00:00I have written – I thought this would be fun for fans who wanted to play this out.
00:04Maybe you've already done this in your head or written it out like I have.
00:08But this is my job, okay?
00:10The perfect trip.
00:13Can we do that?
00:14Can we get away with the perfect trip as a topic through the playoffs all the way?
00:24I'm not sure I want to make it like my absolute perfect trip
00:27because I don't want to just do one and then everybody goes,
00:31yeah, that's the right answer.
00:32I don't want to play.
00:33So I want to leave a couple of cracks for anybody else who wants to share with us,
00:39offer to us, their perfect Sabres playoff trip.
00:43Who are we playing?
00:47So I want to be the one seed because I want that money for the coach of the year.
00:53And I think I might have to get –
00:54You're going to have to beat Carolina out for the top seed in the East?
00:57I might have to beat Tampa at least.
00:59Okay.
00:59I think if they win the division, he'll win the award.
01:01I really do.
01:03Sam Panionovich, who will be on tomorrow, said last week it's a two-man race.
01:07Right.
01:07It's Ruff and Cooper.
01:08Yep.
01:09And when we talked to him weeks ago, and I brought this up last week as well,
01:13I think the Sabres might have to win the division for Ruff to win the award.
01:17And they're in first place, and it still doesn't sound like people are necessarily inclined
01:23to vote for him, which I don't understand.
01:25But I'm saying we're the one, and there's a demons tour, demons path for this.
01:36All kinds of demons are lying around.
01:39You've really done work.
01:40It's the traitors and those grave sites, and they're all just going to pop out.
01:44You've got Ottawa from 20 years ago, if not more.
01:48You've got Carolina and Brindamore waiting.
01:51You've got – I mean, Montreal and Boston, that's my youth,
01:55and that's having pretty good to very good Sabres teams lose every year in the playoffs
02:00to one or the other.
02:00Like, you've got a lot of – and then you've got the West.
02:03There's that in the West as well.
02:05I think the most – my favorite idea for the first round is Detroit
02:11because I think they're the weakest team in play,
02:13and the Sabres have never had a playoff series with Detroit.
02:17There's four teams in the East they've never played in the playoffs,
02:20Tampa, Florida, Columbus, and Detroit.
02:23And I think Ottawa's probably good, and even Columbus might be pretty good.
02:27I think they're all better than Detroit.
02:29So Red Wings would be a very fun first round.
02:33Fans would go to Detroit.
02:35Their fans would come here.
02:36There's got to be lots of them in Southern Ontario.
02:38That would be pretty hot.
02:39So I'll take the Red Wings in the first round.
02:42Six.
02:44Make it five.
02:45Even 20 years ago, the Sabres didn't win series at home but once.
02:50That was the Islanders series, and we all hated how they played in that series.
02:54And I'm in the party in the plaza trying to find my wife who will not respond.
02:58She will not pick up her phone.
02:59And I'm just, like, lost downtown with no plan at all.
03:03I can't get anybody to contact me.
03:05I'm not bitter about it.
03:07No, it doesn't sound like you're carrying that around at all.
03:09That's 2007.
03:10So I will take Detroit in five.
03:14And let's have a party.
03:15Well, the Sabres over Detroit in five.
03:17Right, right.
03:17Detroit is the first round opponent, and the Sabres win in five games.
03:20Well, Ottawa is there for an option.
03:23The Demons tour, that's Ottawa.
03:25Okay.
03:26I mean, the other options, too.
03:27I do like your process, at least in that you arrived at Detroit being the – before the Sabres got
03:33to first place, my hope was second and third, I don't even care what order, with Detroit.
03:39Give me that.
03:40Right.
03:40I think that is easily the – easily.
03:44I mean, it's not – I don't know.
03:46Easily is a little too strong.
03:47But I would identify them also as the team that is the least scary of the potential matchups.
03:56They're minus two in goals.
03:59You know?
04:00Well, right.
04:01And I look at them – I think I've said a few times, as this has gotten kind of hot
04:09here, I haven't really sat with Detroit.
04:12I finally did a couple weeks ago, and they won a game in Ottawa that they absolutely got blown off
04:18the ice in.
04:18But the goalie played great, and they won like 2-1 or something against Ottawa.
04:22This didn't really teach me anything.
04:25Detroit is also Patrick Kane.
04:26Right.
04:27All I really got out of it was that I think if they do play the Red Wings, I am
04:32going to lead the charge to hate Alex Dabrinkit, just because.
04:36He's got one of these faces that I think is going to be very easy to see.
04:40He's going to score on you and look like, that's right, I did that, because I'm Alex Dabrinkit, and you're
04:46going to want to hit him in the face with a shovel.
04:47Or I am, anyway.
04:49You've got to be excited.
04:51But I think, overall, that's the right.
