Latest / The Armchair GM's Sports Network / Buffalo to face Montreal in Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs: Series Preview - Sabres Semantics

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Buffalo to face Montreal in Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs: Series Preview - Sabres Semantics · The Armchair GM's Sports Network

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
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  Speaker 2: Time to sharpen those swords. You're listening to Saber Semantics,
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  Speaker 2: a hard hitting interview and discussion show featuring players, alumni,
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  Speaker 3: NHL's Buffalo Sabers.
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  Speaker 2: This show is sure to provide an entertaining and unique
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  Speaker 1: And welcome into another episode of Sabersmantics right here on
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  Speaker 1: the Armchair GM Sports Network. This is our round two
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  Speaker 1: series preview for the Sabers and Canadians right here on
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  Speaker 1: So Brandon Camuto joined by Austin broad Elite Prospects to
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  Speaker 1: discuss this upcoming playoff matchup for the Sabers Round two
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  Speaker 1: of the Playoffs. Wow, never thought those words would come
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  Speaker 1: out of my mouth six years doing this show. Austin
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  Speaker 1: obviously exciting times finished off the Bruins in six games.
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  Speaker 1: What has been your general synopsis of what we've seen
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  Speaker 1: so far for the Sabers in playoff action for the
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  Speaker 1: first time in fourteen seasons.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, they had a matchup in the first
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  Speaker 4: round where they were just undoubtedly the better team, and
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  Speaker 4: the only time that they kind of struggled a little
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  Speaker 4: bit was when either they were forced into playing the
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  Speaker 4: Bruins style of game or Jeremy Swayman kind of stole
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  Speaker 4: a game or two from them.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, we'll talk about that again.
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  Speaker 4: They're going to play a gold goalie who's not quite
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  Speaker 4: as annoying as Swaymen, but pretty I'm sure he'll be
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  Speaker 4: that level in a year or two, because that's how
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  Speaker 4: good Dobis looks. But the first round was one of
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  Speaker 4: those series where you knew if the Sabers played their game,
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  Speaker 4: they weren't going to be stopped, and the Bruins were
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  Speaker 4: not really going to be able to consistently expose the
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  Speaker 4: Sabers flaws, and that's kind of what happened there. This
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  Speaker 4: round will be a lot different, but all in all,
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  Speaker 4: I said it in our playoff preview episode, win the
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  Speaker 4: first round series and then anything after that is kind
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  Speaker 4: of gravy. Obviously, you don't want the season to end,
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  Speaker 4: but I feel like we can successfully say with that
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  Speaker 4: first round series, the Sabers season will be looked on fondly.
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  Speaker 4: It would have been looked on fondly no matter what.
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  Speaker 4: But ending the drought and winning a round is just
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  Speaker 4: so much more special than just straight up getting into
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  Speaker 4: the playoffs and getting beat out immediately.
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  Speaker 1: And look at what getting home ice advantage and winning
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  Speaker 1: the Atlantic Division did for you, right, Look at team
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  Speaker 1: like Tampa Bay, they end.
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  Speaker 4: Up to be honest, it didn't really do a whole
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  Speaker 4: lot for Buffalo. They're dominant on the road.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, true, But I mean, like in that tough matchup
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  Speaker 1: against Montreal and Tampa Bay, I mean, like, I think
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  Speaker 1: that would have been tougher for Buffalo in the first
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  Speaker 1: round than necessarily Boston would have. But maybe I'm in
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  Speaker 1: the minority in that one.
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  Speaker 4: No, I mean, obviously Tampa Bay and Montreal are much
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  Speaker 4: better teams than the Bruins, so this round or whoever
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  Speaker 4: they Yeah, whenever they had to meet one of those teams,
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  Speaker 4: it was obviously going to be more difficult, which again
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  Speaker 4: depends on what you think, because Montreal didn't look so
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  Speaker 4: hot on Sunday night. But I don't think that's the
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  Speaker 4: Montreal Canadians that the Sabers are going to get in
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  Speaker 4: their second round.
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  Speaker 5: Matchup.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know I wanted Tampa Bay for some reason.
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  Speaker 1: I just think that because of the way those teams
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  Speaker 1: played all season long, I think it would have been
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  Speaker 1: a really fun series. Taking nothing away from what Moncerell
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  Speaker 1: did and you know, being able to speak out that
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  Speaker 1: Game seven victory, I just think, you know what we
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  Speaker 1: saw in that Game of the year Sabers and Lightning
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  Speaker 1: earlier in the season. I would have loved to see
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  Speaker 1: that for seven games. And you know we've already seen
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  Speaker 1: sort of that rivalry been developing with some of the players,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the Hagel, the Corey Perry's, some of those
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  Speaker 1: guys that the on Tampa that really get under your skin.
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  Speaker 1: Nikida Kutrov. I think it would have been a really
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  Speaker 1: fun series just entertainment wise. Probably could have win all
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  Speaker 1: the way. But I don't know. I was hoping to
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  Speaker 1: maybe get some blood off Tampa Bay in that second round,
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  Speaker 1: but it is what it is. They're gonna be facing
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  Speaker 1: Montreal and they got through the Bruins in six games.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, they got through the Bruins in six games. And
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  Speaker 4: I know, obviously a team that wasn't obviously to the
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  Speaker 4: skill level of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but I think
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  Speaker 4: the Bruins were I don't know why I said Bruins
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  Speaker 4: like that, but I think the Bruins were a little
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  Speaker 4: bit more stylistically closer to the Lightning, obviously not nearly
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  Speaker 4: as deep, which obviously, you know, even though they lost
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  Speaker 4: to Montreal, the fact that Tampa was just able to
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  Speaker 4: dominate most of that game, we just weren't able to
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  Speaker 4: beat Dobish kind of shows that maybe they were the
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  Speaker 4: better team than Montreal, but the Bruins. The Bruins series
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  Speaker 4: basically that. I think it was a series that everyone
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  Speaker 4: expected the Sabers to win. I think they're still going
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  Speaker 4: to be expected to win the second round matchup against Montreal,
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  Speaker 4: but I think this series is much closer to a
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  Speaker 4: coin flip than I think the Sabers Bruins ones was
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  Speaker 4: because most models and most predictions that you like looked at.
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  Speaker 4: I think the only thing really holding the Savors back
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  Speaker 4: was their lack of playoff experience and their power play.
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  Speaker 4: And lack of playoff experience and their bad power play
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  Speaker 4: did not matter because they were just that much more
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  Speaker 4: talented than the Boston Bruins.
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  Speaker 1: And as you mentioned earlier, they were great on the road.
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  Speaker 1: Like the bug Bruins were the second best home team
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  Speaker 1: in the National Hockey League this season, the Sabers won
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  Speaker 1: all three games at TD Gardens.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, so I mean it in a weird, weird way.
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  Speaker 4: Aside from Game one with that epic comeback, the team
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  Speaker 4: looked more loose and more in control on the road,
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  Speaker 4: which we'll see what happens in round two. The environment
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  Speaker 4: in Montreal is going to be a lot different than
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  Speaker 4: the environment in Boston.
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  Speaker 5: Nothing against Boston sports.
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  Speaker 4: Fans who I don't I don't like, but I'm not
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  Speaker 4: going to sit here and say that they don't have
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  Speaker 4: a good environment there, but that Montreal Canadians barn is
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  Speaker 4: going to be rocking.
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  Speaker 5: I think through what we've seen through the first two rounds.
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  Speaker 4: These are the These will be the two most electric
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  Speaker 4: atmosphere and I think I'm with you. I think I
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  Speaker 4: was leaning towards Tampa Bay, but I think in a
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  Speaker 4: completely different way, this Montreal Sabers series could be one
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  Speaker 4: of the most I was just gonna say, one of
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  Speaker 4: the most entertaining series. Obviously, Minnesota Colorado always off to
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  Speaker 4: a hot start. I don't imagine Montreal and Buffalo are
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  Speaker 4: going to match that. But I think with the atmosphere
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  Speaker 4: in both buildings, both teams built a little bit similarly.
