- 6 months ago
Mike Schopp and the Bulldog react to the Sabres seemingly being all-in this year.
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00:00and for that i took a day to be able to do that you know and enjoy it and yesterday
00:05was more
00:05and yesterday was that it was unexpected turns out really it's the same what was the um lust level
00:14oh extremely high robert i i i i didn't hear this owen was at the game so uh and he
00:22told me he
00:23didn't notice it but i saw someone i don't remember who tweet that during the game there
00:28was a robert thomas chant at some point in the arena it was very faint very faint and then vegas
00:34scored and it kind of oh i see but i and i heard that reference i thought like well i've
00:40done my
00:40work for the day like i i you're taking credit i thought i talked about robert thomas for you know
00:45three hours straight right up the pregame really pretty much yeah yeah yeah that is super exciting
00:52idea um and it you know mike you wouldn't phone call like people talking about the sabers excitedly
01:01well people talking about the blues apparently well i guess i mean but you know the idea of the
01:06sabers making a big swing like that so um yeah i mean i i went i went hard at it
01:11i was extremely
01:12energized by it um what were you prepared to give up not owen power okay well so if deal breaker
01:20if that
01:20is the walk away um i agree really any of the excuse me any of those we're gonna be at
01:26home
01:26coughing any of those four the toast top four d i i've said it repeatedly you know what i'm about
01:33to
01:33say it's there it's as close to a superpower as the sabers have that is the one thing i would
01:38not
01:38want to mess with um so it makes sense to me that they're also talking to the blues about justin
01:45falk or colton pareko uh for third pair if they're not going to disturb those top four that would be
01:52that would be a walk away for me i i and i don't think there's any really talking me into
01:57it um because
01:59i just don't think you could like slot justin falk has been that level of defenseman in his career for
02:05most of his career i just don't think he's that anymore and nor is pareko and so you know there's
02:12some trade-off if you're trading from strength and getting you know something up that's up top
02:17going to help you a lot which thomas certainly should and would you know you can maybe try to
02:22balance that out but i just i can't i can't i can't get there are you reading the media reports
02:29on this
02:30any certain way like who who's mad at the other is anybody who's to blame to you know to put
02:37it some
02:37way for there not being a trade i haven't thought hard about if someone like who who is i i
02:45feel like
02:46i kind of need you for that um like who's motivated to tell you know chris johnston or darren drager
02:53or
02:54jeremy rutherford you know what's going on there i think the blues if they are eager to sell robert thomas
03:02and want to max out what they're going to get in return which any team should especially with a 26
03:08year old 80 point a year centerman uh then i think it behooves them to like hey here's what here's
03:16what
03:16the sabers couldn't beat you know they didn't want to include this guy if you're out there and have
03:21some version of this guy you're detroit or montreal or other teams that are in this mix with the sabers
03:27that could be looking to upgrade then uh you know come to the table um i don't think the whole
03:33thing
03:33has to be dead i know i mean yesterday it was like we had a torrid affair with it for
03:37like three hours
03:39and you know it kind of cooled off this morning that's how it reads but until i saw jeremy tweet
03:45this and i totally agree until the player is either traded somewhere else um or you know the trade
03:53deadline passes the sabers might have the best offer on the table and the blues could still end up
03:58taking it um and the fact that they're still reportedly engaged because of this defenseman
04:03point if that turns into one big trade that still doesn't involve one of those top four defensemen
04:09i mean all the better because i think you can just have one transaction and one stop shopping get done
04:15everything you want to get done why is it that all the sabers biggest work seems to happen through the
04:19st louis blues why is it always the st louis blues for this isn't it doesn't it seem like that
04:23a
04:23little bit ryan miller miller of course uh o'reilly o'reilly was that is that it actually maybe the
04:29whole list it's kind of it yeah uh but still those are two of the most significant trades in the
04:34last
04:34you know 10 12 years miller was 14 so it's 12 years ago now um the sabers have not been
04:40to the
04:40playoffs new since no but i mean seeing that's going to change i think that's i mean 93 percent 100
04:48percent
04:48that's going to change 93 percent yeah um i i i like it i mean do you need the whole
