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Best & Worst Moments as Sabres 14-Season Playoff Drought Comes to an End - Sabres Semantics · The Armchair GM's Sports Network

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
• 0:34
  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 2: media and all others who covered the NHL's Buffalo Sabers.
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  Speaker 2: With interesting stories from the past and current of analysis,
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  Speaker 2: this show is sure to provide an entertaining and unique
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  Speaker 2: perspective for both savers and hockey fans alike. Exclusively on
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  Speaker 2: the arm Chaired GM Sports Network.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: And welcome into another episode of Saber Semantics right here
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  Speaker 1: on the Armchair GM Sports Network. Thank it everybody tuned
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  Speaker 1: Get up to date with all of our Sabers coverage
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  Speaker 1: in the Armchair GM Sports Network are of our short
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  Speaker 1: reels and content Brendick Puto and Austin broad back with you.
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  Speaker 1: Gonna be a little bit of a different setup on
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  Speaker 1: today's episode. We're gonna quickly get into our thoughts on
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  Speaker 1: the Sabers trying to gain the Atlantic Division title the
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  Speaker 1: last four games of the season. Quick reactions to them
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  Speaker 1: getting that all elusive X beside their name and breaking
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  Speaker 1: the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports currently
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  Speaker 1: as well. Will the whole second segment's going to be
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  Speaker 1: us reminiscing on the good, the bad, the ugly, and
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  Speaker 1: everything in between with the drought players moments on ice
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  Speaker 1: off ice. It's gonna be a fun episode today, and
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  Speaker 1: Austin and I have not talked about our list beforehand,
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  Speaker 1: so we'll be reacting to each other's thoughts live here
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  Speaker 1: on the show, so appreciate everybody tuning in. Austin off
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  Speaker 1: the top here quick first segment, we're just gonna talk
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  Speaker 1: about what we hope that happens the last four games
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  Speaker 1: of the season, where they're at tied with Tampa Bay
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  Speaker 1: at the time of recording this. Montreal obviously could be
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: tied as well by the end of this recording. But
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  Speaker 1: your general takeaways from the Sabers fourteen seasons. Now that
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  Speaker 1: X beside their name, we're going to see playoff hockey
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  Speaker 1: in downtown Buffalo once again.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. At the time of the start of this podcast,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: Florida is currently leading Montreal two one, so hopefully that
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: results the stands. But no, I mean, I feel like
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: everyone Saturday anti climactic is the wrong word, but anti climactic, right,
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  Speaker 3: like they had a chance to clinch it with a
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: win on Thursday, kind of they didn't get manhandled by Ottawa,
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: but like a really boring, low event game. The offense was.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Kind of so it kind of Omark and Cousins too,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: of course, yep.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: And then you know Saturday, not even in like a
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: snarky er mean way, but I I'm sure a ton
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: of people didn't even really realize that if Detroit lost
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: that game in regulation, like Buffalo would clinch before they
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: even played.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: I did not, I mean, that's what I mean.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: Like you know what I mean, So like in a natural,
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: weird way for the Bills or the Sabers drought to end,
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: it was a anti climactic, like they weren't even involved
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: really in their clinching scenario and with it happening you know,
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: with at that time six games remaining kind of again
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: not anti climactic, but it was just like, oh, like cool,
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: not a lot of drama in the way that they clinched.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: Obviously a lot of drama in the way that this
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: season has unfolded, but I think, like everybody else, it
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: was just like, oh cool, Like they clinched, but there's
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: a game tonight, and I'm kind of more fired up
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: about that than everything. But then the Savers, you know,
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: Savers and administration on Twitter got to, you know, throw
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: out some of all their graphics, all their things. They
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: three the you know, the video narrated by RJ that
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: was recorded in twenty twenty one and everything. It kind
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: of started to set in a little bit. Again, I
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: might be one of the few people that feel this way,
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  Speaker 3: but like it still hasn't really not that it hasn't
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: set in, but it's still just like I haven't really
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  Speaker 3: had a chance just sit back and be like, oh, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: they're in the playoffs, like I still am. Like maybe
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: it's because of the way they played the last couple games.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: Maybe it's because there's still so much more that needs
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: to unfold over these last four games, because like still
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: virtually have no idea. We have an idea of like
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: potentially two or three opponents that could be playing, but
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: you have no idea who they're playing home ice like
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: for the first round has not been clinched yet. The
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: division is still in play. First in the East is
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: still in play. There's just so much other thing that
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: are in play that it hasn't really like like it's
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: set in and I thought about it for a couple
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: of days, but then it was just like all right
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: back to work. It wasn't like a dramatic end of
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: the year clinching that I think most Sabers fans envisioned
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: the drought and then because I just don't think anyone
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: thought that this, Like no one thought the Sabers were
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: gonna be able to clinch as early as they did.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: That being said, it's very happy that it's over. And yeah,
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: just I think once the season's over, I'll be able
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: to sit back and think about it more thoroughly. But
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: right now, it's just like clinched, But there's other goals
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: at play here.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: I feel like when they hit the ice for Game
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: one and if they do have the Stanley Cup Playoffs
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: on the ice and things like that. That's when it's
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: really going to start to set in. I think I
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: know for us, like six years of doing this show
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: on this on this network, like you know, we've we've
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: waited a long time to be able to talk about
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: potential playoff hockey, and every time we've get in that,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: we've gotten to the dog days of March and April.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: In the show, it's always been like, Okay, what's what's
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: the look for next season? What have they got to
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: do in the off season to get this better? We're
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: looking at draft rankings again. But I feel like for
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: the first time for us on this show, and you
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: know over the last fourteen years, fans don't really want
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: to look at that right now because they've got a different,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I guess, just a different outlook on where things are
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  Speaker 1: going right now. Obviously, you're going to be playing meaningful
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: games in April, which is something that we've been waiting
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: for them to do. But it's almost like, yeah, it's
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: almost been like a does it even feel real? Some
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: I've told people as a joke that I feel like
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: I'm going to wake up from a coma back in
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: November again and they're going to be in last place
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: once again, and I'm still waiting for that to happen.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Hopefully it doesn't, but it's it's a surreal moment. And
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: I know for Sabers fans on Twitter and all over
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: the world, it's been, you know, just like almost a
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: surreal moment that you can't even put into words. And
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: you mentioned, you know, cutting onions with the RJ, you know,
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  Speaker 1: pre recorded message that that really hit home, I think
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: to a lot of Sabers fans and it's just a
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: it's just a feeling that we haven't had in a
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: very long time, so it's hard to to sort of
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: put it into words.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Like I've caught myself at work with a couple
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: of times with a couple of my like my buddies
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: at work and co workers, and we just ended up
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: talking like, you know, like what do they do with
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Lindy Ruff next year? Who's the coach next year? What's
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: then we're there just like wait a minute, like we
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: don't have to have those conversations right now, because there's
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: actually hockey to be played. Like old force a habit
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: like oh who's on this team next year? It's like,
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: wait a minute, that doesn't matter. It does matter. But
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: like right now it's not important, like there's a playoff
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: series that will be happening in Buffalo. So it's it
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: is a little bit surreal. It isn't surreal anymore. It
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: was surreal when they were on that ten game win
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: streak in January, and then it was still a little
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: surreal surreal when they opened up, you know, with an
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: eight game win streak after the Olympic break, it was like,
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: holy crap. But I think because of that eight game
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: winning streak after the Olympic break, which you know, if
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: you if you really want to get into it, thank
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: God for that eight game win streak to start after
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: the Olympic break because who that we talked about that like, oh,
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: if they just go five hundred, they should be safe.
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: Could you imagine right now if they were six points
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: back of where they are now sitting there at ninety
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: six points, like they'd still be comfortably in, but they'd
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: still be like in a dog fight for maybe the
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: wild card instead of you know, potentially first in the division.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: So it's just it's crazy. But I think once they
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: you know, once they started that eight game whence you
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: got for the Olympic break, it kind of settled into
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: my brain. It was like, this team's making the playoffs,
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: like they weren't clinched. But in my mind, the drought
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: ended after that, and I was kind of not over
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: it because you're obviously not over it. Once the X
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: went up, it was like, Okay, this is legitimately. It's
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: felt like this for a while, so I think it
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: didn't necessarily until the RJA video came out, I wasn't
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: necessarily overcome with the emotion. And again not to compare
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: it to the NFL team, but it wasn't like the
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: Bills ending the drought in dramatic fashion with like seventeen
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: things going their way. It's a miracle that they got in.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: It was like, no, the Sabers forced like broke down
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: the door and they clinched it with ease. So I
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: think it's just like, yeah, they clinched it. They broke
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: the drought, but it's still hard. It's not hard, but
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: it's still like, man, like, there's more at stake here,
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: So cool think about it for a day or two
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: and I was like, no, I'll go on to the
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: next thing. And I know a lot of the talk was,
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: you know, they've been playing poorly so it was kind
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: of good that they clinched, got their butts handed to
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: them by Washington, and then immediately had to have like
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: the biggest game of the regular season against Tampa Bay
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: and they were able to kind of snap out of it.
