- 20 hours ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00sort of we've got to stop meeting like this but i don't want to stop meeting like this no i
00:05want
00:05to keep meeting like this because e.j raddick i want to meet like this for the first time in
00:11a
00:11very long time is what i want to do has come from this has come from the top rope to
00:16become a regular
00:17here in this incredible saber season and we're very happy about it e.j is of course i want to
00:23say with nhl network you know that nhl tonight first shift weekdays at four eastern throughout
00:29the stanley cup playoffs which we know bulldog are still going yes they are hi e.j hello there
00:37bulldog is back i was very pleased to hear that mike enjoyed the visits he had with you i was
00:42sorry that i was not available for either one but i'm glad to be here now and hopefully this will
00:46be rectified moving forward well we you know things have been going well so hopefully there's not going
00:52to be any change in the uh the plan here right right let's go back to the the sabers win
00:57over boston
00:58e.j were you ever nervous for them well you're always you're always nervous in a seven game
01:05series especially you know you lose the second game right on home ice after that kind of crazy
01:10first game and they haven't been in the playoffs in a long time so you don't know how they're going
01:15to respond but i think i probably said in one of my previous appearances i just felt against boston
01:20they were the better team and if they played the way they can play they would win and that's exactly
01:24what happens so um you know but there's always nerves i mean even you know you get a nice win
01:30over montreal last night but in montreal's a good team they'll figure out something it's going to be
01:35a hard series yeah i mean i i think um both teams very much to me after last night ej
01:41sounded like you
01:43know we got we know we got more in there martin marty saint louis was talking about how his big
01:48guys had
01:48more room than they were used to from the tampa series which i don't know maybe there's a little
01:52gamesmanship in there hoping to get the sabers to change something i don't know and lindy ruff said
01:57like we we definitely have better um and i would agree as an objective observer i watched montreal
02:03probably 20 or 30 times this year whenever the sabers weren't playing and they were on they were my
02:08go-to because they were a blast to watch so i think this series should be really really fun fast
02:15and skilled
02:17yeah i mean i agree i think the advantage that buffalo has i think they have a little bit more
02:23size maybe a little bit more size on the blue line and they're they're you know the difference
02:28between playing tampa and playing buffalo right now is that tampa's blue line isn't near as active
02:32and they quite frankly that here's so uh you know that's going to be a challenge for montreal moving
02:38forward alex lion has played very well in goal i'm really thrilled for him as a young guy that is
02:43uh
02:43you know kind of looked to find his way with different teams over several years he had that
02:48run with florida at the end of the regular season a couple of years ago that propelled them into the
02:53playoffs and then we know the story from there so really happy for alex lion he's playing well and
02:59you know again as i said before happy for everybody up in in buffalo like last maybe the last 18
03:05months
03:05i couldn't figure out why the team wasn't playing better that personnel was certainly there but they
03:09figured it out and uh you know who knows where this is going to end up this is a very
03:13interesting
03:14spring e.j let's stay on lion for another minute you you know this i'm sure from just covering sports
03:20for so long we talked about was it yesterday bulldog when we got into this a little bit how
03:25you don't necessarily know how good a guy can be when he enters the league he's not drafted he played
03:31at
03:31yale he goes to philadelphia and then maybe carolina and detroit and florida and he he as his career is
03:40going along he's not playing very much he's playing in the american league and it's just like until you
03:45find out from putting him in the net for some serious amount of games you don't necessarily know
03:52what he can't do and so he was never anybody's baby you know lion right and and here he ends
03:58up
03:58splitting time he carves enough he carves out that much of a role at least then lucan and glitches in
04:05the first round and here we are so you always want to remember that about sports like just because
04:10somebody wasn't drafted doesn't mean they can't do it yeah no question about it and you know just
04:15because someone doesn't start a playoff here doesn't mean they might not finish it i mean i can
04:19remember you go with the hurricanes all the way back in oh six they started with i think it was
04:26and then he was out after two games and they had lost both games and then they went to uh
04:32they went to cam ward and you know again the rest is history he went on a run and they
