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Not the same ol' Sabres!
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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 4d i i've said it repeatedly you know what i'm about to
01:33say
01:33it's there it's as close to a superpower as the sabers have that is the one thing i would not
01:38want to
01:38mess with um so it makes sense to me that they're also talking to the blues about justin falk or
01:46colton
01:46pareko uh for third pair if they're not going to disturb those top four that would be that would
01:53be a walk away for me i i i and i don't think there's any really talking me into it
01:57um because
01:59i just don't think you could like slot justin falk has been that level of defenseman in his career
02:05for most of his career i just don't think he's that anymore and nor is pareko and so you know
02:11there's some trade-off if you're trading from strength and getting you know something up that's
02:16up top going to help you a lot which thomas certainly should and would you know you can
02:21maybe try to balance that out but i just i can't i can't i can't get there are you reading
02:26the media
02:29reports on this any certain way like who who's mad at the other is anybody who's to blame to you
02:36know
02:36to put it some way for there not being a trade i haven't thought hard about if someone like who
02:44who is i i think i kind of need you for that um like who's motivated to tell you know
02:51chris johnston
02:52or darren drager or jeremy rutherford you know what's going on there i think the blues if they
02:59are eager to sell robert thomas and want to max out what they're going to get in return which any
03:06team
03:06should especially with a 26 year old 80 point a year centerman uh then i think it behooves them
03:14to like hey here's what here's what the sabers couldn't beat you know they didn't want to include
03:19this guy if you're out there and have some version of this guy you're detroit or montreal or other
03:25teams that are in this mix with the sabers that could be looking to upgrade then uh you know come
03:30to
03:30the table um i don't think the whole thing has to be dead i know i mean yesterday it was
03:35like
03:36we had a torrid affair with it for like three hours and you know it kind of cooled off this
03:41morning that's how it reads but until i saw jeremy tweet this and i totally agree until the player is
03:48either traded somewhere else um or you know the trade deadline passes the sabers might have the
03:56best offer on the table and the blues could still end up taking it um and the fact that they're
04:00still
04:01reportedly engaged because of this defenseman point if that turns into one big trade that still
04:07doesn't involve one of those top four defensemen i mean all the better because i think you can just
04:12have one transaction and one stop shopping get done everything you want to get done why is it that all
04:17the sabers biggest work seems to happen through the saint louis blues why is it always the saint
04:21louis blues for this isn't it doesn't it seem like that a little bit ryan miller miller of course
04:26uh o'reilly o'reilly was that is that it actually maybe the whole list that's kind of it yeah uh but
04:32still those are two of the most significant trades in the last you know 10 12 years miller was 14
04:36so
04:36it's 12 years ago now um the sabers have not been to the playoffs new since no but i mean
04:43see
04:44seeing that's going to change i think that's i mean 93 percent 100 that's going to change 93 percent yeah
04:50um i i i like it i mean do you need the whole spiel from me here you want to
04:55get get caught up all the
04:56way like i i think selfish for me to say yes i think i think this team i don't want
05:01to bore our
05:01listeners if they already know all this for me saying it repeatedly yesterday i think getting
05:06something to cover yourself in the event of a josh norris injury makes a lot of sense if you think
05:11you've got a chance to make make noise in the east i don't think you need tage thompson robert thomas
05:17and josh norris is your top three centers it's kind of nutty there's only two spots to go around
05:22tage probably goes to the wing if everybody's healthy but much like ottawa last year divesting
05:28themselves of josh norris i would understand if the sabers feel spooked like we we have we have a
05:33lot of runway here the east is relatively wide open there's only two teams that i think on paper
05:38absolutely have to outclass them and i don't even think that's a blowout carolina and tampa
05:44so look how they've done against right so treat and even carolina last time in there they got
05:49goalie they played they played great they were the better team yeah um so i wasn't expecting that
05:56level of interest in a move like that but if it's if it's norris insurance which might be a sloppy
06:02way
06:03to put it they're very similar players to me this thomas and norris 200 foot players very good skaters
06:09just very good high-end all-around players like not superstar level players but about the same age
06:16yeah maybe same draft i think they were drafted one pick after one another 17 in 17 so i like
06:23it for
06:24that um you know provided thompson is okay moving to the wing if that's would be the outcome uh but
06:31i love
06:31that the sabers are not sort of treating this spring as well we're gonna get in and let's just
06:41take our time and trust the kids and you know we'll build up to the point where we're winning rounds
06:47and
06:47becoming a contender this is as far as we know right right like if they're if they're if they're in
06:52on a
