Episode 764 "A SEASON TO REMEMBER"

0:00K-pop demon hunters Haja Boy's breakfast meal and Huntrix meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi? It's not a battle. So glad the Saja Boy could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day. It is an honor to share. No, it's our honor. It is our larger honor. No, really. Stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side. I participated in McDonald's while supplies last. Spring Black Friday is on at the Home Depot. Save on grills and patio sets that will be sure to bring your hosting game up a notch. Fire up your feast with help from the Home Depot and save on grills. Like the next grill for Berner Prope and Gas Grill was $249. Now in special buy for $199. Or give everyone the best seat in the yard. With the Hampton Bay Mayfield Park 4-piece conversation set for only $399. Save on grills and patio sets with low prices guaranteed during Spring Black Friday only at the Home Depot. Now through April 22nd while supplies last, exclusions apply to Home Depot.com slash price match for details.

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2:00Go further with the American Express Business Gold Card. Earn three times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels when you book through mxtravel.com. Whether your destination is a business conference or a client meeting, your purchases will help you earn more points for future trips. Experience more on your travels with mxbusinessgold. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash business dash gold. mxbusinessgold card. Build for business by American Express. Say we bang out 30 here. Yeah, 30. If you can fucking keep it to 30. Episode 764 after the whistle. You look really fresh. What does that mean? Are you showered today?

3:01Yes. Is that a bad head that you had? No, that's a shower head, buddy. I'll show you something too. This is a haircut. This is what a haircut looks like. All right. Okay. You look like you're like a surfer dude from the 90s, you know? Yeah, okay. Maybe Kiano Reeves from my break. I'll take that. Okay. Great. That's a hair haircut. 26, buddy. This is timeless. This is timeless. Just what are you saying? You're just saying like you should. You don't like the salad right now. I think you should be growing. I know your wife told you she loved your hair. You tell me this. My wife. And you. That's all that matters, buddy. My wife actually commented on my hair. Hair looks really good lately. And she doesn't ever compliment me. So I took that as something big. Yeah. Anyway, good morning. Good morning. I'm going to tell you something you don't care about, but I care about.

4:01Okay. Jamie Ding, 24 straight. Okay. It's 670 grand in 24 shows. Yeah. Good. Good for. Good for Danger, man. Yeah. You know what? Listen, I told you before, once Danger hits 40 episodes, he might. Well, when he does hit 40. He's in the top five. He's in the top five right now. I think he's in the top five. Most shows. I think he's fourth. I think he passed number five last night. And I think he's someone actively watching him. Oh, Jeopardy. Yeah. Oh, yeah. But what do you think? I'm just like reading about it. Yeah. I love watching Jeopardy. We watch Jeopardy every night. It's just something to do. You know, I have a, you know what it is? I've actually figured it out because you're, you're shitting on me for being impressed by this. And I think one thing that I, that really appeals to me is brilliance. I have a real appreciation for just someone that is over the top smart.

5:05And because I'm not, you know, I'm not. I, I, I wonder like how does someone absorb that much information? Like the shit this guy knows, Craig. And it's like he's not even like squeaking by. There's been one show that he's squeaked by. He is killing everybody. And I think, you know, like I was never a Ken Jennings fan. There's never a Ken Jennings fan. I don't need to tell you why I've grown to love this guy. He is like, he comes across as one of the nicest people. Maybe that you've ever seen. Like he's not your typical game show host. You know, like Drew Beck was great. He's iconic. But, you know, this guy's just, he's nice. He's obviously insanely brilliant off the charts, winning seven. So you're infatuated with just how he has stored useless knowledge. Not useless, not. It's not all, I mean, it's useless.

6:05It's made him 700 grand. It made Ken Jennings four million over the course of his 70, 70 shows and tournament of champions. Like, I wouldn't necessarily say that's useless. Yeah. I think it's just like the ability to absorb information. Yeah. Yeah. To me, Craig's bunch sticking in water. And he's obviously, it comes much easier to him than he probably doesn't have. I mean, multiple blows to the head either. You know what I mean? Yeah. So I went to Princeton. So, you know, he's a, you know, he's a smart guy. Listen, anyway, I'll move on. I know you don't like it. But I just, it's, I'm loving it. I'm loving it. And every night I sit down, I'm like, oh, my God, I can't wait to watch Jeopardy. I can't wait. Like, 630 rolls around. I'm like, God, I got to wait another hour. It's kind of like how people feel about Bill. So what you're telling me is you didn't watch the hockey game. Of course I watched the hockey game. I told you watch the hockey game and watch your Jeopardy.

