Marco Sturm changing OUTLOOK on Bruins’ lineup? | Poke The Bear

Marco Sturm changing OUTLOOK on Bruins’ lineup? | Poke The Bear

Poke the Bear is brought to you by Prize Pick and the Game Time app. And welcome in to Poke the Bear, episode 362, presented by Prize Pick. Go use that promo code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. And make sure to go subscribe to us on Bruins Rankside on YouTube. Lots of great stuff coming. We got six podcasts a week across Poke the Bear, Pucks with Hags, Bruins Beat. We got analysis, live streams, interviews, scrums, all that great stuff. And if you don’t like looking at us and you just like to listen, you just like to listen, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Podbean, there’s so many wherever you get them. And there’s lots of other great CLS content as well. Be it Page of Trespass, Celtics All Access, lots of great stuff over there. That’s Connor Ryan. I’m Evan Marinowski. Connor, what’s up, Evan? I’m doing well. How you doing? Doing great. Doing great. It’s weird doing two poke the bears with you in a week. It’s because Ty Anderson is gone. We can’t find him. He ran away. He ran. Yeah. If anyone sees him, I don’t know if he’s running a muck in Brighton. Like, we’ll have to get everyone on the case here. Get Spoke Z. Get all the people in Brighton be patrolling seeing where Ty Anderson has gone. Maybe he went to Listen, if he’s up at Canopy Lake Pac, who are we to judge? Like if anything, I’d be jealous that he’s on the the mine of lost souls without us. Like having a blast. Yeah. With dominoes in hand. Maybe he’s at Canoby Lake Park with dominoes in hand. God, one can wish. God, we’re gonna have to put on a crack squad of smart detectives to get on the case of where in the world is Ty Anderson. We don’t know. Well, can’t bring Spoke Z in then if that’s the case. No, that’s that that crosses him off the list, doesn’t it? Crack Squad crosses him off the list. No thanks. Sorry spoke Z. I almost said sorry spoke. So that was his first name. Z was his last name. Yes. Um yeah, Ty is away. He’s in Chicago. So he’s uh does that every year, right? He goes to Chicago like this time every year. So he is off enjoying I think like a music festival or something. Good for him. He deserves it. Chicago Unos pizza. That’s right. Instead of Domino’s, he’s getting the the chain pizza out there of Unos. Uh lots of great stuff. Portillos. Portillos. Classic in Chicago. So, I don’t know. Chicago deep dish pizza I like, but nothing beats a regular slice of pizza. I don’t like I don’t like that cheese casserole. I like a lot of other stuff in Chicago. Like Italian beef. Love that. Love uh Yeah. Again, Chicago hot dog deep dish. No. If I want to eat a If I want to eat just like a block of cheese, I can just like open up my fridge and do that. I don’t need start gnawing in a thing of parmesan. Exactly. Yeah. I don’t need that. I I don’t know. Like people are pissed. Uh I don’t like Detroit style pizza. I’ll say that. I’m not a fan of Detroit style pizza. That’s my like I don’t like that. Deep dish I can get down with. I can get down with. It’s not on the same level as like a New York slice, regular slice, but I don’t hate Chicago. Detroitice New Haven. Yeah, New Haven’s goated. Like there’s a um there’s a Detroit style pizza near me and it’s it’s really good. People love it. It’s just not my thing. It’s just not my thing. I’m not a huge fan of it. So, nothing against the people who do that. It’s just not my favorite kind of pizza. Teach their own. He teaches their own. Exactly. Day two of camp has come and gone. We were there on Friday. Um, group A and group B. Lines stayed the same. Again, it’s two days, so how much can you read into it? First preseason game is Sunday. Um, with the lines being what they are, I think one area that you can look at and say, “Huh, Blumel is still Wasaka. Still Wasaka.” And there seems to be this feeling that Blumel has a high ceiling. That rhymed actually. There seems to be a feeling that Blumel has a high ceiling. I can’t think of anything else. That’s That’s where it ends. Starts and ends. It’s all right. You got one You got one line down. You got one bar down. That’s all we needed. There is a question of like is he is he a potential vital contributor to this team and I it from the sounds of what Sturm is saying and from what Zaka said and I didn’t hear Blue Mel on Thursday but things that he likely said there’s a chance that he’s going to get a legit shot at this team. Yeah. I I think when you go into like the start of training camp, right, you always have to be careful in terms of getting swept up or getting carried away with the lines you see for the first couple of days, right? But I think that Marco Sturm and I think one thing we probably have picked up from him the first couple of days and speaking to the media is that he’s pretty I think transparent about like his line of thinking of like kind of the same way I think that they say he’s very direct with players. I think he’s very direct of like this is what my approach is. This is what we tried to do today. This is what I’m looking to get out of this. this is our fault, this