Latest / The Armchair GM's Sports Network / Dan Dunleavy's Fondest RJ Memories, Broadcasting Journey, Sabres Revival & more! - Sabres Semantics

Transcript

Dan Dunleavy's Fondest RJ Memories, Broadcasting Journey, Sabres Revival & more! - Sabres Semantics · The Armchair GM's Sports Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Time to sharpen those swords. You're listening to Sabre Semantics,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: a hard-hitting interview and discussion show featuring players, alumni, media,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: and all others who cover the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. With
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: interesting stories from the past and current objective analysis, this
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: show is sure to provide an entertaining and unique perspective
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: for both Sabres and hockey fans alike. Exclusively on the
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Armchair GM Sports Network.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: And welcome into a special episode of Saber Semantics right
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: here on the Armchair GM Sports Network. Proudly brought to
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: you by Global Pet Foods, where pets are undeniably part
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: of the family. Visit them in store today at 3643
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: Portage Road in Niagara Falls or 400 Scott Street in St.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Catharines.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Replace your online order today at globalpetfoods.com. Thank you to
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: everybody tuned in on a video version on YouTube. Make
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: sure to hit like and subscribe. Smash that bell. And
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: thank you to those listening in your favorite on-demand audio
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: podcast platform as well. We appreciate the support. Going into
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: another Saber season for 2026-2027. And as you can see
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: on the video version, or if you're listening, very pleased
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: to welcome on a special guest for today's show. I've
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: been trying to get him on for a few seasons
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: now before his busy broadcast schedule begins. But Mr. Dan Dunleavy,
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: the current play-by-play voice of the Buffalo Sabres, is on
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: the show. Dan, really appreciate you taking the time today. Again,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: I've been trying to make this work for a few
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: years now, but to have you on right before today.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: what looks to be an exciting season for the Sabres.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Really looking forward to this.
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: Well, thanks for being persistent, I guess. And thanks for
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: having me on the show. I thought maybe we, maybe
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: we've chatted away from the show. I don't know, but yeah,
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: I feel like we've seen each other around a rink
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: or something, but that could be wrong on that, but
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: good to finally be on.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: So we're going to talk some Sabres, obviously with the
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: season about to begin, but about you as well. We're,
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: we're a Canadian based Sabres podcast outlet here. So, I
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: know you grew up here in Canada and have some
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: ties here to the Niagara region as well. So we're
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: going to talk about all that and as well go
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: through some rapid fire as well with Dan Dunleavy on
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: today's show. So getting that started, Dan, as I mentioned
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: off the top, it's going to be an exciting year,
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: breaking the 14 season playoff drought. I know you've been
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: here for a lot of that and it was an
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: exciting revitalization for the city, the team, the franchise, everybody
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: that's around the team on a day-to-day basis like yourself
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: travels with the team. So What was, I guess, the
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: vibe and just the uplifting moment when they went on
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: that run at the end of November and obviously, you know,
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: captured the hearts of not only Buffalo, but all of
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: the National Hockey League for that special run?
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: Well, you know, given the 14 years of lack of
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: success and really never being, well, there were a couple
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: of years you were teased, right, where you came close,
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: but the majority of those 14 years were tough.
• 3:34
  Speaker 6: Just so frustrating.
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: And even with first round draft picks and the likes
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: of Eichel and Reinhardt and, you know, things just not
• 3:43
  Speaker 5: working out and seeing them go on to different situations,
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: it became increasingly frustrating for, I know the fans and
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: it became frustrating for those of us as well, performing
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: our roles. And I'm sure for everybody in hockey operations, but,
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: you know, when it finally started to gel last year
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: and obviously everybody goes back to, the Western trip where
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: things kind of started to cook. And that was in
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: early December or just past the first week in December. And,
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: you know, we get the overtime win in Edmonton. And
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: then all of a sudden you go into Vancouver, you
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: get a victory there. Changes are made at the general
• 4:15
  Speaker 5: manager position. And you already had a sense before those
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: two games that the players, which they have now admitted
• 4:22
  Speaker 5: that they had a, you know, kind of a sit
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: down amongst themselves when things weren't going well again. And
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: players that are, are, I've proven to be world-class and
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: guys like Tate Thompson and Rasmus Darlene, you know, they
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: just took the reins and said, okay, you know, what
• 4:36
  Speaker 5: are we doing here? I mean, we can blame coaches.
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: We can blame general managers. That's fine. But I think
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: hockey players will get to a certain stage or age
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: in their career where they realize that they're the ones
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: in control. I mean, you control your effort. You control
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: your attention to detail. You control your off season. You
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: control your, how you handle yourself away from the game
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: to prepare yourself in order to perform at your best.
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: And I think that's something that it's quite clear. And
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: we saw it in the play that the players started
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: demanding of each other, not just the 60 minutes of
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: hockey that they were going to play together. Many of
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: them know more than 18 minutes in a game if
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: they were lucky, but they needed a full on commitment
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: away from the rink between games in meetings and in
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: honest conversations with one another, and you could start to
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: see on that trip that they were playing a little
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: bit different. They had an edge to their game. They
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: had a directness to their game. They definitely had speed
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: to their game. You already knew they had skill. I mean,
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: the number of times we've had scouts come out to Rob, Ray,
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: and I over the years in a press box between
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: periods and say, I don't get it. You have so
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: much talent on this team. I don't understand why you're
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: not at least battling to get in. Um, and we
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: were obviously on, you know, understanding and feeling with them
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: as well, but these are scouts from other clubs that
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: would always look down the roster and think you got
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: some guys who we.
• 5:57
  Speaker 6: Would take tomorrow. Um, but it's, you know, it should
• 6:01
  Speaker 6: be working for you.
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: So when it finally started to click, you know, I
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: thought to myself and, um, you know, we're talking on
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: every trip and thinking these guys have taken it upon
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: themselves here to be the best version of themselves, play
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: the best version of their own game. play it as
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: a group, bring their personalities and see where it falls.
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: Because if you don't at least go all out on
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: your end as a player, you're going to wonder for
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: the rest of your life, you'll sit back and you'll know, right?
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: The great players will know, the good players will know
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: if they really gave every single drop of sweat and
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: ounce of blood and total time commitment at the expense
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: often of family time, friends time, anything else. But you know,
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: you hear the stories of people who win, that's what happens.
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: So on that trip, you started to feel that that
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: commitment was really there. And I mean, dialed into the
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: point where you look into the eyes of guys after
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: a game, we'd come down from the press box and
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: into the room. Sometimes we don't, sometimes Rob and I
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: will leave them alone or sometimes we'll pop our head
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: in to say, whoa, where did that come from? And
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: don't just have some individual chats or just some fist
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: bumps and conversations with the guys. And they just had
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: a steely eyed kind of determination look amongst them that,
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: I hadn't seen in my 14 years.
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: I'd seen guys want to win.
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: I've certainly spoken to guys over the 14 years that
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: had wanted to win. I've seen the frustration, throwings of
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: sticks and gloves and equipment and anger, seen all that.
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: But to dial in as a group as they did,
• 7:27
  Speaker 6: that was a first.
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: So as it was happening, I don't know, you kind
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: of it's not that we didn't want to do anything
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: differently because Rob and I know we're not affecting their game.
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: But at the same time, you know, you're thinking, could
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: this finally be the year? And to your point, yes,
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: for me now in my 14th year, it was a
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: first time experience of being part of the team when
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: they have success in the city. I've seen it, been
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: around it as a reporter in the past and being
• 7:53
  Speaker 5: working out of Toronto or being a student at Niagara
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: College and, you know, hanging out with Chris Jenner at
• 7:59
  Speaker 5: RJ's son, who I.
• 8:00
  Speaker 6: Went to school with. Understood it.
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: I've seen it, but I've not been immersed in it.
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: So I was really looking forward to that. And as
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: they kept rolling, you just, you know, quietly, I kept thinking,
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: please don't stop, you know, don't stumble, just keep going.
• 8:17
  Speaker 6: It's funny.
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: I can say that we got a new chair in
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: the broadcast booth last year. RJ had a chair with
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: his name on it for a number of years. And
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: I felt after he retired and then passed away, that
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: um you know the the chair necessarily there there are
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: no plans for that chair to be anywhere you know
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: there could be in the future but the chair that
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: had rick's name just with his name kind of hanging
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: off the back that i thought okay um maybe we
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: need just something new up here so we had five
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: fun with i said let's get a new chair let's
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: just bring bring something new into the mix and And
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: the chair went on a winning streak. So very quietly
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: in the booth, myself and Shani, who is our floor
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: director and our statistician, Rick, who sits to my right.
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: And I would just keep spinning around and saying, the
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: chair is 4-0.
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: I'm just putting it out there.
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: So we had fun with the fact that the chair
• 9:13
  Speaker 5: in its first season got to the playoffs. So that's
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: the type of reach we were having, type of fun
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: we were having, keeping it light, you know, and all
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: the while thinking about the people that have been– going
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: through the past 13, 14 years, waiting for this to end,
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: and when it finally did, it was certainly a lot
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: of fun for all of us to be a part
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: of and really fun to watch the players enjoy. That
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: was the great part, seeing the fans back home celebrating
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: and seeing and watching the guys in the room kind
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: of realize how good they were. They individually know they're
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: good hockey players, but how good are you as a group?
• 9:49
  Speaker 5: And it was fun to watch them figure that out.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you said that so eloquently with that response, Dan.
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: And yeah, I could just listening to the broadcast, you
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: and Rob, you'd seem like you guys were having so
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: much fun in that second half of the year and just,
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: you know, everything that came with, uh, with that run, um,
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: so many different factors, as you mentioned, they're, uh, creating
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: that on and off the ice, but, uh, you segued
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: nicely into a question I was going to ask later,
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: but since you brought him up, um, I'll go ahead
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: and ask now, Rick Jenner at obviously, uh, you around RJ, uh,
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: during your time in Buffalo. You've been full-time since 13-14
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: with the team, calling some games, filling in for Rick,
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: and then eventually taking over for him on a full-time basis.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: You know, I'm sure you could give us a full-hour
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: show about what Rick means to you and great stories
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: about him. But when I bring up the name Rick Jenneret, just,
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: you know, what comes to mind or what's one thing
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: that comes to the forefront?
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: Oh, one of a kind. It's easy. Unique, one of
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: a kind, cannot be copied, duplicated.
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: You know, the, the line they give you before every broadcast,
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: this broadcast may not be copied or re represented by
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: copyright laws.
• 10:57
  Speaker 6: That might've been.
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: Kind of just naturally invented for RJ because, you know,
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: there are certain things that all of us announcers, including yourselves,
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: there's a certain way we can articulate ourselves that we
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: can inflect, that we can ride a certain pitch at
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: a certain time in a game and, And make sure
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: the viewers are aware of, hey, something good might be
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: happening here, especially now. People have so many different devices.
