Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Battling Boston Without Auston

Episode Date: November 5, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look ahead to the Leafs' matchup tonight against the Boston Bruins and discuss a surprise injury designation for Auston Matthews, Max Domi's opportunity on the top line and Bobby McMann lacking a physical edge. Then, on the Boston side - their slow start and Jim Montgomery's seat heating up after public spats with Marchand and Pastrňák. Helping them dive deeper on the Bruins, NESN analyst Andy Brickley (31:31) discusses their back-to-back shutout wins over the weekend, the returns from their offseason additions, Montgomery's benchings and the depth forwards delivering.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

game day the real kipper and born show leaf our edition welcome aboard we're live on sports at 590 the fans sports at 360 and sports net plus net kip rails justin born sammy mckee derrick brandeo jake the snake schultz toronto maple leafs boston bruins bruins coming in town for the first time the big bad bruins are they i don't know not really not really kind of the meek medium bruins cubs the cubs no yeah like cubs now a couple wins in a row, though. Yeah, mid is right. They are mid. But bigger news is that Austin Matthews unavailable for tonight's contest. Yeah. Level of surprise? Well, Sammy probably touched on it more than we wanted to the other day was,

is there something wrong with him? Is there a hand issue, a wrist issue where he had surgery, what, a few years ago? I can't even remember how far back it was. Yeah, they're saying not the wrist. Did I dismiss that yesterday out of hand? No, I don't think so. No. I think I just mentioned it in passing. And then we all sort of had the conversation that one of my least favorite things in sports is when a guy is underperforming right and we all agreed we all agreed but then

maybe he actually was yeah he had uh seven shot attempts and played 22 minutes in his last game so you know he was involved he was out there it's not like there was an event that took him off the ice but uh apparently something nagging he's had a shoulder issue in the past too let's be honest he's had a head thing in the past who knows let's get uh craig brooby's thoughts on austin matthews for our first kippers clipper well it's day-to-day upper body right now it's you know he's been fighting through it a little bit but uh so obviously he he's out tonight okay what's he fighting so year, he played 81 games. Do you remember the one game that he didn't play?

He didn't play against the Pittsburgh Penguins in December, and the Leafs won 7-0. Martin Jones had a shutout. Tyler Bertuzzi had three assists. Max Domi had a three-point night. Matthew Nye is at a Gordie Howe hot trick in that game. Yeah, was that that game? Yeah, beat the crap out of somebody on Pittsburgh,

and then he scored. Beautiful backhand. He was flying. Backhand goal. I remember that, but I don't remember my email password. I get it's early in the season. I get that he's not off to the best start. If there's something nagging him, look after it.

Yeah. But I just wish it wasn't against the Boston Bruins. Yeah. I actually kind of like it. You like it? Why do you like it? I like it. It's an early season game.

Ultimately, it's not meaningless because it's a tight division and they need to get these points. And like we've mentioned that. But this is a big moment for guys to have to rise to the occasion. Like it's all these guys underneath that we've been talking about, their lack of contribution. The homie hasn't scored yet. Top line tonight.

Top line tonight. Nick Robertson has only scored one goal all year in a blowout. Bobby McMahon's been up and down. Like I just, more guys are going to feel a little bit more emboldened than they will in other games. And it's a big test on home ice against, like you said, the big bad Cubs or Bruins or whatever you want to call them. It's a wake-up call for some guys here,

and I think it's going to be fun tonight. I think it's actually kind of good. It is. If it's not serious. No, they play well. If the injury's not serious, then it's like the season's over. But if he's just got a sore shoulder or something, then maybe it's okay.

And if they lose 4-1 today? Yeah, they didn't have Austin Matthews. You're covered. That team's doing that with their starting goalies, right? They're like, yeah, we're just going to play our backup. And if we lose, we didn't play our starter. Can't play them off. Perfect.

Yeah, no, the guys do tend to be like, all right, well, can't be a passenger tonight. We're going to play all right let's get craig broovy's thoughts i'm playing without austin and if they're as uh casual as our sammies everybody just needs to you know just do their job out there i don't think you focus on well austin's not playing so what are we gonna do i mean we got a good team. We've got good players, and people are going to get a little different look tonight in situations, lines, things like that. So they're capable guys. They're good players, and, you know, you just got to go play.

We understand who we're playing here tonight with Boston and how we've got to play the game, and it's going to be a hard game. You know, we know that. Boston's won a couple in a row now, they're feeling good about themselves and they're playing better agree that especially a guy like Max Domi that this is his specialty he's the first guy in line to be that that guy that can move up the lineup and hold a spot, whether or not you believe that he could hold it for a whole season, is much different from this type of scenario.

