Conor Ryan: Boston Bruins players who will make biggest impact in NHL Playoffs
Conor Ryan from the Boston Globe delved into the Boston Bruins’ preparations for the NHL playoffs.
During this morning’s Toucher & Hardy radio program, Conor Ryan from the Boston Globe delved into the Boston Bruins’ preparations for the NHL playoffs. He highlighted the team’s recent successes against strong opponents such as the Carolina Panthers and the Florida Panthers, pointing out their resilience and the contributions of less celebrated players. Ryan also discussed strategic considerations for the team, including player rest, lineup adjustments, and the ongoing goalie rotation discussion. The conversation painted a picture of the Bruins as a team evolving and gearing up for a promising playoff run.
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TRANSCRIPT:
ROB “HARDY” POOLE: Yeah, it’s the physicality that I think we’re all wondering about with this team and how that will factor into the postseason. It’s interesting, Conor. I wonder if it has something to do with these guys being a little fresher, being up and getting their opportunity to, you know, make their mark on this game somehow. Probably not by getting on the scoresheet, but by either moving guys out from in front of the net or going into the dirty areas and fighting for pucks, which is something that, let’s face it, the Bruins have been outmuscled and outworked in those areas in previous postseasons.
CONOR RYAN: Yeah, absolutely. I think when you look at guys like Weatherspoon and Peak and across the NHL, you look at a lot of these teams that have put together pretty good runs, especially the way they’re built defensively. There’s about 3 or 4 of those guys on that defense that maybe don’t stand out to you, but they play a simple game, maybe their underlying stats don’t look all that great, but like Radko Gudas, he’s a pretty unspectacular player. But we saw him in the playoffs last year for Florida. Just doing the simple things right, landing hits, pushing guys out of great ice, and doing those things that contribute to the overall team game. Whether it’s guys like Spooner, Peak, or even up front, there’s so many guys on this team like a Dayton High and or Morgan who have been granted new opportunities, greater roles, and they’ve run with it. But this team needs everyone pulling on that same rope if they want to go back. They can’t just rely on the goalies or Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand alone to carry them however long they go.
WALLACH: So, Conor, are you sold that this will translate into success in the playoffs? We all remember what happened last year. Bruins are playing real well right now. Are you sold that this can kind of get them beyond the first round?
CONOR RYAN: Well, I think it depends on who they match up within the first round. Right now it’s looking like it’s Bruins versus Tampa Bay, which is probably the worst possible draw the Bruins could get. When you look at the fact that Tampa’s playing really well down the stretch, they’ve obviously got a lot of high-end talent. Maybe they’re not as deep as they were in years past, but when you’ve got guys like Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point at the top of the lineup, they can still do a lot of damage there. Kessel, his resume speaks for itself. He’s coming off back surgery, his numbers may have dipped this year, but he’s still a guy that in the playoffs in a best-of-seven series, you probably don’t like how that’s going to go for the Bruins. But I think you look at just the way they’re playing right now, they have a shot against pretty much anyone out there. And I think you look at where those flaws were earlier in the season where they couldn’t snuff out these third-period leads, they weren’t answering in physicality. They’re playing at a high level right now going into this postseason compared to last. This team, the fact that they’re able to go against teams like Nashville, Carolina, and Florida twice, and they’ve won in a variety of ways and passed all these tests, it seems like they’re finding their game and a lot of players are finding traction at the perfect time.
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NICK GEMELLI is a Producer on Toucher & Hardy, weekday mornings 6-10AM on 985 The Sports Hub. He is also a contributor on 985thesportshub.com. Follow Nick on X (formerly Twitter) at @NickGemelli.
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