Moving The Goalposts For Sabres Expectations

0:00All right, welcome on in everybody to another episode of talking Buffalo. Your weekday daily driver for Buffalo sports talk and more. My name is Patrick Moran. Thank you so much for watching, for listening. However, you are consuming this podcast. I appreciate you guys very, very much big shout out to our sponsor for today. Show us always the law office of William Attire, herding a car, call William Attire, 4444444 call William Attire today to get the compensation. And I lost my mic for like two seconds. Anyway, make sure

1:04you get that compensation that you deserve, but the office of William Attire. This is our Tuesday audio podcast on the video side. We're live for a second straight night here Monday night, 9 p.m. I'm always in a good mood when I get a chance to talk to one of my favorite people in the sports meeting, one of my favorite people, Jess in general, my good friend, Joe Yerden, of course, NHL writer, covering specifically the Buffalo Sabers and what a time. And this is a sabers are cooking your cooking. This is actually your third media parents here of Monday, very much into man. What's up, buddy? How you doing? I'm doing great, man. Yeah, it's been, it's been a busy day. It's a you sweep, you sweep the floor and trip. And when your first, when three and a row come out of the Olympic break and everybody's in the playoff grind and man, oh man, it's said, we've been saying this now for two months.

2:04The sabers are hot, man. I know. It's, I'm still getting used to it a little bit. I'm still getting used to the sabers being good. And I'm also getting used to have a conversations with you specifically when the sabers are good, just because we've had so many through the years when this team was anything but good. So here's what I want to do. So today, we'll spend some time talking about the proverbial goal posts. I think they're starting to move a little bit. And that's a good thing for the sabers. You're going to head on that, the trade deadline, Friday, 3 p.m., a big game for, well, all the games are big now, of course. But Vegas is coming to town Tuesday night. Most people will be listening to this sometime on Tuesday, Jack Eichel, that the arena is going to be charged up. Taj Thompson's going to get honored. You know how that's going to play out. Looking to see what the reaction is going to be for the enemy. We'll get into all that. I want to steal a moment here to ask you a football question, a bills question.

3:11I tweeted this today, dying to know your response. If people want to chime in in the live, or at any point afterwards, I'd love to hear what they think too. And I think I'm going to ask every guest I have the same question for the duration of this week. It's not so much a question, it's a hypothetical that I want to run by you, Joe. All right. So there's been pretty consistent in starting here on Monday, heavy rumors. Albert Breyer, I believe, is reporting that there is a good chance that the Vegas Raiders will trade Max Crosby possibly as early as this week. Obviously, Max Crosby, one of the premiere ad rushers in the NFL. Here's my hypothetical that I present to you and to anyone else. If you're the bills, and you could trade for Max Crosby, well, by the way, I should have said

4:13this too, the bills were on the list at Albert Breyer, named of at least teams that are keeping tabs on him. Okay. Based on all that, your brand and being, you have the opportunity, it's going to be a first round pick and it's going to be more. Okay. We'll put the compensation part out there now. It's going to be a first round. You're not going to have a first round pick, and you're probably going to have to give all more. You will have to give all more. Okay. So you give up a first round pick. You could trade for Max Crosby. But if you do that, the most that you can do, when you got a stick to the rules, okay. The most that you can do is re-sign branding cooks and that's your veteran wide receiver ad. And you can use the draft. You're not going to have a day one pick, though. So it's going to be sometime on night two with a draft. So either round two or round three. So you're going to get Max Crosby. That's your big ticket item. And people in the area where you're still signed up and you can still sign rush. No, no, no, no, that's not the rules. The rules are you get Max Crosby for first and another stuff.

5:18You're going to re-sign branding cooks who had his moments last year, I guess. And you could have a day two wide receiver pick. I'm still going to allow you to pick a wide receiver in the second or third round. But those are the rules. If you're brand and being, are you doing that? If you're a bills fan and you're not, you're a bills watcher. Are you doing that, Joe? Are you going to take Max Crosby? But now you can't go try to get AJ Brown or some big ticket ride receiver, Mike Evans, whoever it may be. Do you got a settle for branding cooks in a rookie? But you're going to get Max Crosby. What would you do? I get Max Crosby. Thank you. Where in the minority? I don't want to lead you too much with my hypothetical elaborate a little bit, but I'll tell you this. We are very much based on what I saw today in the minority. Go ahead. Well, you know, I read, I read Lancelotowski's story about, you know, how he felt

6:19the bills should use their first round pick. And he had singled out a, I believe he singled out like a DN, an edge guy. And I was like, well, that's interesting. And I was like, also, the fans probably hate the garbage out of that too, because everybody wants, they want a wide out. And I get that. Max Crosby is a game changer. And, you know, for as good as a lot of parts of the bills, the defense was and has been, they haven't had that absolute like murder beast, you know, past rusher, you know, both did okay last year at times. Not when it mattered, not when it mattered. Von Miller had his moments before he blew out his knee, not when it mattered, not when it mattered. Crosby now granted Crosby hasn't, you know, really better those situations with the Raiders. But like, that dude's skills and his numbers are just like through the roof. Great. And if you get a, if you get a burn, your first rounder, which is what pick 36 right now. Okay. Like, and more. I'm the, oh, yeah, it's, it's more.

7:26But like, if you're burning like a low first round pick and maybe, maybe you got to give up next year's first two, I'm doing it because your pick is low, you're, you're banking on your scouts. And you've done better with your picks later and, you know, later rounds anyway. So whatever, get, you know, get rid of the debate. Like, just, you know, everybody's going to have to try to, like, have been trying to, like, calm themselves down in the thinking, maybe they're actually going to draft a receiver this year. And I was like, I don't, I don't think they're going to do that because the guy pulling the trigger is still the same guy on the draft. So he's going to want defense. And it is an area of need. So yeah, if they're going to, if Crosby's available to you, and you can, you can make that trade happen, I say do it. But I mean, if it means having to live with the same white out crew, you know, it's, maybe it's a, come to Jesus moment for everybody to be like, Hey, this is not us now. We got to, we got to be better. Everybody's got to show up. And no more, no more screwed around, you know, for, I mean, that goes for, like, Keon Coleman or Keon Coleman, but like, but for everybody, like, cooks showed some, you know, some signs last year,

8:30whatever. If you're leaning on him to be your number one, that's tough. But Keon Coleman's, like, if, if he has the snaps around and becomes a guy, again, if he grows up, if he grows up, all that stuff, it's, it introduces way more ifs to the passing game. But you also have a freak show quarterback who has made the most of all of that already. Now, if it makes Alan mad that you'd make that trade, then don't make the trade. You know, like, you don't want Alan pulling all the strings on making your decisions. But also, I got a feeling Alan would be okay with having like possibly the best edge rusher in the league joining the team and making the whole team better because of it. A hundred percent. I agree with you. Again, we're in the minority because a lot of fans did not agree. I want to be clear too. I don't want the bills to not do anything significant at wide receiver. I want them to address wide receiver. I want to be really clear about that. Joe, I did a show last Friday. Literally, the title was why the bills should not

9:31resign Brandon cooks. I'm not a fan of it. Okay. And I'd like to see them draft a wide receiver in the first round, potentially. But there's two reasons why I arrive where I agree with you. Number one, maybe it's fool's gold. But I do believe that if in this scenario where you can't upgrade because of the scenario we play poor trade, I'd like to believe that Josh Palmer could stay healthier and be better in year two. I would like to think that Keon Coleman grows up in the chores and gets at least somewhat more consistent in year three. And I would like to think that what they full turn a cap and fairness to Brandon cooks. He did get here very late in the season like November last season with a full off season. Maybe get some better chemistry. I've never known Brandon cooks at least from my experience of following him. I never knew when there'd be a guy who drops key passes a lot like he did for the Buffalo bills. So that's part of it. But the number one stat to me that I cannot get passed. And I'm not saying it's

