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00:00Well, on to bigger things. Game one of the Sabres Canadian second round series is tomorrow night.
00:06What's new today? So Sam Carrick is back, practiced, spoke.
00:12What do you think his chances are? When might you expect to see him?
00:16Wouldn't shock me if he's ready for game two. He didn't take line rushes today and he was out there
00:20awfully long.
00:21We were in the locker room a long time before he came in.
00:24It's one of the reasons he came to the podium because they finally had to kick us out of the
00:27locker room because they had to get to Lindy.
00:28We we've been in there close to an hour, I think, which is unheard of.
00:31But we were waiting for Tate Thompson, who hadn't come out yet.
00:37So, yeah, so I don't expect him in game one. I never say never.
00:41I mean, you know, I suppose it's possible. But, you know, but Lindy Ruff had a lot of good things
00:47to say about it today
00:49and basically said they're going to kind of check with him every day on a day to day basis and
00:54said he's in good condition.
00:56He's feeling good. Carrick says he's feeling good.
01:00Carrick did confirm that he did not break any bones or hurt his shoulder.
01:04That's all he would say. Right. So whatever whatever it was, it was not a broken bone.
01:09Dislocated elbow. Dislocated elbow. Yeah.
01:10It was not a shoulder.
01:12He said he was told it was a six to eight week type of a situation, maybe four to six.
01:18So he kind of had six weeks in his head. So he's a little bit ahead of schedule.
01:21Yeah. Did he talk at all about Paul? I mean, obviously his value.
01:26I know he scored five goals in whatever it was, 13 games.
01:30But, you know, he was not a player you acquired to bolster your scoring.
01:33If you get some there, that'll be very welcome in this series.
01:37You know, offensive production from the fourth line would be great.
01:40But faceoffs are his thing with the nature of that injury.
01:44And again, like he doesn't tell you exactly what it is.
01:47I'm speculating about an elbow because I thought it looked like he dislocated his elbow in that fight.
01:52And you could be right.
01:53So taking draws is large is a big part of his value.
01:59Is that I guess he full go for that?
02:03Like I imagine if he's cleared, he's cleared.
02:05I just wonder about that hindering, you know, at draws because when guys have wrist or hand injuries,
02:11I remember Tage Thompson was nursing something.
02:13Oh, he's not taking draws.
02:14He's still playing center.
02:16Right.
02:16So I wonder about that for Carrick because that's his value is very much wrapped up in faceoffs.
02:23Yeah.
02:23I mean, yeah, he did get five goals in 13 games, but he's not here to score goals.
02:27I mean, I think we all know that.
02:30It just kind of went for him.
02:32But, yeah, that's his value.
02:39He's still thinking.
02:40He's still thinking about Carrick's value.
02:42It's an interesting place for a pause there.
02:44Did he rule out gout?
02:46Did he rule out ankles and shins?
02:49Good Lord.
02:50Paul's back.
02:51Okay.
02:51You left off in an awkward place there, Paul.
02:54Okay.
02:55Yeah.
02:56I don't think Lindy Ruff would put him back in the lineup if he can't take draws.
03:00Right.
03:01Because that's what he is basically here for.
03:04Right.
03:05Plus, to play a good fourth-line role, or I call it the energy line role.
03:23Mm-hmm.
03:24Yeah, his value is very mitigated if he's not, you know, I'm just wondering if he's going
03:28to be the same as he was.
03:29I mean, and there's no way to know it, I guess, until we see him do it.
03:32I wonder if maybe that hour that he spent on the ice, Paul, while you weren't watching
03:36because you were in the locker room talking to other players, was spent practicing draws.
03:40Very well.
03:41Could have been.
03:41Right.
03:42Very well.
03:43Could have been.
03:43Let's see how this goes, right?
03:45This is a key part of your game.
03:47So, anyway, it's really welcome.
03:49I mean, I think, didn't Lindy just say, like, two days ago, the second round is out for he
03:53and Oslin both.
03:54So, it's really bonus that we're even talking about him being available for game one, and
03:59if not then, then maybe Friday night for game two.
04:02Yeah, it just seemed like maybe Lindy wasn't privy to a conversation that maybe happened when
04:09he told us that it wasn't going to be because apparently there was a doctor's visit in there,
04:15and the doctor basically cleared him for practice and everything, and that's where, okay, and
04:21that's why Lindy Ruff, as I said, unprompted brought it up yesterday.
04:24Yeah.
04:24You know, because I think he felt, you know, maybe he, people will think he fibbed or whatever,
04:30and he didn't want that to be the case.
04:32He goes, no, this is new information that's happened, and he may be back at practice tomorrow,
04:36and he offered that information.
04:38So, yeah, it just, it seemed like maybe Lindy Ruff wasn't, you know, as I said, hadn't
04:45heard the latest report or whatever, and I'm sure he was happy to hear it.
04:50Let's talk about Lindy for another minute.
04:52One sec.
04:53After Bulldog's question.
04:55It's an easy one-for-one switch, right?