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: I think now that the team has been home and
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: they finally had a really good game since clinching, it's
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: starting to set in again because it's like, this team
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: is good. They made it into the playoffs with five
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: games left, and it's just, yeah, I'm not sure I
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: want more. I guess it's kind of where it's at.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: It's like, I'm happy to clinch, but I'm not getting
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: overwhelmed with it, because it's like, no, there should be
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: higher expectations for the team this season, which I don't
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: think any of us would have thought that. I think
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: when we thought when the drought was getting broken, it
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: was like, let's just break the drought. Who cares what
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: happens when they get in. That's not how this the
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: season's unfolded. Now it's they broke the drought. Let's bare
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: minimum win around.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Here, especially when you've got it right in front of
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: you to be the number one seed in the Atlantic
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: and even in the Eastern Conference, right, It's not like
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: it's not like they're trying to sneak in back door
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: to a wild card spot as like the last playoff
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: team to get in, right like they're they're legitimately right
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: up there with Tampa Bay and Carolina for that number
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: one seed overall. So for them to be, like you said,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: to clinch the or to break the drought in the
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: way they're doing it is a little bit different than
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: you know, as you mentioned, maybe getting into the last
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: game or two of the regular season, and maybe it
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: would have a different feeling, right and even clinching in
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: a win feels different. Maybe if they had to beat
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay to clinch, maybe it would have felt a
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: little bit different as well. But when you're looking at
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: the standings right now at the time recording this, like
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: we have no idea who they're playing, because you know,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay, the Buffalo and Montreal are still so close,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: and then you know those four teams battling for that
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: final wildcard spot, like it's legitimately no idea with four
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: or five games left who they're going to be playing
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: right now. And that's that's just crazy in and of
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: itself about how much how competitive the East was this
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: year comparatively to the West.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think again, just because it wasn't in nearly
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: as dramatic fact, like I remember when the Bills broke
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: their dread. I was overcome by emotion that night. I
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: think the closest that will happen this year, before the
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: playoffs even started is like if that Dallas Stars game
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: on the fifteenth is like a win and you clinched
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: the division type of game. I think that'll and that happens,
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: that'll be like the first time where I'm like, let's go,
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: like overcome with emotion they won the division, because again,
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: that just was not something that was even remotely possible.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: I think. Again, credit to every person who you know
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: had models that predicted the Sabers as a playoff team.
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: I know most of them thought they were a borderline
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: playoff team, but they saw something in this team that
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: I don't think anyone did, and they were right. And
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: you know we're sitting here talking about thankfully they clinched
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: as if they just didn't. It was a closer game
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: than I ended up being. But for two periods they
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: man handled Tampa Bay last night, Like I know the
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: scoreboard was close, but if you looked at the numbers
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: after forty minutes, like the Sabers were controlling that game.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: So this isn't a team that backdoored their way into
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: the playoffs. This is a team that looks like they
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: can play with anybody in the Eastern Conference. And I
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: think that's why it's as awesome as it is that
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: they broke the drought. I haven't kind of reflected on
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: what that means and how happy I am about that,
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: because it's like, no, this team actually should have, has
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: aspirations and has the ability to accomplish a hell of
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: a lot more than just breaking a drought.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: I saw some fans online last night. Do you have
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: any I guess dampered emotions the fact that Cirelli and
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Heyegel weren't in the lineup for Tampa Bay.
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: No because they were twenty six seconds away from sweeping
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: the season series against Tampa Bay.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Fair right, Like sorry, Yeah, I saw some Tampa fans
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: like just angry online about all.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: I mean, the Sabers are like top three in the
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: league and man man games loss via injury, So like,
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: I'm not gonna feel bad. This is a different podcast
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: that we'd have here because if we do a podcast
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: about the Tampa Bay fans, I'm gonna say some words.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: On the podcast.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: Flagged for explicit language. But no, like my move is
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: not dampened by that because again they through four games
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: against Tampa Bay, they went three to.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: Zero to one, yeah, and like and then two of.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: Them, like last night was a lot closer because the
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: way Buffalo kind of went into their shell. But if
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: you look at the six to two game in Tampa Bay,
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: even the eight to seven game, there were stretches of
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: that game where Buffalo is just destroying them. There were
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: stretches last night where Buffalo is just belt the ass
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: against the Tampa Bay Lightning like they're No, So I don't,
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: I don't, I don't feel bad and I don't feel
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: bad because the Savery lost a lot of injuries. Like no,
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: don't feel bad, shouldn't feel bad, won't feel bad.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Good, We'll move on then, So remaining schedule Tonight, they're
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: at New York to play the Rangers, who have somehow
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: come away with some big wins as of late, even though.
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: They waiting free. They're playing free clinch.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Last the Eastern Conference, and shout out to to Gabe
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Perro helping the Sabers be able to clinch that playoff spot.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: You know, the a g. Parro is it helps the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Sabers clinch a playoff spot. That was a surreal two moment.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I guess you could say good coincidence there again, Rangers
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: tonight at MSG and then they're back home for Columbus
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: tomorrow night, and then they're in Chicago next Monday, and
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: then they finish off at home next Wednesday against the
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Dallas Stars. So two Western Conference opponents to end it,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: but Columbus and the Rangers, you know, and to point
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: of order, Tampa Bay does play Montreal before the end
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: of the season as well, so that could have massive
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: implications on the one two in the three seeds in
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: the Atlantic Division as well. That don't even include you know,
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: Buffalo controlling your own destiny here. So what are your
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: thoughts on it?
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a weird quirk in the schedule where the
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: Sabers teams have had games in hand on the Sabers
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: up until now, and then the way that this season
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: flips over the weekend that's coming up, is Buffalo actually
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: have at least with Montreal. Buffalo, like Montreal finishes before Buffalo.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: Like Montreal ends their season Tuesday, the fourteenth, Buffalo has
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: to finish the day. It's a weird scheduling quirk. Buffalo
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: has that four day break. There's oddly no games at
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: all on Friday, which again is clearly by design, but
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: it's weird. I don't fully someone smarter than me who
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: understands the schedule have to tell me why, because for
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: the life of me, I don't know. But when you
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: look at the schedule, I mean Columbus respectfully, Columbus is
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: still in the playoff hunt. So like, not gonna say
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: this here, but like the last game of the season
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: against Dallas is the only one where you're playing a
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: team that is in the playoffs and a very good
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: caliber team. Columbus could obviously work their way back into it,
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: but it feels like is it's not a stretch to
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: say two out of these four are must not must wins.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Two out of these four are you absolutely should wins.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: That would be the Rangers and the Blackhawks, and then
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: if you win one of the other two, which sneaky.
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: Columbus always seems to have Buffalo's number, so hopefully they
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: can kind of exercise those demons on that game. But
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: you find a way to win three out of four
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: that could see to one hundred and eight points, should
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: set yourself up pretty with a shot at the division.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: Like you said, Columbus or Montreal plays Tampa that depending
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: on how the results of that the time this recording go,
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: like that game, could we could be rooting for Tampa
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: Bay or Montreal. I don't know. We're going to see
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: how that works out, but it feels like, aside, once
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: they got through that Tampa Bay game yesterday, Buffalo's schedule
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: kind of opens up and looks good for them because
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: even the Dallas game, Like, don't really know what Dallas
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: is going to.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: Be playing for, they could sit half for lineup.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: They've kind of been pigeonholed into the spot that they're
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: in since like December. Yeah, with the way that the
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: Central has gone, So I'm not exactly sure what that
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: lineup is going to look like, but it definitely feels
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: like the schedule kind of loosens up a little bit
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: for Buffalo here, and it is a good test tonight
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: against the Rangers because they're a team, like you said,
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: they're they're last in the East, but they're playing free
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: and playing pretty well now, so this is a game
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: where can't take them lightly, which is a good thing.