7:07Well, have you ever heard of this thing called record? Yeah. Good one. Okay. So you can record one or the other. Yeah. No, I don't, I don't normally watch Jeopardy right at 730. I mean, I watched it at the intermissions. Even the TNT intermissions are painful. Although last night, Chelyos and I are ringing the same kind of bell. I had Charlie McAvoy in his Norris conversation. Did you see that? Yeah. Yeah. I was like, thank God. Chelyos listened to the pod. Because I mean, there's no way he comes up with that without listening to us. Like, what's he ever done? So Charlie McAvoy. Sorry, Shelley. Sorry, Shelley. Uh, McAvoy is not not in my, not in my top three. That's for that's for. I didn't see the other guys. But he didn't have Dolly and he had McCar Quinn and McAvoy. And I'm going to tell you what. I agree with the McAvoy. I agree with Charlie McAvoy. Yeah. He's only played 65 games. He has 61 points.

8:07We're going to see him in the first round of the playoffs. Yeah. So I'm looking forward to that. Yeah, he's, he's a player. He's, uh, he's dangerous. Didn't we interview him? Uh, we have not. No, I mean, like back at the combine when he was drafted. Because he went in that draft with boy, man. Yes. I think we, now that, now that you're shaking up the cobwebs, I think we did. Uh, Charlie McAvoy. Yeah. We really liked him. Yes. Yes. Yes, we did. It was very likable. Yeah. We, we interviewed Charlie McAvoy. Was he not someone that we could have drafted? Yeah. Could have. Yeah. So we ended up taking in that draft. Is, was that the Nealander draft? Yep. And we could have taken. Surgachev. Surgachev. We could have taken. Surgachev. We could have taken. Surgachev. Yeah. McAvoy. Surgachev. Yeah. McAvoy. Surgachev. What? 26 goal. The other night. I think led all, all defensemen and scoring. Yeah.

9:07And McAvoy. In goals, I think he led. In goals. In goals he led. Yeah. Yeah. So Jamie Dane 24. But, uh, I mean, like you said, this morning, Sabers hit 50. I got to mention one thing, though, speaking of Sabers and the game last night. I had to go pick my parents up at the Hamilton Airport last night at midnight. Okay. So I left where I live, uh, which is about 20 minutes outside Buffalo, about 10 or 15 minutes outside Orchard Park. And, uh, so I left at 10 to allow myself enough time, obviously, to hit a Timmy Hortons over in Canada, because they're not open past seven o'clock here or whatever it is. So, um, I'm driving up the QEW. And I'm at about Bartlett Avenue. Coincidence. Total coincidence that is Bartlett Avenue. Steve Bartlett, Bartlett hockey. Best agents in the business. Tell you that. Um, so I'm driving up the highway.

10:08Maybe this person listens. Maybe they don't. But, uh, you know, there's obviously saber traffic that comes from Canada. There was no one at the border because I missed it, I think, because there had a lot of lanes open. And, uh, I see a license plate. Sabers 70. Cruising back to Ontario, like toward Hamilton. It was about 11 o'clock. 11, 11, 15 that I was passing this, uh, Sabers 70 Volkswagen. It was, it was a Volkswagen, not an old Volkswagen. It was a newer Volkswagen. But the license plate said Sabers 70. Obviously coming from the game. Yeah. Who cool is that, eh? An Ontario plate with Sabers 70 on, you know what the 70 represents? Not in their Pearson. That's the, you're the, uh, started, right? Oh, good. You know what, man? Check out the brain on bread. The Royale with cheese.

11:08The metric system. Yeah. That's right. Uh, because that was the first, that was the year of the Sabers. That was their first season. Uh, and they're an all girl season, I guess would be the proper way to put it. So, yeah, fans are everywhere, man. So obviously they were coming from the game and, um, yeah. I laid on the horn, you know, rolled the window down on my car. I'm Andrew Peters. I used to play. Yeah. No, I didn't. I swear to God. I swear I didn't do that. I could see you doing that though. Fuck off. I will, you, that's not my, that's not something I would do. That is not my style. I don't care how egotistical someone thinks I am. It's everybody now. I can see you having a, a license plate saying 76 Peters. Oh, yeah. For sure. Yeah. At this point in my life, yeah. If I haven't had it by now, Craig, then odds are I'm not going to do that. Okay. Anyway. So, uh, Jamie Dink 24. Yeah. Um, do we, like, does the game even matter? I mean, you know, last night, no Benson going to assist Josh Don, happy for Josh Don.

12:14He's had a nice finish to the season. Something to, you know, carry into the playoffs because I, he had to have been somewhat frustrated, even though the team was winning with his offensive output, right? I mean, he's an offensive guy. He's getting paid to produce offense and he wasn't, but the team was winning. So, the team winning takes the, he off of that. Yeah. Listen. I mean, can he be, can he be super upset with going through a little bit of a, a dry spell? Like, I wouldn't, I wouldn't exactly call this guy a bonafide point producer. He hasn't, like he, like he did, he did a nice job in college and, um, kind of came out of college and jumped right into, um, playing in the, playing in the national hockey league, played some, played some, um, time in the minors. He's a good hockey player. There's no question about it, but he's not like, he's not, he had 52 points this year in 25