10:38automatically the number one thing because we can go back to that Bill's Denver's game and listen. The bills turn a ball over five times. If they turn a ball over three times, they probably win the game by 10 points still, right? There's no denying that. Josh LN played good in moments and he had some horrible decisions and mistakes that cost his team. But the number one stat that I just can't get over is this ball next to 46 passes. And he was sacked zero times when you got to have it. And this has been a staple of the bill's defense, especially, you know, he's under Sean McDermott. They look good during a regular season. They'll look good in the wild card round. But when elimination games come, the defense just folds. They never ever make that big defensive play. They needed one big defensive play. Even though again, Josh, look, Josh ain't going to carry you every game. Sometimes you got to pick him up. And the defense didn't do that the year before in Kansas City. Make a stopper to you're going to the Super Bowl. We could say that like three or four

11:40times, 13 seconds. Of course, that goes without saying as well. So it's maybe not the sexy thing, the more popular thing, but go get me a prominent proven enough. And that's really going to be backs crossed because somebody like him, give me, if my, if I could get a big ticket and get a choice, give me a guy who's going to bring bonics or Drake May or Patrick Mahol's down with five minutes left in the fourth quarter when you got to have a stop because it's not Joey Bolsa. It's not Greg Result. It's not on Miller. It's not Leonard Floyd. And we could keep going on out. And you know what I'm saying? It's, uh, people don't agree with us though. I'm telling you, I was getting dried a little bit on social media today. I, I think Crosby's such a difference maker though, where if, if it's a, you can have it or an AJ Brown, I think you go, I mean, that's, that's a lot tougher. That's a lot tougher if both guys are on the table. That's, that's one where you're just like, oh boy, what, you know, what are we doing? Like this is, this is hard. But, um, I think AJ Brown's kind of a messy, messy guy. I'm like, that's a,

12:42that's a whole lot of drama. Low risky. Low risky between drama. I'm gonna be with a lot, a lot of receivers. But I mean, Jesus, Crosby's, Crosby's insanely good. And if that, if that guy's available to you and you have doubts about, you know, landing a landing in AJ Brown or, you know, or if there's somebody else that they've identified that they could get, I don't know, I don't know that I honestly don't know that Mike Evans is gonna leave Tampa really to be quite to be. Yeah, when push comes to shove, I don't know. Yeah, I think you might be right. Tampa's, I mean, Tampa's still a really good team. That's a very winnable division. And he's been there forever. And like he's, you know, he's the guy. But, um, but yeah, but I mean, if, I mean, if you can get Crosby and it doesn't, that price doesn't kill you to get him. Man, oh man, that's, that's really hard to say no to because he is an absolute difference maker on the, uh, rushing, rushing the passer on defense. He's just, he is a freak nasty. Yeah. And you know, though I say I'll say about that too little move on to some hockey is, uh, I said you can get

13:42a receiver in a second round. You can get a good receiver in round two with a draft as well. You know what I mean? Oh, there's a lot of great receivers. AJ Brown, DJ Moore, George Pickens, plenty of these guys that are being rumored, you know, in trade rumors and things like that. They're second round picks. So yeah, I'm doing, I'm with that real quick. I know we're live on the video side and shit. And like I should be talking to the audience and not to Joe Jordan specifically, but, uh, you get a chance because I'm going to bring this up. I forgot to tell you beforehand. If you got your phone handy, retweet this out. I completely forgot to, uh, to do it. If you can, if you can't, not a big deal while I introduce this, uh, this next segment, it's on my timeline. Anyway, um, my card on the live channel. Let me read this because now we're going to get into some hockey. Just 10 minutes ago, I was thinking about the old saber song. I'm going to win that cup. We're going to win that Stanley Cup. My name and thought about that song in at least 20 years. Well, that's because the good times are rolling right now. Joe, so I noticed, and you're at the arena, uh, you know, for today, there's some, you know, stuff

14:44that we're going to talk about too, but saw scouts like this associate GM is in, uh, up the road in Toronto right now. Maybe doing a little bit of scouting. Maybe a little, uh, Rasmus, Ristolinian watching, um, I mean, we'll talk trade that like more later, but I kind of want to ask you about that. It's pretty interesting. And again, the sabers, being in attendance as potential sellers is just not something I'm used to either, but let's just say that they're probably watching multiple guys, but if that's one of the guys we're watching, is that somebody a reunion with Rasmus, is that something that sabers fans should be interested in? I, you know, his name has come up a lot since the Olympics ended and he had, he played really well at the Olympics. He looked to every, every bit of the, the kind of nasty heart hitting defense, when that we've, that we've seen in the past from him. And, you know, he's a guy that's finally healthy. And, and to me, like, identifying the area that they're looking for, you know,

15:50somebody else to play in the third pair, yeah, is, is correct. I think that's the, I think that's the, I think that's a position where they're, that they're absolutely looking to make an edition and improve the depth there and make things a little bit better on that third pair. So they could play them, you know, a few more minutes, you know, so you're not, so you're not totally, wearing out your top four. Um, I just don't know that Risto is the guy, just because, just because of the hand in this, because you're talking, you know, right handed shot defenseman, you've already got castle ring who's a right handed shot defenseman. Now, unless, now unless you're going to be kind of breaking up, you know, power and biome and like, putting a righty with each of those guys and kind of splitting that load a little bit, even though power and biome have been awesome together, which would be, which would be kind of a wild move to make here with 20, you know, 20 some games to go, um, playing a righty with a righty. I mean, they're playing lefties with lefties all over the place and it's working out. Granted, you have elite defenseman there that are playing on their offhand side. Dulleyn loves

16:54playing the right side. And whether it's power or biome that slides over on their offhand side, they've done well with it. So in this case with two righties, you know, castle rings been, you know, trying to get, get his game back, you know, injuries and all that stuff. And if he's made mistakes in, in games, it's, you know, it's crimes of passion where he's trying too hard. He wants to make a big play, wants to, you know, make do the right thing and, you know, mistakes like that. I think you can, you don't like to see them, but you can live with them. I think if you have him and Risto together, I mean, it's, it's ferocious. Those are two guys that love to hit that love to mix it up to like, you know, love to get nasty in the corners and all that stuff. And that's the kind of playoff sort of attitude you need. Um, I don't like the mix though. Like it's just something about that where you've got a guy on their offhand side. Either guy doesn't matter. Um, I don't like that. Oh, granted, you're only playing them 10 to 15 minutes of game tops. But I don't know. I don't know. It would be a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong. I,

17:58there's, I would be tickled pink to have Risto back here and in a situation where he was here when things were lean really, really lean. Yeah. And if he comes back here for a playoff run and he's becoming a, he plays the way he did in the Olympics in the playoffs, that's a lot of fun. That's a lot of fun. And I like that a lot. The other interesting guy though in that game is all over Ekman Larson for Toronto. One a cup of Florida, a guy who's been around for a while. Obviously played for a ton of years in Arizona. Um, and he's a guy who's, who's came up as like a puck moving smooth, smooth skating, you know, sort of an offensive defenseman, but his defensive games got a lot better. Um, plays with a little bit more edge now. He's a veteran. So like you kind of got to do those things, but he's a lefty shot. I think almost positive. He's a lefty shot. If I'm wrong, feel free to roast me in the, in the chat everybody. That's fine for the reason. Anyway, so, um, but I think that makes for a more sensible mix. Now the idea of Toronto and Buffalo

19:03making a trade is crazy, especially because it would be Toronto selling off and Buffalo, you know, giving up, you know, whatever, you know, whatever picks to make it happen. But, um, to me, that makes a little bit more sense because you're not talking about having Metsa who's played great on his off-hand side or playing Jacob Bryson there who was, was playing well, but was, you know, struggled a little bit before the Olympic break. Um, I think that's the guy that makes a little bit more sense to target, but it's just, I think the idea of a resto homecoming is so fun for everybody in heartwarming. Honestly, like genuinely heartwarming to bring, you know, to have, if he came back here for a playoff run, I think people would absolutely go bloggers for it. Sure. Uh, and by the way, I like the way Mets has been playing lately too. He's growing, he's definitely growing on. I mean, you mentioned Owen Power. Let me ask you this. I feel like with every organization and any team in sports, there's always that, um, what's the return room looking for. Uh, whooping boy,

