WEEI Mike Milbury says Bruins ‘should’ve screamed bloody murder’ over ridiculous schedule

Fenway

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The Bruins are tied for the fewest games played in the NHL so far. Yet they’re currently in the middle of nearly a full week off, going from Sunday’s win over Montreal to Saturday before they finally get back in action in Philadelphia.

While some teams have played as many as 18 games already, the Bruins are sitting at 13. They have struggled to really get into the flow of the season at times, in part because their schedule hasn’t allowed it.

They were one of the last teams to begin their season, playing their first game four days after the league’s opening night. Then they had three more days off, watching some teams play four games before Boston had played its second.

The Bruins had another four-day break just two weeks ago, then a normal schedule for about a week and a half, and now another long layoff. It’s all been pretty bizarre, to say the least.

Making his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show, Mike Milbury said he believes the Bruins’ schedule puts them at a competitive disadvantage, and that they should have “screamed bloody murder” when it came out.

As Milbury points out, not only have the stops and starts affected the Bruins’ ability to find any rhythm early, but they’re also going to have to pay for it later in the season. After the Olympic break in February, the Bruins close out the regular season with 33 games in 65 days and never have more than two consecutive days off.

“That’s every other day, on the road or at home. That’s a nightmare,” Milbury said. “Whoever made the schedule for the Bruins, they should’ve screamed bloody murder at the time it came out. … It’s almost a show-stopper, a killer for them at the end of the year. I mean, how do you put money on them to go deep into the playoffs when they’ve played 29 games in 60 days at the end of the year?

“They’re gonna have to call up all of Providence to get people time off and get them reasonably fresh for the playoffs. It’s not a good deal. And it’s not a good deal for Bruce Cassidy this week to try to keep them fresh and keep them motivated for what’s a pretty tough stretch against teams like Philly and Calgary.”


Listen to the full interview below:

GHS- NHL Analyst Mike Milbury Joins The Greg Hill Show: Thoughts On John Henry Buying The Penguins: As A Red Sox Fan “I’d Be A Little Pissed Off”
 

McGarnagle

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Anyone with inside info, outside of giving them blocked off dates from arenas in advance, do the clubs have any say over the schedule (like approve/reject ability) or are they at the mercy of whatever the league presents to them?

And are schedules manually constructed or are they made by a computer algorithm these days?
 

VanIsle

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But several games less than most teams, so in reality -- both TB and the Bruins got screwed.

Secondly, rest in November won't pay dividends in April-June.

You never know what would have happened, maybe if the Bruins played a game or 4 more during the start of this season someone on the team could have gotten injured in that game.

Parallel Universe Theory 101.
 

Fenway

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Anyone with inside info, outside of giving them blocked off dates from arenas in advance, do the clubs have any say over the schedule (like approve/reject ability) or are they at the mercy of whatever the league presents to them?

And are schedules manually constructed or are they made by a computer algorithm these days?


computer algorithm and then manually tweaked.

The B's can request certain dates and usually let the Celtics get Wednesday and Friday nights at TD.
 

sarge88

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You never know what would have happened, maybe if the Bruins played a game or 4 more during the start of this season someone on the team could have gotten injured in that game.

Parallel Universe Theory 101.


Yup.

Similarly, someone could get hurt in game 3 in 4 nights of a game in March that could have been played in October, though.
 

sarge88

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Anyone with inside info, outside of giving them blocked off dates from arenas in advance, do the clubs have any say over the schedule (like approve/reject ability) or are they at the mercy of whatever the league presents to them?

And are schedules manually constructed or are they made by a computer algorithm these days?


All I know is that a lot of teams seem to have weeknights where they frequently play at home.

Obviously for years the B’s have played a ton of Thursday night home games.

Montreal seems to have a lot of Tuesday home games.
 

VanIsle

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Yup.

Similarly, someone could get hurt in game 3 in 4 nights of a game in March that could have been played in October, though.

I think of things like this all the time, and about the things that didn't happen.

Say a friend was over and you say stay for 5 more minutes and they do, if they left 5 minutes earlier they could have gotten into a car crash and died, but you would never know ultimately saving their life.
 
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DKH

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Yup.

Similarly, someone could get hurt in game 3 in 4 nights of a game in March that could have been played in October, though.
My take is Bruins will know by March 1 what they really have and need and go get it

they can look at this two ways
 
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sarge88

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I think of things like this all the time, and about the things that didn't happen.

Say a friend was over and you say stay for 5 more minutes and they do, if they left 5 minutes earlier they could have gotten into a car crash and died, but you would never know ultimately saving their life.


Me too.

In college I worked at a liquor store in a bad neighborhood. I always hated switching shifts with someone because I figured I was destined to be remembered for being “the guy who got shot on a day when he wasn’t supposed to be working”.
 

VanIsle

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Me too.

In college I worked at a liquor store in a bad neighborhood. I always hated switching shifts with someone because I figured I was destined to be remembered for being “the guy who got shot on a day when he wasn’t supposed to be working”.

Did the other guy get shot, or shot at?
 

chizzler

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They always play tons of games late in the year. It’s always a complaint about how tired they are going to get. Doesn’t the Jacobs’ with their Garden attractions play into this also?
 

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