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  Speaker 4: Top line on Montreal is you know, got to give
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  Speaker 4: them their dues one of the more electric lines in
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  Speaker 4: the NHL when they are firing on all cylinders. And
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  Speaker 4: the fact that yak Abdobish is playing the way that
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  Speaker 4: he's playing now, I wouldn't be surprised if this series
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  Speaker 4: mirrors the Lightning Canadian series where every game is a
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  Speaker 4: one goal game, or I wouldn't be surprised if this
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  Speaker 4: game could mirror the Colorado series. We're we're hitting the
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  Speaker 4: over on every night, because these two teams feel like
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  Speaker 4: they are built to play with speed and offense, not
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  Speaker 4: what the Bruins were really built for. And I think
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  Speaker 4: that's why you saw the Sabers get sucked into their
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  Speaker 4: the Bruins slog every once in a while, because you know,
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  Speaker 4: over a seven game series, eventually you're you're gonna get
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  Speaker 4: sucked into what the other team wants to do to
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  Speaker 4: you here and then when we talk about the second
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  Speaker 4: round preview, I think the Canadians and the Sabers kind
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  Speaker 4: of want to do similar things, so it'll be interesting
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  Speaker 4: to see how they match up against each other.
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  Speaker 1: So before we get to the Montreal side of things,
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  Speaker 1: do you have any thoughts on the way that the
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  Speaker 1: series ended with, you know, the Benson and macavoy situation,
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  Speaker 1: and just in generality, how the Sabers and and Zach Benson,
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  Speaker 1: even guys like Josh Done were able to get under
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  Speaker 1: the skin of the Bruins and you know, sort of
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  Speaker 1: reverse have the reverse roles of what the Bruins usually
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  Speaker 1: try to do to other teams.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna be honest, and I'm gonna
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  Speaker 4: preface this by saying, I do not care. What Benson
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  Speaker 4: did to McAvoy is a play that was penalized and
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  Speaker 4: maybe could have been looked at. But at the same time,
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  Speaker 4: what McAvoy did to Benson is suspendable. He's going to
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  Speaker 4: get minimum five games and that's you know, that's just
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  Speaker 4: he got up and was immediately trying to chop him
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  Speaker 4: and you know, a bit of their own medicine. For
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  Speaker 4: the Bruins fans, that's kind of the style player they've
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  Speaker 4: employed for years.
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  Speaker 5: And while Benson.
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  Speaker 4: Is a long way away from being Brad Marshall and
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  Speaker 4: you're seeing Brad Marshaan tendencies with that kid, and I
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  Speaker 4: as a Sabers fan, love it and I'm going to
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  Speaker 4: hope that him and Doane are able to do that
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  Speaker 4: and get under the skin of Montreal and any other
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  Speaker 4: team that Buffalo plays on the rest of his playoff run,
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  Speaker 4: because that is the type of thing that you're going
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  Speaker 4: to need to do and the type of thing that
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  Speaker 4: will give you a mental advantage for a seven game series.
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  Speaker 4: And it also helps that doan Benson chip in offensively
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  Speaker 4: and are two of the Sabers' most reliable scores.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, And you know what McAvoy did at the
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  Speaker 1: end of the game. I think what Lindy Ruff said.
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  Speaker 1: You know, he's an awesome player, but I think he'd
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  Speaker 1: probably want to have that back because it was just
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  Speaker 1: the heat of the moment thing. You're losing the series,
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  Speaker 1: you get taken down late, and then I just you
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  Speaker 1: can't too hand a guy with your stick. I'm just like,
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  Speaker 1: if you want to go after him and fight him
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  Speaker 1: and drop the gloves, what's one thing, But I don't know,
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  Speaker 1: just taking taking into a weapon and trying to take
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  Speaker 1: him out, sort of like the Zadora I've tried to
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  Speaker 1: do to Dolly in the game before, just some of
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: the stuff that doesn't need to be seen in the game.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I don't want to talk too much
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  Speaker 5: about it.
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  Speaker 4: But last thing I'll say on Charlie McAvoy, and one
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  Speaker 4: thing I disagree with rough is I don't think that
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  Speaker 4: was a heat of the moment because if you look
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  Speaker 4: at patterns throughout that game and that series.
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  Speaker 5: McAvoy's just a rat.
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  Speaker 4: And I'm not saying the Sabers don't have rats. Dalian's
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  Speaker 4: a rat, Benson's a rat. It's what that's what they are.
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  Speaker 4: But McAvoy earlier that game on the on the Benson goal,
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  Speaker 4: he drove Doan's face into the glass like he went
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  Speaker 4: low on Beck Mallenstein, like he That's just he's got
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  Speaker 4: that element to his game, and it's not fun. When
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: the Rabbits got the gun, he got pissed off because
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  Speaker 4: Benson did to him what McAvoy normally does to other
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  Speaker 4: people and he.
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  Speaker 5: Just couldn't take it.
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  Speaker 4: And it also sucks when you're about to, you know,
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  Speaker 4: get swept on home ice because they couldn't win a
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  Speaker 4: game in Boston and your season's over.
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  Speaker 5: I get it, but I'm not going to sit here
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  Speaker 5: and say.
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  Speaker 4: That McVoy again, what Benson did was a penalty, and
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  Speaker 4: maybe I wouldn't have been surprised if it was looked
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  Speaker 4: at by the week, But I'm not going to shed
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: a tear for Charlie McAvoy, and I'm not that's it.
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  Speaker 4: He deserved it, basically what he deserves to get suspended
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  Speaker 4: for what he did.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, man, he'll have to wait till next season because
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  Speaker 1: the Bruins are obviously eliminated and the Sabers are on
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  Speaker 1: to Round two to face the Montreal Canadian. So we'll
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  Speaker 1: just move forward here with the sort of the updated
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: injury report. And I had to update this because I
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: did it earlier today. And then we obviously got the
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: news about Sam Carrick, which was encouraging because it initially
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: yesterday or two days ago, if you're listening to this,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: On Tuesday, Lindy Ruff had come out and said that
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: No Austlin and Sam Kroc would both miss the entire
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: already of this series. And then all of a sudden,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Monday comes around and it says, all of a sudden,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Sam Karat could possibly practice on Tuesday. So I guess
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: we'll sort of see what transpires there. But it seems
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  Speaker 1: like he's a Karrick's ahead of schedule, and that's great
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: news for the Sabers to be able to get that
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: the fourth line center back in the That was so
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: good for them down the stretch after requiring them from
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  Speaker 1: the Rangers at the deadline.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and it just furthers my thing that I've been
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: saying all years, you just can't trust Lindi Rough when
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: it comes to injury updates, positively or negatively. Obviously, Russ
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: not a doctor and all that stuff, but it very
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: funny to go from he will not be available for
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  Speaker 4: the entire series too. Oh, he actually might practice the
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: day before Game one. Now, getting Carrick back, if it
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: does happen, will be huge. He brings a lot of
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: juice to that fourth line. He's a good face off specialist,
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: com play on the penalty kill and things like that.
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: But I mean, obviously, at the time of this recording,
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: we don't know if he's been cleared to practice yet,
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: but even just the fact that it's it's possible is
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: huge for Buffalo. Weirdly enough, this series against Montreal is
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: one where I'm not too worried about Kozak. If he's
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: the one that they do go with because Montreal does
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: like to play with a little bit more speed. Kozak
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  Speaker 4: does have that element, so I think in this series
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  Speaker 4: that will be Keark's obviously a much better, more well
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  Speaker 4: rounded fourth liner than Kozak, but this might be a
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  Speaker 4: series where I wasn't too worried about Kozak going into it,
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: but getting the news that Kark is not off the
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: table is got to be a massive sigh of relief
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: for the Sabers and for Sabers fans because he's someone
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: that I know has kind of endeared himself to this
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: this fan base and become a pretty integral part of
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: this team.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: And to say he'd be ruled out, ruled out for
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: the entire series, I mean that's basically two weeks, and
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: now he goes from being out at least two weeks
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: to possibly just out for two or three days.