20:08somebody who's going to get criticized sometimes fairly, sometimes overboard, sometimes shirt up unfairly. No matter what, Joe Brady, I feel like was that guy for as offensive coordinator for the bills. Anytime the bills made a mistake of a bubble screen didn't work. If it works, nobody says something. If it doesn't work, it's Joe Brady's fault. You, you get, I don't need to lay out that out. You know exactly what I'm saying. I feel like Owen Power is kind of that guy right now on the Buffalo Sabers. I want to circle back to the New Jersey game because it's really, I did a live show right after with my buddy Steve Burmall. He did a great job. And we watched the game. We went live right after. And I thought Owen Power played an excellent game. Sands, the one shift where he caused the goal. I mean, it was on him, right? And he had a penalty before it. So he had a like a stretch and he deserves some criticism for that. Okay. He made a mistake. That's okay. Let's criticize him objectively. But I felt like he played a great game

21:08up to that point. And people were just roasting him. Whether it was on the live chat on this show, whether it was on Twitter racks, wherever it may be, people were just, they can't wait to, just they want to be mad at him. They want to hate on him a little bit. And look, he's not rasped a stalling, but he's no bum either. He said, good player. And I think he's playing some, I mean, you wouldn't, you know, you're more intimate with the team you cover him. You see all the games. I don't, but I look at a guy and I feel like he's playing so pretty good hockey. Am I wrong? I mean, I don't think I am. He's, no, he's playing outstanding hockey. And, you know, the goal against that you're talking about where it's, you know, he's got a hammered up the hammered up the wall and get it out of the zone. He didn't, he's on the ice for a minute and 40. He's got, there's nothing left in your legs. There's nothing left in your whole body at that point on the ice, basically playing two and a half shifts, a length of time, you know, in that situation.

22:11So you see that playing like, oh, man, that's awful. Then you, you know, dissect it a little bit and you're like, oh, that's why it was a total muffin puck off the board. That was easy to take. So like, I get that, but man, the way this guy plays defense is, it drives people nuts here because everybody wants a, you know, six, five, six, six defenseman, a hammer, everybody into the wall and kill them because they're bigger than everybody, which, you know, I get that to a point. But the way power plays defense by the way he defends the blue line, his gap control is really strong. Guys don't blow his doors off. Nobody gets around him. Period. His reach, I mean, he's got an unbelievable reach just because, you know, he is six, five, six, six. So think about that with the stick length and then always got to do is just stick out and then just wave it around in front of a guy and then the guy's just like, oh, all right, how do I get around this? Like, there's nowhere for me to go. So then it becomes a chip up the

23:12boards or a chip up the wall and at that point, they're giving up possession wherever they are, whether it's at the blue line or they just get in the zone and like crap, I got to send it around the wall. Well, tough break because Bowen Byram is going to be, going to be hanging out over on the other side, ready to pick it off or one of the forwards is going to get back in deep, grab the pocket and take off the other way. And that's what he's been able to do is just fend guys off, force them out of dangerous scoring areas and, you know, push them outside and make them have to make a play where they just can't because he's too ranger and he's too good with his body positioning and all that. Now, the plays in tight, tying guys up, tying up sticks and all that stuff in around the net used to be a huge problem for him because it just, you know, it was, it was a struggle. That's gotten a lot better now. And there are, there are still situations where maybe it's like, nah, geez, you know, get that stick out of there, like box out a guy a little stronger, do whatever. I can forgive that because he's denying every other opportunity, you know,

24:13coming, coming into the zone, getting across the red light, whatever it is, guys are not getting a chance to really set up against them. And the, the, the advanced defensive numbers of on him are extremely good. So I get it. Well, the low lights get remembered because it's just, it's very easy to highlight a situation and say like, geez, make a better play. And you know, like that play in the devil's gate, you want to see a better play, but also there's a bad shift. The context, you have to, you have to keep it, keep it in. The devil's, you know, driving, pushing for a goal. They're, you know, it's how it is. They're in desperation mode. And yeah, you want power to make a better play there. But also like, the gas tank was empty, brother. Like, if he was a truck, he's, he's stalled out somewhere, somewhere on the road. And you're like, that's bad. You know, like, I, I, I, I understand it. Again, you want better, but like, what if he pitches it over the glass? And then it's a, you know, it's a power play for the next two minutes. And then you're like, that's not what you want either because then it's going to be a

25:14six on four with the goalie, all that stuff. So like, whatever I cry, you know, a crime of, I can't even call it a crime of a crime of an empty gas tank, really. But, um, but yeah, power's been, power's been fantastic this year. That pairing has been extremely good this year. It's why Lindy's comfortable running him out there 20 plus minutes a night. Yeah, 100%. You gotta take quick break for that. I want to pull this up real quick. Mike Hartle said, Pat, do you remember that saber song they played it on the radio all the time female singer? I don't know. Remember the era though. I'm getting old, but why not? The saber's this year. Correct me if I'm long chat, but I don't think there was a saber song. I think that was the talking proud song Buffalo's God of Spirit talking proud talking proud. That was a theme. That's the only Buffalo themed female singer that I know of again with somebody else mentioned earlier. Maybe it was Mike himself that mentioned the saber Stanley Cup song that was old back in the French connection days. But anyway, I don't know how to think about that on the break. Be right back

26:15more with Joe yearning takes Thompson. And again, it's time I think to kind of move the golf balls a little bit with this team. Be right back. All right, I am back here. Special guest Joe yearning Tuesday podcast sabers are on a roll. I'll tell you this after the Olympics were over. Obviously, I was very happy to see the Americans win a gold medal. I was almost immediately after concerned that it would lead to a kind of hangover in a way. Not just for stage, but like probably a lot of these guys coming back. They're parting in their faces off. The sabers are trying to do something they haven't done in 15 years. You know what I mean? Get to the playoffs takes Thompson and along with Rasmus are obviously their two best players. I was very concerned about maybe seeing a, a tragic stage like they make take a couple games that kind of get his legs back from under him. Um, not the case, not the case.

27:20Now Jack Ico, I saw a stat. He's struggling a little bit for Vervegas in his two games. He's pointless. He's only got like two shots on goal as a minus three or something like that. Tage's got two goals of two assists in these three games, which the sabers of course have won all them since the Olympic break. He's had 10 shots on nets. Um, he's locked in. Joe, he's locked in. People, most people will be listening to this on Tuesday. Obviously you will be there at the arena. They're going to honor Tage before the game for winning the gold medal. They're already said he's going to bring out Ico. Um, who the hell's the other guy? Oh, Hanuffin. Yep. Yep. So it's going to be above what? Talk about Tage and the way he's just continued his play. Like there was no Olympic hangover. I thought there was going to be, he could sleep it off. I guess better than me because I would have been fucked up for at least a week, man. I would have been playing like shit, but Tage is playing fine. Uh, talk about what you think. Uh, the vibes going to be at the arena here on on Tuesday night. What kind of reception do you see?

28:23Jack Ico getting from Sabers fans. We know the history there. I'm sure it'll settle in the boon when the game starts, but what kind of reception you think is going to get pregame? Yeah, I, I think I think I posted this out like right after the game. I was like, man, that first, the first gate, the first Sabers home game after the Olympic break was against Vegas. And I'm like, Jack, Jack might get a standing. Oh, for like the last time in Buffalo, but last time, I think, I think that'll be cushioned nicely by having Tage bring him out. You know, you know, you come out and do the same thing as Tage, Tage said on Monday, he was going to, he's going to do what Jack Hughes did with him in Jersey, get him out on the ice and Tage said, you know, this was a team effort. It wasn't just one player. And, you know, he said, we don't win a gold without it being a whole team thing. And he's 100% right. Like you cannot be Canada with a one man effort. Like, although Connor Hallibuk sure did make it, make it a point to say that maybe it's right. But it was very has a key. Oh, man, it was. Holy smokes was it ever.

