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00:02Oh, I mean, just such a, such a disappointment.
00:07I just really, uh, I, I don't, I don't, I, I'm, I'm really, um, I'm, I'm going to really
00:13struggle, uh, today for, for, to find the words because, um, I mean, we've just been
00:20having so much fun with this hockey team and this rebirth and to, to, to get to last night,
00:28uh, with, with all the whole thing is just out there for them, uh, when, and they're
00:33in the playoffs and it just to have such a disappointing outcome and that effort and
00:41to have it all just, just disappear like that is, uh, man, it's, it's, it's a, it's a lot.
00:48I mean, I, I just, uh, I, I wasn't, I wasn't ready for it to end already.
00:52Uh, where any of you, I mean, it just seems so, it just seems so, so abrupt.
00:56I, I, I just really, I, I'm sorry.
00:59Wait, what, what, what, what's that?
01:01I'm, oh, hang on.
01:02I've just, I've just, I've just been, uh, I've just been handed, uh, an important, uh,
01:11update, uh, great breaking news.
01:12Hang on.
01:13Let me, I gotta, I gotta make it so I can read it.
01:17Uh, oh, the Sabres can clinch their playoff spot with a win tomorrow.
01:22Oh, okay.
01:22All right.
01:23Cool.
01:23That's that.
01:24Okay.
01:24Then everything's okay.
01:25Then we're good.
01:26We're good.
01:26Everybody okay.
01:27You all right out there?
01:28Sorry.
01:28Just had a little fun with you.
01:30If that was fun, I don't know.
01:32Might not have been fun.
01:32Might've been a terrible idea, uh, to start the show that way.
01:36But yeah, just kidding around.
01:37Sabres lost.
01:38Bummer.
01:39Uh, they did not capitalize on their first opportunity to clinch a playoff spot, but they
01:45have, uh, more to come and hopefully it won't take.
01:49Heck, I, I'm not really sure how to explain this part of it.
01:54They, they, they, they could, I think there's a scenario where they could clinch before they
01:59even take the ice against Washington.
02:01Something about Detroit playing tomorrow afternoon, I think against the Rangers.
02:05I mean, thoughts and prayers, but whatever, you never know.
02:08Um, but what I find really weird about trying to explain that is that every one that I follow
02:14that I count on for like the magic number tiebreaker stuff is saying things today.
02:20Like, well, the NHL hasn't updated their clinching scenarios yet.
02:27And that makes me kind of think, what do you, what do you mean?
02:31Like the tiebreakers are the tiebreakers, right?
02:34We, we, we should be able to out here.
02:36I think like, do we, we need the NHL to tell us what's going to happen.
02:40I'm confused about that.
02:42I did not.
02:42I'm inherently lazy, uh, and I got up late today, so I did not look that up, uh, myself.
02:50Uh, but I, I just find that wording strange that we're waiting for the league to tell us
02:56what the clinching scenarios are when I think we should be able to look at the standings
03:01and determine them ourselves.
03:02But maybe it's, well, it's definitely too complicated for me to do, especially now that
03:05the show has started.
03:06I mean, what do you think I am in here?
03:08I can't figure out anything now.
03:10I can't even read Twitter when I'm in here, especially by myself on a day where Mike is
03:14off.
03:15I am by myself just for now.
03:17Nate Geary will be here shortly.
03:19His, uh, real job, uh, is holding him up for a bit, but he'll be here, uh, in just a
03:24few,
03:25a few minutes.
03:26Uh, we'll have our usual Friday visit with Sam Paniatovich.
03:29I'm not sure I want to vouch for, uh, how that's going to go.
03:34He notified me midweek that he would be at the White Sox home opener, uh, for today, for
03:39today's appearance.
03:40And I'm not one to tell Sam to take the day off.
03:43He is, uh, I think he's, he's got like a streak going and I think he's proud of being here
03:49last year through the summer, every Friday, there's Sam, Sammy P three 30 PM.
03:54I mean, he just, he likes to, he likes to show up and be heard from and be counted on.
