"It's not a quick fix" Bruins legend Mike Milbury joins! Milbury breaks down how the #Bruins can build this team back up! "It's been ugly."
Joe Sacco not the answer? Mike Milbury gives his list of desired HC candidates! Who should the #Bruins' HC be?
Joe Sacco not the answer? Mike Milbury gives his list of desired HC candidates! Who should the #Bruins' HC be?
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00:00we began this with you mike on thursdays in september october there was so much promise but
00:06uh we've we've arrived at the end of another season yeah it's been it's been ugly and it
00:13started off ugly and it ended ugly even uglier there's a lot of work to be done here i mean
00:20it's just it's it's not a quick fix and it's going to be interesting to see what these guys
00:26neely sweeney do with it because uh you know the task is monumental at this point uh i think you've
00:34you've answered this previously but any surprise that both of them remain here in charge no uh i i'm
00:43not surprised i think they have a good relationship with the you know owner or owner representative
00:48whatever you want to call charlie and i think uh they've had good success and lately lately this
00:55year it's just falling apart and it's it's been head scratching at times but not really
01:01you know i think i i just like to tell you what i think they should do the first need is a number
01:07one center i don't know where they're going to get that probably has to be in the draft uh but it's
01:14it's such a glaring gap in their lineup that you can't miss it and some somehow some way they have
01:22to find it and i don't think they're going to find it in free agency i think it's going to take some
01:25time to pluck somebody out of the draft um lindholm looked like he was playing okay at the end of the
01:31year because he was playing with pasta knock and geeky and those guys were on fire but he's no better
01:36than a number two centerman and the second thing they have to do is they've got to nail the draft
01:42they've got to nail it they haven't done that in a while they haven't had many picks to nail it with but
01:46um however they go about this they have to look at getting fixing problems that that they need to
01:55fix and usually that's up front they need another top six forward there's no doubt about it i'm sure
02:00they're going to be some quality players in that department in free agency and they've got to get
02:05the goalie's head screwed on straight i don't know if he's a jerk in the locker room or not it seems to be
02:10enough word on the street that that might be a problem for them but this kid was a phenomenal
02:15goaltender for a couple of years and then he turned into you know less than that much less
02:21than that in the last part of this season and it was a little scary for me but i don't know that they
02:27can afford to trade him but it's and i don't know if they could trade him at his number the way he
02:32played this past year but you know they've they've got to figure that one out it seems it seems ridiculous
02:38to ask is he a guy who can't play a full season that need that that needs needs his binky or
02:45whoever that is you know i think the the formula has been that the top goalie plays about 60 games
02:51or 55 to 60 games and the backup plays the the rest that's a formula he should be able to handle
02:57he's a young kid he's in good shape he's there's no reason why he can't do it but um you know the
03:04game-winning goal the other night was short side goal i mean it looked like a simple blocker save and
03:09he just he just missed it but the next thing they got to do is fire is find a coach i don't
03:15think joe sacco is the answer here and i think the the dive at the end of the season probably proved
03:20that there are a couple guys that come to mind one of the guys on the on their staff right now chris
03:26kelly might be a guy that they should take a look at jay pandolfo maybe from bu there's a coach in
03:31denver david carl who's done a really excellent job used to work for jim montgomery now on his own and you
03:39know they've got to figure out what to do with the bottom six i mean it's a it's been a revolving
03:45door and they should be able to find guys that can solidify the bottom six relatively easily i don't
03:51know if they have them in house but it's not going to be that expensive and it's a fix but going back
03:56to the coach somebody's got to come in and establish some discipline here they they seem to have lost
04:02their way for the most part in the last 20 games of the season and this low rise just just didn't change
04:07at all he's minus 43 which is scary and uh you know on the winning goal the other night
04:14postanark's on the ice and you know he's been brilliant offensively but he keeps making the
04:20same mistakes he's like ovechkin before ovechkin you know got to barry trotz and figured out he could
04:26play hockey at both ends of the ice he was three on three and he makes a half-hearted pass at a
04:32defenseman at dumoulin who wound up scoring the goal and then he just lazily skates to the bench
04:38and all of a sudden new jersey comes back three on two and dumoulin's got the puck and rifles it
04:43past the goaltender that's it's inexcusable mike when you look at the ownership do you feel like or have
04:51you ever worked for an organization because i feel like that for the ownership of the bruins a successful
04:58season is just making the playoffs and if you win a championship it's icing on the cake
05:05because and how long do you ride that with your gm and cam nally you know they they've done they've
05:14been better than just make the playoffs and get out in the first round that's been the the knock against
05:18the jacobs family and and every year the bruins spend to the cap you really can't point a finger at
05:25them they they they've given their their uh manager and their president the chance to do what they do
05:31and and put a team together that that makes sense and i i i think i think they'd certainly like to win
05:38another championships but not not easy and the bruins have done some remarkable things just a couple
05:42years ago and they seem to be knocking on the door and it's a hard thing to accomplish and you know i i
05:48think their their trust is has been earned by ownership and and they're going to get another year maybe
05:54another two but i mean i think the clock is ticking at this point mike there's been some speculation
06:00that chara's role within the organization may grow in the near future have you heard anything like
06:05that and what i haven't heard that it wouldn't surprise me though courtney i mean this is a quality
06:10individual and you know it's not you know it's not automatic that somebody steps in and can do
06:17something like managing or assistant managing and be automatically successful i mean z is a great guy
06:25he's a very intelligent guy i think he could work his way into a you know a very meaningful relationship
06:33with don sweeney and um what that is i don't know i haven't heard anything well i've heard things along
06:39the way that they were going to give him more to do or give him something to do but he hadn't really
06:43wanted to do that he wanted to spend more time with his kids and at home after you know a long