13:18goals. I think that's an unbelievable. Oh, Josh Don't know. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Um, Josh Norris. Oh great. Okay. Yeah. I think we got, how many Josh's do we have here? We got two for sure. Yeah. You just pulled, you just pulled the ribs. Is what you did? I did. Yeah. Well, I got in it three in the morning. Like allow, allow myself. Well, I can, I can allow you a little time. But listen, Josh Don't. Great season. Great season. Josh five and one. Sorry. I'm sorry. Um, Josh Norris is who I'm thinking of. Even when Josh Norris. was kind of, how do I say it, not necessarily producing points. I've still felt that he did a lot of great things on the ice. He's still, he is such a major factor for this hockey team. I can't, I can't express to you how he kind of ties together the offense because you have a, you have a, a Tage Thompson who's running as a number one, a number one

14:22centerman. And you have two lines that I would perceive as solid number twos. Like I'm not going to sit there and say, Oh, Josh Norris is our number two center. And Ryan McLeod is our number three. I don't think that you can say that any more about Ryan McLeod and the way that he's played. Oh, yeah. Well, let's, I mean, you know, the sabers are keeping receipts on people. So why don't I keep receipts on you? I did I not tell you that Josh, that Ryan McLeod could be a number two center or why not give him a shot to be a number two center? Like how do we know you've had him pegged as number three the whole time. And I'm like, yeah, he is a number three. He is a number three. He's, he's a, he's a really good solid three centerman. You just being, that being said, you will I control yourself to just, no, I didn't call myself if you want to ask me why I, I still think that Ryan McLeod is a number three. I do believe that Josh Norris is a number two in this league.

15:27Okay. So when I, I'm trying to, I'm trying to give you, not give you, but give praise to how well Ryan McLeod has played up to this point in the two years that he's been in Buffalo. He's had two career years. This year, 14 goals goal scoring dropped off a little bit has 54 points and plus 25. I think he has played fantastic. I have really enjoyed his speed and his playmaking ability. And, and like you said, like you said, he has started to open up the offensive side of his game, which he couldn't do in Edmonton. It's almost like he was, he was suppressed. Now he's able to create and be much more offensive minded. And guess what? Jack Quinn is a phenomenally offensive talented player. And Jason Zucker

16:35is just an unbelievable all around player. And that line has chemistry through and through, which makes that so called third line, not a third line. It's not our third line. We have two second lines right now because I think Josh Norris don't. And if it's Zach Benson or if it's in Noah Osland, I think those two lines in particular are have played absolutely fantastic. And that, that to me is what makes our team so strong right now is because we have a number one. And we have two number twos. That's the way I look at it. Okay. Well, I like your analysis. So I'm happy for Josh Norris and Josh Don't, but Josh Norris Alex talk got his 33rd last night. They rested. Zucker, Tage, and Dalline went with seven defense. Yep. Are you surprised? Talk played. And not all. Yes, I know. I mean, he played

17:402036. So he played a shit ton. Yeah, he played a ton. Okay. It just goes to show that they're not resigning them. That's the I'm reading into this. And it basically glaring right now that they're not resigning Alex talk because they did not rest him like they did Zucker, Samuelsen, Dalline. Okay. I can't tell a cloud in tourists or sarcastic. That's serious. You actually read into that like that. Zach Benson played 2422. Yeah. He didn't come off the ice. Played you have to break a game, man. Just an absolute water bug all over the place. Like Goldensis, good for him. Obviously, they wanted to give some some ice time to the young legs, the young buck on the team. And, you know, he, I'm sure he is pretty happy with that. But tell me, are you serious about the talk comment? No, no. Okay. No, because like, listen, I mean, oh my god,

18:41man, I am a god damn you. Okay. I am a bloody yo-yo when it comes to Alex talk. I know you're yo-yo when it comes to a lot of things. Like, that's not true. You change, you go back on, they, oh, no, no, it's well documented by yeah, but that's complete horse crap. That is not the case when in terms of Alex talk, I have so many mixed emotions on the guy. He is without question a player that we have to resign. You have to. If you want this team to drive in the right, going in the right area, which this team clearly is, if you don't think that Alex talk is an absolute major, major, major factor, then you are, you are just completely in another stratosphere. He does everything. He's the greatest Swiss army knife probably in the National Hockey League. Not only is he a top goal scorer, he's one of our top point producers. He skates as well as any forward in

19:47the league. He's got incredible. And I mean incredible two-way mindset for the game. He's one of the, he is arguably a top five best defending forward in the game, along with his fricking offense. How do you not sign him? And then all of a sudden the guy on the little guy on the other shoulder says, can't pay him 10 and a half. We can't 10 and a half. It's not. We're talking about if he signs here, it's not for 10 and a half. If he signs here, it's in the ninth period. Period. Well, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I'm going to tell you this. Here's what I'm trying to say. Alex Tuck deserves 10 and a half. All day fricking long. Do you understand when you go and look at like Seattle Kraken? I'm not saying that all these dreams or doesn't deserve. I'm just saying that if he goes to the market man, he'll get 10 and a half with his fricking eyes closed. You know that, right? I know he'll get over 10. Definitely get over 10, whether it's 10, why you would take a dime

