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Realistic Expectations for the Sabres on this NHL Playoff Run w/ Joe Yerdon - Sabres Semantics · The Armchair GM's Sports Network

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Armchair Gym Sports Network.
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  Speaker 2: Times 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 oftive analysis,
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  Speaker 2: this show is sure to provide an entertaining and unique
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  Speaker 2: on the Armchaired GM Sports Network.
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  Speaker 1: And welcome into another episode of Sabersmantics right here on
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  Speaker 1: of our short reels and content. Brandik Muto joined alongside
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  Speaker 1: Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report and noted hockey too breakdown
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  Speaker 1: Game one for the Sabers here in the second round
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  Speaker 1: of the Stanley Cup playoffs, beating the Montreal Canadians by
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  Speaker 1: a four to two score, and then also just general
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  Speaker 1: thoughts on what's going on down the rank player updates
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  Speaker 1: players to watch X factors going forward, and just how
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  Speaker 1: fun this playoff run has been so far for the Sabers. Again,
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  Speaker 1: you guys can keep up to date in the chat
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  Speaker 1: as well. Make sure to leave a comment as well
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  Speaker 1: your thoughts on the series so far. So Joe, really
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  Speaker 1: appreciate you taking the time to join us. I know
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  Speaker 1: it's been a long, long road to get here, fourteen
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  Speaker 1: year playoff drought. What's it been like covering Sabers hockey here?
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  Speaker 3: It's I gotta tell you, it's the same whirlwind that
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  Speaker 3: the second half of the season's been, just taken to
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  Speaker 3: an entirely new level now with playoffs, because the intensity
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  Speaker 3: is that much more. The crowd has been unbelievable, Honestly,
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  Speaker 3: the same kind of like stunned awe that the players
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  Speaker 3: have had every time they've been asked about it during
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  Speaker 3: the playoffs is the same reaction I've got because it's
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  Speaker 3: it's honestly incredible seeing how this all, how this is
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  Speaker 3: all working, how it's all playing out, and yeah, it's.
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  Speaker 4: Something else, man.
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  Speaker 3: I mean it went from zero to one hundred real
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  Speaker 3: quick here with this team and watching them flying out
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  Speaker 3: of the playoffs, is is something else?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely so. I mean what has been just the
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  Speaker 1: general vibes there through that first round against Boston, you know,
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  Speaker 1: as we kind of get into the second round here,
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  Speaker 1: I know there's a lot more media coverage around as
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  Speaker 1: well with the team right now. We know what that
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  Speaker 1: what that's been like. But I guess how different is
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  Speaker 1: it now just being around the team right now during
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  Speaker 1: playoffs as opposed to what it was during the regular season.
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  Speaker 3: It's uh, it's it's from a media perspective, it's it's like, whoa,
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  Speaker 3: all right, Okay, we're we're the big time now because
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  Speaker 3: you know, especially now in the second round of the playoffs,
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: you've got a lot more national attention now that you
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  Speaker 3: know they're playing the Montreal Canadians, who are the last
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  Speaker 3: Canadian team left in the playoffs. So it's bringing up
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: bringing everyone from Canada on board to watch how they
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: do and and whether they're taking on the Sabers. I mean,
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: you know, I kind of kid it around earlier, earlier
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: in the playoffs, saying that, you know, when the mic,
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: the mic went out on Cammi Clooney is singing the
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  Speaker 3: singing the anthem, everybody's saying, oh Canada in the crowd
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  Speaker 3: that Tim Murray was right, Buffalo is the eighth Canadian
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  Speaker 3: market in the NHL. It's kind of true because you know,
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  Speaker 3: there's that kind of soft spot that, uh, that a
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  Speaker 3: lot of folks in Canada have for Buffalo because it's
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  Speaker 3: it's kind of a weird hybrid American Canadian sort of place.
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  Speaker 3: But but it's it's it's really it's really something else
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  Speaker 3: to to to wash on. This unfolds, and you know
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  Speaker 3: you sometimes see it in the reactions of some of
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  Speaker 3: the players when you know, you've got so many folks
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  Speaker 3: in the media waiting to talk to him outside the
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  Speaker 3: room after games. You know, saw it in the first
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  Speaker 3: round and definitely are seeing it now with with all
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  Speaker 3: of Montreal's media in town. You know, it's kind of like,
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  Speaker 3: oh my god, Wow, this is a lot of people
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  Speaker 3: and you know, nothing prepares anybody for playoff media media scrums,
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  Speaker 3: but certainly not when.
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  Speaker 4: It's uh, when it's the habs involved either. But it's.
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  Speaker 3: It's really it's really amazing because I think everybody's still
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  Speaker 3: either like you're trying to get a grasp on it
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  Speaker 3: and enjoy the moment at the same point. And this
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  Speaker 3: is for the players. The media is you know, we're working,
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  Speaker 3: but nobody cares about us either. So but like for
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: the players there, you know, they're they're really enjoying this
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  Speaker 3: moment and you know, winning helps too. But but there's
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  Speaker 3: also a lot of like, holy cow, this is we're
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  Speaker 3: the big.
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  Speaker 4: Time now, baby.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, and with the with the Canadians as well,
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  Speaker 1: like the dual media with you know, the French and
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  Speaker 1: Canadians and the English speaking Excuse me, I'm sure there's
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  Speaker 1: a lot more added attention right now with the with
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  Speaker 1: with what's going down there at the rank and those
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  Speaker 1: postgame press conferences and things like that. Something that's a
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  Speaker 1: little bit different than what we're used to in the
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  Speaker 1: regular season, right but you know, you got bigger rooms,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: bigger everything, bigger spotlights, more eyes. It's uh, it's probably
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  Speaker 1: something that you haven't seen since covering the team. When
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: you began.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Oh, it's it's nothing like I've ever seen when it
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: comes to covering the savers. I've I've gotten cover to
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  Speaker 3: cover playoffs. I've covered you know, a couple of Stanley
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  Speaker 3: Cup finals, uh through my career being at NBC and
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  Speaker 3: and whatnot.
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  Speaker 4: But it's been uh, you.
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  Speaker 3: Know, seeing this, you know, day in and day out,
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  Speaker 3: because usually for playoff series, you know, I fly in,
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  Speaker 3: you know, fly in sometimes literally fly in for like
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  Speaker 3: a couple of games.
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  Speaker 4: That I'm out.
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  Speaker 3: You know, the last few years, I've covered the Maple
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  Speaker 3: Leafs and the playoffs, and it's usually you know, come
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  Speaker 3: in for potentially you know, series deciding games, which hasn't
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  Speaker 3: really worked out well for the.
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  Speaker 4: Leafs and whenever I show up.
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  Speaker 3: But but you know, anytime there's been like playoffs and
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: it's like all right, we're gonna we're gonna have you
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  Speaker 3: go up and cover that, it's usually a moment where
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  Speaker 3: it's like, okay, this this game's probably gonna decide things
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  Speaker 3: or you know, be a pivotal game anyways. And yeah,
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  Speaker 3: but when you're when you're in it every day, it's like, Okay,
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  Speaker 3: it's a big adjustment because the routines that you had
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  Speaker 3: in the regular season are completely changed in the playoffs
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  Speaker 3: because everything's done a little bit t Everything's a lot tighter,
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  Speaker 3: especially information, but everything is a lot a lot more,
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  Speaker 3: a lot less time on the ice, a lot less
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  Speaker 3: time in the rooms and and talking to guys, and
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  Speaker 3: you gotta be you gotta be on your game in
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  Speaker 3: the media. You better better have your questions ready to go.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, so let's uh, let's move forward and just
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  Speaker 1: talk about last night's or two nights AGO's game. UH
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  Speaker 1: with UH with that victory in against Montreal four two
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  Speaker 1: was the final there? First off, like the building obviously
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  Speaker 1: we know what happens with uh when the Canadian teams
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  Speaker 1: come in like Montreal and Toronto, but it seemed like
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  Speaker 1: it was a true home iice advantage for the Sabers.
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  Speaker 1: I know there's gonna be Montreal fans anywhere you go,
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  Speaker 1: but it felt like it was the Sabers fans obviously
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  Speaker 1: with the drought, they've been waiting a long time for this.