This is why you signed Max Domi, because he can move up and down the lineup when needed. I'm ready to go in, coach. Just give me a chance. I'm telling you, if they're really good tonight, I'm going to go in, coach. Just give me a chance. I'm telling you, if they're really good tonight, I'm going to have a meltdown. Like, I'm going to have a really hard time if Marner and him once again click

and they're a fantastic line and they haven't given this a chance before. You guys know I've been on this, like, let's just see Domi with Matthews and Marner. I think they played together. Every time it feels like those guys play together, they play well. And then, I'm sorry, once you get what you want,

where does Austin come back to? I would love for Austin to have his own line. Okay. Share that with me. Yeah, great. I would love for him to play with a couple of guys like Bobby McMahon and Matthew Nyes or Bobby McMahon. And I think he can drive his own line the same way that Sidney Crosby drives his own

line, the same way that McDavid at times does. So Nise is not with Domi or Marner? Well, if you want to keep them there, fine. Okay. Then McMahon, Austin, and Willie. No? Sure. Okay.

I'm into that, but it doesn't even need to be willie i would love to split them up have marner matthews and nick robertson sure i'm in honestly i'm in i i think austin matthews is good enough to make this a three-line team if you give him a chance give him a chance you're not into it well listen uh let's just let's go no further than watching max and mitch and matthew nice tonight yeah my my three steps ahead but again i i like max listen you can put max on the line and if you can get two weeks a month three months maybe he does crack that barrier that he has not been able to crack his whole career, and that's to legitimize himself on a contending team for a top six.

I got good news for you. We have his coach on it. He's a top nine guy. For sure he is. Let's listen to clip four from Berube on Max in the top. Yeah, I mean, I think Max has been in this situation before here. I wasn't here, but I watched it. Max has been around a long time.

He's a good player, and he's the type of player that relishes that type of thing. He understands what his job is tonight and what he needs to do, and he just goes out and executes. I just think he's going to have a good night. Yeah.

I do. Yeah. I think they all should have a good night based on the weekend and regrouping and getting a good night's rest. It's a cookie night. What do you think Craig Berube did in terms of watching previous Maple Leafs stuff to prepare to coach this roster? He says, I wasn't here but

i watched it what do you think he did like this off season do you think he went back and watched yeah 40 leaf games yeah 100 or 80 leafs games enough enough to say i want more north north south and east west right we have not seen a lot of regrouping. We've seen pucks in deep. We've seen one or two guys hard to the net. The stat that you mentioned the other day about second chances and rebound goals. Yep. Pretty good in those categories.

That's right in the Berube's kitchen. So that's the gist of, I think, what he's speaking of well i mean if you watched a million games from the last couple years or the last year with domi he would know what we all know good with good players lose them with bad players so why oh not bad players but you know bottom six guys you lose them and you mean like he's he can't drive a line he needs to be a part of something so if you've watched so many games and you know what his game is, like why are you trying to steal these minutes with him as a third line center? We know it doesn't work.

Just speaks to, I think, some of the issues they have. Well, let's stick with the theme of the coach weighing in on some of these guys, middle six guys. Berube on Bobby McMahon interests me there. Clip six. Well, I mean, I think he, you know, he got a couple goals and he was going good and it kind of dipped a bit. He needs to find it again.

Like, you know, just I think sometimes players overthink things and try to, you know, try to do more than they need to do. Like his game needs to be a simple up-and-down game and bang bodies, big body, and go to the net hard and things like that. So he can be better, for sure. He's all over McMahon, eh? Well, do you see why?

Yeah, I see why yeah i see why because a mid-30 guy like max patch ready's playing harder than you are good good uh comparison yeah and i can't have that yeah like that's a bad sign for us end of story patch ready should be a whipped cream and a cherry on top man you you need to be the ice cream when it comes to hitting guys yeah and he's not but we've had this discussion before it's okay everybody's on their best behavior when everybody's watching closely at training camp or a couple exhibition games or a couple seasons. But now we're in November, December, four games in six nights,

don't want to do it all the time. Then you're going to have a coach all over you. That's what's going to happen. Yeah, fair enough. A couple ways we can switch gears. I think he's trying to get this physical presence out of mcmahon and you know he's is he a physical like do you need goals out of him or do you need some some physical presence like there's a quote he's well how much did he

get given how much was his contract is it 1.5 or something like that one two i think and we were all pretty excited about that contract because he was scoring so much last year they need that version too like i mean for the like he's supposed to be looked upon as depth 3.5 he's supposed to be looked upon as depth scoring right oh no no no he was physicality of him 15 and half a season he was like ready for next level stuff and he's taking a step back but he's taking a step back his coach is asking him to be something he's never been so i get what barubi sees there's a quote about mcmahon one of his harvard teammates i think he went to harvard didn't he um one of his ivy

teammates said i don't think he hit anyone in four years like there's a quote about you know that was just not the guy he was and i understand that you know all about adapting your game to make and stay in the nhl yeah i think it is a little bit trying to trying to change the player which there's nothing wrong with that if he's willing to do it but i think that's but where they're at There's a pecking order. The hitting comes first before you start searching for goals. The hitting part is the easiest part to make your coach happy. Yeah. To appease him.

