"Only three players that are untouchable". Bruins legend Mike Milbury joins!

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"Only three players that are untouchable". Bruins legend Mike Milbury joins! Could the Bruins deal their captain?

Transcript

00:00Good morning, Mike.

00:01Good morning.

00:02Where where does one go to get back the time

00:06that they gave to the Boston Bruins last night?

00:09Like I gave them a couple hours of my time.

00:12I want it back.

00:14Like them, you lose.

00:17I mean, it's a I don't

00:20I don't think that there's a lack of effort, but it's clear

00:24that there needs to be changes in the lineup.

00:27And and and I don't think the

00:31the press conference last week, not withstanding with with Cam

00:35and Charlie Jacobs, I think it's it's time to make sure

00:39you've given every one of your potential prospects.

00:42And I say potential because they're, you know, I'm not sure if

00:46Patra or Lysel or even Laurie, who's had some pretty good luck lately.

00:52I need to find we need to find out from the Bruins perspective

00:56if these guys have any future, they need some fresh blood

01:00and whatever fresh blood that's in there, they have to give a try to.

01:04Would you call it luck when Laura couldn't keep the puck in the zone last night

01:07and they got to break away out of it or no?

01:10And you've seen that.

01:11And I've seen him make these mistakes over and over again.

01:14But he also is their best offensive defenseman right now.

01:18But but you don't get called a defenseman because of your offense.

01:22You know, you've got to find your way around the defensive zone

01:25and and he sometimes seems to be lost.

01:29I don't know if that's his inability to do

01:33sort of calculate what's going on around him.

01:35If he doesn't see enough, he sees enough offensively.

01:38So he should be able to see things defensively as well.

01:41I don't know if it's a coaching problem, but it's clear that he's he

01:46he needs to be corralled in his own zone.

01:49And it's not that good.

01:51You've been really generous to these guys, surprisingly.

01:53But how many times how many different coaches

01:57can we blame the coaching problem on?

02:00Well, I've always thought that they've needed somebody

02:04and they have one guy in there now that's supposed to be a defensive coach.

02:08But I don't see the progress with Lowry right now.

02:13But I think they have to keep on.

02:15They have to keep on trying with him and they have to keep on trying to coach him.

02:18They have to keep on making sure that, you know, the guy can skate like hell.

02:22He can move the puck offensively.

02:25And now you start to to just put him in a position

02:28where he does things simply in his own zone.

02:31And that needs to be that needs to happen.

02:33And if he can't do it, then he can't do it.

02:35But that's my point.

02:36We have to look at every possible, you know, guy under 24

02:41that could possibly fit in this lineup, because the guys that are certainly

02:46on the back end of the offensive lineup or even the defensive lineup

02:50are not are not going to cut the mustard.

02:52The Bruins are out of a playoff spot right now.

02:54It's not by some minuscule margin, but they're they're out of a playoff spot.

02:58And and it doesn't look like there's reason for optimism

03:03for this particular unit.

03:05So if you're going to go forward, there's two things that have to happen.

03:08You have to look at every younger and there's a risk

03:12that you might not make the playoffs, but you've got to look at all your young

03:16players and you have to calculate towards the trading deadline.

03:20What what do you want to give up?

03:22How do you want to approach this?

03:23And as far as I'm concerned,

03:25there are only three players there that are untouchable,

03:28and that's Swayman, Postenok and McAvoy.

03:30And McAvoy is hasn't hasn't come around the way I would like him to.

03:34But another another head scratching situation, as far as I'm concerned.

03:39But those are the only three guys that should be protected.

03:43So you would look at deals when it comes to your captain?

03:46I you know what?

03:48I I look at all the teams

03:52in the National Hockey League with great players like Crosby and Malkin.

03:57Why wouldn't they want to be traded?

03:59Why would you want to go at the end of your career?

04:01I know you've had a long story career, one city,

04:05but the chance to go to, let's say, Colorado or Edmonton

04:10when they have a legitimate chance to win a Stanley Cup.

04:13So, you know, you're making a bundle of money and you're going to stay

04:16in a fancy hotel in another city for a few months,

04:20or maybe even move there for a couple of years at the end of your career.

04:23Why wouldn't you want to do that?

04:25I don't get it.

04:25This is this no trade clause nonsense.

04:28You've got to go, as far as I'm concerned, or at least limit it to,

04:31you know, 10 teams because, you know, they're making so much money.

04:35And and oh, my God, you'd have to move your family

04:38for for a couple of years to another city.

04:41Heaven forbid, making $10 million a year.

04:45It's just this team like the basics.

04:48It's like and I don't know if it ends.

04:50It's not it can't all be a skill thing, a roster thing.

04:54It's the the the basics like the the

04:59Dougie Hamilton power play goal last night.

05:03I think that was in the second period where they just they give up the seam.

05:08Their wiki brings us up all the time.

05:11There's guys that are bunched together.

05:13It's it's basic hockey that they can't seem to execute, Mike.

05:17No, I see it.

