The reality of it is that Swayman, I think, got the Bruins to move pretty significantly. And I wonder-A quarter mil? Yeah. But they weren't at 8 million. They weren't even at 7.8. Frank Suravali said the max that they were at to that Pam Neely point was 7.8 million. But you remember, they started the offseason at 6.5..

That's the Ryan Whitney rumor, right?

Right. And there were a few other people that confirmed that. And I get you start several million apart and you work your way to the center or whatever. But Swayman, from all accounts, never really did. He was like, It's eight and a half. And so for him to only come down 250 grand, and for Boston to finally go, You know what? Screw it. I think both sides made a really good deal, and it makes me angry.

And they got a really good deal before he starts missing games that count. I know Corposal is going to start the season. I don't think waiting a month or two was going to be good for his career.

I agree.

It's not like Willy Neillander, where he had a horrible year after he held out. With a goalie, I feel like it all happens very fast, and all of a sudden, you're bad. And because you're bad, they're not playing you. And then how do you get it? How do you get it back? It's difficult. It's a lot trickier. And they get it done before the REVOLT, because it was starting. It was starting, and didn't I call it?

Oh, the fans were turning up.

Things have been too good for too long in Boston, so people forget. But that fan base and media, the O'Neill is the only place where this happens. No, the media will turn on you. Tyler Sagan, Dougie Hammond, Ben Waupulia to a much, much, much smaller degree. Yeah. Phil Castle. Holy shit. I know that's also very different because he You got traded with. But he was holding out, meaning he wasn't holding. You saw that sign behind the bench, the take 64, go. He took 66.

He took 66. And he didn't go.

How about you, go? They got it done at a reasonable number before things got out of hand negatively for both sides. It's perfect. It's annoyingly bought. Austin. I am Vince Vawn in Anchorman with everything they do. I straight hate you, but God damn it, I respect. Yeah.

Jesse, what are your thoughts on it?

No, I think it's one, an accurate deal. He's exactly where he should be.

Oh, an accurate deal.

I was like, Did we get it wrong? No, it's an accurate deal in that he's right where he should be in terms of goal tenders across the league. I believe he's tied for fourth. It's Brobrokowski, Vasilevski, Hela Buk, and then Sroken has the same $8.25 million deal, and Cary Price is X amount.

Shesterken is going to breeze by him in no time.

Shesterken is a whole conversation that we can have. He's going to deserve so much more than that. It's going to be a little troubling for the Rangers their cap situation.

I'm not worried about Shesterken because as soon as Troupe has gone, there's his race.

Yeah, but they got so many other bodies. They need a sign. That, I would be worried about. That it's a little tricky with their cap. But Swayman fits right in where he should be, and he's going to live up, hopefully, to this contract. For the Bruins, going forward, it's going to be a spectacular deal because the Cap is going to go up. He's going to outplay that value. It's right in line where it should be. I wonder if they look back on the last month and a half and if they say, We did a good thing by sending a message to the world into our locker room by making this public, and realizing everybody's got to stand in line, and Cam Neely and Dawn Sweener happy what they did, or if they say this 8.25 could have just been solved in July because this is the money they allocated throughout the summer for Swayman. Yes. It all depends. And the fact that they wouldn't just come up to this earlier. I wonder if they're happy with how it played out.

It allThey can't be. But they want. They cannot be happy. I don't know. I don't know. I think Swayman is probably okay with it, but I don't think Boston management... And remember, this Boston management group, despite their on-ice personnel success, has made some, and I don't want to bring it up, but you guys all know, they made some bumbling idiot moves a couple of years ago when they were the first-place team in the league. Bruce Cassidy? Not Joe Miller. The fight room in his room? They do some stuff in this management group that is like, Hey, guys, you're a really good team. You don't need to do it this way. I just feel like they can't be... To me, Jeremy Swayman wins. They got to be careful not to get in their own way. They make really smart decisions. But every year or so, you get this, What the fuck is going on in Boston with their management anyway?

You know what I mean? That's why I'm like, it's very curious that you built your cap around, Hey, we're going to sign Swam in around $8 million, and then you go through this whole thing, and then you eventually land at $8.25..

When's the cap going to be $100 million?

Probably two, three years. It's going to be 92.5 next year, probably another four or five the next year, and then another four or five, and then rent.

And so he'll be making about 8% of the cap. Great. For your starting goal. Yep.

Fabulous. Fabulous deal. Maybe they could just be a little more efficient in getting there. That's what Jesse's saying. Oh, 100 %.

At the end of the day, I thought Allen on Agent Provocator on Friday was brilliant. Man, he was great. In talking about how he talks through a player through this. And he says, If you're serious about this, we have to commit. Because if we get to the end of this thing and you're just like, Oh, I'll just sign what they gave me, then you've lost forever. Then that's how they're going to look at you as this guy.

And you've lost it for everyone.

And you've lost it for everyone. You've lost it for the locker room. You lose a lot of respect there. But if you're serious, we'll go through this and we'll make it hard on people. So at the end of the day, when push came to Shove, and there were actual games that Jeremy Swayman was going to lose, the negotiations got serious, and they solved everything. And it feels like it was always going to be there at this point. It's what CJ talked about. When we get to this point where you're going to miss real games and things actually get serious, because if he signs in season, the contract becomes prorated, and the Boston Bruins don't have the salary cap to sign him to an $11 million cap hit in December, and pay him that. That's why Milander was the $10 million man.