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: Is I think that the last five this game stretch
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: that Buffalo has, they maybe were taking a couple teams
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: a little too lightly, and maybe that's what happened there.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: But the Rangers are playing well enough to where you
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: can't take them lightly, and I hope it's a good
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: test for Buffalo tonight because every point matters, and when
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: in the Atlantic Division would be a huge, huge accomplishment.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: It would be nice for this team that broke the
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: drought to have quote unquote a banner to hang and
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: winning the division would be a nice way to cap
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: that off.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: The most points they've had since the six oh seven season, right,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: So that's something as well. And as you mentioned, coming
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: off those two games against Ottawa and Washington where yeah,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: they clinched, but they got to score ten to three
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: in those games and had two straight regulation losses, which
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: we aren't used to seeing with this group the second
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: half of the year. So I guess we're gonna have
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: a playoff preview for you guys next week. But Austin,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: if you're a betting man, where do you think the
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Sabers finish, and who do you think their first round
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: playoff opponent's going to be as we wrap up this
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: first segment.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: If I'm a betting man, uh, I think they finished
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: where they're at second and they're gonna play Montreal. If
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: I'm a betting man, I think that seems like the
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: most likely outcome. You know it one they have the
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: tiebreaker locked up over Montreal, so Montreal has to outright
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: past them. So like, depending on how the next couple
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: of games go, we literally the Savers will know in
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: that Dallas game what they need in order to clinch
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: home ice. They might already have home ice clinched by
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: then if Montreal spirals. But I don't imagine j Montreal's
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: gonna spiral. They're the solid, solid, like they're the two
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: most likely to like they're the most the most likely
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: opponent Tampa. I don't know, Tampa's got the game in hand.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: And when you're tied with Tampa and Tampa has the
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: tiebreaker over you right now because the second tiebreakers regulation
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: overtime wins, so it just seems like, you know, they're
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: gonna have to outright beat Tampa Bay And it's very possible.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: They usually could. But if I'm a betting man, it's
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: it's probably Buffalo. Montreal is the two three.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I'd say that's probably gonna be, you know, the consensus there.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: For the sake of just being different for the show,
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: I'll say Montreal beats Tampa Bay and then the Sabers
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: get the number one seed in the Atlantic on the
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: last game of the season by beating Dallas, and they
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: will get a rematch against the Ottawa Senators from hopefully
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: to avenge that terrible performance against them a couple of
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: weeks ago.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: So you have them finish in number one in the entire.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Conference, Yes, damn, I think you know what, let's see it?
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Why not? And if not, if they just finished first
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: and Carolina gets the first seed, then bring on the
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Boston Bruins. I take that too, you know, the Bruins
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: and the Sabers obviously as a division rival. You know,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: give me that as well. I would love to see that.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: I like the Sabers in that matchup as well. But again,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: we can kind of get into the semantics of that
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: pun intended next week when we sort of have a
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: better idea of who their their playoff opponent is. Going
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: to be, but yeah, still a lot to be decided
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: here in the East. I don't know if you've got
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: any final thoughts for Hit the Brake, I'll.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: Just do the East in general. Crazy, how tight that
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: last wildcard spot has gotten, Like if you'd have told me,
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: like Philly is now in a spot where they're still
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: in the wildcard hunt because of the nature of the points,
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: but like you're telling me, Philly is now the number
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: three in the metropolitan Like Washington's not dead, Columbus isn't dead,
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: Detroit somehow still alive, the Islanders firing Patrick Waugh and
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: hiring Pete de Boor for their last four games obviously,
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: and beyond that. But like, I don't know, it's pretty
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: crazy how tight that race has gotten. And I mean,
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: depending on the results of US recording tonight, it just
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: seems like every team that kind of gets control of
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: that spot just seems to fumble it away the next day.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Like as of Thursday, Detroit was in that spot and
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: now they're on the outside looking in. It's crazy. It's
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: a tight wildcard race. And that's why I said, thank
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: god Buffalo opened up on that heater that they opened
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: up on ten the Olympic break, because I don't think
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: I could stomach being in the heat of that wildcard.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Race right now, the nerves of that to try to
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: end the drought going into like the final game that season,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: tied with three teams, I think Sabers fans would have a,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: you know, a consensus heart attack on that one. So
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: glad that's not an option, and we'll just wait to
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: see where they're going to be slotted here in the
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: bracket coming next week. So we're gonna take our break,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: we're gonna come back, and we're gonna get into the
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: meat potatoes of this episode. Moments from the drought, best
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: worst players, names, everything like that, initial reactions to the
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: last fourteen seasons of us watching the Buffalo Sabers in action.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: So stay over here, right back on Saberspantics, right here
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  Speaker 2: You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
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  Speaker 1: Here we call it's talking Dinamo.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: Here we call the boys. Where we ca.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: And welcome back to part two of today Saber Samantics episode.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network has always
• 25:14
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  Speaker 1: with all the video content here on the network and
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  Speaker 1: as well those listening on your favorite on demand audio
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: podcast platform. So, Austin, this is gonna be And I've
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: been waiting a week for this because we we originally
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: had talked about doing after they had clinched with the
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Ottawa win, and obviously, you know, Ohmark and Cousins, you know,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: rained on our parade, I guess you could say with that,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: so we kind of had to delay it, delayed it,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: and now we're gonna get it here. But the best
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: and worst moments from the drought. We're gonna list off
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: players and then we'll get into sort of either moments
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: or quotes or just you know, certain things that we
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: either laughed, cried, you know, got upset about. There's a
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: lot of things to talk about when a team doesn't
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: make the playoffs for fourteenth straight seasons. So for you
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: guys listening in audio. I'm gonna pull up the last
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: playoff roster for you guys, and I'll read it off
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: to you. Austin here, Brad Boys, Chris Butler, Tyler, Ennis,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Paul Gostad, Nathan Gerby, Mark Andre, greg Nanni, Mike Grier, Jokinhash,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Jordan Leopold, Mark Mancari Cody McCormick, Tyler Myers, Rob Niedermeyer,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Derek Roy, Andre Sakara, Drew Stafford, Thomas Vanik, Mike Weber,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Jonas Enroth, and Ryan Miller. Was the last Sabers team
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: to make the playoffs, so I wanted to start off
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: with that. But then we can sort of, you know,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: expand the conversation into just players that come to your mind.
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, So when I was coming up, obviously there's too
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: many drought players, obviously it's been so long, but I
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: kind of just went off of players that won just
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: are pure drought players that maybe gave us some hope
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: at one point. These are all just like just for
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: all very different reasons, right, Like, and also the drought
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: is a weird thing, where like I kind of separate
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: the Tim Murray era from the rest of the drought
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: and I don't understand it's all part of the drought.
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: But in my brain, for whatever reason, I'm like Tim Murray,
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: I think deserves his own era because he was just
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: so spectacular for so many different reasons, and while he's
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: a huge part of the drought, Like I look back
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: on the Tim Murray era actually fondly, believe it or not,
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: because he was just so entertaining for whatever the reason.
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: So like to me, it's almost like there's the end
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: of her year, which starts the drought. There's the Tim
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: Murray era, which was like we didn't necessarily we know
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: we were in the drought, so like I was, I
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: look back on that oddly fondly. Then there's the bottlel arrow,
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: which is just the start of the decline. And then
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: there's the Kevin Adams arrow, which is just unfortunately for
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: Kevin Adams because he was at the end of the drought,
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: the worst part of this drought. But anyway, like how
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: I don't know if you want me to name off
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: my whole list of players that come to mind for
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: me when it's the drought, or if you want to
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: bounce off back and however you want to do it,
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: But I'll start with I think this guy isn't the
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: all time Sabers drout player, but he is just perfectly
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: sums up the state of the Sabers during this drought.
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: And that's just Eric Stall, Like that is pure. We
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: are so desperate for a name. We think he can
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: be pretty good. He's a saber killer, Like he's one
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: of the most hated people in the history of this franchise,
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: but we're gonna grab him and like, like, you know,
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: like a bunch of dummies. I we bought in on him.
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: Specifically we here meaning me and you. We bought it
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: on Like, hey, this guy could be something like Eric
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: Stall is just a pure drought saber. He is like again,
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: for anyone who listens to this who cheers for the Bills,
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: this is like Mario Williams is a Bill, Terrell Owens
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: is a Bill. That's just a type of player that was,
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: even to a lesser extent, like and Ulden was a Bill.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: Bolden never played a game for the Bills, but he
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: was there for training. Like Eric Stall. I hate the guy,
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: but he's a Hall of Fame hockey player, had a
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: great career and yeah he was he was a Buffalo saber.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: I feel like anybody on that he is a.
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: Buffalo Saber right now currently too. I believe he's still
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: on the staff.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Adams is buddy, right, and you know he brought him in,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: and I think anybody from that five h six Carolina
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: team will forever be hated in Buffalo. Yeah, Kevin Adams
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: was on that team as well. But yeah, Eric Stall,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: you know, sabers ten year, what was it like, thirty
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: games and he got shipped off to Minnesota at the
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: trade deadline to Montreal yep. So that was I think
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: that was the covid era with oh Man.