Yep. It's not the goal scoring part. And now he gets caught when he's out on the ice. For sure. It's actually, you know, like how a stay-at-home d-man they say like if you notice them it's a bad game when you don't notice them it's a good game mcmahon could kind of be the same thing where if he just went about his business for check finishes check played good positional he'd be they'd play him all the time and then he'd just find a few pucks here and there and shoot him in. Which he can. We know that. Oh, yeah. He can shoot him in.

Yeah. But it just doesn't appear like he's all in on that engagement that Berube's needing right now. And he's a big, strong, heavy guy. We've seen him knock people over. Yeah. But do you think he'll get there? Like, do you think that, like, keeping, like.

This is a big question. Yeah. Maybe we'll find that roommate. Yeah. Was it a roommate? A teammate? Yeah. Maybe he'll have better insight than us.

I mean, continuing to ride him and talk about how he's been up and down and how he needs to hit people more and all this stuff. Sure, that's great. But you also really do need the other part of it on this team. Yeah. Right? So, like, you know, to need the other part of it on this team. Yeah. Right? So, like, you know, to me, you kind of have to find a balance between asking him to just be a bruiser

and needing him to shoot the puck in the net, and that's why you're the coach of the Leafs and you get paid the big bucks, but you are losing the other part of this game right now. Last year, he averaged 10.4 hits per 60 minutes, and this year it's 8.9. So he's down a hit and a half per 60 minutes of ice time. That can't drop. Yeah.

He can't let that drop. And it has. You can see why there's some frustration from the coach. The year before it was 10.36. So his hits are down. He needs more of that. Okay. Where do you want to go?

Either Stolarz or Boston. Stolarz. Thank you. Boo. Oh, my God. Boo. Thank you. This guy has been nothing but unbelievable.

And Barney wants to run him to the back. No, because we're going to sit here in April, and you guys are going to go, well, Stollers is hurt, and now Wall's had a bad year because he's only played 11 times. They should have given him some starts. Why are you worrying about a conversation a month or two months or three months? Just focus on two points tonight. That's Sh sheldon keith you are you are a mid-team until you are not a mid-team right now they are in the in the middle of a pile with all the rest of them and until you

get some breathing room don't start counting your all right we just remember this when we have conversations later in the year and i say you guys were unwilling to look at the big picture that's all i'm saying anyway stolar starts listen he's better than lead wall right now gives him a better chance to win tonight tough to argue with that okay let's go to bruby on stolar's starting tonight against the boston brunes well i mean it's you know it's always discussions with the goalies and where we're at in the schedule and things like that. So we've got a back-to-back coming up after tonight. I liked Stolle's game last game, so I chose to go with him tonight. That's simple.

Yeah. It's like we have back-to-back. They're both going to play. Who do you want to get the extra game? The guy who's playing better. I get it. That's the bottom line. And that's the bottom line.

That's the bottom line. Yeah. You've been watching the Vince McMahon doc too, right? I have been. Every time I hear that clip, I think of... Not a great guy. Who doesn't know? Down with the Leafs? You want to talk a little Boston here?

Yeah. On what Boston Bruin team will see tonight because they've had their issues you know you're done with the leafs you want to talk a little boston here yeah on what boston bro and team will see tonight because they've had their issues right out of the gate and are they a team that's coming in turning a corner somewhat with two wins in a row including two shutouts or the kraken and the flyers or those are good points is this a team that still going to find a way to lose without austin matthews in the lineup i don't know interesting bruins team like they had been built on d and goaltending and team theory stuff uh they can't score 26th in the nhL right now and goals four per game. Swayman's not been great.

Kind of a slower start. Yes, but I don't think he's a major concern right now. Okay. So if he's okay, that would certainly help. He's okay. He's fine. If you want to look at the big picture, somehow, someway, it would have been nice

if they could have avoided all of that. Did it need to happen for Boston to come to an 8.25 or Swayman coming down off of maybe a $9 million early demand? Like, did everything have to happen to get to that point, or could it have been avoided? Because it didn't help. The distraction did not help this team get out of the gate. No, it's crazy how often you see that happen,

where teams and players kind of go at each other for a contract, and then the player signs and struggles. It happened with both Nylander. I think Marner, too, when he first signed his deal, like, both guys were pretty slow out of the gates. It happens. I think there's something in your head about, like, almost being, I don't know if this is a big leap,

but almost being, like, embarrassed about having publicly been seen grinding for more money or whatever it is. Seems to affect guys when they come back. The other thing that's awfully strange is the challenge that Montgomery, their head coach, is giving two of their star players that you wouldn't necessarily consider issues when it comes to needing to set examples

for the rest of the team. But he's butt heads with now his captain, Brad Marchand, and David Pasternak. Yeah. examples for the rest of the team but he's butt heads with now his captain brad marchand and david pasternak yeah so he was pasternak was healthy scratch for the entire third period of the two nothing win over the seattle crack and sounds like kind of a rough turnover um in the second period and that was been a trend with pasternak so far. My first thought on that, Kip, is like, you hear about coaches who feel like they're on the hot seat and it gets public, and they just say,

if I'm going down, I'm going down, pushing all the buttons, pulling all the levers, like this, we're going down my way. I'm digging in. Yeah. And my first thought is, you don't have to speed up the process either. You know, but I can see guys being like, if we're going to lose a few games,

I'm not doing it continuing to cater to the guy who's turning the puck over all the time. Oh, I know. But as Sammy has said on a few occasions, and you, with guys like Willie, there has to be a certain amount of acceptance. And my first thought is that, yes, he has turned over the puck in bad spots, but maybe more so than he has in the past.