06:52player like robert thomas trying to trade a bunch of futures and not touch their nhl roster in doing so
06:58what they're telling you is we think we can do something this year now and we're going to try
07:04to do it which i respect the hell out of me too because sitting back you just never know how
07:09any
07:09year is going to go injury what who knows so think of oh six right i mean that's as close
07:15as they've
07:16almost ever been and they hadn't been to the playoffs in five years before that one season was canceled
07:23but still like post hashek what did they accomplish nothing and then they got to that i mean they didn't
07:31trade for anybody right there was not this move anything close to this move i'm not saying that
07:37but right that's to your point about sort of ramp up yeah i don't believe in a ramp up you
07:42just never
07:42know when it's going to be your best shot you know and what you don't want to have happen is
07:47have
07:47you're you're conservative because you're protecting the future to a fault and your best opportunity
07:54goes by the boards i don't know how how open the east will be year over year it feels like
08:00it hasn't
08:01been this open in many many years it's hard to pay attention because the sabers were always in the
08:07same spot in the standings but the top three in the division seemed completely unobtainable for
08:13quite a few years here like maybe half of the drought if not more like tampa boston eventually
08:19florida toronto you just had these teams that were squatting on the top spots in the division
08:25and that's just not the case now the rangers are in last place they're not a powerhouse anymore
08:31the penguins are in second place in their division and i respect the hell out of the year they're having
08:37but that's not that's not a powerhouse team anymore they've got powerhouse names but it's not a team
08:43that just blows you off the ice not even close that team does not exist in the conference i don't
08:48think tampa is probably the closest to being that and the sabers just smashed them in their place last
08:54saturday well i i mean i i suppose um boston from the past five to ten years the bergeron bruins
09:04the
09:05leafs uh are i mean the bruins are in a playoff spot or just about they're right there yep but
09:11yeah
09:11they're not as daunting florida does not exist toronto really does not exist so i think it's a
09:18little bit of a perception thing where these teams because they had been winning for so long
09:24and you know they're a little bit scary yeah that you know you might just want to say we've had
09:31these
09:31conversations before the year the sabers finished one point out like well they wouldn't have won
09:35anyway no one knows that no one ever knows that even when it's teams like that you still don't know
09:42right and this team is good enough to justify what we're talking about i think easily and if you want
09:49to even bring in the east in all this stuff about who's maybe not that good or beatable like that
09:57then
09:58i think you can but i think it's kind of always like that you know just goalie gets hot power
10:04play
10:04gets hot you can go miles and this is that's true of this team i mean easily i'm curious for
10:12as premature as this is what they're going to do about the net if they make it because nobody rotates
10:19not in the playoffs no usually maybe you rotate if you lose game one right you pivot and you pivot
10:26to
10:27the other guy but usually you start the guy that i think you think you can run with in the
10:33playoffs
10:33who is that for them we don't know yet i mean i really don't if it were tonight well let's
10:39say
10:39let's say not tonight because they played last night and then you can tell me right it'd be
10:43lukan's turn if it's if it's saturday yeah i don't know i think i really don't know either i think
10:48it's
10:48close uh i am probably going to lean lukan in um but you know they've each got what do we
10:54got here
10:5521 games left after last night so each guy will get maybe 10 games ideally if they both stay healthy
11:01um i don't know maybe they'll mix a colton ellis game in there somewhere just to keep him fresh if
11:06they need him uh for something but but either way you've got you've got enough games i think to make
11:12that decision and i right now i would be a coin flip i think they both there are merits to
11:18both guys
11:19um all you've got on lion is that he started for the panthers in the playoffs three years ago went
11:25two games got benched and then they made the finals that's his playoff experience i think
11:31anyway as a number one it may have been on other teams that were in so i don't quote me
11:36on he's only
11:36played those two games but like as a starter that was his shot and it didn't go great and you
11:42know he
11:43got replaced and never played again um i'm not saying that has to happen here lukan has never done it
11:48i
11:48know i know that i don't care about about playoff experience right my whole team is lacking in playoff
11:56experience and i want to like that about them you know they don't have playoff experience usually
12:03almost always includes losing in the playoffs right most teams lose so i i'm not i'm not worried
12:10about it this is so 2006 i don't know that this team is as good as that team it's 20
12:17years
12:18forgive me if i'm not completely like ready with you know data on the two teams but like last night
12:24the vibes are great the standings look great you know they're they're right there and so you've got
12:32a lot to like here the fact that it's new again is even better like that's fun um but when
12:40i watch
