Brandon Carlo On Bruins Playoff Run, Team Outlooking Heading Into 2024-25

Brandon Carlo On Bruins Playoff Run, Team Outlooking Heading Into 2024-25

it was a fun playoffs for sure I think both those series The Toronto won and the Florida won um I enjoyed I felt like it challenged all of us and I feel like we all grew um in different facets uh mentally physically everything so um I was really proud of our group and the way that we handled a lot of the situations from this year and um I think guys stepped up huge and um you know we give it a good kick especially considering a team that’s been building toward this for a few years two years ago president final right you guys change a third of your team big yeah that’s a that’s that’s a is it hard this soon after the lost to have that perspective because you seem to be gaining it here oh for sure um I feel like I thought about it all year I was super proud of our group uh the new leaders kind of coming in and stepping up in different ways and taking the experience that we learned from that foundational group that um you know is kind of left us for the most part now um so it’s fun cuz you know we’re kind of taking over and recognizing that we can build something special here too um and that’s our goal uh we want to continue to be as competitive as possible and even coming into this year I didn’t believe for a second that we weren’t going to be a competitive group I think it’s just uh the way that you know you come into this lock room and the way that guys are driven um everybody comes to work each day uh it’s special and it’s something that I want to make sure for as long as I’m here that I can try and help maintain and and continue to push guys and be a positive driving force to take all the EXP experience that we’ve learned from the past and um yeah just keep this experience going cuz it’s it’s the biggest blessing in the entire world to play for this organization Brandon you had a career year uh in many ways did is there a Difference Maker that you can point to or is it actually just experience and maybe um kind of you told me earlier in the season you’re playing a little looser yeah I think it’s experience for sure um this year for myself I kind of just really focused more so on cultivating you know the side of me that was a hockey player I feel like a lot of times I got um caught up just putting too much of my identity and what I do and my job and um I’m grateful for the perspective that I’ve learned this year and I feel like that helped my game a lot uh you know babies will do that uh um family will do that and uh there’s just so much outside of the game that I feel you know so good about so blessed for um yeah and just recognizing that this is the game that I played since I was a kid and how fun that I’m still able to do it you know like uh yeah I I think about so many teammates that I’ve played with over the years and to still be here and never really working like a real job it’s been pretty incredible so um no I love it and I never want it to be over how is the new addition doing awesome yeah he’s it’s like I don’t know maybe he was just keeping it together well for the playoffs or whatnot but he’s been super quiet um from what I’ve heard you know was sleeping in a different room for a couple nights but uh no very good I’m super excited to spend some time with uh yeah both my kids my wife everything thing so um that’ll be you know a fun situation for me after a disappointing loss you had some terrible luck getting your playoff career getting going yeah and now You’ become this given U did you have to play through anything because it just seems like you’re sort of like this this thing that doesn’t change right now yeah for sure um no injury-wise everything I felt good um you know that was something that was tough my first couple years and I had my fair share of uh disappointments there but um I’m very thankful for the way that I’ve been able to remain healthy in the playoffs it’s something that um I’ve wanted to personally you know accomplish uh you know I would say a couple years ago maybe I was in my head a little bit more about that um nowadays I just want to go out and play as hard as I can and um kind of let everything handle itself so injuries will happen but um no aside from that my body has felt pretty good you know for all that you can ask with going through the playoffs what was it like to see JY sort of loss him in the way that he did his playoffs uh incredible it was so fun even just uh aside from the game um I had just some conversations with him and every time I saw him I just wanted to tell him how proud I was of him cuz he just was so good um mentally physically everything involved uh and it helped me a lot through the playoffs too just seeing his confidence in his Swagger I talked about in the Toronto series um him coming back to the bench and just smiling looking up enjoying it you know it uh really teaches me to kind of take that perspective as well and um I love that I can be learning from a guy that’s younger than me and I I think he’s only going to continue to get better kind of seen the Bruins now in two iterations yeah as a very young player and now you H in the primate and you’re one of those four guys um what’s the next step for this group how do you how do you uh get over that that mon I mean because you just saw a team that might be learing the baseball Caption This is well yeah for sure um you know I think uh throughout my career to this point I’m recognizing uh how valuable it is to to stay within the moment um and that’s the biggest thing is I feel like we had a lot of success this year when we focused on the process of the game um Everybody did their jobs you know and um didn’t try to do too much at certain points um and you saw you know with guys just trying to do their jobs having career Years cuz you’re just uh going out and trying to do the right things and um usually that’s when the bounces and things come so um I think we still have a long way to go um to continue to grow I’m super proud of the young guys that came in U I’m super thankful for the older guys that came in showed that leadership and we could learn from them so um I think it’s just important for all of us uh young guys included to have that mentality that um we have something special here that we want to keep going um and it’s been incredible to be in the playoffs you know pretty much every year since I’ve been here so um that’s important to us in this group and uh yeah just continuing to grow um push those young guys along it’s funny cuz now that I have kids it’s just like the past two years have gone by so fast so um it’s weird not being considered a young guy as much anymore um but I’m thankful for that cuz I want to use my experience to try and help in the future RDS looks like there’s going to be a lot of c space here yeah how how much players look at that and say okay we can an impact play or yeah uh to be honest I haven’t even thought about it um for me um I was never very good at math with numbers and all that um so I try and save myself the headache uh overall yeah control what I can control U be the best teammate that I can be and um I’m confident that you know from years of experience with seeing it um they’re going to put us in a position to to be competitive and have a great group within this locker room so um I think that’s so important to have is just maintain that that good group in the locker room um which we definitely have and I don’t see that changing anytime soon BR Mason was talking about that he got his first taste of it now he wants to go home and work on things this sum you had a longer story you you came first year played the whole first year but do you remember what it was like going back after the first year and thinking okay yeah I’m in here here’s what I’m going to stay here right um you know I think throughout the entire season especially when it comes to playoffs um you’re challenged very much as an individual um to deal with those pressures um I think once you get kind of a grasp on it it becomes so exciting and you recognize you know the uncontrollables of the game um The Angst going into it that’s the fun part of it you know you want your heart racing you want to be in those moments and um when you’re doing it and then it kind of comes to an abrupt end um it’s hard to adjust in that time frame cuz you’re like wow I can kind of let my body relax I don’t have to go to battle you know a day from now so it is it’s an adjustment period there um I always kind of go from the perspective of like really needing to get away from it for a minute um but also when you’re in the thick of it and it’s become like this process that you’ve been so focused on it’s hard to to step away and want to I don’t know I always feel more motivated after your season um cuz you didn’t accomplish the end goal and so um with going through that battle you’re you’re ready to kind of get back out there but summer doesn’t enable you to do that so I think it’s important to get away but also maintain that motivation going into the next season and not forgetting that feeling um that we’ve had you know when we do lose the season so um it’s important to hang on to those things but also grow and yeah I think we’re all excited to continue to get better um I think that’s what makes us you know able to play in the NHL we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t do that you got to continue to be your best version of yourself or we good left behind

Brandon Carlo had himself a wild two rounds of the playoffs with Boston from recording four points to the birth of his second child before Game 1 vs the Florida Panthers.