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: The covid era yep. And speaking of cod era, that
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: was again he's he's not a drought saver. But Stall
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: was also either the same day or the day before
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: the Jonas Johansson trade, which we remember how funny that
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: was because that's when John Bogel was just like, he's
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: the worst goalie I've ever seen, like ever at any
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: level of hockey. And that was that was the same year.
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: And yeah, just the fact that Eric Stall was a
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: member of the Buffalo Sabers is just again, he's not
• 30:21
  Speaker 3: an all time drought saber, But to me, that just
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: perfectly epitomizes the drought because it's like, yeah, what the
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: hell were we thinking?
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good place to start because I sort
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: of have I have a theme of that of like
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: guys that had great careers elsewhere and then came to
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: Buffalo to try to help them get out of the
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: drought and it just you know, had egg on their
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: face by the end of them leaving here. I'll just
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: fire off like Taylor Hall obviously has to be on
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: there as well.
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: I think I think Hall of Gardner is even more discussed.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: Like we we won't discuss these players at length, but
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: I think Hall deserves some because he's Yeah he was
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: Again I didn't have my list in order, but Stall
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: was the first guy on my list. Hall was the second.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: They signed Taylor Hall to a one year proved deal
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: with eight million dollars to play with.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: I mean the quote from uh from Terry Pagoula that
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: we signed this guy, we're trying to win the Stanley Cup.
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: But not even that. Like the craziest thing about the
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: Taylor Hall era in Buffalo is he actually played so
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: well for the Sabers but had a career low of
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: like two point two shooting percentage and then has gone
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: on to be a fine player since he left, because
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: of course he did. Because that just that again perfectly
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: epitomizes the Sabers drought. Is a good player who had
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: a solid career, comes to Buffalo, goes horribly wrong, gets
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: traded after again, I don't know how that was the
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: COVID season. Wasn't it like the weird what we still
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: the Atlantic but like we only played like Philadelphia wat
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: like it was that year and again drove play really well.
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: His underlying numbers were actually pretty solid as a Saber,
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: but just the worst shooting percentage ever. Like, someone posted
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: a clip compilation of him on the SABE forget who
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: it was. I think it was Jay Fresh on Twitter,
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: and it was like eighteen breakaways. He'd never scored single
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: one of them that season because he just couldn't score,
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: because of course he couldn't score because he was a
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: Buffalo Saber that year.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: And he was reunited with one of your favorite coaches
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: of all time, Ralph Krueger, who he had in Edmonton.
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, and again I think you have players in personnel,
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: but Ralph Krueger is obviously an all time drought character
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: I just don't.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, so there's a few names. I just want
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: to mention that because they're in the same category to
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: me as I mentioned before, of just guys that you
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: thought were gonna come here and sort of change the
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: culture or change things for Buffalo in a trajectory that
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: had good careers. I'm just gonna name off a couple
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: of guys. Maybe you've got him on your list or not.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: Matt Molson, Brian Gianta, Josh Georges, Robin Rigeer, Christian Earhoff,
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: and Steve Ot.
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: Honestly, on my list, I only have Josh Georges. And
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: the reason I have Josh George is because I remember
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: thinking that was such a big deal for Buffalo. He
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: would not waive his no trading clause to go to Toronto.
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: He straight upset, I will never play for the Leafs.
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: But he decided to wave to come to Buffalo, and
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: I thought he was going to be a huge piece
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: for the Sabers to turn stuff around. And obviously he wasn't.
• 33:08
  Speaker 3: Not that he was to blame for anything or just garbage,
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: but it was just like I remember being so pumped
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: up about that deal and it turns out it did nothing.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: To move the needle for anybody. But I just remember,
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: maybe it's just because he's straight up said I will
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: not play for the least, but I'll go to Buffalo.
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: Maybe that's why I look back on that f only.
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: But out of that list, George's was the only one
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: that I had on there. I have a couple of,
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: I mean two that you have to mention, and both
• 33:36
  Speaker 3: for very bad, embarrassing reasons. Are Patrick Berglin of Vladimir Sabuankia. Yes, yeah,
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: so Seboka might have been the worst player to Cody
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: Eken is in this category two in terms of just
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: worst player to ever play for the Buffalo Savers, but
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: Soboca was so garbage. Berglan straight up quit hockey because
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: of the Buffalo Savers, which is kind of hilarious. Also
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: more on Berglan than it is on the Buffalo Savers,
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: but whatever, And the reason I want to talk about
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: them a little bit more is just could you imagine
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: if Tage Thompson didn't work out, because those were the
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: two big pieces that came with Tage and that o'reiley trade.
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: And thank god Tage is good, because otherwise Bottrell would
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: have nothing to hang his hat on. And honestly, Jason
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: Bottrell probably has Tatee Thompson to thank for the reason
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: why he stayed in the league and is working as
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: the GM of the seatle Kracken. But those two I
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: have there, RIF went off. A couple of Tim Murray
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: specials here, Robin Leonard, David Legland, same trade. A couple
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: of goalies, a lot of goalies in the drought, A
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: lot of goalies. Carter Hutton, Chad Johnson. Chad Johnson had
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: two stints with the Boco Sabers. Yeah remember when I
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: we'll get into that in Drought moent. But Carter Hutton
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: just an all time hilarious Sabers career. I have Wayne
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: Simmons and Dominic Cahoun. Remember that trade deadline. I remember
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: making him a playoff push.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: I remember to push that morning and you go, so
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Wayne Simmons and I just started bursting out laughing.
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, uh, Botterl pushing for the playoffs and then the
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: world shut down and then we didn't even make the
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: expanded playoffs, and then Dominic Cahun was just never a Saber.
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: After six games, I believe it was still Botterl. I
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: think Bottl was still the Gama and just didn't qualify
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: him even though you traded for him to help push
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: for the playoffs. And then the other one that I
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: have and this is just again for hilarious reasons, and
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: only a couple of people will remember this, but Matt Tennyson,
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: because I just remember, just again, one of the worst
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: hockey players I've ever seen played the game of hockey
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: and the Sabers just kept trotting him out there on
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: the blue line. Oh. I don't know if you have
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: this guy on your list, but this is this is
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: probably an all time drop player because it's an all
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: time drope moment. Dalton Smith played two minutes for the
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: Buffalo Sabers, got a penalty against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: Didn't even fight, and the whole reason he got an
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: entry level contract from Buffalo or an NHL contract from Buffalo, sorry,
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: was to try and kick the crap out of somebody
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: on Tampa Bay. He proceeded to not do that, take
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: a minor penalty caused Tampa Bay to score on the
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: power play. Never played again for the Buffalo Sabers.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: Impressive career. You throw John Scott in there too.
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he but for he's probably for positive. I think
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: he's an all time Drought saber if his all star
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: stuff happened as a Buffalo Saber. He did have one
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: of the funniest moments in.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: That preseason game, oh against Kessel.
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but like I look at John Scott and I
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: just he's a blip, right, like nothing good, nothing bad.
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: And then the last one I have, sorry, another defenseman.
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: And this is just for funny reasons because we probably
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: thought he was a lot better than he actually was.
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: But that was Lawrence Pilot.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he was supposed to be good, supposed to be.
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: Really good, never really got a fair chance, played really
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: well in Rochester. Just there's so many other players we
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: can talk about. You can rifle off whoever you have,
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: But I think the drought is just It's got a
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: hilarious list of players, some that people probably won't even remember,
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: some that I honestly won't even remember. There's a handful
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: of guys who only played one game, a couple of
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: guys that were supposed to turn this thing around, and
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: just some some like I said, some Hall of Fame
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: names on this list, like actual NHL Hall of Fame names,
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: not even like some hilarious names it's just it's it's
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: a hilarious, hilarious group of players that I've played for
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: the Sabers over the last you know, fourteen years. But
• 37:33
  Speaker 3: I think if you look at it, it's the off
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: the ice stuff or the storylines around the Sabers some
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: of the times that were better. But rightfle off the
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: rest of your names, and then we'll get into some
• 37:41
  Speaker 3: coaches and some hilarious moments because I think that's that's
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: kind of where the meat of this this drought actually
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: lives on the Sabers.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: I'm going to group these three because Murray went and
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: basically did NHL GM connected mode where he went and
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: traded first round picks for Ryan O'Reilly, Robin Leonard, and
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Evander Kaine. So I'm gonna those guys into the same
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: same category there with those massive trades when he came
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: in when they were getting icle uh in the draft
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: lottery and more on that after Uh. The other players
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: that I have to finish off my list are remember
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: the big waiver claim for Corey Connecker at the trade
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: deadline when he got put on waivers by Ottawa and
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: he had this year with Tampa Bay, got traded to
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: Ottawa didn't do very well, played at Canisius and this,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: and the Sabers fan base is like, oh my god,
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: this guy's gonna be offline left winger got claim. Deaf
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: Waivers was.
