Ty Anderson, who covers the Boston Bruins for 985thesportshub.com, joined Toucher and Rich to discuss the Bruins’ unexpected elimination from the NHL playoffs.

Despite entering the playoffs as heavy favorites to win the Stanley Cup, the Bruins were ousted by the Florida Panthers in Game 7 in the first round. The loss has left many Bruins fans disappointed and questioning what went wrong.

during his appearance on the show, Anderson shared his thoughts on what went awry for the Bruins and whether or not the Bruins would have made it to the second round with former coach Bruce Cassidy.

The answer may surprise you.

• 

  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 30: Patrice Bergeron #37 of the Boston Bruins waves to fans before exiting the ice after Florida Panthers defeat the Bruins 4-3 in overtime of Game Seven of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on April 30, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

• TRANSCRIPT:

  Rich Shertenlieb: I’m going to ask you a completely unfair question. If, in a bubble, Bruce Cassidy was your coach at the beginning of the playoffs, does this team make it to the second round.

  Ty Anderson: Yes. Yeah. Because Bruce Cassidy would adjust but not adjust beyond recognition, if that makes sense. Montgomery was choosing a weird time of year to just completely reinvent his coaching style and reinvent his lines and his deployment. I think that’s one thing that you could say about Bruce Cassidy. Was that right or wrong? He went down with the ship. You look at that top line in 2019 when they were all banged up, he kept them together. So I think that if you give him this roster and you say, beat the Florida Panthers four times in seven games, I think Bruce Cassidy gets it done. But, you know, that may be an unfair question, like you said, are they this good? Are they on the road to begin the playoffs? So that’s that’s the real question. But they were just combinations that Montgomery was using that I was like we haven’t seen that all year.

• LISTEN HERE:

• Nick Gemelli is a Producer for the Toucher and Rich program and contributor for 985thesportshub.com. you can follow Nick at @NickGemelli on Twitter.

  Follow @Toucherandrich on Twitter, @Toucherandrichofficial and @fredtoucher on Instagram to keep up with the show!

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