Fluto Shinzawa on the Bruins and the Eastern conference playoff race

It's Mike Schoep and the Bulldog.

They have this Panther sound effect that is just the cheesiest stupidest sound in

the game.

Big voice guy going, Panther Gold scored by Sam right heart, where'd you get that thing?

I trapped it.

Been keeping it in my bathroom at the hotel, feeding it old pizza.

It's Mike Schoep.

If you're calm, that wondrous big cat will be calm too, but if you're scared,

that beautiful death machine will do what God made it to do, namely, each you with a smile

on its face.

And the Bulldog, the WGR sports radio 550.

Obviously, the Sabers being in the playoffs for once in 15 years is number one on this list

of things about the upcoming NHL playoffs to be excited about, but maybe number two is

no Florida Panthers.

I had enough or Leafs.

I mean, there are people who hate the Leafs like that.

I'm not one of them, but I kind of like when you're in, yeah, I can take a break from

people, you know, reacting to the Panther roar because, you know, I heard a lot about

that.

I will not miss, I was you on there.

I will not miss Florida and maybe perhaps neither will our guests joining us on the

Western Hotline, Flute Ocean Zawa from the Athletics, but on the Bruins beat for many

years, Sabers and Bruins tomorrow night, Bruins and Leafs tonight.

So we've reached you on a game day here.

Thanks for your time.

Yeah, you bet.

Can I close Bulldog this 1983 Sabers, Bruins, hockey reference, Spockscore page on my browser?

Are we done with that?

No, something good.

Come up.

Fluteo, there's of course plenty of playoff history between the Sabers and the Bruins,

of which tends to haunt me.

But hey, look at the standings today, and this could very well be a first round matchup.

I think it would be if the season were over.

Tell us about this Bruins season so far.

Well, that would be wild on multiple levels, just given what expectations were like heading

into this season.

If you look at it from the Bruins side, they're no sure thing at this point.

It's probably a coin flip, but they're in pretty good shape.

The gold timing has been tremendous.

It's probably the number one story here in terms of Jeremy Swaman just being a game

changer.

They stole them a couple of points in Detroit, massive two points in Detroit.

So you look at where the Bruins have come from.

They were terrible last year.

Fifth, worse, and the league trade, they're a captain, the guy whose number is going to

be up in the rafters, trade a whole bunch of other folks, and then have some bad luck

actually in the lottery to drop to seventh.

But you look at the way that they have put some foundational pieces in place, starting

with a new coach.

He's been Archerstrom's A-plus job, and getting so much above expectation performance pretty

much across the board in terms of where you look at the roster and credit to management

for bringing in players that fit Marko's vision.

So again, they could fall flat on their face here, and their last, I think they have 12

games left, but regardless of what happens from here on out for the Bruins, I think this

has been a very good step in terms of returning to where they want to be.

I'm glad you started here, because I think, you know, for us, we're just a little

background here at Fluto, we're wrestling with a fan base that has been pretty detached

here.

I mean, 14 years now in the playoffs.

I mean, we've never called on you before.

You've been on this beat for 20 years.

You know, we've just been sort of at arm's length with the Sabers, and I bet a lot of

our audience, if they weren't closely following the league, would have just expected the

Bruins were in the playoffs every year here, but last year was kind of a bottoming out.

And that's what makes this year such a surprise, other than the goalie, how have they

really done it?

Power play.

It's taken a little bit of a hit, but consistently top five all year.

So that's Posternock, that's Geeky, that's the McVoy at the point.

I think that's a big one.

They've also, at five on five, they've scored significantly above expectation.

You can look to Geeky again, that's a player, and part of it has been playing with Posternock,

but that hasn't been a line combination that's been regular this season.

In fact, Morgan's been on their third line, while David's been on their first line.

So they really haven't spent that much time together, but yet Morgan here is with the

career high in goals.

He's hit the wall here a little bit, but that's a player that is shooting way above expectation.

We've had from a Buffalo guy, Casey Middlestad, he's really made 180 degree turn from where

he was last year, from when the Bruins got him from Colorado.

They're a second line with Casey, Pawel Zaka, Victor Arvetson, that's been probably their

most consistent three zone line.

So I would say goal tending number one, power play number two, number three in terms of

just performing above expectation when it comes to goal scoring, and just an overall fight

in terms of their attitude, never out, and that reflects so well on the coach.

So again, perhaps a little bit of a head scratcher in terms of, you look at how they've played

versus their expected metrics in some of these categories.

It's been, it's been better than expected.

So good on them.

Flutus and Zawa are guests from the athletic Mike Schopen, the bulldog here.

You mentioned Middlestad, not the only former Saber in the mix in Boston.