• 38:31
  Speaker 3: Almost a Rookie of the Year candidate. I think when
• 38:33
  Speaker 3: he broke into the NHL with Tampa. Yeah right, like
• 38:36
  Speaker 3: had a solid had some solid time with with the
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: Senators too when they claimed him because Tim Murray had
• 38:41
  Speaker 3: to tie to him. I think Tim Murray was like
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: a scouted the assistant GM in Ottawa when Connacker was there. Yeah,
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: I remember being that. But believe it or not not
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: the first waiverclaim that comes to my mind when with
• 38:50
  Speaker 3: the drought, because I think Jordan Nolan is also probably
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: an all time waiver claim Remy Elli, Fnny, Hennestroza, Drake Cajula,
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: A couple of nice waiver claims there. But yeah, Corey Connacker,
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: I mean, if not, if not for the moment where
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: he put John Scott's helmet on the pelly box, I
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: probably don't remember him being a Buffalo saber.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: Honest, this one hurt because it was just such a
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: bad trade with Braden McNabb in two seconds for Nick
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: de Laurier and uh Hudgers thatching that did not work
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: out well, and then the last ones to finish off
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: in the worst way possible, Yourslav Julac when he got
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: flipped a Buffalo and then flipped right away after that,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: he didn't he didn't want to play. Yep. Rosty Klesla
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: refused to play for the Sabers. Gone right, he got.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: I think he was in that trade with Lack that
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: awesome much something like that. It was like Hulac and
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: a third for Neuwirth and Klesler or something like that.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure because it was in one of those
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: Sabers embedded or whatever beyond Blue and Golds at the
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: trade deadline with Tim Murray. I remember that vividly.
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: So.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Rosty k Esla and Yarro Hillac played zero games
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: for Buffalo and then the e Bugs, Arthur's rbe and
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: Ryan Vin's in that nice that's my list.
• 40:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Klesla was Klesla and Neubirth to Buffalo for Halak
• 40:14
  Speaker 3: and a third round pick. Yeah, that's true. I forgot.
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: I was dead on with that.
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: I remember Neiirth. Yeah, don't remember where.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: That third turned out through probably nothing, but yeah, Ryan
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: Vins and Arthur's erbe was how I wanted to end
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: it with the e bug goalies.
• 40:29
  Speaker 3: Nice, Yeah, I mean, like I said, we could just
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: do whole drug goalies because, like I remember, the tanker,
• 40:33
  Speaker 3: Tim Murray shipped out and Roth brought in Anders Lynn Back,
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: who proceeded to post a career high and say percentage
• 40:40
  Speaker 3: for his thirty game stint with the Buffalo Sabers. Carter Hutton,
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: I gotta keep going back to him, We'd already said him.
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: Chad Johnson. I mean, just an absolute sch Morgesborg of
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: goalies that played for this team.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the drought was perfect.
• 40:58
  Speaker 3: Like it was perfect because, like I said, before we
• 41:02
  Speaker 3: get into the moments, I keep saying, like I separate
• 41:04
  Speaker 3: the Tim Marie air because you look at what Tim
• 41:06
  Speaker 3: Murray brought into Buffalo. Like Tim Murray was going for it.
• 41:08
  Speaker 3: He was trying to be not only good, he was
• 41:11
  Speaker 3: trying to make this team dominant. Absolutely torched the prospect
• 41:14
  Speaker 3: covered didn't draft that great for a scout, which is hilarious.
• 41:20
  Speaker 3: But if you look at the players that Tim Murray acquired,
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: I think I think, aside from Evander Kine, every other player,
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: that big player that Tim Ray acquired actually like was
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: better outside of Buffalo, like O'Reilly was good in Buffalo,
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: no doubt. But then you know captains of Saint Louis
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: Blues before, like when's the Stanley Cup? Then goes on
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: to be the captain of the Saint Louis Blues, but gojin
• 41:41
  Speaker 3: still kicking around the league, which is hilarious considering he
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: could never play, like never stay healthy for Buffalo. Who
• 41:49
  Speaker 3: else did Tim Murray big?
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: Uh?
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: Like a guy like Dimitri cool Club who sucks so
• 41:53
  Speaker 3: bad for Buffalo Stanley Cup champion, Like it's just crazy
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: another cup. A couple other characters just mentioned before we
• 42:01
  Speaker 3: given to the moments. These could count as moments too,
• 42:03
  Speaker 3: like Mchael fro Leak coming over from that Marco Scandela
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: trade was hilarious because the Habs flip Scandela for a
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: better player or a better return like two weeks later.
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: Just some all time great stuff from the Sabers during
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: this drought. The cast of coaches is also quite hilarious,
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: like Ronnie Rolston with his gardening gloves. Don't hold this
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: against him, but Ted Nolan coming back to basically like, hey, dude,
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: you're only here for one year because you're going to
• 42:33
  Speaker 3: suck like we don't.
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: Want during the ship into the Titanic hereiod.
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, felt awful for him because you probably deserved a
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: better end to his coaching career than that, Like Phil
• 42:41
  Speaker 3: Howsley Again, Phil Howsley a little bit weird because I think,
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: like we saw improvement from year one to year two
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: and we're like, hey, maybe we got something here, and
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: then he just sucks so bad again. Then there was
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: the hiring of Ralph Krueger, which dark day for everybody. Donnie,
• 42:58
  Speaker 3: I think Donnie, Donnie might be the only coach. No,
• 43:04
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna say this, Donnie is the only coach from
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: the drought where I think not a single person has
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: anything genuinely negative to say about him, because I look
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: at Donnie pretty fondly, right Like, I don't think there's
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: not really a lot you can say bad about him there,
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: but just an all time great, great cast of characters
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: in here.
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: I mean, what got him up on the screen from
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: the tweet from Mike Harrington, just all that.
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Phil Howsley, ROLV. Krueger, Like.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: I forgot about Disco Dan, to be honest with.
• 43:37
  Speaker 3: You, Yeah, I hate Dan Bosway he's he's but I
• 43:41
  Speaker 3: think it's Don Ratto and Tim Murray the only like
• 43:44
  Speaker 3: coaches slash executives. And again, Tim Murray might be extremely
• 43:46
  Speaker 3: hated by a lot of Sabers fans. Just me for
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: myself personally, I have no ill will towards him. Marie.
• 43:50
  Speaker 3: He was entertaining every time he stood in front of
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: a microphone, hated the league, hated talking to the media.
• 43:57
  Speaker 3: It was hilarious. He was always entertaining. He was always
• 44:00
  Speaker 3: trying to do something crazy to the detriment of the
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: team in the organization, but he was It was fun
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: while he was captain of the ship.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: It literally felt like when we were in our younger years,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: like playing NHL and trying to just make a team
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: better in one offseason, like just trading everything.
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: But really that's that's exactly what it was. I remember
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: the year that he traded for Kane, you know, knowing
• 44:20
  Speaker 3: Kane was done for the rest of the year. He
• 44:22
  Speaker 3: was like, this is perfect. I can still tank for
• 44:24
  Speaker 3: Jacklie Clare McDavid a and get a good player. Got
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: O'Reilly the day of the draft, but I'm pretty sure
• 44:32
  Speaker 3: was trying to get o'reiley at the same trade deadline
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: where he got Kane like he want like there was
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: no doubt that he was getting Ryan O'Reilly. It was
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: not a secret he wanted Ryan O'Reilly. He I think
• 44:41
  Speaker 3: he probably openly talked about knowing. Tim Murray.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: Was.
• 44:45
  Speaker 3: He was fun. He obviously was not good for the
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: long term health of this organization because it took three
• 44:50
  Speaker 3: other GMS after him to finally turn the ship around.
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: But I will look back at Tim Murray and Don
• 44:55
  Speaker 3: Gernado as the two coaches last GMS who I was like, yeah,
• 45:00
  Speaker 3: nothing bad to say about them, for very different reasons.
• 45:02
  Speaker 3: Donnie was well, you know, well kept respectful, was very
• 45:06
  Speaker 3: good at developing. Tim Murray was pure chaos, and Tim
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: Murray was honestly, we might as well get into the
• 45:12
  Speaker 3: moments of the drought. Tim Murray was maybe not directly
• 45:14
  Speaker 3: responsible for it, but Tim Murray was at the center
• 45:16
  Speaker 3: of probably the weirdest moment of the drought, which was
• 45:19
  Speaker 3: remember when the Sabers had Pat Leafontane as president of
• 45:21
  Speaker 3: hockey operations for a month might be a stretch.
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: And hired Craig Patrick too.