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: They can watch a game and be reading their phone
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: and have a book in their lap. And quite often,
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: if your inflection stays the same for an entire game,
• 11:28
  Speaker 5: they might actually miss something. But if you can take
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: them on a bit of a ride with some peaks
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: and valleys, it's a bit of maybe old school advice.
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: But it's something I think that worked for legends like
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: Ted Darling and Danny Gallivan. And then RJ comes along
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: who just had this unique, it was RJ. Not like
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: anything else anyone had ever heard. And I, you know,
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: you will never hear it again. There might be some
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: people that come close to it, but you'll never hear
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: it again. He was so soft-spoken away from the game,
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: away from the microphone. And then you turn the microphone
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: on him. If you met him somewhere at a restaurant,
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: which many people I'm sure did, or out in public, well,
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: they did. and you'd meet this man who's just so
• 12:09
  Speaker 5: soft spoken and almost quiet. And then the game starts
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: and this different, you know, persona comes out. It's the
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: same passion and same love for the team, but just
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: two different voices happened at different times. So, um, unique
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: is the word that always comes to mind for, for RJ. And, uh,
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: people always ask what you, and I'm sure maybe you're
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: going to get there, but what you took from him
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: that you could use in your own career.
• 12:33
  Speaker 6: And an answer for me is enthusiasm.
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: Um, Sometimes, especially in an 84-game schedule now, you can
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: get stuck in, especially if the team's not playing well.
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: It is very easy to get stuck in a rut
• 12:45
  Speaker 5: of forgetting how lucky you are as a broadcaster to
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: be calling NHL hockey games, no matter how early it
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: happened in your career or how many years it took
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: to get to this plateau, that you have to remind
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: yourself sometimes on a Tuesday night in, I don't know,
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: pick a city, a I don't want to make anyone
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: think I'm picking on him. We'll say Pittsburgh just, you know,
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: it just jumps to mind. You're in Pittsburgh on a
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: Tuesday night and it's game 23 of 84. You've got,
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: and that's what RJ brought. You have to make that.
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: It doesn't have to be game seven of a Stanley
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: cup playoff game, but he always told us, Hey, we're
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: here to entertain people. And I'm sure that RJ did
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: that probably better than a lot of people did. Um,
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: he had a different cadence and a different ride than
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: Ted Darling did and how he used and worked his
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: vocal cords and all.
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: Of that stuff.
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: But, um, you know, and different than Danny Gallivan, but,
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: you know, they shared the same passion for their trade
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: and it showed in how much love they got back
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: from their fan bases, all of them and RJ being, uh,
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: one of the tops amongst the all-time greats.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Uh, well said there.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: And yeah, you took the words right out of my
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: mouth there with my next question, but, uh, for you
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: dan like being able to be with the sabers for
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: uh since 13 14 on a full-time basis and sort
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: of you know fill in here and there and be
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: and be patient i think that uh you know that's
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: uh that's something that a lot of people don't realize
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: is that you you had to patiently wait for your
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: opportunity um to you know come in and and you
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: wanted to be part of buffalo as well and be
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: there with rj maybe learn a few things from him
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: um eventually before taking over full time so what was
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: it about buffalo that you might have had some opportunities
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: elsewhere but you really wanted to to stay in Western
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: New York and eventually, you know, take over the full-time role,
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: you know, even though it may have taken a little
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: bit longer.
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: Well, the fact that people in Buffalo believed in me
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: in the organization, listen, it goes without saying, and I
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: think you're kind of referencing it. And many times that
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: when I do have conversations like this, that, you know,
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: some people will say, why would you want to be
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: the next guy right after RJ? A 51 year ride
• 14:52
  Speaker 5: of people never, it's kind of like Bob Cole in Canada,
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: a member of Hockey Night in Canada.
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: People never wanted to not hear Bob on a Saturday night.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: So I understood exactly how Buffalo Sabres fans felt not
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: only in Buffalo, but in, you know, displaced fans around
• 15:09
  Speaker 5: North America, including in Canada, especially in the Niagara region,
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: which going to Niagara college, I was very aware of
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: the Sabres fan base reaching into Niagara, St. Catherine's Welland
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: and Thorold and all the areas all the way up
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: into Hamilton, right before you bled into the GTA. So,
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: I understood the market. I understood the city. Ted Darling
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: was the first voice I ever heard call a hockey
• 15:32
  Speaker 5: game professionally. Over the year, television broadcasts out of Buffalo
• 15:38
  Speaker 5: were coming into my home in Georgetown, Ontario every day.
• 15:41
  Speaker 5: So I, I grew up on Buffalo broadcasting and I
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: grew up listening to Ted Darling talking about, you know,
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: getting that puck in over the Buffalo blue line and just.
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: Rolling his bees off of his tongue somehow.
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: And, I remember looking at my mom and saying, I
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: don't know how this guy's doing it, but it's really,
• 15:57
  Speaker 5: really cool. And that was as a very young hockey fan.
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: And then going to school, obviously, in Niagara and taking
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: a broadcasting course and winding up befriending someone whose friendship
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: I cherish greatly, even though we don't talk a ton
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: these days because our professional lives are in different corners.
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: But in, you know, Chris Jenner at Niagara College, now
• 16:20
  Speaker 5: a member of the faculty, took the radio and TV
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: course with me. And I remember one day he picked
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: me up to go have lunch with his dad. And
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: I never did ask Chris who his dad was because
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: I didn't even ask Chris what his last name was.
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: I've told this story many times. But we just got
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: in the car and he said, hey, my dad has
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: part ownership in a bar in the Falls. Do you
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: want to go have lunch with us? And I said, yeah,
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: let's do it. And I said, well, what's your dad do?
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: And he said, he's the voice of the Sabres. And
• 16:46
  Speaker 5: I said, wait a minute, what's your last name? That was,
• 16:52
  Speaker 5: you know, a little naivety from a guy from Georgetown, Ontario,
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: who just like, still, just like people for who they are.
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: So I'll know your first name and I probably should
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: take some care to know your last name, but you'd be,
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: you know, you'd be Brandon. Then I'd have to remember
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: your last name is Caputo and kind of drive that
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: into me. And that's what that moment was like. So
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: I met RJ at Clancy's in Niagara Falls. And again,
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: very quiet, soft-spoken, very friendly guy. we would have lunch, he,
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: Chris and I, and then RJ was off to either
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: hang out and chat with his buddies at the bar
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: or whatever he was doing. And then Chris and I
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: made our way back to school probably. And that was
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: the first time. So I guess what I'm saying is
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: it's a long answer, but I had an understanding of what,
• 17:37
  Speaker 5: when the Sabres did eventually call after the two game
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: kind of, if you will, it was one of many
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: who auditioned, I guess, when Rick was starting to cut back.
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: And I was still working at the Fan 590 in
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: Toronto at the time. I did a couple of games
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: working with Harry Neal, which was a thrill as well.
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: Even if I didn't get a callback from the Sabres,
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: I remember thinking, are you kidding me right now?
• 18:01
  Speaker 6: I'm sitting next to Harry Neal.
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: In a radio booth in Anaheim, which is a lot
• 18:05
  Speaker 5: farther from the rink than sitting at a St. Mike's
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: game in Toronto at Bathurst and St. Clair, where you're
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: literally on top of the glass to being a thousand
• 18:14
  Speaker 5: miles away with Harry Neal and a team in an
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: orange jersey with numbers on their backs you can barely
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: see because you're so far up. I was sure I
• 18:23
  Speaker 5: could do the job at that time, but I was
• 18:24
  Speaker 5: kind of freaking out that I wouldn't see who had
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: the puck, and that was worrying me a little bit.
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: But we got through that, did a game in Ottawa.
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: Sabres won a certain direction at that time, but I
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: felt that I was very appreciative to have the opportunity
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: to call those two games. I would eventually work or
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: get into a three-year contract with the Maple Leafs once
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: Dennis Bayak went to Winnipeg. Um, and that was something
• 18:48
  Speaker 5: that was a bit of a shock and a surprise
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: to me as well, but enough people had heard my
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: work in Toronto on international.
• 18:53
  Speaker 6: Uh, stages of world juniors and world championships.
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: And also in the OHL, uh, I'd say Mike's to, uh,
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: to know that I was perhaps ready for an opportunity.
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: So the Leafs thankfully gave me that opportunity. And in
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: year two of my three-year deal there, I got a
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: call from Buffalo asking if I would be able to, uh,
• 19:12
  Speaker 5: work my way out of that contract and come to Buffalo, uh,
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: And be there when RJ decides to retire. And I
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: didn't hesitate.
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: I just thought, what an honor.
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: I mean, yeah, you could think, do you want to
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: be that next guy at that point in time? For me,
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: I'm thinking, hey, there's not many of these jobs out there.
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: And I am never saying no to an opportunity like this.
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: To work in a line of broadcasters that includes the
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: likes of Ted Darling, Rick Jenneret. And not to put
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: myself on any kind of par with them, but at
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: least to be in the same booth in the same
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: city with them 100 i'm all in and to your
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: point i knew it would take some time uh rick
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: really never did want to leave the job and i
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: 100 understand why and i was there to support him
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: i remember having lunch with him and i made sure
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: we had lunch in niagara falls one day um just
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: off the highway there i forget the name of the
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: place but I told him, I said, just so you're aware,
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: I mean, I was asked to come here.
• 20:12
  Speaker 6: I did not come here to push you out of
• 20:14
  Speaker 6: this chair.
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: When you were ready to retire, I just want to
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: make sure I'm ready to step in and hold up
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: a level of expectations for the people in Buffalo.
• 20:22
  Speaker 6: So he was appreciative of that, I know, because, you know,
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: we're always.
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: Thinking no matter, you know, depending where you are in
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: your career, you're not thinking about it at, you know,
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: 25 to 35 because you're fighting for those jobs. But
• 20:35
  Speaker 5: then you get the job and you start kind of
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: working your way through And five years becomes 10 years
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: and 10 years becomes 14.
• 20:40
  Speaker 6: You know, you start counting the days.
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: How many do you have left of, you know, whether
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: you're blessed with health and just fortunate of being able to,
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: you know, hold a job in a league where you're
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: one of 32, soon to be 33 or 34 television
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: play by play people and simulcast it obviously in Buffalo.
• 21:03
  Speaker 6: So yeah, it took the job.
