GDT: 5/9 11:30 AM - Charlie Jacobs, Cam Neely, Don Sweeney and Jim Montgomery finally answer questions - NESN

[The don godfather]

Confirmation bias my friend. You want it to be true, I know, but I'd be surprised if they sack him given he has two more years to go on his deal. JJ won't want to eat $4 million.

I heard Jacobs clearly he mentioned cam and Don monty not so much. Hes pissed.

 

[wintersej]

Please.
Hind sight is 20/20.
I'd approve the moves made this year every day of the week and year.
They played incredible all year long. Every box was checked. Goalie, D'fense, forwards, depth.
At the deadline they added a great D'man, and two very tough forwards. Stacked, and everyone thought so.
Show me a post, after the deadline that said this team had obvious holes/weakness.
I'm at a loss for what happened in the playoffs, but it was not Sweenys fault.
Did he mortgage the future. You bet he did, and for good reason.
Had he not made any moves at the deadline, or added a depth forward or defensemen everyone would be calling for his head as
this was the end of the window.

He also kept all the teams prospects in the mortgage process, so that’s pretty good. Sweeney gets an A+++. Career redeeming, TBH. Remember when he traded Erik Haula for a #2C in his mid 20s?!

The coaching failed.

And the players really failed.

They need to make enough change to get the stink off. And they will.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Random thoughts:

- Really, really did not like Bergy being the guy who gets the make the call on when he plays, but not remotely surprised by it either. We knew the senior players were running the show the minute they marched Cassidy out of town and replaced him with a more 'player friendly' guy. They were right to move on from Bruce, who'd reached the end of his shelf life with the Bs, and I don't think Bergeron coming back really had much of a bearing on the final outcome of the Panthers series. But as a way of doing things, it's wrong and it's ineffective. Management should make the decisions, coaches should always have the say on who plays when. No player, no matter who they are, is above the coach. As a locker room culture, it's asking for trouble. And here we are.

- Not much love for Ullmark. He's definitely a trade candidate. Gryz is gone too, but we knew that already.

- McAvoy and Pasta mentioned as emerging and future leaders, but I'm not convinced. Pasta is a great guy, but he's not leadership material. He doesn't play like one, doesn't talk like one, and, to be blunt, isn't smart enough to be one. Don't give him distractions. His job is just to go out there and score lots of goals, and it really shouldn't be much more than that. Charlie on the other hand probably has a better capacity to think through and explain the game, but he has two unfortunate tendencies - he occasionally wilts under pressure, and he tends to overplay and make mistakes when he feels that he has to take on too much responsibility to help out the team. Those are not good traits in a leader. He's still only 25, and improvement is possible. But really when I look at this group post Bergy/Krej/Marchand, it feels like they really need to bring in some leadership skill from elsewhere if they want to compete for a Cup again at some point, just as they did by getting Chara in 2006.

- Monty doesn't convince either. But he's not going anywhere and I still believe he's earned at least one more year. He wants to learn and clearly has some strong points already, and as a still relatively inexperienced coach at this level the capacity for improvement should definitely be there. Can only stick with him and hope he gets better.

- My sense is that Sweeney, and Neely especially, are finally now ready to move on from PB and DK and take the team firmly into its next era. They can't force the hand of either player, and if Bergy in particular wants to go round again then he will, but for the first time I get the feeling that management would actually prefer it if they left and allowed the team to properly turn over a new leaf, even if it means a backward step in the first instance.

- No talk, unless I missed something, about how the roster needs to change to be a more effective playoff team, was disappointing. Why does this team keep failing in the postseason? What's wrong with how it's built? How do you develop a group that's got the right skills and mentality for playoff hockey?

 

[smithformeragent]

They canned the hardass and brought in a players’ coach.

No surprise to find out that Bergeron made the call that he was playing.

What’s Montgomery going to say?

The whole thing with the players’ coach and the tweaks to their style of play worked until it didn’t.