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  Speaker 1: It felt like, you know, they were they were waiting
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  Speaker 1: for this and and this was what what they got.
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  Speaker 1: So uh, you know, what what was the feeling like
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  Speaker 1: in the building that it finally felt it was a
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  Speaker 1: home game for Buffalo against Montreal.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. This this really was the first time in a
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  Speaker 3: long time that it felt like, oh yeah, this is
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  Speaker 3: a buffer building against against the halves. There are ben
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  Speaker 3: games in the past where it was like, well, this
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  Speaker 3: isn't this isn't quite like a you know, a total
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: you know, red, white and blue wash out. Uh here,
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  Speaker 3: But usually that meant both teams were really bad and
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  Speaker 3: nobody wanted to come watch them.
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  Speaker 4: Watch either team.
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  Speaker 5: Uh.
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  Speaker 3: Certainly not the case in the second round of the playoffs.
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  Speaker 3: It's been a very focused and concerted effort on the
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  Speaker 3: part of the fans. Never Mind, the team hasn't had
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  Speaker 3: to say anything about about this, but but the fans
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  Speaker 3: have made it a point like to be on other
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  Speaker 3: fans cases. I've seen it on read it, I've seen
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  Speaker 3: it on all the other social media's. Do not if
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: you're gonna sey, if you have to sell your tickets,
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: and if you're going to sell your tickets, do not
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: sell it to Canadians fans because if you sell your
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: if you sell your team out now for for a
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: few extra bucks, and like, let's face it, it's a
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: lot of extra bucks for the playoffs. I know, I
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: know the prices for the tickets, just that the box
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: office were pretty We're pretty tough.
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  Speaker 4: I can only.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Imagine the rece ones or a lot higher. But there
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: was a very concerted point like, do not sell to
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Habs fans. We do not Sabers fans happen.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: It's we're doing a.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: Lot of like mental adjusting for how things used to
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: be and how this season is. One of those is
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: that Sabers fans don't like to show up. I was like, well,
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: Savers didn't win before, so who'd want to show up
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: and pay the you know, the prices for that. Now
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  Speaker 3: they're really good, They're one of the best teams in
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  Speaker 3: the NHL, and now it's like, all right, don't embarrass
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: our Let's not embarrass ourselves here by just selling tickets
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: to to whoever and just counting our bucks and walking
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: away from it. It's like, no, like, this is the
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: first time this team's been in the playoffs and in
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: over a decade. Let's show out, let's be let's be
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: there for our team, and let's not get shown up
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: by the visiting fans.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: And uh, that did not happen. In Game one.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: It's easy to spot Canadian's jerseys. Let's be let's be truthful.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Their gorgeous jerseys there. You can spawn them for a
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: mile away.
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: They're awesome.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: But it was you could spot them easily, and like
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: people tried to get grouped together somehow. But I think
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: we got to figure out how many how many fans
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: in the season ticket holders in the base are actually
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: Montreal fans that buy tickets and come and watch the
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: games anyways the rest of the regular season, because the.
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: Ones that were there, they were in close.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: But but man, it was it was definitely this is
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: the first time I'd say in a long time. It
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: was probably about ninety five ninety to sabers fans for
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: this game because even when Montreal scored, it was not
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: the you would get a roar.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: When the Habs would score before.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: That didn't really happen this time, and the booze droned
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: it out anyways.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so it was good. It was good to see there.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Just just talking about that game itself, I mean, it
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: was exciting. You know, the Canadians took a penalty on
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: the first shift, which you know, after going through a
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: grueling set in game series against the uh the Tampa
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Bay lightning. It was almost like, okay, like they're gonna
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: have to change their system up a little bit playing
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: a team like Buffalo. But uh, you know, just what
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: we saw in that first period, but the Savers being
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: able to get that to nothing lead. Uh and we
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: know Montreal tied it late in that first period, But
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: what did you see from you know, just the Buffalo
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: start there and being able to get that lead on
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Montreal a pesky team and that's played really well on
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: the road so far.
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  Speaker 4: What what what was noticeable was.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: That there was a good amount of jump from both teams.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: Usually you get a lot of the uh, you know,
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: the road teams gotta have to weather that first ten
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: minutes because the home crowd of the whole thing, and
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: there was part of that, uh, But Montreal didn't really
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: show a lot of fear to start off. They came
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: out and got after it, and they were able to
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: produce some shots, get some get some opportunities, and they
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: had a lot of scoring chances in the first period.
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  Speaker 3: Alex Line was just there to stop them.
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  Speaker 4: Uh. So that made a.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: Huge difference, uh, to the start of that game, because
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: you know, if you know, if linees not on top
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: of his on top of his game.
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  Speaker 4: There.
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  Speaker 3: You know, the start of that game is a little
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: bit different, but you know, you get the power play
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: to start right off. Power play didn't go uh way,
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: if I'm getting my power plays crossed up here, maybe,
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: but but you know, one of the power plays was
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: not very good. But you know, then they scored on
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: two other ones in the game. But but it was
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: it was a moment where it's like, okay, well now
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: that was a chance to show that the first round's done.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: How bad the power play was then, and you know,
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: all for almost all of April is gone, so we
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: can fix that right now and.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: Change the story. And they were.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: They were able to eventually do that in the game,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: but that but to start it off, though, you know,
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: it was something where you know, Montreal was down on
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: the scoreboard, but you know, Marty Saint Louis was like,
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: I really liked our first period, and he's he's right
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: to because they generated a ton of really high quality chances.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: But Buffalo was took advantage of mistakes made by Montreal,
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: which this series I think is going to be a
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: lot about that because these teams are very, very capable
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: of countering and taking advantage of the other's mistakes. With
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: with ease and with the amount of skill they've got,
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: it doesn't take much.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and then you know that goal by Greenway, I
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: think in the in the second period was was big. Obviously,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: that was his first goal at home on home ice
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: this season.
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: We know he's been wild honestly.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a great screen in front by Kozak, just tied
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: up with the defender and that was a big goal
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: for Buffalo to be up, to be able to open
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: it up to three to one. When you know, the
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Canadians had that power play goal late in the late
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: in the first period, but for the fourth line to
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: be able to contribute like that, we know Sam Carrick
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: might play later in the series as well, but for
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: them to contribute there in a big way for Buffalo
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: at a big moment of the game, I think that
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: was uh. You know that that really felt like, Okay,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: the Savers are going to be be okay here, because
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: if Montreal was able to get that thing tied, we
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: know we we know what can happen there. And then
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the amount of close games that they've played against Tampa
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: Bay in that first round, so that felt like just
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: a massive goal at the time for Buffalo.
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and it absolutely was.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: And you know, it was such a smart heads up
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: played by Kozak to just go with the defender and
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: just kind of drive him, drive him to the net himself,
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: because you know, defender can't plan him because if he does,
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: it's penalty.
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: So Kozak's just like, well, I'm just gonna go to
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: the net.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: And Greenway was really smart with that shot because you know,
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: it wasn't it was It was just like a moving screen,
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: but like a moving screen that's going directly in the
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: line of sight of yak Abdobash where it's he's kind
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: of helpless because if he tries to cheat around and
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: peek that shot could come from the go to the
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: other side and then it's then he's getting beat. But
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: you know, a great shot by Greenway. And he he
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: played really well all game. He these kinds of games,
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: I think we're seeing some of the best of him.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: I thought he was good against Boston. Fourth line had
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: their hands full against Boston because Boston's fourth line is
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: a hand in full. It's not to say Montreal's isn't.
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: With Josh Anderson out there and those guys, that's a
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: tough group too, But but it's a different kind of
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: challenge this, I mean, this whole this whole series is.