20:52less. And this is where I yo yo back and forth. I want Alex Tuck. I want him so bad. I want him sign sealed and delivered. What's the cap next year? 104? 103. 104. Yeah. You keep going to 103, but I feel like it's minimum 104. I feel like it's been 103 literally for a long, long time. Then it's they started talking about 103.5. Like who knows what it's it's going to be 103. 104. The year after that, it's going to be one. So $10 million is less than 10% of the cap. That's a great deal. No, a great deal is Taj Thompson. That's a great deal. I'm talking. Well, what we've gone over this and I don't want to go and beat. Listen, Derek Roy last night, but I mean, here's the thing. When Taj signed that deal, it was like 9% of the salary cap or 8.8% or something along those lines. I mean, you can't let him walk out the door. So when I say in the 9s,

21:56it's not because I don't think Alex Tuck is worth 10 is because I think in the reality of it, the team will say, okay, we have to pay this guy, but we can't pay him that much and we really need you to say to the player, you really need the player to say, I want to be here. I want to be a piece to this team and I want to be a part of a winning team here in Buffalo and actually be one of the key pieces and he would be the highest paid forward, which is it's a nice feather in the cap, too. Yeah, definitely. I'm not I'm not arguing. When you have Alex Tuck asking for 10 and a half million and what you have basically just said to me, he's a Swiss Army knife. He is one of the best he's in the silky voting like he's defensively responsible, but he's also one of our top scores. He is extremely valuable to the Buffalo Sabers. Extremely. There's nobody. There's nobody that's going to replace him. There's no one that can replace him. Yeah, you're going to hope that

22:56Osland gets a little bit better and you're going to hope that Josh Done ups his level of play and you're going to hope that a Jack Quinn now five years in the league. He continues to improve, but you're not replacing Alex Tuck. But at the same time, the Sabers still have to pay a lot of players. If you sign Alex Tuck to 10 and a half million dollars, you're going to lose Bowen Byron. I don't want to lose Bowen Byron. I want to keep Bowen Byron. I don't want to get into that. I don't think it has to be Bowen Byron. I think you are just automatically suggesting that it's Bowen Byron, but there's other. It is Bowen Byron because there's other ways. I don't want to lose on power is what I'm trying to say. Let's let me use that. Let's say we sign. I'd rather have Bowen Byron than Owen Power. We need them both. I don't think you need them both and this isn't this is not me shitting on Owen Power, but like you have Dolly and you have Samuelson, you have Byron. Do you need

23:57any more than that with your left hand shots? I mean, you want to have Logan Stanley. I'm sorry, but you want to have him. Okay. You're going to have, I think, Connor Timmons is under another contract for another day. Did you? I left off the fact that they sat Matthias Samuelson. Also, do you see their 70 last night? They have nine defensemen. This might be the main reason why they go to the finals is because how deep they are in defense. They can go to the finals with this defense core. Yeah. Okay. I just watch, I just watch Shen and I know he's an older guy and I know that he's he's not going to be playing your 20 minutes a night. Careful. Let me tell you something. If you praise him, the gym class heroes are going to breathe fire down your neck and the analytics guys are going to be like, you should sucks. Well, you know, I love the guy. I love. I live. I think his soul, a really solid piece to the puzzle. He's not a doll in or a biome or a power of Samuelson, but he is a really solid piece to the puzzle moving forward.

25:03You know, you look at the you look at the asset that you have in Michael Kesselring who's had a disastrous season, who's obviously it's very, very obvious that he is in the doghouse and he ain't coming out because they don't need him. You have Zach Mezza, who's played exceptionally well. Did you see Kesselring whipping through the neutral zone last night? I mean, the shot that he got off got deflected out of the out of out of play. But man, can he skate? He's he's he's a massive kid like he's a big six foot four 220 pound and he can skate like the bejesus. Yeah. He is an incredible skater to handle the puck to the point is PD. He won't be back here. And that's okay. Very it's totally okay. It's okay. And I don't think that's okay from the standpoint of we don't want him or need him, but it's okay. It's okay because he is an asset, a very, very big asset on the trade market moving forward. And what they want to do and tinkering

26:12around with what they want to do. Michael Kesselring. I don't want to get into like our off-season pieces to move, but I mean, I have a core three or four guys that I think this team could move on from and open up some cap space, maybe even bring in a player and sign Alex Tuck and sign the other guys. I don't want to you want to get into it now like we have all all summer for this. Like this conversation's not going anywhere because it has. We don't have to have a con I'm just and you know what here's the thing to here's the other thing too is that they're going into the playoffs. So this is a whole new start to kind of reevaluating what you have by by the playoffs. I mean, there's no bigger measuring stick. Sorry. There's no better measuring stick than the playoffs. So how these players perform in the playoffs? I mean, we have talked about guys the last 20 games of the season when the games meant nothing and how they performed and you can say that this year with