29:29But, but yeah, that's, that's the easiest way for for Jack to get here. Be right next to Tage. When they, when they, when they do that before the game on Tuesday night, it's, that's, that's going to be, I mean, I mean, geez, you know, I was, I was, I had just turned one years old when they won gold in 1980. So I had no memory of that going on. I was eight. So I, you know, it's, it's, it's, you know, just to be able to witness that now and just be like, holy smokes, you must, men want a gold, holy crap. And now this like, this kind of welcome back to or in a way, I mean, it's just getting back to the schedule. But these guys coming back and playing at home for the first time, it's a huge moment. I mean, he's, I mean, we think about when Miller came back from the 2010 Olympics and the, you know, it's standing ovation he got for, for his performance in those Olympics and, you know, lose the Canon OT, like that's a tough way to go down. But

30:32but I mean, Tage was a huge factor in the US winning, going all the way and winning. And so that's, that's going to be, that's going to be a, a surreal moment to, you know, to have that play out. I think it's really cool. They've got with the, with the rally towels and everything and walking into the arena on Monday for practice. It was like, oh, okay. And it was Lindy even said, he goes, he goes, that, it was cool to see that because that kind of kind of, kind of gets the blood going a little bit thinking about that, that's how the place will look in playoffs because, you know, it's going to be rally towels, the playoffs. So that's for sure. And you're like, oh, right. It's just another one of those things where it's like, oh, right, playoffs, that's the thing that could very well happen here this year. And you're like, oh, boy. And like, everybody's just getting their mind right and mind wrapped around that. And this thing, this thing they're going to have for Tage on Tuesday night is going to be, it's going to be kind of like a warm up, warm up back for that. I never thought of it that way. And you're 100% right. So, you know, when, when the good times are going, you don't want them to end. You want to keep going,

31:36you want the good times to keep coming, right. So the Sabers, you know, they kind of, struggle, but they still got a little bit before the break. But all in all, I mean, this team just poured it on going in an Olympic break. Then you're off a couple of weeks. I think they're, it's fair to have some anxieties of Sabers fan that, you know, there are things going to get back to the way they used to be now. Like, why did this break have to come? This team's on a roll, man. Let's just keep it going. That was certainly a fear of mine. Again, Tage being one of the leaders on the team. Maybe it takes him a while to get going. They come back from a break. You're like, oh, shit, man, three in a row on the road. You know, including Tampa. Oh, well, I was like, Hey, three out of six, I'll take four out of six, I'll be happy. I did not expect them to go three and all three regulation wins six points. And I'm telling you, shout out, sunny reds, okay? Because I went to their bar Saturday night with a few buddies of mine or watching the game. I almost, I almost couldn't believe what I was

32:42why. I like, I legitimately couldn't even believe what I was watching. They went to Tampa, the top seed in the Atlantic division, one of the best teams in the NHL in the embarrassment. I mean, it was four nothing. It's five nothing. I'm like, what is going on here, man? I don't want to get too far out of ourselves because I kind of got to say before that, but just talk about these last three games and the Sabers responding in a big way coming off this break. I almost can't believe it. Yeah, it's should believe it, but right. Well, I think that was the kind of doubt that was cast by the way those those last few games before break went, you know, it was another trip to Florida, you know, a close one with the Panthers and you're like, okay, all right, get a win. You're like, okay, that's good. And then the Tampa game were added in the bag and then tamper ties it with 20 seconds, wins in an OT. Yeah. And like,

33:44that's one that probably stings them a lot. Like, you look back and you're like, that can't lose that game. Can't lose that game. And then, you know, I think you played maybe their worst game in a couple of months against Pittsburgh at home. And you're just like, oh boy, okay. Yeah, sir. Yeah, yeah, it was at home. Yeah, yeah. I was like, wait a minute. No, but like, you know, not a great game. You're like, boy, that's that's a heck of a way to go on, go on vacation for the next couple weeks for for most of those guys because it's like, that's a tough one to chew on. And I was like, let's see how they come back because you get time to like, let that one fester and get annoyed about the Tampa game on top of that. You're just like, you're just like, nah, it's this sucks. Like, you can't be, you can't be happy with either of those outcomes. You know, maybe there's a moral victory with, you know, getting a point in Tampa, but you're still like, that should have been two points. Right. Should have been two points for us, none for them. And you're like, all right, let's see what happens out of the break because that's not a fun schedule coming out because it's,

34:46you know, it's Jersey, who's still plays tough. And then Florida again, down there. And you're like, okay, well, see what happens. And then to just roll out three and oh, and win the way they did. And, you know, Tage makes that big play to Krebs in the Jersey game, which Tage, you know, very funny today. He was asked, but I think Paul Hamilton asked me. He's like, you know, where are you kind of fatigue coming back? And Tage smiles. He goes, yeah, yeah. He's like, I didn't get my, he's like, I didn't have my legs until maybe the Tampa game. I didn't have his wind back in his legs back and full until the Tampa game. And I'm like, yeah, it's, it's about right. I mean, he's probably still playing hungover in the Jersey game for, for crying out loud, but he was, he was functionally hung over on that shirt. But like the guy, guy whose pocket he picks on that play was Jack Hughes. So, hey, you know what, it's even, even draw out there. That's fine. But to go three and oh, coming out of the break and to reestablish like, yep, those losses are behind us. Forget it. We're

35:47moving on. That sort of mindset has been with this team all season long. You know, ever since things got turned around, they've just been like, whatever next game, let's go, which is very kind of old Bella Checkian, Bella Checkian of it. We're like, we're on to the next one. You know, people got, you know, it became a meme and people made fun of Bella Check for doing that stuff for the Patriots. But it was like, it's kind of the right mindset. I know, like, hey, we want to what's the next game? Like, let's, let's just move on. Because the thing this team has been so guilty of in the past is getting high on their own supply after a win or stringing a couple wins together. And being like, nobody can beat us. We're great. Look at us. Look at me. You'll have the confidence, but also like, it's still gotten confidence. Now this team doesn't get like that. They're just yeah, function that way at all. And it's just kind of like, all right, whatever next game. Let's do it. They're enjoying the moment. Don't get it wrong. They're not robots and just say, you know, you know, head down and just like, nope, next game. Let's go. They're excited about all this and they're having a ton of fun. And they're, they've loved being around each other. Like, this is,

36:51says, good a group together as I've seen in a room ever. Honestly, you know, and this, you know, it's a lot of bad teams. So it's it's a low bar to clear. But at the same point, like, these guys are just like all in together. And that's not something we've seen much of. Even the teams a couple of years ago that, you know, the team that was just just missed the playoffs, they weren't quite that tight together. Like, there was still some, you know, some people like kind of individual play an individual hockey. And you're just like, all right, like, whatever it works. Like, you don't question it. You're just like, that's fine. Not this group, man. Like, this group is just all in together. Every guy, every position, you know, there's no, there's no snark. There's no, you know, sort of, you know, kind of bitter competition between guys or any of that stuff. Everybody's all in on this. And that says a lot about, you know, the guys they've brought in and the leadership group for getting it to a point where everybody can just enjoy playing hockey together. The vibes are good in the locker room for good reason. Various hockey sites have the savers. I've seen as high as 97% now to make the playoffs.

37:55Well, the knock at them in 97%. The lowest I saw was moneypuck.com. And even that was 88.4%. Dude, this is the first time in 16 years that this team in March goes in the March. I should say in a playoff spot 16 years, man. 13 points back. They were last year. The savers were 13 points back of a playoff spot one year ago. They were toast. They were done. Done. Before we even get to the jam rock run, the first week in March, the savers were toast year before that. They were 10 points back of a playoff. So these last two years, we get to this time of year. And there's nothing else to talk about except to say it will stink and bills for the agency. It's just so different right now. Kind of discuss the vibe amongst the fans. Let me elaborate for you here. The savers were literally 23 points better this year than they were last year. That's insanity.

38:56What I mean by the vibe with the fans is you're out at the bar. You're going wherever whatever watering hole that you're hanging out at the supermarket, it doesn't matter, man. Your friends, people who know, you know, recognize you from from hockey. They talked about the savers and they probably, whenever they bring up the savers you in over the years last handful of years, they probably change their tone like almost like a sympathetic type tone that they'll speak with you because you're there at the arena every day, you're covering a steam and they've kind of in a train wreck and describe the vibe now when fans talk to you, I'm excited right now to talk to about savers. I can't tell you how many times we said to do drafts and talk bills and lions, whatever to fill episodes because I just couldn't stop me talking about this team. I couldn't wait all day long. I've been looking forward to talking to you and I've still got more things that I want to get to, but just like divide with the fans now, the ones that you interact, I'm sure is a much different experience this year than it's been at least recently, right?