 

[Number8]

I still feel like Bergeron and any other forward decisions had no impact on the outcome of the series. They scored 11 goals in the last 3 games.

Our defensemen throwing pizzas up the middle of the ice and our goalie not being able to stop a beach ball lost the series.

This is it in a nutshell! Our GF were better than RS in the PO’s. Goaltending decisions and total fail in D zone were our downfall!

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

Players have had a hard ass coach and now a friendly coach and here we are.

To bad you can’t fire the roster.

 

[shelbysdad]

Bert -- Zacha -- Pasta

DeBrusk -- XXXX -- XXXX

Marchand -- Bergeron -- XXXX

Frederic -- Nosek -- Hathaway


XXXX -- McAvoy

Lindholm -- Carlo

XXXXX -- XXXXX


Swayman
Bussi


Out: Coyle, Hall, Grz, Orlov, Clifton, Forbort, Reilly, Ullmark
In: ?

Nosek will cost too much and is a UFA.....Hathaway will probably cost too much too

Beecher/McLaughlin will be 4th line center and a cheap tough vet

63-37-74 for 2d line

3rd line combination of Lauko Merkulov Coyle

 

[The don godfather]

One of bergy and dk will be back or maybe both. Book it.

 

[rocketdan9]

Maybe the Sharks make a deal for Grz and Ullmark? They have no goaltending and Grz/Quinn go way back. They have the capspace to absorb salary. And picks for compensation

Bruins need to also trade Forbot imo. Nice guy, good shotblocker and good PK. But doesn't provide anything else.

This would open up enough capspace to sign Bertuzzi. Imo a must resign. 7 x 7m deal

 

[Gordoff]

Confirmation bias my friend. You want it to be true, I know, but I'd be surprised if they sack him given he has two more years to go on his deal. JJ won't want to eat $4 million.

Then don't fire him, make him team cheerleader!

 

[LouJersey]

Random thoughts:

- Really, really did not like Bergy being the guy who gets the make the call on when he plays, but not remotely surprised by it either. We knew the senior players were running the show the minute they marched Cassidy out of town and replaced him with a more 'player friendly' guy. They were right to move on from Bruce, who'd reached the end of his shelf life with the Bs, and I don't think Bergeron coming back really had much of a bearing on the final outcome of the Panthers series. But as a way of doing things, it's wrong and it's ineffective. Management should make the decisions, coaches should always have the say on who plays when. No player, no matter who they are, is above the coach. As a locker room culture, it's asking for trouble. And here we are.

- Not much love for Ullmark. He's definitely a trade candidate. Gryz is gone too, but we knew that already.

- McAvoy and Pasta mentioned as emerging and future leaders, but I'm not convinced. Pasta is a great guy, but he's not leadership material. He doesn't play like one, doesn't talk like one, and, to be blunt, isn't smart enough to be one. Don't give him distractions. His job is just to go out there and score lots of goals, and it really shouldn't be much more than that. Charlie on the other hand probably has a better capacity to think through and explain the game, but he has two unfortunate tendencies - he occasionally wilts under pressure, and he tends to overplay and make mistakes when he feels that he has to take on too much responsibility to help out the team. Those are not good traits in a leader. He's still only 25, and improvement is possible. But really when I look at this group post Bergy/Krej/Marchand, it feels like they really need to bring in some leadership skill from elsewhere if they want to compete for a Cup again at some point, just as they did by getting Chara in 2006.

- Monty doesn't convince either. But he's not going anywhere and I still believe he's earned at least one more year. He wants to learn and clearly has some strong points already, and as a still relatively inexperienced coach at this level the capacity for improvement should definitely be there. Can only stick with him and hope he gets better.

- My sense is that Sweeney, and Neely especially, are finally now ready to move on from PB and DK and take the team firmly into its next era. They can't force the hand of either player, and if Bergy in particular wants to go round again then he will, but for the first time I get the feeling that management would actually prefer it if they left and allowed the team to properly turn over a new leaf, if it means a backward step in the first instance.

