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00:00Here's Paul Hamilton. Well, Paul, I want to preface this by it's sort of a thing with me
00:05when people talk about best ever game or just like the newest thing is I've never been to
00:12such and such an experience. However, last night I think has to rate on a very short list of
00:20incredible games in that building. Would you not agree? Yeah, and I'm with you because it's like,
00:26well, the latest game seems like the best ever and sometimes you forget others and I think,
00:31well, I probably have seen an 8-7 game somewhere along the line here, but I don't remember a game
00:37where the Sabres had a 3-0 lead and then got outscored 6-1 and then proceeded to outscore the
00:45opponent 4-1 to get to 8-7. I don't remember that with how many, well, five fighting majors,
00:53but for whatever reason, there was a fight with Byram that they didn't give majors. They gave
00:58roughing and 10-minute misconducts and that Byram was like pounding on the guy's head for like,
01:05Byram pulled a Hagel. Byram was the first guy I saw throw his gloves off. He was at like the
01:09blue
01:10line entering the zone. This is the beginning. The first hit of the first big thing in the game
01:15when two guys tag team Thompson against the wall, Byram's gloves are like, he almost threw them up
01:19to the jumbotron and it just went barely in there. Same guy, but it was later behind the net
01:25and he got the two minutes and a 10. And it's like, well, those punches that we were watching
01:33didn't count. So there's five official fights, but there were more, you know, and 102 minutes
01:41in penalties, which should have also been more because Hagel should have been excused from the
01:45game. Uh, I agree with Lindy Ruff wholeheartedly on that. I mean, that's, that's a game misconduct.
01:51I'm sorry. That's a major penalty and a game misconduct, but you know what referees do and
01:57we've all seen it. If it's not like if Rob Ray would have done that in, in, in his day,
02:02he would have gotten like three majors, three misconducts and a 10 game suspension.
02:08But when a guy who has some offensive talent does it, it's like, Oh, let's give him a break
02:13here. You see all the time where the third man in doesn't get called. They're giving him
02:18a break. Yeah. You know? So they call a double minor, so they don't have to call third man
02:22in. And well, they decided, well, let's not give him a major cause then we got to toss them.
02:27And, and then, so you get a double minor. Yes. Buffalo scored in the power play, but this guy
02:31also got a goal and an assist later on too. And, and did get, did get fined the most he
02:38could get fined today, $5,000. But that, that was kind of ridiculous, but yeah, getting back
02:45to the original thing. I don't remember a game that was similar to this and I don't remember
02:51a crowd like this since Max Afiniganov and Danny Breer and Drury and Miller and all that
02:58group. Uh, that's about the last time I heard a crowd like that. What is it like in that
03:03room? I don't know. Like last night, Paul, like how, how much, cause you've been in, in
03:07rooms where this, this team is, you know, clinched playoff series. So it's important
03:12to point out here, the Sabres won a hockey game last night. They haven't won anything
03:15really of substance here, but they're having this incredible year and the players, I think
03:21to a man, from what I heard, I'm just curious to have your firsthand, uh, point of view
03:26on this said they really were feeling emotional about the crowd. No, I mean, Darlene was pretty
03:35frank. He goes, we couldn't have done it without him. I mean, they just got charged up and even
03:40when it was seven to five, it's the let's go Buffalo. I mean, at no point, even when Tampa
03:45is running up six to one, did I hear a boo or anything but encouragement, uh, and loud
03:53encouragement for the hockey team? Because even after the six, one happened, you're still
03:57talking about a seven, five game and there's still half a period left. Right. And you know,
04:03the Sabres are still pressuring that well over 40 shots and they're still pressuring and there's no,
04:10there's no quitting these guys. We all know that now. Uh, we, I don't know if we could have said
04:14that,
04:14uh, in past years, but there's no quitting these guys and they just keep coming and coming and
04:20coming. And, uh, it's like, all right, let us get our offensive chances now. And maybe we can
04:25convert on some of them. And that's exactly what they did. And they got the three goals in less than
04:29five minutes. I mean, uh, it was like four, something four 40 or four 44 or something like
04:34that. And, uh, you know, they just, they just keep coming. They don't care. And, uh, you know,
04:41again, the power play, it's like, we've been talking about this for how long,
