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00:00Hi there, the sun is out. Happy Friday, game two tonight in round two.
00:05Is it nice enough for you today?
00:09It better be.
00:10It's not raining.
00:11No, it's nice out. There's no way around that.
00:14Don't tell me it isn't nice out.
00:16Mid-50s and sunny.
00:19It could be warmer. The average is like 8 to 10 degrees warmer, I think, than today.
00:26I think considering what we've had for these parties in the plaza slash viewing parties at Canal Side for these
00:34home games.
00:35I wasn't here for game one, but it wasn't snowing maybe against Boston in game one.
00:44Was it?
00:45That's Sunday afternoon?
00:47No, it was Sunday night.
00:49Sunday night?
00:50Yeah, I think it snowed. I think it snowed.
00:52There was people kicking that barricade over, and I remember there being snowed.
00:56It wasn't like accumulating, but it was cold enough to snow.
00:59I think this is the nicest weather we've had for one of those events, I think, is all I'm getting
01:04to here.
01:06So, yeah, I think, you know.
01:07Are you thinking it's nice enough where you will stay outside and not go in?
01:10No.
01:11It's not that nice.
01:12No.
01:13It'll be colder later.
01:14No, I mean, I might enjoy that if we were working down there and I didn't have tickets.
01:19I'll tell you what about that party.
01:20Maybe I would do that, but, no, I'm being taken care of tonight.
01:25My son goes to that party.
01:26He'll be there tonight.
01:27Look for him.
01:28You know him from the scoreboard and head honcho of Canisius Lacrosse.
01:34He's down there.
01:35When they show images, and I don't mean this as a bad thing.
01:39I said it to my wife, and she's like, well, it's good.
01:42So, you know, that's how well we're communicating these days.
01:45But they show that Canalside shot and all the people celebrating goals.
01:51Nobody looks older than 20.
01:53It does look like a young person's crowd.
01:56It is a prom party, I think, these Canalsides.
01:59That's what it looks like on TV.
02:01And, you know, my son wants to be there.
02:03Right.
02:04So, I'm assuming, I'd like to think, it's well policed, you know, and no indications
02:10to the contrary.
02:10Yeah, I've not heard any reports of any unrest there.
02:15I did see something about something that happened with a Pabs fan, you know, after the game
02:20outside the arena.
02:21But, anyway, yeah, the party looks like it's been really great.
02:24But super young.
02:25Yeah, yeah.
02:25Yeah, and that's got to be a win for them.
02:29The Sabres, right?
02:30Like, if you've got, I mean, isn't everything, I mean, it's a miracle we're still together
02:37after all these years.
02:40Is that how you see it?
02:41Yeah, a little bit.
02:42I mean, you're chasing the young, you know, you want to be hip and cool.
02:46You want, you know, the young people.
02:48And if young people who have never experienced the Sabres being good feel compelled to go
02:55celebrate this, I mean, that's a fantastic sign.
02:59You know, before you go on, I'll say that if it's a miracle, because maybe it sounds like
03:05every day we're complaining about either how loud the game is or what channel it's on,
03:11then yes.
03:13Because who wants to listen to Stadler and Waldorf talk about how they can't find the
03:18game and that it's not synced up and that the crowd isn't loud enough and that the announcers
03:22are this kind of, you know, annoying or whatever.
03:25So I think we definitely give our listeners a fair share of that.
03:29Sure.
03:30Yeah.
03:30Maybe more than a fair share.
03:31Mm-hmm.
03:32Noted.
03:33Well, that's one interesting element here of this whole Sabres experience is that I guess,
03:40but we would have predicted this, we didn't lose the young people, just like with the
03:46Bills drought.
03:48I think both times we would get a little bit, not you and I necessarily, but collectively
03:55we would get a little bit carried away with how damaging it was.
03:59Yeah, I know.
04:00But with, I have a Bills point about this.
04:03With the Sabres, we both, I think, I know how I felt and I just feel like you were exactly
04:09this way, if not even more pronounced, that whenever they get good, it'll be fine.
04:14Yeah.
04:14It'll be back.
04:15I feel like we learned that during the 0-4-0-5 lockout.
04:19And that having come on the heels of bankruptcy and like, you know, it was dire before the
04:26league, you know, the Sabres were in an all-time bad spot as a franchise.