• 45:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and then Lafontaine resigned quietly, and I think up
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: until what video he was part of.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: The video package for Rob Ray I think or no, No,
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: it was this year. No, it was for the equipment Manager.
• 45:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he was a part of the That was the
• 45:46
  Speaker 3: first time I think we've seen Pat Lafontanne's face and
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: anything Sabers media content has put out. So I think
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: that was funny. That was bizarre.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: He's been in all the Islanders alumni stuff. Yeah, no
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: Sabers stuff since that. Yeah, you're right. When everybody saw that,
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: it was like, wow, Pat Lafontaine did something Sabers related,
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: which is a shame because you want to see a
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: guy like Pat la Fontaine. He's such an iconic Saber.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: Hopefully that gets mended at some point. But yeah, Tim Murray,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: the last thing I'll say about him is just the
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: lack of words he would use when selecting picks, like
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: three weeks.
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: I know a lot of people would try to say
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: it's because he was pissed off about like the lottery
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: not going his way, and I was like, no, no, no.
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: If you remember the year before when he drafted Reinhart,
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: which again maybe he was pissed at that lottery didn't
• 46:25
  Speaker 3: go their way, but he did the same thing with
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: Sam Reinhart.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to get into moments. But the last
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: player I want to mention Villy Lano because he not
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: only was he part of the drought for the Sabers
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: for one of the worst agents findings of all time,
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: he was part of the drought. The last Sabers playoff
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: memory is Villy Lano scoring an overtime for the Philadelphia
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: Flyers against the Sabers. That is the last playoff moment.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: Thank god, that is going to be changed. But Billy Leno,
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: I feel like, is like an all time drought cloud
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: that looms over the Sabers that should be lifted.
• 46:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I like that, And I don't know how you
• 46:57
  Speaker 3: want to do this, but I think if we just
• 46:59
  Speaker 3: go over drought moments, we can name a couple and
• 47:01
  Speaker 3: if we want to talk about whim we can. If
• 47:02
  Speaker 3: not we can, we don't have to. I think we
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: have to start with basically the beginning of the drought.
• 47:09
  Speaker 3: And that was just Darcy Regear's suffering press conference, right like.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: There's gonna be suffering.
• 47:15
  Speaker 3: Little did he know?
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: Maybe he did.
• 47:19
  Speaker 3: I don't think even Darcy Regear could have envisioned this.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: Where is Darcy?
• 47:25
  Speaker 3: These days?
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: They need to bring him back like an interview or something.
• 47:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely crazy. How spot on he was predicting there
• 47:33
  Speaker 3: will be suffering because I think when when that press
• 47:37
  Speaker 3: conference happened, I don't think there was a single Sabers
• 47:39
  Speaker 3: fan who was like, yeah, I don't like this. I
• 47:42
  Speaker 3: think most of us were on board for Hey, let's rebuild.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: Two three year rebuild. I'm good with that.
• 47:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. No one could have envisioned what actually had happened.
• 47:49
  Speaker 3: But to me, that one has to be mentioned. Might
• 47:51
  Speaker 3: not be a top drought moment, but clearly has to
• 47:53
  Speaker 3: be mentioned because that was the start of everything.
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: Oh that's a great quote. That's a top that's a
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: top three quote in my opinion, from the drought because
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: it couldn't have sunded it up better, right.
• 48:02
  Speaker 3: And then, I mean there's so many other things, but
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: like the Howl the mcichael Bowl against the Coyotes, where
• 48:11
  Speaker 3: like Sabers fans cheered when the overtime goal went in
• 48:15
  Speaker 3: might not have been the best look. I'm gonna sit
• 48:17
  Speaker 3: here and say I was fully on board. I think
• 48:19
  Speaker 3: everyone again was fully on board with that because we
• 48:21
  Speaker 3: were like, we need to lock up a shot at
• 48:22
  Speaker 3: McDavid or Michael. We all wanted McDavid, clearly, but the
• 48:25
  Speaker 3: whole goal was guarantee us one of the two. Not
• 48:28
  Speaker 3: a great look for us, but we did not care
• 48:30
  Speaker 3: because we wanted one of those two guys. Honestly, maybe
• 48:33
  Speaker 3: maybe the drought was karma for that year because I
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: think that was from the top to the bottom, the
• 48:38
  Speaker 3: GM to the not the players. Obviously the players never tanked,
• 48:40
  Speaker 3: but that was from the GM to the fans. Everyone
• 48:42
  Speaker 3: knew what that year was for and maybe we got
• 48:45
  Speaker 3: what we deserve for it. But that to me is
• 48:48
  Speaker 3: an all time moment.
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: Can I put one of mine into that.
• 48:52
  Speaker 3: Because yeah, it was our jacket any time.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: It's Tim Murray's lottery tantrum post post lottery. Yeah, that
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: wasn't great either with obviously they lost the lottery and
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: get Jack Eiicel. He was that did that press conference
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: after TSN you know it did the live lottery and
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: he was all pissed off about it. Yeah. I think
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: he like they said that he had like said an
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: F bomb or through something like when that happened. So
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: not not exactly the best rousing endorsement for Jack iCal
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: coming into the organization, although Jack you know, did himself
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: in at certain moments. But I'm sure he wasn't pleased
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: that his GM was pissed that he wasn't that he
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: wasn't getting the other guy right away. But that that's
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: to me. The the Sabers losing those back to back
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: lotteries for eck Blad and uh McDavid were obviously parts
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: of it.
• 49:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I'll keep on a theme because I do
• 49:36
  Speaker 3: have some lighter like positive moments, but I think I'll
• 49:38
  Speaker 3: separate those and we'll just keep doing like the embarrassing ones,
• 49:42
  Speaker 3: anything Roth Kruger related. I think the two most common
• 49:45
  Speaker 3: ones are the Jeff Skinner comment because that was on
• 49:49
  Speaker 3: my list too. I'm sorry that, I'm sorry the goal
• 49:51
  Speaker 3: scorer is happy he scored a goal. And do you
• 49:54
  Speaker 3: remember his last press conference or his last quotes about
• 49:57
  Speaker 3: being coach of the Buffalo Sabers, like at the kids
• 50:00
  Speaker 3: downtown with down syndrome? Do you remember that weird spiel.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: It's coming back to me a little bit.
• 50:06
  Speaker 3: Right like that? That was how Rol Kruger's coaching tenure ended,
• 50:11
  Speaker 3: Like all right, cool man.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: Wasn't he seen the next day like drinking a beer
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: in Buffalo or something like.
• 50:17
  Speaker 3: I'm sure, So I have that one. I have the
• 50:20
  Speaker 3: probably the most frustrating and the one where we maybe
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: kind of realized Kerry Poola was a dufus. When Tim
• 50:26
  Speaker 3: Graham got a hold of the economic efficient what was
• 50:31
  Speaker 3: the third e the three e's basically when he was
• 50:33
  Speaker 3: basically like, we're going to strip this thing down and
• 50:35
  Speaker 3: run this as cheaply as possible, which, if you believe
• 50:39
  Speaker 3: all the reporting and rumors, that led to the firing
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: of Bottlerel because Bottrel would not fire people to make
• 50:46
  Speaker 3: the staff cheaper, which led to them being fired, and
• 50:51
  Speaker 3: then the Kevin Adams higher But skipping back to that,
• 50:54
  Speaker 3: when we all wanted Bottlerell fired and Kim Gogola said, no, no, no,
• 50:58
  Speaker 3: we know more than the fans were harder than you guys.
• 51:00
  Speaker 3: We're going to keep Jason around to then only fire
• 51:03
  Speaker 3: him weeks later.
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: That that's part of it. That COVID press conference or
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: or no, it was. It wasn't the press conference because
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: it was virtuals during COVID that Zoom media availability with
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: Terry and Kim sitting beside each other in their house
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: in Florida, and I think it was Mike Harrington just
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: absolutely laid a bomb on him, But why should anybody
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: believe that you guys know what you're doing with the
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: direction of this team. And then they said Bottrel is
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: our GM and weeks later he was fired.
• 51:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we know more than the fans, and then we're
• 51:34
  Speaker 3: gonna do the same thing that the fans want. Another again,
• 51:40
  Speaker 3: embarrassing but kind of hilarious moment. Carter Hutton needing eye
• 51:43
  Speaker 3: surgery because he was blind after playing goalie for the
• 51:46
  Speaker 3: Sabers for a year. Just perfect, Like we signed a
• 51:52
  Speaker 3: goalie who had some of the best numbers the year before,
• 51:55
  Speaker 3: and then the year he comes to Buffalo. Oh, I
• 51:57
  Speaker 3: can't see already named off a couple, but like the
• 52:02
  Speaker 3: Taylor Hall signing was peak trading for Stall hiring him
• 52:06
  Speaker 3: to the front office, the Simmons and Cahun acquisitions. Pagoula
• 52:10
  Speaker 3: putting on the freaking helmet at the Key Bank press conference,
• 52:14
  Speaker 3: which why the heck did they hold the press conference
• 52:15
  Speaker 3: for Key Bank? Like that's hilarious.