04:54spiel from
04:54me here you want to get get caught up all the way like i i think selfish for me to
04:58say yes i think i
05:00think this team i don't want to bore our listeners if they already know all this for me saying it
05:04repeatedly yesterday i think getting something to cover yourself in the event of a josh norris injury
05:09makes a lot of sense if you think you got a chance to make make noise in the east i
05:15don't think you
05:15need tage thompson robert thomas and josh norris as your top three centers it's kind of nutty
05:20there's only two spots to go around tage probably goes to the wing if everybody's healthy but much
05:26like ottawa last year divesting themselves of josh norris i would understand if the sabers feel spooked
05:31like we we have we have a lot of runway here the east is relatively wide open there's only two
05:37teams
05:37that i think on paper absolutely have to outclass them and i don't even think that's a blowout carolina
05:43and tampa so look how they've done against right so treat and even carolina last time in there they
05:49got goalie they played they played great they were the better team yeah um so i wasn't expecting
05:55that level of interest in a move like that but if it's if it's norris insurance which might be a
06:02sloppy way to put it they're very similar players to me this thomas and norris 200 foot players very
06:08good skaters this just very good high-end all-around players like not superstar level players but about
06:15the same age yeah maybe same draft i think they were drafted one pick after one another 17 in 17
06:21so
06:22i like it for that um you know provided thompson is okay moving to the wing if that's would be
06:29the
06:29outcome uh but i love that the sabers are not sort of treating this spring as
06:38well we're gonna get in and let's just take our time and trust the kids and you know we'll build
06:45up to the point where we're winning rounds and becoming a contender this is as far as we know
06:49right right like if they're if they're if they're in on a player like robert thomas
06:53trying to trade a bunch of futures and not touch their nhl roster in doing so what they're telling
06:59you is we think we can do something this year now and we're gonna try to do it which i
07:05respect the
07:06hell out of me too because sitting back you just never know how any year is gonna go injury what
07:10who knows so think of oh six right i mean that's as close as they've almost ever been
07:18and they hadn't been to the playoffs in five years before that one season was canceled but still like
07:24post hashic what did they accomplished nothing and then they got to that i mean they didn't trade
07:31for anybody right there was not this move anything close to this move i'm not saying that but right
07:38that's to your point about sort of a ramp up yeah i don't believe in a ramp up just never
07:42know when
07:43it's going to be your best shot you know and what you don't want to have happen is have you're
07:48you're
07:48conservative because you're protecting the future to a fault and your best opportunity goes by the
07:55boards i don't know how how open the east will be year over year it feels like it hasn't been
08:01this
08:01open in many many years it's hard to pay attention because the sabers were always in the same spot in
08:07the standings but the top three in the division seemed completely unobtainable for quite a few years
08:15here like maybe half of the drought if not more like tampa boston eventually florida toronto you just had
08:21these teams that were squatting on the top spots in the division and that's just not the case now
08:28the rangers are in last place they're not a powerhouse anymore the penguins are in second
08:32place in their division and i respect the hell out of the year they're having but that's not that's not
08:38a powerhouse team anymore they've got powerhouse names but it's not a team that just blows you off the
08:45ice not even close that team does not exist in the conference i don't think tampa is probably the
08:50closest to being that and the sabers just smashed them in their place last saturday well i i mean i
08:56i
08:56suppose um boston from the past five to ten years the bergeron bruins the leafs uh are i mean the
09:07bruins are in a playoff spot or just about yeah they're right there yeah but yeah they're not as
09:12daunting florida does not exist toronto really does not exist so i think it's a little bit of a
09:19perception thing where these teams because they had been winning for so long and you know they're
09:25a little bit scary yeah that you know you might just want to say we've had these conversations
09:32before the year the sabers finished one point out like well they wouldn't have won anyway no one knows
09:36that no one ever knows that even when it's teams like that you still don't know right and this team
09:44is good enough to justify what we're talking about i think easily and if you want to even bring in