04:31And then the league shut down and we spent, I mean, that was a whole year with no hockey
04:37games and there were, yeah, there were plenty of questions about the future, the future here,
04:43the future of the league, like, what is it going to be?
04:45And as soon as they got hot coming out of that, it took until maybe December, but in
04:50early 0-5 or mid-0-5, blast off, here we go.
04:55And from that moment on, because I remember saying all through it, like, I feel like it'll
05:01just come back if the right combination of mostly the team is good.
05:05Is it something we can believe in, captures your imagination again, and we're right back
05:09there.
05:09So I never doubted that if it happened, that they got good, everybody would come back.
05:15The question was, are they ever going to figure it out?
05:17Like, when are they going to get good?
05:19We've been waiting and waiting and it's multiple number one picks and what are we doing here?
05:23And finally it happened.
05:25And yeah, everyone is just right back, including again, yeah, people who maybe saw their parents
05:32all excited about it and went, what is this all about?
05:35I want a taste of this too.
05:36And now they're on board.
05:38And it just, yeah, I've said it many times over the last few months.
05:42Like, we just need them to look at us one time and like, I love you.
05:46I still love you.
05:48I'm running across the cornfield to hug the Sabres.
05:51Like, just, we're back, baby.
05:54I think what's different, I don't want to be like negative toward the Bills or anything
06:00of the sort, but I think it's even like more organic than the Bills thing was.
06:06What I wondered about, you know, the Bills could have left too.
06:10The Toronto dalliances and they weren't, well, they eventually were for sale when Ralph Wilson
06:17died, but it was a little bit the same.
06:21Whatever that was.
06:22Because I felt like jumping on tables and just all the nonsense in and around the stadium
06:29was all a function of how irrelevant the team was.
06:34That if the team was good, we wouldn't ever resort to any of that.
06:38Like, it was always a good tailgate scene.
06:41Which means what?
06:42It means that lots of people are out there and grilling and throwing the ball around and,
06:46you know, having a couple beers.
06:47There's all the community, but when it got into that other place, I mean, that was during
06:54the drought.
06:55I'm like, well, this is bad because this has nothing to do with football and we're so bored
06:59with the team and tuned out that the only way we can think to occupy ourselves, we want
07:05to keep the tailgate thing going because we like that, so we're going to drink our faces
07:08off and jump on tables and squirt mustard in each other's eyes.
07:11Some of them are on fire.
07:12And like, it's also stupid, like it has nothing to do with football.
07:16So then Josh Allen shows up and Sean McDermott, Josh Allen shows up and the other stuff had
07:24become a tradition that some people find interesting and the team got good.
07:29So there's never a ticket of it, right?
07:30It's just got, we got there.
07:33The Sabres, there isn't any nonsense really.
07:36Well, I mean a little bit.
07:37Yeah.
07:37It's a little bit now.
07:38Yeah.
07:38Right.
07:39Once the playoffs got here and they had the party and like, here come the rollerblades
07:42and they're kicking the crap out of a Cam Neely mannequin.
07:45But they got good first.
07:46Right.
07:47That's right.
07:47Like that wasn't something we decided to do to pass the tide.
07:49Absolutely correct.
07:51Right.
07:51It was more just like, there's more, there are more people down here now.
07:55This is fun and let's figure out new ways to enjoy ourselves down here.
08:00And it's all clicking.
08:02So I don't know, like there's something about that that's different for me.
08:06And I'm also thinking about this.
08:08And this is also not to like put the Sabres above the bills in terms of like Buffalo or
08:12any, any particular context.
08:14But here this week on this show, John Shannon walks in long time Canadian hockey analyst
08:23decades, right?
08:24And he comes on, we get Ron McLean on that's back.
08:28We had Ron McLean on 20 years ago for, you know, on a regular basis, but that ended, he
08:34went to serious and like, it just, and then the Sabres became the drought Sabres.
08:37And just like, I don't know if we ever even thought about it, always admired him.
08:41Then yesterday it's Sean McIndoo who was on our show many times, 15 to 20 years ago, you
08:48know, great writer.
08:49One thing those guys, I mean, we've had Travis on a lot.