But do you really, over the course of the last four or five years do you can you send a message without embarrassing him completely for the third period i don't know you know you and i think fundamentally disagree on this like ego stuff i don't see it as like an embarrassing sort of thing. It's like that's punishment for not doing things. That's coaching. I think it's just my experience from being around guys to know that like they are sucks and they are egos and there is all of the things that you're talking about that you're

just way more mature. We're not. We're not. We're sucks. And you don't forget. You don't forget. I mean, I played hockey until I was 28 professionally too. Not in the NHL, mind you.

But it's the same. You know, I've seen enough of these guys getting benched. I've been around with my dad and all his people. I've seen enough to know that these egos are massive. Yeah. But at some point, the crest on the front is supposed to be what comes first. And if you can't fall in line, sometimes you got to sit and watch. But the coach

will pay for it, not Pasternak or Marchand. I can assure you that it's like he's behind the scenes. I think there are rumblings that this can't go on much longer.

I don't know what a loss tonight or a bad loss could do for montgomery right especially with matthews out of the lineup here but he's under the gun big time now and he's just highlighted it that much more by going after a guy like pasternak in a game that they're winning yeah no I I get what you're saying about he's made it a public issue now but he's brought it to light and there's also the part of it where you know when I can't remember when Keefe did it here when he benched Matthews and last year remember there was like that it was like half a you know half a period that he benched

them for. They missed a power play after they had this really bad turnover and he was mad. And we talked about it for a few days. And you do it in these markets. It's benching Pasternak in Boston is different than, you know, Macklin Celebrini getting benched in San Jose or somebody getting benched in a different market. Like benching your best player by far in Boston in a game you're winning, that is sending a message.

And that is something people are going to talk about. And you know people are going to talk about it. It's just you got to be careful with that, I think. Pasternak comes out, scores a hat trick. They win 5-3. Right. Montgomery looks like a hero. I guess what?

First, that's probably what's going to happen. Would you stop it? I will. I mean, I don't know. We can get to the game time later. Go ahead. You know, I just want to say that Montgomery has not fabricated this. Just sorting for giveaways in the NHL.

He's second highest in the NHL in giveaways. Who's number one? So, I gave you among forwards. Nathan McKinnon is the highest. But Nathan McKinnon plays four more minutes per game than him. I mean, giveaways are often, the top of the league is often the best players. Yeah, Zouk every year, giveaway leader. He has the puck all the time.

That was a thing. So certainly it's related to having the puck all the time. But there's a lot of giveaways there. That's all. A couple per game. This isn't the only place. Dougie Hamilton first overall. This is not the only place the Boston Bruins are leaking oil here.

And, of course, in about 10 minutes, we'll welcome in Andy Brickley, Boston Bruins analyst, and we'll get a little deeper into maybe some of their issues here. But that blue line, which we thought was going to be their rock, suddenly looks awfully slow. Yeah. And not even that tough. And they went out and got Zdorov.

Yeah. Which is, yeah, I mean, Carlo's big. I don't think of him as mean or anything like that. But one thing I do want to hear is Montgomery is trying to smooth this over publicly. Like he's saying the right things to try to make it not a story. We have a great clip from Montgomery talking about Pasternak and the benching and how he handled it. Yeah, he was incredible. You know, very vocal, picking up players at the last 15 seconds, talking about what a great team win this is.

I said this since the beginning. I've said it numerous times. I'm really lucky to work with the leaders I get to work with. I'm very fortunate. In other places, you've seen coaches that, you know, it's a big problem. And I'm lucky with the accountability that exists in this culture and the leaders that I get to deal with because that allows me to hold everybody accountable.

In other places that I see, it's a big problem is he is that a little leaf jab there that sheldon tried to bench a couple guys and it was a big problem i don't think he was i mean going down that path he wasn't in toronto yet for that clip so maybe not no but if he was here, I would believe it. But he's already kind of trying to make amends, right? So he's trying to get ahead of it. He wasn't quite apologizing for benching them. Nor should you. But that was the whole

Sheldon thing when he was like, he apologized for calling him soft or whatever happened. There's no apology there, but it is making amends. I'm real interested to see the type of energy that Bruins come out tonight and Pasternak for sure because the Boston Bruins that we've known or watched beat up on the Leafs over the years was this hard, hard four-checking team.