04:56He just goes in for Kozak?
04:58Yeah.
04:58Okay.
04:59Yeah, there's no other place to put him.
05:00As you were, Mike.
05:01Absolutely.
05:02Sorry.
05:02I just wanted to get that said just to make sure.
05:04And Helen Ouse is here.
05:05I kind of wondered why he wasn't up with the big club and still practicing with the
05:10Black Aces.
05:11And Lindy Ruff just said, he basically said a centerman, we needed a centerman in practice,
05:16but you don't have a top, if you get an injury in your top six, you don't have anybody.
05:21I mean, you're not going to put Pearson or Dunn in your top six.
05:26Or elevate someone from down below up to there.
05:29Right.
05:29I know Greenway's done it before, but Greenway's role right now has been very good where he
05:33is.
05:34There's no sense in moving him.
05:37So, yeah, it just seems like Helen Ouse would be the person that would go in, so why not
05:41get him into practice with the big club?
05:43And again, he did not take line rushes either, but I think he's just there in case, hey, look
05:48at, you know, somebody's down.
05:50We need to go to him.
05:51With Paul Hamilton, Paul, how would you describe Ruff, the extent to which Ruff is responsible
06:00for this season?
06:02So, the roster is mostly the same.
06:04We had the Kevin Adams development.
06:06Here's Lindy.
06:07Last year, they struggled, largely.
06:09The five-on-five, you know, numbers were a reason for hope, but goaltending wasn't, and
06:15on and on.
06:17How responsible to you is Ruff for this year?
06:20Well, it's the way he has them playing is his system, and they are playing it, and they
06:25believe in it now.
06:26I'm not sure how much they believed in it last year or if they needed to be convinced.
06:31They play in the offensive zone differently than any other team does, and it messes teams
06:35up that they're playing because they're good at it.
06:38They skate well.
06:39They four-check well.
06:41They got, you know, bigger guys on the four-check, which helps them win battles.
06:45They got guys going all over the zone.
06:47You've got Rasmus Dahlin standing in the crease.
06:50You got wingers back at the point.
06:52Everybody's moving, and if you're not right on your game, you're losing people, just like
06:57they lost Tuck on the first goal the Bruins did, you know, because of the speed.
07:01All of a sudden, Tuck's alone in front of the net because the Bruins have guys, their heads
07:06are spinning.
07:06Go, where did everybody go?
07:08Type of a thing.
07:08And that's Lindy Ruff who instituted that and got them good at it, you know, practiced
07:14it enough and got them to believe in it, got them to all understand where they need
07:18to be.
07:19I mean, if Dahlin goes, okay, you're the winger.
07:22You got to go back.
07:23You have to be there.
07:24You know, I always use the example earlier this season when Dahlin was standing in the
07:28crease tipping in a Samuelson shot.
07:31There's not too many times you're seeing a defenseman tip in a defenseman shot.
07:34You know, and I remember when that goal went in, I looked, and sure enough, the winger
07:39was back on defense because those defensemen have to be confident that somebody's going
07:44to take their spot, and they do.
07:46So, yeah, there's, you know, I think Ruff is, with the system he has in there, is responsible
07:53in getting them to believe in themselves.
07:55They didn't, you know, they were still a little goofy back around Thanksgiving time.
08:00I don't know how much they believed in themselves or they thought they could do it, but they weren't
08:03doing it, and then once they started doing it, I think he got them to really believe that
08:08you are a good team.
08:11So, when he wins the Jack Adams award, if, when he wins.
08:17I approve of this phrasing.
08:19I mean, for me, coach of the year looks like it's often a luck award where, sure, I mean,
08:27of course, a hockey coach is going to be a good hockey coach on some level, but, you know,
08:31the save percentage is there, the shooting percentage, and how they beat expectations.
08:35The Sabres certainly have all those things.
08:37I mean, they were not a 100-plus point team, and then they were.
08:42So, he wouldn't be out of character as the coach of the year in the NHL.
08:47I expect him to win.
08:48But you're saying, I think, or I'm asking you this, I mean, like, if or when he does win,
08:53he's worthy.
08:55Yeah, absolutely.
08:56And, you know, and that's fine.
08:58I mean, that's why we're on a talk show.
09:00I mean, you and I have always differed a little bit on that.
09:02I agree there is luck involved in a winning team, but I don't think it's as much as you
09:07feel it is.
09:08And that's just differing opinions, which is fine, which is, again, why we're here.
09:14So, you know, yeah, the luck is there.
09:17The Sabres got some good goaltending.
09:18And when you get good goaltending, sometimes luck is there.
09:22Sometimes the puck hit you, and you didn't mean for it to hit you, but it did, you know,
09:26type of a thing.
09:27So, you know, that can boil down to luck sometimes also.
09:31Paul, how about the power play?
09:32We just talked to Mike Kelly from NHL Network last hour, and he has not done a, hadn't done
09:38a deep dive on their power play.