04:45four power play goal, but what about the other three where they never even got the puck in the
04:50zone and then the five on three, which I will give them some grace on because Darlene, who was their
04:56quarterback was sitting in the penalty box for the whole two minute five on three. And the guys on
05:01the ice, they were lost. They were just trying to force plays because the quarterback wasn't back
05:05there. Normally Thompson would have deferred back to Darlene given in the puck, whether it would have
05:10worked or not. I don't know, but it would have worked a lot better than Thompson trying to force
05:13passes through three guys and, and out, but all right, you didn't score on the five on three,
05:18but then you went four for five on the power play after that. And they have finishers. I mean,
05:24I think structurally the complaining about the power play has merit, but I mean, they have guys
05:29who can just like click. I mean, Doan's gold for one, nothing, the hands, not a power play goal,
05:34but the hands on Zucker for two, for two, nothing on that Darlene pass. I mean, they've got goal
05:39scorers. Samuelson has become this player too. Also not a power play goal. And they have a power
05:44play goal in 10 out of 13 games. So, but it's, it really is, you know, as I said, they
05:50might have
05:51four power plays in the first and three of them were horrendous, but they did score on the other
05:55one. Did you, I guess maybe I'm just behind a little bit, or maybe you'd agree. I didn't expect,
06:02I don't think of Tampa Bay as like so goony of a team, but you talked about Lindy after the
06:09game
06:09and he was asked about their chasing Darlene. He said, it looked that way, didn't it? You know,
06:14very coolly. Um, it was, it had the look of a game where Tampa Bay just wanted to sort of
06:19smack
06:20the Sabres around and thought probably there was value in that. We're the boss, you know, who are you
06:26get out of here. And the Sabres stood up to it. Do you think of the lightning is like,
06:30would it surprise, would it have surprised you that they play like that?
06:34No, not at all. They lead the league in majors. I mean, every time they play Florida, it's a game
06:38like that. Um, so they are there. They're quite honestly, I, I really don't think Tampa respects
06:46Buffalo yet. I, as somebody said to me somewhere on one of the shows I've been on, or maybe the
06:51post game with Brian, it's, it's like, well, it's kind of surprising. They didn't play Vasileski
06:56in the game that was more important. And I said, do you really think Tampa, do you, I said,
07:03do you really think Tampa thought it was an important game? I don't, I don't think, I don't
07:08think it's registered yet. The Buffalo Sabres have arrived. Maybe if they look at the standings
07:13today, it might register to them, but I just don't think it's right because it's been so long
07:18where you play the Buffalo Sabres, especially in Buffalo, it's a really easy game. You can take
07:24it easy. You can roll your stats up. Yeah. They may, they may come to life at some point,
07:29but you know, you're just, it's a laugher and it's been so many years. And I think teams
07:36are still trying to get used to that. The Buffalo Sabres are different now. And Tampa's like,
07:41well, let's try to just run them out of the building. We'll do what other teams, because
07:45other teams try to, to get aggravate Darlene too. And get after him. Florida's had a, he's
07:53had a thing with a number of guys on Florida. Yeah. I mean, teams do it. That's what they
07:57try to do. Um, I can guarantee you the guy that we spoke with at the end of the first
08:02period, uh, Logan Stanley was taking some notes. He knows that Tampa comes in and I'll guarantee
08:10you this Tampa will not do exactly what they did yesterday in that game. If Stanley's dressed
08:16and not injured, uh, they, they, you, Hegel will not do to Darlene what he did. If he
08:24has to answer to Stanley, I'll guarantee it. Um, so, uh, you know, that, that, that foolishness
08:30will, will be reduced. I don't know if it'll be gone, but it'll be reduced because they got
08:35the dirt, one of the dirtiest players in the national hockey league and Kucherov. Yep.
08:39I mean, that guy, that guy is just phenomenal hockey player, but he is a punk boy. I thought
08:47I want to just, I want to interject here when, when the horn blew was hard to see what was
08:51going on because of the camera angle where the play was happening. I saw Kucherov. I'm
08:56like, somebody should just go get him. Right. Byram, just go, just go get him. Just go cross
09:02check him in the face. Whatever. He basically swung his stick at whoever it was, uh, the back there
09:07with him. And as, as the horn was blowing, he is filthy, that guy. And he's got a temper.