is how we’re going to try to correct it. Like, he’s been very, I think, black and white, cut and dry, which is, I think, refreshing, especially when it’s this team that has so much up in the air, so many question marks with the roster, right? So, I I thought it was kind of illuminating uh what he mentioned on Thursday about, you know, as they’re trying to figure out who fits in where on what line and all that stuff, he’s trying to find pairs, essentially, guys, to to put together to try to find that chemistry. I think we can all assume that, you know, the top line is most likely going to be Posatog, Geeky, Lindholm. The fourth line, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s uh, you know, ACmont, Corali, and Castillic. They were skating again today. And that one does make a lot of sense in terms of, you know, guys that can skate well, are physical, all that stuff. So, that’s kind of like finding out what that middle six grouping is. And I I think for the Bruins, um, they’re clearly, I think, really intrigued with what Blue Mel has done. Marco Sturmer has mentioned that he faced off against him at the AHL level. We we know that he was a very productive scoreer uh with Texas in the AHL. Um Sturm mentioned that he’s got the similar approach in the power play as Leon Dryidle. So get the banner going. There it is. Switch. Yeah. Switch his jersey number, all that stuff. We have Leon Dryidle at home. Exactly. What else do you need? We don’t What? Talk about all the time we wasted last year. I’ve been talking about Leon Dryidle. We got him already. No, I I think you know in terms of just what Sturm has said about like the the tools that uh Blue Mel has and it’s not just that he’s got a great one-time. If you watch like his tape um with Texas, he scored in a variety of ways, can score off the rush, has a good wrist shot, can do a lot of everything um offensively. And I think if you’re the Bruins and you know, it’s very clear that this team their ways of generating consistent five on- five offense is up in the air. you need to have these kind of ancillary guys step up and produce by committee. And so I I think it’s clear that they are very intrigued with what Blue Mel can offer. And I I think in terms of just the first couple of days, I think it’s pretty clear that they want to see what they have in this guy before turning to other players as well. So wouldn’t be surprised like I don’t know if like Blue Mel and Zaka going to play in the first preseason game, but I think as they start going through the first couple of practices, the first couple of preseason games, I wouldn’t be surprised if those two guys are kind of skating together. And I think they want Blue Mill in a spot where they can, you know, give him a middle six grouping to work with, but also a guy in Zaka who’s, you know, a fellow Czech guy, guy who speaks the same language. I think I think they want to make Blue Mill comfortable and give him a pretty long runway here to see what he can do because they certainly need it. And if he’s going to be a guy that is going to break out, they want to kind of leave no stone unturned in terms of what he can provide this team moving forward. Well, I think when you talk about like him breaking out, you need to put him in the best possible position to succeed. And if you put him, it’s not like you’re sticking him on the fourth line or you’re sticking him with guys he’s not comfortable with. Clearly, there’s a comfort with Zaka. Be they speak the same language. I think Zaka mentioned that Blumel was staying at his house for a bit of time. Did the dishes and everything which is fantastic. That’s a sign of a great linemate right there. Can he do the dishes or not? Um but I do think there is there is legitimate intrigue with him where, you know, we say this every year where it’s like, you know, the Bruins could kill for someone, you know, to find a guy like this. Someone that kind of comes out of nowhere, produces at the NHL level, breaks out a bit. We say we used to say this about the Lightning like the Lightning always have a guy like that who just out of thin air comes in and makes a big impact and this is the kind of year this is the roster. I mean if this is 22 23 not the case blue’s not coming in and cracking that lineup but it with this lineup the way it is desperate for five on five scoring and we’ll get into it in a little bit of how Sturm kind of used certain lines. Blue Mel deserves a legit shot and I think he will get one. Like that’s the thing, right? Like I mean we see in the first couple days of camp he’s with Zaka and I think there’s something legit to take away from that in that they really like him. They really like him and you know I would imagine he gets a long runway. Now how does that make a guy like Fabian Lysel feel? How does that you know work internally with a Matt Potra or something? And again who cares? Like who cares? You got to win hockey games. You got to score goals. And if Bl’s the guy to do it then that’s what you got to do. Um, but I do wonder, you know, if they continue to shake things up in the next couple days of camp, um, to get different looks with different guys. I know