08:53Travis lives in like Utah from Long Island or something.
08:58Greg Wyshynski is on a lot.
08:59You know, he's from New Jersey.
09:02This week, those are all Canadians.
09:05John Shannon, Ron McLean, Sean McIndoo are all Canadian.
09:09There's a particular connection that I think we're all kind of experiencing with this,
09:15this playoff run quintessentially when Kamee Clooney's mic dropped during O'Canada last
09:21Friday.
09:22What?
09:22No.
09:22Last Tuesday.
09:23Right.
09:24Last Friday was game six.
09:27Like that connection is right out there right now.
09:32Like, and you know, ironically, maybe you're playing Montreal.
09:36So there's more of a rivalry again with this round that would not have existed if it were
09:41Tampa and did not exist against Boston.
09:43But, you know, so be it.
09:45And I've really sort of, I don't know what to say about it except just recognizing it.
09:50That when we had Bills versus Sabres kind of discussions, whatever it really was about
09:5720 years ago, Canada was a big part of that.
10:02And Canada has also a big part in the Bills fan base, too.
10:05Anyway, I'm not sure what really the point is, except that the Sabres thing kind of means
10:14Canadians and that connection coming back in a good way.
10:19It should make, I think it should make Sabres fans, you know, if they care at all about their
10:26place in the sport, in the league.
10:29Um, the reason that the Canadian people, like I got reach out to Rob McLean, reach out to
10:35John Shannon, same with Sean.
10:37Um, they recognize they've been around long enough to know what a great market it can be
10:43and how underserved it had been for so long.
10:47And I, I, I believe every one of those people I've heard Pierre Lebrun say it and write it
10:52many times.
10:53Like it's the sport is better.
10:55The league is better when Buffalo matters.
10:57It's a border town and it just, it, it, it's not, you know, ratings wise, it gets you good
11:03percentage numbers, but it's not millions of eyeballs because there's not millions of
11:06people, you know, but it's still, it, it, it lifts the, the North American and especially
11:13the United States profile of the league to have Buffalo competitive, uh, because it is
11:18a hot hockey market and people who live in the game, make their living in the game and care
11:26about the game at the level that all three of those guests, I, I feel represent that
11:30they do.
11:32They respect a place that loves it.
11:35And like, to me it's validation.
11:37Like they know it's re it's a real hockey market.
11:40It's not just, Oh, we're good again.
11:43I mean, you gotta be good again to get the, the fuse lit, but we're, we know we've been
11:50following, like it's, it's a heady hockey town and that, that should always get respect
11:56from, you know, from those, you know, from those who are, are inside the, you know, inside
12:02the game, like those guys are, I, I almost want to want to go as far as to say that
12:07in
12:08this way, Buffalo is a hockey town and also a bills town more, not a football town as much
12:17as it is a bills.
12:18Yeah.
12:18Yeah.
12:19Right.
12:19Yeah.
12:20Yeah.
12:20Is that, is that right?
12:25I don't, I don't know.
12:27I'm not, I, I don't know.
12:28I guess it's like, there are plenty of football teams, high school club.
12:33I mean, there's a scene hockey though.
12:36Everything runs through here.
12:38I mean, not like we're the hub, but you and I both know from our kids, just the tournament
12:45life and Oh, we got 50 teams piling into the North town center and you know, all the Rochester
12:51and Canadian teams that come through, like it's, it's definitely not a hub in that it's
12:58like the central location in the content on the continent or anything, but there's a certain
13:03depth to the hockey culture in Buffalo that might not exist for football.
13:10I mean, my son played football for one year, got in, got out.
13:15That's not even a worthy example.
13:17He was never a football kid, but just there's a, there's a level of it, but it doesn't seem
13:23like the hockey level is even close to it.
13:27I mean, just with how many, I don't know, numbers, how many kids, how many teams, how
13:31many different organizations?
13:33I just, yeah, it is.
13:35I, yeah, that's all I can.
13:36I never knew numbers for any organization.
13:39I was involved, you know, like how many kids are in the bisons at a given time?
13:43I don't, I have no idea.
13:44Uh, I think it's a lot and there's a lot of organizations.
13:48Every town's got one just about, you know, and towns that aren't big enough to have their
13:52own combined with, with some others.