04:36won the stanley
04:36cup so you just never know how it's going to play out like i say i'm really happy for alex
04:41just
04:41because you you pointed it out i mean he was a he was a journeyman he was kind of a
04:45minor league goalie
04:46and even when he had that run in florida it was kind of surprising and uh you know but since
04:52then
04:53every place he's kind of turned up i think he's played well and gotten better and now he's just
04:58found himself in a position of buffalo behind a really a really good team right now so i think
05:04it's just all come together for both the team and the goalie yeah you know when we were talking about
05:08this the other day the the goalies in particular um i said because of lions background i feel like that
05:15is
05:16the spot that people from the outside and even in here inside in buffalo like sabers fans might be
05:22waiting for him to turn into a pumpkin because he mostly has been that in his career he's he's had
05:28these the couple of chances to have the number one job and it kind of just got away from him
05:33and so he
05:34moved down to someplace else and it doesn't have to be you know like the story isn't written you know
05:40entirely yet and he's he's doing a great job and he boy listening to him talk about playing the
05:47position and the the anxiety and the nerves and having to make friends with that he's a very
05:53interesting guy i mean goalies often can be um you know characters and i don't know that that's
05:59necessarily the word i'd want to put on lion but he's he's a really fascinating guy to listen to talk
06:05about how he goes about his job yeah i mean i think i think the goalies in general that's why
06:11a lot of them have gone into media over the years um i think they're interested we had scott wedgwood
06:16on our show the other day and it's a similar story right a career backup he was almost out of
06:21hockey and
06:21you know now he's the starting goalie and kind of a tandem situation where he's there with mckenzie
06:28blackwood in colorado so you know we'll see where it goes i mean that's the beauty for lindy rump is
06:33that he
06:33if things don't go well with lion and he feels he can make a change he could go back to
06:37lucan and
06:38you know that's what it's been all year so why not follow the same course and if lions playing well
06:43just keep them in there and if he struggles and you think you need a change you can bring
06:47lucan back in and i'm sure he would play well that's what that's been what they've done all year
06:51with ej raddick by the way on goalies what's your opinion of frederick anderson i've never i've never
06:58been one to sort of assume that playoff hockey is so different that a guy just you know
07:03a switch gets flipped and they just can't do it or whatever i'm i'm never surprised to see a guy
07:07who's had a good career do well but how how easy is his life in that net well listen it's
07:13you got to
07:14have players in front of you that's the first thing right you got to have a team that's defending in
07:17front of you and then you know you got to be feeling it and you know freddie you know we
07:21go all the way
07:22back to when he was with anaheim he came into the league and he was part of a duo with
07:27a very young john
07:28gibson and uh you know they had some successful runs there he went to toronto and like he's just
07:34never been a guy that in that big moment in the playoffs has made the is really you know when
07:41they
07:41really needed it made the big save and he's given up those he's given up some weak goals he's had
07:46injuries but his career has been generally good when you think about he's a big guy and he's had a
07:54lot of good regular seasons and you know i just think about like the start of this playoffs guys
08:02i'll be honest and i said not a short i said it probably every day that we've talked about freddie
08:06anderson i would have started the other guy because freddie has not had that history of
08:11being a guy that can take a team and go on a long run but you know rob brittenmore to
08:18his credit he
08:19started freddie now freddie missed a lot of time this year too due to injury so maybe that rest has
08:23helped him and set him up for this but he's been brilliant so far in these uh you know they've
08:29won
08:29all six games they've played they swept uh ottawa's uh you know had a lot of it got a good
08:34chances
08:34in that series and freddie anderson was tripping his numbers are near perfect and even the other
08:39night against philly gave up two early ones didn't give up another one they got outplayed in overtime
08:43he had to make i think 12 saves yeah so for freddie anderson he's trying to write he's trying to
08:49write like that that that final chapter you need in a career where it's been a good career if he
08:56were
08:57to be able to backstop carolina on a long run and get him to the finals and play well in
09:01the final even
09:02if they don't win per se i think that would change it would certainly change my opinion and i think
09:07it
09:07would change the narrative a little bit around freddie which has been that in the big moment