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: That might have been one of your best tweets of
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: all time. It was like, can you go to get
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: us a top six floor? And it's like I got you,
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: and it's Terry in the helmet it's.
• 52:26
  Speaker 3: The most frustrating, I think because it's it was the
• 52:29
  Speaker 3: most recent, but like Kevin Adams just torching himself with
• 52:32
  Speaker 3: that Palm Trees press conference. These are all just iconic
• 52:37
  Speaker 3: moments that were embarrassing or just proved how bad the
• 52:42
  Speaker 3: Sabers were during this time and how poorly they were run.
• 52:44
  Speaker 3: But I think that Palm Trees press conference is probably
• 52:47
  Speaker 3: the best way to if there is a moment of
• 52:50
  Speaker 3: the drought where it's like, this is peak Sabers, this
• 52:52
  Speaker 3: is this is why they had been in a fifteen year,
• 52:55
  Speaker 3: fourteen year playoff drought, it's that Palm Trees press conference.
• 52:58
  Speaker 3: I think that wasn't the beginning of the end. At
• 53:00
  Speaker 3: think most of us were already tired of Kevin Adams
• 53:01
  Speaker 3: at that point, but I think that was the beginning
• 53:03
  Speaker 3: of the end for Kevin Adams internally within the organization.
• 53:06
  Speaker 3: I think that's when it was just like, no, we're
• 53:10
  Speaker 3: done with this guy. He cannot be the one to
• 53:12
  Speaker 3: run this team. He cannot be the one to lead
• 53:14
  Speaker 3: us to, you know, the next level, And kind of
• 53:18
  Speaker 3: proved right because the second he was fired, the team
• 53:21
  Speaker 3: turned it around, or the second he was rumored to
• 53:23
  Speaker 3: be fired, the team turned it around. So like the
• 53:25
  Speaker 3: palm trees is probably the most notorious, the most perfectly
• 53:29
  Speaker 3: summed up. This is why the Sabers had a bad
• 53:31
  Speaker 3: year because instead of blaming it on how poorly the
• 53:36
  Speaker 3: team was run and that they weren't doing a good
• 53:38
  Speaker 3: enough job, he just blamed it on taxes and the weather.
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: And that was only a year ago. Like, yeah, I mean,
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: that's crazy that that, Like it might.
• 53:47
  Speaker 3: Be recency biased, but that for Sabers fans I think
• 53:51
  Speaker 3: was Again, most of us were already so fed up,
• 53:53
  Speaker 3: but I think it was at that moment where we
• 53:55
  Speaker 3: were just like we're done, Like we're never ever bouncing
• 53:58
  Speaker 3: back from this, And all it took was less than
• 54:00
  Speaker 3: a year later him getting fired and the team going
• 54:02
  Speaker 3: on a historic run. But if we want to do
• 54:05
  Speaker 3: some lighter moments before we end this, I mean, I.
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: Was two more quotes won the disconcerting press conference with
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: Ron Rolston when Mike Harrington asked him, how disconcerting is
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: it that you keep losing? And he's like, you asked
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: that every press conference, and then the gardening gloves you
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: have Ron Rolston was a disaster and Ted Black Hockey
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: Heaven Buffalo. Yeah, that for me is an all timer quote.
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: And look what happened after that. I also remember Ted
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: Black having to be an usher one game because of
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: a snowstorm. Okay, so Ted Black. I think I.
• 54:40
  Speaker 3: Thought you were going to say a different Ted Black moment.
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: No, and and credit to him. I mean he went
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: on w GR and at least took fan questions.
• 54:47
  Speaker 3: So do you remember I don't know if it was
• 54:49
  Speaker 3: GR or if it was an article, but before Adams
• 54:51
  Speaker 3: was the GM, they also had him answer all the
• 54:53
  Speaker 3: questions about why the anniversary year was so poorly run.
• 55:00
  Speaker 3: That one just clicked it, you know what I mean,
• 55:01
  Speaker 3: Like it was so bleak, but like there were, Like
• 55:05
  Speaker 3: I said, there were I think the best positive moment
• 55:08
  Speaker 3: of the drought. And again I guess it'll be different
• 55:11
  Speaker 3: because I don't I won't this year. I don't think
• 55:13
  Speaker 3: categorizes as the drought because the drout's broken. But that
• 55:16
  Speaker 3: that goal by Jeff Skinner in the middle of the
• 55:19
  Speaker 3: ten game win streak against the San Jose Sharks, just
• 55:21
  Speaker 3: the ten game the ten game win streak in general,
• 55:23
  Speaker 3: was such like a hopeful moment where we got a
• 55:27
  Speaker 3: glimpse of what it would be like what foreshadowing what
• 55:29
  Speaker 3: this year has been like. But then again that perfectly
• 55:34
  Speaker 3: sums up the drought because they missed the playoffs and
• 55:36
  Speaker 3: are the only team in league history to go on
• 55:38
  Speaker 3: a ten game winning streak and not qualify.
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: I remember electric that was, and how how optimized the
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: fan base was, and then they had face by the
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: end of it.
• 55:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I said this, this has been kind of us
• 55:50
  Speaker 3: just reminiscing not the most organized resummary of the drought.
• 55:54
  Speaker 3: But that's just how insane this drought has been. Is
• 55:58
  Speaker 3: this was all over fourteen in year span.
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, you look at the standings right there on
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: the video version, like it's crazy that that was the
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: memories of fourteen seasons.
• 56:08
  Speaker 3: And I want to I I remember, I don't remember
• 56:10
  Speaker 3: which if it was Botterl being fired or if it
• 56:14
  Speaker 3: was Hows, I don't know. I always remember Pierre Lebron
• 56:18
  Speaker 3: and the insiders being like, they can't just keep firing
• 56:20
  Speaker 3: people in Buffalo. They can't just keep firing people in Buffalo.
• 56:22
  Speaker 3: They need to have continuity. No, we we clearly had
• 56:28
  Speaker 3: to keep firing people because look at how.
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: Bad this crap was, Like, you tell me, did he
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: have on on on the books at one point like
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: four that he was paying Terry.
• 56:41
  Speaker 3: I think it would have been how hows Ley, Krueger
• 56:46
  Speaker 3: Gernado three for sure. And then if you count the bills,
• 56:48
  Speaker 3: I think he had Rex Ryan I mean McDermott because
• 56:51
  Speaker 3: he was paying McDermott. Yeah, And honestly, there might have
• 56:54
  Speaker 3: been depending on Boisma's original contract, there might have been
• 56:58
  Speaker 3: one year where Balism was still in the books there
• 57:00
  Speaker 3: because I think Biles got like a five year deal
• 57:03
  Speaker 3: when he was first hired. Which that's a hilarious drought moment.
• 57:06
  Speaker 3: Remember who we wanted instead of Dan Bilesma, we were
• 57:09
  Speaker 3: gunning hard for Mike Babcock, who will reportedly was coming.
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: To the Sabers before the least jumped in the least whooped.
• 57:15
  Speaker 3: In last minute. Yeah, that's why we could talk for
• 57:18
  Speaker 3: hours about the drought and random things will keep popping up.
• 57:21
  Speaker 3: Sorry that this was not extremely the most organized recap
• 57:23
  Speaker 3: of the drought, but that's just that's what the drought
• 57:25
  Speaker 3: has done to us.
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: My I'm gonna end on a high, and my final
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: moment is going to be Casey middle stats overtime winner
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: in RJ's final call.
• 57:34
  Speaker 3: That's a good positive moment. Would that be your all
• 57:36
  Speaker 3: time favorite moment from the Yes?
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that or the the jack iCal overtime goal when
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: RJ was down line course level.
• 57:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, when he scored one second camera on RJ. And yeah,
• 57:48
  Speaker 3: that was a good one. That was awesome.
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: But his middle stats o t winner. I've never liked
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: Casey middle stat more in my life for scoring that
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: overtime winner, to have RJ go out with an overtime
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: call and obviously and piece DRJ. But you know, I'm
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: sure you know if he was here right now, it'd
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: be exciting times for sure.
