Hour Two- What does Boston think of this Sabres run?

0:00I'm done carrying around bulky drinks, and I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out of my pockets. So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow 5 hour energy shots. These little guys are as pocket sized as any candy. But instead of a sugar crash, you get a zero sugar caffeine boost. Candy can't even compare at this point. Fruity rainbow 5 hour energy shots treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor. To the tasty caffeine kick. That's right, caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. And it's not just one flavor. Five hour energy shots bring you tasty caffeine and 17 flavors, 17. So if you're craving that candy flavored chaos, but actually want energy that works, grab fruity rainbow 5 hour energy shots, pocket sized, zero sugar, big flavor, available now at 5hourenergy.com or on Amazon. This is attorney Amida Zari from Zari Law.

1:01If you've been injured in an accident and feel like no one is fighting for you, it's time to fight back. Paul Zari Law at 888-828-3rd, that's what one call you can put a proven legal team on your side. Zari Law has been serving the DMV for over 15 years, proudly fighting for our local community. I was born and raised right here in the DMV, and my team is made up of experienced, reputable local attorneys dedicated to fighting for injury victims just like you. Follow us on all social platforms at Zari.law. That's a-z-a-r-i.l-a-w. Don't wait, don't settle. Fight back with Zari Law. With offices in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, my team and I are ready to stand up for you. Paul, 888-828-3rd, that's 888-828-3rd, and let us fight back for you. Have you or a family member been diagnosed with early-stage, non-small cell lung cancer

2:03that can be removed by surgery? Consider talking to an oncologist about your treatment options. Why? Because knowing your options before you have surgery can help your care team develop a treatment plan that's right for you. Find out about a potential treatment plan before and after surgery at AskBeforeSurgery.com that's AskBeforeSurgery.com and talk to an oncologist before your surgery. Where'd you get that thing? I trapped it. Been keeping it in my bathroom at the hotel, feeding it old pizza. It's Mike Shope. If you're calm, that wondrous big cat will be calm too, but if you're scared, that beautiful death machine will do what God made it to do, namely, each you with a smile on its face.

3:05And the bulldog. Now WGR sports radio 550. Obviously, the Sabers being in the playoffs for once in 15 years is number one on this list of things about the upcoming NHL playoffs to be excited about. But maybe number two is no Florida Panthers. I had enough. Or Leafs. I mean, there are people who hate the Leafs like that. I'm not one of them. But I kinda like Florida. Florida. Yeah. I can take a break from people, you know, reacting to the Panther roar. Because, you know, I heard a lot about that. I will not miss, I was you on there. I will not miss Florida. And maybe perhaps neither will our guests joining us on the Western hotline. Flute Oshanzawa from the athletics, but on the Bruins beat for many years. Sabers and Bruins tomorrow night, Bruins and Leafs tonight. So we've reached you on a game day here. Thanks for your time. Yeah. You bet.

4:05Can I close Bulldog this 1983 Sabers, Bruins, Hockey, Reference, Spockscore page on my browser? Are we done with that? No, something good come up. Flute Oshanzawa, there's, of course, plenty of playoff history between the Sabers and the Bruins, most of which tends to haunt me. But hey, look at the standings today and this could very well be a first round matchup. I think it would be if the season were over. Tell us about this Bruins season so far. Well, that would be wild on multiple levels, just given what expectations were like heading into this season. If you look at it from the Bruins side, they're no sure thing at this point. It's probably a coin flip, but they're in pretty good shape. The gold tining has been tremendous. It's probably the number one story here in terms of Jeremy Swainman just being a game changer. He stole them a couple points and destroyed massive two points and destroyed.

5:05So you look at where the Bruins have come from. They were terrible last year. Fifth worst and the lead trade, they're a captain, the guy whose number is going to be up in the rafters, trade a whole bunch of other folks, and then have some bad luck actually in the lottery to drop to seventh, but you look at the way that they have put some foundational pieces in place, starting with a new coach. He's been Archer's Terms A-plus job. I'm getting so much above expectation performance pretty much across the board in terms of where you look at the roster and credit to management for bringing in players that fit Marcos' vision. So again, they could fall flat on their face here and their last, I think they have 12 games left. But regardless of what happens from here on out for the Bruins, I think this has been a very good step in terms of returning to where they want to be.