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  Speaker 5: So yeah, a huge difference.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. And then no Austlin, obviously, you know, was
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: it really unfortunate to see him go down Austin. We
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: had talked about him on our last episode, just how
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: much of an impact he made in those first two
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: playoff games that the that he was a part of,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and you know, added some young you know, spunk to
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: that team and honestly helped lifted them to one of
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: the victories in the series against Boston. But he goes
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: down and it didn't look good, Lindy Ruff said at
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the time. And obviously he's been sort of ruled out there.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: We know Coole each is out for the season. Justin
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: dan Forth as well seems to be on an island
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  Speaker 1: of his own right there as well, So it seems like,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: really Sam Kerrick is the only guy right now. We
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: know Norris missed a few games as well in the series,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: but he was able to come back and play in
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  Speaker 1: that six game, so that was encouraging there. And they
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: sort of just swapped in Austland and Norris because they
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: were both injured at different times and they just sort
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: of took each other's spots there. So we had sort
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: of talked about as well that you know, if everybody's healthy,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: who do you take out of the lineup? But now
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: with Austlin out, looks like Norris is just gonna slide
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  Speaker 1: back in there. You mentioned Kozak most likely will come
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: out of the lineup if kerk is available at some
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: point in the series. So I guess just your thoughts
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: on how that whole I guess rotation is gonna work
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  Speaker 1: in the bottom six.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I was unfortunate for Oceland, obviously he had had
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: such a huge impact. But I think, and this is
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: not comparing the two players, because they're very different good
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: at different things, but just having your third line center
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: be truly healthy is a huge thing for the Savers.
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  Speaker 4: Because that Norris collision into the boards in the first
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  Speaker 4: game of the round one, I think we all kind
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  Speaker 4: of thought, oh, that's a little bit odd, and then
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  Speaker 4: he just didn't look right after that. So getting Oceland
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  Speaker 4: in for those two games like that game in a
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: little bit when he was healthy, you could tell what
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: that did. And then not that Norris lit up the
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: score sheet or anything in his return in Game six,
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: but you could see the difference at that line, the
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: impact that that line was able to have, and you know,
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: don't and Benson connected on that game winning goal or
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: what could have been the game winning goal if the
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: Bruins ended up getting another goal there. But just having
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: your third line center be healthy playing with those two
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: guys is a big thing. And I don't think it's
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: a surprise that when Oceland was healthy and in game
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: six when Norris was truly healthy. Again, I don't think
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: it's a coincidence that that was that line's best two games.
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: So sucks that he's out because Ostin's such a talented player.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: But I think if Josh Norris is healthy and firing
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: on all cylinders, that line will not miss a beat.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Few just statistics from players from the series. Alex Tucks
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: four goals and seven even strength points led the Sabers there,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: and his plus eight total time on ice per game
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: was twenty one point nine twenty one minutes nineteen seconds,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: So obviously great for the guy that they decided to
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: keep at the deadline. Obviously, with them going for it,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: they're inner rental, you could say, and still could resign
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: them going into the offseason. So talk had a great series.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: And then also Alex Lyon had a very solid series
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: when he came in after uku Peca Lucanan lost that
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: second game there. The Alex Lyon, as you can see
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: on the screen or if you're listening, I'll read it off,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: allowed only five goals in five appearances, the fewest goals
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: allowed in any five game span in Sabers playoff history,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: which when you look back at the Sabers goaltending history,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: they've got some some legends and some Hall of famers
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: on there. So for Alex Lyon, we knew that, you know,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: he had the experience and you know, played well for
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Florida in the playoffs a few years ago. But I
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: don't think even we could have expected him to be
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: playing this well for the Sabers and sort of really
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: lift them when we thought he didn't even start the
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: series as a starting goalie.
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, with Lion, it's kind of been a theme for
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: him all season long. It's been come in play really well,
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: start to struggle a little bit, go out with an injury,
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: when you come back, you're hot. And then you know,
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: he kind of got injured on the last he was
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: struggling a little bit at the end when UPL kind
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: of took over, and then turns out Lyon was injured,
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: had to miss some practice things like that, and then
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: you know, didn't play for a while, and then when
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: he was called upon, he was red hot again. So
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: he's any goalie is a streaky goalie, but when you
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: have a guy like Lyon who's his experienced as he is,
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: and hasn't quite been a starter. You know, you're gonna
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: get some some hot flashes and some coal flashes here,
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: but right now he's in the midst of one of
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: the better hot streaks. And honestly, it's just this is
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: the type of goalie he's been for most of the year.
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: He's just been consistently reliable.
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: And it also helps the Savers that you know the
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: backup option for if Lion does somehow struggle again. His
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: upl who, aside from the second game in the playoffs,
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: has been a pretty steady goalie this year, so the
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: goaltending I think is a position of strength. But with
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: the way Lion played in that round, I think he's
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: bought himself at least one or two bad games before
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: Lindy pulls the plug here. And from the line that
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: we saw so far through his five games four starts,
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: don't don't think we're gonna see a couple stinkers. Could
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: Mark bite my own tongue there, but that's just how
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: good line has been. It's kind of hard to see
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: him falling off a cliff anytime soon.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: And I should mention that Logan Stanley missed that sixth
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: game with an illness, just was was not able to go,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: was under the weather for the previous couple of days,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: just wasn't able to play. We saw a kessel Ring
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: and Timmins be that third pair there. I expect that
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Stanley's going to be able to be ready to go.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: He's had enough time to be able to recover and
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: you know, being back at practice and stuff like that.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: But I just thought you should mention that Stanley's under
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: the weather. But by the time this series starts, he
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: should be good to go.
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think he would have been fine
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: if they started tomorrow either way, but getting that extra
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: or sorry tomorrow at the time of recording Tuesday or
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: today if you're watching this on Tuesday. But I think
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: you know, the numbers spoke for themselves. Customering played five
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: shifts in four minutes.
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: I just.
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: Stanley will be in and will consistently be in as
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: long as he is healthy, and when he is not healthy,
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: it'll be a combination of a kessel Ring or a
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: Metsa and they're just going to get rotated through that
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: through that top four. For whatever reason, Lindy didn't trust
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: him to play a lot in that game.
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: But at the end of the day.
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: When you're putting guys like Dolly in power Byron and
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: Samus out run the ice more frequently, especially in a
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: playoff series, it's not.
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: Really a bad thing.
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: But I think Ruff will definitely be looking forward to
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: getting Stanley back, especially with the way him and Timmans played,
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: especially like us, particularly on the penalty kill in that
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: first round.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, anything you want to touch on the power play
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: before we move forward, we.
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: Know, no, I mean we've hammered it to death. I
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: will say there were times later, you know, in games
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: I'll say four, five, and six that there were some
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: pretty good moments. Obviously, the Dolling goal in Game five
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: was good off a bit of a broken play, but
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: there were times where the power play was looking dangerous.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: I do think that you're not going to get away
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: with only one power play goal and achivious against the
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: Montreal Canadians. They're too talented for special teams to be
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: a net negative and come out on top. So they
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: are going to have to figure that out going into
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: this round. But there are signs of it potentially coming around.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: Just hopefully we see it connected in the second round.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: For those listening on your favorite on demand, audio podcast platform.
• 20:40
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  Speaker 1: Sabers playoff preview here in the second round versus the
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  Speaker 1: Hear you from your hot So you're listening to the
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  Speaker 1: on the Armchair GM Sports Network YouTube channel and those
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  Speaker 1: podcast platform. Brandick put AA and Austin brought her with you,
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  Speaker 1: continuing to discuss the Sabers Round two playoff preview against
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: the Montreal Canadians. An interesting one here. Make sure to
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: comment leave your thoughts on the series as well. I
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: always want to hear from our fans here, So Austin,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: let's move forward here just to the series, now to
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: our thoughts on it. The Sabers and Canadians are going
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: to face in the playoffs for the first time since
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety eight semifinals in the Eastern Conference. There
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: you can see it. The Sabers defeated the Canadians four
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: to zero in a sweep back then with those records.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Is it is it Wednesday yet? Yes, it almost is
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Wednesday for those fans asking, but it just can't wait
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: for Sabers Hockey to move forward here and again I
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: think the with the season head to head, excuse me
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: as we look forward to this season because obviously nineteen
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: ninety eight is not going to matter whatsoever. But just
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: found it funny that the last time they played in
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: a playoff series left the Canadians, and that was actually
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Lindy Rush's first full season as the Sabers head coach
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: as well is first tenure with the Sabers. So as
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: you can see on the video version, the Sabers played
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: the Montreal Canadians four times this season. October twentieth, the
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Sabers last four to two. We can sort of throw
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: that one out the window because we know what the
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: teams look like at that point, and the Sabers were
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: a completely different, different team at that point. January fifteenth,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: the Sabers defeated the Canadians five to three. January twenty second,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: they defeated the Canadians on the road four to two,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: And the Canadians defeated the Sabers January thirty first in
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Buffalo by a four to final. So do you have
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: any general I guess takeaways from any any of the
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: games or anything you want to discuss? Four head to
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: head between these two teams, And we'll say three games
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: the season, because I'm not really even counting that October
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: twentieth game early in the year.