39:56Oh, it's night and day, which in my shoes, that's a huge adjustment as well, seeing fans being excited about the team and wrapping their head around the keeps saying possibility because you just never know, you never know what'll happen. East is a murder call. It's not over yet. It's not over yet, but everything's lining up for them to be a playoff team and people have been trying to wrap their heads around that probably about the last month, but after coming back and you win those three in a row and floor it, I mean, my emails and phone have been blowing up here with people reaching out wanting to talk about the sabers and that usually only happens when a coach is fired or there's a big trade or the GM gets fired. People are like, what's going on over there? Because that's usually the first question is, what's wrong with this team? Now it's like,

41:00what happened? This is incredible. Talk with folks in Montreal and they're just like, holy cow, I don't know if I want Montreal to deal with them in the playoffs. It's fair and I don't know the Buffalo who want to deal with much of all the playoffs. That would be a psycho circus of a series. The fact that you get to talk about it and the chance that it very well could happen is like, yep, that, I get the oil changes ready for the car and drive back and forth to come back. But when you talk to the fans, it's a lot of, I know people meme the surrender cobra when the team, they're just like, oh no, it's this except it's like, oh my god, we're going to make the playoffs. It's a different kind of thing where fans are still just trying to wrap their head around and they're just like, oh my god. I don't know what to do because it's been over a decade. I mean, it's almost a decade and a half of no playoffs. I mean, think about where you were

42:02in 2011, Pat. I wasn't even in Buffalo yet. I was still back in Albany. I was pretty, I was, you know, running the NBC website and, you know, covering Sabers Flyers remotely in the playoffs. It was just kind of like, oh, this is kind of cool. Ryan Miller, hey, this is fun. And, you know, getting to know the Saber, you know, the Bill's backers bar in Albany because they wanted to hang out and watch Sabers playoff games. Like, that was like, I was like, hey, that's a good idea. That's cool. Yeah, I was like, yeah, Sabers are usually in the playoffs. This will be a good thing. No, it was the last time ever happened. That was 2011. I was, you know, drinking all the time in 20. Oh, man, I don't remember a lot of, a lot of 2011. Here's what I think about the Sabers right now. And this is, I want to get your your thoughts on this. Up until this point, I mentioned this briefly to you before we started the show as well. Up until now, if you would tell me in November that the Buffalo Saber, if you

43:05would have told me December 7th or December 8th before he played Calgary, okay? The Sabers are going to make the playoffs. There were 11, 14 and two after that game. The Buffalo Sabers are going to make the playoffs. They're going to end the drought. But they're going to get swept up by Montreal, Detroit, Tampa, who gets a shit who it is. But they're going to make the playoffs. But they're going to get swept and they're going to get beat handling and all every game. I would have been like, sign me up. I will take it. The drought ends. I could have at least one or two parties in the plaza. The stigma of not making the playoffs is gone. Maybe guys around the league will stop putting Buffalo on every no trade clause. You know what I mean? Things are kind of trending up. I will take that in a second. As we sit there today, I don't feel that way anymore because this team has looked so good for a sustained period of time, good style players,

44:11good contributing players. The goal tending has been really good. I think this is a team I'm moving the goalposts now, just making the playoffs. I won't, when I reflect, I'll be happy no matter what. But now I'm going in saying, Hey, the Sabers can get into the playoffs. Why can't they win around? Why can't they win two rounds? There's nobody in the Eastern Conference where I'm like, yeah, this is the 1980 US team against the Russians kind of situation. You know what I mean? I feel like the Sabers can match up relatively well against anybody. So I'm ready for the goalpost to move that, making the playoffs alone is I can see more than that now in the near future with this team. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it's funny thinking back. It was, you know, obviously it was before the Olympic break. And I forget after which game it was, but we were talking with Alex Tuck afterwards. And he mentioned like, you know, we're here to win us. We're here to,

45:12you know, we want, we don't just want to make the playoffs. We want to win a Stanley Cup. And I was like, yeah. What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hang on, buddy. Like what? And you know, we kind of, we kind of smiled at that. It's like, boy, what if he's, you know, what if Alex ends up getting true? You know, this is not mine. This is, you know, a few weeks ago and you're, you're kind of being a little bit morbid about it, me like, yeah, what if he sets the table like that? Then he gets traded because he's like, I ain't signing here. Good luck, boys. I set the table for you. Have fun. Like, obviously, that wasn't the case. He's all, he's all bought in. I mean, he's, he's, I mean, he doesn't have the extended contract yet. But like, he's bought in with this group to help, to help them win. Yeah. To have a guy in the room say like, no, we're, we're not just, we just don't want to just get there. We want to, we want to win the Stanley Cup. It was like, oh, oh, authentic, right? Yeah. And saying it was surprising to hear it because I mean, again, like that's very new talk here. But to have that mindset coming from a leader where it's

46:14like, yeah, no, we don't, we don't, we're not just going to be satisfied getting in. We want to win. We want to win at all. We want to win the cup. And it's like, and then you start running through your head. You're like, well, that's crazy. Like they're not going to win the cup. Are they? And then you're like, well, I mean, playoffs, you get in. Anything can happen in the playoffs. And I think the east is tight enough that anything can happen. Literally anything can, anything can shake loose because everybody is good. And everybody's going to be very tightly matched. And you know, that might cause some heart attacks through, through Buffalo, seeing them in the playoffs. But like, if, you know, if they get there and they, they're there and they're playing the way they do, there's no reason why they can't just win one round or two rounds. There's no reason why I can't make it to the east final right away. Like they're, I don't think that's out of the realm of possibility. Now it'll, it'll be insanely difficult, but the playoffs are difficult, you know, you're going to have probably Tampa and Carolina sitting at the top of the heap. And they're both really good teams. But they're both beatable teams. You know, Buffalo,

47:17Buffalo can run with Carolina. Like Carolina can't win games and Buffalo, Buffalo can't win games in Carolina. That's as even as it gets. Tampa, I mean, they just took Tampa around the witch head. We'll see what happens when they play each other against Sunday. Why not to be that easy on Sunday? Incredible game, by the way, which, you know, Buffalo will be on the second of a back-to-back and Tampa will be coming in fresh. So, you know, tables kind of turn a little, well, be kind of the same except, you know, just rules reversed. Anyways, point being that like everybody can hang with everybody and any outcome that, comes out of this. I know like if you have like a wildcard team beat a, beat a top seed, yeah, that's an upset. But also it's like, I don't know, man, they've been battling. Everybody in the East has been battle testing each other all season long. And now you've got teams that are below the, the playoff spots, roaring up the standings to get into the fight. You know, you've got Ottawa there. You've got Columbus jumping into the fight. Now it's like, those teams that might have thought like, man, this is hard. We're in a wildcard spot. But

48:18at least we got some cushion. No, you don't. You've got Washington, you've got Ottawa, you've got Columbus all lurking right below you saying like, if you guys slip up, we're taking that spot away from you. And like, that's the motivation all of these teams need is that if they slip up for a game or two, they're going to get knocked down one or two spots in the standings probably because nobody else loses. Nobody else loses in the East and you stream together, two or three losses in a row. You're suddenly going to be finding yourself in like a monkey knife trying to stay alive in international waters. You know, it's crazy. You know, I'm as you said, and I was just looking at a quick look at the scores. You're not wrong. Like Detroit beat Nashville today, four to two on Monday. Columbus beat the Rangers in overtime, five fours or two points for Columbus. The Rangers don't really matter. A quick shot out, by the way, in the live, a body student body right from our dude champion said, Patrick got to be done, boo and I go least for one evening. No. All right. Well, he obviously just came in a little bit late. No, they're going to boot a shit out of them, but they're going to chair him before the puck drops.