09:51the east in all this stuff about who's maybe not that good or beatable like that then i think you
09:58can
09:58but i think it's kind of always like that you know just goalie gets hot power play gets hot you
10:05can go
10:05miles and this is that's true of this team i mean easily i'm curious for as premature as this is
10:14what they're going to do about the net if they make it because nobody rotates not in the playoffs no
10:20usually maybe you rotate if you lose game one right you pivot and then you pivot to the other guy
10:27but usually you start the guy that i think you think you can run with in the playoffs who is
10:33that
10:34for them we don't know yet i mean i really don't if it were tonight well let's say let's say
10:39not
10:40tonight because they played last night and then you can tell me right it'd be lucan's turn if it's
10:44if it's saturday yeah i don't know i think i really don't know either i think it's close uh i
10:49am
10:49probably going to lean lucan in um but you know they've each got what do we got here 21 games
10:56left
10:56after last night so each guy will get maybe 10 games ideally if they both stay healthy um i don't
11:02know
11:02maybe they'll mix a colton ellis game in there somewhere just to keep him fresh if they need him
11:07uh for something but but either way you've got you've got enough games i think to make that decision
11:13and i right now i would be a coin flip i think they both there are merits to both guys
11:19um all you've
11:20got on lion is that he started for the panthers in the playoffs three years ago went two games got
11:26benched and then they made the finals that's his playoff experience i think anyway as a number one
11:32it may have been on other teams that were in so i don't quote me on he's only played those
11:37two games
11:37but like as a starter that was his shot and it didn't go great and you know he got replaced
11:43and
11:43never played again um i'm not saying that has to happen here lucan has never done it i know i
11:49know
11:49that i don't care about about playoff experience right my whole team is lacking in playoff experience
11:57and i want to like that about them you know they don't have playoff experience usually almost always
12:03includes losing in the playoffs right most teams lose so i i'm not i'm not worried about it this is
12:10so 2006 i don't know that this team is as good as that team it's 20 years forgive me if
12:18i'm not
12:19completely like ready with you know data on the two teams but like last night the vibes are great
12:27the standings look great you know they're they're right there and so you've got a lot to like here
12:33the fact that it's new again is even better like that's fun um but when i watch them win like
12:41games
12:41like last night i think they got the one bounce you know like the first goal they get that bounce
12:46and
12:46the other and vegas doesn't i mean shot attempts were equal they weren't really outplayed but they
12:52weren't superior no i i thought they were for the front they went up three nothing i thought like
12:58this is i should have had the tage thompson hat trick bet in night because they're just gonna they're
13:02gonna boat race this team that did not happen but it turned around on a dime and almost from there
13:07i felt like it was the most hanging on in a game i've seen them have to do they've won
13:14a lot of
13:14games protecting late leads getting the empty netter they didn't get an empty netter last night
13:19but they've they've they've managed those games very effectively last night was the longest duration
13:27that it felt like they were doing that for they just hanging on they're hanging on i mean i just
13:32i don't
13:33know if they talked after the game i didn't see you know anything referencing this in the post game
13:38comments but you know the olympic break three game road trip first game home no they weren't out in
13:44some other time zone but it just looked to me like they were slow in the back half of the
13:49game they just
13:49were not fast anymore and i think maybe their legs abandoned them and so you know they're having the
13:56kind of year where you win a game that way and you give them credit because you know maybe they
14:02weren't anywhere near their best but they still managed to beat a good team and pick up another
14:08two points but it was um that was as nervous as i've been in one of these one goal third
14:13periods
14:14in a long time because i just thought they were really on their heels well not that you or anyone
14:19would care but i've got my own framework for measuring my level of interest in this i don't have
14:27lucky pants yet okay i'm wearing shorts maybe these are lucky shorts still time there might
14:32there might still be time but in 05 06 my wife and i bought season tickets in december
14:39that year because i mean it was like a fire sale off the canceled year and we went to every