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean the regular season. It's hard to draw
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: a lot of things, especially because playoff hockey one is
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: so different and too Even since January thirty first, I
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: think the Sabers and Canadians have both evolved as teams.
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: That being said, the one thing I think is common
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: is like that's all like the games were all close.
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: I know, those are all two gold games, but like
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: the games have been close, consistently close. I know Montreal
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: as a team that is historically in the past couple
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: of years given Buffalo problems. But that being said, the
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: Sabers are a different animal now and I think they
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: they match up well because I do think there.
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: Are a lot of similarities. They are young.
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: I think I don't know what the ages were after
• 27:43
  Speaker 4: the trade deadline. Know the Sabers got a little bit older,
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: and I know the Haves did too, but at the
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: pretty sure these are the two youngest teams in the NHL.
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: Uh So you know, the youth and the speed is
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: going to come into play. They have players that are
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: capable of mixing it up and getting into some some
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: scraps and some physicality things like that, and I expect
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: there to be some physicality in this series. I just
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: don't think it's going to be as prevalent for either
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: team as it was in their first round. We know
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: how Montreal and Tampa Bay kind of got out of
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: hand at times.
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: And Britains and Sabers never really did. There were some
• 28:15
  Speaker 5: things here and there, you know, kind of got some
• 28:17
  Speaker 5: extra curriculars, but nothing too crazy.
• 28:20
  Speaker 4: So it'll be interesting to see if how much of
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: that element comes into play, and if that element does
• 28:24
  Speaker 4: come into play, who will that benefit. I'm not particularly sure,
• 28:28
  Speaker 4: to be honest, I want to wean the Sabers.
• 28:31
  Speaker 5: But Montreal also did just.
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: Survive a seven game series coming from that with Tampa Bay.
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: But that'll be interesting.
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: And the one thing that would give me pause as
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: a Sabers fan is Yakodobis just seems to have the
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: Sabers number again. Much different team than he played last
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: year and even earlier this year when he did play.
• 28:52
  Speaker 4: But Dobis has been on fire. So is Lyon obviously,
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: but as a Sabers fan, it's got to be very
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: annoying to go from swam into your other options were
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: Vasilevski of Vesnada Stanley Cup winner or yak Abdobis, who
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: has been on fire. And I think that is the
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: one thing that would give me pause because I think
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: that is one area again where consistency is going to
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: be key. And who do you trust more Alex Hender Yakobdobis.
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: I don't know the answer to that.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: And I guess, you know, looking at what Montreal just
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: did to Tampa Bay in that seventh game, right, they
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: had nine shots on net and won the game. That
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: was a big part to as you just mentioned the
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: performance of yak Abdobish. I think the shots at one
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: point were like twenty eight to four in favor of
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: the Lightning and they were just getting hammered. But the
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: game was one nothing for most of it. Then it
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: was one to one and the Canadians were able to
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: hold on with a two to one victory. So, as
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: you mentioned, if yak Abdobich plays like Kerry Price or
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Patrick Waugh, you know, we just saw a good team
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: in the Tampa Bay Lightning losing seven games to them.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: So you know it's gonna be a tough series for
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: buffal They're gonna grind it out. You mentioned them being
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: the two two of the youngest teams, if not the
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: youngest in the national hockey They think the Canadians have
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: done a fantastic job with their rebuild. I think they're
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: ahead of schedule with what Jeff Gordon has done there.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: I think it's been incredible, and Ken Hughes as well,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: and then Marty Saint Louis as the head coach, like
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: I think they've just done such a good job. You know,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: accelerating that rebuild to be where they are right now.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: But again, this is not gonna be an easy out
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: for the Sabers. And I could see this thing, you know,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: go in the distance. As you know, the Bruins series,
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: I know it went six, but it felt like Buffalo
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: was in control for most of it. They they just
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: didn't capitalize on their opportunities to kind of close out
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: a couple of those games. But I really truly believe
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: that this Canadian series is going to be a lot tougher,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: as you mentioned, if if yak Abdobish really you know,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: plays elite goal elite goaltending again, because we know what
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: happens if you run into a hot goalie in a
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: playoff series.
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly.
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: And I think the Sabers are gonna have to kind
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: of draw from what they were able to do in
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: particularly in the blowout in Game four, and how they
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: were able to score goals in Game six. You got
• 31:07
  Speaker 4: to get into the slot, you gotta get into the
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: dirty areas, and you're gonna have to score those grimy goals.
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: I mean, like we just talked about how Montreal beat
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: Tampa Bay in Game seven. The Suzuki tip was you
• 31:16
  Speaker 4: know not. It was a nice goal obviously, but it's
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: in a high scoring area, close in.
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: And then that new.
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: Hook was a greasy, grimy, dirty goal from behind the net.
• 31:24
  Speaker 4: Like that's what you're gonna have to do to the
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: Montreal Canadians.
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: Again.
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: I know Dobis was unreal, but like Tampa Bay was
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: able to do that for most of the game. And
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: while Tampa Bay is Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Montreal are
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: right there in terms of their skill level. So like
• 31:39
  Speaker 4: it's it's not impossible for me to think that there
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: is a couple of games here where Buffalo can just
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: handle this team easily, especially if they're able.
• 31:48
  Speaker 5: To beat Dobish.
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: On the flip side, I wouldn't be surprised if Montreal
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: explodes for six goals in the game against Buffalo. It's
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: just how similar I think these two teams are. I
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: will say the biggest X factor I think for Buffalo
• 32:00
  Speaker 4: and this I think Buffalo's deeper.
• 32:03
  Speaker 5: I think Buffalo has some more depth.
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: Montreal's top line is one of the best lines in hockey.
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: Slavkovskikaffield Suzuki.
• 32:11
  Speaker 5: When they're clicking, they are a nightmare.
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: They have Alaene Hudson into adoptson who are really really talented,
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: But Buffalo has players that can match that, and I think, again,
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: much like the Bruins, Buffalo's top four on defense and
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: what they're able to do offensively should be a big
• 32:26
  Speaker 4: boost for them. And if Zach Benson, Josh don and
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: Josh Norris can play the way that they played in
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: Game six, that is going to be a huge help
• 32:31
  Speaker 4: for Buffalo. Now, obviously it's a big if, but if
• 32:35
  Speaker 4: Norris is healthy, I feel pretty confident that the Sabers
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: can get this done.
• 32:40
  Speaker 5: It is going to be a long series.
• 32:41
  Speaker 4: I don't six or seven seems like the most likely
• 32:44
  Speaker 4: scenario for this series because I think that's how close
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: these two are. But I'm leaning a little bit more
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: like Buffalo. I think them getting through the Bruins was
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: a big, big thing for them. At times, they didn't
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: play their best hockey and their power play was atrocious.
• 32:58
  Speaker 4: So I think that's a little bit of a bit
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: of a sigh of relief for them. They're like, hey,
• 33:02
  Speaker 4: we got through round one knowing we left some meat
• 33:04
  Speaker 4: on the bone. I don't think you know, if there's
• 33:07
  Speaker 4: no meat left on the bone. I think this team
• 33:08
  Speaker 4: can be not easily. I think this team will win
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: this series if they play their A game.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: And yeah, you mentioned that top line and that top
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: power play unit is something that you know is lethal
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: for the Canadians. We saw what Kafield did this season,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: fifty goals, most goals that weren't empty netters as well.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: Got to give him as flowers there. But I look
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: at the center depth Austin of both teams, Suzuki, new Hook,
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: Denot and Dock down the middle for the same for
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: the Canadians, and then the Sabers you've got Tuck, McLeod,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Norris and neither Kozak or Carrick. I like buffalo chances
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: in that. I know Nick Suzuki's a fantastic player, a
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: fantastic captain, But after that, I would take the Sabers second, third,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: and fourth line centers over the Canadians right now. And
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: I'm sure Canadian fans in the chat are going to
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: be losing their mind. But again, I just as you
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: have said already, I think the Sabers are deeper upfront.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I think the Canadians have a lot coming in the pipeline.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: I think in two or three years this is going
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: to be a really really good looking team up front,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: But right now, I just don't outside of that top line,
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: and I know the second line can sort of produce
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: a little bit for them. I just think the Sabers
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: have the production up and down the lineup that if
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: this thing stays five on five and doesn't get into
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: a lot of penalties and special teams, I think the Sabers,
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: you know, are just deeper from top to bottom on
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: the forward group.