I saw Nikita Zadorov's goal in Detroit.

That was a big one.

That's not what he's, you know, about, but still and Yokey, how are you in and out, Fluto?

What's his status?

Henry has been, yeah, he'll be back in tonight.

He'll be, and he'll be playing with Zadorov.

So he's been kind of the pretty much regularly the seventh defenseman here.

Andrew Peek has been mostly the Nikita's partner on that third pair.

Henry, it's been hard for him to gain traction.

I think there's been a little bit of a mismatch here in terms of his strengths versus what

they want him to do and how they want their defenseman to play.

He likes to play with the puck.

He's got some skill there, but he's not physical.

He's not really in the mix in terms of really digging for puck and playing stout in

these own coverage and being there boxing out.

So I don't know that it's been the I bit for Henry here, but on the flip side, Nikita's

been, he's, again, that's another player that really struggled at times last year.

As a first year Bruin, taking way too many penalties.

And now here he is.

He's been, he's been very good.

He's been one of their three best defensemen and a shut down guy will fight, will go up

in the rush.

He's a great skater at his size.

It's just, you can't contain Nikita Zadorov when he's at full speed.

So some positive and negative when it comes to those two ex Buffalo guys.

You mentioned here that the Bruin still have work to do to make sure they get in.

So they're not, they're not made here, but assuming they, they get this home and they

make the playoffs as a, most likely as a wild card.

I guess they, they're tied in points of Montreal.

So third is still on the table for them, maybe even second.

Do you think it's sticky?

Like today, bottom out last year and sort of spring back, like are there building blocks

here for them to kind of keep going or is this sort of maybe a fluke one off type year?

No, I think this is a good first step and I think they're, they're trending upward.

I was just in Providence today this morning with James Agons.

Right.

Look, look like he, at times, he might have been gone first overall last year, but he

goes seventh and he plays out with his sophomore year at BC.

He's a natural center, but he played mostly on the wing, which is where he'll start as a

pro.

So who knows?

He's going to start in the American way, but it might be temporary just because assuming

he makes up that NCA to pro transition well, like this is, this is a player whose skill

set will be needed here in Boston now for, for this stretch run.

So maybe he stays the rest of the year in Providence, maybe he doesn't, maybe he comes up and

helps out the diversity, but that's, that's a foundational player.

That could be, that could be a top line center for a long time.

And they still have three foundational players, Poshna, McAvoy, Swaman, now Poshna, keys,

let's see, he's in 96, so he'll be 30 in May.

So, okay, but he's still performing at elite level, Charlie's in 97, so he's a year younger

and Jeremy also, I think he's in 97, maybe he's in 98, but those are, those are, those

three players that you can build upon.

So beyond that, Hagen's is coming up, Minton, former, former Leaf has been playing very

well, Houston Vinoff from, from Minnesota last year, the acquisition, like these are,

they've, they've got some players here, but they still have some picks to go, like they

still have Toronto's first round pick, so, which is a top five protected, but let's say Toronto

finishes six worse, and they get that, that's a, that's a pick that could play right away.

So yes, they, it's, it's not done, but it's a good first step in the right direction.

They did this with McAvoy a few years ago, didn't they?

Signed him, he went to Providence, played a little bit, and then eventually came up and played

in the playoffs, right?

Correct, he was, the plan was for him to finish out, same thing, sophomore year, BU, reports

to Providence, and the plan was for him to stay there, the rest of the run, but then the,

the body started falling left and right on defense for the Bruins then, Brandon Carlo,

Adam McQuade, maybe Torrey Krueger, I can't remember, but he was needed, they, they needed

a player, and he was ready, and up he comes, and he's playing with Daniel Chara on the top

there, and, and then, and there's, there's no turning back.

So that, that's kind of an exception.

I don't, I, that's, that's hard to expect a player like Higgins, but that was, yeah, that's,

there's a precedent there for, for American League stay that, that didn't stay, that didn't

last very long.

That extra pick is Carlo from Toronto, right?

That's a tough one, I mean, yeah, to, you know, push like they did last year, and they

don't, not get there losing Florida, now having this season off of that when you don't

have your number one.

I just read a piece from Toronto with, with the athletic, which is where our guest is,

does his work on the Bruins beat about that trade and like how, you know, the state of

mind that they were winning the division, like we're loading up for the playoffs, let's go

get a big, mean tough defense men.

Oh, sure.

Number one pick in this prospect, we got to do, we got to do, and holy cow a year later,

it looks bad.

How about that, Pluto?

Last year, in March, the Bruins making that move, I mean, good, good on them.

We've had plenty of experience there with the trade deadline, just get what you can get.