it’s only been two days, but I do wonder if they start to take a look at, you know, do you move Patra with NHL guys? Do you move um, Lysel in with other NHL guys? They got to earn it, but I do wonder if we see it. Yeah. And I I think it does feel like um you look at what they’re trying to do with Zaka and you know playing him down the middle and I I think it’s all about and we kind of mentioned this on Thursday, right, of what we’re seeing from the early look at these lines and maybe we’re just projecting a little bit as to what the opening night lineup could be. But as far as like the way they’re structuring things, it does feel like they want Middlestat and Zaka to be on two separate lines as center, which adds a lot of injury, but also adds maybe even more questions, right, in terms of who’s going to fall into place where because I think we all were assuming that, you know, to start the year, well, this team has so few like sure bets in terms of like consistent like scorers that like, all right, well, we know what the top line is. is might as well put all your eggs in one basket on the second line with Zaka Middlestat Arvdson and see how that pans out. And then the third line’s kind of a hodgepodge of guys out there. It doesn’t feel like that’s the case with what Marco Sterm’s kind of envisioning with that group. So I I think for them it’s all about trying to find some balance, but also with a guy like Blumel, you know, if you know, it’s not going to be surprised in terms of I think what the strengths and weaknesses of this team is. Macrotorm has mentioned it since July that scoring is going to be an issue for this team. So I think you look at what Blue Mel has done in the AHL level. That’s a guy that I don’t think you give him one or two preseason games and unless he scores a hattick you’re like, “All right, back to the AHL with you. It was worth a shot.” Like I think you want to exhaust every opportunity to see what you have in a player like that because now is the time to to stick with those kinds of players. Now is the time to go through maybe some growing pains and see if a guy can can end up, you know, hanging around at the NHL level. The Bruins don’t have the luxury or the depth or the talent in place right now to, you know, be very selective in terms of where guys can slot into the middle six group. If Blum Mel and again the onus is gonna fall on Bluml right to play well during the preseason but if he shows that there’s something there and there’s especially an offensive element that he can provide at the NHL level I think they’re going to give him every opportunity to stick around and see what he can do 100%. And I think you know even with Zaka and you just alluded to it of you know Zaka was speaking on Friday and mentioned that it’s not set in stone but Sturm likes him a lot at center and that’s sort of where he’s going to be until things change and maybe he’ll get some looks on the wing but he likes him more as a center and you get into the whole thing of like all right Elias number one center he’s likely centering geeky and Posternok you got middle stat on line two don’t quite know who his linemates are going to be and and and it might not you know middle stat might be line three but given the way that Sturm described line three on Thursday. It’s I would certainly give the edge to Zaka over middle stat in terms of going against other teams top lines, but it is an interesting thing of like where does who’s fitting on the wings if you’re going to go strong down the middle or as strong as you can be in terms and I know people say oh this center core sucks but like as strong as this group is Lindholm middle stat Zaka um and you keep Zaka down the middle I do wonder who plays with Zaka you have Blumel seems like a clear guy on one side and then it’s who’s on the other side there. And I think that’s going to be the real interesting thing to track. And can Zaka drive a line? That’s another partial thing that I think you got to see because again when Zaka was down the middle, you know, a year or two ago, it’s with, you know, high-end NHL teammates. I know he spent some time with Posternok. Um but it’ll be interesting to see who they put him with um during camp and then as the season starts. Yeah. And it’s almost like if you’re going through the same exercise that Marco Sturma has mapped out about finding like the pairs that can kind of fill out the the middle six group of uh the forward core. Yeah, maybe it is Zaka and Blue Mel and then it’s insert player here on whatever that line is. It’s the same with like I would imagine where I think the Bruins want to see what a guy like Casey Middlestack can do as a offensive threat, right? like they they brought him in because he was a little bit of a different profile of a player. They wanted to add more skills, some more playmaking uh to their lineup. Again, I don’t know how much you really can glean from what he did last year when you look at like the supporting cast he had. So maybe for for them it’s like all right, Zaka and Blue Mel are maybe more of like your third line because like uh Zaka is more of maybe a more defensive type player and then like