• 34:22
  Speaker 5: Two yeah, one undred percent. I do agree.
• 34:25
  Speaker 4: The one thing that I will be looking for in
• 34:27
  Speaker 4: this series, and this will be obviously developing as the
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: series goes along, but I truly wonder who Rough is
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: going to task at first with matching up against the
• 34:35
  Speaker 4: Suzuki line. Is it going to be the McLoud line
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: or is it going to be the Norris Benson Dome line.
• 34:39
  Speaker 4: I think the Norris Benson Dome line would be my
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: top option, just because of how they are able to
• 34:45
  Speaker 4: grind you out on the fore check and wear you
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: down put on the flip side. McLeod, the reason you
• 34:50
  Speaker 4: brought him in is because he's an effective two way center.
• 34:52
  Speaker 4: So it'll be interesting how Rough plays that matchup and
• 34:56
  Speaker 4: who he wants that top line out there against because
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: obviously Philip to Know is not the Philip to Know
• 35:02
  Speaker 4: of four or five years ago when he was one
• 35:03
  Speaker 4: of the most effective, efficient two way centers. But he's
• 35:06
  Speaker 4: still a veteran, reliable two way center. So is he
• 35:08
  Speaker 4: going to try and get taged away from them to
• 35:10
  Speaker 4: kind of exploit the Kirby doc line or the new
• 35:13
  Speaker 4: hook line, or is he going to just simply I
• 35:15
  Speaker 4: don't know. This is a series where I think the
• 35:18
  Speaker 4: coaching is really gonna matter and nothing against Martin Saint Louis,
• 35:21
  Speaker 4: who's been an awesome coach since he got to Montreal,
• 35:23
  Speaker 4: and I don't think anyone really expected it turning out
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: the way that it has turned out. But you gotta
• 35:28
  Speaker 4: think of coaching was ever going to be an advantage
• 35:29
  Speaker 4: for Buffalo, it'd be Lindy Ruff versus Martin Saint Louis
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: with all of Ruff's experience. So I'm interested to see
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: how those two kind of match up against each other.
• 35:37
  Speaker 4: A couple other X factors, but I think the Rough
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: versus Saint Louis is an X factor thing that I'm
• 35:41
  Speaker 4: really looking at in this series and how much it
• 35:43
  Speaker 4: actually matters.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: And while we're on that topic, Lindy Ruff is a
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy for Coach of the Year,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: and I wouldn't be shocked if he wins that trophy.
• 35:53
  Speaker 5: We'll see. I feel like John Cooper's gonna get the
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: Legacy Award.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: You love those Legacy awards, don't you.
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: The NHL does, It's what they do. They're always a
• 36:01
  Speaker 5: year or two too late.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So again I think that. And then on the
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: defensive side, I think we we sort of already know
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: that with with Buffalo's top four. I put Buffalo's top
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: four up against any top four in the national Yeah,
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: even the teams like Colorado and you know some of
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: those other top teams out there. I just think the Sabers, uh,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: and they've got a lot of top end draft picks
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: on that back end as well. And with the emergence
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: of Samuelson as well, I just think with you know,
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: power byrom Dalli and Samuelson, and then with Stanley and
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Timmins playing well in that third pair as well. I
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: know the Canadians decor has played well as well. And
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: you mentioned sort of you know, the the Lane Hudson's
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: and the Noah Dobsons, they got Mike Matthieson, Carrie a Goolie.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: I just think the Sabers right now are deeper back
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: there as well.
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, this is one true This is truly
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: one area of the team where I think we can
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: talk about and you can't imply that we're biased, because
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: you know, we do cheer for the Sabers. Their top
• 36:54
  Speaker 4: four is legitimately one of the best top four in
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: the NHL. And it's very funny because I think that
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: we all kind of envisioned that earlier this summer or
• 37:03
  Speaker 4: earlier last summer when moves were made, but it's not
• 37:06
  Speaker 4: the way we envisioned it. I think we envisioned kessel
• 37:08
  Speaker 4: Ring in this top four and it being as dominant
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: as it's been. Just turns out Samuelson stepped up and
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: has turned into, you know, playing like a first round
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: NHL draft pick, and it's it's been awesome. I truly
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: do believe their top four can match up with anybody.
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: The way that they're able to manipulate lanes in the
• 37:24
  Speaker 4: offensive zone and do that high cycle and particularly Byron
• 37:28
  Speaker 4: in power, you don't know where they're going to attack
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: you from because they don't. They kind of they are
• 37:32
  Speaker 4: as close to positionless hockey in the offensive zone as
• 37:37
  Speaker 4: I have seen, and it has.
• 37:38
  Speaker 5: Been it causes nightmares for teams.
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: So it'll be very interesting how much y'all tries to
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: counteract that if they can production from the sabers back
• 37:47
  Speaker 4: and has been through the roof, and you know, a
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: guy like Byron stepping up in the first round was
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: a big reason why they were able to stay afloat
• 37:53
  Speaker 4: and take a lead in this series while Dolling kind
• 37:55
  Speaker 4: of worked his things out because the Dollying that we
• 37:57
  Speaker 4: saw at the end of the series miles miles ahead
• 38:00
  Speaker 4: of the dollar we saw at the beginning of the series.
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: And if Dolling continues that positive momentum, he's going to
• 38:04
  Speaker 4: be a player that can take over this series.
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: And I do I do think that.
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: He can turn into It can kind of be his
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: well not welcome to the Nantel moment, It can be
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: his coming out more where he takes over a series
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: and kind of shows how dominant he can be because
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: the points are going to start coming for Dollying. The
• 38:22
  Speaker 4: assist he had on that top goal in Game six,
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: just him dancing around, controlling the puckle his feet and
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: hitt and Tuck in a perfect spot. That's type of
• 38:29
  Speaker 4: plays that we're used to seeing for him all season long.
• 38:31
  Speaker 4: Didn't see him a lot in the playoffs. For starting
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: to see him now, that's just another thing for the
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: Sabers to kind of mark in their favor if Dollen
• 38:38
  Speaker 4: is going.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: And we know what all what all he dealt with
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: this season as well on and off the ice, and
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: he was named the finalists for the Masterton Trophy in
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: the National Hockey Leaues. That shows you a lot of
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: you know what Rasmus Dalling has gone through and being
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: able to lead this team like he has now. It's
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: as you mentioned, the production in that first round, took
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: a little bit for him to get going, but he's
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: looking to find his game and he's the only one
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: with the power play goal in the series for the
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: Sabers in round one. I should mention as I got
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: it up on the screen. Alex Tuck led the team
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: with goals and points four goals, seven points plus eight.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: Peyton Krebs is also a plus eight. We talked about
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: him a lot and his sort of dynamic on that
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: top line with Thompson and Tuck. They they all were
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: the leading leaders in production, Tuck was with seven points,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: Tage with seven points, and Crabs with six points. On
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: the back end, you mentioned Bowen Byron's resurgence there. He
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: had three goals to assist for five points in the
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: six games. Owen Power also had four assists. Leading the
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: shots for the Sabers, Tage Thompson took twenty six, Dahaleen
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: took twenty one, and Tuck took twenty. Time on ice,
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Dallen had the most average ice time twenty four minutes
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: and ten seconds. That nobody's surprise there Byram twenty two
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: to fifty two, and then for the forward group Alex
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: Tuck twenty one minutes eighteen seconds, Tage Thompson twenty minutes
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: and nineteen seconds. Mattia Samuelson also was over twenty minutes
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: to night on the back end as well as Owen Power,
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: which you expected defenseman to have a little bit more there.
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: But did anything stick out to you or any player
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: you want to mention that that surprised you in that
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: first round? I know we talked about sort of Krebs
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: and his six points in six games, but anybody else
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: that you want to just give a shout out.