The, the sabers, however, last year did a little bit differently, even though they were

near Boston at the bottom of the division, signing Jason Zucker for one, trying to kind

of make a statement send a message that we want to keep players who enjoy playing for

the sabers and build from the team we have instead of just, you know, selling off pending

UFA's all the time.

And wow, I mean, we're stunned.

Who isn't by the sabers season so far?

How have you, what has been your perspective on them?

Yeah, it's hard to believe.

You keep saying, well, maybe this is the year, this is the year, this is the year, and

it never is.

And you look at it from outside, that just, and I know, this is a long time ago, but

just that, that stink of losing that year to try and get McDavid and not doing it, like,

I have to believe that just, that just, just seeped in to the organization, right, for,

for so long, and it just takes so long to dig out from under that.

So, but, hey, it's, like, I still, I can, I can remember some of those, those games when

they were relevant, when, when Miller was there, and you had some hard players, good players,

Palm andville, Gostad, Regier, this was, those are, those are some, some real headbutts

that Buffalo and Boston used to have, and it's, it's, it's, it's, it's nice to see.

It's really nice to see, and I think the people there have, have had a hard time for a

long time, and, and good on them for getting rewarded.

Yeah, I'll bet you'll see a building, if you, I assume you're traveling here tomorrow,

Fluto, that, or, or here on your way already, um, it's, it's very different.

The last Bruins Sabers game I was at, I mean, we're used to Toronto fans and Canadian

fans in general, piling into the building for Montreal and Toronto, like I said, I was

over around by Bruins fans the last time I went to a Sabers Bruins game, and I'll, but

there'll still be a smattering, but the, the fans are back, so it's a, it's a different

scene here.

You know, in the course of this, Mike mentioned this playoff history that the Sabers

and Bruins have, and so much, it's a whole different era, of course, um, but we both

kind of grew up with the Sabers and Bruins budding heads, and it was often very physical,

and often felt like the Sabers were, um, the receiving end all too often, uh, from a

bigger, tougher, stronger team, you know, we saw Tampa roll in here a couple of weeks

ago.

I don't know.

Most of the hockey world paid some attention to that game, that eight, seven game from

a couple of Sunday nights ago.

Tampa very much looked like we're going to try to push you around, and the Sabers reacted

in kind, and we're up to it.

And, you know, thinking about the Bruins and even about a potential playoff matchup,

I'm wondering if the Bruins might have some, some instinct to see if they can push Buffalo

around.

Are you ready to be in the playoffs?

It's been 14 years.

Are the Bruins capable of playing that kind of game successfully at all at this point?

Yes.

And you can tell in their penalty minutes, they're, they're, it's too high for their liking.

They take a lot of stupid penalties, but a lot of those penalties are from, from the

five minute kind, um, Castellick, the toughest they come will fight anybody.

Geno, he's a little bit banged up, but that's why you don't, you don't want to mess

with that, that is as good of a fighter as, as there is in the league, as a door of always

willing.

Um, so, yeah, those, those three will, will take on anybody, um, aside from that, it's,

it's not, there is not really in terms of, um, fight stuff, but you don't want to mess

with any of those three characters, um, because, yeah, they're, they're, they're willing to

go.

What a season so far, Fluto, in the Atlantic division alone, our colleague, Joe D. B.

Asi pointed out on Twitter a couple of days ago, maybe how, I mean, it's stunning as the

Sabre season has been, they're not just leading the division, they're leading like the best

division ever.

When you look down, down the list, I mean, you got Boston and, and Detroit and Ottawa

right there, four, five, six, and, you know, having really good seasons, not everybody's

going to make it here, um, what's your perspective on just like this division and

playoff outlook as a whole?

It looks pretty flat to me.

I mean, here we are with the Sabre is likely to make it.

Who do you want to play?

I don't know.

Like everybody's about the same.

I'm not sure how much of a reward there is for first place.

Yeah, there's, there's a lot of, of, of high performing clubs right now, like you look

at Ottawa, that, that's a team that deserves to be in the playoffs, but they've, they've

got no gold tending.

If you get, if you get average gold tending, they're in, just give, given the, the pace and

the skill that they have.

Um, I saw Detroit the other night that they should have, they should have beaten the

Bruins just because of how many quality chances they got, but two leaky goals against, uh,

against Gibson and, and none against Swainman.

So there, there's a difference maker among three all.

I think there hasn't been a line that I've seen lately that's better than, um, Suzuki

Falfield and Soskowski, that's, that's, that's a dynamic dominant first line that I've

seen.

So, and then of course Tampa and, and yeah, Florida, they, they ran out of gas.

So otherwise, they put a bit right in the mix too.

So, um, yeah, pick it poison when it comes to this division, there's been, there's been

a lot of quality coaching, a lot of quality systems, um, high performing players.