04:53Montreal could end up being an easier matchup, because they aren't very good defensively, and their goaltending has been pretty
05:03erratic.
05:05But they also are a way higher variance than Detroit.
05:09They can cook on offense and with the puck.
05:12And that's a team whose power play, you get into a seven-game series with Montreal, they could score at
05:18like a 35% clip on the power play and just beat you that way.
05:21They have so much skill and talent.
05:23I mean, Detroit has good guys, too, on their prop, but Montreal is just another level with the way they
05:28move around the ice on offense.
05:29Well, round two, I thought about them.
05:32I mean, Matthew Barnaby, 98.
05:3598 was a great Demons tour run.
05:39I mean, that's Philadelphia, 99.
05:4299 is Ottawa, Boston, Toronto.
05:45Right.
05:4698 is Philadelphia, Montreal.
05:48I mean, two years there, you got some revenge against the old rivals and the Senators.
05:54But I think Boston's better.
05:56Beating Boston would be more fun than beating Montreal.
05:59I think Montreal's kind of scary, like you've said.
06:01I agree.
06:02Let's play Boston.
06:03They're the better team.
06:04Give me Boston.
06:05I mean, no matter how hot the Sabres are, there's still going to be 5,000 Canadians fans in that
06:10building, one way or another.
06:12Enough people will sell.
06:13Well, that's, I went in there, I felt alive the last Montreal game, the Sabres lost, people around me, lady
06:21behind me just kept saying poverty franchise.
06:23You know, like it was just, it was, it was lively.
06:27It's better than empty seats, I guess, or Sabres fans who were on their phone all night talking about their
06:32jobs.
06:33But, I mean, eh, I don't need that.
06:36So, Boston.
06:37I don't think you get that with Boston.
06:39I think, 2010, I don't remember being in there for that series and being surrounded by Boston.
06:44No, I don't think so at all.
06:46The thing with Boston is there is so much history there.
06:51I was talking about, Owen and I were talking about this last night, because I was watching Ottawa play last
06:57night.
06:58But Montreal, funny enough, and he was talking about how he thinks Montreal winning that game is a better outcome,
07:05because he doesn't want Ottawa to get in.
07:07He thinks Ottawa is better than Boston, and better than, and I'm like, really?
07:12And I got to kind of adjust my brain, because Boston just historically scares me more.
07:18It's Boston.
07:19The idea of going there and winning a series just seems like, whoa, really?
07:2699.
07:26To me, I know.
07:27I know.
07:28It's happened.
07:3193.
07:32I'm not saying it's wrong.
07:32I'm just saying I think that, like, for me, if I'm any reflection of the fan base, you'll have to
07:38work to think you shouldn't be scared of Boston.
07:41I'm with Owen.
07:42I think Ottawa's underlying metrics are way better.
07:48That's what he's all about.
07:48He's like, if they're top 10 in everything that you care about, the goalie's just been erratic, and that's been
07:54better lately, although last night didn't end well for Allmark.
07:56And Cousins is doing well.
07:57Yeah.
07:58Eastern Finals, easy Carolina.
08:01Then Finals, Dallas is tasty, but I'm going Vegas.
08:04Oh, yeah.
08:06Right?
08:06Yeah.
08:06Yeah.
08:08We need that.
08:09Oh.
08:11And I can't even begin to try to handicap the West, because the Central is so top-heavy.
08:18Those three teams there are, like, one of them's going to get there, but they may be severely damaged by
08:25the time they do.
08:26Second choice, Edmonton.
08:30Didn't happen in 06.
08:31McDavid, right?
08:33They've been in the Finals last two years.
08:35Yeah.
08:36Oh, let's go.
08:37How exciting is all of this?
08:40Oh, I'm just getting a text.
08:42The Sabres have lost to Washington 5-2 tonight, because we're talking about the playoffs, and
08:48we shouldn't be, and we're in trouble.
08:51Not really.
08:528-0-3-0-5-50.
08:54What's your dream trip?
08:55Sal at 4.
08:56We're pretty much open today.
08:58Pre-game at 6 for Sabres Capitals.
09:01Alex Ovechkin.
09:02I don't know.
09:02Maybe not for the last time, but last time this year, I did make him card of the day.
09:09You told me you thought it was okay.
09:10Until the playoffs.
09:12They're not going to make the playoffs.
09:13No, they're not.
09:13They're dead.
09:14You told me you thought it was okay if I made Ovechkin card of the day, so I have
09:19on Twitter.
09:19There it is.
09:20Rookie card.
09:21One of my favorite cards in my collection.
09:24We will talk to Sal at 4.
09:26I think I just mentioned that.
09:27Hope to hear from you next.
09:28What's your perfect Sabres playoff trip?
09:32Lines are open.
09:33Mike Schopen, the Bulldog here.
09:34WGR.
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