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: A different kind of challenge.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: But for Greenway, his size now becomes a factor because
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: he's bigger than a lot of those guys on Montreal.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: So like him throwing his weight around literally uh and
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: using that size to to make a difference, can can
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: make a bigger impact. But when he's providing that offensively,
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: we know that line can score. We've seen Malenstein do
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: all year long. Karrick was doing it until he got injured.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: Greenway is capable of that too, and seeing him get
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: that goal, and it was great shot, great shot, Dobec,
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: you know, kind of glanced off his glove. He almost
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: got it, but almost don't count in hockey. You gotta
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: you gotta get all of it. And Greenway did get
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: all of that shot. That was it was a great play.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And Dobis we we know what he did in
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: the seventh game to steal it for Montreal when they
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: only had nine shots on that and won that game.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Sou for the Sabers to get three on him, it
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: just felt like he wasn't as comfortable and dialed in
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: as he was maybe in that Tampa Bay series. That's
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: because Buffalo, you know, just the relentless, you know pressure
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: they were putting on him. I know, the shots on
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: net Like when you look at that at the end,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: it's gonna look, you know, lopside of the Montreal's favor.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: But I didn't feel like that that most of the game.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: And then Byram gets that that power play goal, and
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, the Sabers are two for three
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: on the power play after going one for their last
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: forty eight or whatever it was, and one for twenty
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: four in the series. So it was that was another
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: big one just for the confidence booster of the power
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: play to say, hey, we scored two power play goals
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: in this game. Granted both were from the second unit,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: but that was, you know, just a great, great job
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: by Byram. And you know, he's he continues to, you know,
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: show why he was in a Stanley Cup final with
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Colorado a few years ago.
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: Byrom's been unbelievable and even dollean was even was was
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: pumping his tires today with how good he's been throughout
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: the playoffs.
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: And.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: It's hard to not it's hard to not focus on
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: how good he's been. And it's it's one of those
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: kinds of things where so much attention and gets paid
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: to Dolly and rightfully so, because he's very dangerous. Uh
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: that when he's out there, it's it's a main it's
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: he's a main focus for defenses because you got to
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: worry about him. He's you know, Dollien can pinch in,
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: he can score, he can hammer it from outside, he
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: can create, he can do all that stuff. Byron is
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: is showing that with him and Power out there together.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: Power's been so good defensively, so strong defensively, that Byron's
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: got gets a little bit of that freedom where he
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: can do the same.
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: But his shots have been on the money this in
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: these playoffs.
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: I mean, if he's not putting them and he's putting
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: them on net, uh and creating opportunities for guys to
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: cash in on rebounds or create problems down low for
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: the other team.
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: Uh.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: For Byrom to do that and play a strong defensive game.
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: This isn't saying he's playing one way hockey year. He's
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: playing really good both ends of the ice. But you know,
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: four goals in the playoffs for a defenseman is really good.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: Especially considering it's only been seven games, four goals and
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: seven games of the playoffs. Is is some some real
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: money work from him. So awesome to see that. And yeah,
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: big time guy. I mean he was. Think of how
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: young he was. He's still young. Think of how young
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: he was with Colorado and he was kind of learning
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: from a lot of those guys on that team, but
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: was still a big time player. Now he's older, wiser,
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: more vet, you know, a little bit more VET to him.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: And now he's playing like you know, same, you know,
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: same old thing. Like I'm just I'm just gonna be
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: a boss out there, and he's doing it.
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: He's playing great.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah he is. And when you look at uh, I think,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: what was the one statistic? Uh? I want to pull
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: it up on the screen. Uh here for a second,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: uh the tying record for from the Sabers pr With
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: his goal boom, Byron moves into a tie with Mike Ramsey,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Jason Willie and Alexi for the most goals by a
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Sabers defenseman in a single playoff year all time with four.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: So I never thought I see Alexi on the top
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: goal uh statistic, But here we are and boween byram
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, he's put himself in pretty elite category for
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: for Sabers defenseman all time and we're still, you know,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: only one game into the second round here.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's and two of those guys run that ninety
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: nine Cup final team too. And I mean, obviously Woolley
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: had a really big goal, uh in the in those playoffs.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: That was in game one, I think of the Stanley
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: Cup Final against Dallas. But but yeah, being in that
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: kind of company kind of shows where how much the
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: game has changed, which easy to do considering the eras
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: that we're talking about here. Uh, and how how long
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: it's been for for you know, for this team to
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: get to the playoffs. But but even those teams, you know,
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: the twenty ten even going back to six oh seven defensemen,
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: we're not driving scoring for those teams. That was that
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: was that was the forwards doing all that work to
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: get goals from your defense, though, is I mean, it's
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: a common thing now, but you know that, you know,
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: there's all only three other defensemen that scored four goals
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: in the playoffs, and you know it's Mike Ramsey, Jason
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Woolly and Alexi Jitnik. You're like, whoa Blue Liners didn't
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: score ever for these guys ever, and it's kind of
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: crazy to think that Phil Housley wasn't on that list,
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: even though I mean Howsley was more of a setup
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: guy obviously, but kind of wild that, like he didn't
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: jump in there at some point in the playoffs for
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: them in the past. But but yeah, it's it's pretty
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: it's pretty remarkable and a nice, nice path carved ahead
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: for him because I get one more now he's he's
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: the main guy in team history, which is kind of crazy.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: And then they were able to to kind of close
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: that that thing out there for to Montreal gets the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: second goal there, but you know, nothing else comes of that.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: They have the goalie pulled, don't do anything there, you know,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: how what did you think of the third period? I
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: know that the sabers Roch shot was at eleven to
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: one in the third, but prevent you know, basically just
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: trying to hold the lead there. What did you see
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: in the third and is there anything that the you know,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: you want to see them clean up there as they
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: go into Game two against Once of Your All or
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: do you think that they pretty much played it as
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: well as an opener of a series that you could play.
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: You know, I thought, I mean, we've gotten used to
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: seeing them play that way in the third period, I
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: they got to lead, they want to they want to
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: bottle it and take it home, which I mean every
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: team wants to do that if you've got, especially a
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: you know, a two goal cushion at that point for them, which,
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: let me give it up to Kirby doc though for
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: that just absolutely absurd goal that made it four to two.
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: You know, hard to fault lying on that one, like
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: that's just an insane play by him.
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: But but that third period for Buffalo was as good
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: of a third period as I've seen them play, I
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: think all season. Honestly, when it comes to shutting down
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: a game, you'd you a lot of those kinds of games.
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: You'd have those moments where it's like, right, okay, like
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: you could like you get that feeling in the pity
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: your stomach where it's like one's probably coming here, and
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: then it's going to get real tight. There might have
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: been one or two chances where I felt like this
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: is a little sketchy right now. I don't know if
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: I like how they're doing this. But then that pressure
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: was relieved pretty quick, and it turned into like a
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: like a two on one or a two on two
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: chance the other way, and it was like, okay, well
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: that kind of gets Montreal like shocked out of their
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: out of out of their demeanor of like, oh, we're
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: just gonna be able to pepper away here, and it's like, oh, crap, we.
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: Give up another one. This is done. This is done
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: like dinner.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: I thought the way they handled it was so good
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: because they were first on bucks. Uh, they were on
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: top of players immediately. The only time it got a
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: little scary was when the was when Dobesh was pulled
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: with about two and a half three minutes to go.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: But but that's.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: A six on five situation, so it should be a
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: little sketchy. But the rest of that period, I mean,
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: the shots were coming from the outside. Alex Lines was
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: gonna snap those up all game long, so that was
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: not a that was not a worry. But but yeah,
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: it was you know a couple of those plays down
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: low around the net where it's a little quick pass
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: to the front or you know, a sudden you know,
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: a little backhand pass across the crease and it's like
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: test your reflexes for the goalie. But but the defense
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: and the forwards were all on top of everybody. Everybody
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: was marked up, and they were able to kind of
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: take away any of that danger that could have been
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: there by allowing you know, the team to kind of
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: settle in and and do what they do. I mean,
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: and you know what, guys were blocking shots and you know,
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: I think Malenstein. Maleinstein had a big block on a
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: penalty kill early in the game. Dalen had that you know,
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: kind of fly through where he really saved the Lions
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: bacon there in the third where he caught one. I
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: looked like it caught him off the calf or something.