6:09I'm glad you started here because I think, you know, for us, we're just a little background here at Fluto. We're wrestling with a fan base that has been pretty detached here. I mean, 14 years now in the playoffs. I mean, we've never called on you before. You've been on this beat for 20 years. You know, we've just been sort of at arm's length with the Sabers. And I bet a lot of our audience, if they weren't closely following the league, would have just expected the Bruins were in the playoffs every year here. But last year was kind of a bottoming out. And that's what makes this year such a surprise, other than the goalie, how have they really done it? Uh, power play, it's taken a little bit of a hit, but consistently top five all year. So that's Posternak, that's Geeky, that's the McVoy at the point. I think that's a big one. They've also, at five on five, they've scored significantly above expectation.

7:12You can look to Geeky again, that's a player. And part of it has been playing with Posternak, but that hasn't been a line combination that's been regular this season. In fact, Morgan's been on their third line while David's been on their first line. So they really haven't spent that much time together, but yet Morgan here he is with the career high in goals. He's hit the wall here a little bit, but that's a player that is shooting way above expectation. You had from a Buffalo guy, Casey Middlestad, he's really made 180 degree turn from where he was last year from when the Bruins got him from Colorado. Their second line with Casey, Pawel Zaka, Victor Arvitson, that's been probably their most consistent three zone line. So I would say goal tending number one, power play number two, number three in terms of just performing above expectation when it comes to goal scoring. I'm just an overall fight in terms of their attitude, never out, and that reflects so

8:19well on. I'm done carrying around bulky drinks, and I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out of my pockets. So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five hour energy shots. These little guys are as pocket sized as any candy. But instead of a sugar crash, you get a zero sugar caffeine boost. Fruity can't even compare at this point. Fruity rainbow five hour energy shots treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor with a tasty caffeine kick. That's right, caffeine just got a flavor upgrade, and it's not just one flavor, five hour energy shots bring you tasty caffeine and 17 flavors, 17. So if you're craving that candy flavored chaos, but actually want energy that works, grab fruity rainbow five hour energy shots, pocket sized zero sugar, big flavor, available now at fivehourenergy.com or on Amazon. This is attorney Amida Zari from Zari Law.

9:22If you've been injured in an accident and feel like no one is fighting for you, it's time to fight back. Paul Zari Law at 888-828-Hurt, just with one call, you can put a proven legal team on your side. Zari Law has been serving the DMV for over 15 years, proudly fighting for our local community. I was born and raised right here in the DMV, and my team is made up of experienced, reputable local attorneys dedicated to fighting for injury victims just like you. Follow us on all social platforms at azari.law that's a-z-a-r-i-dot-l-a-w. Don't wait. Don't settle. Have you or a family member been diagnosed with early stage non-small cell lung cancer that

10:24can be removed by surgery? Consider talking to an oncologist about your treatment options. Why? Because knowing your options before you have surgery can help your care team develop a treatment plan that's right for you. Learn about a potential treatment plan before and after surgery at AskBeforeSurgery.com that's AskBeforeSurgery.com and talk to an oncologist before your surgery. Thy ticket, Lady Jennifer of Cooge. Well, many thanks, good sir. Here is my Discover Card. They accept a Discover at Renaissance Fairs? Yeah, they do here. Discoverers accepted at the places I love to shop. Get it with the Times. With the Times. You're playing the loot. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right? Discoverers accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide based on the February 2025 Nilsen report. On the coach. So again, perhaps a little bit of a head scratcher in terms of, you look at how they've played

11:28versus their expected metrics in some of these categories. It's been better than expected. So good on them. Flutus and Zawa are guests from the athletic Mike show up in the bulldog here. You mentioned middle stat, not the only former Saber in the mix in Boston. I saw Nikita Zadorov's goal in Detroit. That was a big one. Not what he's, you know, about, but still. And Yokey, are you in and out, Fluto? What's his status? Henry has been, yeah, he'll be back in tonight. He'll be, and he'll be playing with Zadorov. So he's been kind of the pretty much regularly the seventh defenseman here. Andrew Peek has been mostly the Nikita's partner on that third pair. Henry, it's been hard for him to gain traction. And I think there's been a little bit of a mismatch here in terms of his strengths versus what they want him to do and how they want their defenseman to play.