49:22What's that puck drops? All bets are off. I think they're going to get in the jack some, but they're certainly going to give him the moment that he deserves. We just talked about that a few minutes ago. I mentioned goalies to and here's the thing, Joe. So when the bills broke to 17 year drought, they, they were a good team. I didn't think they were a great team. And I was just, it was one of my favorite sports moments of my life to this day, because it happened on New Year's Eve. And I was with a bunch of family. The bills win, not only the bills winning in Miami, but it was more the bangles helping them out and being a Baltimore on that improbable four than 16 play. Anyway, the bills get to the playoff. I completely felt like, hey, they're playing with house money. Not that Jacksonville was some kind of juggernaut, but it's like I didn't really have expectations for the bills. The bills could have lost that game 40 to nothing. And I would have been like, well, broke the, broke the drought. I still think I will ultimately feel that way,

50:24even if the Sabers were wanting done in the playoffs and didn't look that impressive, but the Divas between the 2017 bills and the 20, 25, 26 Sabers right now, at least anyway, as I just think the talent, discrepancy is not the same. I don't think the bills were as good as other teams in the FC playoffs. I think the Sabers are right there with the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference. That's the difference for me. And you kind of just, you hit on that, right? It's not like this big talent gap, like everything's got to fall right for the Sabers to win a series, you know? Yeah, they're not going to need a, they're not going to, I mean, easy to say this with 20, whatever games to go. I don't think they're going to need help from others to get into the postseason. You know, like that bills team did a grant. That bills team was, was good. It was filled with drama that entire season. Sure. Obviously, like there was, there was a lot of slip ups and a lot of things where it was like figured out you, it's like, you have a good team. Stop trying to ruin it. Stop trying to ruin it.

51:29Whereas with this Sabers team, it was like, they got all like the bad stuff out of the way early, you know? I mean, this team was dead last in the East at some point. And now, granted, this isn't, it's not like a 2019 blues run yet, where, you know, those blues, that blues team that year was last in the West in January and then went on to win the cop. But, but like this team, this Sabers team was, it was last in the East at some point. I forget it was like the end of October in November. Joe, I almost launched a gag for, for Gavin campaign. I was ready to gag for Gavin, Gavin McKenna. I'm not joking. I was like, you literally ready to start putting up graphics for that. I think you would even sent me some messages, then go with that started with like these effing guys. Like, it was just like, figure it out. Like, this is stupid. But, um, but I mean, you know, you're at a point now with this team, where it's like, playoff seem, I get nothing's guaranteed. But like, it's, the stars are aligning for this to be like, basically, like, nobody's got to have to sweat out a playoff spot here as

52:33this, you know, as things go along. You know, I hope this, you know, this, this video or audio that comes back to haunt like in a couple of weeks when it's like, oh, boy, they lost seven bad and Joe. Yeah, right. So, um, but I mean, they're, they're in, they're in a place right now where it's like, hey, if they just play steady and do their thing, they're fine. Like, they're going to make the playoffs and, you know, obviously there, but like the, they're in a spot where they, I mean, they very well could have home ice in the first round. You know, if things go right, they could absolutely finish second in the division because I don't know if, you know, if Montreal can keep it going the way they are, I can't, I don't know if Detroit's going to jump up, you know, is Boston going to, you know, surge up, you know, and try to steal something here like any of these things could happen, but also like, nobody has any idea because we haven't had a playoff race like this in quite a few years where it's, it feels like the top eight, nine are kind of set. But like, the top eight feels almost,

53:37almost done, even though nothing's done, you know, where you think any arrangement of these teams makes a lot of sense. And it's just a matter of like maybe figuring out the last last wildcard or two. And even that, like the first wildcard spot is feels like pretty cozy right now. Like, I think you could almost state, you know, any of the teams in the Atlantic could, or, uh, yeah, any of the teams in the Atlantic can make a claim on that and be cool. But I mean, this is, uh, this, this Saber's team though is, I mean, if you're comparing this to the, to the, to the, to the bills team that broke the drought, this team is way better than that bills team was. Sure. And that's funny. We say that. So, uh, bodies over at the Rock Power Report, one of my favorite podcasts, oh, geez, by the way, they've been doing this longer than I have. And there's not a lot of podcasts out there that have been around longer than this one. But anyway, they compare to droughts says bills drought. Have my first kiss lost my virginity, got married, got divorced, Sabers drought, married, divorced, be married. So there's,

54:40there you go. There's, there's life. They're, uh, buffalo droughts. So I mentioned gold setting, Joe. Uh, I had Chris Osher and Ram. Good buddy. Last week before, before they played any games, coming off the break. And one of the things he said was the biggest key to the Sabers not falling off and, you know, becoming a playoff team is the gold tending, holding up. It's being really good. Yeah. But will it hold up? Well, three games so far, the answer is yes. I saw a staff from I J fresh, that site on Twitter, goals saved above expected. As a March 1st, Sabers are fourth best in the NHL, man. Fourth best, only the Islanders Washington and Colorado have been better. Watch it. Talk about the gold tending, holding up for the Sabers and just playing really good this year. I've heard some people say that Alex Lyon, maybe one of the best unrestricted free agent signings, not just for the Sabers, but of any team in the NHL this past summer. He's kind

55:41of been that imported. And now UPL certainly seems to be rounding in to the type of gold tender that we want him to be. This gold tending to me, other than Matthias Samuelsen, because that's the biggest surprise for me. He'll tell about him in a second, but the way the gold tending's been has been one of my favorite, most pleasant surprises for this team this season. Yeah, it's the way Alex has played this year and goal is just outstanding. I mean, even early on in the season when they weren't getting the wins, Lyon was still playing really good. And it was just always like, again, it was like classic Sabers like, well, they got the gold tending. There's nothing stinking goals to help out the goalie. But Lyon's doing his job. So help the guy out. And now they're helping him out a lot. And Lyon is still playing that same

56:42steady, aggressive like veteran who doesn't give a, doesn't give a shit style, you know, style play. He, I mean, he gives, he cares a lot, but also like he's such a, like a, like a bench when it comes to how he handles playing goal that it's, it's really interesting. I mean, he's a fascinating character. Sure. He's a guy that I think in all my time here in Buffalo, he's the, he might be one of the most interesting guys I've ever talked to. And like, you can lose time like crazy in the locker room, you know, because you might have a thought of like, well, I got to talk to like these three or four guys. And if you get talking to Alex, forget it, you're only talking out. You know, because he's, he's interesting. He's thoughtful. And he, you know, he just, he talks it out like a, like a regular dude, but also like, you know, he plays goals. So like, there's a screw loose in there somewhere. And you're just like, you're out there, man. But also like, I'm on the same level

57:43with you. So like, I'm also out there. Like you get, you get a little introspective with yourself. But, but the way he plays, the way he plays goal is just, you know, very veteran, like, I got a job to do. And my job is to stop the puck and damn it. I'm going to do that. And you can always appreciate a goalie who has that kind of mindset. And, you know, he, you know, defends his crease, has no problem shoving guys out of there. Just, you know, mix it up, probably talking somebody's ear off the whole way, you know, sending them, sending them out of there. But, um, but with Luke in it, I mean, it was, it was a tougher start to the year. And obviously the injury stuff got the way. Like, you know, he didn't have, he didn't get to have a normal training camp. He didn't get to have any of that. But once he settled in and it took him a little bit to settle in and, you know, obviously, there's some other injury stuff that happened. But, um, when he settled in and he's locked in, man, and the, the, the sort of relationship he and lion have working, you know, working with each other here, they're not working against each other. Right. That's an important

58:44part of, of, you know, having a harmonious goal tending tandem or trio in this case. These all, these guys are all working with each other, not working against each other. And yeah, they're competing for net time. But like, with this schedule, you don't, nobody has to worry about it. Everybody's getting a games. Like, you know, one guy is not going to play 90% of the games down the stretch here. That, that shit is not going to happen. I mean, that right now, when there's games, you know, you got three and four a bunch of times, everybody's playing. So, uh, and to have everybody clicking and everybody playing well, it's, I mean, it takes a lot off of everybody's minds to not have to worry about the goal tending because so many times in the past, you could see that like that relationship between like defensemen and goalies was a little strained because everybody wasn't on the same page. Yeah. They're everybody's on the same page now. Everybody gets it and the, the guys in front of the goalies are taking care of a lot of business. And the goalies are taking care of what comes into their

59:45office. So, uh, as long as everybody's following, following their own script here and, and handling what they've got to handle, everything's going to go great. And that's what's happened here. Um, as a sabers fan who's old, it reminds me a little bit of the Bob Solve Don Edwards tandem back in a day for the sabers. I didn't feel any more or less confident with either one of them in net. I felt equally good about them. They were both good. I think they won. I think it's the William Jennings trophy. I think maybe you see something like that where the best calls against average or something like that. Anyway, they were a tandem that worked together. It was not a, uh, a number one or a number two. They were kind of one A one B and you could go to either guy in any situation and they both were, uh, were pretty good. Let's over this past weekend. A good friend of mine, I've known forever and my buddy Frank sends me a man. I don't know what value it was taking sending me a message of freaking two o'clock in the morning, but I woke up Sunday morning to the message. Basically, and I'm sure you've heard this question asked. I'm sure you've been asked this too. Based on this roster, how they looked now, the moves that were made,