05:19I mean, every every statistical category is a failure

05:24for the Bruins right now, from from from power play to penalty

05:28kill to goal differential and you name it.

05:30And I don't know.

05:33I can't tell you exactly why I'm not on the bench,

05:36but I believe that these guys are are just it's limited talent.

05:41I mean, they don't see the ice as well as they have to see the ice.

05:44I think it has to be shaken up.

05:45I think it's I think it's personnel related.

05:48And it's, you know, certainly after there's plenty of blame

05:51to go around from top to bottom in the organization.

05:54But I think the jig is up.

05:56I think I've seen it.

05:57I've seen enough now to know that this this group of of personnel

06:02is a middling team, not with not with a great future.

06:07It's still OK to watch once in a while.

06:10I mean, the game against Ottawa a few days ago was was tremendous.

06:13It was great.

06:14People were fighting.

06:15People were aggressive.

06:16They were even though the result wasn't what you wanted.

06:19It was it was entertaining.

06:21But that that comes far too

06:25far less often than I'd like it to.

06:27Mike, when it comes to your captain, we haven't talked to you

06:30since Sacco's benching of him in overtime last weekend.

06:33How do you think that he handled that?

06:36First of all, that is a dangerous game to play.

06:39If you're Joe Sacco, I mean, that's a really I mean,

06:43has this guy ever given you less than 100 percent?

06:46Sometimes he gives you too much.

06:47But there's no reason to think that there's anything but, you know,

06:53passion in his heart for the game and for the team.

06:56That's a tough play right there.

06:58That's that's a that could be a coach killing kind of move.

07:02I remember when Steve Casper benched Cam Neely and Craig Janney many,

07:07many years ago, and that spelled the end of his time behind the bench.

07:11But but I didn't know why.

07:13Maybe he thought he was didn't have the jump in his legs.

07:15I mean, he's a 36 year old guy and we all recognize that.

07:19But I mean, that's a tough call.

07:22I don't know what happened there, why that happened.

07:26And I question I question the intelligence of that decision.

07:31It's just not that's just not something you do to your captain intentionally.

07:35Really embarrassing.

07:37And especially Marcian, who's given you blood and guts for so many years.

07:42Mike, if you're the Jacobs like

07:45and you're saying, all right, maybe talent's the issue.

07:48Are you then because figuring out what you're going to do with Sweeney?

07:52Are you figuring out what Sweeney is going to do with Sacco behind the bench?

07:56Like, what direction do you think they're going to go in

07:59when it comes to front office and then maybe removing the interim

08:04from Sacco and making him the full time head coach or looking in a whole

08:08nother direction for another new head coach?

08:13I think they have to from from an administration standpoint,

08:18I think that that group has to be judged in the next within the next year.

08:22I don't think they need to go any different direction with Kim or or or Don

08:26Sweeney now because when we've talked about this, they they threw fastballs

08:31at their team and made big trades and tried to go for a Stanley Cup.

08:35And I agreed with the decisions that they made and it fell short.

08:40Now, was that the coach's problem or or did they misread their talent?

08:45I thought we all saw them play brilliantly near the end in that first year

08:49that they played Florida and sort of blew that series.

08:53But we all thought they were going to make a deep run for the cup.

08:55So they lose their draft picks.

08:58Now they have to make good on the ones that they have remaining

09:01and they have to make good on the assets they have in their hand now

09:04in terms of of making more assets available at the trading deadline,

09:09finding a way to get more draft picks, making sure that the draft

09:12picks that you have are successful.

09:14I'd give them I'd give them more time because I give them credit for having

09:18the you know, the colonies to go out there and try to make trades

09:21and try to win a Stanley Cup.

09:23They went all in.

09:24Now they have to go all in in a different direction.

09:27And as far as Joe Sacco is concerned, well, you know, I think

09:31you know, he's he's done fine.

09:33But I mean, it's if you're going to make a full scale lineup change,

09:38I guess you have to look at, you know, is this the right guy for the for

09:42for the kids that you're going to bring in?

09:44And that's what they're going to have to do.

09:45They're going to have to bring in kids.

09:47I don't know how you can be Cam Neely and look at this team going absolutely

09:51nowhere, like desperately trying to get themselves in into a playoff spot

09:56and not understand that you've got to blow it up.

09:59He probably does.

10:00You know, when you're a general manager, you have to lie or president.

10:04You do you try to make it all look warm and fuzzy when it's

10:09not warm and fuzzy and scratchy.

10:11And so you try to you're selling tickets.

10:13You're trying to sell something.

10:15You're not trying to say, hey, we suck.

10:17Don't come to the game.

10:18I mean, it's not a very good approach to business.

10:21So you have to sort of like code it a little bit.

10:24And I think he coded it as best he could in the last press conference that he had.

10:29And I get that.

10:31And you have to make sure that you're trying to stay positive

10:34with with the assets you have, knowing that you're going to have

10:37to make some big changes.

10:38And I think they do.

10:40Mike, thank you.

10:42All right, kids, we will talk to you next week.

10:44You got it. All right.

10:45That is Mike Milburn.

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