12:30He likes to play with a puck. He's got some skill there, but he's not physical. He's not really in the mix in terms of really digging for puck and playing stout in these own coverage and being there boxing out. So I don't know that it's been the I bit for Henry here, but on the flip side, Nikita's been, he's, again, that's another player that really struggled at times last year, as a first year Bruin, taking way too many penalties. And now here he is. He's been, he's been very good. He's been one of their three best defensemen and a shutdown guy will fight, will go up in the rush. He's a great skater at his size. It's just you can't contain Nikita the door of when he's at full speed. So some, some, you know, positive and negative when it comes to those two ex Buffalo guys.

13:31Yeah, you mentioned here that the Bruin still have work to do to make sure they get in. So they're not, they're not made here, but assuming they, they get this home and they make the playoffs as a, most likely as a wild card. I guess they, they're tied in points of Montreal. So third is still on the table for them, maybe even second. Do you think it's sticky? Like did they bottom out last year and sort of spring back, like are there building blocks here for them to kind of keep going or is this sort of maybe a fluke one off type year? No, I think this is a good first step and I think they're, they're trending upward. I was just in Providence today this morning with James Agons. Look, look like he, at times he might have been gone first overall last year, but he goes seventh. And he plays out his sophomore year at BC. He's a natural center, but he played mostly on the wing, which is where he'll start as a pro. So who knows? He's going to start in the American League, but it might be temporary.

14:32Just because like assuming he makes that that NCA to pro transition well, like this is, this is a player whose skill set would be needed here in Boston now for this stretch run. So maybe he stays the rest of the year in Providence, maybe he comes up and helps out the diversity, but that's that's a foundational player. That could be that could be a top line center for a long time. And they still have three foundational players. And he's a posh-na-mak-avoie-swamen. Now posh-na-kies, let's see, he's a 96. So he'll be 30 in May. So, okay, but he's still performing at a lead level. Charlie is a 97, so he's a year younger and Jeremy also, I think he's a 97, maybe he's a 98. But those are those are those three players that you can build upon. So beyond that, Hagen's is coming up. Minton, former leaf, has been playing very well.

15:37Houston Vinoff from Minnesota last year, the acquisition, like these are, they've got some players here, but they still have some picks to go. They still have Toronto's first round pick, so which is a top five protected, but let's say Toronto finishes six worse and they get that, that's a pick that could play right away. So yes, it's not done, but it's a good first step in the right direction. They did this with McAvoy a few years ago, didn't they? Signed him, he went to Providence, played a little bit, and then eventually came up and played in the playoffs, right? Correct, the plan was for him to finish out. Same thing, sophomore year, BU reports the Providence, and the plan was for him to stay there the rest of the run, but then the body started falling left and right on defense from Bruins then Brandon Carlo, Adam McQuade, maybe Torrey Krueger, I can't remember, but he was needed. They needed a player and he was ready

16:37and he upbecomes, and he's playing with Daniel Chara on the top pair, and then there's no turning back. So that's kind of an exception. I don't, that's hard to expect a player like Hagen's, but that was, yeah, there's a precedent there for American League stay that didn't stay, that didn't last very long. That extra pick is Carlo from Toronto, right? That's a tough one. Yes, to push like they did last year and they don't not get there losing Florida, now having this season off of that. I don't have your number one. I just read a piece from Toronto with the Athletic, which is where our guest does his work on the Bruins beat about that trade and like how, you know, the state of mind that they were winning the division, like we're loading up for the playoffs, let's go get a big mean tough defenseman. Oh sure, number one pick in this prospect, we got to do, we got to do, and holy cow a year later, it looks bad. How about that, Pluto? Last year in March, the Bruins making that move. I mean, good, good on them. We've had plenty of experience there

17:41with the trade deadline, just get what you can get. The Sabers, however, last year did a little bit differently, even though they were near Boston at the bottom of the division, signing Jason Zucker for one, trying to kind of make a statement send a message that we want to keep players who enjoy playing for the Sabers and build from the team we have instead of just, you know, selling off pending UFA's all the time. And wow, I mean, we're stunned. Who isn't by the Sabers season so far? How have you, what has been your perspective on them? Yeah, it's hard to believe. You keep saying, oh, maybe this is the year, this is the year, this is the year, and it never is. And you look at it from outside that just, and I know this is a long time ago, but just that that stink of losing that year to try and get McDavid and not doing it. I have to believe that just seeped in to the