13:53That's how you end up with the South town stars.
13:55Um, as one example, right.
13:59You know, capturing Orchard Park, Hamburg, whatever, although Hamburg's got their own thing
14:02too.
14:03Green and gold.
14:04Um, right.
14:04South town stars, green and gold.
14:06Yeah.
14:06And there's also this piece too, like I hockey town, um, you know, it happens in the city
14:15and for, for me anyway, as a city resident, that's always resonated.
14:19It's not, it's not to hold it against the bills that they're not here, but the hockey,
14:26like a hockey night is about Gene McCarthy's and, uh, RIP Swanee house.
14:32And, and, you know, Adolph's like places in the first ward that, you know, that happens
14:38in Orchard park on football game days, but like, I, that's not where I live.
14:42You know, those, it's not where I frequent it's like, you know, I go to these places and
14:47I know how much it matters to those places to have those nights.
14:50And when it's like this, it's just so the city just buzzes.
14:55It's how it should be.
14:56Yeah.
14:56And I, that has always, you know, I, I guess I've always said I'm more of a Buffalo fan
15:03than I am a bills or Sabres fan.
15:05And the Sabres are of Buffalo in a way the bills just simply can't be.
15:09They, well, they made the choice.
15:10Yeah.
15:11Right.
15:11Right.
15:11Because of where they planted their flag.
15:13Like, and again, I'm not, I don't hold that against them, but it does enhance the Sabre
15:18experience to me.
15:19You know, I'm going to get out of here tonight.
15:21You're gracious enough to let me split in time to get to the game.
15:25And that's still six, right?
15:26And it's like four, right?
15:28Six.
15:28How much time do you need?
15:30I'm hoping six will be enough.
15:34And if, if I had to run to a suburb somewhere where their rink was, it wouldn't feel the
15:40same.
15:40Maybe it would be more convenient.
15:42Maybe it'd be easier to get there and park and get to the rink on time for face off on
15:46a tiger timeline that I might like, but I love that.
15:49I got to go downtown.
15:51Like I like going downtown, you know, it's just, you don't have a lot of reasons to go
15:56downtown and the hockey game is a big one.
15:59And I love that.
16:01Always have.
16:02I like that point.
16:03Have you made a plan for after the game?
16:06I feel like I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm been invited by some folks that I want to sort of see what
16:13they have in mind.
16:15You know, I might want to accompany them if they have, you know, I don't know.
16:18Um, win or lose with it being a Friday night.
16:21Yeah.
16:21Win or lose is, could be a factor.
16:23It being a Friday night is always a factor.
16:25You know, it's different than a Tuesday.
16:27Uh, you know, the horn blows like, okay, see you later, get to the car and try to get
16:30home and go to bed and get up.
16:32Uh, whereas Friday is a little more.
16:34So I, I, yeah, I'm, I feel like I'm in the wind.
16:37Uh, I don't know.
16:38I got one of my, one of my, my best friends is going to meet me.
16:42And from there, I'm just sort of like, I guess I'll be open to ideas.
16:46Well, I can offer one.
16:49Actually, I'm not even sure I can.
16:50Go on.
16:51I'll be dealing blackjack at a post-prom party.
16:54I'm not even sure I can offer you.
16:56I don't think I can crash that.
16:57I don't think so either.
16:58I don't have the kind of power to get you in.
17:01No, I know one of the dealers.
17:02I could try.
17:03I know one of the dealers.
17:05Right.
17:06No.
17:07I am one of the dealers.
17:08Yes.
17:09Not shop.
17:10Show.
17:10And you know what you win?
17:12Candy.
17:14If you win.
17:15If you lose, you lose.
17:16But you're not playing for real money.
17:17It's high school kids.
17:18Come on.
17:19We can't do that.
17:20You could take them down and get all their skittles.
17:23Right.
17:23Will there be skittles?
17:25I'm not in charge of the candy.
17:26Okay.
17:27Someone else is.
17:29But yeah, I'm going there.
17:31I'm going home, probably, for the game.
17:35To an empty house, I think.
17:36And then back into the city for Blackjack until 2 a.m.
17:44Oof.
17:45I can tell you this.
17:46Whatever I end up doing after this hockey game, it is going to have a shelf life way earlier than
17:512 a.m.