• 58:07
  Speaker 3: That's good. That's That's probably one of the top on
• 58:09
  Speaker 3: ice moments. I will say, we didn't talk about this,
• 58:12
  Speaker 3: and I think this needs to be talked about. And
• 58:13
  Speaker 3: I will end with this my favorite all time moment
• 58:17
  Speaker 3: from the drought. Do you remember that the Kyle Oposo having
• 58:20
  Speaker 3: a kid saga? No? Okay, So the year that Kyle
• 58:24
  Speaker 3: Oposo got his first concussion issue and missed a lot
• 58:27
  Speaker 3: of hockey. Obviously because he had the concussion problems, he
• 58:29
  Speaker 3: went down that path where he had a lot of
• 58:31
  Speaker 3: treatment wherever. But when Kyle Oposo was missing a game
• 58:36
  Speaker 3: due to an injury and then The birth of his
• 58:40
  Speaker 3: kid was nine months later, and someone responded to the
• 58:42
  Speaker 3: tweet of Kyle announcing the birth like the announcement of
• 58:44
  Speaker 3: their birth of their child. Someone responded, if you look
• 58:47
  Speaker 3: at the timeline of nine months ago, Kyle Oposo was
• 58:50
  Speaker 3: too hurt to be playing hockey, but was healthy enough
• 58:52
  Speaker 3: to have sex. Just pure, pure, not signy. But that's
• 59:00
  Speaker 3: the best drought moment.
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: That looked that up.
• 59:03
  Speaker 3: That's Sabers Twitter, baby, That Sabers Twitter. It is the
• 59:06
  Speaker 3: greatest place on earth.
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: Or worse at times.
• 59:09
  Speaker 3: Well yeah, obviously. But people can crap on Sabers fans
• 59:14
  Speaker 3: all they want. The one thing they can't crap on
• 59:16
  Speaker 3: us for is we made it work for fourteen years.
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: Good luck to anybody else that tries.
• 59:25
  Speaker 3: And listen anyone who tries to say band wagon fans,
• 59:28
  Speaker 3: it's just not. There is some and there's nothing wrong
• 59:30
  Speaker 3: with that. Any Sabers fan who doubted themselves, because I'm
• 59:34
  Speaker 3: sure we all did over the last fourteen years, look
• 59:39
  Speaker 3: back fondly on some of these crazy, hilarious, stupid moments,
• 59:41
  Speaker 3: because this is one day. This is what it'll all
• 59:45
  Speaker 3: be for. Because it's over. We don't have to talk
• 59:49
  Speaker 3: about the drought anymore. But as awful as it was,
• 59:53
  Speaker 3: there were some of the funniest, greatest times of my life.
• 59:57
  Speaker 3: Because who else what other fan? I mean, I'm sure
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 3: they all would because in the way social media is
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 3: now in sports fans are absolute psychopaths. But who else
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 3: would do the timeline math on oh, you can have
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 3: sex but can't play hockey? And also who would think
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 3: those are related in any way whatsoever?
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: Unbelievable?
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's just it's a perfect I don't know
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 3: who's gonna do it. Joe Debiosti did a good job
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 3: with that video, like the order style video, but someone
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 3: needs to do like an actual and the Saber Report
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 3: did a good job with their Iceberg drought moments, but
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 3: someone needs to do like a perfect timeline of like
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 3: greatest moments and like put them in order, not rank them.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 3: They need to put them in order because some of
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 3: the stuff that's happened over the last fourteen years, it's
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 3: just great and honestly we're laughing about it now, but
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 3: it still might take a year or two more for
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 3: the damage of this last fourteen years to fully be
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 3: off this organization because of some of the crap that happened,
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 3: like it's something we can It's something like again, as
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 3: a Bills fan who went through the seventeen year drought,
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 3: I look back at the drought now and laugh, and
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 3: I really hope I can do that with the Sabers.
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 3: We will be able to one day, but it'll take
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 3: another year or two of success before I can completely
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 3: laugh about it. But dear God, we've been through hell
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 3: and back. And anyone who tries to crap on Sabers
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 3: fans just remember it's been fourteen years.
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: We're laughing the coat basically, you know, not.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 3: Even that we we're allowed to People being like act
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 3: like you've been there before. Well, we haven't been there before.
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 3: It's been fourteen years. I was a junior in high
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 3: I was a junior for American fans. I was a
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 3: junior in high school. I was in eleventh grade. The
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 3: last time the Sabers made the playoffs. I'm now thirty
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 3: one with two children.
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: I was one year out of high school. So like, yeah,
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: I mean, think of all the kids that didn't have
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: to go through this drought that are now going to
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: reap the benefits of it.
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we talk about how the generation of Sabers fans
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 3: were lost because of this drought. Well, I think a
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 3: generation of Sabers fans are being born because of this season.
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 3: And I think as awful as the drought was, having
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 3: a year like this just to see the the joy
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 3: and the excitement in the arena. Again, not gonna say
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 3: it's all worth it, because nothing is worth a fourteen
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 3: year playoff drought. But this has been fun and it's
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 3: been a hell of a year. And like I said
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 3: earlier in the podcast, I'm not ready for it to
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 3: end with the playoff Berth.
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: It's it's that's what I mean. They've kicked down the door. Yeah,
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: and the beer Sabers and the I guess the atmosphere
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: being back downtown, they're gonna have the you know, the
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: the block parties and the parties in the plaza and
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: everything for the playoffs. Like you know, we again, we
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: just haven't seen that in so long, And as you mentioned,
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: it's just it's it's a healing process that it's still
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: gonna take some time. But the battle tested fan base
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: over the last fourteen years, you know, shout out to
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: everybody out there who's been along with us for the
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: six years on this show and everybody else that has
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: lasted through the fourteen year drought, We're all coming out
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: the other side of it. It's it's, you know again,
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: as I said at the beginning, I'm not it's not
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: gonna sink in until I see them hit the ice
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: for Game one. But it's a it's just a moment
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: that I that I thought that I would never see again.
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: As you know, cliche as that sounds, Yeah.
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 3: I mean quick boring out of scoreboard, out of town scoreboard,
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 3: Montreal the time, game up against Florida with twenty seconds left.
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: Oh wonderful, So the bare minimum they're getting a point. Great. Yeah, Well,
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: I'll give you final thoughts if you got any on
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: what was a great forty minutes of us reminiscing over
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: the good, the bad, the ugly of the fourteen year drough.
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 3: No, like I said, final thoughts, basically, just again, nothing
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 3: is worth going through fourteen years of hell, but getting
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 3: to see and especially working in downtown Buffalo where I
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 3: work now, just seeing everybody being back on this team
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 3: and what it's done for the city and everything like that.
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 3: Like it's again, nothing is worth it. But if this
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 3: leads to the Sabers being back to what we kind
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 3: of grew up with them being again not worth it,
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 3: but like something I will be forever grateful for because
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 3: this has been fun. Yeah, been great, and it's it
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 3: is a hockey town. I know the Bills have been
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 3: the bell of the ball in the NFL, will always
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 3: be the bell of the ball compared to the NHL.
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 3: But Buffalo is a hockey town and it deserves a
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 3: team that gives a damn and it feels like we
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 3: finally have that team.
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: You thought the Bills playoffs was rowdy. I think the
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: Sabers are gonna Yeah, as you mentioned, it's it's been
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: a long time and maybe some of those Bills fans
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: are going to use the Sabers to kind of heal
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: from I don't want to bring it up to you
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: Bills fans out there, but I'm not one of them
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: so I can say it. But you know, what's been
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: a heartbreak over in the playoffs over the last few seasons.
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: So who would have ever thought that the Sabers would
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 1: be healing the Bills.
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 3: It's it's no legitimately like a it's been awesome.
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: It's yep.
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 3: The NFL drafts in two weeks and I could give
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 3: to flying.
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: You know what. Absolutely, So it's gonna be even more
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: fun once you see playoff hockey here and if few
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: weeks in Buffalo and we'll be back for a playoff preview,
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: we'll be back during the playoffs as well. It's gonna
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: be a fun ride. But Austin appreciated as always, my friend,
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: and we're finally gonna have some positivity come April for
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: the first time in six seasons on this show.
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, another quick out of talent and towardboard autos
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 3: beating that crap out of Tampa.
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: So that's good for the Buffalo good. Well, there goes there.
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: Maybe my prediction is working into the atmosphere somehow. But
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: with that said, that's gonna be it for another episode
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: of Saber Semantics right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network.
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: Thank you everybody tuned in on that video version on
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: YouTube and those who listened to your favorite on demand
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: audio podcast platform. Again, make sure to hit like It, subscribe,
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: smash that bells the update with all of our playoff
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: coverage coming up here in a few weeks, And thank
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: you everybody tuned in your favorite on demand audio podcast
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: platform For Austin brod. My name is BRANDI putto have
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: yourself a good night, and we'll talk to you guys
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: again next week as the Sabers ramp up for the
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: NHL playoffs. Talk to you then. You're listening to the
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: Armchair GM Sports Network