1:00:50everything on paper does Kevin Adam deserve executive of the year. Does he deserve to be in the conversation for executive of the year? My quick answer to that is not really, he did have a lot to do with the pit. You can't take that away from him. The moves that were made, but you could also say, well, the leadership, there was something that this team didn't believe in what Kevin Adams is GM because it's just indisputable that literally there 1114 and two words are to leak out that Kevin Adams might be gone by the end of that road trip. They won their last three and they have been an absolute wagon ever since. Maybe it's a coincidence on some levels, but it can't be a complete coincidence. It's like that was a breath of fresh year that that locker room meet as long. Point is this. I'm not going to ask you that again because I know you're kind of relying with me with that. But based on what he did with this roster, is Kevin Adams going to end up getting another high-ranking front office hockey job. Like if this team stayed in the shits all year,

1:01:55I think he was done like in a kind of high leverage type role. But based on the Sabers, maybe we could apply off and people looking and say, we put this team together. Is Kevin Adams, he's going to get another crack at the piñata when it comes to a high level kind of executive position in the league again? I'm not one to say never when it comes to this kind of stuff because weirder things happen. I mean, we saw Ralph Krueger get a second coaching job. That's fair. We never got to happen. Granted, that was the Sabers. Very true. Take that with the grain of salt that deserves. And this is going to sound snarky. But a team that hires him, are they going to give him five to six years to get it in order? Will any team give a GM five or six years to get to get a shop in order to make sure that it works out and granted? He didn't draft Dulleen. He didn't trade for Taj Thompson. He didn't, you know, a lot of the first blocks of the

1:02:59foundation of this team were built under Jason Botrol. And granted, you know, Dulleen was a number one pick. That's an easy pick to make. Thompson, Thompson wasn't Bot's first choice in that men trading Ryan O'Reilly. And like that trade almost got Botrol fired based on how it worked out with O'Reilly going to St. Louis. The blue is winning a cup instantaneously. O'Reilly winning the consmouth as the MVP and the playoffs. So like those things weren't easy. And it took Taj a few years to come around and it took Don Grenadeau to kind of bring him out of that and have confidence in him to bring his game out and, you know, turn him into an annual 40 goal guy. Like that's, that says a lot more about Don that I think it does about even Jason Botrol or even Kevin Adams. But it's, you know, with other parts of this roster, yeah, Kevin deserves a ton of credit for that for, for, for, for either drafting some of these guys or adding them the ways that he

1:04:01did. But I think you can, you can, you can microscope, you can microscope analyze how this team was built and fraction out different things and say like, okay, well, he got this guy and it's like, well, he got this guy, but also XYZ things happen that weren't great and could be or are still issues with the team or, you know, with just the, with the whole scope of the organization now, you know, like, you know, he makes the trade to get Ryan McLeod, which was a good trade. We traded like one of his earliest draft picks in Matsavoy to get him. And like Savoy hasn't played great in Edmonton. So you're just like, ha ha Edmonton. But you're like, the Sabers were going to make that guy one of their top guys. Like, if that guy doesn't pan out, I mean, again, this, this is right, putting a lot of stuff that didn't happen and asking, well, what if it happened? You could play that game forever. And that's a stupid game to play. Like, well, what if they kept that guy? I don't know, man, like, you know, maybe, maybe monkey start flying. I don't know. Like he just, it changes

1:05:02the whole evolution scope of the world. I don't know. But, um, but like, you know, for, for the way it's worked out this year and the way this team is now, a lot of those moves still are attached to Kevin. You know, it's, it's hiring Lindy Ruff. It's, you know, keeping, I mean, it was, it was and may still be like an issue with a lot of fans, keeping the assistant coaches on and keeping that continuity with the coaching staff. So it's not your, you know, changing micro systems and different things and the way things go. You're just like, no, this is good. We're okay with this. Let's stick with it because changing up all the voices doesn't work. Um, and, you know, with, you know, with the players, making sure to get Josh Don in that trade for JJ, all like a lot of these little things where it's like, that was the right move. That was the right call. And Kevin deserves that kind of credit. Um, but they, I do, it is, it is kind of cruelly ironic that you can, you can make a very strong case for him as an executive of the year, even though he was fired in

1:06:04November, uh, crazy, which is insane because the only image I have in my head is, is, is Ben Stiller's white goodman in dodgeball sitting on the end of the movie, you know, fucking Chuck Norris. And like, Kevin sitting there just going, you know, and he's not going to get, I mean, he hired Yarmos. He can't get mad about Yarmo. But like, Yarmos have pulled any strings with this, others inside and don't do a great extension. We're going to find out what Yarmos made of by, you know, by the end of the week. But, you know, if you're Adams, you're just sitting there. It's like, all I did was put a, put a point off team together. What else could I have done? But, you know, by that point, but, you know, I think that's when you say like, well, Kevin was probably pretty fortunate to still have a job even going into this season, never mind going into last season, or the season before it even. Yeah. So maybe somebody's up real eight Monday. Maybe they're having themselves a night or something. And they're listening to this. They don't get up early

1:07:05Tuesday. They're not listening. It's around lunchtime. You just said it. There might be a move by the time people listen to this for all we know. Trade deadline is Friday. It's 3 p.m. I think it's pretty much, well, I don't want to say accepted because we don't know how it's going to play out, but we would, we would not be surprised if the Sabers added a replacement. I think we can all agree on that. Who it is? At what level? Who knows? But I think they're going to add to the blue line. And I'm sure you do too well. I wanted to ask you about, because you were at practice today. I don't really talk about him. Coolie. If, and again, this was Tuesday's going to get tested, and they're going to see where he's at. Like if he's going to be able to rejoin the team, or if he's just going to continue to, to maybe ramp up the condition or something like that, you can explain that better than I can. But let's say it's the best case scenario. And the test goes as good as you could hope for. I mean, that's a guy who's a good hockey player, and he's does some good things with this team. And he's in the mix. If Coolie can go,

1:08:12does that maybe lessen? Yarmals desire to go make a significant trade for say a top nine guy, because you'll, you know, you got Kulik coming back, or does the health of him in your opinion have nothing really to do with what Yarmale may or may not do without forwards by Friday at 3 p.m. I think it has to be, and it has to be in his mind. Like if they get a report that says that he, you know, he's going to be able to come back before the end of the season. I think that's a huge, that I think that changes how you approach things forward-wise at the deadline simply because Kulik's a guy that would play in the top six. And certainly if I'm Jack Coen, I'd probably be a little nervous about Kulik coming back, because he might be the guy that, you know, maybe winds up out of the line, because you got to, you got to put somebody, you got to put a guy like that somewhere in the line. Now, I say, I say this knowing full well that Jack has earned a ton of respect

1:09:16from Lindy this season for, for the work that he's put in off the ice in the off season. I know fans, you talked about whipping boys before, or Jack Quincy, the other guy. For sure. And, you know, Jack's, Jack's produced here and there. I think a lot of the visuals of how Jack plays hockey makes people like lose their cool, because a lot of times he looks like he's, he's too busy, you know, he's maybe moving a little too much, you know, the puck jumps off his stick and people are just like, I just calm down, settle down. Um, and I think that, that does lead to turnovers. But I mean, like he had like a few games in a row where he was piling up assists. And then he's on the first power player. But I was like, do hell, how's this happen? And it's like, well, he's making things happen. Like that's, that's how that happens. It's sometimes Lindy's changes like with power play and things like that are simply because points are getting on the board. Like that's, that's all it takes. Think of it. Coolique was playing well last season, but he wasn't getting goals and he wasn't getting assists and was getting frustrating. Like, you know, Lindy was like, you got to put the puck in