27:16how the team has played and what was on the line. But now it's like we get to see them at the next level and you can really kind of gauge because I'll be honest with you regular season can be fluff when it comes to evaluating players because it's all circumstantial with where your team is at. Now a lot of these all these players pretty much have stepped up on power being one of them. We you notice we haven't criticized him in a long time. Very little criticism toward on power. He has settled his game down. Okay, that's great for me because that raises his stock in my opinion because he is a player that I would move on from. I don't think you need to pay him $8.35 million especially when you have dolling especially when you have Samuelson now who is I can't believe I'm saying this better and more valuable to the team than own power consistently the entire year. And you need to re-sign bow and buy him and who knows what that number is going to be.

28:18It's going to be nine. Well, there's all powers money and then you've got to figure out a way to work around it. Zach Metz is going to be you know a cheaper version or cheaper defenseman to have to lower your defense core salaries. Logan Stanley I think you want to get him signed whether that's in the fours maybe low fives. You know you got Timmin's back. You have Samuelson now what 2.2 I think Logan Stanley is going to cost you 4.5 all day long with your eyes closed because he is a direct comparable to Nicholas Hag who ended up signing last summer right they're both like six foot six and they're the same type of defenseman there are third pair they're big they're strong they defend and they add an element that the sabers don't have. They don't have a guy like Logan Stanley and I would love to keep

29:18Logan Stanley he's a great third pair guy but you're going to have to pay him he's a 27-year-old player that like listen I mean he's he had 26 points this year and had nine goals but that to me is just part of what he does he adds an element that we miss and we don't have and we haven't had for a long time so I would want to keep him. Yeah that being said listen I would not want to trade own power I'm just going to tell you this I've told you this to understand I'm I'm just that being said if I was if I was in a corner and they basically told me you have to move on power to keep Alex Tuck then I'm moving on from own power well there I want to keep Alex stuck like and it and it doesn't stop there but for time's sake because we have another recording after this we're going to get with Jeremy Rona can get his thoughts on the sabers making the playoffs I have to do a sabers injury update presented by Selena Law car crash call the eights call 888888888 I got to just say I'm driving home last night it's like two 30 in the morning from

30:25the airport up in Canada and the Selena Law billboard just absolutely pops in the fog it was so foggy driving down the highway and all I see is car crash and then a massive eight so car crash call Selena but sabers rest zucker taged Thompson Matthias Samuelson Rasmus dolleen last night any surprise in that at all because there are no injury updates Alex Lyon is out for the time being Austin skating on his own you know everything else remains the same we talked about Boston's injuries yesterday in the injury update both teams very very well for the most part healthy going into the first round of the playoffs starting Saturday afternoon I believe but any surprise with the resting of the players they sat out and any surprise that seriously now because the taged Thompson comment turned into more than what I thought it would that taged or the Alex

31:28tuck comment turned into more than what I thought it would any surprise that tuck played in how much he played so kind of answer that fully loaded question no yes yes I'm okay I'm I'm I'm I'm I shocked that tuck played yes I'm I shocked that zucker Samuelson dolleen Thompson all sat out absolutely not McCloud maybe slightly maybe slightly surprised that he sat out but if he's got any if he's dinged up whatsoever I would keep him out because he's a big asset for this team I'm I'm a little bit like tiny bit surprised that Norris did not come out with his injury history because you certainly don't want this guy but again I think that they're I think

32:28that they kept him in there I think they kept Norris in there for a reason it's more mental no you're fine you're healthy you're strong you're the best go out and frickin play and and I like what they did there Tom you know Alex tuck played 20 minutes and 36 seconds I think that's a little I think that's a little much that's just that's just me I think you played a little bit much but listen the guys are frickin absolute genetic freak you know and he just looks like he never gets tired so all good I you know we're we're ready we're ready we're hungry this team is ready to go holy jump and man am I excited about this playoffs okay well thanks for keeping that short they don't always all have to be long so that'll do it for our injury report there's that advice Salino Law call the eights call 88888888 car crash call Salino

33:34wishing you could be there live for the big game soaking up the atmosphere at a crowd but too often life gets busy or the price holds you back price line is here to help you make it with millions of deals or flights hotels and rental cars you can go see the game life don't just dream about the trip book it with price line download the price line app or visit price line dot com actual prices may vary limited time offer no one goes to hangs for a spreadsheet they go for a darn good pizza lately though the shop's been quiet so Hank decides to bring back the one dollar slice he asks co-pilot in Microsoft Excel to look at his sales and costs they'll be see if you can afford it co-pilot shows Hank where the money's going and which for the extras make the dollar slice work now hangs has a line out the door Hank makes the pizza co-pilot handles the spreadsheets learn more at m365 co-pilot dot com slash work Pepsi prebiotic cola