• 40:15
  Speaker 4: To here yeah, No, I mean, for the most part,
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: we've talked about it, I will say in not necessarily
• 40:20
  Speaker 4: a positive way the entire I guess we're calling it
• 40:24
  Speaker 4: the second line now. The McLeod Zucker Quinn line is
• 40:27
  Speaker 4: a line that we know can be very effective. Don't
• 40:30
  Speaker 4: think they were all that effective through the most part
• 40:34
  Speaker 4: in that series. There are some positive moments here and there,
• 40:36
  Speaker 4: But though that is a line where we're gonna need them.
• 40:40
  Speaker 5: They're gonna need them in the second round.
• 40:42
  Speaker 4: They're gonna need McLeod to not be a negative defensively.
• 40:47
  Speaker 4: They're gonna need Quinn to. He's been so dangerous. They're
• 40:51
  Speaker 4: gonna need him to break through because once he breaks
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: we know Quinn he's an extremely streaky player.
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: As our most pure goal scoring players.
• 40:58
  Speaker 4: If Quinn can break through and kind of bust out
• 41:00
  Speaker 4: of the scoring, something get going, that's just another thing
• 41:03
  Speaker 4: that the Sabers can can use to their advantage. But yeah,
• 41:07
  Speaker 4: we've talked about it all, so I figured I would
• 41:09
  Speaker 4: highlight that line for they needed fire lit underneath him,
• 41:13
  Speaker 4: because that line is a line that we know can
• 41:15
  Speaker 4: be dominant.
• 41:15
  Speaker 5: But I don't think they were really that good as
• 41:19
  Speaker 5: a whole in the first round.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: No, and McLeod had his spurts right like, he set
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: up a couple of goals, he only had one assists.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: He was a minus four on the score sheeet, but
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: he did sort of create some things on the second
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: power play unit as well. But just yeah, as a line,
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: you sort of expect a little bit more because they
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: were one of the Sabers better lines going into the playoffs.
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: We know Norris missed missed three games, so we didn't
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: necessarily have that full third line together with Benson and Doan.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: That was probably their best line going into the playoffs.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: So it took them a little bit of time there
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: with Norris being out, and Austlin came in and performed
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: well in his two games there before getting injured. So
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: I think that those guys are going to want step
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: it up on that second line production wise, and something
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: that just is it keeps glaring out to me. Zach
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Benson twenty eight mentally minutes and Tage Thompson eighteen in
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: the first round. Just would not have expected that coming in.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: But I don't know if you if you have any
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: any thoughts on those.
• 42:16
  Speaker 4: No, I mean, right, a lot of the Bens and
• 42:18
  Speaker 4: stuff came in the peak scrum and then you know
• 42:21
  Speaker 4: he's he's.
• 42:21
  Speaker 5: Just that that's the type of player that he is.
• 42:23
  Speaker 4: But te Tage, I guess we didn't really talk about
• 42:27
  Speaker 4: him as much as we could have in the first
• 42:28
  Speaker 4: round because although he you know, we had the two
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: goals in the first game, but he was he was
• 42:34
  Speaker 4: a monster in many other ways and one of the
• 42:36
  Speaker 4: Sabers' most effective forwards, whether it be on the forour checking,
• 42:39
  Speaker 4: playing physical, getting involved in things like that, or setting
• 42:42
  Speaker 4: up his teammates. Tage is a bit of a monster,
• 42:44
  Speaker 4: and we know you can't keep him from scoring goals
• 42:48
  Speaker 4: for very long.
• 42:50
  Speaker 5: I would expect him to be shot out of a
• 42:51
  Speaker 5: cannon when the second round starts.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean after that first game, where as you mentioned,
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: he scored the two goals in the comeback, we didn't
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: really necessary see him stand out in that way. I
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: think those are his only two goals of the series
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: as well. But again, he's still a dominant force and
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: the leader on that forward group for the Sabers. He
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: I expect Tage to come up with a big performance
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: and maybe pot a few power play goals because we
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: know he's only had one since the Olympic break. I
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: believe that was said on the broadcast.
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he just he's not a power play scorer and
• 43:21
  Speaker 4: he's been dominant at five on five and that's.
• 43:24
  Speaker 5: Just who he is. It would be awesome if he
• 43:25
  Speaker 5: steps up and.
• 43:26
  Speaker 4: Starts popping him in on the power play, but honestly,
• 43:28
  Speaker 4: there might be better off looking somewhere else for the
• 43:30
  Speaker 4: power play goals because that's just hasn't been Tagesmo this year.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: So let's move on to our fan polls and make
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: sure to follow us at Saber Semantics on next to
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: get involved on our player polls or just poles in
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: general for when we do record our shows. If the
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Sabers are to have success, who will be their most
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: valuable player in the series against Montreal? Taje Thompson, Rasmus Dalling,
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: Bowen Byron and Alex Lyons slash upl whatever goalie does
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: play were the four options that I provided, and the
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: goalies won this one sixty six point seven percent, second
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: with Tage Thompson at thirty three point three percent. Austin,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: what are your thoughts?
• 44:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I get it. It's the playoffs, right,
• 44:07
  Speaker 4: so goaltending is always going to be a big deal.
• 44:12
  Speaker 4: Lion playing at a historical pace was extremely helpful in
• 44:15
  Speaker 4: round in round one, I don't expect the historical pace
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: to continue, so I can see why people have picked
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: the goaltenders. I will go with Tage though because not again,
• 44:25
  Speaker 4: not because we just talked about how good he played
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: in the first round. But we're talking about Montreal and Buffalo,
• 44:32
  Speaker 4: two teams with a lot of firepower. Hasn't necessarily been
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: needed for either team because Montreal played a ton of
• 44:39
  Speaker 4: close games, not a ton of high scoring games. But
• 44:42
  Speaker 4: I would not be surprised if this is a series
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: where we see the offense kind of take off. And
• 44:46
  Speaker 4: if that's the case, if there's gonna be some track
• 44:48
  Speaker 4: meet slash, you know, river hockey, we're gonna need Tage
• 44:51
  Speaker 4: to step up. He already has stepped up, but we're
• 44:53
  Speaker 4: gonna need him to be potting the puck consistently. So
• 44:56
  Speaker 4: I will go with Tage. But yeah, I get my
• 45:00
  Speaker 4: as people voted the goalies, because that's that's kind of
• 45:02
  Speaker 4: a big deal come playoff time.
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's pretty self explanatory with the hot
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: goalies as you see on the other side, with Yak
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: abdovis right, So I'm gonna say Doleen because I think
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: if his production, especially on the power play, with the
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: way that he's able to quarterback it, if he's able
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: to get that going, I think it'll be an X
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: factor for the Sabers. Just for the sake of argument,
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna pick Dollen because I think, you know, obviously
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: he's one of the best defensemen in the National Hockey
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: League and he's finally getting to show it on a
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: big stage with the Sabers finally making the playoffs and
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: then now in the second round and going up against
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: the high profile team in Montreal. I think the world
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: and the hockey world outside of Buffalo gets to sort
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: of see how underrated a guy like Grasmus Dahalen has
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: been so far in his career.
• 45:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 45:42
  Speaker 4: I mean, like we said, he turned into a monster
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: at the end of that series. So if he can
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: keep that going and start getting the offensive production going
• 45:50
  Speaker 4: obviously be a big help. And if he is the
• 45:52
  Speaker 4: MVP and plays like a potential Norris candidate, should mean
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: some good things for Buffalo at the end.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: Of this roundly, so our other fan poll is what
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: will the Sabers biggest key to having success in the
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: matchup against Montreal be quality special teams, goaltending, slash team
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: defense or five on five production. Quality special teams and
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: goaltending slash team defense were tied at fifty percent.
• 46:16
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Ibe that that makes the most sense in the world.
• 46:19
  Speaker 5: I don't.
• 46:22
  Speaker 4: It can obviously dry up, but I think if there's
• 46:24
  Speaker 4: one area of this team that will not concern Sabers fans,
• 46:27
  Speaker 4: it is their ability to score and play a five
• 46:29
  Speaker 4: on five. We saw it for a whole series against Boston.
• 46:31
  Speaker 4: We've seen it for multiple seasons now. If the goaltending
• 46:36
  Speaker 4: and special teams both hold up, Sabers will win this series.