18:45organization, right, for so long, and it just takes so long to dig out from under that. So, but, hey, I can remember some of those games when they were relevant, when Miller was there, and you had some hard players, good players, Palm andville, Gosta, Regier, those are some real headbutts that Buffalo and Boston used to have. And it's nice to see. It's really nice to see, and people there have had a hard time for a long time, and good on them for getting rewarded. Yeah, but you'll see a building if I assume you're traveling here tomorrow, Pluto, or here on your way already. It's very different. The last Bruin Sabers game I was at, I mean, we're used to Toronto fans and Canadian fans in general piling into the building for Montreal,

19:47and Toronto, like I said, I was overwhelmed by Bruins fans the last time I went to a Sabers Bruins game, and I'll, but there'll still be a smattering, but the fans are back, so it's a different scene here. You know, in the course of this, Mike mentioned this playoff history that the Sabers and Bruins have, and so much, it's a whole different era, of course. But we both kind of grew up with the Sabers and Bruins' budding heads, and it was often very physical, and often felt like the Sabers were on the receiving end all too often, from a bigger, tougher, stronger team. You know, we saw Tampa roll in here a couple of weeks ago. I don't know, most of the hockey world paid some attention to that game, that 8-7 game, from a couple of Sunday nights ago. Tampa very much looked like we're gonna try to push you around, and the Sabers reacted in kind, and we're up to it. And, you know, thinking about the Bruins, and even about a potential playoff matchup, I'm wondering if the Bruins might have some instinct to see if they can push Buffalo around. Are you ready to be in the playoffs? It's been 14 years. Are the Bruins

20:51capable of playing that kind of game successfully at all at this point? Yes, and you can tell in their penalty minutes, it's too high for their liking. They take a lot of stupid penalties, but a lot of those penalties are from the five-minute kind. Castolic, tough as they come, we'll fight anybody. Geno, he's a little bit banged up, but that's why you don't want to mess with that. That is as good of a fighter as there is in the league. The door of always willing, so yeah, those three will take on anybody. Aside from that, it's not really in terms of fight stuff, but you don't want to mess with any of those three characters, because yeah, they're willing to go. What a season so far, Fluto, in the Atlantic Division alone, our colleague, Joe D. Biasi pointed out on Twitter a couple of days ago, maybe

21:55how, I mean, it's stunning as the Saber season has been. They're not just leading the division, they're leading the best division ever. When you look down the list, you've got Boston and Detroit and Ottawa right there, four, five, six, and having really good seasons. Not everybody's going to make it here. What's your perspective on just like this division and playoff outlook as a whole? It looks pretty flat to me. I mean, here we are with the Sabers, likely to make it. Who do you want to play? I don't know. Everybody's about the same. I'm not sure how much of a reward there is for first place. Yeah, there's a lot of high performing clubs right now. Like, you look at Ottawa, that's a team that deserves to be in the playoffs, but they've got no gold tending. If you get average gold tending, they're in. Just given the pace and the skill that they have. I saw Detroit the other night, they should have beaten the Bruins just because of how many quality chances they got, but two leaky goals against Gibson and none against Swamon. So there's a difference maker.

23:02I'm not sure. I think there hasn't been a line that I've seen lately that's better than Suzuki, Caulfield and Soskowski. That's a dynamic dominant first line that I've seen. So, and then, of course, Tampa and Florida, they ran out of gas. Otherwise, they put a bit right in the mix too. So, yeah, pick it poison when it comes to this division. There's been a lot of quality coaching, a lot of quality systems, high performing players. So, yeah, it's exciting. You mentioned that about Ottawa. I was watching them last night. I've been a lot of hockey fans that don't really care that much about Ottawa or the Rangers were watching it because it was the only game that was featured in the league tonight. They'll be 15 games, but I'm watching Ottawa last night and learned that they're allowing a league low 24 shots on goal against, but their save percentage overall is 30 second in the league, which is that's an insane combination. Like, if you're