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: There's no padding there, so that really sucks. But but
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: like Lyon was kind of out of position and Dolen
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: got got in front of that shot to block it
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: away late. But but they really took care of business there.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: I thought that was as good as the third period
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: as they played all year when it came to putting
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: the game away and salting it down.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so four to two final there. You know, Lion
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: was good when he needed to be there. Obviously, he's
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: been sort of the guy after taking over for lucan
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: In after that game too performance against Boston, but he
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: just seems like he's bringing a calming presence. We know
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: he was solid with the Florida Panthers a few years
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: ago in the playoffs as well. But we've talked about
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: him before when he's had you on, he just he's
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: he brings a he brings a swagger, and he brings
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: just a mentality that you know. That was the think
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: that was the first first period goal he had let
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: in in the playoffs, if if correct me if I'm
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: wrong at home, so, uh so it was. Uh, he's
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: been on. He's just been able to give the Sabers
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to win night in and night out. And
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: there's a reason why they keep going with the hot hand.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: And we've seen the Sabers do that this season with
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: lucan In and also with Colton Ellis as well. But
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: Lyon seems like he's, uh, he's ready to handle the
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: load here is they go forward?
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know what, he's he's got the right
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: kind of demeanor to play goal where it's he's very
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: head about the position like he you know, he's he's
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: he's just he's studied it a lot obviously through his career,
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: and you know, he knows he has a feel for like.
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: All of it.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: And but he's also got that kind of sort of
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: like sort of like cockture mentality where it's like it's like,
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: you're not beating me tonight, get out of here, like,
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: you know, probably using a little bit more colorful language
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: than that. But but he's but he's got that kind
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: of like swagger attitude to him where it's just like,
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: all right, cool, got it, We're all done here. And
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: you know, he's caught on video a lot in the
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: Boston series, you know, mouthing off at players at fans
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: and you know, people trying to get you know, trying
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: to get his goat. But but he doesn't, he doesn't care.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: Like he loves that kind of stuff. Like if somebody's
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: gonna try to needle him by yelling at him, he's
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: gonna give it right back, and he's probably gonna say
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: something a little bit meaner in the process. But but
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: he's a guy that just like loves that. He feeds
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: off that that that competition and and the challenges of
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: of what of what the position es and you know,
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: if if he and the thing is, the way the
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Savers do things in Goal is so different to how
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: We've got used to teams doing it in the playoffs
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: that you know, when they swapped from Lucan and the Lion,
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: it was kind of like one of those moments where
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: you're like, oh, is this is this a problem and
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: it's like, no, They've done it all year, you know,
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: And it got poop pooed immediately, you know, because it
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: was a question to ask at the time, and you know,
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: they were just like, well, we've done it all year,
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: so I don't see what what's the difference now, And
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: it's like, yeah, but it's the playoffs. I was like,
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: it's fine, we got we got we got two goalies
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: that can get it done. We've got three goalies that
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: can get this done.
• 26:38
  Speaker 4: It's fine.
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: And sure enough, that's how it goes. And you know what,
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: Lion slips up somehow later and if they switched to
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: Lucan in not a problem, it's totally fine.
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: They'll be okay with doing that.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: And you know, I mean, obviously you get later the
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: pressure is a lot higher, but right now, I mean
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: the way Lion's playing, I mean, there's no there's no
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: reason even think of out doing anything with goal It's
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: just set them, set it and forget it, and he's
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: good to go.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Set it and forget it. Wasn't that an infomercial back
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: in the day?
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: Oh man, was it?
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: I think it was. It was for one of those
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: like it was something to do with uh.
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: Oh was it a George Foreman girl?
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Maybe it was something. It was some sort of food.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: I guess appliance or something. Set it and forget it.
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: Quoting Ron, Now.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: That's how you know it's time for a break. So
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: we're gonna take a break on the show. We're gonna
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: come back. We're gonna get Joe Stoughts and some players.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: Look at the lineup, get the updated injury report from
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: down there at the rink, and general thoughts going into
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Tuesday or into Fridays, Game two of this second round
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: series against Montreal Canadian. So stay out here right back
• 27:42
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  Speaker 1: Here it's talking.
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: Here we call the boys and Blue wind.
• 32:05
  Speaker 5: Here we go.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: Sorry, Welcome back to part two of today Saber Samantics
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: episode right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network. Thank
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: you everybody tuned in on the live version here on
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: the YouTube version, make sure to hit like it subscribed,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: smash that bell s. They updated with all of our
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: video coverage here on the network. And thank you to
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: those that are listening to the next day in your
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: favorite on demand audio podcast platform, make sure you give
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  Speaker 1: us a five star rating or whatever one you chose
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: to listen to us on BRANDI Kuto joined alongside Joe
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Yerden of Bleacher Report and Noted Hockey to give us
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: a reporter of what's going on down there at key
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: Bank Center throughout round two of the playoffs for the
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Buffalo Savers up one nothing on the Montreal Canadians in
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: Round two, exciting times after breaking the fourteen year playoff drought,
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: kicking the door down, and now in the second round
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: as Atlanta Division champions. As always, Global Pet Foods and
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: their Great Niagara Region locations are the show sponsor of
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: Saber Semantics. Make sure to give them a follow on
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: at Niagara Falls, Fon Hill and Scott Street and Saint
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Catharine's as well. The next day that the Sabers win
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: a home game, you can go and get your free
• 33:16
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• 33:20
  Speaker 1: Saber Semantics and the Sabers win. So, Joe, let's let's
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: talk about this round two, and I guess some of
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: the players of note. Obviously, for them to be able
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: to get to this point, they've had to have contributions
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: up and down the lineup. We know what Rasmus Dallin's
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: dealt with this season on and off the ice. We know,
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: you know everything that he's He's battled through there. He
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: was named the Rick Martin Award winner as well for
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: the Sabers, as well as a Masterton nominee in the
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: in the NHL for perseverance and dedication to hockey. And
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: now as of today, he was named a candidate one
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: of the final three finalists excuse me for James Norris
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Trophy as the best defenseman in the National Hockey League.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: Just I think the fans are around the league outside
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: of the Buffalo market are finally getting a chance to
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: see how good Rasmus Doleen is and why he's deserving
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: to be a finalist for this award with another great
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: you know all world defenseman, guys like Cail mccarr and
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Zach Wrensky.
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's considering all the defensemen in the NHL and
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: how many great defensemen there are. This is seeing Dolly
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: and crack through into the top three is pretty stunning,
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: especially when you considered Quinn Hughes wasn't even in the
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: top three out of this group, and it's that's honestly
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: staggering to me. But but I mean, you cannot deny
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: how good Dollyan has been all season. And you know,
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: even when you consider everything that he's gone through over
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: his personal life this season and how much that seemed
• 34:54
  Speaker 3: to affect the start of his year. Once you know,
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: once everything's kind of calm down and quiet it down,
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: we saw the best of him, you know, from gosh,
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: from December on really, and his game is just I mean,
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: he's he's such as just an all round great defenseman
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: and he's so smart offensively, defensively, he's he's on top
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: of everything. I mean, he's so good at denying opportunities
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: and deny you know, one on one matchups. I mean,
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: he's just takes everything away from guys. He plays physically,
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: he plays mean, he plays nasty. He even said today like,
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: you know, I'm not a tough guy, but I you know,
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: I play play hard hockey and it's impossible to deny that.
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: And you know, he plays a ton of minutes.
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: And you know, I'm sure some folks might be critical
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: that he doesn't play a ton of PK time, but
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: I mean, if you want to Nippick a guy, I
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: guess that's something you could do. But he's still out
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: there sometimes doing it and that's fine. But guy's got
• 35:55
  Speaker 3: to get a break sometimes, right. But he's I mean,
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: he's just incredible. He's had an outstanding season, clearly one
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: of his best. I mean this season, e last Sea.
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: He was outstanding last season too, even though it was
• 36:07
  Speaker 3: a down year for the Sabers. But you know, doing
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: the same kind of work, same kind of effort, same everything,
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: and leading the team back to the playoffs. It's it's
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: understandable why the voters were cashed in on having him
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: to a point where he's taught.