your second line that’s kind of like your experimental like offensive grouping, right? Maybe that’s Middlestead Arvidson and then it’s someone else that has upside or maybe it’s I I don’t know is it Jano and I know Jano has like skated a lot with um Zaka and Bluml but maybe you want a big body with a few playmakers and just see if he can kind of be like just the guy that cleans up around the net. Maybe it’s you put him with Zaka and Blue Mel and see what he can provide there. Like I it almost feels like if the Bruins are moving forward with the the plan of you know having like established NHL talent down the middle like let’s say it is Lindholm Middlestat Zaka Corali it opens up kind of a a new way we have to look at this this lineup and where guys fit into place of like all right who are the the other two wings there if it is the pairs we’ve mentioned before and how that pans out whether that means is there as much of an opportunity for younger players as we originally thought, right, in terms of like maybe like the the Mittens, the Potras, the the Providence type players. Um, you know, a guy like Henino, right? Where does he fit into the equation? Like where the rest of that that middle six pans out is, you know, remains to be seen. But it it’s an interesting wrinkle if that’s how they approach things with building down the middle with established NHL talent. And again, it it building down the middle with established NHL talent puts you in a position where, you know, you have a a center who can who’s, you know, supportive defensively or driving uh driving offense and playing the way Sterm wants them to play, supporting guys low in the defensive zone, things like that. I want to get more into sort of that bottom six and who might be fitting in there and who might be on the outs just by Storm’s comments. But first, our friends at Prize Pix. episode is brought to you by Prize Pick. You and I make decisions every day. But on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement this off seasonason on Prize Pick where it’s good to be right. We’re recording this on a Friday right before a big football Sunday. I got two picks I really like. Patrick Mahomes more than.5 passing yards. That’s right. That’s a 99% discount. And I like CD Lamb. More than 83 and a half receiving yards against the Bears on Sunday. CD Lamb has been redhot and I think that continues this weekend. Prize pick is simple to play. Just pick more or less on two to six player stat projections. If you get your picks right, you can cash in. Prize Pix invented the flex play which means you can still cash out if your lineup isn’t perfect. You can double your money even if one of your picks doesn’t hit. I know this because this happens to me. I like flex plays. I’m not always perfect. I like to be right, but I can’t always be perfect. So, I love the flex play. Download the app today and use code cls. Get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code cls to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. Good to be right. Um, so Sturm spoke on the third line on uh Friday. He spoke on the fourth line as well, saying he wants his bottom six to be hard-nosed lines. Fourth line seems, as you said, ACont um Castillic and um Carelli. Carelli. I’m blank. I can’t believe I forgot chunk rally. Uh those I think everybody understands what those three are up to do. That’s not a hard thing to figure out how they’re going to play. And I think by the way I kind of like that I kind of like that fourth line. I like that fourth line that fits their identity exact. Like this is this is them. That’s if they’re going to beat teams. They I’m not saying they’re scoring goals, but they that’s kind of the way you want want them to play. Yeah. They’re they’re kind of a they are they are a pain in the ass. If if especially AC Mott’s a guy that every time you see him when he played the Bruins, he was such a pain in the ass. Like I think Carali uh is still a guy that you know is he the same player he was maybe when he was first here where I think he was one of the honestly like more underrated forc like there’s some of those guys that I think have had that title for a couple years now. You look at like Carolina always feels like they’ve got one of the best fourth line centers. Nick Dow’s been that kind of role with Washington for the last couple years, but Carelli was like a game changer during his last few years with the Bruins as just a guy that big body, skates really well, can give you 20 plus points in a season, was good in the postseason. Um, so I don’t know if you’re expecting that same thing, but in terms of I think what the identity of what Sturm is looking for, right, of speed, forchecking, and kind of I think a simplified approach uh on the offensive side of things, having those three guys out there who kind of play that that style of just straight line, winning pucks, throwing their weight around, I think they’re going to uh blend well, I think, with what Sturm is trying to preach, especially in that bottom six grouping, 100%. And then you get into that third line which I was I asked Sterm about this on uh on Friday. Oh, thank you so much. Just h