24:06limiting chances, I mean, I don't know about goals above expected or any of that stuff. I mean, I don't have it at the tip of my fingertips here anyway. But, man, that's stark to only give up 24 shots a game and be last in save percentages, tough. It goes back to the goal pin. Right. That former former Sabre, former Bruin, and the former Mesonetrophy winner is, if leanest place to his level, they're in, but he's had the mental health issues. Who knows what else is going on? Like, he hasn't, it's not, not even close to his level. So, again, you just never know what the goal-tending is just so random and so fickle and guys that are great one year or they're just, they fall flat on their face the next and you just, it's so hard to project that kind of performance. Like, how many years do we see Alex Lyon kind of run out of gas after playing great for

25:07for a long time and then you realize, okay, this is why that he's, he's never really been an ace, but then, then some years, it's just, it just, it works. Yeah. So, yeah, who knows. But, yeah, Ottawa, they got, they have all the skill, but the goal-tending has really let them down. You would have seen Alex Lyon up close there for his only playoff experience, I believe, to start that series against the Bruins three years ago, right? I, gosh, that, that does sound familiar now. Yeah, I like Alex a lot. Nice, nice guy. Cerebral takes his craft very seriously, but never really gained traction, right? We're, we're, because she's, I remember interviewing him when he came through with, with Detroit and he's just wondering, okay, is this guy ever going to stick and really sink his teeth in? I wasn't, I didn't know that he, he was, it was going to come for Alex, but great, great for him.

26:08Well, one more before we let you go, Fluto, on, on that topic, the sabers have been, I mean, just one after the other after the other, like a perfect rotation, the two goalies here for, for quite a while. And that's not usually what you get in the playoffs. That'll be maybe one of the, well, surely one of the more interesting topics around them going into the playoffs is whether they'll keep that rotation up. Do you have a sort of a philosophy when it comes to that? Would you think that would be the right move just in a vacuum or what they might do? Dependent. I remember, it was, it was an issue here a few years ago with Swaman in all Mark. And I really thought that they could have gone, gone one to the next and just, just footflopped the whole way and it would have made sense. They didn't do that. They ended up, like, Jesus seems so long ago. I think it was Linus that started and then they eventually turned to Jeremy. So yeah, absolutely. I totally, I can, I can see that. I think some team will, will eventually just go to a peer rotation,

27:11if the goalies are equal, if they see that it promotes high performance in terms of mental and physical rest, just, just, just to have that kind of a rhythm. And I think just, just seeing it here in Boston, it was ideal, ideal for both Linus and Jeremy to, to have that kind of partnership. And they got along and they pushed each other. But to have, like, it was, it was just, it worked out so well for both of them and their growth. Obviously it worked out for the organization. And Linus goes on to get a great deal in Ottawa. Jeremy gets his deal here in Boston. So yes, I believe in rotations. Is it right for Buffalo? I don't know. I don't know that well enough, but I'm all for it. I'm with you. If you're making the trip tomorrow, decent day, low fifties, we'll take it. Right? Bulldog. We'll always take low fifties in March. So if you do end up coming to Buffalo, enjoy yourself. And maybe you'll be doing so quite often in about a month. You'll see. Very good. Thanks, guys. Thank you for your time.

28:16Fluto Janzawa, the athletic, the Bruins host Toronto tonight and then visit the Sabers 730 tomorrow. All the teams in the league played in at except two Buffalo. And I don't know. I don't know who the other one is. Moscow, Denamo. I haven't, I haven't tried to put the puzzle together yet. The drama. No way to find out. Sal Capaccio is going to join us at five. Sal got a stadium tour with assorted media today. We'll see what his takeaways were. Lines are open for your calls at 803 05 50 want to keep the rotation going in the playoffs or not. Mike's open the bulldog here will be back after the update on WGR. I'm done carrying around bulky drinks. And I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out of my pockets. So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five hour energy shots. These little guys are as pocket sized as any candy. But instead of a sugar crash, you get a zero sugar caffeine boost. Candy can't even compare at this point.