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: You know, one of the three finalists for the award.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, And when you look at his body of
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: work since he's come into the National Hockey League as
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: the top overall selection for the Sabers, came in, you know,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: played as an eighteen year old defenseman in the league,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: has gone through a lot, obviously with the Sabers organization.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: Over that time, he's grown up, he's gotten married with
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: this organization. Buffalo is engraved in him now and since
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: since he came into the league and now in his
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: in his mid mid twenties, you know, still has a
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: lot of room to grow as well. And that was
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: what people had talked about when he was coming into
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: the league, about this guy could be a top three
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: defense been in all the National Hockey League and for
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: defenseman to go first overall, you have to be a
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: special player, and Dolin has really produced that now. Wearing
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: the sea for the Sabers seems like he himself uncertain
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: times but is sort of a lead by example leader,
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: but he's a warrior out there and he just seems
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: like he's beloved in that room as a as the
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: guy wearing the captain for this group. And and why
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: you know, the teammates love him, the coaching staff love him,
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: and uh, you know, just being able to battle through
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: everything that he did and still be dis productive on
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: the ice. It it really shows you his true character
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: and how much he loves the game.
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, he kind of kitted around today
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: because he was asked about, you know what it's like
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: to you know, how what it's like to captain a team.
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: You know that's that's gone through this, and he said, captain,
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: being a captain of this team is easy because winning,
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: winning makes it easy. But Also you know, the room's
• 37:55
  Speaker 3: full of other other guys who lead, and so you know,
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: as far as like doing all the captain stuff, he's
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: just like, I don't really have to, you know, put
• 38:04
  Speaker 3: my foot down a lot because you know, everybody's everybody's
• 38:07
  Speaker 3: kind of good at you know, doing their doing things
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: their way and and and allowing everybody to kind of
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: grow around it. But I mean, it's there's no doubt
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: this room is strong because winning, first off, but also
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: because you know dun Leane goes out and does it
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: like he doesn't. It's not talking the talk and then
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: not walking the walk. I mean if he if he's
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: talking the talk, he's walking the walk at the same time.
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: So I mean he's he's a guy that just that
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: just really does it all and he's very no nonsense
• 38:38
  Speaker 3: about it, and I think there's a lot of respect
• 38:41
  Speaker 3: that's earned by doing it that way. It was you know,
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: it was interesting to hear some of the comparisons that
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: have come up to the style of game that he
• 38:50
  Speaker 3: plays and hearing you know, hearing hearing the name Chris
• 38:53
  Speaker 3: Proner thrown into that because of how you know, kind
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: of gnarly he can get in some of those heated moments.
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: Is kind of wild because I think if Pronger as
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: one of like the meanest defensemen who have ever played
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: the game. But but to be a competitor on that
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: kind of level, Dollen is Dolan is there.
• 39:10
  Speaker 4: And you know, I'll.
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: Confess Doleen was on my ballot for the Norris this year.
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: Be kind of crazy.
• 39:16
  Speaker 4: If he wasn't.
• 39:16
  Speaker 3: I think that would be probably be something I'd get
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: yelled at, rightfully so by Sabers.
• 39:21
  Speaker 4: Fans I if I didn't have him on there.
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: But but he's had a season that he's had an
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: absolutely incredible season, and he deserved to be on at
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: least on my ballot.
• 39:29
  Speaker 4: Anyways. He deserved to be there.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: And if he doesn't win it, I think this is
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: a coming out party for him that he's going to
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: be on this ballot for many more years to come.
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, and you know that was you know, I'm
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: not going to pat myself on the back too much here,
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: but I said that if this team gets to the playoffs,
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: Doleen's probably going to be a Norris candidate when it happens.
• 39:48
  Speaker 3: And here we are, here we are, It's happened. But
• 39:54
  Speaker 3: but everything was going to revolve around him. Fortunately, this team,
• 40:01
  Speaker 3: it's not all about him, like he's a major part
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: of it, but they have so many other guys that
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: really make it work. And that's why they're so good
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: is that they've got those other guys. But Dahling, make
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: no mistake, he's the guy at the front of the
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: at the front of the engineer.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the production they've got from the back end the season,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: from you know, the guys like Samo sin Power by
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: Rooms obviously stepped his game up to another level. They've
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: had one of the more productive defensive course in all
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: the National Hockey League and big reason why they are
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: where they are right now. Kind of segueing from Rasmus
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: Dahlin to Zach Benson because he's obviously been a guy
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: that's really captured the Sabers fan base for his you know,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: being a rat and all those those other things that
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: are going around social media about just the way that
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Benson's able to get out of the other team's skin.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: We know he wants to be boot to thirty one,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: other other rinks and things like that, and he just
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: him and Doan seems to seem to be really really
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: big heartbeats of this team, and I'm gonna pull up
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: the tweet that you put out earlier today. Joe Dahalen,
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: who hosted Zach Benson in his rookie year, said he's
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: excited about the rest of the world to get to
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: see what he's made of. Mentioned he with a laugh,
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: he did some really weird stuff as a rookie. Follow up,
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: what kind of stuff? Dolings said, No, no, I knew
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't have said that. So that must have got
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: you guys going in the in the press conference room today.
• 41:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, when you've got a whole room full of not
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: just Buffalo media, but Montreal media, and Dolings is you know,
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: you know, he was my root, you know, had him,
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: had him at the house, you know, his rookie year
• 41:23
  Speaker 3: and says it's like he's he's he just did some
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: really weird stuff, and everybody at the same time can
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: feel the psychic power of the room saying what kind
• 41:32
  Speaker 3: of weird stuff? What are we talking about here? But
• 41:36
  Speaker 3: but I mean, it's you can tell that it's one
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: of those Benson is just I mean, it was very
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: amusing to see Boston fans get very worked up about
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: Zach Benson and It's reminded me of the Batan, the
• 41:51
  Speaker 3: nineteen eighty nine Batman movie where uh Batman and Jack Nichol,
• 41:57
  Speaker 3: you know, Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson have that square off.
• 41:59
  Speaker 3: Was like you made me or you made me first,
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: like one of those things where you know, Boston fans
• 42:04
  Speaker 3: are getting all annoyed and upset about Benson. It's like
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: you guys had Brad Marshan for like fifteen years, driving
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: everybody crazy and doing the same kind of stuff. Granted,
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: maybe a little bit nastier, but give Benson time. Maybe
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: he'll learn some meaner tricks as the years go on.
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: But I mean, to have a guy that just drives
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: everybody crazy the way Benson does is something I've always
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: felt that's an element the Sabers needed. They needed somebody
• 42:33
  Speaker 3: who could be just just a total burn the ass
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: kind of guy where it's just like, get this guy
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: out of here, get him out of my face.
• 42:40
  Speaker 4: He drives me nuts. And they've never had a guy
• 42:43
  Speaker 4: like that.
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: They've had tough guys, they've had, you know, physical players,
• 42:46
  Speaker 3: they've had all that. They've never had a guy that
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: pokes the bear constantly. And Benson is one hundred percent
• 42:53
  Speaker 3: that guy that pokes the bear. He loves to do it.
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: And that freeze frame from Game six against Boston where
• 43:01
  Speaker 3: he's got the entire lineup chasing him and he's just
• 43:05
  Speaker 3: smiling and laughing. It's like Renaissance art, that kind of thing.
• 43:09
  Speaker 4: I mean, he's and.
• 43:12
  Speaker 3: The top it all off, he's an incredible player. I mean,
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: he's not just a guy who's out there stirring it
• 43:16
  Speaker 3: up and he doesn't do anything. He had two phenomenal
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: assists in Game one against Montreal. You know, he's capable
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: of scoring goals. He's capable of, you know, setting plays up.
• 43:27
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: Dlene talked a ton about how creative he is with
• 43:30
  Speaker 3: the pocket. We've seen that too. You know, he's a winger,
• 43:34
  Speaker 3: but if you leave that middle of the ice open,
• 43:36
  Speaker 3: he's gonna find a way to get there, and he's
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: gonna maybe make you look bad doing it at the
• 43:41
  Speaker 3: same point to create a scoring opportunity. I mean, he's
• 43:44
  Speaker 3: he's really he's creative. He's smart. It may not come
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: off sometimes that he's that he's smart, but he's brilliant
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: on the ice because he just knows how to get
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: places and to have all of that and to also
• 43:57
  Speaker 3: just be a total pain in the ad at the
• 43:59
  Speaker 3: same time is a tremendous package of skills to offer.