03:59And we appreciate that about him.
04:01So anyway, three 30 with him live from, uh, whatever they call the White Sox ballpark,
04:07uh, in Chicago, um, four o'clock, our buddy, Joe Yurden on the Sabres and the NHL and the
04:14playoffs coming in and last night in Ottawa.
04:16And then at five, Brian Coziel, same thing, same drill, although with Nate here by then
04:21and Brian, I have a feeling we'll probably touch a little bit on the masters, which comes
04:27your way next week.
04:28Um, the return of our majors bet with Mike, myself and Brian.
04:31And so, um, we'll, uh, we'll talk to Brian, but mostly about the Sabres, uh, at five.
04:37Well, look, I, you know, I'm kidding around last night was of course, you know, really disappointing.
04:42Um, you know, I said it before I left here, I was going to, I was going to go out.
04:47I went to see my people at the more room and like, what big crew of friends there and lots
04:52of other people.
04:54And it felt sort of like a bulletproof night out because the, the stakes, while, you know,
05:01the standings matter and the division and even the conference, the Sabres are two points
05:05behind Carolina.
05:06And now Tampa is technically ahead of them because they played one fewer game.
05:10They have the same 100 points with a win yesterday.
05:13And so you, you have urgency from a, I want to finish in first place.
05:18I want to finish ahead of Montreal, which also took a hit yesterday with another Montreal
05:24win.
05:24They're now just two points back of the Sabres, uh, in third place.
05:28So Buffalo's in second Montreal's in third and that is, and Montreal has played one fewer
05:34game like Tampa.
05:36And so that right now is like, that's a, that's a first rounder people.
05:40Uh, so like the standings still matter.
05:42There's not a lot of urgency or desperation, I think.
05:46Uh, and this might be evident in the Sabres game here for the last little while, um, to
05:51clinch the spot because they're, they're going to clinch the spot eventually.
05:56But, um, and like I said, they might not even need to win a game tomorrow night to actually
06:00clinch their playoff spot that could happen tomorrow afternoon.
06:03Uh, won't happen tonight.
06:05Nothing really that interesting in the NHL is going on tonight.
06:07Uh, there's an Islanders game that matters for them, uh, and their playoff hopes and whoever
06:12it is they're playing.
06:13I forget it's someone, is it maybe Philly?
06:16Um, anyway, whatever the teams that are, you know, Islanders are in a spot, uh, whoever
06:20they're playing is hanging on, trying to get in.
06:23Uh, but as far as the Sabres and the, the, the top of the Atlantic, nothing tonight, nothing
06:29until tomorrow.
06:31Um, so anyway, last night was, was, was super fun.
06:34Uh, packed bar, lots of friends, hockey game on, and it doesn't turn out your way.
06:39You know, it's a close game.
06:41A couple of empty netters make it look maybe a little more crooked.
06:44Um, or maybe he kind of justifies the score because Ottawa for the back half of the game,
06:49if not the entirety of the last two periods was the better team, uh, in the game.
06:54So they deserve the win, but you know, how dejected can you really be?
06:59Oh, it's all right.
06:59I got, I got five, six, seven more games here, six more games, um, to either get two
07:05points or have any of these teams chasing me drop two points.
07:09Like it's going to happen.
07:10Uh, so there wasn't, you know, other than missing out on a chance to celebrate with a
07:16bar full of people, many of them, your friends, like I didn't really lose anything last night.
07:20You know, I lost a little bit of sleep, uh, ate some drive through late, which is not
07:26something I ever do, uh, pretty regrettable, even still now, many hours later.
07:31Um, but you know, mostly fine, just disappointing outcome in the game.
07:37Um, that said, if you really are into this division thing and I have been, you know, they,
07:45they, they had been in the spot and they're still, you know, they still have the same point
07:49total as the team ahead of them in Tampa.
07:52Um, you, you might want to see them, you know, win, win a couple of these games, like win
07:58these next two, you want to win the division.
08:00Um, you know, make sure you take care of Washington tomorrow.