29:17Fruity rainbow five hour energy shots treat your taste buds to an explosion of fruity flavor with a tasty caffeine kick. That's right. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. And it's not just one flavor. Five hour energy shots bring you tasty caffeine and 17 flavors. 17. So if you're craving that candy flavored chaos, but actually want energy that works, grab fruity rainbow five hour energy shots pocket sized zero sugar big flavor. Available now at fivehourenergy.com or on Amazon. This is attorney Amida Zari from Zari Law. If you've been injured in an accident and feel like no one is fighting for you, it's time to fight back. Call Zari Law at 888-830. That's what one call you can put a proven legal team on your side. Zari Law has been serving the DMV for over 15 years proudly fighting for our local community. I was born and raised right here in the DMV,

30:17and my team is made up of experienced, reputable local attorneys dedicated to fighting for injury victims just like you. Follow us on all social platforms at azari.law. That's a-z-a-r-i-dot-l-a-w. Don't wait. Don't settle. Fight back with Zari Law. With offices in Maryland, DC and Virginia, my team and I are ready to stand up for you. Call 888-828-Hurt. That's 888-828-HURT. And let us fight back for you. Have you or a family member been diagnosed with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer that can be removed by surgery? Consider talking to an oncologist about your treatment options Why? Because knowing your options before you have surgery can help your care team develop a treatment plan that's right for you. Learn about a potential treatment plan before and after surgery at AskBeforeSurgery.com. That's AskBeforeSurgery.com. And talk to an oncologist before your surgery.

31:23Thy ticket, Lady Jennifer of Coons. Well, many thanks. Good, sir. Here is my Discover Card. They accept Discover at Renaissance Fairs. Yeah, they do here. Discoverers accepted at the places that I love to shop. Get it with the Times. With the Times. You're playing the loot. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right? Discoverers accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nilson report. Why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kids' legal guardian? Because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids. We only met a month ago. Angie, go and you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com. You know, watching this game, his breakout plays are right on cue a lot of times. He understands, you know, where the puck's got to go. I think sometimes it's a safe place. Sometimes it's a real option to get the puck into the middle and make a nice play up the middle. But I'm well aware of

32:25all of the stats. We've coaches that we even talked about it. We have discussions on our group and can we change a piece with all the demand we have. But some of his stats are just incredible. Lindy Ruff talking about Bulldog. Back in his playing days. That a good year. They've got a good coursey. Yeah. Lindy recognized it and the staff is talking about it. Zach Mezza. Lindy Ruff, by the way, the Sabers leader in penalty minutes in the 83 series with the Bruins. 47 if you're wondering who you weren't wondering how many it was. It was 47. Gord Clujack, led Boston all 33. There's a name. Number six. Remembering some still see 83 Bruins today. Mark Howell. Really 83 Bruins. Sorry. Marty Howell. Okay. Same reaction. Yeah, right. Mark Howell. Mark Howell was not a Bruin. Whalers. Flyers. Mostly flyers. Detroit. Right.

33:31Yeah, the all three of them fought Utah. Father in the two boys were on Hartford at one point. Because there's a famous photo of Gordy taking the face off with boys on his wings. That is a hilarious team. That's a period where I have lots of cards, like 78 through 84. Yeah, four. And the 79. Can you picture the Gretzky rookie, the blue outline on the famous Gretzky card? Maybe not. Not exactly. 79 80 is the set. And the Whalers are it's the first year of the expansion teams coming in from the WHA. And Hartford. So there's a Gordy Howell card. And there's Dave Keon. Okay. That might be a peachy only. But still, like there's Dave Keon. That had to be a hilarious team. Right. Like guys are either. Did they have anybody between the ages of like 22 or 15? I don't know. I don't remember the rest of that lineup at all. It's too early for like for beak and Francis and those guys I think. Oh yeah. So yeah, I don't I don't recall what the

34:37rest of the roster looked like. I don't have to look that one up. The 79 Whalers 80 305 50 for your calls. We did a little football first hour as well. Been fun just soaking in the Sabre season. And kicking back, talking about, I mean, a little bit strategy. More just how fun this is. I know the guys this morning, we're talking about is there going to be a party for games, party in the plaza, just kind of how we're consuming it. And this is a team where and we talked about this for a minute yesterday and maybe last week, where you're starting to find your way to your own favorite players, which you know, you could have already had. But Metsa is somebody that I'm not sure if he's a fan's favorite guy, but he has worked his way into a regular role. I was talking about Benson yesterday in the same sort of way, how just like I can't get enough of that guy watching him just take on big guys and replace the cool thing about Metsa. I think back to him for