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: Obviously with great honor and understanding it might take some
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: time and it did. And I learned a lot being, listen,
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: do it about 25 games to start. And then we
• 21:15
  Speaker 5: worked up to sharing half of the games every year,
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: pretty much. You know, Rick would have the final say
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: on that, but it was pretty much a 40, 42
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: game split kind of thing. The games that I didn't do,
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: I can tell you, Brandon, when I would stand down
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: at the glass and, in the Zamboni area. I made
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: a point of that during every game. I thought when
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: you get up to the booth full time, you'll never
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: be able to stand down here again and really understand
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: the speed of the game, how much time players do
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: or don't have in certain situations. So I thought that
• 21:47
  Speaker 5: it was important that I use that as my study time.
• 21:51
  Speaker 5: And I feel it, it does help me greatly in
• 21:54
  Speaker 5: understanding when the puck is dumped into a corner and
• 21:57
  Speaker 5: especially in our building in Buffalo. I understand how that
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: corner works now as someone who showed up from, you know,
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: Southern Ontario, it's one thing to watch it on TV
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: and hear stories about it.
• 22:07
  Speaker 6: Um, but just to.
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: Know how the pucks play off the glass off the
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: boards and different areas of our rink, I thought as
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: a play-by-play guy, that would help me down the road
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: to anticipate what might be coming next. And, um, so I,
• 22:19
  Speaker 5: I made sure I reminded myself that, yeah, you want
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: to be up there, um, But you're not you're never
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: a disrespect the man who is a legend and you're
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: going to give him his time and space.
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: I always said Elvis is still in the building.
• 22:33
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 22:34
  Speaker 5: But at the same time, a lot of times if
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: we're trying to rush things, we're missing what's right in
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: front of us. So that's why I made sure I
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: took those opportunities to get ringside, watch some games there
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: down at ice level. So you'd be ready when you
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: get up top and so far away from the game.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: you could almost just close your eyes and take yourself
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: into the corner when that dumping happens and, and understand,
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: as I say, time and space and, and have that
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: work in with the art.
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: That you try to do upstairs.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: And I hope the fan base, you know, appreciates that, uh,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: of you as well.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: Like just the fact that you, you were waited patiently,
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: as you mentioned, not trying to push anybody out and
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: there's only one Rick Jenner at, but, um, you know,
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: yourself and everything that you've been able to do now
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: creating your own legacy as the voice of the Sabres, uh,
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: You know, that's really appreciative of you, you know, giving
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: us that insight there of just kind of going through
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: that process and having to be patient and and things
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: like that and being a team player in that regard
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: and almost full circle for you with that one day
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: going to lunch with Chris and then hitting RJ and
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: then eventually taking over for him. I drive by Clancy's
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: almost every day. I live here in Niagara Falls myself,
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: so very familiar with that place. And it's rocking on
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: Monday wing night still so. the only time I ever,
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: the only time I ever met RJ, Dan, I'll tell
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: you real quick, is I was walking into a Swiss
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: chalet for those Canadian listeners, and Rick was walking out
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: with his food, and I just stood there, and I go,
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: oh my, and I couldn't even say a word, I
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: just said in my head, that's RJ walking out of
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: Swiss chalet, and he looked at me, because I was
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: just looking at him like I had, I would, he
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: had about eight heads, and he just kind of looked
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: at me, and then just kept going, this was probably
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: about 15 years ago, so it was my only interaction
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: with the man, but It's a funny story, that's for sure.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: We were in Philadelphia for a game once, and RJ
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: was calling that one. And the meal room sometimes around
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: the league, depending what rink you're in, so it's just
• 24:22
  Speaker 5: some room set aside down in the ice level of
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: all the arenas for those that aren't aware.
• 24:26
  Speaker 6: I know many are.
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: But many times the seats are very close. They're tight together.
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: They really cram you in, and there's a lot of people.
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: There's staff from the rink. staff that worked the productions
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: for the home and the away show. Then some announcers
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: might come down. We do, we have a meal before
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: every game because we show up at the rink with
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: the team at around four o'clock. And this one night
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: we're eating there in Philly and RJ's sitting there and
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: I'm always asking him, can I get you anything?
• 24:56
  Speaker 6: You, do you need something? And I'm good.
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: Thanks.
• 24:58
  Speaker 6: I'm good. So I get up and I, I don't.
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: Know what we were eating, but whatever we were eating,
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: I needed ketchup. And I, RJ's jacket is on the
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: back of a chair. And didn't I kind of bump
• 25:10
  Speaker 5: into another chair or something? Just trying to, like, you're
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: trying to miss Rick, right? Like don't bump into RJ's chair,
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: but in order to not bump into his chair, you're
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: going to trip over somebody else's.
• 25:21
  Speaker 6: That's how tight it was.
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: And then I did, I took a bump from someone
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: or something and I got some ketchup on his jacket
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: or something. And in that moment, all the blood just
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: went down. I'm thinking, oh my goodness, I just got
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: ketchup on RJ's coat. how is this going to go over? Um,
• 25:39
  Speaker 5: but it went over well, he handled it very well.
• 25:41
  Speaker 6: I cleaned it up quickly.
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: It didn't soak anything to any kind of damage point,
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: but yeah, it's kind of one of those funny moments
• 25:48
  Speaker 5: that nobody cares about. But when I think back about
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: interacting with him, it was, Oh, that would not go
• 25:54
  Speaker 5: over well.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: I hope the ketchup was put the good use after that.
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: I'm sure it was just on a hot dog. That's
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: the sad part about it. Not to put down hot dogs,
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: but you know.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: For sure.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Um, so, With that, Dan, I mean, you talked a
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: little bit about it at the beginning about, you know,
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: you growing up in Georgetown and then you started your
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: radio career here in Welland, going to Niagara College at
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: Country Radio CHOW.
• 26:19
  Speaker 6: So I've got the mug right in front of me.
• 26:20
  Speaker 6: I should get up and get it for you, but
• 26:22
  Speaker 6: I'd have to take the headset off.
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 26:24
  Speaker 6: See how.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: So you grew up in this area, as you mentioned,
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: when you went to school there, you know, and with
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: the big Canadian fan base that the Sabres do have
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: here locally, not just in Western New York, but in
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: Southern Ontario and the Niagara region. You know, did you
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: go to a lot of games while you were, you
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: were there? Did you go to Sabres games? Listen, obviously
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: to RJ on the radio and things like that. So
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: like how, how much did you enjoy, you know, being
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: here in the Niagara region?
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: I love being in the Niagara region.
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: I wanted to get away from home, obviously. Well, not
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: obviously it's that time, right? You're going to college or university. So,
• 27:00
  Speaker 5: I had opportunities at Ryerson and another college in Toronto.
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: I think it was Seneca and then Niagara College. And
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: the reason I picked Niagara College out, I looked at
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: their placement rate. So if you would, I remember this
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: blue piece of paper they gave me at, you know,
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: not an orientation, but basically you're kind of checking out
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: the school. And it did mention that I think it
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: was 88% of their graduates found jobs in the career
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: that they were after graduation.
• 27:29
  Speaker 6: If you took their course. So, you know, to me,
• 27:31
  Speaker 6: that's what I was looking for.
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: I was looking for something and looking for an area
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: or a market because it wouldn't happen in Toronto.
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: It does now coming out.
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: Of college because stations have gotten cheaper and they just
• 27:40
  Speaker 5: want to hire somebody for less and get more. But,
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: you know, years ago when radio was a real thing
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: and when radio had standards and making sure that people
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: who worked at least 10 years in the business, I
• 27:52
  Speaker 5: knew that wasn't going to happen if I went to Toronto.
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: So I thought, let's kind of come outside of my
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: comfort zone, come down to Welland. And that was a
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: first for me. My first apartment, I remember it was
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: a basement apartment I shared with some, I don't even
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: know who it was, somebody on the other side of
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: a wall that was like a split wall in this basement.
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: I go down these four wooden stairs. It was out
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: by the John Deere plant. And I remember my mom
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: was there and we're moving stuff down and there were
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: frogs jumping down the stairs into the basement apartment.
• 28:21
  Speaker 6: And she says, what are you moving into? And at
• 28:24
  Speaker 6: that point, I didn't care. I don't care. This is
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: my apartment right here, you know.
• 28:28
  Speaker 5: Um, so from living with frogs in the basement and
• 28:32
  Speaker 5: in Welland and, you know, in the John Deere plant area,
• 28:34
  Speaker 5: and then, uh, with a great family upstairs, uh, I
• 28:38
  Speaker 5: remember my first year continued and then I decided to room,
• 28:41
  Speaker 5: room and board with another family who were right next
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: to the college, uh, and had an EMT student as
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: a roommate there. And so, you know, really got to
• 28:50
  Speaker 5: know the family, their kids and, I got well fed
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: every night. So that was a really great plan by
• 28:55
  Speaker 5: me and was able to, because of doing that, just
• 28:58
  Speaker 5: kind of get comfortable and get to know Welland a
• 29:00
  Speaker 5: little bit. There was a bar called the Aqueduct back
• 29:03
  Speaker 5: in those days. I'm not sure what it's called now,
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: but on the road down towards the main, I think
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: First Street on the way down to Maine, if I'm
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: remembering correctly, just, you know, before you got to the
• 29:14
  Speaker 5: intersection with the bridge there, there was the Aqueduct and
• 29:16
  Speaker 5: that's where we would, go every night and have our
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: pub nights, if you will, or whatever your Thursday nights
• 29:21
  Speaker 5: were called. And, um, then I started to feel like
• 29:26
  Speaker 5: I was part of something down in Niagara and that
• 29:28
  Speaker 5: was pretty cool. First hockey game ever called work, uh,
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: at Niagara college was in St.
• 29:34
  Speaker 6: Catherine's. It was the Butler Falcons.
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: And I remember calling that game wearing parachute pants with
• 29:42
  Speaker 5: some kind of perm hairdo and a sweater was way
• 29:45
  Speaker 5: too tight. I mean, the memories back then in the
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: eighties were, you know, there's something else. So, you know, I,
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: I was really glad I was down there and yeah,
• 29:54
  Speaker 5: I got a better sense of, Like I say, I
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: already knew growing up in Southern Ontario that the Sabres
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: were also a Southern Ontario team. I mean, you watch
• 30:02
  Speaker 5: Toronto and you can watch Buffalo at the same time.
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: So you could either watch both and enjoy both, which
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: I chose to do. My dad was a Toronto firefighter.
• 30:13
  Speaker 5: First NHL game I went to was at Maple Leaf Gardens.
• 30:17
  Speaker 5: And then when I eventually got to go to a
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: game at the Yacht, I sat in the oranges, the
• 30:21
  Speaker 5: famous orange seats, and watched the Sabres play the Montreal Canadiens.
• 30:25
  Speaker 6: I'll never forget it.