• 44:04
  Speaker 3: And in the playoffs that stuff is an even bigger
• 44:07
  Speaker 3: deal because all takes is you to get somebody, to
• 44:10
  Speaker 3: get one guy on tilt to go crazy, go after you,
• 44:13
  Speaker 3: Charlie McAvoy, and things can change desperately in a game.
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: And you know, we're seeing that with it. We haven't
• 44:20
  Speaker 3: seen it yet against Montreal, but give it time, give
• 44:24
  Speaker 3: it time. You give it a few more games, maybe
• 44:26
  Speaker 3: we'll see some more. But but I mean we saw
• 44:29
  Speaker 3: the skills side of his game come out in Game one.
• 44:32
  Speaker 3: I mean, if if anybody can remember him in junior hockey,
• 44:35
  Speaker 3: think of his draft year. You know, he gets drafted
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: thirteenth by Buffalo, which was kind of a surprise given
• 44:41
  Speaker 3: he was third in the WHL and scoring that season
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: and number one was Connor was Connor Bdard, And he
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: wasn't that far off.
• 44:48
  Speaker 4: From Badard honestly and scoring.
• 44:50
  Speaker 3: That season, so I mean, he was He's a he's
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: a dynamite player, and he just has this complete weasel
• 44:56
  Speaker 3: side to him that everybody is now forum.
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: Buffalo so shifty, right, and just the way he's able
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: to create plays in close corners and around the net
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: just uh, you know, he almost created a few more
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: goals last night for himself. He's got five points in
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: the seven games, a plus four and again that Benson,
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: Norris and Donline just dogs on a bone. And you know,
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: Zach Benson, as I as I put out last night,
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter about the size of the dog. It's
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: the fight of the dog, right And that's that's Zach
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: Benson for you. And he's developing, you know, a really
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: big just identity for the Sabers team about how they
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: want to play and and you know, the Sabers fan
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: based love players like that. You know, they're celebrated here
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: in the city, you know till the day they die.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: So I think Zach Benson, uh, we're gonna start to
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: see a lot more number six or the ones that
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: bought number nine jerseys last year before you know, Josh
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: Norris took over that number. He's he's becoming a fan favorite.
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: Other than you know, the Dollines and the Tage Thompson's
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: and the the guys that are gonna get you know,
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: most of the fanfare, I think, uh, you know, Zach
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: Benson is going to be a mainstay for the Sabers
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: team identity for a long time.
• 46:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and like that whole line.
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: I know some fans got a little bit grumpy when
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: Norris came back in after Austlin, you know, got injured
• 46:11
  Speaker 3: against Boston. But that whole line, it's just like having
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: I'm trying to think, it's like having a group of dogs.
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: You've got You've got like a chihuahua, and you've got
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: like two other dogs that just just bark and snap
• 46:27
  Speaker 3: at you constantly.
• 46:28
  Speaker 4: I mean chihuaha is obviously Benson in this case, so
• 46:31
  Speaker 4: forgive me.
• 46:31
  Speaker 3: But you've got just like three dogs that are just
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: barking and yapping and nipping at you, and they're just
• 46:37
  Speaker 3: chasing you all over the place, and you're like cut
• 46:39
  Speaker 3: it out. Like the entire you know, the opposition team
• 46:42
  Speaker 3: is the mailman just trying to drop stuff off, and
• 46:45
  Speaker 3: these three dogs are just running after everybody. It's like, God,
• 46:47
  Speaker 3: these guys are a menace. Get them away from me.
• 46:49
  Speaker 3: Can't wait to get back in the truck and get
• 46:51
  Speaker 3: out of here, Get away from them. Playing against that
• 46:53
  Speaker 3: line is like that, because you know, we know what
• 46:56
  Speaker 3: Benson does, don't one is just hardline everywhere, Like he's
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: he's a four checking monster. He gets on top of everybody.
• 47:03
  Speaker 3: Norris is the same way too. Norris is it gets
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: on it. He's fast, he's skilled, but like he's very
• 47:10
  Speaker 3: good defensively, and like, if there's a scrum starting on
• 47:14
  Speaker 3: that with that group out there, there's a better chance
• 47:17
  Speaker 3: Norris is the guy in the middle of it that
• 47:19
  Speaker 3: it is Benson or Don't because Norris just does not
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: take any crap from anybody, and he's just constantly in
• 47:25
  Speaker 3: somebody's face and he's like, get off me constantly, and
• 47:27
  Speaker 3: it's I don't know, it's a trio that just works.
• 47:31
  Speaker 3: I tried to pick Josh Norris's brain about it, and
• 47:33
  Speaker 3: I go, what did you know?
• 47:35
  Speaker 4: What you know?
• 47:35
  Speaker 3: What do you do with your game when you're when
• 47:37
  Speaker 3: you're playing with those two guys. He's like, I don't
• 47:38
  Speaker 3: do anything dif from my game. I was like, all right,
• 47:40
  Speaker 3: fair enough, like good to O, good to no. But
• 47:44
  Speaker 3: but it's just it's a group that works, and you know,
• 47:48
  Speaker 3: you know, sometimes fans might grumble that, like the lines
• 47:51
  Speaker 3: don't change it all, but I'm like, what will you change?
• 47:53
  Speaker 3: Like what is there a change? Like maybe maybe put
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: Benson on the top line for a little while, but
• 47:56
  Speaker 3: like you're taking away from the other line. And not
• 47:59
  Speaker 3: to say that Cribs couldn't do well in that line either,
• 48:02
  Speaker 3: but like there's no reason to change anything. Everything works
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: really well.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: And speaking of Zach Benson, he passes Boween Byram, who
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: is now his teammate, the first NHL skater at age
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: twenty or younger to record multiple points and consecutive playoff
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: games since Bowen Biram from May third, twenty third to
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: twenty fifth, twenty twenty two, when he was with the
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: Colorado Avalanche. Two games, four assists. He is the first
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: NHL four to accomplish his feat since Mitch Marner in
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen with his two games, one goal, three assists.
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: So Zach Benson also breaking records as well as a
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: as a twenty year old skater. And again that's the
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: other thing. He's only twenty years old, and he's only
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: going to get better. He might not get any taller,
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: but he's still going to have that fight, it non't
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: matter what, and just continues to, you know, sort of
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: develop that confidence into being a solid NHL player for
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: maybe a decade to come.
• 48:49
  Speaker 3: It's a nice company to be in there with with
• 48:51
  Speaker 3: Bo obviously, but also Marner because you know, we know
• 48:54
  Speaker 3: how much Mitch was got a lot of got a
• 48:57
  Speaker 3: lot of guh for what went on in Toronto.
• 48:58
  Speaker 4: But I'm and he's a.
• 49:00
  Speaker 3: Guy who an intense four checker, plays defense, real defense
• 49:05
  Speaker 3: very well, and is also a high end elite scorer.
• 49:08
  Speaker 3: Benson that high end elite scoring ability hasn't quite come
• 49:12
  Speaker 3: out totally yet in the NHL, but like it just
• 49:15
  Speaker 3: feels like it's coming at some point. Like we've seen
• 49:17
  Speaker 3: some of the goals. We know how he gets to
• 49:19
  Speaker 3: the net. We're gonna see more of that stuff coming
• 49:21
  Speaker 3: over the years, and it's just you know, it's going
• 49:23
  Speaker 3: to require some like roster shifting over the next couple
• 49:27
  Speaker 3: of seasons, which is you know it's gonna happen anyways
• 49:29
  Speaker 3: in the NHL, that's how it goes. But but it's
• 49:31
  Speaker 3: it's exciting to watch. I mean, he's twenty years old,
• 49:33
  Speaker 3: he's in his third season. That's crazy, It's absolutely nuts.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't see that a lot in the National
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: Hockey League these days. Just quickly touching on the forward
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: lines here, Joe, I know, you know you mentioned with
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: Norris coming back and you know, stabilizing that third line
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: with with Benson and Norris Klozax in there. Right now,
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: we know Carrick, you know, could play any day now.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: It seems like he's been ramping up in practice and
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: originally when the say, when the series was about to start,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: he was sort of ruled out. But then all of
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: a sudden, Lindy Rouff comes out the day before and says, no,
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: you know what, he's uh, he might he's practicing. He
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: might be good to go at some point in the series.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: So that'd be a big boost for that fourth line,
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: even though it would be tough to take Kozak out,
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: but you know, Sam Kerrick being the best faceoff guy
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: on the team as well would just add another dynamic
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: with him and Maleenstein being able to produce some offense
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: and Greenway getting on the board too. So that'll be
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: interesting to watch. And I know you want to touch
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: on Jack Quinn as well, because he's even though he's
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: played well at times, he's sort of been snake bit
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: hit a couple more posts last night as well. I
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: know you wanted to touch on him.
