagram way too much.
10:18I think that's the reality.
10:20I used to think you had to earn your booze in this town.
10:22Yeah, it used to be that way.
10:23You know, that was like the thing.
10:24And, like, I mean, listen, that was.
10:26Don't get me wrong.
10:27That was one of the worst hockey games I've watched in a while.
10:30Like, that was, like, really bad and a slog.
10:33But then again, it's four games in.
10:35And it's like we've got that.
10:37We've got Wilson Contreras a couple days after getting hit in the head with a baseball.
10:41Like, not running it out.
10:42But, you know, the guy's obviously injured.
10:43You know, booing Kyrie Irving when he returns back here after, you know,
10:48screwing with the, you know, saying that he was going to sign here forever and stomping on lucky.
10:52That's what you boo.
10:54You can do whatever you want.
10:55It's just when you do that, you're right.
10:57You said it best, Ted.
10:58It's Pink Addy.
10:58Pink Addy.
10:59In my opinion.
11:00Yeah.
11:00And you also said it best in that you used to have to earn the booze.
11:04And again, that's what, it's like everything else.
11:07Like, everything's, you know, you get criticized for a couple hours in anything you do nowadays
11:13because someone's going to do something stupid and everyone's going to go that way on social media or X or
11:17whatever it is.
11:18And, yeah, I like the, I mean, again, we're all old guys at this point now that wish we could
11:24go back to the good old days
11:26where you earned your booze, where you had to lose six in a row.
11:29But if you did get booed, like, coaches are fired.
11:32Again, if you got booed off the ice in the garden in the late 90s, early 2000s, the coach is
11:38getting fired the next day.
11:40Like, as a player, I knew, all right, we're going to have a new coach here the next three days
11:44because the ownership's not going to like that.
11:46But now it happens, and honestly, I didn't even think about it on Monday night.
11:50Like, whatever, like, let's get out here and move on to the next two.
11:53Right.
11:54Yeah, it's really, it is really different.
11:57All right.
11:57Well, Razor, let's just hope they don't get booed tonight.
12:01I will indeed not be booing them.
12:03Hopefully I won't be booing them.
12:04I don't know.
12:04Maybe I'll get sauced up and boo something.
12:06Jeez.
12:06But who knows?
12:08I'm going as a member of the media.
12:10Don't embarrass us.
12:11You represent our show.
12:13Well, let's listen.
12:14If anything, I do a great job doing that.
12:16All right.
12:16Well, Razor, thanks for coming out with us, man.
12:18And here's to a good season.
12:20I really want this team to be good.
12:22I think there's a lot of likable people on it.
12:24But I just, as I said, I can't wait to figure out what the hell they are, because I don't
12:29know right now.
12:31Agreed.
12:31They're a likable crew.
12:32Don't forget, Charlie McEvoy hasn't played a game yet.
12:34He's got a couple left.
12:35So that's going to make a difference as well when they get out on the road next week with
12:38him back there.
12:40So there's no panic, buddy, here.
12:43They're going to figure themselves out, and they are a likable crew.
12:46Hell yeah.
12:47All right.
12:48Andrew Razor Raycroft, you can hear on Morning Brew every Saturday morning at 8 o'clock with
12:51Billy Jaffe.
12:52Thanks for coming on.
12:53We appreciate it, Razor.
12:55Love it, guys.
12:55Have a weekend.
12:56All right.