I I was up all night thinking about it. Yes. Um and I I was curious because it’s like, you know, you have obviously your top six has to score. You got your fourth line, which as we just talked about makes sense, but then what’s your third line? What are you looking for out of that line? Are they going to be a two-way line? Are they going to score a lot? are you looking at for it to be with young players and sort of a opportunity for them to get chances? And he mentions that he wants it to be a line that can go up against other teams top lines when necessary. That’s notoriously not what younger players are for. He mentioned like Nathan McKinnon in his line. I don’t think you’re putting young guys out there against those guys. Now, it doesn’t take out Frasier Mitten. I think Frasier Mitten makes sense for that. But again, as we just said, if you look at Lindholm, Middlestat, Zaka, and Carali as your centers, well, Mitten is a center, and I think you want Mitten to stay a center. Doesn’t make a lot of sense on the wing. Takes Potra out of the equation for the third line most likely. But then you wonder like, does a Victor Arvdson move down to that third line? And does Matt Potra slot up in the top six somewhere on the wings? Sterms mentioned that. You have Tanner Jano, you mentioned this earlier, is Tanner Jano going to play with a guy like Zaka on that third line potentially. Like I’m very curious what they end up doing uh um wingwise for that third line because yes, you want younger players to get experience and they need it. But if you’re going to play a certain way and you’re going to have those third liners go up against another team’s top uh top forward line, you do need a little experience if that’s the route you’re going to take. Yeah, I think it just shows you, Evan, right? like just how much feels like it’s either up in the air or how much things can change in a hurry as far as the Bruins and what they’re trying to to build with this forward core and how much I think is still to be determined whether it’s through training camp or the preseason because as we said when we went through back in June and July and August when we had nothing to talk about we were like looking at you know opening night like way too early predictions and I think we all assumed as we said earlier like oh second line that’s easy right you put in Zaka uh Middlestad ason and then we kind of mapped out at least I did like the third line being kind of your your opportunity to give the young guys some run. Maybe it’s Jano as kind of like the enforcer the the guy watching out for Potra or Lysel or Minton something else like that but as you said I don’t know if those are the guys you want out there to be kind of your shutdown grouping. So maybe it is Zaka with Blue Mel and Jano. Is it like Minton? Do you put him on the wing just to get him some reps even though that’s not ideal? I also wouldn’t put Minton as like your 4C as well. Like I I I’d rather you put him in a middle six spot, but it just kind of I don’t really have the answers yet, right? It just I think raises more questions as to like how this this group kind of gets mapped out because I think you want to see younger guys get extended runs here. Um but where do they best fit and what is Marco Sturm also trying to get out of this group? Because as much as I think the Bruins, you know, both for what we want to see and I think for their long-term success, you want to see younger guys give that get those opportunities, Marco Storm also wants this team to get off to a good start here. Like if they want to be competitive, do you lean more of like, all right, first game, you know, you’re going up against Ouchin and DC and and that top grouping. Are you rolling out Potra and Lysel and Husand to match up against the Ovetkin line or is it Zaka Blumel, Jano, right? Like if you’re a first year head coach trying to get a good start, set the tone right away, you’re probably leaning more on that veteran group, even if maybe it’s not as exciting for the long-term success of this team, right? But that’s kind of what you have to weigh as a coach in terms of towing the line between, hey, getting identity right, getting us back on track while also ensuring that the long-term success of this team is is building up. Well, this is again where like if you’re going to view your third line like that, are you really going to live up to and Sturm’s mentioned this a number of times, young players getting in the lineup? Like it that does not bode well for them. And then I would also say, I know it’s only been two days of camp, but are they not super confident in the young guys coming up and making an impact? Are they not, you know, are they not enthralled with Lysel or Patra or who’s not young but like or a Beecher or something in the first couple days like where they’re like, you know what, third line that’s going to be a potential shutdown line as well because they have the personnel to do it. like you you have enough guys that you’ve signed or brought in that you have enough in the bottom six that you can put two lines together who are reliable who are just 200 foot you you don’t have to really not