• 50:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Quinn's playing some really good hockey, and he has
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: for the last Jesus the last few games. I know,
• 50:39
  Speaker 3: it gets noticed very quickly when he's having an off
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: night because you know, the turnovers there. Sometimes he looks
• 50:44
  Speaker 3: like he's a little too excited to have the puck
• 50:45
  Speaker 3: on his stick.
• 50:46
  Speaker 4: It happens, it happens.
• 50:48
  Speaker 3: But when he's creating the way he was he was
• 50:50
  Speaker 3: doing in Game one, not getting rewarded is such a
• 50:55
  Speaker 3: you know, biting a rear end for him. But like,
• 50:57
  Speaker 3: you know it's coming, Like you know, there's there's a
• 50:59
  Speaker 3: goal explosion coming from him at some point. And you
• 51:02
  Speaker 3: know the chances that he had in Game one, he
• 51:04
  Speaker 3: had too at least two grade a's where it was like, wow,
• 51:06
  Speaker 3: did he not score?
• 51:07
  Speaker 4: I mean obviously the one off the crossbar.
• 51:09
  Speaker 3: There was another one in the third period where he
• 51:11
  Speaker 3: had a I think he had a great look at
• 51:12
  Speaker 3: it and just kind of ripped it wide and it
• 51:14
  Speaker 3: was like, oh, like I.
• 51:16
  Speaker 4: Get one, buddy, Like the delus can happen.
• 51:19
  Speaker 3: But that line is just so good, and you know,
• 51:22
  Speaker 3: seeing McLeod get get one on the power play was
• 51:25
  Speaker 3: was huge. Zucker is you know, he's just he's a
• 51:29
  Speaker 3: you know, if there's a guy that Benson should should
• 51:32
  Speaker 3: look up to, and honestly, I think he does because
• 51:35
  Speaker 3: Zucker always makes sure to keep Benson grounded in his place.
• 51:40
  Speaker 3: It's it's it's Zuker because this is the way he
• 51:43
  Speaker 3: gets around, he gets under he he's also capable of
• 51:46
  Speaker 3: getting under guy's skin, but he's super skilled and he's fast,
• 51:48
  Speaker 3: and that that trio just works so well, and it's
• 51:52
  Speaker 3: a it's a group that you're just kind of like, well,
• 51:54
  Speaker 3: at some point they're going to change it, right.
• 51:55
  Speaker 4: I don't think they've changed it in.
• 51:57
  Speaker 3: Like forty games honestly, and let you know, injuries aside,
• 52:00
  Speaker 3: that group just works and it's a nice comfort zone
• 52:05
  Speaker 3: for for Lindy to have that where you've just got
• 52:07
  Speaker 3: a line that just just they just get stuff done.
• 52:09
  Speaker 3: They take care of business and they they do their
• 52:12
  Speaker 3: thing and they they produce, they produce, and if they're
• 52:15
  Speaker 3: they've got it off night, well it's fine.
• 52:17
  Speaker 4: You've got three other lines that can do it as well.
• 52:19
  Speaker 3: Which you know, that was a big point I think
• 52:20
  Speaker 3: Lindy hit after Game one was talking about it where
• 52:23
  Speaker 3: it's like, hey, if one line's getting shut down, somebody else.
• 52:26
  Speaker 4: Is picking up the slack.
• 52:27
  Speaker 3: Somewhere because we're gonna you know, there's a way their
• 52:30
  Speaker 3: lineup finds a way to do it.
• 52:32
  Speaker 4: But but yeah, that line's been really good.
• 52:33
  Speaker 3: And Quinn, you want to see him get one because
• 52:36
  Speaker 3: you know he's you know, every every chance you get
• 52:39
  Speaker 3: you feel like you're squeezing a little more. I don't
• 52:41
  Speaker 3: think that's the case with him. I think he knows
• 52:43
  Speaker 3: there's there's one comment because he's not being shy about
• 52:47
  Speaker 3: about shooting the puck. I think he's he's kind of
• 52:49
  Speaker 3: learned as the playoffs are going on, I don't need
• 52:51
  Speaker 3: to pass so much. I've got a really good shot.
• 52:53
  Speaker 3: I should just shoot.
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: So, Joe, we got about five or six minutes left
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: with you appreciate the time as always and and get
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: with us the insight from down there. I got three
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: quick points, so I want to try to get through
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: them as quick as possible. One the second power play
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: unit coming through with the two goals. Are you liking
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: what you see from the first unit. I know they
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: had a couple of chances as well, but the second
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: unit up technically both goals there and has looked, you know,
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: better at times almost than the top unit. But what
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: do you what do you think, you know in a
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: short synopsis that top unit needs to do to just
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: find the confidence to get going.
• 53:24
  Speaker 3: I think they've got to be more unpredictable, Honestly. I
• 53:28
  Speaker 3: think they're very much working off the play sheet, so
• 53:32
  Speaker 3: to speak, like to use like a kind of like
• 53:34
  Speaker 3: an NFL parallel, Like you see the way the play
• 53:37
  Speaker 3: is drawn up on paper, and they're like, all right,
• 53:39
  Speaker 3: this is the way we have to do it to
• 53:40
  Speaker 3: have success.
• 53:41
  Speaker 4: And that's very easy to counter.
• 53:44
  Speaker 3: And I think, you know, teams are able to spot that,
• 53:47
  Speaker 3: and you know, I think a lot of it requires
• 53:49
  Speaker 3: to be able to have I mean, I assume these
• 53:53
  Speaker 3: guys have the green light to to kind of call
• 53:55
  Speaker 3: an audible on the entries, because the entries seem to
• 53:57
  Speaker 3: be the big problem, and everybody will point at the
• 54:00
  Speaker 3: you know, the long drop passes with you know, to
• 54:02
  Speaker 3: get a guy with speed to come through.
• 54:04
  Speaker 4: Listen.
• 54:04
  Speaker 3: Every team in the NHL is doing that now, So
• 54:07
  Speaker 3: I don't really put that as the issue. It's just
• 54:10
  Speaker 3: finding the right reads coming up the ice, uh, and
• 54:14
  Speaker 3: being able to do a better job of drawing that
• 54:16
  Speaker 3: four checker out to kind of open up, you know,
• 54:19
  Speaker 3: a space for you They've been a little bit better
• 54:22
  Speaker 3: about doing like a quick pass and then a one
• 54:24
  Speaker 3: touch back to try to zip through and maybe catch
• 54:27
  Speaker 3: the flat footed problem being, those pks are know that
• 54:31
  Speaker 3: they're going to do that, so they're getting a stick
• 54:33
  Speaker 3: in the way and just knocking it back out of
• 54:34
  Speaker 3: his own So I would like to see them maybe
• 54:37
  Speaker 3: be a little bit more unpredictable, but that's really tough
• 54:39
  Speaker 3: to do in the flow of the game, and depending
• 54:42
  Speaker 3: on the reads you're getting that that changes it too.
• 54:44
  Speaker 3: But I think that's why the second unit is so
• 54:46
  Speaker 3: good because you don't really know what they're gonna do.
• 54:50
  Speaker 3: You see those five guys out there and they're like,
• 54:52
  Speaker 3: who's the shooter and they're like, I don't know, I
• 54:54
  Speaker 3: don't know who the shooter is, Like, well, it could
• 54:56
  Speaker 3: be Benson. Maybe maybe it's Quinn, Well, yeah, he's got
• 54:58
  Speaker 3: to be the shoot. No, maybe it's Byram crap, who
• 55:01
  Speaker 3: do you double?
• 55:01
  Speaker 4: I don't know. But then somebody's open and then they score.