09:42You know, I posited to him as, you know, it's been maybe the thing that we're most worried
09:46about, you know, going through the end of the season and into this first round win over
09:52Boston.
09:53And he said, you know, some of the stuff, the chances they've had, like, they're not as
09:59bad off.
10:00Like, it hasn't been lacking for opportunity.
10:03And maybe, speaking of luck, maybe some of that will just enter.
10:08And because they haven't, it hasn't been a total desert as far as chances go, is how he
10:13was putting it.
10:14They might have been maybe fifth in the league as far as, like, high danger chances with the
10:18man advantage, but, like, last in goals, you know.
10:22So, maybe that'll just sort of course correct itself.
10:26Yeah, and I think a lot of that came later in the series, last couple of games.
10:30It just looked like the power play was improving.
10:33They got the goal that was a second and a half, not a power play, with Arvidsson coming out
10:38of the box.
10:38And they did get a good power play goal, which was a good play.
10:41And it seemed like the last couple of games, they were getting into the zone easier.
10:46They were putting pressure on easier.
10:49So, yeah, I think a lot of that might have come for the last couple of games where they,
10:55and the thing is, my pet peeve is they were winning battles.
10:59A lot of their problems on the power plays, they were losing battles.
11:02They'd have two Sabres and one Bruin, and they'd lose the battle.
11:05And I was dumbfounded by it because they battled really hard at 5-on-5, and they battled really
11:12hard on the penalty kill.
11:13And I just couldn't figure that one out.
11:15But I was just looking as we were talking, in the playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens are
11:2011th on the penalty kill out of 16 at 82.8, and the Sabres are 8th.
11:26And so, you know, maybe you can do something.
11:30I mean, Boston's, you know, penalty kill, you know, wasn't too bad.
11:35So, yeah, if, you know, if they just keep it up, you know, maybe they'll be able to do
11:42something on that penalty kill.
11:44What do you think the Canadiens' best feature is?
11:48If the Sabres are to struggle here, why would they have done so?
11:52So, speed, goaltending right now, but it's a kid, you know, so who knows if he's going
11:59to be able to keep going or not keep going.
12:03So, you know, that would really be a big thing for them.
12:09But, you know, they have speed that I think confounded the Sabres at times.
12:16But I think one thing I do have in the back of my mind is Montreal and Buffalo played most
12:20of their games early, and I think both teams are probably different now, the way they play
12:26and the way they are.
12:28So, you know, it'll be interesting to see how Montreal handles Buffalo's shifting around
12:34in the offensive zone.
12:36How does Buffalo handle a guy like Caulfield, who they have had trouble with?
12:41And Caulfield only, you know, he did not have a good first round from a production standpoint.
12:48So, you know, how will they handle that?
12:50And that's surprising considering I'm looking here, Montreal, the fourth best power play
12:54in the playoffs, but yet Caulfield, I think, only had one goal in the series, if I'm not
12:58mistaken.
12:59So, you know, he has killed Buffalo and their power play has killed Buffalo, and it's something
13:04that, you know, that I think they're going to need to sharpen up.
13:07Yeah, the job Tampa did on that line, eventually they got broken up.
13:11I think by game five, Slavkowski got pulled off that line and Anderson went up there, and that's
13:16how they finished the series.
13:17I would anticipate they go back to their top line and put Slavkowski back up.
13:22They don't have to.
13:23I like the results they got with Anderson, but that line, the three of them, Suzuki,
13:27Caulfield, and Slavkowski have been, most people who really follow the NHL have been
13:32talking about that as being one of the best top lines in hockey all year.
13:37So, and on the man advantage, but they really, I mean, shocker, right?
13:43A team in the second round of the playoffs, they get Demidoff out there with Hudson and
13:47those three, holy cow.
13:49It is, there's a lot of moving around.
13:52They are, they are a lot to handle.
13:54They're going to have to, the Sabres are going to have to really be buttoned up on that PK
13:57because there's a lot of slick players there.
14:00And, you know, they always say your best penalty kill is your goaltender, and Buffalo has gotten
14:05good goaltending on their penalty killing.
14:07So, that has helped them quite often, and they have very good penalty killers.
14:11So, it's almost a strength against a strength here, you know, and see, you know, how, and
14:16my guess is you're going to see games where Montreal's power play, you know, takes over,
14:21and you're going to see games where the Sabres' penalty kill takes over.
14:24You know, I think, I don't think you'll see a whole series where Montreal's going to dominate
14:30the power play or Buffalo's going to dominate the penalty kill.
14:32I think, you know, depending on the game and how it's going, I think we will see different
14:37results with those two special teams.
14:40Paul, very good.
14:41Look forward to talking tomorrow to start pregame.
14:44Sounds great.
14:44Take over, guys, or take care, guys.
14:48All right, Paul.
14:49Yeah, look forward to a game day visit to get us rolling here tomorrow.
14:53Paul's appearance with us right now brought to you by Raylax Honda.
14:57Raylax, we got this.
15:00Another great logo in round two, just like round one.
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