35:43a moment is I want to I want to give the I want to give the say or the coaching staff like whoever's you know, as soon as the coaching staff, credit for keeping the door open for him. I mean, the GM's a new GM whole new a lot of new parts there. Mark Berger van and they made their moves at the deadline and brought and Stanley is in the lineup. And you know, I I believe at the time they made the deals like Shen was a depth, you know, a depth piece. We want another guy's got Stanley Cup winning experience twice. You know, so if we need him, it'll be good to have him around anyway, if he's not playing yada yada yada, right? But it might have been pretty tempting. I mean, Kessel ring was an offseason acquisition that was supposed to matter here like the idea was he was going to be own powers partner. That never got off the ground. But organizationally, he easily outranked Zach Metsa, you know, even after the trade deadline. And they are seeing fit to keep

36:50Metsa's earned his spot. So credit to Metsa, but also credit to them for not just deferring to whatever the contract, the trade piece with Kessel ring, they've they've realized and they I think the light started going on for them. I know I referenced this numerous times leading up to that trade deadline. How Metsa seemingly was getting a bit of a tryout with the other big three or big four defenseman. He was getting just shifts here and there within games with all of those guys. And I mean, it had to be with a big the big picture in mind here like can we count on this guy if he's got to play up in the lineup at any point. And I I'm guessing he passed the test because he's still there now and he's paired with the with, you know, one of the other new guys. And I think a timman's coming back from injury, Kessel ring, any of these guys have got they've got their work cut out for them to get back in the lineup because he's played so well. So obviously the player deserves credit for doing that and impressing, but in a situation like

37:56this, it's not always easy to defer to the low guy on the totem pole. He's a little guy that had to work his way, you know, into the HL to begin with. And for him to be holding down a spot on one of the best teams in the league. This isn't just like tryout because we're washing, you know, we're circling the drain time. This is how can we be our very best? And he is still a piece of that, which I think they deserve some credit for. You know, that's kind of where what Lindy's quote was about just he almost sounds like he's saying we've tried to take him out. Like we look at this, we're looking at the stats, we're trying to figure out how to move the pieces around and really can't do it. Right. That's pretty good. Explain Carrick to me as somebody that watches the whole league over the last decade or so as opposed to myself where I think maybe that's the first I heard of them when the Sabers got him. Yeah, I heard of them, but I mean, it didn't really. I didn't feel like, oh God, they got to get you know, I liked on paper and what little I knew of them. Like, okay,

38:59face offs, defensive centerman, you need you wanted to upgrade there and not have to count on Tyson Kozak, say, or even Krebs, who's maybe a little miscast in that kind of role if he ends up there, which is often what happens. I mean, if Benson goes back up top, eventually the Krebs is usually the one that slides back down. So they really didn't have a guy that was known for that. So at first blush, I liked it. I just certainly didn't expect this much impact. You know, I mean, the offense has been I'd say unexpected five goals in nine games. Right. Not exactly his pace. I mean, I just don't, you know, I don't I don't know how much you want to count on that lasting. It's that's kind of crazy, but he's been a fantastic ad. Like, I think more impactful than even Stanley, because it's given them someone that, you know, I think has been kind of through it as that in that role playing, you know, is comfortable doing that. And I think that's again,

40:02they didn't really have a guy for it. Kozak might become that in an, you know, eventually, I only Krebs ever really will be. He's just sort of he's just sort of a stick him where you need to stick him guy. And if you're getting ready for the playoffs, I think you want to have a guy that you feel like I can put out there against, you know, the other team's best guys. And he's he's going to he's going to do it for you. Makes a lot of sense. So you'll be busy tonight. 15 games. A lot of hockey. While mixing in some ADP chasing there in the middle. Of course. That'll be on. You'll have the sound on the hockey on, but you'll have the sound down. Just talking to me. Sure. Yeah. Jacob and Patrick and Davis. Just like, yeah, we we have taken to really, I gather the whole family around the iPad where we stream the ADP chip, ADP chasing chasing. Yeah. An offshoot of ship chasing. Oh, I'm right there. I didn't, sorry. Oh, but I didn't just tell on myself. You guys make s'mores and watch the show every Tuesday night. It's what we do. Yes. S'mores. It's national cheese steak day today. Oh,