08:03They're, they're a team that's like barely alive in the, uh, in the playoff thing, but
08:08they're, they, you know, they have a pulse, I guess is, is how you'd have to look at them
08:13right now.
08:14And I think, you know, get getting first place is like more to me about like, it's the prestige
08:23of getting first place.
08:25It's going from worst to first, which the Sabres would accomplish if they end up in first place.
08:31It is of course, also having home ice for the entirety of the Eastern.
08:36Well, the entirety of the Atlantic division portion of the playoffs, uh, Carolina's two
08:41points ahead, uh, so see, you want to catch them?
08:43Well, you better beat Washington.
08:45And then of course, after Washington is the showdown with Tampa, right?
08:49We don't, we will have all day Monday to sort of get primed for that.
08:52Uh, so I don't want to look too far ahead, uh, right now, but that should be after the
08:57last visit Tampa had here.
08:59I know a lot of Sabres fans immediately after that, we're pointing to April 6th and things
09:04have gone well enough that this game is going to still matter a lot.
09:09Um, you know, it's not at a point yet where I think you can say whoever wins that game
09:14is going to win the division, but obviously another head to head win over Tampa, keeping
09:20them from getting the points, you getting the points would be ideal.
09:23Uh, and I, I still do care about that.
09:26I want to play, you know, the lowest seated team I can.
09:31Uh, and the way to do that is to end up first.
09:34And it's also, you know, right now tracking, like it's going to be Montreal and you, you
09:42know, look, if Sabres don't get on track here and, uh, keep their lead over Montreal, they're
09:49in danger of dropping below the Canadians, which means you're going there to start a
09:53series.
09:54If those two teams end up two and three in the division.
09:57And while I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not scared.
10:02Is it okay to say Montreal is scary, but I'm not scared of them like, or, or should I just
10:08choose different words?
10:09It's a weird paradox, but I understand like they, they have their high end is super, super
10:16hot.
10:17Um, they just have a lot of talent and a lot of skill and they've got, um, just the, the
10:24Hudson is just such a weapon for on that blue line.
10:30And yeah, they've got, they've got a nice team there.
10:33Um, but I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't feel like, I feel like I can get them.
10:38I feel like I can, I can play my game.
10:40I can defend their studs and I think top to bottom, I feel like the Sabres are a more
10:47complete team.
10:48There's more, I think there's scarier high end talent on Montreal.
10:53That first line is maybe as good as any first line in the league with Caulfield, Slewkowski
10:57and Suzuki.
10:59Uh, they've got the, the young kid, Demidoff, uh, is super hot on the second line.
11:05You know, they're nice.
11:06Uh, and, and I think high end is better than, than mine, but I think overall, I like, I like
11:14my team.
11:14I like Buffalo.
11:15And so I'm not like, it's not my first choice at all, Montreal, but it's neither.
11:22I feel like, uh, Oh, Oh no, I I've got to deal with Montreal now.
11:26You know, like, I think that's, I think that's okay.
11:28But if I win the division and the wildcard standings and see now this, this maybe could
11:35be an interesting conversation at eight Oh three Oh five 50.
11:38If I win the division and the wildcard standings stay as is, IE with Boston in the first wildcard
11:45spot and whoever in the second, be it Ottawa, who has it right now, Columbus is also contending
11:52for that.
11:53And as I said, Philly's like hanging on by a thread.
11:56They're the team that plays the Islanders tonight and they need a win and a win.
11:59I think only even gets them to like 50% to make it Philly without a win tonight, Philly
12:04they're down to like two, in the 20 percentiles, uh, to make it.
12:08So, um, but if, if, if Boston is wildcard one, that's who you draw and maybe, right.
12:17I'm not crazy.
12:17That's the way that works.
12:18Like the lowest seeded wildcard would get the top seed.
12:21That would be, um, Carolina.
12:23If the Sabres win the division right now, that's Boston.
12:27If they dropped a second right now, that's Montreal.
12:30And I would tell you for me, even though I'm telling you, I'm not like, I don't think Montreal
12:35is, I'm not scared of them, but they can be scary.