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35:37the State Farm app or go online at StateFarm.com like a good neighbor State Farm is there we're gonna get Jeremy on for an episode to follow this the next day but I just want to kind of rip through and get your thoughts on some of the awards this year just quickly get your thoughts I don't think you need to overanalyze it who's your heart trophy winner Craig Celebrity off the board I don't disagree well I mean they didn't make the playoffs I don't care if they don't have that kid they're not even they're the worst team in the league hands down I mean it's hard to fight that because that's who I want to see win but I don't think he's gonna win I think they'll give it to Connor McDavid again that's just the way the league works but I mean Kutraoff could be there McKinnon but I like to celebrate if San Jose gets in I absolutely

36:43think it's celebrating so I doubt it will be maybe gets a token heart nomination but I don't see him winning it this year although if they made the playoffs absolutely think could I I do think the three guys that are ahead of celebrating in points Connor McDavid is is surrounded by players that on that team that are that are all stars they have the defenseman that scored 92 points this year in Evan Bouchard you have Leon dry saddle you have Zach Hyman Nugin Hopkins then you go to Kutraoff there he's surrounded by point Hagel headman radish I mean it goes on and on and on then you have Nathan McKinnon he's he's got his buddy on his line that got a hundred points and Martin knee cash like he has Kale McCar who does Macklin celebrate any of who's he have on those he doesn't have those guys who's he have on defense yeah not not those guys who's he

37:45who's he have on offense who's he playing with who's he playing with he's playing with a fricking another 20 year old kid Will Smith who ended up getting what 60 points this year 60 yeah all right I'll take your card man I'll take your argument for a celebration you mentioned who do they have Evan Bouchard nementin he led the all defenseman in points this year by 11 points I'm not sure that like what Chris cello said last night they need a bobby or award for highest scoring defenseman and then they need to actually pick a all-around defenseman who maybe defends more than scores for the noris trophy but that's we're not resolving that today so do you have a vote I mean is it obvious for you is it Rasmus tolling no mine Zac werenski Zac werenski another player not the playoffs let us came in points he scored 22 goals this year and had 81 points in what 70

38:5273 games this year he he is an absolute unicorn when it comes to the very best in the league he was one of the top players in the national hockey league I think he was like second in the national hockey league for minutes played he scored 22 goals he had 81 points he was on a team that did not make the playoffs just like you said he was plus seven plus seven on a team that didn't make the playoffs and he was the highest scoring player in the team it's it's a no-brainer it's it's so it's so no-brainer it's off the chart okay dolleen has to be on the ballot I you know I feel like I feel like maybe cal macara wins it anyway I don't think it should be having booshard I just don't I think you probably agree with that I can live with Zac werenski cal macars obviously always in the conversation Lane Hudson get a get some love from you at all um yeah I assist in Habs history

39:56since Larry Robinson yes but I still feel that Lane at the at the young age of 21 who's doing ridiculous things in this league I still think that he has another level to his game that we will see in in a year two or three from now and he will be in the same uh he will be in the Norse trophy voting for years and years and years to come I just don't think his time is now I think defensively he's even though he's plus 26 or plus 36 he uh is just not quite there just not quite there as the as the overall defenseman I think Quinn Hughes has to get some consideration 53 points in his 48 games with Minnesota um I don't know I don't know if that necessarily does it but I do understand why cellulatum in his top three and I think you know I'm not just saying this

40:57because we're in Buffalo but I think Rasmus dolleen with all things considered there were points in the season where he was not good understandably so when you come to find out what he was dealing with in the offseason and in his personal life um I think he's got to be I mean he he could and maybe should win it you know but we see a lot of him it wouldn't be surprised I would love for Rasmus dolleen to win it uh that being said I'm taking Zach Werencky because you know he's uh he let his team in points what about uh it's a tough season for uh for defenseman when you're leading your team in points not a lot of what about the uh vesna best goalie I think basalewski has to kind of walk away with it 39 of their 50 wins yeah I mean uh I don't really know um I was looking up the the Scott wedge wood and uh he's leading he's leading with the goals against average like by a lot like

42:01and say percentage and say percentage yeah so why wouldn't he be in your so he'd lead and say he's on I think because he's on the best team I think it's just is Scott wedge wood really the why would you ever vote for why would you ever vote for marty broder than why would you ever in a million years vote for marty broder in the course of his career when he played on literally a team that was known as the trap you vote for him because he deserves it he's the he he saved the goals that needed to be saved even though he was on a very solid defensive team well I think of the year that they were criticized for being the trap team they were also I think they scored the most goals in hockey that year yeah but I'm not talking one year pd I'm talking there was a generation of New Jersey Devils were known as the trap and everybody in the league was trying to maybe it's because he played 70 games yeah could be you know there's five or

