NHL playoff starts tonight. Bruins Ottawa. Want to start with that? Absolutely. Okay. Here's your phone number.

People, I am logged in at 617-779-0-985. What do you think? What do you think of this series? What do you want to see? Also want to ask you, do you think the Bruins season is already a success? As Steve Harris implied in the Herald, let's just start with you, Maz. How do you feel about this series tonight. I think this thing's going to be

a grind. I'd be shocked if this series doesn't

go at a minimum six or seven games. I don't

think that's... applied in the Herald. Let's just start with you, Maz. How do you feel about this series tonight? I think this thing's going to be a grind. I'd be shocked if this series doesn't go at a minimum six or seven games. I don't think the Bruins are going to get smoked. I say smoked. I don't think they're going to go 03 and one like they did during the regular season. At least I hope they don't. I mean, to me, the teams are closer than that. So I would hope that, you know, having some guys who have some playoff experience and all of that would factor in in some capacity. So I think it's going to be a grind. I think it's a winnable series. I'm not going to tell you they're going to win it because I think they're just as capable of losing it. But I think it's going to be a grind. And I think you're going six or seven games at a minimum. Are you surprised that so many people are picking the Bruins? A little bit. Vegas has him favored. The ESPN thing you sent me today, like five of their six experts or whatever. I had the Bruins. A lot of people have the Bruins. That surprised you. Yeah, but I understand it because I think they all looked at the coaching change and look at the one loss record.

And they're not watching the team on a regular basis. And I think they look at it and say, oh, the Bruins are sort of hot, you know, and they sort of get caught up in the history of the franchise and everything else. And when I say history, that, you know, they generally have been a perennial playoff team now for a long time. and so I think people get caught up in that and they haven't watched them enough.

So that's what I don't think that they're basing it on. I'll tell you what I think they're basing it on. And again, this is a consensus sort of feels like the Bruins are favored and more people pick the Bruins and the Senators, even though the senators have won seven of eight against the Bruins and all four games this year. yet the preponderance of people are picking the Bruins. And what I think people do is they make the mistake of looking at league rankings like we would do in football. You know, the Bruins ranked higher offensively than the senators, they even ranked a little bit better defensively than centers. They scored more goals, allowed fewer. Bruins have a better power play than Ottawa's.

Bruins have a better penalty kill than Ottawa.

Bruins rank first. Ottawa ranks 20. I don't even have in front me, but it's something

like that. The Bruins have a higher ranked power play, a higher ranked penalty kill.

They scored more goals. They allowed fewer. They had a better goal differential.

These are the things that people are using, like they're using league markers, which,

why would you do that when you have an individual matchup?

Like, what does it matter what the Bruins did against Columbus and Montreal and Pittsburgh

and Anaheim?

It doesn't.

It should matter what you did against Ottawa, how the teams match up and how they play against each other. Those to me feel more relevant. And in that regard, Ottawa's won seven of eight. And I read a stat this morning. I never realized this. If this has been said elsewhere and I'm just asleep, then so be it. But I never realize this. You know, the Bruins have scored one even strength goal? Stunning, isn't it? Against Ottawa this year. Did the Dave Portnoyle? I spat out my coffee and I wasn't even drinking any. I thought five out of the six on the PowerPoint. I said, what? You played him four times. You scored only six goals. Five were on the man advantage. You scored one even-strength goal against that team.

So isn't that, wouldn't that feel to be a more relevant sort of thing to look at versus

where the Bruins rank in the league in scoring?

Look, absolutely.

I would tell you also that I think there's a general disrespect there for Ottawa and part

because of that system and maybe it is the rankings.

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