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: Um, but that was the only game I got to
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: at the odd, um, sadly, but also thankfully, uh, that
• 30:32
  Speaker 5: I got to that game at the odd. Um, cause
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: once you, you know, we talk about teammates applying themselves
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: to that. When, when I got to college, I knew that, look,
• 30:43
  Speaker 5: I was banking on myself that I could make a
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: career out of this somehow.
• 30:46
  Speaker 6: I didn't know where it was going to land.
• 30:47
  Speaker 5: Obviously at that age, you're only 20 years old or
• 30:50
  Speaker 5: 19 years old when you show up. But I knew
• 30:52
  Speaker 5: that if, if I didn't apply myself.
• 30:56
  Speaker 6: Way better than I.
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: Did in high school at this point that I might
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: be in trouble, meaning I wouldn't know what I would do. Um,
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: so my time there, you mentioned see how, uh, on, um,
• 31:07
  Speaker 5: Thursday nights when every other student was out partying for
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: the most part, certainly in years two and three, I
• 31:13
  Speaker 5: never attended one because I was working every night. So
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: I worked weekends, uh, classes, obviously five days a week.
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: And I worked every weekend at see how, uh, in
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: Welland and did every possible job there you could do
• 31:25
  Speaker 5: from board hopping to being a country DJ overnight and
• 31:29
  Speaker 5: embarrassing myself sometimes. And for example, one story I said,
• 31:34
  Speaker 5: that's ladies and gentlemen up next, Mrs. Conway Twitty. And
• 31:40
  Speaker 5: I remember a little lady called, cause then I played the,
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: I put the card in or hit the album whenever
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: I did.
• 31:45
  Speaker 6: And I thought, Whoa, that's a guy.
• 31:47
  Speaker 5: And I knew country music a little bit. My dad
• 31:50
  Speaker 5: was a country music fan, but I was nervous.
• 31:53
  Speaker 6: Made that mistake. And I remember some older lady called
• 31:56
  Speaker 6: up and she says, son, you're the new one. Are you?
• 31:59
  Speaker 6: And I said, yes, ma'am.
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: I am.
• 32:00
  Speaker 6: She says, well, Conway Tootie is not a miss. It's
• 32:04
  Speaker 6: a mister.
• 32:04
  Speaker 5: I said, I figured that one out. Um, so that
• 32:08
  Speaker 5: was one of my first interactions with it, but yeah,
• 32:11
  Speaker 5: just having a feel for the flavor and realizing how
• 32:13
  Speaker 5: important the sabers and the bills were to people in
• 32:17
  Speaker 5: that area of Southern Ontario, uh, Again, it was one
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: thing to hear about it at home in Georgetown, which
• 32:22
  Speaker 5: is just an hour and a bit up the highway,
• 32:23
  Speaker 5: but to actually immerse yourself in it.
• 32:26
  Speaker 6: Was a big deal.
• 32:27
  Speaker 5: And I think when you look full circle in life,
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: I'm extremely glad that that happened because certainly being around Chris,
• 32:35
  Speaker 5: even though only meeting Rick once, but just knowing how
• 32:37
  Speaker 5: important the Sabres were to Chris and his buddies down here,
• 32:44
  Speaker 5: it was something that just showed me how important that
• 32:47
  Speaker 5: it was or is.
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: Right. We're happier on this side and not the evil
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: empire in Toronto. That's for sure.
• 32:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that was shed a while ago. We're 100% Sabre.
• 32:58
  Speaker 5: And if you're not a Sabre anymore.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: You got the right shade of blue this time.
• 33:05
  Speaker 6: I'm just saying.
• 33:06
  Speaker 5: There are some guys that have left this team. I
• 33:09
  Speaker 5: like them as people, but we'll talk when your career
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: is done.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 33:15
  Speaker 6: If you don't want to be here, we'll talk when
• 33:17
  Speaker 6: your career is done.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: That's fair. Hey, that's the loyalty, right?
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: You, you talked about it there and just getting the
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: reps as a young, young broadcaster and putting in the time,
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: as you mentioned, instead of being out at the bars,
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: you know, you're, you're calling or you're in the radio
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: booth and in the station, you know, calling games and,
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: and you know, just doing shifts overnight just to, to
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: get reps and things like that. Looking through your entire career, Dan,
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: like you've done so much, you've done football, soccer, Olymp,
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: you've called a couple of Olympics as well. You mentioned
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: Fan 590. You've been able to travel to a few
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: Olympics as well. You know, doing MLS, things like that.
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: Toronto Argonauts, PA. I could list off everything you've done,
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: but you've done so much, not just in hockey.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: How do you think that that helped you?
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: And why did you why did you, you know, sort
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: of have that open portfolio of wanting to call so
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: many different types of sports?
• 34:10
  Speaker 5: I tell everybody, never say no. I don't care what
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: your career is. When you're starting out, never say no.
• 34:15
  Speaker 5: Be thankful and be determined. And I think probably if
• 34:18
  Speaker 5: you talk to anyone that's worked with me, and I'm
• 34:22
  Speaker 5: okay with this, a lot of people may have been
• 34:24
  Speaker 5: a first choice ahead of when there were certain openings
• 34:28
  Speaker 5: for something that, you know, my name would have been
• 34:31
  Speaker 5: on the list.
• 34:32
  Speaker 6: Okay, who are we looking at as possibilities here?
• 34:35
  Speaker 5: Well, this guy, this guy, this guy, and then Dan
• 34:37
  Speaker 5: Dunleavy's name is on the list. Um, I know for
• 34:40
  Speaker 5: a fact, there were a couple of opportunities I could
• 34:42
  Speaker 5: have taken where, you know, even some friends, uh, in
• 34:45
  Speaker 5: the business had mentioned, oh, they were trying to get
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: this person for the job. And, um, and I'm thinking, well,
• 34:49
  Speaker 5: I'm glad they didn't take it because they just called me.
• 34:52
  Speaker 5: So I think what that taught me was, um, at
• 34:56
  Speaker 5: least I knew early in my career, I couldn't put
• 34:58
  Speaker 5: all my eggs into one basket, first of all. And secondly,
• 35:01
  Speaker 5: I just don't see how it can hurt me. And
• 35:05
  Speaker 5: still to this day, um, I, you, It'd be hard
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: to find when I've said no to anything when it
• 35:11
  Speaker 5: comes to this career or this job. I've been told
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: I should say no more often because when you get
• 35:17
  Speaker 5: to a point where you're earning money for what you do,
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: and I understand it, it's different than when you're younger
• 35:22
  Speaker 5: trying to gain an opportunity. So, you know, listen, relationships
• 35:28
  Speaker 5: get you places as much as hard work.
• 35:31
  Speaker 6: So, yeah.
• 35:32
  Speaker 5: Imagine if you're given an opportunity to do something. So
• 35:35
  Speaker 5: for me, as a matter of fact, the, the see
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: how right. 1470 CHOW, a country music station. I'm a
• 35:41
  Speaker 5: music fan, but I never grew up a massive country
• 35:44
  Speaker 5: music fan. But when I moved to Welland and lived
• 35:47
  Speaker 5: in Niagara hits, FM had just started up 97, seven.
• 35:51
  Speaker 5: And for me being the Van Halen, freak fan not
• 35:56
  Speaker 5: freak fan as in I need to know anything about
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: him but all my music was it was Van Halen
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: and ACDC and Scorpions and Black Sabbath and all this
• 36:02
  Speaker 5: stuff so I was the rocker kid coming in and
• 36:06
  Speaker 5: that's where I wanted to work right if it wasn't
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: going to be in sports I wanted I still do
• 36:10
  Speaker 5: I still wanted my own rock I want an hour
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: of rock and roll that I get to pick that
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: I get to play that's not chosen by a computer
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: um kind of Tom Petty's last DJ thing and That's
• 36:22
  Speaker 5: what I.
• 36:22
  Speaker 6: Wanted to do.
• 36:23
  Speaker 5: If not, if I wasn't able to get into sports,
• 36:27
  Speaker 5: but I remember, uh, Stu black was the teacher's name
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: in a radio in Niagara at the time. And he said, look,
• 36:32
  Speaker 5: I got a station that has an opening. And I
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: think this would be good for you. It would get
• 36:35
  Speaker 5: your feet in the door. You would, you could just
• 36:37
  Speaker 5: do whatever they ask you to do and just learn
• 36:40
  Speaker 5: it and go to school while you're doing it.
• 36:42
  Speaker 6: And I thought, okay, uh, it's an internship. I get it.
• 36:46
  Speaker 5: You're not going to, you're not going to get paid, but, uh,
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: am I ever glad I did it because some of
• 36:52
  Speaker 5: the funniest stories ever for me came from those moments
• 36:55
  Speaker 5: when I look back and things that I learned, um,
• 36:59
  Speaker 5: one being don't put a bunch of carts in a,
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: in a row and just go to the couch out
• 37:03
  Speaker 5: front and fall asleep because you will not wake up
• 37:06
  Speaker 5: and the station will just have nothing but.
• 37:09
  Speaker 6: Dead air for a while.
• 37:11
  Speaker 5: Um, all those things have to happen for you to
• 37:13
  Speaker 5: learn the importance of it and how important all the
• 37:15
  Speaker 5: little things are. You know, we talk about players, hockey players, um,
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: do all the little things right in your shift and
• 37:20
  Speaker 5: you'll have success. It's the same in whatever career you choose.
• 37:22
  Speaker 5: So for me, it was keep saying yes. And also
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: people find out if you are someone who says yes
• 37:31
  Speaker 5: to a lot of things, you'll find out in your,
• 37:33
  Speaker 5: whatever career you choose, a lot of it is linked
• 37:36
  Speaker 5: and you're going to find out the community of your
• 37:38
  Speaker 5: career is very small. If you're known for being someone
• 37:41
  Speaker 5: that people can work with and can be relied upon,
• 37:44
  Speaker 5: you're going to get the call. If you're, kind of
• 37:47
  Speaker 5: going around town early in your career and you're saying,
• 37:50
  Speaker 5: I'm too good for that. I'm not going to do it.
• 37:52
  Speaker 5: That's I'm above that. Now I'm better than that. Now
• 37:55
  Speaker 5: that too is going to get around and you're not
• 37:56
  Speaker 5: going to get a call and you're going to wonder
• 37:58
  Speaker 5: why are they not calling me? Well, it's because people
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: are talking amongst themselves who are in position of hiring
• 38:04
  Speaker 5: and the word is already out that you're maybe not
• 38:07
  Speaker 5: that easy to work with. So it was easy for
• 38:10
  Speaker 5: me knowing that, um, just to get your name on
• 38:13
  Speaker 5: a list of people that could maybe have an opportunity
• 38:16
  Speaker 5: to move up.
• 38:16
  Speaker 6: In your career was to never, ever, ever say no.