• 46:41
  Speaker 4: If they get quality power play and their penalty kill
• 46:46
  Speaker 4: stays relatively close to the same clip that it was
• 46:49
  Speaker 4: at in Round one, and Lion is ninety percent of
• 46:53
  Speaker 4: what he was when he played, the Sabers are very,
• 46:57
  Speaker 4: very tough team to be and if that happens, they
• 46:59
  Speaker 4: will beat Habs in a seven game series, no doubt
• 47:02
  Speaker 4: in my mind.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: So I guess as we look forward here to the
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: seven games starting Wednesday, the Sabers have had an extended
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: apps extended break here. They haven't played since last Friday,
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: was the last game time that they played, I believe, Yeah, yeah,
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: so they they haven't played in quite a while. We
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: know Montreal just went through regauntlet with Tampa Bay finishing
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: off their seventh game on Sunday, so the Sabers have
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: had a few extra days of rest slash practice then
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: the Canadians. So as you can see up on the screen,
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: the series schedule gonna start Wednesday in Buffalo. Obviously with
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: them having homelics advantage being the Atlantic Division champions, that's
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: obviously big, even though as you know you pointed out
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: they've been they've been road warriors in round one. Game
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: two is going to go as well on Friday, and
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: then they'll they'll switch to the road team for three
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: and four, but we know they've got all more important
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: games five and Game seven at home if it does
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: go later into series. Austin, So, I guess what is
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: your outlook and prediction for what we're going to see
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: in the series against Montreal, I.
• 48:04
  Speaker 4: Will say Sabers and seven. Weird broadcasting note for us,
• 48:09
  Speaker 4: especially in Canada, I think this will be the first
• 48:12
  Speaker 4: well this wi will be the first time that we
• 48:13
  Speaker 4: actually get to see the sports Net crew calling Sabers games,
• 48:16
  Speaker 4: because correct me if I'm wrong. We only got ESPN
• 48:20
  Speaker 4: in round one over here. Maybe some people were lucky
• 48:23
  Speaker 4: enough to get MSG over in Canada, but I know
• 48:24
  Speaker 4: I wasn't. So it'll be weird to see a sports
• 48:27
  Speaker 4: Net heavy broadcast on the Sabers in the playoffs. And
• 48:29
  Speaker 4: I'm not really sure how I am going to deal
• 48:32
  Speaker 4: with that because I typically do not like the sports
• 48:34
  Speaker 4: Net broadcast.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, we're Southern Ontario Sabers podcast and unfortunately
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: we don't get the MSG broadcast more times than not
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: with these certain things, certain things and as you mentioned, yeah,
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: I mean I think TNT and ESPN we had to
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: watch those broadcasts the entire time, and as you mentioned,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: Sportsnet is now going to get it. So yeah, we'll
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: see what the the broadcast crew is like for that.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: But again I'll probably be listening to to Dan and
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: on the radio side and trying to sync those up
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: with the TV as I usually try to do anyway.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, it's gonna be electric. The one
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: thing I do want to point out Austin before we go,
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: is that you know we usually see in the regular
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: season and through the Sabers fourteen year drought. When teams
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: like Montreal Toronto come into town, those big profile teams,
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: the Sabers fans do sell their tickets for good prices
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: to those fan bases and it becomes sort of a
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: road game for the Sabers. I think because of it
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: being the first playoff series and fourteen second playoff series
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: in fourteen seasons, I think, and with them being in
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: the second round and the buzz around the team, I
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: think this is gonna be a true home ice advantage
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: for the Sabers for the first time maybe against the
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: Montreal Canadians in a very very long time. I hope
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: I'm right with that. I hope the Sabers fans don't
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: give into the outrageous amounts that Habs fans will probably
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: want to overpay for those tickets. And I hope the
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: Sabers fans and I'm pretty confident that to say that
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: the Sabers are going to have, you know, eighteen thousand
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: Buffalo jerseys and the crowd. There's going to obviously be
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: a couple of Montreal fans as you'd see everywhere. But
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: I hope it's a true home iice advantage for Buffalo
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: because we know how rocking the Bell Center is going
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: to be when it goes back to Montreal as well.
• 50:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm a lot less confident than you, just based
• 50:13
  Speaker 4: off the amount of tickets available, especially on the resale
• 50:17
  Speaker 4: market that I've seen. I don't think it's going to
• 50:19
  Speaker 4: be anything like we're used to seeing where it's like
• 50:22
  Speaker 4: fifty to fifty. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's
• 50:25
  Speaker 4: two three thousand habs fans in the building, because one,
• 50:30
  Speaker 4: when you allow season ticket holders to buy all the
• 50:32
  Speaker 4: tickets in the building and there's just no way they're
• 50:34
  Speaker 4: going to use five six tickets, there are going to
• 50:37
  Speaker 4: be some that just take the money, and unfortunately that's
• 50:40
  Speaker 4: going to happen. I mean, the cheap is available ticket
• 50:42
  Speaker 4: right now is four hundred bucks. The one thing that
• 50:47
  Speaker 4: might prevent that is the US dollars is a lot
• 50:50
  Speaker 4: stronger than the Canadian dollar.
• 50:53
  Speaker 5: We'll see.
• 50:54
  Speaker 4: But I am a little bit more I'm not saying.
• 50:57
  Speaker 5: It's a big big deal, a.
• 51:00
  Speaker 4: Little bit more worried about that than you are, and
• 51:04
  Speaker 4: I'm a believe it or not. Weirdly enough, this is
• 51:07
  Speaker 4: the one, maybe the one reason why I genuinely preferred
• 51:10
  Speaker 4: Tampa Bay because this wouldn't even be a talking point,
• 51:13
  Speaker 4: not that I'm actually worried about it, but the fact
• 51:14
  Speaker 4: that it's a talking point, whether it's on Twitter or
• 51:17
  Speaker 4: on you know, radio stations. Oddly enough, wgr's morning show
• 51:20
  Speaker 4: was very, very confident that it wouldn't be a takeover,
• 51:23
  Speaker 4: which is good. I hope they're right. I hope you're right.
• 51:25
  Speaker 4: But unfortunately, this is just something we're gonna probably have
• 51:29
  Speaker 4: to talk about throat the raw the series, and unfortunately
• 51:34
  Speaker 4: it's it's just something that I wish we didn't have to,
• 51:36
  Speaker 4: but can't ignore it, especially if Montreal does find a
• 51:39
  Speaker 4: way to get three four thousand fans.
• 51:41
  Speaker 5: In the building.
• 51:42
  Speaker 4: But nonetheless, both Barnes are going to be rocking. This
• 51:47
  Speaker 4: is honestly the most fun matchup at the Eastern Conference
• 51:51
  Speaker 4: had available to them in any round, right, like, set
• 51:57
  Speaker 4: everything aside. Whoever wins this series, Montreal or Buffalo, I
• 52:00
  Speaker 4: don't think them playing against Carolina or Philly is gonna
• 52:02
  Speaker 4: be nearly as entertaining as this round is gonna be.
• 52:04
  Speaker 4: So it's gonna be a very fun series. I think
• 52:06
  Speaker 4: it's gonna be a long one. I think I said
• 52:08
  Speaker 4: Sabers and seven in Round one, six is what I
• 52:11
  Speaker 4: ended up being. But this is one where I generally
• 52:13
  Speaker 4: would this one's I'm honestly expecting this to go seven
• 52:17
  Speaker 4: games because I think both teams are very evenly matched
• 52:19
  Speaker 4: and both teams are very good. Just hard to see
• 52:22
  Speaker 4: one team blowing a team out four straight.
• 52:24
  Speaker 5: Games or getting this done in short order.
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: I think I picked Sabers in six and I look
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: like a genius, even though I'm clearly not. But since
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: it worked out well for me in round one, I'm
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: gonna go with the same thing in round two, Sabers
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: and six. So and we'll see if but I could
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: definitely see this thing going seven, as I mentioned earlier
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: in the episode, and yeah, that was I'm not gonna lie.
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: That's definitely something that I thought about too, about why
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: I wanted to possibly play Tampa Bay, because then we
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: knew that there was gonna be you know, maybe a
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: sprinkle of Tampa Bay fans, but clearly not the fan
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: base traveling wise with the Canadian border that we're gonna
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: see with the Canadians fans. So I too sort of
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: empathize with that point that you had brought up there
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: that yeah, definitely want at Tampa Bay for many reasons.