17:52You know, that's a lot.
17:54The window is 11 to 2.
17:57I don't think you're going to have kids there at 2.
17:59Yeah.
18:00I ran out.
18:00They have the prom.
18:02Yeah.
18:03Do I need the dads playing fake blackjack and mini golf?
18:08Do I need to?
18:09Is that what I want?
18:10Is that my idea of fun?
18:112 a.m.
18:12At 2 in the morning?
18:13Get the hell out of here.
18:14I think 2 is a little much.
18:14I ran out of the house last Friday after the Sabres won, just about right now.
18:19I think we watched the end of Tampa-Montreal before we left my house.
18:24And I had my friend John Gale drop me at the bar I hang out at on Hurdle.
18:29And it's like 10 o'clock, 10.15 maybe.
18:31And I was back in my house by 11.30.
18:34And when I walked in, my wife, who's on this wacky schedule because she's often working overnight,
18:39so it's the middle of her day at 11.30.
18:43I walk in there, she's like, I can't believe you're home already.
18:46Like, thinking of me 20 years ago, I leave the house at 10.30 or 10.15.
18:50Like, I'm going to be out a while.
18:52I just wanted a taste.
18:53I just wanted to see everybody and, like, high-five some people.
18:57And that's it.
18:58I don't need to sit there and drink all the beer.
19:00I'm home.
19:01That's it.
19:01Right.
19:02So postgame tonight, likely wherever we go, will be more like that for me, I would think.
19:08Well, no doubt you can find a game, even if it's not a blackjack game for Skittles.
19:12Right.
19:15We have moved Sam Paniatovich to 4.30 today so that we could get Sal on.
19:24And really, just inside baseball, that is more just not having more Bills talk closer to the hockey game, really,
19:33is what the logic was there.
19:35So we'll bring Sal on next.
19:37Rookie minicamp today.
19:38They're practicing now.
19:39And we'll get a couple of thoughts from him.
19:41The schedule has been announced to come out on Thursday, so that's exciting.
19:46I'm starving for nuggets.
19:49Not seeing any.
19:51Me either.
19:51It's Friday.
19:52It's getting late on a Friday.
19:53I don't expect any.
19:54No, probably not.
19:55But probably by Monday morning we get something.
19:58I hope.
19:59And we'll talk about the Bills rookie class and maybe some schedule stuff.
20:04Sal loves that, too.
20:05Sammy P at 4.30 on the hockey odds and what we're going to do tonight.
20:10And then all the way until 6, the pregame show for Game 2, Sabres and Canadians.
20:15Sounds like, if it wasn't even said by Lindy Ruff, same lineup.
20:18That's Paul's proposition.
20:20I think what Paul's reporting, Lindy said, is Carrick could play, but we don't need to
20:26do it, so we'll give him an extra couple days and see, revisit it for Game 3.
20:31That's the kind of logic that I don't love.
20:35He would play if it were Game 7.
20:37Yeah.
20:37Well, if it were Game 7, you were 3-3 against this team.
20:40Let's not get there.
20:43I mean, we're not talking about Darlene here, but, I don't know, didn't we all think it
20:48was a big upgrade?
20:49And how did it go when Carrick played?
20:52Is he healthy or not?
20:53He's healthy enough to practice.
20:55I think they can do what Lindy usually does, sort of hide behind, well, we won.
21:00And, you know, I don't think it's...
21:06I'm not upset about it in the least.
21:09The guy missed six weeks, and he just got back on the ice this week.
21:15He's ahead of schedule.
21:17Even though he's cleared, okay, let's give him a little time.
21:20Let's just make sure that that arm doesn't fall apart when he takes a draw.
21:24Whatever.
21:25I'm already pushing it off a little bit.
21:30I can't use him as...
21:33It's like, it's a month, right?
21:35April 6th was the injury.
21:37I can't use him like I used Vanek in the Carolina series 20 years ago, and...
21:42No.
21:43I need my...
21:44I don't want to have my goals in the press box because they didn't play the last game
21:48that I won 3-2 or something.
21:50I don't know.
21:51I can't tell you how healthy he is, but he seems healthy enough to play hockey.
21:55Anyway, sounds like it won't be tonight.
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