• 38:20
  Speaker 5: And all those sports you mentioned, I was always following
• 38:24
  Speaker 5: somebody of really great accomplishments in their career. You mentioned
• 38:28
  Speaker 5: the Argos, Joe Bowen, retired now, right? Hall of Famer,
• 38:32
  Speaker 5: Toronto Maple Leafs, play-by-play voice, who I worked with in
• 38:34
  Speaker 5: Toronto and split games with him when he was doing
• 38:37
  Speaker 5: TV and radio. He was the Argos voice on their
• 38:41
  Speaker 5: PA system And then either he just got too busy
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: or whatever the reasoning, but Joe stepped away from that job.
• 38:49
  Speaker 5: And Greg Manzek, who worked at City TV at the time,
• 38:51
  Speaker 5: he gave me a call and said, hey, Joe Bowen
• 38:53
  Speaker 5: just stepped aside.
• 38:55
  Speaker 6: Would you have any interest in this job? I never
• 38:56
  Speaker 6: applied for it, but.
• 38:58
  Speaker 5: It became just probably, you know, I don't know if
• 39:02
  Speaker 5: Joe had said anything. Hey, I know a guy who
• 39:03
  Speaker 5: would say yes to this and he'd do a good job. So,
• 39:07
  Speaker 5: but I'm just making my point here that the more
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: you say yes and the more you do, You're going
• 39:11
  Speaker 5: to form relationships with people and you're going to be
• 39:14
  Speaker 5: known as someone who is available.
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: And at the end of the day, it really did
• 39:19
  Speaker 5: work out for me in many ways. It worked out
• 39:22
  Speaker 5: with my world junior opportunities of the fan, which lasted
• 39:25
  Speaker 5: for nine years. It worked out with the world hockey championships.
• 39:29
  Speaker 5: It worked out. with my first ever playoff NHL game call,
• 39:32
  Speaker 5: which was for the Maple Leafs in Boston on a
• 39:35
  Speaker 5: night when both radio stations who have rights still in Toronto,
• 39:39
  Speaker 5: a Rogers station and a bell station, both broadcast the
• 39:44
  Speaker 5: same game seven in Boston and with two different crews,
• 39:48
  Speaker 5: Joe Bowen and Jim Ralph being one, myself and Mark
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: Osborne being the other. That happened because, again, I was
• 39:55
  Speaker 5: just in a place and time where my program director
• 39:57
  Speaker 5: got on my ear one night right after game six
• 40:01
  Speaker 5: and said, can you go to Boston in game seven?
• 40:03
  Speaker 6: I said, why are you even asking me? And secondly,
• 40:05
  Speaker 6: I said, why? What happened to Joe?
• 40:07
  Speaker 5: It's like, no, no.
• 40:09
  Speaker 6: We both have the rights. We're doing the game. So, yeah.
• 40:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 40:13
  Speaker 5: That's why I did all of that a, because I
• 40:15
  Speaker 5: love sports. I love being around sport curling being another one.
• 40:18
  Speaker 5: I did a number of Ontario provincial curling events and
• 40:21
  Speaker 5: working with Mike Harris and Ontario curler and champion in
• 40:24
  Speaker 5: his own rights and, uh, on the world stage there.
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: So, uh, yeah, never said no.
• 40:30
  Speaker 5: I used to always say if there's a, and there
• 40:32
  Speaker 5: actually probably is on ESPN now that I watch it
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: so much here in the States. If there's a professional
• 40:38
  Speaker 5: egg rolling down the hill competition, I'll call it.
• 40:40
  Speaker 6: Where do you want me to be?
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Never say no and always be at the front
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: of everybody's mind.
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: When a when a job opportunity comes up. Well said there, Dan.
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: I think that's great for any young person listening that's
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: looking to get into into this business.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: That's definitely, you know, great. Great insight there.
• 40:56
  Speaker 4: Whether you just brought home a new furry member of
• 40:58
  Speaker 4: the family or would like help finding something different for
• 41:01
  Speaker 4: your picky eater, why not visit us at Global Pet
• 41:04
  Speaker 4: Foods Niagara? Let us show you how our lesser-known premium
• 41:07
  Speaker 4: brands will outperform highly advertised big corporate brands. In addition
• 41:11
  Speaker 4: to improved health and vitality for your pets, there's no
• 41:14
  Speaker 4: need to feed as much per day. Aside from good, better,
• 41:17
  Speaker 4: or best on the market, the staff at either of
• 41:19
  Speaker 4: our locations would love to help you out. Check us
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: out today at 400 Scott Street in St. Catharines or
• 41:26
  Speaker 4: 3643 Portage Road in Niagara Falls. Global Pet Foods Niagara,
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: where pets are undeniably part of the family.
• 41:35
  Speaker 7: Wild Bill's Auto Repair is your local center for auto
• 41:37
  Speaker 7: maintenance and repair in the Niagara region. Since 2012, Wild
• 41:41
  Speaker 7: Bill's Auto Repair and Body Shop has been helping customers
• 41:44
  Speaker 7: stay safe and confident on the road, knowing their vehicle
• 41:47
  Speaker 7: is in top running condition through the garage's services. Located
• 41:50
  Speaker 7: at 7868 Oakwood Drive in Niagara Falls, the garage started
• 41:54
  Speaker 7: as a tribute to the owner's father, William Robert Hunter,
• 41:57
  Speaker 7: who passed away, continuing the same community spirit and high
• 42:00
  Speaker 7: level of service which customers can expect from him back
• 42:03
  Speaker 7: at Hunter's Auto Repair. Their multi-award winning auto shop has
• 42:06
  Speaker 7: earned the trust of the Niagara community with its fair
• 42:08
  Speaker 7: treatment of all customers who can feel confident they'll get
• 42:11
  Speaker 7: trustworthy advice and repairs during their visit. Their experienced crew
• 42:15
  Speaker 7: loves meeting new people and looks forward to forming a
• 42:17
  Speaker 7: lasting partnership for the care of your vehicles. To find
• 42:20
  Speaker 7: out more or to book a service, contact them today
• 42:23
  Speaker 7: at 905-358-7868 or wildbillsauto.ca. Wild Bills Auto Repair, helping customers
• 42:30
  Speaker 7: stay safe and confident on the road since 2012.
• 42:33
  Speaker 4: Are you currently looking for work? Or are you an
• 42:36
  Speaker 4: employer looking to hire in the Niagara region? The Niagara
• 42:38
  Speaker 4: Employment Help Centre is here to help. Job seekers can
• 42:41
  Speaker 4: access a wide range of free services, including a fully
• 42:45
  Speaker 4: staffed resource area, resume and cover letter assistance, local labour
• 42:49
  Speaker 4: market information, job search strategies, career planning, employment counselling, Better
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: Jobs Ontario information, and registration assistance. Walking appointments are available
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: Monday through Thursday. Employers can take advantage of our free
• 43:02
  Speaker 4: recruitment services, including job postings, candidate screening and referrals, assistance
• 43:07
  Speaker 4: filing vacancies quickly and efficiently, plus details on available hiring
• 43:12
  Speaker 4: and training incentives that may help offset the cost of
• 43:15
  Speaker 4: onboarding new employees. Visit our website or call 905-358-0021, extension 0,
• 43:22
  Speaker 4: to learn more. The Niagara Employment Help Centre, guiding youth
• 43:26
  Speaker 4: success since 1983. This Employment Ontario program is funded by
• 43:30
  Speaker 4: the Government of Ontario.
• 43:32
  Speaker 7: Celebrating a birthday, wedding, graduation, or just watching the big game,
• 43:37
  Speaker 7: Carmine's Pizzeria Italiano is there to satisfy your pizza needs.
• 43:41
  Speaker 7: Serving handmade Italian pizzas created with the freshest top quality ingredients.
• 43:46
  Speaker 7: Loaded subs and their famous chicken wings. Platinum award recipients
• 43:50
  Speaker 7: of Community Votes Niagara for best pizza and wings in
• 43:54
  Speaker 7: all of the Niagara region, three years running. Open 3 p.m.
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: To 9 p.m.
• 43:58
  Speaker 7: Seven days a week from their brand new location at
• 44:00
  Speaker 7: 7156 Drummond Road in Niagara Falls. All payment options accepted
• 44:05
  Speaker 7: to fit your convenience. Available for call ahead pickup or delivery.
• 44:09
  Speaker 7: Place your order today at 905-374-4400 or check out their
• 44:12
  Speaker 7: online menu for the best quality pizza and wing combos
• 44:17
  Speaker 7: you'll find in Niagara at carbinespizzeria.ca You've tried the rest?
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: Why not try the best?
• 44:23
  Speaker 7: Carbines Pizzeria Italiano proudly serving the Niagara community since 2013.
• 44:30
  Speaker 5: Hi, this is Dan Dunleavy, play-by-play voice of the Buffalo Sabres,
• 44:33
  Speaker 5: and you are watching and listening to Sabres Semantics.
• 44:43
  Speaker 6: Hey, hey, here we go, it's hockey night in Buffalo. Hey, hey,
• 44:47
  Speaker 6: here we go, the boys in blue, white, and gold.
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: Hey, hey, here we go, make some noise, get in
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: the zone.
• 44:53
  Speaker 6: All for one and one for all, let's hear you
• 44:56
  Speaker 6: from your heart and soul.
• 44:57
  Speaker 3: Okay! Before we get to the rapid fire stuff, I
• 45:00
  Speaker 3: have a couple more questions on the broadcasting side for you, Dan.
• 45:03
  Speaker 3: Like some of your biggest influences in broadcasting and maybe
• 45:06
  Speaker 3: what your favorite play-by-play call was growing up.
• 45:09
  Speaker 6: Influences. It's interesting.
• 45:11
  Speaker 5: My parents growing up, they listened to a radio station
• 45:13
  Speaker 5: in Toronto called CFRB 1010 AM. And it was Canada's
• 45:17
  Speaker 5: at the time. It was Canada's most powerful, well-known AM
• 45:20
  Speaker 5: radio station. And it had a cast and crew of
• 45:24
  Speaker 5: professional broadcasters that as a kid, I just heard every day.
• 45:28
  Speaker 6: Wally Crowder.
• 45:30
  Speaker 5: Was their morning show guy, and just all the sportscasters
• 45:35
  Speaker 5: that ever went through there, I just thought.
• 45:36
  Speaker 6: Were, I don't know, they were so cool. They were professional.
• 45:40
  Speaker 5: They were, you know, Bill Stevenson, just these guys that were,
• 45:45
  Speaker 5: they seemed like they were kind of, I don't know,
• 45:47
  Speaker 5: they were these faceless, back in those days, because there
• 45:50
  Speaker 5: was no internet, they were these faceless icons, and all
• 45:53
  Speaker 5: you heard, imagine only ever hearing Rick's voice and never
• 45:56
  Speaker 5: seeing him. which for a time would have been the
• 45:58
  Speaker 5: case until he got to TV and did the simulcast.
