BHN Daily: Edwards Rattles Cages, Calls Sabres ‘NHL’s Dumpster Fire’

NESN’s Jack Edwards does TV play-by-play for the Boston Bruins and is beloved in the Boston area for his colorful commentary, and his allegiance to the team he covers in most situations. He’s also renowned for his outspokenness about all NHL matters, which has gotten him into hot water with other franchises on more than a few occasions.

This humble hockey writer witnessed what felt like was going to end in a fistfight when Edwards and then-Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon confronted each other at TD Garden years ago after the play-by-play man had opined that the Panthers would be better off in Quebec. It seems like dustups like that happen once or twice a year with Edwards because he clearly isn’t afraid to ratchet up the hockey hyperbole.

That’s happening again, this time in Buffalo, after Edwards accurately lambasted the Buffalo Sabres as “the NHL’s version of a dumpster fire” during Thursday night’s NESN broadcast of Boston’s 4-1 win over the Sabres in Buffalo. He went on to say that Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen “leads the league in frustration” given his time of service to the lowly Sabres over the years.

Jack Edwards pulling NO punches talking about the Sabres pic.twitter.com/cj92tWp01w

— That’s Hockey Talk (@ThatsHockeyTalk) March 18, 2021

All the Edwards dumping naturally ruffled some feathers, with longtime Buffalo News columnist and Sabres writer Mike Harrington wondering how an NHL mouthpiece would go so down and dirty talking one of the NHL’s 31 franchises.

The Jack Edwards slam on #Sabres is obviously accurate… But that said, employees of teams and television networks who are rightsholders for a league generally aren’t in the business of gratuitous slams of the opposition like that. They’re all generally in it together.

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) March 18, 2021

This humble hockey writer’s opinion: In the words of the immortal Don Draper, “if you don’t like what people are saying then change the conversation.” If the Sabres don’t like being the NHL’s punchline to jokes aplenty, then get your house in order, start winning some hockey games and earn back people’s respect.

What else is there to accurately so about a sad sack Sabres team that’s riding a 13-game losing streak and has a revolving door of GMs and head coaches?

Maybe Edwards shouldn’t take such glee in the Sabres being perpetually terrible, but he can only do it because the Sabres are allowing them to do it through another joke of an NHL season for them. So, there’s a short limit to how much anybody is going to rise up and get angry about them getting kicked while they are down, down and down again.

Now on to the BHN Puck Links:

*Speaking of the Buffalo Sabres, they are definitely on high alert right now as they fear a second shutdown this season due to COVID-19. (The Athletic)

*Good piece from FOH (Friend of Haggs) Emily Kaplan on former Boston Bruins first round pick Malcolm Subban, who appears to have found a home in Chicago with the Blackhawks. (ESPN.com)

*Who better than Grapes himself, Don Cherry, to wish Bobby Orr a Happy Birthday on this Saturday?

Happy Birthday to the greatest player of all time, number 4 Bobby Orr. Yes, that’s Jason Spezza. pic.twitter.com/zLiz5exErn

— Don Cherry (@CoachsCornerDC) March 20, 2021

*Tough news in Pittsburgh as it sounds like Evgeni Malkin is going to be out week-to-week with the injury he sustained during a collision with Bruins D-man Jared Tinordi earlier this week. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

*Pro Hockey Talk has their midseason award picks and that includes some Norris Trophy consideration for Bruins D-man Charlie McAvoy. (NBC.com)

*A memorable conversation between Kaleb Dahlgren and the Ray and Dregs podcast about him honoring his fallen Humboldt Broncos teammates. Definitely worth a listen. (Ray and Dregs Podcast)

*For something completely different: I’ve finally watched Zack Snyder’s Justice League and I can say that I definitely liked it more than the movie released in movie theatres. I still hate just about everything he does with the Superman character, though. (ScreenRant)