And the stats today will tell us that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston are fairly even, right? Yeah, the standings are... There's only 6-5-2, 6-6-1. Yeah, same team base. Same in the standings, but Toronto's been a much better and harder four-checking team than what I've seen out of the Boston Bruins this year. That staple has been all much better and harder for checking team than what i've seen out of the boston brunes

this year that that staple has been all but disappeared towards you know their average start is that they they have not forechecked hard and i think you've hit on something that's key to watch like when i uh when i was on the staff with sheldon with the marlies he would bench willie he would call willie in and he would show him the video and he'd say, here's why do you disagree with being benched? I'm sure Montgomery and Pasternak have had that talk, but if Pasternak does agree with disagree with him, like he's not one to, I think it has a chance to be a lingering problem for them.

If the, the leaders of the team feel like they're getting picked on. Yeah. I think tonight's effort is going to be telling from them yeah and it's also to me in montgomery's mind i know this is a fan thing to say but he knows that david pastrat strack owns the leafs he knows who the next game is against he knows how good it's going to look when pastranak guarantee goes now you're giving him credit for thinking ahead to tor Toronto pretty significantly. Yeah, I am. For this,

I am. Maybe not on that quote, but there's something to it. He knows he's going to go out there and play great against the Leafs. He always plays great against the Leafs. And therefore, it's going to make him look awesome for benching him and lighting a fire under him and getting him going. He'll be awesome tonight. He's Pasternak. It's the Leafs. So there you go. No signs of

Vancouver Zdorov. There's a little bit of Colorado Zdorov, but not like... He's struggling. There's a few others struggling. Lindholm doesn't look himself either. Lindholm and Pasternak, just no chemistry. And they really banked on that being a line, eh?

Lindholm hasn't scored since October 12th. Second, third game of the year. Wow. Yeah. And we saw Charlie McAvoy score a pretty nifty goal. Coyle. Coyle, sorry. Coyle, yeah.

Yeah, Charlie Coyle. We saw him score a real nice goal. But, you know, Lindholm and Charlie Coyle are going to take you to the promised land as number one and two down the middle. No, I don't think that's a safe bet. You know, the Bruins kind of feel like they got some issues here, like the tentpole guys are fading, and with Marchand fading, and, yeah, you need a lot from Coyle, and those guys got to find it.

Tyler Johnson in the lineup tonight doesn't feel like big bad brewing stuff to me i'll be honest let's uh or cub stuff yeah do you want to hear uh bruby talk about uh on the bruins here clip three please hasn't really changed i mean the personnel has changed um with their team but their their culture and how they play the game and what they value in the game hasn't changed. They've got solid goaltending. Obviously, they've got a big D core that defends well, and their forwards are responsible defensively.

They don't give you much. So you've got to earn what you get against them, and at the same time, you've got to don't give you much. So you got to earn what you get against them. And at the same time, you know, you got to make sure that we're not cheating and forcing too much and things like that. You got to, you know, you got to play patient too against them, you know. That's going to be a key point tonight.

I mean, that's given them a lot of credit for being the same team they've been. They just don't look like it. Like if you, if I sort their, their fancy numbers that i get from sport logic boston's not good a lot of red like they're 29th and shot attempts 25th and shots on that 29th and rush chances 23rd and four check chances so they don't create you know expected goals against 22nd they're they're not they don't look good we suck we suck except against the Leafs you think that's gonna hold

a always does they played great against the Leafs they do they've won eight straight regular season games and they go back to play eight regular season it's eight straight bud that's a big number and so they played a few times right after wall came back last year he just was not ready for that challenge. All right, let's take a break. Okay, we'll take a quick break. When we return, we'll welcome in Andy Brickley. Does a great job covering the Boston Bruins.

We'll get into some detail there on maybe he knows a little bit more on Pasternak. Yes, and thanks to Brad on Twitter who pointed out that I lost my poppy. I don't know how it happened, but I'll get it. We'll look after you, pal. All in that and more after the break. Hey, it's Matt Marchese. And I'm Mike Futa. We're discussing the top stories of the day across

the NHL and the hockey world weekdays at noon. It's the Fan Hockey Show on Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we're back. Are we back? Hopefully. All right.

You let me know when the commercials come into an end. Sometimes our in-the-break chats, they would be really, really popular. You should have a podcast called In the Break. For our last show ever together, they'd be wonderful. Hey, before we get to Andy Brickley, before I forget, last night, the Zig Zags,

my beloved beer league team, we had a listener out to play net for us uh cameron our listener and he was spectacular made a couple great saves we got a big win over the jaeger bombs or jaeger meisters i forget the team their name team name but shout out cameron he was awesome so thanks for coming out bud appreciate it way to go cameron thanks thanks let me get that in i appreciate it like it's it's getting goalies is hard i was thinking about paying money i'm okay with that proud moments not as it's not like a hole-in-one no right that's a good segue let's go to andy brickley who canceled our last hit due to a hole-in-one i've been in broadcasting well over 20 years andy that one was a first for me, but I get it.