• 46:02
  Speaker 6: So for me, there are a number of those guys
• 46:03
  Speaker 6: that stood out when I was young.
• 46:05
  Speaker 5: And that's when my mom would tell me I'd be
• 46:07
  Speaker 5: running around the house with a soap on the rope
• 46:09
  Speaker 5: and pretending to be those guys. But, you know, from
• 46:11
  Speaker 5: a hockey point of view, it's definitely guys like Danny Gallivan,
• 46:14
  Speaker 5: Ted Darling, Dan Kelly. You know, as we said, RJ
• 46:19
  Speaker 5: is one of a kind. It was, you know, you
• 46:21
  Speaker 5: would listen to Rick and just think, what's going on here?
• 46:24
  Speaker 5: That is really, that's different. And that's really cool. And
• 46:28
  Speaker 5: when I was at the fan, I had a show
• 46:30
  Speaker 5: on every morning at five 30. It basically was a
• 46:33
  Speaker 5: wrap up of the night before. And I said, if
• 46:34
  Speaker 5: the Sabres play, we have to have an RJ call
• 46:37
  Speaker 5: on the show because it just stood out.
• 46:39
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 46:40
  Speaker 6: It was unbelievable.
• 46:42
  Speaker 5: Again, I knew you could never emulate the guy or
• 46:44
  Speaker 5: be like him, but there were things that Danny Gallivan
• 46:47
  Speaker 5: would do. There were things that Ted Darling would do.
• 46:51
  Speaker 5: And there were things that Dan Kelly would do that I,
• 46:54
  Speaker 5: as a young hockey fan, I could see myself finding
• 46:57
  Speaker 5: a way to learn to be able to do. And
• 46:59
  Speaker 5: it was a pitch and flow and kind of finding
• 47:02
  Speaker 5: a way to make it sound or feel like you're
• 47:04
  Speaker 5: actually hovering over every pass and shot and inflection, where
• 47:09
  Speaker 5: to put that.
• 47:10
  Speaker 6: RJ did all that. He just did it in a
• 47:13
  Speaker 6: different uniform. You know, he's like the.
• 47:15
  Speaker 5: Technicolor Dreamcoat guy when everyone else was wearing the plain suit.
• 47:19
  Speaker 6: RJ was this different flash guy.
• 47:22
  Speaker 5: So, um, but those were some of the guys, those
• 47:24
  Speaker 5: names I mentioned that really stood out. Um, you know,
• 47:27
  Speaker 5: then being in Toronto and working with Joe, um, someone
• 47:31
  Speaker 5: else who brought the same enthusiasm in his own way and,
• 47:35
  Speaker 5: you know, his holy Mackinac and his, uh, names, he
• 47:38
  Speaker 5: would come up for some of the players too. Um,
• 47:41
  Speaker 5: you hear that stuff and there are things that Joe
• 47:44
  Speaker 5: would do too. And I thought, well, I could never
• 47:45
  Speaker 5: try that because it's too obvious to be like Joe. So, um, Yeah,
• 47:49
  Speaker 5: you take little things from a whole bunch of people,
• 47:51
  Speaker 5: but I would say the Galavans, the Darlings and the
• 47:54
  Speaker 5: Kellys were just so smooth and so good that I,
• 47:58
  Speaker 5: and I still listen today to Ted Darling calls from
• 48:02
  Speaker 5: years ago to remind myself that I don't have to
• 48:05
  Speaker 5: go to use an RJ word top shelf with every
• 48:08
  Speaker 5: goal call to bring it the proper inflection. So it's
• 48:11
  Speaker 5: a bit of an art form that I keep reminding
• 48:13
  Speaker 5: myself to, to try to keep a bit of a
• 48:16
  Speaker 5: lid on sometimes before you get to the playoffs or
• 48:18
  Speaker 5: a point where you can just blow the lid.
• 48:20
  Speaker 3: Off of it. Yeah.
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: You, you had a couple of great ones last year.
• 48:23
  Speaker 3: I'm going through some of, some of them for, you know,
• 48:26
  Speaker 3: this many days until the Sabres play hockey. And the
• 48:28
  Speaker 3: one that comes to my mind is the one I
• 48:30
  Speaker 3: just played the other day with Jason Zucker with the, the, the,
• 48:33
  Speaker 3: the seven, seven goal against Tampa Bay, that, that amazing game.
• 48:38
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 48:45
  Speaker 5: Jason Zucker cooking Buffalo back to a 7-7 tie.
• 48:52
  Speaker 3: Your enthusiasm with that and everything that came with that game,
• 48:55
  Speaker 3: it was an amazing moment. And I'm just going back
• 48:57
  Speaker 3: and listening to some of your calls from this last
• 48:59
  Speaker 3: season that you can definitely tell You know that these
• 49:02
  Speaker 3: are these are ones that that will stand out for
• 49:05
  Speaker 3: many years.
• 49:06
  Speaker 6: I appreciate that.
• 49:06
  Speaker 5: I think with with that Zucker call, I think I
• 49:08
  Speaker 5: was trying to that game just took on a seat.
• 49:10
  Speaker 6: And this is the thing, too.
• 49:12
  Speaker 5: You I knew it some while I was hoping at
• 49:14
  Speaker 5: some point these games would come in Buffalo.
• 49:16
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 49:16
  Speaker 5: They just weren't coming. But especially that Tampa game, which
• 49:20
  Speaker 5: was really the launching pad for where we could go
• 49:23
  Speaker 5: with this. When I say we, I mean we as
• 49:25
  Speaker 5: a broadcast team. This here and now broadcast team between
• 49:29
  Speaker 5: myself and Rob and Brian and Marty, it was kind
• 49:32
  Speaker 5: of a launch point for this is how good this
• 49:34
  Speaker 5: team can be. They literally took on a giant, and
• 49:38
  Speaker 5: the giant team, pushed back and so did the Sabres
• 49:42
  Speaker 5: and they were toe to toe and kind of a,
• 49:44
  Speaker 5: can you believe, I can't believe I just said eight,
• 49:47
  Speaker 5: seven on a Sunday afternoon in Buffalo. And I was
• 49:50
  Speaker 5: looking at my stats guy. I just turned around. I said,
• 49:52
  Speaker 5: it was, I can't believe I just saying eight, seven,
• 49:55
  Speaker 5: you know, I'm not, there's no magic there other than
• 49:57
  Speaker 5: I'm just communicating maybe what everyone else is thinking.
• 50:00
  Speaker 6: Like what just happened out here?
• 50:02
  Speaker 5: And the Zucker one, I think was just trying to
• 50:04
  Speaker 5: find a cool, I'm always looking for a way to
• 50:06
  Speaker 5: stay cool with the current generation. Right. So, I knew
• 50:09
  Speaker 5: cooking at least people would understand what I'm saying. And
• 50:12
  Speaker 5: Razor's always having fun telling me what his son is
• 50:16
  Speaker 5: coming up with with his hockey team and what words
• 50:19
  Speaker 5: are cool to use. And I'm thinking, what are you
• 50:22
  Speaker 5: saying right now? But that game, you know, things came
• 50:26
  Speaker 5: out in that game that were just a product of
• 50:30
  Speaker 5: what the guys did on the ice. And I will
• 50:33
  Speaker 5: say this until I'm done. I am so grateful for
• 50:35
  Speaker 5: that game. on a professional level for what we do
• 50:39
  Speaker 5: as a living, because that was fun. I was angry
• 50:43
  Speaker 5: up there with the way that Darlene was being punched
• 50:46
  Speaker 5: from behind, and I remember saying, someone's got to get
• 50:48
  Speaker 5: in there. Things were starting to come out that you
• 50:52
  Speaker 5: feel as a fan, as well as a broadcaster, and
• 50:55
  Speaker 5: a lot of times, maybe I'll hold them back a
• 50:57
  Speaker 5: little bit just to try to keep this so-called professional
• 51:00
  Speaker 5: decorum about the call, but in that moment, I got
• 51:03
  Speaker 5: sucked right in, and I think I learned that it's
• 51:06
  Speaker 5: okay to let yourself feel that in the moment because
• 51:10
  Speaker 5: everybody watching that game was saying, you can't let Hagel
• 51:14
  Speaker 5: keep punching your captain in the back of the head.
• 51:16
  Speaker 6: You've got to jump in here. So yeah, just kind
• 51:19
  Speaker 6: of let that happen.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 51:21
  Speaker 3: Was that maybe your favorite game of the year when
• 51:23
  Speaker 3: you look back on it? Obviously the playoff games were
• 51:25
  Speaker 3: very special as well, but was that maybe the best
• 51:27
  Speaker 3: of the regular season?
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 51:29
  Speaker 5: Well, obviously the playoff accomplishments and winning game six.
• 51:32
  Speaker 6: In Montreal was big.
• 51:33
  Speaker 5: The way they won it big over Montreal was, And
• 51:35
  Speaker 5: with the Sabres' own Game 7, unfortunate loss and obviously
• 51:39
  Speaker 5: Game 7 in the overtime. But I thought they owned
• 51:41
  Speaker 5: Game 7. I thought for sure that this team was
• 51:43
  Speaker 5: going to the Eastern Conference Final. But yeah, that game
• 51:46
  Speaker 5: in Tampa was, like I said, it was a launching pad.
• 51:49
  Speaker 5: Not just for the team, but for us as a
• 51:51
  Speaker 5: broadcast group.
• 51:53
  Speaker 3: So here we go, Dan. We're going to do some
• 51:54
  Speaker 3: rapid fire here. And that's going to be brought to
• 51:56
  Speaker 3: you by the Niagara Employment Help Center, helping people find
• 51:58
  Speaker 3: work in the Niagara region since 1983. Check out the
• 52:01
  Speaker 3: update job board at ehc.on.ca or call 905-358-0021 to find
• 52:05
  Speaker 3: your next work opportunity today. You don't have to go into,
• 52:08
  Speaker 3: you know, great elaborate answers as you've given us on
• 52:10
  Speaker 3: this whole show about these. But if there's anything specific
• 52:13
  Speaker 3: that you want to mention.
• 52:14
  Speaker 6: I promise I'll be quick. I'm a talker like Marty. Okay,
• 52:16
  Speaker 6: here we go. And my dog wants in the house.
• 52:19
  Speaker 6: He's already barking at me from the yard.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: That's okay. So it's been amazing.
• 52:23
  Speaker 3: So let's start off with a question from my co-host,
• 52:26
  Speaker 3: Jonathan Howe. He asks, he knows you're a big music guy.