14:44game no
14:44kids like no no real responsibilities at all right so we went to every game and that you know brought
14:51out it's like a little little sweet pocket of life where you're you have a career you're you're you're
14:58making money you can live on and you don't yet have anything else that's really tethering you to
15:05like that is well those are days jeremy tweeted this morning about the bar that's now closed that
15:11you went to to watch them in the playoffs last time and like yeah oh that's right bars right
15:19wow i don't even know if they were open or closed or anything anymore because i don't know if
15:24anything's open anymore like i just but that's you know yeah that was those that time in in my life
15:29too
15:29um so oh where was i your level of my level my framework for measuring my level of interest
15:38i'm not at like lucky stuff i'm not a season ticket holder anymore but i got to this point today
15:47and it turns out i was paid off for never deleting emails okay the hockey playoff pool
15:57that i used to run oh i see okay right that's out there so i thought of it and i
16:05texted greg bauck
16:06like i think maybe this is the year we bring back the playoff pool because you know i'm thinking to
16:12myself i will watch the playoffs this year at least for a couple of weeks you know so um i
16:19did a search
16:20in my email for the playoff pool there they are 2017 people sending in their lineups and i needed that
16:26to remember exactly what the format was eight years ago i'm not sure i've done it ever since i know
16:33in
16:33recent years well that's nine years ago i'm not i know in recent years i haven't bothered with it
16:37but i do have email from nine years ago 18 players two points for a goal one for an assist
16:44you know
16:44how much it costs and i think i'm uh six per team max right right i remember i think i'm
16:51up for it i
16:52know in oh six it was somebody else's pool the first year i ever did it it was somebody else
16:58who ran it
16:58i think maybe in canada i wish i knew right now as we're talking on the air who it was
17:02um i could be reminded but that year oh six playoffs i just loaded up on the sabers
17:09because i felt like nobody else was going to do that so breer connelly drury connelly goes out
17:15in the second round um but like it was mine if they won one more game nobody had edmonton
17:21you know right seed in the west yep it was mine look it was theirs it was their cup it
17:25was my cup
17:26one more one more game but that's my that's really high on the meter for me like how interested
17:32i am if i'm going to run the playoff pool again then um i'm pretty damn interested yeah my mine
17:38is
17:39um i would measure mine by um my ability to do a three-hour show uh entirely about a player
17:47that
17:47most of the audience had never heard of before yesterday afternoon yeah well congrats to you
17:52which is what i managed to do with again with a lot of input i mean it was just it
17:58was kind of
17:59stunning i think you know i wasn't here to partake but i think what you might get is less opinions
18:07from
18:07sabers fans on robert thomas quote robert thomas than opinions on who they think is tradable
18:15owen power is a pretty pretty much a lightning rod i think i think so for that there's definitely
18:20people out there that that want him off the team and i want him here i don't understand it at
18:24all
18:25well i understand it i just don't think it's right um you know i i think he he is cursed
18:31this is a a
18:33lifetime of watching hockey and talking about hockey he is cursed by being a big man who's not mean
18:39and it undoes almost well for some people anyway i don't think this speaks for even the majority of
18:45the fan base but the people who are mad that he's not mean um he can do no right and
18:51so you just don't
18:52see all of the very good plays he makes all game long and you're just there to say like why
18:58didn't
18:59he tie that guy up or punch someone in the face and i just think that's kind of silly i
19:03mean i i would
19:04like him to be meaner and tougher too but he is a very important player to this whole thing there's
19:10a
19:10reason why if if they're walking away from st louis permanently because st louis needs own power in
19:16the trade i say good for them good for the sabers me too because i i don't think you'd be
19:21helped i
19:21don't think you'd i think you'd be hurting yourself um and you'd be creating uh to me a huge hole
19:26they
19:27just so rarely have games where they really get scored on you know goaltending's been really good
19:33defensively they're really good and that's why like this streak they're on now they just never give
19:38up more than two goals in a game like that's happening again i say i say that now we'll see
19:42what happens in pittsburgh pittsburgh did put five on them right yeah last time they played
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