Trust me. I get it, pal. You still telling that story every day? Let's make sure the wording is correct. I didn't cancel. I called your producer to say things have escalated. Oh, we canceled on you. Well, I think it was a mutual decision just for those that listened to the show that they didn't really need to hear that okay can you remind us uh the yardage

and the uh the iron used on your hole-in-one yeah if memory serves me correctly it was a friday and we have a big friday group that plays together you, we have the team from 11 to 1230, and the season was winding down. There was a lot of money on the table, and it was on the 15th hole, 190 yards, and I hit a, yeah, I hit a three hybrid. Wow. And it landed, just landed on the front of the green

and rolled in like a putt. It was nice to watch. Congratulations. That's awesome. Thanks. Where does that luck stop when it comes to the Boston Bruins? They were pretty lucky over the weekend. They played well.

They got some improved play from some guys that they needed some better play from that play a lot of minutes for this team and have a lot of responsibility, a lot of accountability, and they hadn't found their A game yet. So improvements there, those are good signs. They got good goaltending. They got better penalty killing. So there's some things to get excited about for the team, but they certainly weren't flawless performances.

There's still a lot of growth in their game. A lot of it has to do with the way the Bruins play, guys, and you know this. It's a hybrid, particularly on the defensive side of the game, and they rely on their centers to do a lot of the work and i know that's a little old school but you know they're not man on man they're not zoned so a lot of it is on the sentiment to make the right reads and then communication and they got three new centers and it's taken them a while to get really comfortable with how they defend and i think that's been one of their bigger problems so to put a couple of shutouts back to back that puts them in a better frame of mind coming in to play the Leafs tonight. I'm scared to ask you where you are right now. I'm at the Scotiabank arena and they're

doing the sound check and I'm up in the booth. I thought this would be the most, the quietest Sammy, Sammy, Sammy guest, Chuckie cheese. jr sam sammy i'm wrong again i'm wrong again sammy guest chucky cheese um it's all good it's all good we appreciate you taking the time even even from there the uh the the question i got for you is just it feels like the bruins like the season is not where the bruins would want it to be they're kind of right where the Leafs are in the standings, but for some reason it just feels like it's been a lot worse for the Bruins. Why does it feel that way? Do we just have the wrong picture of how

the start of the season has gone there? I think it's more because of certain individual play. You know, you have a guy like Sally McAvoy who should really control games at times. I think he's that good. He's that skilled. He wants the puck on his stick. He wants to be on the ice in critical situations.

But he had doubt that has crept into his game, and it's hard to believe somebody that good, that's that important, that's going to play 25 minutes, that he has some doubt. I thought the last game that he played against Seattle was his most decisive. He made the right decisions. He thought the game quick. He played quick, and it was the best he's played. Charlie Coyle, another guy.

You know, last year there's some question, can he drive an offense as a second-line center on an elite team? And everybody felt that he was a great third-line center on a Stanley Cup contender. But could he do, you know, in the absence of Bergeron and Krejci, could he be a second-line center? He had a really good year, and he did drive the offense for a second line. That wasn't happening for the first 10 games. He didn't have have his a game and he's been very good the last two campus Lindholm another guy

that plays big minutes on the back end you know you have that one-two punch with with McAvoy in one four in one twosome and then and then Lindholm in a second and his game has improved over the last two or three which they needed I think the guys that came over, the big free agent signings in Lindholm and Zdorov, it took them a while to figure out where they best fit in, how to play, especially Lindholm with that center position that I already brought up. They had him on a bumper on the power play. He's probably better served on the elbow,

so they've tried to reconfigure what they do with the man advantage to get more out of that in terms of scoring. David Pasternak's been Jekyll and Hyde. He's been awesome at moments and, you know, invisible at others. And then, you know, bad turnovers at even other points. And obviously got, you know, didn't get a shift in the third period the other night in the game against the Kraken. So there's been issues.

You know, the holdout during training camp for Swayman. You know, was he going to be ready to go come game one? I think his game has improved. You know, he's always confident, always good, but now he's starting to look like that force that he can be in the net. And Corpozalo's been good, too. They were great on the weekend. So there was so much surrounding this team that were question marks.

And then a lot has been made of the situation with the head coach without a contract beyond this year. And then he had an exchange that was pretty public with Marshan and the venturing of Pasternak. So there's some issues that they're trying to sort out. I don't think they're big issues, and I think it's more on the player to respond the right way. Marshan certainly did, and I expect Pasternak to do the same.

So those are some of the things that have prevented Boston. You know, you knew they weren't going to be 9-0-1 in the first 10 like they were a year ago, but you really didn't expect this one step forward, two steps back, which is what we've got for the first 10, 11, 12 games. We're talking to Andy Brickley, Boston Bruins analyst. Does a terrific job covering the Bruins for Nesson. So part of that frustration of a of a poor start

has led to very high profile benchings by head coach jim montgomery and andy i mean we we played we've seen guys benched before but eyebrows are always raised when when a coach goes after his best players so you tell me how calculated of a risk is this for Montgomery to, to, to go right at a guy like Pasternak most recently. Yeah. Working backwards. Let's start with Pasternak.

This was not based on solely the performance of the second period in the game against Seattle. This was coming. This was building. This was time and time again trying to get David to play the right way in critical situations, games where they left points on the board. And he was a culprit in many of those bad decisions. I mean, he wasn't alone.

