00:00And Blues did this a couple years ago, you know, whatever.
00:02Somebody's always there to remind you.
00:04But that's what it takes.
00:05It takes a turnaround that you think is really unfathomable, and, like, here we are.
00:13So there's all kinds of moments and, like, favorite parts or most unexpected.
00:19I think there has been, in my opinion, nothing more unexpected about them this season than Matias Samuelsson.
00:28Okay.
00:29Good start.
00:30I think he is singularly an incredible story.
00:35Like, if he had just stabilized his game and became a reliable top-four D-man on a team that
00:42was scratching and clawing to get to the playoffs,
00:44he might be the story of their season.
00:47But they're so good, and they've got other guys that mean more, you know, to both ends of the ice
00:53and all that.
00:54But Samuelsson giving them really his breaking through the way he did this year and becoming, again, a reliable top
01:03-pair partner for Darlene kept you from having your season derailed by the Michael Kesselring trade that didn't work out
01:12because of health or play style or whatever.
01:14Like, the plan was Darlene and Byram, Power and Kesselring, Samuelsson, I guess, third pair.
01:20Like, at least for me, going into the year.
01:23Because I just did not trust Samuelsson to be a top-line player anymore.
01:28Or the Sabres' fourth-ever best sniper.
01:33Right.
01:34So...
01:34It's Martin, Ray Shepard, Samuelsson.
01:38He...
01:38And it's not just that he suddenly produced points.
01:43Because I don't know how sticky that's going to be moving forward.
01:46You know, I don't know that I want to count on him for 40 or 50, whatever.
01:49No.
01:50Okay, but if he can remain the defender he's become, and even...
01:56I mean, he moves around the ice better than I think...
01:59I don't know if he's talked about what he worked on, but his whole game from top to bottom just
02:04improved in every positive way possible.
02:09He was pillared for not being a big physical presence.
02:16Quintessentially, when Thompson got leveled against the New Jersey Devils last February.
02:20And Samuelsson was on the ice and seemingly utterly clueless.
02:24I mean, I dragged him over that.
02:26That lots of fans did, endlessly.
02:28To the point where you thought he was...
02:30When Kevin Adams, like, refused to consider the idea of buying him out, I thought it was bad form on
02:37the GM to not realize how unpopular this player had become.
02:41That's where Matias Samuelsson's reputation was at.
02:44Not just with me, with the fan base, I think, at large.
02:47And he has become...
02:51I mean, he's...
02:51The season speaks for itself.
02:53He's physical, he defends teammates, he kills plays, and he moves around the ice in a way that it's not
03:01like, oh, who is this guy that can't keep up playing with Darlene?
03:06None of that, I thought, a year ago was in the window.
03:09So I think he is absolutely emblematic of the turnaround the entire organization has had because his career, I think,
03:19was in danger.
03:19I don't play in plus-minus, but if you do, he is plus 41.
03:24By far, the best on the team.
03:27Sixth in the league.
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