12:39I wouldn't, I'm not worried about Boston at all.
12:42Even though they did a number on the Sabres, uh, last time, you know, in here, uh, last
12:47Wednesday, I'm not, I don't think that that is a team that topped the bottom.
12:53I mean, could the goalie get hot and steal games?
12:55Sure.
12:56Swayman is probably their best bet and there's talent there.
12:59Poster knock McAvoy.
13:00There's good, but I don't think that is, that's not a team that I feel real threatened by.
13:06Um, we'll see if they get around to bringing James Higgins around and whether he has any
13:12kind of an impact, it gives them a little more juice, but I think I can handle Boston.
13:16Uh, I don't, and the reason I think that's interesting is like, like style wise, um, you
13:24know, the Bruins are a, a, a tougher maybe matchup than Montreal because of the way that
13:29I think they'll play.
13:30They'll, they'll, they'll, they'll put you on the boards and just try to, just try to
13:35drag you down and hope that they get their chances with their skill guys.
13:39But they're, they're going to, they're going to be, they're hard.
13:41They're heavy.
13:42I think is how I want to put it in Montreal definitely is not.
13:45Um, but I think I would prefer Boston out of those two.
13:48And I don't, those are two teams that I think you have to work very hard, especially with
13:54Boston.
13:54Montreal has kind of always been like their reputation has never been, Oh man, you better
14:00get, you better bring your two by fours, you know, put the foil on your playing Montreal.
14:05I mean, to some extent, everybody was like that in the late seventies and eighties, but really
14:09that was more Boston's reputation.
14:12Um, Montreal has always been to me speed, skill, finesse, look out, right?
14:19Uh, maybe a great goalie on the back end.
14:21They don't have that right now, which is part of the reason I don't, you know, find them
14:25that intimidating.
14:27Um, Boston has always been more of a slugfest type of team.
14:32And I think they still are kind of that way.
14:36So you got that to keep in mind.
14:38But I think if I, if I right now had to choose, I would take Boston.
14:42I think, I don't think I want to say a hundred out of a hundred because I'm not positive.
14:46I'm right, but maybe 90 times out of a hundred, I would say, give me Boston and leave Montreal
14:52to someone else.
14:53Um, maybe you found out last night why some of us here at the station, I think my son is
15:00certainly like-minded.
15:01He kind of talked me into this a couple of weeks ago.
15:03We were talking about the standings and who you want to play.
15:06He was like, man, just look out for Ottawa.
15:08Ottawa, if the goaltender can figure it out at all, Ottawa is going to be a handful.
15:13And I think we saw that last night.
15:14I mean, Olmark was not severely tested, but the, the very good chances as few as there
15:21were, I mean, he was just buttoned up and it seemed like Ottawa had the puck all night,
15:27you know, and, and that's probably, I think the stats will tell you, it was a pretty even
15:31game that way.
15:33And that says a lot about how we experienced the Sabres now, because when they don't have
15:37the puck, like by a significant margin, more than their opponent, it feels like the other
15:43team has it all night when really it's more like a, you know, 60, 40 game or even a 50,
15:4950 game.
15:49But Ottawa's good, man.
15:51And they did that last night without three significant pieces on defense.
15:56Sanderson, Shabbat, and they got a young kid, Yarmulchuk, I think is the name, who got concussed.
16:02And we're not sure what he is yet, but he's promising and was good early for them when
16:08he showed up, but got hit in the head and missed last night's game.
16:13So they were missing 3D that are, at least two for sure really matter.
16:18And the other guy probably is going to end up being a significant player for them moving
16:23forward.
16:23And even in the playoffs.
16:25So that's a team that I think still is pretty threatening to me.
16:31I just think they've got a lot of high-end stuff there.
16:35And I think you saw it last night.
16:37It was a tough game for the Sabres.
16:39They could not really get much going.
16:42Ottawa's speed on the forecheck just really, really hemmed them in.
16:46Nate Geary has walked in, in the middle of me just, you know, riffing over here.
