Are fans not giving the Bruins enough credit?
Hey Mike good morning how you doing I’m doing okay I got a sort of a fish to fry here okay uh you guys know that Chris Simon died this past week yes former tough guy died uh of a self-inflicted wound of some kind or another uh just
Another one I mean you might know the names Jeff Parker Bob prober Gino OIC Derek bugard Steve montador Todd you and all dead and most of them found out that after the fact CU you can’t find out before you you die that they had CTE yeah and and the American Medical
Association has a journal that found that 14 to 30% of players and the NHL get concussions every year and for every year they play more than 20% increase uh of the chance of getting CTE now none of these are Rock Solid statistics or information but there was one scientist
At bu that said if you get enough brain bruises which is basically what concussion is it rattles your brain against the inside of your skull if you get enough of those he said your brain’s going to rot but neither the NHL nor Roger Goodell from the NFL have conceded
This they say there’s not enough cause and effect link well there’s a bunch of guys out there that are dead now that say somewhat differently and common sense says do something about this those guys are Riding High their teams they’re they make billions of dollars each of those guys individually make tens of
Millions millions of dollars every year all they need to do from my end of the thing is make sure they continue to to do the research but set up some instead of hiring woke police hire some health sheriffs and get some people out there that find out that Chris Simon is having
Trouble that he can’t he can’t pay for his his kids um fees he can’t find a house he’s in complete debt and disarray this is happening far too often and it’s time for them to just say we’re going to find we’re going to protect our players
No matter what they do we’re going to find a place for them to to live get them health care and food and whatever else they need just I’m not talking about over-the-top Mansions but you got to find a way to to to reach out to these players and help them before we
Lose more of them and there no question in my mind that eventually we’re going to find out that these bone chilling rattling hits and and punches to the head do cause CTE and and we they should do something about it anyway that’s off my chest well Mike on that I mean the
Issue is that the players that are Act whenever they’re in a collective bargaining agreement always throw the guys before them under the bus in pursuit of the last dollar of the deal and it’s going to take Sydney Crosby and Patrick Mahomes in what in what regard
Curtis have they thrown on under the bus well because in terms of funding the actual retirements or getting support necessary for retired players or actually holding the lead accountable you know what I don’t think the players should be accountable for that they get compensated yes but the the the guys
That are running the bus here uh are making billions and making tens of millions and they they shouldn’t have to fund it it should be part of the deal you sign a contract part of the contract should be if you’re suffering from you know whatever dementia levels that you
Can find that the league will take care of you to at least a minimal level and take care of your family because no no player especially the guys at the the far end of the bench are going to make enough money if they start suffering from Dementia in their 40s are going to
Have enough to make it last for the rest of their life I I hate saying it cuz I don’t want it cuz I love the game but do you think they they should the NHL eliminate fighting entirely they should have eliminated it 20 years ago when they knew some stuff like this was
Happening don’t Hey listen don’t get me wrong I I I love a good go I love the vigilante justice and you know fighting is not really as as much of a culprit as you might think when it comes to the CTE stuff it’s the bone rattling hits
Against the wall that do it just as much as a punch to the head but Punch To The Head obviously you can stop that by saying you can’t fight if you fight you can’t play and that should have happened a long time ago and and I you know the
Owners want to protect it because they don’t want to do anything to disrupt the fan base and it’s time to grow up and face some reality here I I think Mike I think the biggest issue at least from what I see in the NFL and I don’t think
People understand it is that like as an athlete you’re not able to collect your pension until you’re 65 years old but as an athlete some guys retire at 35 they’re done playing at such a young age and if they were able to maybe access that retirement fund earlier then you
Might have so like you said you might be able to solve some of those issues of being able to you know have that monthly stien come in that you’re not going to be able to touch until you’re 65 and you know most guys might not even be making
It to that I I wish there was a better way for them to help out athletes as soon as they’re done playing where they can kind of you know be able to kind of tap into their retirement there should be and it should be obvious and for some
Of these guys that don’t know we were just talking about Otani with 5 million is nothing against okani he’s losing money like that but there some players that don’t get the kind of advice that they need to get from a financial perspective or a social perspective and
Yeah if you can’t access it you can do you can get it a little bit quicker in the uh NHL but you’re right that should be part of the plan too make sure that they have an access to whatever they’ve earned in terms of Pensions earlier Mike
Bruins sit this morning with the best record in the Eastern Conference although the team that they have tonight the Rangers right behind them um how are you feeling right this moment about this hockey team you know what the first place in the league and we keep you know
Can’t we be happy with this team it’s just it’s just crazy I know it’s weird it kind of sneaks up on you a little bit cuz they have not it feels like they haven’t played well since the All-Star break I I think just because they’ve given some of those third period leads
Away and haven’t done as well in overtime but they do have the best record in the in the East right now they do and you can’t fight that and and I really think we got to start giving them a chance here I I hope that they
Continue to play as well as they have in order to get the the top spot um because I’m a little worried about if they wind up playing Toronto I mean Toronto has been you know a guy they kick down the street most times they play him but you
Know this guy Matthews is having one gigantic year he’s he’s going to be tough to beat and um he’s on fire right now and they have other weapons all over the place neanders guy that can can do it Marner I mean it’s it’s really a that
Scares me but I know some of the other teams at the bottom of the Heap now and it’s a it it’s really a dog fight for the last couple of wild card spots but some of them are pretty dangerous three-way tie in the central or whatever
Yeah no so it’s uh it’s going to be interesting to see who they wind up with but maybe the most interesting aspect of the team now we’ve talked about this almost on a weekly basis all year is the goal tending situation you know elar got through the trade deadline and all of a