12:40them win like games like last night i think they got the one bounce you know like the first goal
12:44they get that bounce and the other and vegas doesn't i mean shot attempts were equal they
12:49weren't really outplayed but they weren't superior no i i thought they were for the front they went
12:56up three nothing i thought like this is i should have had the tage thompson hat trick bet in night
13:01because they're just gonna they're gonna boat race this team that did not happen but it turned around
13:05on a dime and almost from there i felt like it was the most hanging on in a game i've
13:12seen them
13:13have to do they've won a lot of games protecting late leads getting the empty netter they didn't get
13:18an empty netter last night but they've they've they've managed those games very effectively last
13:25night was the longest duration that it felt like they were doing that for they just hanging on
13:31hanging on i mean i just i don't know if they talked after the game i didn't see you know
13:36anything
13:36referencing this in the post game comments but you know the olympic break three game road trip
13:42first game home no they weren't out in some other time zone but it just looked to me like they
13:47were
13:47slow in the back half of the game they just were not fast anymore and i think maybe their legs
13:53abandoned
13:53them and so you know they're having the kind of year where you win a game that way and you
14:00give them
14:00credit because you know maybe they weren't anywhere near their best but they still managed to beat a
14:06good team and pick up another two points but it was um that was as nervous as i've been in
14:12one of
14:12these one goal third periods in a long time because i just thought they were really on their heels well
14:17not that you or anyone would care but i've got my own framework for measuring my level of interest in
14:25this i don't have lucky pants yet okay i'm wearing shorts maybe these are lucky shorts still time
14:31there might there might still be time but in 0506 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 kids
14:45like no no real responsibilities at all right so we went to every game and that you know brought out
14:51such a little sweet pocket of life where you're you have a career you're you're making money you can
14:59live on and you don't yet have anything else that's really tethering you to like that is
15:06well those are days jeremy tweeted this morning about the bar that's now closed that you went to
15:12to watch them in the playoffs last time and i'm like yeah oh that's right bars right wow
15:20i 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
15:39i'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
16:58ran it i think maybe in canada i wish i knew right now as we're talking on the air who
17:02it was
17:02um i could be reminded but that year oh six playoffs i just loaded up on the sabers because
17:09i felt like nobody else was going to do that so breer connelly drury connelly goes out in the second
17:16round um but like it was mine if they won one more game nobody had edmonton you know right seed
17:22in the
17:22west yep it was mine look it was theirs it was their cup it was my cup one more game
17:28but that's my
17:29that's really high on the meter for me like how interested i am if i'm going to run the playoff
17:34pool again then um i'm pretty damaged yeah my mine is um i would measure mine by um my ability
17:42to do
17:43a three-hour show uh entirely about a player that most of the audience had never heard of before
17:49yesterday afternoon yeah well congrats to you which is what i managed to do with again with a lot of
17:57input i mean it was just it was kind of stunning i think you know i wasn't here to partake
18:02but i think
18:04what you might get is less opinions from sabers fans on robert thomas quote robert thomas than
18:12opinions on who they think is tradable owen power is a pretty pretty much a lightning rod i think i
18:19think
18:19so for that there's definitely people out there that that want him off the team and i want him here
18:23i
18:24don't understand it at all well i understand it i just don't think it's right um you know i i
18:29think
18:29he he is cursed this is a a lifetime of watching hockey and talking about hockey he is cursed by
18:37being
18:37a big man who's not mean and it undoes almost well for some people anyway i don't think this speaks
18:44for
18:44even the majority of the fan base but the people who are mad that he's not mean um he can
18:50do no right
18:51and so you just don't see all of the very good plays he makes all game long and you're just
18:57there
18:58to say like why didn't he tie that guy up or punch someone in the face and i just think
19:02that's kind of
19:02silly i mean i i would like him to be meaner and tougher too but he is a very important
19:08player to this
19:09whole thing there's a reason why if if they're walking away from st louis permanently because st louis
19:15needs own power in the trade i say good for them good for the sabers me too because i i
19:20don't think
19:20you'd be help i don't think you'd i think you'd be hurting yourself um and you'd be creating uh to
19:25me a huge hole they just so rarely have games where they really get scored on you know goaltending's
19:31been really good you know defensively they're really good and that's why like this streak they're
19:36on now they just never give up more than two goals in a game like that's happening again i say
19:41i
19:41say that now we'll see what happens in pittsburgh pittsburgh did put five on them right yeah last
19:45time they played
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