16:50I wasn't sure if I should just go in there and wait for the segment or just abruptly
16:54come in.
16:55You just roll in.
16:56I'm happy to have you.
16:56I know this comes as a shock to a lot of people, but I do have a, I have a
17:00job.
17:01Yeah, no, I said, yeah, you had something going on.
17:03So I had to tend to my fields for a brief moment.
17:08My fields.
17:09But largely, what I, you know, if we're talking takeaways from yesterday, yeah, Ottawa being
17:14okay and pretty good when they've got at least just level, decent, average goaltending.
17:20I kind of just felt like the Sabres were flat and stunk for two periods.
17:23They were okay in the first period and they get that goal, what it was like early in the
17:28second and then it's or so, and then the wheels kind of came off.
17:31They just, it was very low event hockey for most of that game.
17:35I think I heard, you know, in the first period, maybe even early second period, Rob Ray talking
17:39about how, or maybe it was, maybe it was even first intermission and it was Marty talking
17:43about how like both of these teams are playing really tight.
17:46There's not a lot of give and take, but they can't play this entire way for 60 minutes.
17:50And then, you know, Ottawa didn't, they sort of woke up out of their shell and the Sabres
17:54really did not have a ton of answers.
17:55I, and I can't, there's a little bit of this for me, which is, I don't want to be overreactive
18:02to two players that don't have big numbers in the lineup and Sam Carrick and, and Noah
18:09Ausland, but like they miss Noah Ausland for sure, because he evens those lines offensively
18:15for them.
18:16He brings a speed element and I think a gamey element to the lineup of right now.
18:21They just, they, they just don't have, he's just a super smart.
18:24It's just, and he fits, he can fit in on any line.
18:27Yeah.
18:27Um, and I, I do think that Carrick makes that fourth line go and it's no shot at, at
18:33done.
18:33I think is a fine, you know, can plug and play player, but you feel the fourth line.
18:41I think at times since Carrick has entered the lineup, bring sort of drag the body of
18:47the rest of the team, especially when Benson is on that wing there with Malenstein and,
18:51and with Carrick in the middle, that really was, that became maybe the best.
18:54Not that I, you know, Benson, that's, it's tough.
18:57Like he, I think helps elevate that line along with Carrick, but I also think Benson probably
19:02belongs somewhere else in the lineup.
19:04Like I think he's getting a shot with Norris now, which also makes sense.
19:08That's what the lines look like at practice today in advance of tomorrow's game in Washington.
19:12But yeah, no, I agree with you.
19:14Um, the, that fourth line had sort of, you know, it's, it's the fourth line.
19:18It's never going to be like your top scoring line, but it was, it was carrying its weight
19:22a little bit more in that way and gave them even more, less of, let's just survive 45
19:29seconds with the fourth line on the ice.
19:30Like they might actually be able to do something in it.
19:32They have had with done in the lineup at times that, you know, before he left the lineup,
19:39actually, they looked like that was going pretty well.
19:43Yeah.
19:43Um, and then you got a clear upgrade, I think in Carrick, I think she got a clear upgrade
19:47there.
19:47So that's a bit, you know, we'll see probably going to be Kozak tomorrow.
19:50It looks like, again, if practice is any indication, they, they fiddled with a couple
19:54of things, uh, moved a couple of pieces around going to the top line, by the way, I, I think
19:59I like, they've got to wake up Josh Norris on the second line.
20:02So I think putting tuck with Norris, which worked earlier before the second injury or
20:07whatever injury, you know, whatever, you know, stage of games Norris has played.
20:11Like I tweeted out yesterday and listen, I think everyone's initial reaction is don't
20:16tell him cousins certainly don't look like a player that they could use and man, they
20:20lost the trade.
20:20And I think making that he's got 26 goals.
20:23He's having a really nice, having a nice season for them.
20:25And he's basically, he's having the year he had when he got paid here and the availability
20:30piece, I think is the other big piece to this whole thing.