43:04that two every year you know workload um has to play a factor in it but again but again the the goal tenders back at that time pd 65 to 70 games were normal for a number one goal tender it's not normal anymore for the goal tenders of today right so all I'm trying to say is you're looking at scott wedged wood who has the best goals against and the best saves percentage he also played 44 games he had 30 wins and only six losses okay with six losses and over time he had a phenomenal season now is he not going to win the vesna because his teams too strong well I would be saying the same thing about you know Patrick law I would be saying the same thing about um um Marty Breder and uh they won they won vesnes in those years did did Dominic hasic ever win a vesna in Detroit

44:05be interesting because that that team was just so ridiculous okay so here's uh so scott wedged wood is 73rd in the league for shots against for 60 minutes like there's an argument here for uh ilia syrokin you look at all the categories he's in here I mean maybe it's not wins but Domic hasic did win a vesna on on the redlings syrokin had seven shutouts and he was number one in the league by probably a significant amount for high danger save percentage vesnes tough they're most likely going to give it the vasalevsky because he's a unicorn he's uh he's one he's arguably the best goal tenderer the top three or five best goal tenders in the game but I look at scott wedged wood and uh listen I mean he's played on a team that's played very well but he was also maybe maybe you could say that he was probably part of the part of the solution

45:08and I look at all these other goal tenders over the course of time domino chasic one uh one uh a vesna on Detroit I could have won a vesna on Detroit they were freaking absolutely the the the most dangerous team I've ever seen in my entire life they were absolutely amazing you know you're right uh marty broder is it just comes back to like my god marty broder got 23 shots a game where other guys were getting 45 okay well the best I might the best I might be the hardest trophy to I think it is yes I think it is that's why I'm fighting this one is because I know it's it's very easy just to pick um vasalevsky but I don't think this is there's no runaway goal tender right now that is sticking out um like like previous years so okay it's going to be interesting to see what happens uh rookie of the year ivin temadov to be disappointed it is easy it's definitely easy but listen

46:08ivin temadov we picked him at the start of the years the clear cut rookie of the year he didn't disappoint he let all rookies and scoring um he had you know 19 goals 43 assists 62 points plus three and a legendary comment about that's not necessarily making the most money but winning in Montreal that's huge back at eight didn't see this one coming out of nowhere yeah unicorn was the third over the kid 2024 23 goals 37 assists 60 points minus 11 I'm just adding the minus I'm not picking on him yeah yeah and then I think it's the obvious one oh yeah 18 years old the entire season turned 18 on September 5th yeah drafted first overall last year's draft no one saw this season coming 23 goals 36 assists 59 points plus 13 yeah Matthew shaffer mind blowing mind blowing he is he is uh let me tell you

47:14remember all those defense when you were talking about calmer car dolline he was uh you know were and ski all the big boys those are the big boys those are the big dogs I mean I tell you right now you better you better be scrambling to win norris trophies in the next one or two years because it's it's gonna be over it's gonna be over for everyone as far as I'm concerned this kid's 18 years old and scored 23 goals this year 18 and scored 23 goals that is absolutely mind blowing and here's the crazy thing he was used in every part of the game like everything like he he played he averaged 2441 do you know how how nuts that is for an 18-year-old defenseman it's what he what he did this year is truly it's truly amazing like he like think

48:19about rasmus dolline and the Buffalo Sabers think about how important rasmus dolline is to our team he played 2411 2411 this 18 year old kid plays 30 seconds more per game on average the entire season than our unicorn rasmus dolline that's how that's how much this kid played and all the highlights that I've watched of him he is just the price the price for the ticket man I mean you can raise your ticket prices right now on long island and no one's gonna be no one's gonna be crying because wow are they getting something special jack atoms it's it I would I'm going to tell you this it's the number one it's the number one on the on all lists where you're talking heart selky norris calder vesna the jack atoms is the biggest layup in the NHL

49:22and I am not sitting here believe me I'm not sitting here saying it's it's just because it's a Buffalo it's a Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff took this team over a year ago he had to learn the team they had to make changes which is what they did he had to coach differently which I'm sure he did throughout the season because there's a bit of a change in the in the first part of the season and he coached this team and kept them kept their mindset and their drive to do great things and he deserves in the in the year 2025 26 he deserves the jack atoms it's it's a friggin layup man there's no one that's even close I don't want to hear someone tell me about Rick talk it what someone's talking about the the muse guy from Pittsburgh Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby latin and friggin it's like they're loaded with veteran guy consider I'm not saying

50:28that muse and I even though I made part of the argument the other day I agree with what you're saying but you have to consider the job he's done with an aging with aging stars aging stars it's just you can't deny what he's done with aging players like Malcolm and Crosby and latin who's the defenseman there they traded for from San Jose Carlson he had six or something points this year like you have to you have to give him his due I'm not saying he wins it yeah but I'm saying that if he does win it you can't say that it's not that it's it's not just about Sidney Crosby and it's not just about you've getting milk and you get any milk in this year at 56 in 56 games he had 61 points it's not just about Sidney Crosby or Malcolm or or latin or or like you said Eric Carlson who had 15 goals and 66 points what about Brian Russ Brian Russ had 29 29 goals