Milander never wants them.

Because he never was.

Well, I think Brett screwed Brett there.

They both fucked each other in the worst... Put it in the worst terms. So things got serious, and they got it done. But get it serious earlier.

Yeah. This is what I mean. It's over, though. It's over now. Guys, it's over, but they still let a fucking podcast get in there.

We got so much content out of this. Shit, just fuck them up. You can't take that back from the universe. No. Everything that happened from September on.

Here's the thing.

Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Here's how you do it.

When.

Yeah. Okay, I get it.

You win, no one remembers the entire- But the process is guys that let them there- If they do remember, they don't care.

Are still there. If I'm Cam Neely and I'm responsible, and he has been, I'm going, Guys, let's take a step. Let's not do this again. How do we not do this? How do we not... Okay, so Bissonette's on her shit and Whitney's on her shit, or Elliot Friedman's on her shit, or Chris Johnson's on her shit, or whoever else you want to- Jesse Blake. Jesse Blake is messing us up. What do we do next time? Let's sit down with the PR staff and ask them, What's the PR person going to say? The PR person is going to say, Don't mention it. He's still not under contract. We're working towards it. Next point. That's all they had to do.

I don't care when you Don't sign Jeremy Swam and just don't sign Mitchell Miller, again.

Yeah, but this is my point, right? It's like, just maybe listen to your PR staff because they do a pretty good job. And every time Bruins management doesn't, what happens? It explodes. And this is a team that has erased a lot of that because they've won. But I guarantee you, if the Bruins had not been as outrageously successful as they have been for the last half of the decade, we might be looking at The world where the Bruins burn through their goodwill is currently a fantasy.

Oh, it could never happen. One that I just can't...

It could never happen.

I can't picture.

We got to also remember how... The Amazon doc that's out now reminded me of how close the Bruins were to complete destruction in terms of their fan base. And being serial chokers. And being chokers. So that goodwill thing can disappear real quick. They were going to become the first team ever to blow three one leads in back-to-back playoff years, and they almost did it if it weren't for the Leeds who were the king of choking. So I feel like there was-I can't believe that wasn't quintuple over time.

Neither team should have scored. That game should still be going.

There was a moment there where they were teetering on the brink of destruction as an organization in terms of their reputation recently, because they had the best record ever in the regular season by any team in the history of hockey. They choked with a 3-1 lead. They're up against the Toronto Maple Leaps, the team that can't win shit ever, and they're about to choke away a 3-1 lead. This could have been a completely different offseason in terms of Bruinsland.

But they happen to be playing the lead, so it's all good.

And then now they save everything in their back here. So there are moments where this management group hasn't been all there. And I wonder if they look back on this and they regret it.

You know what I think it is?

They probably do.

It's a bunch of hard-headed dudes.

I look at this fucking guy- Every sports thing comes down to, I don't think these gentlemen are being reasonable.

Yes. It's just like, you know what? Every conversation. I've made my decision. It's not rational, it's not realistic, and I'm fucking sticking to it. And at that point, it comes down on an ego play. I don't doubt that these are nice people in real life. I don't doubt that they're great at their job. Look at the results. Because unlike in Toronto, it actually is a results-based business. People are like, Oh, trust the process. Trust the process. No. I've trust the process for a decade now, not seeing a lot of results from the process.

In most other markets, you need at least some success.

I would prefer Boston's process. Even with the dysfunction, most of it. The one thing I mentioned there I would not want. But I'm just saying, maybe, guys, if you're at an 11, sleep on it, come back to work at 7:00. Do you know what I'm saying? Sometimes, emotions get hot and you're like, You know what? Instead of being the guy on the ice that I used to be, why don't I be a leadership guy now, say nothing, and then go to sleep, and then wake up going, You know what? I feel I'm glad I didn't say anything yesterday. I'm glad I didn't tweet that, which you and I have had to learn. Jessie's never had that problem. I'm glad I didn't say that to my friends or my partner or whatever. I'm glad I slept on that. I'm glad I took a day to cool off.

I'm glad I just thought of the hardest trophy in sports to win. I invented it just now. What is it? Because they say the Super Bowl is the hardest trophy in sports to win. Stanley Cup. But then you also hear the Stanley Cup is the hardest. No. There should be a trophy. Best team team in Boston. Oh, the Boston Bowl. The Boston Bowl is the hardest damn thing.

Oh, the Patriots held that title for a while.

Yeah, but now the Celtics are raining NBA champs, and the Patriots can go freak off.

Same with the Red Sox.

Red Sox, they fuck off. Yeah, they suck.

Yeah, you stink. Does everybody under Funway Sports suck right now? Because the Penguins suck.

Isn't Liverpool?

Liverpool is okay. Oh, they're good. There you go. Yeah, okay.

I don't know. I knew a soccer thing. I'm not familiar with their portfolio.

There's been a lot of managerial changes to Fenway Sports and Entertainment. Something to keep an eye on, I just.