worry about them but like if you’re trying to get a shutdown line that’s kind of boring you have a lot of guys that can do that you have personnel for that no problem like top five in the league in that and that’s fine but if you are going to develop young guys and you’ve said you wanted to and you want to give them opportunities That third line kind of looked like the line where there was some leeway. Now I get it. It’s not it might not be conducive to winning or winning games two to one, which is I think what this team is going to have to do, but I just wonder then where’s where are the young guys going to slot in? And they got to earn it. I agree. Like I’m not going to sit here and say you hand these guys spots in the lineup, but you know who I guess who are middle stats wings? Maybe they look at and say, “You know what? A Lysel makes more sense in the top six than putting him in the on the third line or a Matt Potra makes more sense up there.” Um, maybe that’s the move. Maybe that’s the route that they take because again, like if Zaka’s, we’ve talked about this a little bit already. Zach is a center, who are the wings? Is Jano in the top six? Um, do they want Jano more as a third line or like there it is sort of a mixed bag. And I think after that first line now it’s become clear that first and fourth lines fairly set. I don’t think much is going to change there. But those middle two lines I think are where you’re going to see the most uh change and the most sort of shuffling the deck. Yeah. No. And again a lot of it’s going to fall on the players themselves to either change that approach or change the the coach’s thinking. Like we we’ve mentioned Saka and Bluml. What if Blumel doesn’t pop during the preseason, right? And like even like we look at right now you’re looking maybe at the big picture of like that third line’s going to be a no man’s land for younger players. Well, what if Lysel lights it up? Like I thought like for as much as we’ve talked about Lysel and this his last chance, what have you. I think on Thursday when it was like a very fast-paced uh practice, I thought Lysel was really noticeable. He was like even like they were doing foreign was like using his body was like really involved and that was kind of one of the knocks against him. So, if he comes in with his hair on fire and has a great preseason, yeah, I think Marco Sturm’s not going to be like, “Well, he’s been really good, but like I already said what my third line’s going to be.” It’s like, no, I think a coach has to change his approach or augment his his lineup construction if it means create an opportunity for a guy that’s earned that spot. And I think that’s the big thing for the Bruins is they can go in with an approach of what they want to build. But if the young guy surprises, if Lysel takes a big step forward, if Dan Lashmell takes a big step forward, they’re not going to be like, “All right, sorry, but like down to Providence with you.” Like, I think it’s all about finding the I think with this team where they are so established, talent deficient. If any young guy pops, you’re going to you’re going to give them an opportunity. If Bls legit, you’re going to give that opportunity. If Melis accelerates his timeline, you’re gonna roll with it. Lysel, all those guys. So, I think the Bruins are going in with an idea of what they’re trying to build with their lineup. But I think as is the case probably every training camp, you go in with the best laid plans, but they sometimes don’t work out the way you were expecting. The Bruins two years ago weren’t going into the year, but like, “All right, we got this lineup and you know, we don’t have Berseron and these guys anymore, so it’s gonna be tough, but like don’t worry guys, we got Matt Potcher, an 18-y old Matt Potcher ready to go. ready to go. Like, no, that that was they didn’t expect that to happen. So, I think it’s all about trying to read and see where this lineup is going to be in the next couple weeks, but a whole lot can change between now and then. And I think that’s maybe the best way to approach this as the Bruins try to figure out where the puzzle pieces kind of fit moving forward. If there was ever a training camp for young players to pop, it is this one. Yes, it is this one. This is your year. If you’re a young guy, you’re listening to us. you’re you’re you’re you’re avidly listening to Poke the Bear as you, you know, run on the treadmill or work out. This is your year. This is your year. This is the year to do it. Uh you know what else it’s time to do? Subscribe to Bruins Ringside on YouTube. Subscribe. Turn on notifications. It’s all free podcast throughout the week. Six a week. Poke the bear. Bruins beat pucks with hags. Live streams, analysis, breakdowns, all that great stuff. Uh and if you don’t like looking at us, if you’re a player working out, you can’t watch us. You just you got to listen. You got to lock in your workout wherever you get it. That’s right. Yeah. Well, Pelaton, you’re there’s usually an instructor, right? No, you can do all sorts of stuff now. You can you can put YouTube on there. So, you can be pedaling away and it’s like I’m Mr. Beast and I