But when you have a high-profile guy, a guy that's going to play a lot, a guy that's supposed to make the plays, he's now really more of the leadership group. You know, Marcian needs some help in that room. And when you have a guy like McAvoy, who's doubting himself and Pasternak, who's turning the puck over and making bad line changes, that's unacceptable for a head coach. It's unacceptable as a teammate. It should be unacceptable, you know, and you'd like that room to police itself, but it's different now. It's no more Chara. It's no more Bergeron. A lot is on

Marcian and Marcian was trying to find his own game at ice level because of the three surges in the off season didn't really have much of a training camp. So as he was trying to find his legs in his game and he's trying to be a voice and he's trying to run the locker room. And then you have a couple of other guys that are supposed to be leaders. And they're the ones that are the guilty parties are taking the shortcuts. That's unacceptable for a head coach.

And yeah, it's, it is a slippery slope to say, you know, how do I go about this to get my team's attention? And again, I thought Marchand had it perfectly with that exchange on the bench. And then I will wait and watch very carefully tonight how David Parson actually responds to being back to the first year. So it feels like, could this be the first year in a while where for the Bruins they're really looking at adding

or making changes within the season? Do you think that this is the year where maybe we could see some trades or them getting perhaps a little bit more aggressive than the past? Yeah, I think that's pretty insightful of you. I think you're going to see a hockey trade this year. You know, I thought we were going to get a really big hockey trade when they were going to trade Nina Somer. The goaltending

fan that was so good to the Bruins and the relationship between the goalies, but they knew they had to deal, one of them, with the situation financially where Swayman was headed after having the arbitration the year before. And they knew they were going to be in a battle

to try to fight the plumbing round financially. My impression was that they valued being in the draft this past summer in the first round. They had to deal with Omar and his limited movement clause, but they wanted to get in the draft, so the timing of the trade was such that it allowed them to get into the draft. It was 25th pick. I guess they put some value on that.

They get the Corpus Allo, and they get the Corpus Allo contract for most of it. And then Kastelik's been a great find. He's been a nice addition as far as the fourth-line construction for the Bruins. That said, I was looking more for, you know, for my generation as a fan of the Boston Bruins growing up in Boston, I was looking for that Esposito-Rattel kind of trade, you know, Rattel and Park. You know, a big hockey trade. You know, a really good player for a really good player.

A need for a need, but that hasn't surfaced yet, but it would not surprise me, fellas, to see that happen at some point this year. Okay, I promise I'll let you go, but you know, Pasternak's their game-breaker. We know that. World-class in his prime. Marchand may maybe slowing down a tad,

but what is it that they need most? Is it a dynamic score here? A number-one centerman to maybe push Lindholm and Coyle back? What is it in your eyes? Well, it's a top-six forward. No question about it. Whether it's a wing or a center, my preference would be a center. I think you could even put Coyle on the wing if you wanted to have him

inside the top six. But if it had to be a winger, it has to be a top six guy, a guy that can produce, a guy that can play power play, a guy that even if he's a wing can help drive an offensive line. But my preference would be a center. Now, you know, if you keep Coyle at the number two slot, what is Matty Potra going to be? What is he going to be?

You know, this is a draft kid. They're trying to put resources behind him in terms of development, and maybe that had something to do with the signing of Tyler Johnson to get him on a line with Potra to give him some help, somebody that can play intelligent, give him goals, help the kid learn the game, learn to know where the hits are coming from. So there's a lot of moving parts, but my simple answer is top six forward that can be productive.

I think that's what they need most. Last one for me, Beecher, Kastela, Kepke. Is it Kepke? Am I saying that right? Have they been on for any goals against yet? That line's been unbelievable for the Bruins. Well, it was funny when they went into Carolina, which was a disaster. You know, Monty tried to split that

line up and put one of each on a different line to hope that their work ethic and their habits, their good habits would work, you know, would rub off on the other two players on that line. That was a did not work. That was not, ended up not being a good idea. So we put them back together. They're comfortable playing with each other. They play the game the right way.

At least to this point, they've been good. Their sustainability's been good. They keep it simple. High percentage. They know who they are. Their back check pressure is real good. They take the ball. All the stuff that you're looking for when you put a fourth line together, they can start periods. They can close games out, hopefully.

Beach is pretty good in the face-off circle. Haslett's been good in the face-off circle. Haslitt's been good in the face-off circle. And you can get them out there to change momentum of games. They've been very good. The best idea is to keep the three of them together. As far as goals against, yeah, very few, if any. That's because they've been playing the right way. I don't know what the hell's going on at the Scotiabank Arena,

but I thought Halloween was over. I hear chains in the background. I hear ghosts moving in and out. Steps. My assumption was they did their sound check around 2.30. Not right now, you know, when you're trying to get ready for the game. But, you know, what do I know? I'm just

a guy from Boston who's you know, I keep looking at my phone wondering how the election's going back there. Good luck to you. No one can ever take that hole-in-one away from you, that's for sure. Thanks for doing this, Andy. Hey, that is number four, by the way.