09:11it either comes up with an injury or he comes up a little short but he's been excellent through these
09:16first six games this year back back to the sabers i hope to get back to these other series too
09:22if we
09:22we have the time here but i just want to ask you ej what your sense is of how i
09:28don't know how cool a
09:29story how big a story within the league is it that the sabers are back like uh do you get
09:35a monster
09:36yeah okay monster story because i mean for the last 15 years every year we go through the stanley
09:41cup playoff uh ratings and like you know the buffalo area is always the highest people are paying
09:47attention to hockey in buffalo they love their hockey there it's a great hockey city and you know the
09:53fact that this team has been out for so long is really it's you know it's just as someone who
09:59covers
09:59the league and covers the game i mean i i'm rooting for good stories all the time and i you
10:04know they
10:05care about hockey there as you guys know you live it every day the people that are listening to this
10:09right now they care about hockey and you know the team hasn't been good there's been a lot of negative
10:14stories and for the team to respond this year and be as good as they are because as i've said
10:20to you
10:20before on the show i mean top four those top four d as good as any top four d in
10:24the league i don't
10:24care who you're talking about uh you know then you go down the middle of the centers when norris is
10:29right you got you got thompson norris mcleod one two three you could get carrot there as a four
10:34i mean that's really deep through the middle and that's the spine of your team and you know and then
10:39they've got lucan and lion playing well in goals so you know this is a really good team and i
10:44think
10:44it's a great story and it's only going to get bigger and better as they go and if they can
10:49knock
10:49off montreal and get into i guess a 2006 conference final rematch with carolina because carolina looks like
10:56they're moving forward uh you know that would be a hell of a series too but i guess there's a
11:01lot to
11:01there's a lot to happen between now and then but it's been a great story for a few minutes left
11:06with
11:06ej raddick of nhl network mike show up in the bulldog here one of those top four defensemen is a
11:12finalist
11:12for the norris trophy the sabers have never sniffed the norris trophy but here is dalene in a pretty good
11:17position how do you like his chances of winning i think they're pretty good i mean the the team has
11:23played
11:24really well they've gotten a lot of attention i mean the the hockey writers association votes for
11:30these for this particular war they vote for a couple of them and this is one of them and
11:33you get writers from all over uh north america from the different teams different media outlets
11:39that vote for it and you know when it when a team gets more attention you know net look he's
11:44a finalist
11:45now kale mccarr i think is generally thought to be the very best defenseman in hockey
11:50but you know uh i think zach warrensky is another guy that got a lot of attention this year the
11:55blue jackets had a strong finish to the season although they kind of wilted at the end but there
12:00was a lot of attention on the olympics there was a lot of attention on warrensky in that venue as
12:05well so
12:06i mean i'll be curious to see what the voting comes out i mean it's it's it's a it's really
12:11tough because
12:12we have so many really talented defensemen right now to think that quinn used wasn't wasn't a finalist to
12:18think that uh evan bouchard who had the most points among defensemen was a plus player and
12:23and then also improved his defensive game that he wasn't a finalist i mean there are those who watch
12:28the islanders and young matthew shaper they might say he could have been a finalist so i mean there's
12:32a lot of really talented young defensemen in the game right now but uh i've always been a fan
12:38of rafael stalin and uh i just like i like the edginess that he brings to the table as well
12:43as physical
12:44game and uh i'll be curious to see how it plays out i mean at the end i always say
12:48i'm not you john
12:49like i i haven't voted for these in a long time when you work with the nhl network you're not
12:53you
12:54they don't have you vote which is fine because i don't really want to i believe it's a one this
12:58is
12:59a one trophy league and so if rasmus dahlin is is holding that big trophy that they give out
13:04after the last game i think he'll be pretty happy even if he doesn't win the north i suppose i
13:10guess
13:10that's right you agree with that yeah i also would rather the sabers win the stanley cup
13:15than rasmus dahlin win the north trophy yes there you go imagine someone asking dahlin and he doesn't
13:21say that right you know the cup would be fine but i was always trying i always wanted to win
13:26the north
13:26the cup four check back check paycheck listen this is there you go this is why we're here
Comments