- No talk, unless I missed something, about how the roster needs to change to be a more effective playoff team, was disappointing. Why does this team keep failing in the postseason? What's wrong with how it's built? How do you develop a group that's got the right skills and mentality for playoff hockey?

Great post.

Why do you think Sweeney seemingly went out of his way to slight Ullmark? Makes no sense.

Your last paragraph is what I was looking for as well. The media in Boston just doesn't seem to get it.

Players have had a hard ass coach and now a friendly coach and here we are.

To bad you can’t fire the roster.

and funny enough the hard ass guys team was not nearly as talented but showed a lot of fight while the players coach's team rolled over and died when the heat was turned up,

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

Random thoughts:

- Really, really did not like Bergy being the guy who gets the make the call on when he plays, but not remotely surprised by it either. We knew the senior players were running the show the minute they marched Cassidy out of town and replaced him with a more 'player friendly' guy. They were right to move on from Bruce, who'd reached the end of his shelf life with the Bs, and I don't think Bergeron coming back really had much of a bearing on the final outcome of the Panthers series. But as a way of doing things, it's wrong and it's ineffective. Management should make the decisions, coaches should always have the say on who plays when. No player, no matter who they are, is above the coach. As a locker room culture, it's asking for trouble. And here we are.

- Not much love for Ullmark. He's definitely a trade candidate. Gryz is gone too, but we knew that already.

- McAvoy and Pasta mentioned as emerging and future leaders, but I'm not convinced. Pasta is a great guy, but he's not leadership material. He doesn't play like one, doesn't talk like one, and, to be blunt, isn't smart enough to be one. Don't give him distractions. His job is just to go out there and score lots of goals, and it really shouldn't be much more than that. Charlie on the other hand probably has a better capacity to think through and explain the game, but he has two unfortunate tendencies - he occasionally wilts under pressure, and he tends to overplay and make mistakes when he feels that he has to take on too much responsibility to help out the team. Those are not good traits in a leader. He's still only 25, and improvement is possible. But really when I look at this group post Bergy/Krej/Marchand, it feels like they really need to bring in some leadership skill from elsewhere if they want to compete for a Cup again at some point, just as they did by getting Chara in 2006.

- Monty doesn't convince either. But he's not going anywhere and I still believe he's earned at least one more year. He wants to learn and clearly has some strong points already, and as a still relatively inexperienced coach at this level the capacity for improvement should definitely be there. Can only stick with him and hope he gets better.

- My sense is that Sweeney, and Neely especially, are finally now ready to move on from PB and DK and take the team firmly into its next era. They can't force the hand of either player, and if Bergy in particular wants to go round again then he will, but for the first time I get the feeling that management would actually prefer it if they left and allowed the team to properly turn over a new leaf, if it means a backward step in the first instance.

- No talk, unless I missed something, about how the roster needs to change to be a more effective playoff team, was disappointing. Why does this team keep failing in the postseason? What's wrong with how it's built? How do you develop a group that's got the right skills lewand mentality for playoff hockey?

Im not so sure this team would have shit the bed with a better coach. He blew it and was in over his head, not sure I can deal with another on the job training season for Monty.

I was saying early on this guy is not up to the task in the playoffs. Others have jumped on board since, the lines in game 5 should be enough to fire him.

I would not be shocked to see him go. Bring in Savard

 

[smithformeragent]

Just able to watch now.

Bush league, Mickey Mouse press conference on multiple levels.

Not surprising.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Im not so sure this team would have shit the bed with a better coach. He blew it and was in over his head, not sure I can deal with another on the job training season for Monty.

I was saying early on this guy is not up to the task in the playoffs. Others have jumped on board since, the lines in game 5 should be enough to fire him.