09:12Um, yeah, he is. Did you see him after the one timer? He scores on the one timer and he
09:17goes over and gets in looking in space and barking at the goalie garbage to him. Yep. Yep.
09:22That happened after two Tampa goals, seven, five, maybe they ended up at the Sabre bench.
09:28Bunch of guys after that, after that goal. Yeah. Do you think Darlene, I said in the first
09:32segment of our show that it might do him well to just sort of go off on someone.
09:37One of these nights, it doesn't have to be Tampa, but like he, he, there's no mystery.
09:43He's a great player, right? He's important. He's their captain, right? He's great. He's
09:47all over the ice. Uh, he's also edgy. Like he antagonizes, you know, like he, some well
09:52placed chops with the stick. It's not like he's an innocent bystander, but he doesn't
09:57engage fully to drop the gloves level. Um, I wonder if he, he did with radish. Well, right.
10:04He, he was sort of pulled into that. I think, um, I wonder if he could, um, do, do himself
10:11well to sort of, I don't know, plant a flag, if you know what I mean, in someone's face.
10:15Mm-hmm. Yeah. He's, he's done that once or twice. Um, I, I let, you know, when, when
10:22Hagel was, I, I, what I kind of enjoyed was the team, it was by him because they were up
10:28ice. So nobody really saw it except Lukanen. Lukanen's looking straight at it and it didn't
10:34take, he, he just came right out of the crease and he was headed for Hagel and the referee cut
10:39him off just before he got there. And by that time, Don had seen it and came back and, and
10:45jumped in. Uh, but I liked the fact that Lukanen said, none of the teammates can see that. I
10:51can see I'm going, I got to go help him. And Johansson let it happen. He wasn't coming out
10:57of the Tampa crease, which kind of surprised me. Uh, cause Lukanen had a purpose when he
11:03was coming out. And, uh, so he, he almost got there. So we almost wound up with a goalie
11:07fight too. Right. Johansson was probably like, man, I want to play. I never get to
11:11play. I have to go fight. I'll get thrown out automatically. And he ends up giving up
11:16eight, eight, seven, and both goalies last the duration. Really amazing that that was
11:23a game that could have happened. And one thing I'll give Lukanen credit for, he fought
11:29through it. I mean, he was having a rough night, but you know, in the last five minutes
11:34he had to make some saves and he, he fought through it. I mean, as the team did, I mean,
11:39it wasn't the team's best night. Some guys had some bad nights, but they, they didn't
11:43quit on the game. They fought through it. And it's like, all right, it's not our night,
11:46but we got, it's, it's kind of like what you hear coaches say. I've heard Granato say
11:50it. And I've heard Lindy rough say it. You don't have your a game, but just because you
11:54have a B game is no excuse to lose the hockey game. And that's kind of what the Sabres did
12:00there. It's like, that wasn't their best. They, they made some turnovers. They, that
12:04they've been cleaning up and not making Austin does not make turnovers very often. He had
12:08a horrible one that wound up in the net. Um, you know, and, and it's, it wasn't like
12:13them, but they found a way to win because they stuck with it. And I would include Lukan
12:18in there that he, it wasn't his night, but he's stuck in there just quickly. I also liked
12:22that rough included Austin in the post game on the play that he made, which drew the penalty,
12:28right. Even though that wasn't one of the eight goals, uh, deserved. It was, it was
12:33worthy of, of mention. Yeah. Good in a game like that, that he didn't get benched for
12:38that mistake earlier. That cost them a goal on the giveaway, Paul. Right. Well, I, you
12:42know, Lindy rough is, you know, he, he, he knows a lot more about hockey than I do. And,
12:47and, uh, he, you know, he realizes Austin is not a turnover machine. I mean, he's, he's
12:52good with the puck and everything. And all right, he's, he's human. He turned the puck
12:57over once and it wound up in the net. Uh, he don't need to tell him. He, first of
13:01all, I'm sure not much was said when he came over, he knows because he's a very
13:06smart hockey player. That's what got him to the national hockey league at age 21.