Sudden he’s relieved and he’s he’s refused a couple trades and now he’s he’s Loose as a Goose and he’s playing the best hockey he’s played all year long on the other hand the other guy that was reportedly up for a contract extension didn’t get it and was hoping
To be number one probably deep in his heart would would have hoped for olark to be traded maybe for a defenseman that he could play behind but now he faces a different set of circumstances and he’s back to sort of 1A right now I mean I
I’m still more confident in in uh swayan in terms of the mindset I don’t trust all meran last spring verified that but I right now I can only go by what my eyes tell tell me and my eyes tell me that the better goenda olar so he would be your starter
Game one I guess to of the first playoff series but there’s still there’s still what three weeks left in this season maybe maybe a little bit more so there time for Swan to get his his act together I mean he he’s my personal favorite if I had to pick one of the two
Goenda because of his his age because of his attitude because of his disposition and and the other guy has not shown me in the play obvious although there’s not much of a window to peek through that he can get it done in in Big Time games
Mike is there a world though that lenus or san play up to the level that they’re playing because they have each other for San he doesn’t have to take all the burden of being a starter because he knows that that lenus can come in at any time or that it fuels a competition
Between the two of them and if you separate them we could see a lesser version of either that was sort of the the talk out of Buffalo I guess when Omar came to Boston that they were worried about his ability to to keep at a steady pace for a long time that he
Had to watch his minutes and and that that would give you Credence to the fact that swayan being there and being able to step in would be a good thing and that might very well be it’s not it’s not my favorite thing I’d rather run with a hot golender than try to figure
Out who’s going to have the better night omara Swan but it it could be that they push each other I I don’t know how you measure that except in terms of wins and losses down the line and especially when it comes to their performances in big
Games but it’s a valid point Mike when you look at this team and the way they’re playing this year and I know you know like you said that what their record is top of the league do you feel like there’s a lot of kind of like leftover uh frustration because a I
Think a lot of people or fans look at this team and go H they’re probably going to get bounced in the first or second round do you think a lot of that has to do with the way things ended last year it h it has to and and the fact
That they lost such key parts to the puzzle uh over the summer and nobody expected them to rebound the way they did that Coy would be you know 20 plus goals and zaka looks like after a little bit of a cold spell he’s back to playing very well those guys have filled in
Remarkably well and nobody saw nobody saw it coming and they get sloppy and lose leads late as Greg mentioned and that that’s sort of a confidence killer for for fan or our team um so there there are holes here and there are reasons to have SK skepticism but
There’s also reason you know they’re they’re at the top of the Heap there’s a reason for optimism and just I’m having trouble finding it Brad Marian for the the last few games here has been trying to get number 400 goalwise is that something that that hangs over you when
You’re when you’re a player no I don’t think he’s going to worry about that it’s going to come uh at some point or another uh and he doesn’t seem to me to be the type of guy that’s going to hang his hat on you know some sort of
Landmark goal it’s it’s uh I think he shows up to play every night I think he works hard at it I think he’s going to he’ll he’ll he’ll reach that stature at some point or another and I would highly doubt that he’s hanging over his head
But hey if it isn’t anyway be good to get out of the way and I’m sure it’ll be sooner rather than later Mike it is kind of a hide team though what’s the biggest difference you’ve seen from games where they seem to be all in and games where
They lose it you know at the end or in overtime discipline discipline in the defensive Zone in particular at turnovers um those are the things that they when they start to falter that raises its ugly head and and it becomes a factor and and that probably more than
Anything else and I think I had mention that that their their discipline in the defensive zone is not as good as as I’d like it to be um fortunately they have a back they have a back stop in the goal tending that that makes it you know easier to
Get by but it’s still going to be a problem when the checking gets really tougher and Tighter and the four check gets you know meaner and nastier um they’re going to have to play with a little more Resolve and a little more structure Mike we’ve been talking about
This Otani news just given your long career as a player coach GM and hockey what were your were you ever concerned about gambling is this a conversation you’d have with players obviously it wasn’t pervasive and it’s legality now as it is but what was your did you ever
Have concerns about that or ever talk ever have to talk to players about it you know I I don’t think we ever did there were some pretty hot card games in the back of the plane or bus or whatever but it was nothing that we really had to
Worry about the guys didn’t make enough money in my day to to think they were going to blow it all but there were times when guys got out of got in trouble on the back of the bus beding and it was was kind of a a source spot a
Source of resentment and you know I think there were a couple times I think I mentioned as a coach to to sort of chill out a little bit don’t don’t put somebody’s uh back to the wall here financially and but sometimes the money got more serious than I would have liked
It yeah huh guess what you can’t sit at the big boy table then on the back of the plane that’s what we tell them they had a lot of money coming around you want to see here you better you better have it you got till Tuesday the
Payday well let’s hope Shi has some uh better friends next year what was your game Wiggy uh we played huray for the buay thousands of thousands of thousands upon thousands of dollars on Plane Rides 50 60 70,000 really oh yes what’s the most you lost um the most I’ve lost
Probably you know maybe somewhere between 20 25,000 throughout a year oh really oh yeah I’ve won some now w i $100,000 pot you did I do not gamble anymore and I learned my lesson when I was in was in high school and I took my $100 that I made from Landscaping to the
Track I lost 10 bucks bought a beer bet 10 more lost 10 went home with about five bucks in my pocket for The Summer’s Worth to work never again all right well we’re getting there it’s almost playoff time and we love talking to you about it Mike Milbury will’ll talk to you again
Next week
Mike Milbury joins the Greg Hill Show to discuss the Bruins goaltending situation, potential playoff matches, and more!
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