I would not be shocked to see him go. Bring in Savard

Perhaps not, but at the same time while Monty definitely had a hand in and must take some blame for this loss, this roster really should have got it done no matter who was behind the bench. For me the ultimate responsibility lies with the playing group.

I just think you're not sacking a coach after one year when that year resulted in 65 wins. Clearly there are things that Monty does well, and it wasn't a one off - he did a good job in Dallas and was highly regarded in St Louis. You stick with that and expect better. But the leash has gotten a lot shorter, that's for sure.

 

[smithformeragent]

That may have been the most embarrassing press conference in franchise history.

“The question was, ‘Are we the laughingstock of the Boston Sports Market?’.”

(Sweeney then proceeds to word vomit for 3-5 minutes, never addressing the question being asked)

 

[Gordoff]

Random thoughts:

- Really, really did not like Bergy being the guy who gets the make the call on when he plays, but not remotely surprised by it either. We knew the senior players were running the show the minute they marched Cassidy out of town and replaced him with a more 'player friendly' guy. They were right to move on from Bruce, who'd reached the end of his shelf life with the Bs, and I don't think Bergeron coming back really had much of a bearing on the final outcome of the Panthers series. But as a way of doing things, it's wrong and it's ineffective. Management should make the decisions, coaches should always have the say on who plays when. No player, no matter who they are, is above the coach. As a locker room culture, it's asking for trouble. And here we are.

- Not much love for Ullmark. He's definitely a trade candidate. Gryz is gone too, but we knew that already.

- McAvoy and Pasta mentioned as emerging and future leaders, but I'm not convinced. Pasta is a great guy, but he's not leadership material. He doesn't play like one, doesn't talk like one, and, to be blunt, isn't smart enough to be one. Don't give him distractions. His job is just to go out there and score lots of goals, and it really shouldn't be much more than that. Charlie on the other hand probably has a better capacity to think through and explain the game, but he has two unfortunate tendencies - he occasionally wilts under pressure, and he tends to overplay and make mistakes when he feels that he has to take on too much responsibility to help out the team. Those are not good traits in a leader. He's still only 25, and improvement is possible. But really when I look at this group post Bergy/Krej/Marchand, it feels like they really need to bring in some leadership skill from elsewhere if they want to compete for a Cup again at some point, just as they did by getting Chara in 2006.

- Monty doesn't convince either. But he's not going anywhere and I still believe he's earned at least one more year. He wants to learn and clearly has some strong points already, and as a still relatively inexperienced coach at this level the capacity for improvement should definitely be there. Can only stick with him and hope he gets better.

- My sense is that Sweeney, and Neely especially, are finally now ready to move on from PB and DK and take the team firmly into its next era. They can't force the hand of either player, and if Bergy in particular wants to go round again then he will, but for the first time I get the feeling that management would actually prefer it if they left and allowed the team to properly turn over a new leaf, if it means a backward step in the first instance.

- No talk, unless I missed something, about how the roster needs to change to be a more effective playoff team, was disappointing. Why does this team keep failing in the postseason? What's wrong with how it's built? How do you develop a group that's got the right skills and mentality for playoff hockey?

Great great post. You said everything that I felt on the subject but lack the ability to effectively put it into words.
I've been hearing that Pasta and McAvoy are going to be the next/new leaders of the team. You put into words exactly what I think of that idea and why.
Montgomery came in somewhat neutered and obviously had too much faith in trusting the players to make certain decisions. I doubt he goes anywhere but he has a shorter leash than he did a couple months ago.
FO is going to need to pick themselves up and make analysis of each and every player, where they're going, who needs to go and for what in trade etc.
Who/what they need coming in is the thing that's going to challenge them.
Sweeney filled the holes that he saw in the depth of the team but IMO (and others have said it) Hathaway was not effective enough. Did he not want to step on Bergy's toes? Either way, he was not enough to fill the element of toughness. I would keep him if the price is right because I think he has so much more to offer. People here have been saying that we needed more skill. DS got the skill but toughness, mentally and physically came up far short.