51:36again he's a veteran guy Anthony math has been in this league a long time scored 33 record Rick hell 24 goals he had like you're you're talking about a 32 he'll be 33 on May 5th we share a birthday yeah and Anthony Manta how about Anthony Manta like we're playing we're playing right now with no offering Anthony Manta we're playing just no osman 30 gold and with Zach Benson's we're playing with with with youth young guys that have an experienced um you know all these things that's why I think it's easier to coach a Pittsburgh penguins team it then to coach the Buffalo Sabers who have been on a 14 year black cloud over the national hockey league it's not even over Buffalo it's spread everywhere because everybody talks about Buffalo in a negative connotation and now Lindy Ruff has coached this team and you know you know when you have a young team you can go three games one

52:40you they look like they're they're going to win the Stanley Cup in three games they look like they're going to be picking first overall in the in the in the June draft he has been able to take this team funnel them in the right way press the right buttons keep these guys uh talking communicating and getting better each and every day in the environment in Buffalo around that rank is completely different now than what it was for for over a decade and Lindy Ruff has to have has to have a a a a finger on all this it would be very easy it would be very easy if if Lindy Ruff just kind of like hovered and they barely made the playoffs then no but he did something with this team that is magical and he deserves this he deserves this John John Cooper are you kidding me man Nikita Kutrov I don't say John Kutrov they need to put a third person on the ballot

53:43so it's going to be Lindy Muse and then insert any other second runner up because they want to give it to Cooper they they would love nothing more to give it to John Cooper because he's he's he's if he's he's clearly one of the greatest coaches in the game he's very charismatic he speaks very well um the whole shoot and match but this year this is Lindy's year and if he doesn't win it it'll be the biggest disgrace out of all out of like every single guy we can argue back and forth and give your opinion on Vesna Selkie Norris this Jack Adams is so in Lindy's pocket it's it's signed sealed in delivery and if it's not man huh it's it it would be a shame I thought he want did he not win in New Jersey or was he just nominated I just looked him up he only has one one Jack Adams award which I'm only on but yeah I thought this was going to be his third maybe fourth yeah like I'm surprised he didn't get one in 99 I'm I know he got one in 0506 I'm shocked he didn't

54:50get one in 0607 but obviously because the that's why John Cooper shouldn't get it if Lindy didn't win in 0607 then um for winning the president's trophy then you know John Cooper shouldn't get it this year either and he didn't get it New Jersey those years ago when he took that team to the playoffs I mean listen I know I've had my critical comments about Lindy but I'm not going to discredit the fact that he deserves this like there's I mean I'm I'm able to look past all the other shit so listen I mean when you have a coach I'm shocked it's for a second I thought for sure it would have been his third or fourth but yeah you know good for him man I mean he's gonna get it I mean yeah I think every single player that's ever played for Lindy and I wouldn't I wouldn't necessarily I'd put him in his entire career right um whoever played for Lindy probably doesn't remember that period of time as being easy I think everybody who talks about

55:57Lindy like like I'll give you a great example I was watching a little snippet that they had with Marty Biran and Lindy Ruff and and they were talking about a bottle of vodka that Maxifina Ganoff ended up giving Lindy Ruff and they said well if you win uh if you win the Stanley Cup I'll bring you another one right something along that line here's the thing Maxifina Ganoff when he played here in Buffalo hated Lindy more than anybody on the planet but here's the thing 30 years or 30 years later or 25 years later when Max is sitting in Russia and he goes back to his playing career and he starts to think about Lindy those those it's not about anger anymore it's about respect Lindy Ruff tried to push the absolute utmost out of every single player whether you like them is another story there's a lot of players that did not like him except Paul Gostat

57:01okay um but he pushed everyone he pushed Vannick he pushed Derek Roy our star players he pushed me he pushed everybody he kept everybody accountable he made it hard the environment was hard it wasn't fluffy and you walked away when I walked away hated Lindy hated Lindy hated what he did um certain things and now all of a sudden now I'm 15 year removed from my NHL career and I'm like holy shit man what what what an incredible coach he is what an incredible coach he is I didn't necessarily loved my time here in Buffalo but I'll tell you right now he tried to make each and every single player on this team better and accountable and that's what he's doing now and I'll tell you surprise he drank that ball of vodka from Max because who knows what Max might have done to that there's there could have been cyanide and that thing absolutely anyway it just goes

58:05to show it was like I wonder if Lindy Portant was like no he slid it over to Marty Wilford first he's like hey Marty you want to try this try this and see he waits like two minutes to see if like Marty and Seth Apert like fall over I was thinking I don't I mean oh fuck anyway okay great stuff today man thanks for listening everybody