So, yeah, it's, um, it's exciting.

You mentioned that about auto.

I was watching them last night about a lot of hockey fans that don't really care that

much about auto or the Rangers were watching it because it was the only game that was featured

in the league tonight.

They'll be 15 games, but I'm watching auto will last night and learned that they're, they're

allowing a league low 24 shots on goal against, but their save percentage overall is 30

second in the league, which is, that's, that's an insane combination.

Like if you're, to be limiting chances, I mean, I don't know about goals above expected

or any of that stuff.

I mean, I don't have it at the tip of my, my fingertips here anyway.

Um, but man, that's stark to only give up 24 shots a game and be last in save percentages

tough.

Well, it goes, goes back to the golden and like that former, former Saber, former Bruin,

I don't know, former Mesonetrophy winner, if, if Lena's placed to his level, they're

in, but he's had the mental health issues, uh, who knows what, what else is going on?

Like he hasn't, it's not, not even close to his level.

So again, you, you just never know what goal-tending is just so random and so fickle and guys that

are great one year or they're just, they, they fall flat on their face the next and you

just, it's so hard to project that kind of performance.

Um, like how many, how many years do we see Alex Lyon kind of run out of gas after playing

great for a long time and then you realize, okay, this is why that he's, he's never really

been an ace, but then, then some years it's just, it just, it works.

Yeah.

So yeah, who knows?

But yeah, Ottawa, they, they got, they have all the skill, but the goal-tending has, has

really let them down.

Who would have seen Alex Lyon up close there for his, his only playoff experience?

I believe that to start that series against the Bruins three years ago, right?

Uh, I, gosh, that, that does sound familiar now.

Um, yeah.

And I, I, I, I like Alex a lot.

Nice, nice guy, cerebral, takes his craft very seriously, um, but, uh, did, never really

gain traction, right, where, where, where, because she's, I remember interviewing him when

he came through with, with Detroit and he's just wondering, okay, is this guy ever going

to stick and, and really, um, think of Steven, um, I, I wasn't, I didn't know that he,

he, it was, it was going to come for Alex, but great, great for him.

Well, one more before we let you go, Fluto, on, on that topic, the sabers have been, I

mean, just one after the other, after the other, like a perfect rotation, the two goalies

here for, for quite a while.

And that's not usually what you get in the playoffs.

That'll be maybe one of the, well, surely one of the more interesting topics around them

going into the playoffs is whether they'll keep that rotation up.

You have a, sort of a philosophy when it comes to that.

Would you think that would be the right move, just in a vacuum or what they might do?

Dependent.

Um, I, I remember it was, it was an issue here a few years ago with Swamin in all Mark.

And I really thought that they could have gone, gone one to the next and, and just, just

footplop the, the whole way and it would have made sense.

Um, they didn't do that.

They ended up, like, Jesus seems so long ago.

Uh, I think it was Lena that started and then they, they eventually turned to Jeremy.

So yeah, absolutely, I, I, I totally, I can, I can see that.

Um, I think some team will, will eventually just go to a peer rotation if the goalies

are equal if they see that it promotes, um, high performance in terms of mental and physical

rest, just, just, just to have that kind of a rhythm.

And I, I think, just, just seeing it here in Boston, it was ideal, ideal for both Lena's

and Jeremy, um, to, to have that kind of partnership, uh, and they got along and they pushed

each other, but to have, like, it was, it was just, it worked out so well for, for both

of them and their growth, uh, obviously it worked out for the organization and Lena's

goes on to get a great deal in Ottawa.

Jeremy gets his deal here in Boston.

So yes, I believe in rotations.

I do it.

Is it right for Buffalo?

I don't know.

I, I don't know that well enough, but, um, I'm, I'm all for it.

I'm with you.

If you're making the trip tomorrow, decent day, low fifties, we'll take it, right, bulldog.

I mean, we'll always take low fifties in March.

So, um, if you do end up coming to Buffalo, enjoy yourself and maybe you'll be doing

so quite often in about a month.

You'll see.

Very good.

Thanks, guys.

Thank you for your time.

Fludeau, Janzawa, the athletic, the Bruins host Toronto tonight and then visit the

Saber 730 tomorrow.

All the teams in the league played in that except two Buffalo and, I don't know, I don't

know who the other one is.

Moscow, Denamo.

I haven't, I haven't tried to put the puzzle together yet.

Hmm.

The drama.

No way to find out.

El Capaccio is going to join us at five.

Sal got a stadium tour with assorted media today.

We'll see what his takeaways were.

Lines are open for your calls at 803-0550.

You want to keep the rotation going in the playoffs or not.

Mike's open the bulldog here.

We'll be back after the update on WGR.