bought Alcatraz. It’s like you can do that while you’re working out. I don’t know. I’ve never watched I’ve never watched Yeah. I’ve never seen I I just know of the name, but I know he makes videos like that. So, bro, he owns the NFL now. That’s crazy. Oh, really? Yeah. Well, they did the NFL did a promo where Mr. Beast like bought the NFL. So, there you go. I I just like especially all the kids listening to this are like, “Shut the [ __ ] up.” Listen, this was an informative thing here. I mentioned that. Yeah. You can go on YouTube now on the Pelon. So, you can be peding away and see us talk and listen to us talk about talk about the Bruins. Yeah, you can subscribe and watch it on your Pelaton. That’s pretty sick. So, go do that or you can listen if you’re more traditional and wherever you get your podcast from. Uh, and then there’s also a lot of other great stuff at CNS, be it Patriots press, Celtics All Access. Those are all in full swing. Um, first preseason game on Sunday night. They play the Caps at 5 at the Garden. Um, I will not be there. That’s you Patriots, right? I will be at Gillette. So, I could try to drive back afterwards, but that would serve no one. No, that would You’d listen to the game on the radio. Yeah. Um, what are you if it I know like I’m very interested in line combinations and how those young guys play because that’s it’s the first preseason game so you’re going to see a lot of young guys. It’s going to look more like a Providence lineup than a Boston lineup. But I am looking for who pops who stands out like to me and and especially up front. Up front is my main uh source of focus. Like is Blue Mel playing? Is Potra playing? Is Lysel playing? And how are they doing? That’s my biggest focus. When I assume you’ll watch the game later, I’m curious what you what you’ll be looking for. Yeah, I kind of agree that I’m expecting a lot of really young players in the lineup for that game on Sunday. And I feel like the first preseason game is where the guys that position themselves to to make a push for NHL reps to be that kind of training camp surprise. That’s where they put the first bricks down and lay that foundation. I feel like Potchra had a really good preseason debut and that kind of put him on the radar. I think you see that with a lot of these types of players that that’s where you start building some momentum. So whether that’s a guy like Blue Mel maybe gets power play one reps on that group and he makes the most of it. If it’s a guy like Lysel who’s trying to set the tone and establish himself Fraser Minton who’s trying to show that hey if you want a trustworthy third line I’m still your guy. like look at like the all situations I could play getting a lot of minutes on a younger lineup. Kind of the same thing he did with the prospects challenge. Um even a guy like Los Melis who we’ve talked about that like wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a push. Um if any one of those guys I think really uh takes a step forward and produces on Sunday I think that bears watching in terms of like all right they’re making their presence felt and now how do they build off of that? And I think it’s all about for the same thing with Potra a few years ago. like you’re just stacking good days like Pra like no one was really expecting much out of him other than like all right he’s going to go back to juniors after the next couple of weeks oh he has a good preseason game oh wow he’s feeling confident he’s you’re seeing him more in practice oh they give him another game keeps on producing and it’s just one day after the other building up that kind of production and that track record and I think for a lot of these younger players who have a great opportunity in front of them it’s going to start on Sunday so I think that’s what I’ll be I’ll be watching as I’m at the Gillette Stadium as the Patriots the traffic seeing the seeing the traffic leave route one waiting for it to die down. I’ll be watching from a file as the Patriots are down like 3 36 nothing at the end. Well, it be long gone. The game will be over by then, but um they’ll have lost 36 nothing. Uh then you’ll be watching the uh the Bruins on the side. I like Drake May, though, so for prize picks, I like that. So, they won’t be losing 36 nothing. There you go. Of course, Connor, what can the people look forward to from you over at the globe andboston.com? Yeah, you can read my stuff over at the globe andboston.com. We’ll have you covered every step of the way this brilliant season from training camp to the regular season till maybe the playoffs. Maybe. I don’t know. We’ll see. However long the season goes, we’ll have you covered every step of the way. So, please read my stuff over at Boston.com and the Boston Globe. If you want to follow me on Twitter, X, whatever it’s called, you can. Connory_93. Go do all that. Go do all that. It’s Connor Ryan. I’m F. Marinowski. Poke the Bear listeners. Have a great rest. Have your week.

In this episode of Poke The Bear, Conor and Evan discuss Marco Sturm’s approach with lineup construction, Pavel Zacha’s spot at center, and much more. 

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