• 53:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, off my stuff aside, I flip flopped
• 53:09
  Speaker 4: a lot. I think I settled on Montreal just because
• 53:14
  Speaker 4: it's a more entertaining hockey series. Buffalo Tampa Bay would
• 53:19
  Speaker 4: have been electric for non hockey reasons or if you
• 53:23
  Speaker 4: want to call the chippiness hockey, but I'm talking about
• 53:25
  Speaker 4: just like pure skill hockey. I think Buffalo Montreal is
• 53:31
  Speaker 4: top tier A plus should be one. Hopefully most people
• 53:35
  Speaker 4: are also expecting it to be one of the more
• 53:36
  Speaker 4: entertaining rounds. Hopefully it lives up to the hype because
• 53:39
  Speaker 4: two young teams, two electric atmosphere is, two great fan bases,
• 53:43
  Speaker 4: two teams that can play with a ton of speed
• 53:45
  Speaker 4: and finesse, two teams that can get it done in
• 53:47
  Speaker 4: multiple ways. High expectations for this and it should be
• 53:51
  Speaker 4: a fun one. On the flip side, I mean again,
• 53:55
  Speaker 4: last Canadian team. I expect there to be a lot
• 53:58
  Speaker 4: of eyeballs on this series, whether Montreal aside. We know
• 54:01
  Speaker 4: Montreal fans are crazy about hockey. But with this being
• 54:03
  Speaker 4: the only Canadian team left in the playoffs and it
• 54:05
  Speaker 4: being versus the Buffalo Sabers, like I would, I would
• 54:09
  Speaker 4: imagine it's going to be pretty highly viewed from just
• 54:12
  Speaker 4: any casual hockey fan, and it'll be depending on what
• 54:16
  Speaker 4: your social media looks like. Buffalo has kind of been
• 54:19
  Speaker 4: adopted as Canada's team by some fan basis, so it'll
• 54:21
  Speaker 4: be it'll be interesting to see how how social media
• 54:24
  Speaker 4: talks about this series.
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: A lot of Leaf fans have been to jump in
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: the bandwagon for a good reason with the disaster that's
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: going on up there right now. But yeah, I mean,
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: as you mentioned, last Canadian team standing, we know that
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: means a lot to at least people here in on
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: the the the Canadian side of the border that you
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: know sports Net they always been TSN pushed the Canadian
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: teams more than not. So with Montreal having the entire
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: eyes of the country on them, you know, as you mentioned,
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: the Sabers are going to also have that those eyes
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: on them as well. Right, So that's going to be
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: a very entertaining part of it, and it's just going
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: to be a very fun series looking forward to it.
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: If history repeats itself, I don't know if it will again.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: The Sabers last time they played one, You're all swept
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: them for nothing in that nineteen ninety eight series and
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: their leader in goals was Matthew Barnaby. So's if hissor
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: or a piece itself has another rat, then maybe Zach
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: Benson leads the sabers and goals in this playoffs.
• 55:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it would be a good one. I mean it
• 55:14
  Speaker 4: is going to be a series where Don and Benson
• 55:17
  Speaker 4: need to continue to produce offensively because the rat stuff
• 55:21
  Speaker 4: is fun and it's amazing, but when you get that
• 55:23
  Speaker 4: depth scoring. Oddly enough, that's what Montreal kind of relied on.
• 55:27
  Speaker 4: Their top line aside from Game one wasn't very good,
• 55:29
  Speaker 4: and that can be a positive or negative. Positive means
• 55:33
  Speaker 4: you can shut them down. Negative means they can't be
• 55:35
  Speaker 4: held down very long. Depends on what mentality you kind
• 55:38
  Speaker 4: of have with it. But I yeah, this is gonna
• 55:41
  Speaker 4: be a fun one. I'm looking forward to it. I
• 55:44
  Speaker 4: don't oddly enough, I haven't really had a reason in
• 55:47
  Speaker 4: my life to hate Habs fans. I'm hoping they give
• 55:49
  Speaker 4: me a reason to hate him in this series. And
• 55:50
  Speaker 4: I mean that complimentary.
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: I know our parents' generation really grew up hating the
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: Montreal Canadians, and us not so much because we weren't
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: really old enough for those dominant Canadian teams in the
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: seventies and the eighties. So but I know for for
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: the older generations that are watching the series, it's a
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: sort of deja vu for them going back to those
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: those early Sabers teams against those Montreal teams. So I
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: guess it'll be fun or miserable for them at the
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: same time. Yeah, So any final thoughts us and we
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: wrap it up.
• 56:21
  Speaker 5: No, I think I said final thoughts.
• 56:23
  Speaker 4: I mean I ended last rounds preview with an X factor,
• 56:26
  Speaker 4: and I hinted at the coaching being an X factor
• 56:28
  Speaker 4: in this one. So I'm gonna stick with that theme
• 56:31
  Speaker 4: and on the theme of coaching X factor aside from
• 56:35
  Speaker 4: Lindy Rouff is can seth Appert and the players on
• 56:38
  Speaker 4: the ice figure out this power play because that's just
• 56:40
  Speaker 4: something we're gonna have to hammer to death. But this
• 56:45
  Speaker 4: is gonna be a fun one man, This is gonna
• 56:46
  Speaker 4: be This is gonna be a series where the Sabers
• 56:49
  Speaker 4: and the Canadians are gonna have to find what works
• 56:55
  Speaker 4: and what doesn't. This is stylistically, like I said, they're
• 56:58
  Speaker 4: so they're so similar. I find the Sabers, I stick
• 57:02
  Speaker 4: with what worked in Round one. I dump the puck
• 57:04
  Speaker 4: and I get in on them and I wear them
• 57:05
  Speaker 4: at with the four check and then use your skill,
• 57:07
  Speaker 4: because that is one thing that Montreal can do, but
• 57:09
  Speaker 4: I think Buffalo can just do it better because Buffalo
• 57:11
  Speaker 4: is built to do that with all four lines. I
• 57:13
  Speaker 4: don't think the Habs are so coaching and just the
• 57:16
  Speaker 4: Sabers four check. Those are the two things that if
• 57:19
  Speaker 4: those things are clicking, Buffalo will win. We'll be talking
• 57:23
  Speaker 4: about an Eastern Conference final. And if you know Buffalo
• 57:27
  Speaker 4: can't get the four check going, well, our season is
• 57:30
  Speaker 4: gonna end earlier than we wanted to.
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: But the four check has been a point of emphasis
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: and a positive thing that we saw just relentless against
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: the Burns in Round one, caused so many turnovers as
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: with the puck on the Burns stick in their own
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: end that led to goals within their own net. With
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: Buffalo being able to cause turnovers and the Burns not
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: being able to handle the four check. So hopefully the
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: Sabers can replicate that sort of success that they had
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: in round one with that dominant four check and just
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: that relentless energy that we saw against the Boston Bruins.
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: If you're on Downtown for the series. Good luck with that.
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: If you're going into the arena, good luck getting a
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: beer saber, which I could get one, but looks like
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: they're pretty sold out. Should be a really fun one
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: Wednesday night, Key Banks Center, Game one of the second
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Montreal Canadian
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: is gonna be a fun one Sabers fan to enjoy it.
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: Haven't seen this in a very long time, and they
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: haven't moved on in one a round since two thousand
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: and seven, So hopefully everybody is excited for this one
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: and we'll see what happens down the road. So Canadians
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: and Sabers could this thing go seven? We'll have to
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: wait and see. Thank you everybody tuned in on the
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: video version on YouTube. You got a final thought there?
• 58:34
  Speaker 5: No, I was just saluting.
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: Oh okay, cool, So anyways, thank you everybody tuned in
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: live here on the YouTube version. Make sure to hit
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: like it described smash that belts the update. With all
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: of our video coverage here on the network, we appreciate
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: your support as always, and thank you to our loyal
• 58:47
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• 58:51
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• 58:52
  Speaker 1: chose to listen to us on as always Sabers Semantics,
• 58:55
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• 58:59
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• 59:02
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• 59:05
  Speaker 1: My name is Brandon. Putto enjoy the rest of the night,
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: look forward to Wednesday, and we'll talk to you again
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: here on Saber Semantics in the Armchair. GM Sports Network