 

[smithformeragent]

 

[rocketdan9]

Just able to watch now.

Bush league, Mickey Mouse press conference on multiple levels.

Not surprising.

Parody

Reporter to Monty "Say a player got a concussion a few games ago. He also may have a broken foot..... would you consider sitting him?"

Monty to reporter "Absolutely not. He looked at me in the eye.... he had the eye of the tiger. That is special. Absolutely not!"

 

[Skelen]

OUT : coyle, hall, gryz, forbort, clifton, reilly, ullmark orlov, hathaway, nosek krejci ( agree )
IN : Bertuzzi, scheiffele;

marchand bergeron pastrnak
bertuzzi, scheiffele, ?
? zacka lauko
? frederic lysall

McAvoy, zboril
lindholm, carlo
lohreii, ?

swayman,
bussi

You're really going to run Bergeron as your #1C. What happens when Zbroil doesn't work out? You don't need to move Coyle AND Hall, I'd prefer to keep both considering C depth and how well Hall performed as a third liner in the playoffs. Scheiffele kills your locker room imo

 

[The don godfather]

You're really going to run Bergeron as your #1C. What happens when Zbroil doesn't work out? You don't need to move Coyle AND Hall, I'd prefer to keep both considering C depth and how well Hall performed as a third liner in the playoffs. Scheiffele kills your locker room imo

Zboril will be key for me next year. I say he surprises.

 

[rocketdan9]

Zboril will be key for me next year. I say he surprises.

Maybe for the regular season. I wouldn't trust Zboril in the playoffs. It would be no different than placing a pilon in front of the goalie.

He loses composure under pressure

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Just able to watch now.

Bush league, Mickey Mouse press conference on multiple levels.

Not surprising.

One of the weird things about the Bruins are they're this odd combination of very very competent and aspects or moments that are, as you say, bush league and bafflingly bad. It's incredibly difficult to keep competing and making the playoffs year after year the way Boston mostly has for a long time. The Bruins have great facilities and everything looks very polished and well-run. But on the flip side they do some really dumb things that self-inflict damage, some of the ways they present to the public and media are amateurish, they refuse to do something as obviously necessary as fixing the Garden ice, and they are prone to repeating the same mistakes year on year.

Every organization has strengths and weaknesses, good points and bad points. The Bruins are just rather unusual in the disparity between their highs and lows.

 

[smithformeragent]

It lasted 36 minutes, but it feels like they could have talked in circles for hours, perhaps days.

(Depending on how long the batteries in the wireless mic last, that is)

 

[smithformeragent]

One of the weird things about the Bruins are they're this odd combination of very very competent and aspects or moments that are, as you say, bush league and bafflingly bad. It's incredibly difficult to keep competing and making the playoffs year after year the way Boston mostly has for a long time. The Bruins have great facilities and everything looks very polished and well-run. But on the flip side they do some really dumb things that self-inflict damage, some of the ways they present to the public and media are amateurish, they refuse to do something as obviously necessary as fixing the Garden ice, and they are prone to repeating the same mistakes year on year.

Every organization has strengths and weaknesses, good points and bad points. The Bruins are just rather unusual in the disparity between their highs and lows.

Poor Charlie just looks so uncomfortable as he squirms up there on the stage.

Better than he used to be, but still.
The old man isn’t showing his face these days.

Sweeney using a lot of Harvard jargon and talking in circles.

Neely…. What would you say you do here?

And then you have Montgomery with his tail between his legs saying he failed repeatedly, yet at the same time basically saying he wouldn’t change how he approached things.

 

[BlackFrancis]

Every organization has strengths and weaknesses, good points and bad points. The Bruins are just rather unusual in the disparity between their highs and lows.

They play in the same city as a team whose GM tried to flee the building in a gorilla suit. And the same state as a team that electrocuted its head coach at a presser.

Red probably killed anyone before they could leak anything that could shame him.