Oh, my gosh. Boo! Yeah, you got that excited for a fourth one? I had to get that in. I got to brag a little bit. Yeah, justifying. Most definitely. Well done.

All right, Andy Brickley, justifying. Most definitely. All right. Andy Brickley, everybody. The Boston Bruins. Take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sammy was loving the... What did you hear? I heard chains. Okay.

Dragging. One of the first... I used to be... When I first started producing, I remember I booked a guy. I forget the guy's name. He used to be a writer for Sportsnet. And I booked him on with Jeff Sam, who I used to produce for back in the day.

And I was happy to get this guy on. And, like, in the middle of the interview, like, it sounded like he was in the background. Like, there was some sound in the background. And then somebody, like, scores a goal at a rink. And it's like, eruption. It's like, it's like goal scored he was just like doing the interview in a hockey game

I just remember laughing so hard I don't know how good of a pro Andy Brickley is I guess I have extreme ADD but those massive sounds he didn't break he didn't stop what choice do you have I guess but what a pro some things we just cannot control.

Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. Send me to Serenity. Listen, we... Stay calm and carry on. At least he picked up, you know? He did. How about a shout-out for this Justin Brezzo?

Like... Is this just you taking a dig at Leafs? No, it's not... Yes. Yeah, it is but it's a guy that came within one goal of breaking my north bay junior record yeah and he is a giant right he's six foot five 220 pounds he played for the toronto marlies for 20 games a couple years ago scored four times and now he's a pretty important piece in that lineup

great hands four goals in 11 games for them yeah he's uh so how does a guy like that just how does that happen but this happens when they're not ready you know like it just seems that it happens a little bit more often maybe here are you saying the Leafs had Carter Verhage and what's his name? Rodriguez in Florida and Marchment in Dallas. And we can do it for a while. It's enough to piss you off, though. But if you went, like, listen, I am as pissed off about all those guys as anyone. But I think if you went around the league to every single team that did that, you would have a laundry list of guys.

Rodriguez played for nine teams. I get it. I mean, Carter Verhege was not only cut by the Leafs. No clue. He was cut by the Lightning. Nobody saw that. There was two teams that went out and gave up. It was just impossible to have seen that.

Still sucks. If I could undo a marchman for Dennis Malgan, I probably would. Do you think Nick Robertson knows that list pretty well Dennis Malgan, I probably would. Do you think Nick Robertson knows that list pretty well? And going, I'd like to join it? Yeah. I would love to be part of that list. I'd love to be one of those guys.

Yeah, sure. For sure. But, man. You got a good feeling about tonight? I do. Yeah, this is the sort of situation in the past where the Leafs said, we're without Matthews, we're without Marner, we're without Riley. Their record is good without all their star players.

So everyone rises up. And it's just a year where the Boston Bruins are going to finally kind of fall off because we've been waiting for a while now. I do think that they're in trouble. Like that Poitras, he's not, I don't think he's all that great. You know, they're not that great down the middle. Marchand is not the guy he was.

It's funny, you know, the biggest thing that I took away from that interview was when he said, it's not like it used to be. You don't have, no, not the horns. Okay. We don't, it's not the same culture where you have Bergeron, you have Chara. It's not like that anymore. He was basically saying the coach has to do this now. Marchand's trying to find his game.

That, to me, is what the Bruins were, was the identity, the culture, the leadership. And he's saying they're not that anymore. Why can't Marchand set that? He's part of that. He's trying. The numbers aren't quite where he wants them, but he still should be able to carry that part of the culture

into that dressing room every day. Yeah. It's like, you know, you lose a little piece of the team and a little piece and a little piece, and the culture holds you together, and then eventually, you know, you just lose too many bits of it. He's the only guy, right, who you would consider a part of that, I guess, McAvoy?

God, this is music to my ears, boys. Like Abbey Road, just playing in my ears, talking about the Bruins downfall. I still don't think. You don't believe it? Yeah, you can show me their, what's the page you use? Sports logic. You can show me all the red you want.

Still wearing black and gold. I do find a way that there is enough culture there. There is enough good players there that they're not going to, like, miss the playoffs. The nerds like Ottawa more than Boston. Listen, that's where, again, Detroit at 5-5-1. They're all right in the mix here. The Athletic has the Red Wings' odds of making the playoffs at 5%.

Already? Yeah. The Boston Bruins? No, no, no. The Red Wings. Oh, Red Wings, yeah. That tracks. I mean, that's a 32-game season.

Very small chance. And we've concluded this after 11 games. If you've watched them play, I would be like, I agree. Agree. Our thanks to Andy Brickley, who will cover the game for the Boston Bruins tonight. Coming up next, Steve Allicat. Tuesdays are getting quite popular on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show.

Big show. Big show. Huge one, as we'll dive into a ton with one of the best ones out there when it comes to his clear sight analytics. Steve Allicatat after the break. Don't go away.