13:10Uh, so it's just, it happened and you move on. They have today off because in my
13:16opinion, they should get today off. It was a scheduled day off. So I'm, I'm thinking
13:20it probably was the NHL mandated day off, but, uh, yeah. And, uh, you know, especially
13:25when you've got three games and four, I mean, a back-to-back and both were
13:29difficult wins. I mean, there were Nashville is a difficult win in other
13:33ways. Uh, you know, so, uh, you know that, yeah, they, they, they, even if
13:39they had lost both games, I think they would have had today off just because you
13:43only have so much energy. I'm glad you mentioned the Nashville game. Cause I
13:47somewhere earlier in our show already today, Paul, I mentioned how it's pretty
13:51cool to have back-to-back nights with home games and have the two games be,
13:56you know, both one in regulation, very different hockey games, right?
14:01Saturday night was just low event, just sort of waited out. Don't make a mistake
14:06kind of thing. And, you know, they built a lead and then sort of, you know, hung
14:10on. Um, but it was a very patient game and you need to know how to win that kind
14:15of game. And then last night I can only imagine how valuable it was for them to
14:20learn what kind of drain it can be on you emotionally and physically to be all
14:27that adrenaline, all the fights, all that stuff. Like, you know, I was writing
14:32your game story in my head, watching the third period while Tampa is up by two,
14:36two different times. Like, you know, Tampa dragged them into the alley and the
14:41Sabres didn't have enough left after, after the fighting, but they recovered and
14:46found their way. And it just is so impressive to win a game.
14:50In such different ways on back-to-back nights, Tampa dragged them into the alley
14:55and tired themselves out, right? They, they didn't have the gas to finish the
14:59game where the Sabres did what, what I'm interested to see, a much improved San
15:04Jose Sharks team comes in tomorrow. This is a very emotional game that they just
15:10won. They've beaten Tampa twice. Now they just got themselves to first place.
15:15They were spent. I mean, Alex Tuck was sitting there waiting for us. We came over,
15:19I got there first and said, you want to, you're going to stand or you're going to
15:21sit? He goes, I don't know. What do you want to do?
15:24I didn't play your choice.
15:27He goes, all right, I guess I'll stand, but you could just tell he was spent.
15:31And Darlene looked like he, he was in a 12 round prize fight.
15:34I mean, his face is all swollen and cut open and, and, and the whole thing. So after an
15:41emotional win like that, I'll be very interested to see how, uh, how they are tomorrow against
15:45San Jose.
15:46Are they getting their reinforcements yet? I mean, you mentioned Stanley. I saw him on
15:50the tele telecast as well being interviewed. He's here. Are they all here, but they can't
15:55work?
15:56All but Shannon are here and he gets here today, I believe.
15:59Um, and, uh, yeah, there he's ready to go. I asked, I said, do you have any idea how long
16:04this visa thing's going to take? He goes, I really don't. I mean, he's ready to go, but
16:09he can't even practice. I mean, he's got to skate on his own and he can't even practice.
16:14And I, you know, I, I was expecting him to like jump out of the press box onto the ice.
16:19So he was so ready to play and watching his new teammates, as you, as you said, get dragged
16:25into the fight. And, uh, it would have been interesting to see if Pearson, who's a bigger
16:30man and Shen and, and, and, and Stanley were all in the lineup, if that would have changed
16:36the complexion of the game. Uh, I don't think, I don't think Hagel is, is, is brave as, is
16:41he thinks he is. If those guys are in the, if those guys are in the fight. So, uh, yeah,
16:47they're, they're just itching to get out there and they, Stanley, I just don't know. I don't
16:51know how long it's going to take, but I'm ready to play.
16:53Okay. It's so good to have villains back, right? Like hate Hagel, Hagel's at the top
16:58of the list. Now I I'm, I'm watching, as I watched Detroit a couple of times while I
17:03was out sick last week. And let me just, I'm ready to go on Alex to bring its face when
17:08anybody wants. So he's just got one of those mugs that you're going to, he's going to score
17:12against us in the playoffs. And you're going to be like, Oh, that guy, like it's almost
17:16Molenski level face. Like it's so good to have that all back. I miss a punchable face.