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: It's like they used to say with Brett Favre, every
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: receiver was the primary receiver never knew where he was
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: throwing the ball. So that's sort of like the Sabers
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: five man unit, everybody is the is the goal scorer.
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: Everybody is at the point of attack, and watch out
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: for everybody because.
• 55:18
  Speaker 3: Right if in the first unit's got more scorers out
• 55:22
  Speaker 3: there where, that should be the idea. But it's so
• 55:25
  Speaker 3: hard to like look away from Tage when you know
• 55:27
  Speaker 3: he's got that. Like the automatic shot problem is, once
• 55:31
  Speaker 3: they get set up, there's two guys shadowing that side
• 55:34
  Speaker 3: and somebody else has to be open right right right.
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: So secondly, we know Kerk, you know, could play any
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: day now. Austlin's been ruled out for the rest of
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: the series. Most likely we know Stanley was a little
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: bit under the weather at the end of that Boston series.
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: Seems like he's, uh, he's fine as well. Any changes
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: you expect coming up with the lineup, other than Kerk
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: possibly coming in for Kozak or anything on that third
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: defensive pair, I.
• 56:00
  Speaker 3: Really don't see them changing anything up. Lindy likes to
• 56:03
  Speaker 3: stick with what works.
• 56:04
  Speaker 5: Uh.
• 56:05
  Speaker 3: The only change I can see is Kerk, and I
• 56:07
  Speaker 3: think it's just a matter of whether it's going to
• 56:08
  Speaker 3: be Game two or Game three by the time he
• 56:10
  Speaker 3: gets in. That's not to take anything away from Kozak
• 56:13
  Speaker 3: because I think Kozak's played well, but face offs have
• 56:16
  Speaker 3: been a serious problem. They've been a serious problem throughout
• 56:20
  Speaker 3: the playoffs. And when you've got Philip Deno on the
• 56:22
  Speaker 3: other side for Montreal and Suzuki, those are guys that
• 56:25
  Speaker 3: win draws, especially to know and you know, when they
• 56:28
  Speaker 3: need a big win in the zone, Dena is gonna
• 56:31
  Speaker 3: be out there and you need.
• 56:34
  Speaker 4: To have somebody who can who can.
• 56:35
  Speaker 3: At least split with him and not make it so
• 56:39
  Speaker 3: that you're you're fighting against possession immediately when he's out there.
• 56:42
  Speaker 3: I think that's that's the key thing that's gonna that's
• 56:45
  Speaker 3: gonna change things up. But like Carrick's injury, I mean,
• 56:49
  Speaker 3: he said it wasn't his shoulder, said it wasn't his wrist.
• 56:52
  Speaker 3: It's probably as probably his elbow. It seems to be
• 56:55
  Speaker 3: the case. But that's really tough on draws because you're
• 57:00
  Speaker 3: really important in hockey. And if that's you know, if
• 57:03
  Speaker 3: that's still sore, if that's nagging at you, I think
• 57:05
  Speaker 3: that's that that becomes an issue. But I mean, his
• 57:09
  Speaker 3: face off prowess is why they is why they added him.
• 57:11
  Speaker 3: He's a strong defender. He's gonna get back in. It's
• 57:14
  Speaker 3: just a matter of when.
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: And then lastly, just how far do you think this
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: this team can go and how far you think the
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: series is gonna go, Because we know Montreal is gonna
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: push back. We know that the series is far from
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: being over. There's six more games possibly left here. We
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: know Montreal is gonna push and they learned a lot
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: in that first game after you know, having to prepare
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: for Tampa Bay for seven straight games. Now they've sort
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: of got a scutting report on Buffalo. Marty Saint Luis
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: is gonna adjust. What do you expect in from the
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: outlook of what we're going to see throughout the rest
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: of this that the series that should be, you know,
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: a really exciting one, and I don't expect it to
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: end early.
• 57:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 57:48
  Speaker 3: I put my foot down and said the Sabers we're
• 57:51
  Speaker 3: gonna win seven on bleacher Report for our second round prediction.
• 57:54
  Speaker 3: So if it goes that long, I'm sorry that I
• 57:57
  Speaker 3: was right. If it doesn't go that long, then I'm
• 58:00
  Speaker 3: kind of surprised, honestly, because I think this is gonna
• 58:02
  Speaker 3: I think this is gonna go to the distance. I
• 58:04
  Speaker 3: think these two teams are extremely good. I think Montreal
• 58:08
  Speaker 3: we did not quite see the best of them. They
• 58:11
  Speaker 3: were still very dangerous. But I think some of their
• 58:13
  Speaker 3: some of their bigger players, I didn't I don't think
• 58:15
  Speaker 3: we saw their top games, Cowfield, Slavkowski. I don't think
• 58:18
  Speaker 3: we saw the best of them. Uh, you saw flashes
• 58:21
  Speaker 3: of it, obviously, like Coffeell had that incredible chance to
• 58:24
  Speaker 3: start the third period. Slavkovski is a monster out there.
• 58:27
  Speaker 3: He reminds me so much of Yoger it hurts me,
• 58:30
  Speaker 3: and I love it. Like he's such a good player.
• 58:33
  Speaker 3: I'm such a big fan of his. But Suzuki is too.
• 58:37
  Speaker 3: They're gonna be They're gonna bounce back. It's just a
• 58:39
  Speaker 3: matter of how they do things. But but yeah, I
• 58:43
  Speaker 3: would be surprised if this ends up being a five,
• 58:46
  Speaker 3: five or six games series one way or the other, because, uh,
• 58:49
  Speaker 3: both of these teams are dynamite.
• 58:51
  Speaker 4: They can both go far.
• 58:53
  Speaker 3: It's a little scary seeing Carolina looming and on the
• 58:58
  Speaker 3: other side of this, But.
• 59:00
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 59:01
  Speaker 3: I Carolina is very good, but they're beatable, and I
• 59:05
  Speaker 3: think that the way that these teams in the Atlantic
• 59:07
  Speaker 3: have played, they can beat them like it's they They've
• 59:11
  Speaker 3: had the murder the murder path to get to the
• 59:13
  Speaker 3: playoffs and to get to where they are now, and
• 59:16
  Speaker 3: Carolina is kind of thumping on these uh you know
• 59:19
  Speaker 3: the rest of the rest of the rest of the
• 59:22
  Speaker 3: weaker the ends.
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, in Carolina, it's with their mind games within themselves,
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: not being able to get over that hump being in
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: the East finals so many times and not being able
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: to kind of push through to the finals. You know,
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: maybe that can play in the Buffalo's favor if they
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: do get there again. A long way to go here,
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: but Joe, you're in a bleacher report. Joe, really appreciate
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: you taking the time. I know you got a long
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: series ahead you a lot of travel, a lot of
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: things going on and trying to finish through. You know,
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: it's been a very long season in a good way,
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: you know, instead of having to you know, stop covering
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: games at the beginning of April, I'm sure it's been
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: an adjustment for you. But uh, continue their great work
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: and you know, look forward to catching up with you
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: again when you're able, because it's a it's gonna be
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: a fun ride here all the way to the end.
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, this is the stuff you look forward to. This
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 3: is where it's no pain, no gain, but it's it's
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 3: a good kind of pain this time. So yeah, we'll
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 3: take this every time as opposed to do and wondering
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 3: if there's going to be a coach firing press conference
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 3: or a GM fire and press conference, or where somebody's
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 3: saying they want to get out of town.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 4: I'll take this every time.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: Seen enough of those and seen enough of being in
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: the draft lottery. So yes, yes, it's a nice change
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: for once. So that's that's gonna be it for today's
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: episode of Sabersmantics right here on the armchair. GM Sports
• 1:00:30
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• 1:00:34
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• 1:00:39
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  Speaker 1: hit like it described smash that bell, and to those
• 1:00:43
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• 1:00:48
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  Speaker 1: fore of our short reels and content. So Joe Jordan,
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: a Bleacher reported noted hockey My name is Brandon KUTOHI
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: yourself a great night. Enjoy Game two tonight at key
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: Bank Center Friday night down there at downtown Buffalo. Have
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: yourself a great night, and we'll talk to you again
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: very soon. Here on Saber Semantics, we're listening to the
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: Armchair GM Sports Network