41:09national cheese steak day. Why am I having so much trouble saying a simple thing? Because it's a stupid thing to have a national day for. Just like everything is. Mostly. But that's not why. No, I just couldn't say it. Yeah. But cheese steaks. So I go to Philadelphia every March. That was there two weekends ago. And there's a section of the weekend. It runs very much the same way every year. Everybody gets there on Friday or Friday night. There's a pub night. Saturday morning is the anal draft. Saturday afternoon is cheese steak. Saturday night for some of us is kind of a nice dinner while the other guys go up to Jersey Sunday morning. The rest of us go up to Jersey. And then we have the anal draft. And then it's over. So it runs the same way pretty much every year. And for no social reasons that cheese steak section of the weekend is my least favorite. Because I just, I'm not that excited about it. Yeah. I'm the guy who goes to the cheese steak place and gets like spaghetti or something. Ribs, I don't know. It's also that we

42:12have the dinner at night that I get very excited for. Yeah. But I've just never really connected with cheese steaks. Yeah. Yeah. You know, they seem good. Yeah. They're fine. They're fine. Yeah. Red peppers. Yeah. I don't really have a, I don't have a much. I like not be smirching the cheese steak. I'm a banana pepper guy myself. But I, okay. I've never had a real filly. I've never had a cheese steak in Philadelphia. It's all I need to say here. I'm sure the places that make cheese steaks around here would say they're real cheese steaks. So I've had a real, it's never been the filly and had a cheese steak. It's the wings equivalent. I guess. Yeah. I mean, I'm not against it. But it's not, I don't know. Wings in Philadelphia cannot be as good as ours. Is that how this works? Cheese steaks can only top out like here in Buffalo. Sure. Yeah. That's how it's supposed to work. Yeah. It seems like it shouldn't be like that. Pretty simple construct. Yeah. And easily easy to duplicate. We think like, you know, I like the people are hiding the

43:16ingredients of these things. So like you, you know, what are the ingredients? I mean, we, get cheese steaks, cheese whiz steak, onions, some peppers, a fresh roll. You're done. It's so doggy on that. It's not that complicated. Yeah. I don't know. Well, how do you mess it up then? I don't think you really can. So I just can't speak from experience that it's so much better, but I would be surprised if it's that much better. Mm hmm. But you make the bucket list. So I don't know. No, not your bucket list. No, to go get a filly. I just don't, I couldn't, no, no. I mean, you're an age now. That would have happened by now. It's a pretty easy trip. Yeah. Well, filly for a weekend, grab a cheese steak. I've never had any. I went to Philadelphia once a very, very, very, very in college. Still, we went to do a buff state football playoff game at Rowan, which was just over the border from Philly in New Jersey. Mm hmm. And we stayed, well, we stayed

44:17in New Jersey, but we were in Philly for like the Friday night. The game was a Saturday afternoon. And we did not go get cheese steaks. We got into town and went to the spectrum and bought tickets at the window for Sixers Jazz. Let's go that night. I think we went across the river, checked into the hotel, and then came back, had dinner at some, you know, Italian, really charming white, you know, just classic Italian joint in Philly near the arena. And then went to a basketball game, and then that was it. Was it Ralph's? I don't remember the name of the place. I don't. And this is not, it's not like I could take a photo because it showed me it was 1993 or something. Yeah, you have to bring in your photo album. Yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't have it. I didn't have a cell phone to take a picture of it. But so I didn't have time for Chi. I had a nice dinner. I don't know if it rates with whatever you're going on these annual trips, but there was no cheese steak time. Well, in my friend and I, my broadcast partner, Andy Heyman, neither of us were like, oh, we're in Philly. We got to go get

45:18cheese steaks. We were, we were too excited about going to the basketball game. We're going to see Stockton and Malone. So like, we, that was it. Dr. Jay. No, no, no, Dr. Jay. Sean Bradley. That's not that far off. Sean Bradley was on the 93. That's, I guess, five years a little, that's a little off. Yeah. Sean Bradley was on the 76ers then. This is, I think, pre-Iverson and Brett and he was, he was on, he was like a bet. He came off the bench for them, but he was the only guy on the 76ers whose name I knew. Sean Bradley, like seven, seven, six, seven, six, on the 76ers. They had, they had to get him, right? No, six, seven, seven, six. Julius Irving retired in 87. All right, five years. You were right. Five years. Sal Capaccio coming up at five. Mike show up in the bulldog here. WGR. I'm done carrying around bulky drinks and I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out of my pockets. So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five hour energy shots. These little

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