20:32But I think at the end of the day, a lot of people still really, if all things are equal
20:36and Norris is playing in as many games as cousins, which he's not, um, you know, I still
20:42think everyone feels pretty good about Josh Norris.
20:45It's just, it hasn't really, since he's come back from injury, the, we call it two blocks
20:52of injuries, the early injury.
20:54And then this in the, the middle one where he missed like 15 games, 10, 15 games that in
20:58between was really strong for him when he came back from the initial injury in the first
21:02game, like it was like, this is, they've got a second line.
21:07That coincided with them getting hot.
21:09Like it was around that time of the year when he came back.
21:12And I don't mean to pick a scab because it's, you know, this is hindsight and there's no
21:16reason to spend a lot of time talking about it.
21:18But this is sort of why I think a lot of people were clamoring for a Robert Thomas because
21:24right now, a Robert Thomas on your second line or on your first line or however you want
21:28to, you know, distribute those two first two lines.
21:31Like there is some, I think questions about the night to night shift to shift consistency
21:37of Josh Norris.
21:38And I think there's plenty of meat on that bone.
21:41If you want to dig in a little bit more on Norris, but like they've got to find a way
21:45to get him going.
21:46And I've liked at times when it's been Doan and Benson on that line or Doan and Osland on
21:51that line.
21:51But you know, for me, I think what in a perfect world, you'd want Norris, you'd want to throw
21:58guys you need to get moving on Norris's line, not the reverse of that.
22:02You don't want to throw guys on his line to get him moving.
22:04But right now, that's where I think, you know, I think that's where the lineup's at.
22:09And the other guy that sort of needs to get going to, I think is Ryan McLeod.
22:12And I'm not, he's not a 30 goal scorer in the league.
22:15No.
22:15He's been, he's been off for like a month.
22:17Yeah.
22:18It has not looked the same.
22:19They kept winning games, but he was just sort of.
22:22His first a hundred games with this, with this, with this team and this organization
22:25were like, wow.
22:27And he kind of hasn't really produced at that same level.
22:30The assist numbers are still there, but he is Knightley, their fastest guy.
22:36And he hasn't necessarily run offense on that third line.
22:40And even before Norris came back in the lineup, they were tinkering quite a bit with him on
22:45the second power play unit.
22:46And he was driving play on the second power play unit.
22:48I also want to say from the Norris piece to this, I don't love him on the top power play.
22:55Well, boy, the two power play goals they scored the other night were both really nice plays
22:59by him.
22:59But I kind of think him and Tage together, like, you want to spread the wealth a little bit.
23:06I like it because I like what they're doing with Quinn there now, too.
23:10Well, Quinn on the top power play has been.
23:12Moving Tage around is like, and I think Norris gives you that flexibility because
23:16he can also be the shooter if, you know, Thompson is down at the goal line or whatever.
23:20So I'm willing to give that some ramp up here myself.
23:25But yeah, the tinkering is noticeable and I think called for.
23:29Right.
23:30They haven't done a number on anyone in a little while.
23:33And they haven't looked, it hasn't looked easy as the right, as the, as the word I'm using.
23:39I don't know that it's the right word, but this time of the year, it probably shouldn't.
23:43That's right.
23:44You know, like there is an element, I think, uh, there's some, there was desperation from
23:49this, the senators yesterday that you can't manufacture if you can't pretend you have it.
23:53Right.
23:53And there's also fatigue, like long year, like how many times can I pour this out?
23:59You know, so there's, there's just inherently, I hate to say it this way, but like, there's
24:03like a coast factor that just comes in and it's just the reality.
24:08You got to really work to get through it.
24:10If you're playing someone on the other side that is as talented and more desperate, you
24:15know, that's a bad, that's a bad combo for you.
24:17Uh, if you're sort of to an extent, a little too comfortable, uh, which, you know, I think
24:22Tage Thompson, he said the quiet part out loud last week, like, you know, we're, we've
24:26worked hard to get to a good spot here, which is sort of like, all right, don't, you know,
24:31yeah, just take it easy.
24:33We're fine.
24:33Right.
24:33So, uh.
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