• 52:29
  Speaker 3: If the Sabres came to you with your thoughts on
• 52:31
  Speaker 3: a goal song, what would you suggest?
• 52:33
  Speaker 5: I hear a song every day and I won't be
• 52:35
  Speaker 5: long with the answer, but every day I hear a
• 52:37
  Speaker 5: song somewhere in my day where I think, oh, the
• 52:39
  Speaker 5: Sabres should use that.
• 52:41
  Speaker 6: Let's do Unchained, Van Halen Unchained.
• 52:44
  Speaker 5: I mean, I'd love Main Street to be the skate
• 52:46
  Speaker 5: up song. the guys come on the ice to mean
• 52:49
  Speaker 5: street and just like, this is home. This is mean street, right?
• 52:53
  Speaker 5: This is the restless part of town. Uh, this is home,
• 52:57
  Speaker 5: you know, the hunted, uh, hunter turned into hunted and yeah,
• 53:01
  Speaker 5: cause kind of what the sabers of this year turned into, right.
• 53:04
  Speaker 6: They're going to be a lot more hunted than they
• 53:05
  Speaker 6: were in the past.
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: So absolutely.
• 53:08
  Speaker 6: I did three to come on the ice and goal
• 53:09
  Speaker 6: song on chain. How about that?
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: I like that.
• 53:12
  Speaker 3: And I did love the money for nothing. I will
• 53:13
  Speaker 3: say that was a, that was a great, uh, great
• 53:16
  Speaker 3: one last year great.
• 53:17
  Speaker 5: I love it i came home and started to learn
• 53:19
  Speaker 5: that one i play guitar a little bit have a
• 53:21
  Speaker 5: few oh great yeah i was trying to perfect that
• 53:23
  Speaker 5: one uh little mark knopfler.
• 53:25
  Speaker 3: So perfect so next one his other question for you
• 53:30
  Speaker 3: is that as an announcer what games do you have
• 53:32
  Speaker 3: circled on the calendar if any and do certain matchups
• 53:35
  Speaker 3: increase the energy for your approach to the game.
• 53:37
  Speaker 5: The montreal canadian always in montreal Not here because too
• 53:42
  Speaker 5: many Montreal fans get into the building.
• 53:44
  Speaker 6: I'm sorry. I know I'm not supposed to say it.
• 53:46
  Speaker 5: I know why Sabres season ticket holders do it, but
• 53:49
  Speaker 5: I can still not like it because when I'm up
• 53:52
  Speaker 5: there and I see that much red in the building,
• 53:53
  Speaker 5: it just irks the heck out of me, but I
• 53:55
  Speaker 5: get it. People got to do their thing. But Montreal,
• 53:59
  Speaker 5: in Montreal, that atmosphere, and that was really cool to
• 54:01
  Speaker 5: do playoffs there this past season. To have that, if
• 54:06
  Speaker 5: it ever only happened once in my lifetime, at least
• 54:08
  Speaker 5: it did. I hope it happens many more times.
• 54:11
  Speaker 3: I like that. I've always heard great things about the,
• 54:13
  Speaker 3: about the bell center. Um, and even the forum before that.
• 54:16
  Speaker 3: So next one is who was your favorite player to
• 54:19
  Speaker 3: watch growing up in hockey?
• 54:21
  Speaker 6: Growing up favorite players.
• 54:23
  Speaker 5: I mean, there was a guy that wore 11 in
• 54:25
  Speaker 5: Buffalo that every time he'd skate and I was very
• 54:27
  Speaker 5: young at the time, but, and we just played a
• 54:29
  Speaker 5: highlight of them on our Sabres live show the other day, uh,
• 54:31
  Speaker 5: playing for team Canada in the, uh, 72 summit series.
• 54:35
  Speaker 6: But I don't know if anybody carried the puck up
• 54:37
  Speaker 6: the ice, the.
• 54:37
  Speaker 5: Way 11 did in Buffalo and pro is just, um,
• 54:40
  Speaker 5: you know, something else growing up in the Toronto area.
• 54:44
  Speaker 5: You know, the funny thing is the first Jersey I
• 54:46
  Speaker 5: ever got was an ally of Frady Jersey, which maybe
• 54:50
  Speaker 5: fans in this era will have no idea who ally
• 54:52
  Speaker 5: of Frady is, but he was just long haired kind
• 54:55
  Speaker 5: of rebel defenseman that the Maple Leafs had war number 33.
• 55:00
  Speaker 5: And he rode a Harley Davidson motorcycle and he was
• 55:03
  Speaker 5: just kind of his own bird.
• 55:06
  Speaker 6: So I took a liking to him.
• 55:08
  Speaker 5: Lanny McDonald as a kid, I think it's pretty safe
• 55:10
  Speaker 5: to say if anyone in that era growing up watching hockey,
• 55:13
  Speaker 5: even if you weren't a Toronto fan, even when Lanny
• 55:16
  Speaker 5: went to Calgary, you still rooted for Lanny.
• 55:18
  Speaker 6: He was just such a good dude.
• 55:21
  Speaker 5: Guys like that, Mike Bossy, I was a big fan
• 55:22
  Speaker 5: of the way Mike Bossy played the game as well. Yeah,
• 55:27
  Speaker 5: I could keep going on with a number of names
• 55:29
  Speaker 5: from that era, but we'll stop there.
• 55:31
  Speaker 6: I was a big Jim Schoenfeld fan, yeah.
• 55:34
  Speaker 3: My dad and many other Sabres fans idolized number 11.
• 55:37
  Speaker 3: So I'm sure they're going to love hearing that answer
• 55:40
  Speaker 3: on that one.
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: Next one here.
• 55:42
  Speaker 3: So we're going to group these a little bit together
• 55:44
  Speaker 3: so you can just quickly do an answer. Your favorite
• 55:46
  Speaker 3: place to call a game on the road? You mentioned Montreal.
• 55:49
  Speaker 3: Favorite road media meal and favorite road city to visit
• 55:53
  Speaker 3: in general?
• 55:53
  Speaker 6: Road media meal. That's a good one.
• 55:56
  Speaker 5: I'm a big barbecue fan. Carolina serves barbecue every time
• 55:59
  Speaker 5: you go there. So I don't want to take them
• 56:02
  Speaker 5: out of the running for that. medium meal to think
• 56:04
  Speaker 5: of a favorite one. I'm sure somebody would tell me
• 56:07
  Speaker 5: there's a really good one somewhere that I'm, that I'm missing.
• 56:10
  Speaker 5: I'll still say, you know, Montreal does it right. They
• 56:12
  Speaker 5: give you a lot of options.
• 56:13
  Speaker 6: Yeah. I'll keep Montreal at the top of the list
• 56:16
  Speaker 6: for that too. That's fine. And then what was the
• 56:18
  Speaker 6: other one?
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: Just favorite city to travel to in general on the road.
• 56:21
  Speaker 6: See, I'm trying to think of something that's not obvious
• 56:23
  Speaker 6: that I'm missing.
• 56:24
  Speaker 5: I'll tell you the sleeper one for me is Columbus
• 56:27
  Speaker 5: because of the restaurant's Yeah, the restaurants that in the
• 56:30
  Speaker 5: different areas of the town, there's a little area of
• 56:32
  Speaker 5: the town called German Village where there's all these kind
• 56:36
  Speaker 5: of interlocking brick sidewalks and roads. There's a bookstore that
• 56:40
  Speaker 5: has 32 rooms that you could absolutely get lost in.
• 56:44
  Speaker 5: And then you can go down to the university end
• 56:46
  Speaker 5: of town and check out the restaurants there. And then
• 56:49
  Speaker 5: the downtown has some great restaurants as well. So Columbus is,
• 56:53
  Speaker 5: I've always mentioned that that's a sneaky, really good uh,
• 56:56
  Speaker 5: road stop that I do enjoy. I'll, I'll throw that
• 56:58
  Speaker 5: one out there aside from the obvious. So I like
• 57:00
  Speaker 5: going to LA. Uh, I got one of my dog
• 57:02
  Speaker 5: tattoos on the, on the strip in LA once. And, uh, yeah,
• 57:06
  Speaker 5: it's kind of cool to go down to the whiskey
• 57:09
  Speaker 5: or something like that and check out some rock and
• 57:10
  Speaker 5: roll history.
• 57:12
  Speaker 3: So favorite view to call a game. Like, is there
• 57:14
  Speaker 3: a certain view that you really enjoy?
• 57:16
  Speaker 6: It's Montreal. You're right on top of the game.
• 57:19
  Speaker 5: And now Detroit's gotten, uh, they built a gondola in
• 57:21
  Speaker 5: their new rink, uh, little Caesars. So that's a really
• 57:24
  Speaker 5: good spot too. I'll give Detroit some, uh, some love
• 57:26
  Speaker 5: here for what they've done with their new arena. If
• 57:28
  Speaker 5: you've not been to Detroit, check out the little Caesars rink.
• 57:31
  Speaker 6: It's well done.
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 57:32
  Speaker 3: From the Joe to the dough. That's a, that's what
• 57:34
  Speaker 3: they call it there in, in Detroit. So that's it
• 57:37
  Speaker 3: for the rapid fire stuff for me, Dan. That's, that's
• 57:40
  Speaker 3: really good stuff there. Just a couple of quick questions
• 57:43
  Speaker 3: about this year's team, just to close you out. I
• 57:45
  Speaker 3: really appreciate your time today. You know, just when you
• 57:48
  Speaker 3: talk about the, the level of optimism going into the season,
• 57:51
  Speaker 3: you know, everything that the, that they did this off
• 57:53
  Speaker 3: season and what, last season was, you know, it's a,
• 57:57
  Speaker 3: it was a long summer after, as you mentioned, you know,
• 57:59
  Speaker 3: the bitter, bitter taste of losing at home game seven,
• 58:02
  Speaker 3: overtime to Montreal with a chance to be in the
• 58:04
  Speaker 3: Eastern conference final, but this team, you know, kicking down
• 58:07
  Speaker 3: the door and making the playoffs for the first time
• 58:10
  Speaker 3: in 14 seasons, just for, for you as a broadcaster and,
• 58:13
  Speaker 3: and from just your analysis of what you're seeing as we,
• 58:17
  Speaker 3: we approach training camp and preseason and things like that.
• 58:19
  Speaker 3: Like what is, I guess your level of optimism now
• 58:22
  Speaker 3: after seeing what, what last season was, could be and
• 58:25
  Speaker 3: the potential that things could be here in Buffalo.
• 58:27
  Speaker 5: I said it on our show today, and I'm not
• 58:29
  Speaker 5: going to back off of it when I say our
• 58:31
  Speaker 5: show on Sabres Live with Marty. He was asking me
• 58:34
  Speaker 5: to pick the Eastern Conference standings and starting with our division,
• 58:40
  Speaker 5: I think, in the Atlantic.
