Montgomery out, Sacco in. Was it the right move for the Bruins? Was it the only move they could make?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I got to get to the great Maria from Watertown and her thoughts on the Bruins this morning. Hello Maria
00:08Good morning. Hey, I don't Greg you've mentioned in the past that Don Sweeney sometimes listens to this show
00:15He used to I don't I don't know if he still does or not, but he used to yes
00:19All right. Well, let's see. Maybe you can send him the tape because these are the questions
00:23I want to ask him. Is it Jim Montgomery's fault that David Pasternak had zero shots on goal in the game against Columbus the other night?
00:31Is it Jim Montgomery's fault that Nikita Zadorov the stiff that he is?
00:38Doesn't know the difference between when he's playing a shift with a man up or a man down
00:43Is it Jim Montgomery's fault that every time Pavel Zakha seems to get the stick on his puck?
00:48He shoots high or wide this this is
00:52Typical weasel
00:54Boston Bruins behavior on the part of
00:58Management, they set Jim Montgomery up to fail from the very beginning because mr
01:05Sweeney if you had faith in the roster that you had constructed for this season
01:11You would have extended Jim Montgomery either in the offseason or when the season started
01:18But no, what do you do in an effort to save your own skins you and your BFF?
01:25Cam Neely you let this guy hang in the wind because you must have suspected that this roster
01:32Wasn't at the standard to which you thought you had built it now where they're coaching mistakes likely
01:39Yes, you can't be at the bottom of all NHL statistics and not accept some of the responsibility
01:47As a coach, but what I'm saying to management and players right now
01:52You all have a target on your back. You all better have a cup of shut the you-know-what up and start
02:01playing hockey because now
02:03This group of players a lot of them the same group of core players
02:08Have cost three very good winning coaches their job and there's nothing that I can't
02:16stand
02:17any more than
02:20management and ownership
02:22Capitulating to players who are played paid
02:26Extremely well to do a job do your jobs. Shut up and play
02:32Maria, I think you make a brilliant
02:35Argument and great call. My only question would be
02:40Don't you now know who all these players are?
02:43Like they're people when the going gets tough they point the finger
02:46So in what way like in my mind you just need to gut the whole thing and restart like
02:50Martian pasta all these guys like they're clearly not people that take accountability. They're just not
02:57It's so disappointing because that's not what I that's not what I maybe I had a twisted view
03:03what the culture of this team was did the fact that they are not able to
03:10Handle any kind of adversity or criticism. You're right Curtis
03:15This is not the DNA that I want for my hockey team or you know
03:19Even worse an original six hockey team. What what are we doing here?
03:24Maria great call as always cuz you gotta ask is it what changed from?
03:31What was it two years ago where they were the best team in the regular season?
03:36What a lot, you know the majority of the roster being the same roster from them then to now what changed
03:44Oh, you lost Patrice Bergeron
03:47Okay, is is that enough of it? Like is that a significant change where you just your team falls off the cliff?
03:52Well, you want a tree Bergeron who got your coach fired that won a cup with the Vegas Knights, right?
03:57So I mean, it's not I mean, it's the facts. I mean, yes, but I'm agree with you Curtis
04:01I heard it's you're spot-on like I
04:03I've defended Patrice Bergeron on this show a lot
04:08I've defended Brad Marchand. I think
04:13that you got to look at those guys and
04:16You're spot-on when you say they don't want to put any of this on themselves
04:21They always want to blame it on somebody else and at the core of your beef with the Patriots and Mayo and all of that
04:28Yeah, I think you are right that the players that got Belichick fired are in the same boat
04:35Yeah, like I'm not saying they'd be much different. Maybe they'd win a game or two. That's not the point
04:39It's that if you're continually trying to change those around you instead of changing yourself
04:45You're never going to be successful and that's what I feel like the Bruins have fallen into where it's like
04:50Well, I know Sweeney's sackless. He'll just fire the coach and rub my back and
04:56That's what it's been for basically a decade they put themselves in a horrible position though
05:00If they need to do what you're talking about and blow it all up
05:04Like there's really no talent in the system whatsoever. It is talent none
05:11But there is a talented piece out there
05:13Oh, well, maybe even two you mean talent that you can go get for David post or not that yeah
05:19And my but but you do you you have no talent in the system. Mm-hmm. You don't have any money
05:26And the core of the players on this team don't seem to be the ones
05:31Who who really want to show up and win it? I you know, you bring up David Poster knock
05:37unbelievably skilled player
05:39but
05:41It's like you don't think somebody else would done him that does he can't it doesn't show up in the playoffs
05:46Yeah, somebody else will probably want him. Yeah, so but that's just today Charlie McAvoy like Charlie McAvoy is just
05:54Not he's not a I don't I don't know that he's a guy you can build your your hockey team around
06:00He's been less than satisfying and Brad Marchand. I'm gonna give my talk. We talked about it yesterday
06:07I'm gonna give him something when it comes to how long he's been in the league how old he is
06:10But this is probably it too for him
06:13I like the how this season is unfolding and now the firing of Montgomery like I think that he calls it a career
06:19I don't think so
06:20I think he's more I think he's opposite of Bergie where he wouldn't mind going play for somebody else to contending
06:27He already said I kind of lightweight said, you know
06:30They asked about his contract and he kind of didn't be like, all right, this is it
06:34He was like, you know, we'll talk when we get to that point about you know, potentially doing an extension
06:39But that's why I asked yesterday when you look at this core
06:43through especially through the middle
06:45Your forward being pasta your defense being McAvoy and your goalie being Swayman is this core
06:52Those guys the ones you want to build around or are you at the point where it is like?