06:48and illustrious career and he's done that for a few years and maybe it's time for him to you know up the
06:54ante but i have not heard anything specifically mike if jeremy jacobs was in charge completely do you
07:03think cam and and don would still be here yeah yeah i think he would be i think he would be i you know when
07:11when harry sindon was the manager and jerry jacobs was was around a little bit more um i think he gave
07:18harry every opportunity to do the job and i think i think charlie jacobs is doing that with neely and
07:24sweeney and i don't i don't remember a time when you know jerry was around trying to figure out who
07:30what the power play was doing or what the penalty kill was doing he certainly kept an eye on the bottom
07:35line but different era different time but i i think the relationships are still the same they
07:41have faith in these guys and uh it has to have been shaken a little bit given the results this past
07:48season but they did enough over the last 10 years of sweeney's tenure to merit another chance and they're
07:55gonna have to they're gonna have to earn the long-term chance mike how you talk about getting
08:01a number one center and through the draft so i know they say it's not a rebuild a retool but when
08:08you start to think of just you know what this team is doing how long is it before because before we can
08:16actually say this is a stanley cup can contender it's a good question you know i mean i address the
08:25goaltending situation if that can be rectified that's a big piece of the puzzle mcavoy and lindholm
08:33have to play at a different level than they played in the last year and a half there's no doubt about
08:39it but the defense is not really a problem they've got enough people back there that they can get the
08:44job done i'm not too concerned about defense it's up front where there's a concern post and arc world
08:50class geeky they're gonna have to spend a ton of money to re-sign him but after that who's who's
08:56another top six forward and it's gonna take time and you're asking me how long i don't know it's how
09:02good are they in the draft how good are they are they at signing free agents and had they kind of
09:08swung and missed at the last go-round but i don't see it happening for two to three years at least but
09:15why this is this is not a retool this is a rebuild but why is don sweeney being handed the keys
09:20again after firing two coaches that have gone on to great success immediately with their western
09:26conference teams and with the way the draft has been fluno shenzhou had a story yesterday where i
09:31think the bruins have the second most second least players minutes from guys they drafted in the nhl
09:38behind ahead of only like this the penguins like i just don't understand it well i mean to address the
09:45coaching situation i mean different circumstances arise i i don't know what happened with jim
09:52montgomery they were off to a rocky start they they seemed to be discombobulated and you know i heard
09:58charlie say he didn't see see any structure in the team it seemed to be it was maybe a bit hasty uh and
10:07certainly you know it didn't it didn't get the job done by firing him and he goes on to do something
10:12special in in st louis but he had a different set of circumstances a fresh start and and he took
10:19advantage of it it's a good question it's a tough call on coaches um most of the time it doesn't result
10:26in dramatic changes and in your results but sometimes you feel the need to to make the switch because
10:33it's not going well and it doesn't seem to to be able to turn it around at some point or another
10:38that's when you have to pull the trigger when you don't think there's a chance for
10:42things to get better but have they been hasty but mike when charlie jacobs says yesterday
10:48that he doesn't understand why and i'm paraphrasing why some fans uh suggest that you move on from
10:56don sweeney or cam neely it it appears tone deaf i mean we did a poll and i mean 800 votes or whatever
11:05it was and 79 thought that don sweeney his tenure ought to end i mean i and i know you don't believe
11:13that but well i i also think you you would have if you taken the same poll of 800 people at the
11:18beginning of the year probably the same percentage would have said jim montgomery should go um that's
11:25easy if you don't win they they can't stand you that's it's pretty simple if you're not in a winning
11:30streak and you're not hot and you're not looking like you're contending you're going to get heat
11:34especially in this town you know they want it they want it and they want it now and um you know
11:41listen i'm sure don sweeney more than anybody else has second guessed some of the things that
11:45he's done and some of the things that he's done i second guess but there was a time just a few
11:51years ago when they were making a run for stanley cup when he made i thought with three or four
11:55brilliant moves to bolster his team and it didn't work and jim montgomery was the coach
12:00so you you say so in the off season right where we are now free agency it's going to be very
12:08difficult to find that number one guy with the bruins picking at seven what's the turnaround as far as
12:17the nhl draft that type of player to being able to help a team out when you compare it to maybe other
12:24sports could this kid potentially help your team out right away or usually does it take time
12:29for that type of player to to make it in the nhl well look within the bruins organization lizel i don't
12:36know if he's going to be a player or not he shows some flashes but he doesn't finish much potter you
12:41know doesn't look like he's going to cut the mustard it's usually for for a lot of people it's
12:48several years but if you get lucky it could be just a year or two when the guy is 20 there are
12:53a lot of 20 year olds that play in this league and that are effective and um very important players
12:59on their roster but by and large it usually an 18 year old draft these are just babies it usually
13:06takes three years for them to find their way to the nhl and to be a factor and that's why this is not
13:12just a retool this is a rebuild at the important positions at top six forward mike get you on record
13:18before you go who do you like to win it all this season well you know it's hard to look past the two
13:25teams that at the top of their conference winnipeg and washington i mean they're going to get great
13:30ratings aren't they winnipeg versus washington but i probably i if i had to place a bet it would be
13:36winnipeg they've been consistent all year long they've got a great goaltender they're they're fast and
13:41they're they seem committed um so i'll i'll put a nickel down on them all right well we have as
13:48always enjoyed it all season long we will see you next on june 26th at my place by the sea in rockport
13:56behind the bar at your sister's place for a roadshow pregame and you spinning records yes i'll bring the
14:02i'll bring the wax stacks of wax and uh unfortunately you were unable to get chime on the greasy pole but we'll
14:10uh we'll keep working on that i guess just another one of my long list of failures all right mike melbury
14:17see ya see ya see ya see ya see ya see ya