Haggerty Talks Olympic Hockey, Bruins Win Streak On Toucher & Rich
BOSTON (CBS) - Bruins insider Joe Haggerty of Comcast SportsNet New England joined the Toucher & Rich show Tuesday morning to discuss the hometown team's three-game win streak, as well as which Bruins will make their country's respective Olympic teams.
Fred kicked off the interview interested to hear Joe's opinion on something that's been bothering him. The Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning at home yesterday by a score of 3-0, but the big news coming out of the game was the injury of Lightning superstar Steven Stamkos.
Stamkos left the game with 7:11 left to play in the second period after crashing into the right post. It was revealed after the game that Stamkos broke his right tibia.
Fred can't help but wonder why all the hockey pundits are choosing to talk about Stamkos' Olympic availability for Team Canada rather than how his injury will affect the Tampa Bay Lightning, who came into town yesterday with the best record in the Eastern Conference and leaders in the Atlantic Division.
Joe Haggerty chalks it up to the Canadian media being obsessed with the sport and hockey in Florida being what it is. Former player Steve Yzerman and current GM of the Lightning is in a tough spot because, according to Haggs, Yzerman is also the GM of Team Canada.
Haggerty said as many as 8 Bruins players could be playing for their respective countries in Sochi for the Winter Olympics, calling Zdeno Chara (Slovakia), Loui Eriksson (Sweden), Patrice Bergeron (Canada), David Krejci (Czech Republic) and Tuukka Rask (Finald) all "locks" to make it.
According to Haggerty, Milan Lucic is a "darkhorse" to make Team Canada while Brad Marchand is not even up for consideration.
Also, Torey Krug is on the radar of Team USA and Carl Soderberg likely won't be playing for Sweden because of his refusal to play for them in the World Championships after they blocked his release to the NHL.
Goucher: Bruins Playing Better Because More Guys Contributing
Then the conversation shifted to the Bruins win streak and how they've been able to take three straight divisional games.
What's changed?
"Urgency is there. That's a big part of it. They've started to take things a little more seriously and put in a consistent effort," said Haggerty. "Beyond that, you're starting to see players that didn't play all that well in the first month come together."
"Even though he didn't have a point yesterday, Brad Marchand had his best game of the season against Tampa Bay. He seems to be skating way better than he did, and that line is really starting to gather momentum. Patrice Bergeron's got three goals in the last two games and Loui Eriksson has points in three straight games."
"You're starting to see the Bruins team that everybody expected, it just took them a few weeks to get there."
For Haggerty's full analysis listen to the interview below:
Haggerty Talks Olympic Hockey, Bruins Win Streak
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