• 58:43
  Speaker 6: Yes, they're going to miss Alex Tuck, but you welcome
• 58:45
  Speaker 6: Yuri Kulik back in the lineup. I'm not sure.
• 58:48
  Speaker 5: I don't know anything, but I wouldn't be shocked if
• 58:50
  Speaker 5: Jarmo's not done molding this team yet.
• 58:54
  Speaker 6: And trying to find an ad somewhere.
• 58:56
  Speaker 5: And it's interesting, like you see news the other day
• 58:59
  Speaker 5: about Kreider all of a sudden being available. There's going
• 59:01
  Speaker 5: to be, I'm sure, a number of teams that think
• 59:03
  Speaker 5: they could use a body of his size and experience
• 59:06
  Speaker 5: in front of the net, around the net. Um, and
• 59:08
  Speaker 5: he wants to come East again. So as tight as
• 59:11
  Speaker 5: things are, you know, I'm, I still think Buffalo's got
• 59:15
  Speaker 5: a shot to win the Atlantic again.
• 59:16
  Speaker 6: I really, really do.
• 59:18
  Speaker 5: I know Tampa's a perennial always there. I know Montreal
• 59:21
  Speaker 5: is going to be there. I get Florida's healthy again,
• 59:24
  Speaker 5: but they're also a year older. You know, they're not old,
• 59:27
  Speaker 5: but I'm just saying that you've got some guys on
• 59:29
  Speaker 5: that lineup that they played a lot of hockey. And
• 59:32
  Speaker 5: I think the Sabres still have a team full of
• 59:35
  Speaker 5: guys right here that haven't played as much hockey.
• 59:37
  Speaker 6: And I think they've got more.
• 59:38
  Speaker 5: In the tank that they've now figured out through last
• 59:42
  Speaker 5: year's run, how they have to play. There's no secret
• 59:45
  Speaker 5: sauce here anymore for them. They don't have to go
• 59:46
  Speaker 5: in the room and wonder what they have to do
• 59:48
  Speaker 5: to get their game back.
• 59:49
  Speaker 6: They know what that is. So I still like their chances.
• 59:52
  Speaker 5: I'm not saying they necessarily have the same kind of
• 59:55
  Speaker 5: run they had last year with the number of games
• 59:57
  Speaker 5: they put together to get to that 109 points. But
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 5: I definitely see them as a 100-point-plus team. I think
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 5: Lindy will probably tell you the same when he speaks
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 5: in the next week or so. And if you're a
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 5: 100-plus team, I think you're in a good position to
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 5: get back into the playoffs.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 6: So I'm very optimistic about it.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 5: Um, I know again, there's, there's still some things that
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 5: could happen.
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 6: Who knows what the lineup, if they go as is,
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 6: I like them. They're fast. They're feisty. They're in your face.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 6: They're not going to back down.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 5: And we got to have one of the best defense
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 5: cores when it comes to, uh, everything in your own zone,
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 5: shutting plays down, getting to the attack on offense and
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 5: getting involved in the offense and having teams having to
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 5: defend the fact that Samuelson's coming down the wall or
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 5: now crevier and Zellweger and Darlene, uh, And Owen Power,
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 5: they're all going to be active. So good luck, you know,
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 5: picking who you're going to cover.
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 6: So I'm very, very optimistic about this team.
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 3: The Atlantic might be the best division in hockey. Just,
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 3: you know, as you mentioned, Tampa, Buffalo, Montreal, Florida coming back,
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 3: Toronto possibly we'll see. But very tough division in the Atlantic.
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 3: But again, Buffalo is right there looking to repeat as
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 3: Atlantic division champions. once again, uh, player or players, you're
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 3: really looking forward to seeing breakout, obviously with the, the
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 3: loss of Alex talk, you know, somebody is going to
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 3: have to fill those roles. Zach Benson, re-signed big contract, uh,
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 3: Yuri Kulich, Noah Oslin, um, you know, Costa Helenus, you know,
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 3: broke out as well there in the playoffs. So, so
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 3: it's a couple of those guys, obviously you're looking for
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 3: big seasons from, but for you specifically player players that, uh,
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 3: you know, Sabres fans should expect to break out, uh,
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 3: to help Buffalo success this year.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 6: Well, they need to break out. I've said this to, um,
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 6: Not shy.
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 5: Jack Quinn is, to me, he has the tools to
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 5: be a 30-goal scorer, and he has to be. So
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 5: if you want to make up for some of the
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 5: departed goals or points scored by Alex Tuck when he
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 5: was here, Jack Quinn, for me, when he's assertive in
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 5: his game, when he gets to areas on the ice
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 5: where he can shoot, we know when the game gets
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 5: down to a shootout that this guy is just lights out,
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 5: talented with shootouts, which amount for the extra point and
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 5: could be the extra point difference that gets you in
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 5: the playoffs.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 6: It certainly hurt.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 5: The Sabres a few years ago when they couldn't garner
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 5: a shootout point, but now they have enough talent that
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 5: they can do that. So for me, Jack Quinn, I
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 5: want to see a real breakout year from him. I'm
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 5: interested to see where Yuri is at. I think everyone
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 5: is there early in his career. I personally saw everything
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 5: you want to see from a young centerman, which involves
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 5: with playing deep back in your own zone, helping get
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 5: puck possession back, being available for your defenders to start
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 5: the breakout season. and then joining the rush and getting
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 5: involved in the offense. He did all that as a
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 5: young center. You know, he's back, he's playing, so he's
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 5: healthy and ready to go. If he can get to 100%,
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 5: that could really help big, big time dealing with losing
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 5: someone like Alex Tuck. So it's not going to fall
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 5: on one guy to make up that gap. It's going
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 5: to fall on everybody. You mentioned the guys like Hostelin
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 5: and Helenus. I would say for those players, just.
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 6: Be who you are.
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 5: Don't put the weight of the world on your shoulders
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 5: trying to be right away a 25 goal score or
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 5: something like that because you could only maybe you know
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 5: then feel you're disappointing anybody you're not the versions of
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 5: them we saw last year and into the playoffs that's
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 5: the versions we want to see from game one and
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 5: then the challenge for them will be as professionals as
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 5: we already talked about doing all the right things between
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 5: the games to make sure when the game time comes
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 5: you can play that exact game every single night because
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 5: that's what frustrates you when you play tampa that's what
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 5: frustrates you when you play florida And that's what will
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 5: frustrate you, obviously, when you play teams now like Montreal.
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 5: They're going to play their way every night. If you
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 5: deviate from yours, it's going to be a long night.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 3: Is there a game you have circled on the calendar already?
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 3: I know it's a long 84-game season now, but is
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 3: there a certain matchup or certain game that you've already
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 3: circled on your broadcast calendar to say, I'm really looking
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 3: forward to this game?
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 5: Well, it's always the Montreal games, so I've made that clear.
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 5: Toronto games as well. But really early, I mean, Game
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 5: 2 against Chicago, seeing Bowen Byram play. And Jordan Greenway
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 5: come back. I think the world of both of those
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 5: two players. And, you know, it's a night where I
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 5: hope that they get smoked about 6-0. But it'll be
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 5: a handshake or a hug and a smile when I
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 5: see them after and before the game.
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 6: So it'll be nice to see them back in town.
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 5: And hopefully they leave here with their teammates and a
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 5: loss they have to think about.
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 3: And Patrick Kane returning to Buffalo as well. Obviously, that
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 3: didn't happen. Him returning to the Sabres, but... Home to Buffalo.
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 3: He went back to Chicago, but he'll be in town.
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 6: Yeah, you're right. Throw that into the mix. That'll be
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 6: quite a night, won't it? So there you go.
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. What a time for the home opener.
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 3: And then my last question for you on the entire
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 3: show is what is the most fun thing about working
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 3: with Rob Ray?
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 6: Name one.
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 3: The OHL posted a graphic of him from his Cornwall
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 3: days because they're playing some games in Cornwall this season.
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: So they put up a Rob Ray throwback picture, which
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: is interesting.
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 2: He's a beauty.
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 5: I'm having fun with him because that's the answer he'd
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 5: want me to give. because he is obviously the orchestra leader.
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 6: But yeah, no, it's great. I mean, listen, he's a
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 6: Buffalo Sabres legend. He's an icon. He's a Hall of
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 6: Famer in this city.
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 5: And it's an honor to work with him every night,
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 5: learn a little bit something from him all the time
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 5: from a player's perspective about what's going on there on
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 5: the ice. Obviously, I lean on that, having never played
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 5: the game at a level even close to. So, you know,
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 5: I've always leaned on whether it was Jim Ralph in
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 5: Toronto or and Razor here in Buffalo. I think I
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 5: understand the fans want to hear what they think more
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 5: than they want to know what I think about something.
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 6: So there you go.
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 3: Well, there was Dan Dunleavy, the current play-by-play voice of
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 3: the Buffalo Sabres. Dan, we really appreciate the time today. Again,
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 3: I've been trying to get you on for a few
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 3: years now and luckily be able to work you in
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 3: before things get crazy with your broadcast schedule. Look forward
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 3: to listening and watching you and Rob Ray all season long,
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 3: you know, whether it's on WGR, whether it's on MSG,
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 3: a lot of great stuff coming this season and so
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 3: much optimism as well. So we appreciate you taking the
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 3: time here for our listeners and watchers here. A lot
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 3: of great memories and stories that you were able to
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 3: provide us and the great analysis of the team as well.
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 3: So it means a lot for me to have you
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 3: on and look forward to maybe catching up at the
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 3: rink as well if I'm in Buffalo at all. All right.
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 6: Bandits barking in the yard. Thanks for having me on.
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 6: I got to go get them in.
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 3: That's going to wrap it up for another episode of
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 3: Saber Semantics right here on the Armchair GM Sports Network.
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 3: Thank you to everybody tuned in on the video version.
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 3: And thank you to those listening on your favorite on-demand
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 3: audio podcast platform. Make sure to give us a like
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 3: and subscribe on whatever platform you listen to us on.
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 3: As always, Global Pet Foods, where pets are undeniably part
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 3: of the family. You can visit them in-store today at
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 3: 3643 Portage Road in Niagara Falls or 400 Scott Street
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 3: in St.
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: Catharines.
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 3: Replace your online order today at GlobalPetFoods.com. Global Pet Foods Niagara,
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 3: a proud show sponsor of Saber Semantics. For my guest,
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 3: Dan Dunleavy, my name is Brandon Caputo. That's it for
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 3: another episode of Saber Semantics right here on the Armchair
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 3: GM Sports Network.
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: Talk to you soon. This is the Armchair GM Sports Network.