06:57Nuclear and you have to blow it up and you're saying okay. What can we get for a guy like pasta?
07:02What can we get for a guy like Marchand? What can we get for a guy like the McAvoy there?
07:08there's just
07:10you would think Marchand would be it but there's not a
07:14Veteran like a legit veteran presence
07:18Around that locker room to get guys in line like and and you think about a guy like 40 who obviously wasn't
07:24Talented like these guys, but that's what he did, right?
07:27And those guys would tell you over and over it takes a lot for somebody like Sean Thornton
07:31Who is not a goal scorer to be able to hold guys accountable. He held guys accountable
07:37I think you're gonna laugh at me, but Don Sweeney, I think when you look at the mistakes he made
07:42Not
07:43Resigning Pat Maroon for pennies. Like I think Chicago's paying him
07:511.3 million dollars is a mistake
07:54Like why not give the guy a flyer like he came here hurt last season and gave you a little bit
07:59Like or or or names anybody else like somebody in there
08:04Who's gonna be in that locker room and tell those guys that this is not the way the big bad
08:09Boston Bruins have been but they're not the big bad Boston Bruins. There's a big bitchy Bruins. Yeah, that's a good one
08:16They're completely a whole new the players are new
08:19Their mindsets are new
08:21It's like when we talk about Ty and I we talk about how Willie police the the the locker room like those guys don't exist
08:27a lot of them don't exist no more in this day and age people respected Sean Thornton because
08:32There were other players in that locker room whether it was Big Z whether it was crazy
08:38Bergeron, you know, there's so many guys you could think about we're like, okay
08:42We respect with Sean Thornton Thornton saying so then the younger players looked up to him
08:48Now, do you think these guys would respect the guy like Thornton or they're like listen?
08:52I think they all respected Bergeron and everything we heard
08:56Bergeron is like Greg is saying it's a completely different animal. He kept them all in line
09:03No, but Montgomery used to say that he didn't even have to coach because Bergeron kept them all in line
09:07Now he just more like I think he was saying that more like his knowledge of the game or whatever I I don't know
09:14I'm not scary like a Sean Thornton. Like I get that but didn't he get didn't he get Cassidy fired?
09:20Yes, so isn't he more like the new generation than he would the old generation and and Greg and this is from flutist
09:27who's our yesterday and I think it was the biggest reporting because what Sweeney did and has done is
09:33Accumulate talent instead of building a team and if the roster so
09:38Pluto shins out when the Athletics said what's done is done
09:41Swayman's priority is to find his confidence clean up his game and prove to his teammates that he was right to play hardball if
09:48Swayman continues to take backward steps. He will not have many friends left in the dressing room
09:53So if these guys were really pissed that Swayman was going for the last dollar
09:59Like what is the calculus in there who cares you've already got your contract
10:04yeah, that's like if you're that pathetic that you don't want your team to have the best goalie possible and
10:11Swayman who is
10:12Negotiating and setting a market that other NHL players will benefit from his own teammates are mad
10:19Yeah, that's the brotherhood. You never go against the brotherhood when it comes to money. This is Aaron Andrew from Connecticut. Hello, Andrew
10:27How's it going, I'm just answering what you question like what changed between the good season and now
10:34That playoff series what changed they blew a 3-0 lead to, Florida
10:38I was calling for a gap or throwing that that season away. Everyone should have been fired because where do you go from there?
10:45Hmm, so like John Sweeney
10:49He should have been let go a long time ago
10:51I just I'm a big Bruins fan and I hate the culture because when you look at the numbers
10:57The one and done stuff that you know getting kicked out of the playoffs
11:02It's I just feel bad when you look at Montgomery's record. No one who has won that much should be fired
11:08well, there were there were some people who wanted Don Sweeney fired after the
11:132015 draft so
11:19So, I mean that conversation has been ongoing in some circles
11:23But he's always been able to slide, you know, and nearly I mean, I guess nearly slides because of his performance and then you know
11:31Nelly's more like ah, you know what? We got some new meatballs. We're putting on the menu. He's the menu guy