17:23Like I missed it so much. And Darlene hates the Red Wings too. He was talking about Raymond,
17:28his boy from Sweden who played really well. And he goes, Oh, if we played Detroit, I love
17:34that. Yes. Let's play Detroit in the playoffs. And I want to beat Raymond so bad. And, and
17:40I hate Detroit. Yeah. I mean, he's like all fired up. It's like, let's start the series
17:44tomorrow type of a thing. Uh, yeah. So I don't think Darlene would mind if the Red Wings were
17:49the opponent either, but Tampa is on its own tier for me right now as a rival, you
17:54know, like there are, there are players and there's history. Sabres have no playoff
17:57history with the lightning or the Red Wings as it happens. But I think they're on their
18:02own level, Paul, as like after last night, the hated rival.
18:06Well, Lindy, Lindy Ruff, uh, I don't know, a couple of months ago, we were, uh, he was
18:10at the podium. We were talking about villains or whatever. And we were talking about the
18:13Bruins series where Lindy Ruff was centering a line with Larry Playfair and Val James
18:19against, against the Bruins, like Bruce Shoebottom. And I think Miller might've been a part of
18:24that and whoever, you know, probably. Yeah. And it was like one fight after another. And yeah,
18:32but Lindy Ruff was centering Larry Playfair and Val James. That was a line for the playoffs.
18:39Special, special, uh, different, different, different time. Yeah. Right. Larry at wing.
18:44They should have gone further with that. Larry at wing. All right. Um, well, we'll wait for
18:51updates on the new guys. I think, you know, this is the kind of the time of year when you,
18:55you mix them all in, right? I mean, they're not all going to play every game, but maybe this
19:00team's close to exhausted after the weekend. Well, I think what's going to happen is Metza
19:04goes back and is the captain of Rochester. Shen is your number seven. Stanley steps in as your
19:09number six. Right. Uh, plays with Kesselring or, you know, and, and, uh, Shen, if you like,
19:16he would definitely be dressed for the Tampa Bay game. I'll guarantee that. Uh, Kesselring had a
19:20night. Yeah. With 81. They couldn't quit each other. He wasn't going to be denied because he was
19:27denied right before the period ended. So it took two seconds for them to start tangling. Uh, you
19:32know, when the period started. So it's like, okay, let's, let's get out there. He probably
19:35told Lindy, start me. Okay. Andy, he got him to the ground. Yeah. Cernac. He got him to the
19:41ground. Right. It was a Malenstein court. Corey Perry's no shrinking violet. No, that's
19:46right. Took him out. Welcome back. Corey Perry. I loved, I loved, I didn't think he'd get
19:49traded cause LA was sort of on the fence there. I loved him as an idea for the Sabres to
19:54see
19:55him back on that team again, where he won with them. Maybe the second of their, their
20:00cups in a row. I can't remember, but he was definitely on Tampa at some point in that run.
20:05Maybe he got there even after it. Anyways, what a perfect guy to have thrown into the
20:10rivalry is Corey Perry. I mean, it's just like out of central cast. And you guys saw it, the
20:15slow motion on that, the end of that fight, Malenstein gets him. And then he goes for one
20:21more and he just misses like Perry is already falling and there's a punch that just goes
20:26right by his face. That could have been really damaging, pretty brutal. Well, just to be
20:31clear, Paul, we don't know if there's a chance that the visa thing is, it's just one of these
20:35things that'll happen one day. We just don't know when it could be solved today. Yeah. Who
20:39knows? I mean, they may be a practice tomorrow. We don't know. I mean, whenever it's solved,
20:44it's solved. I have, I have no idea, you know, how that's going to work. So it just take,
20:49when it takes whatever it takes, it's time and takes its time. I remember Dan Dunleavy had to go
20:54to Montreal, I believe it was, and sit there for like a week to get his, and he had to
21:01like pay for
21:02his hotel and everything. And it took a week for him to get his, and he had to actually go
21:06to
21:06Montreal to do it. So it's, it's goofy how that works. Paul, thanks. Yep. Great night. There you go.
21:13There's our Paul Hamilton on the Western hotline. His appearances are brought to you by Raylax
21:19Honda. Raylax, we got this. Shouldn't the Sabres know somebody though? I know they're just hockey
21:24players. Like what are we, what are we doing here? They just know somebody that can expedite
21:28rubber stamp that stuff. What are we, what are we doing here?
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