1:10:19that. Like I, you got to put points in the board to be able to, you know, to position. I think that was also, I think that also applied to like Zach Benson too. Or it's like, you got a score. Like he had to do stuff. You got to, you got to, you got to add to the, to the point holes here. But, um, but certainly if, if Coolique ends up getting, getting the okay from the doctors, because again, it's a blood clot. You don't know. You, right, right. No idea like how that's going to play. It's not like a broken bone or a ligament or anything like that where the timetable is set almost in stone. Blood clot. It's just like, is it still there? It is. Well, forget it. Is it gone? Okay. Well, treatment continues. You can ramp up and then we'll see how things go from there. Like that's kind of how that goes. That's a very amateur, amateur way to, to look at it. But, um, but if he's a guy that could come back before the end of the season, I mean, I, I would imagine that changes. I don't know if it drastically changes how you, how you approach it. But I think you have to look at it as like he's a guy who's not there and we

1:11:23don't know if he'll be there. And you plan accordingly, you know, your, your trade deadline, you know, your board accordingly to that. And if he comes back, then it's like, okay, now we got a lot of depth. Let's figure out how we're going to do the lineup and you go from there. Like that's, that's a bridge you cross when, when it's there kind of. Yeah. And you want to have, like I did, they're going to make a trade for a foreign regardless. And whether colleagues back or not this season, I don't know that I would be resting too easy. If I'm Jack Quinn, that said, look, guys get hurt all the time. You got to have that depth, you know what I mean? It's almost unrealistic to say what are the Sabers got here? 22 games left. Sabers got 22 games left. It's almost unrealistic to say nobody's going to miss time from any of the top four lines because of injury guys are going to get dinged up last question. I'm going to let you go. This is a, this is a big week. So you got Vegas coming here on Tuesday night tonight for most people listening

1:12:24that is show angry, probably they've lost two in a row. I'm sure they're looking to get things right here. Pittsburgh on the road Thursday. Sabers play like shit against them at home before the break. Pittsburgh's kind of dialed, of course, no Sydney right now, but still. And then they started a five game home stand, including back to back this weekend. They got Nashville Saturday, Tampa, and sunny, which by the way, it was pretty cool chance to get out to the arena and have yourself a nice Sabers weekend. But anyway, again, Vegas, Pittsburgh, five in a row at home. We keep saying if because we're we're operating with an overabundance, not an overabundance, a semi abundance of caution right now. I feel like if this team know he goes, say, if they get stack up nine to 10 points of these next 14, during these seven games, I almost feel like we can remove that if from that. Like if they get 10 of these next 14 points, they'll be down to 15 games. And they will have at least some amount of lead in the wild card,

1:13:27if not more. I feel like they can put their stamp on making the playoffs by having a really nice stand here. Like I said, five of their next six at home, a great and they may go to the home too. So, you know, an opportunity to really put a stamp on making the playoffs. They will just start thinking about positioning because right now, all I care about is getting in right now. I still do. I would sign up today for the wild card juice spot right now in this moment. I would sign that contract right now. But if they play well or these next seven games, now I'm starting to think about, hmm, in for the second in the division, maybe even win the division, but they can put a second in the division. And that's why I'm going to be looking at it, right? Yeah, it's the schedule. They've got one of the harsher closing, closing schedules among the playoff teams. I mean, you're they're they're stuffed to play Tampa twice. They're playing Vegas twice. Yeah, it's tough. It's for right there. Annoze twice, which San Jose is a team pushing

1:14:28for the playoffs. And they've got a psycho freak phenomenon in Macklin, Celebrini. That dude is unreal. And now they're getting now the hot ticket loan goes off. Where did the whole show for that, man? Yeah, it's not. I met Celebrini's a freak superstar. But now they're getting other great play from their other young stars like Michael Misa, who they just drafted. Will Smith has been awesome for them. So like sharks, sharks are going to be a really fun. They already are a really fun team, but they're going to be even more fun as the years go on. They've got like sort of that sabers from a few years, kind of a few years ago vibe where it's like really exciting young stars, like they could figure it out. Like they could be really nasty soon. But like there are a lot of these other games like these are games against teams that are directly in the either in the playoffs or competing with them to get up and down the ladder, Detroit, Boston, the islanders, Ottawa, Washington, you know, like these Columbus is lurking their late in the season, you know, like

1:15:32and they got to end the season at home against Dallas. Like, okay, like here's a team that could be a cup final team this year. They're your last game of the season. Have fun boys. But like, you know, Seattle, Seattle's a playoff team too. So like, it's a, this is not an easy run at all. And like any team that gets playoffs earns it that goes without saying, but boy, oh boy, I mean, it's this is going to be tough. I feel three percent less confident now is I'm is I'm gazing at the schedule while you're going through it. And I'm like, there's not, I mean, looking at hockey, it's not really gimme's many gimme's period in hockey. But yeah, you're looking at the schedule. And there's not many teams that are like buried, you know, pretty much in the playoff race here. Kind of makes that, no, I can't even see Pittsburgh's right in it too, man. There's the Rangers might be the weakest team left on their schedule. And they don't see them until the fourth to last game of the year in April. So like, you know, Nashville, Nashville's

1:16:37in a playoff race. Like, you know, Tampa, you know, Tampa's the top of the list in sharks. So Chicago, they got those. Chicago and the Rangers to the last four games. So if we're in good, we're we're I'm trying to give confidence back here. Top schedule, but Chicago and the Rangers are two matchups that I like in the last four games. If you got to make sure you get at least one or two more wins. Um, and honestly, by that time of the year, that point, that point of year in the schedule, I mean, maybe you're hoping that one of those is a clincher for the playoffs. Sure. Or, you know, hey, things break if things go right. And this team just continues to stay play this way. I can't even say like stay hot because they've been staying hot since November. So I maybe this is this is just what they are. But if they play like this for the, you know, the rest of the way, maybe you're thinking like, okay, have something locked up so that, you know, maybe those last few home games are just like kind of parties, parties in the arena for everybody gearing up to get their to get their playoff mentality is right for for those games, you know.

1:17:38Yeah. And in fairness, too, shit, we're both saying and you're right. The Sabers got, you know, a tough look here at the end. But from top to bottom, the East of Converg's is top pretty tough period. So like a lot of these teams are going to be playing each other. So there's going to be tough games for a lot of them. I'm calling my shot here as we end the show. The Sabers are going to clinch a playoffs spot on Monday, April 6th against Tampa Bay at home. The Sabers will need to get one point to get into the playoffs. Okay. And they're going to wins Easter in 2020. Very specific. That is a very specific way to. It's dingus day. So Buffalo will be unibriated. And the Sabers are going to clinch the playoffs on April 6th. There you go. The drunkest city in the United States gets even drunk. Exactly. What are you saying? And dingus days enough for people to throw in the Sabers? It's going to be wild.

1:18:41What do I do? That is day drinking and a night drinking. I love day drinking and the night drinking. When day drinking turns in the night drinking is the best. I'm too old to do night drinking anymore. Like right now, if you called me, well, it's unrealistically, but even if it was 830, you say, yo, Pat, you want to go grab a beer? I'm like, what are you crazy? It's almost that o'clock. Now, if you and I went out at two o'clock to a pub and started putting some points back, maybe I'll tell 11 to all of a clock at night. I can handle that. I can't go out at nine o'clock. I got to go out during the day. Day drinking, get turned in the night drinking. I can't start with night drinking though anymore. I'm too old for that shit. Oh, man. Yeah, it's, uh, yeah, if we started to and we go to 11, I'm having a really rough next three days. I'll tell you. Yeah. I didn't say it was going to be easy the next day. I'm just saying I can do it. I'm willing to pay that price if we start by where we're going to put a, put a bow on this man. This was some, I'm, I'm not just saying it to you. I was, this was a fun man. It's got it feels

1:19:42good to, uh, well, first of all, it always feels good to have Joe on the show. But to be able to talk about the Savers and such a, a positive light. This might be the most positive from start to end Savers podcast I've ever had. Yeah. He's always got that skepticism built inside of me. Yeah. I mean, I'm even talking on power up on this show. The words I said about Jack Quinn is maybe he shouldn't be rusting so easy. I mean, kind of feel like this seems change me a little bit. I love to see it, man. I love to see it. Um, make sure you check Joe out all over the place, man. If it's hot, it's media, you're going to, uh, you're going to find Joe for sure at Joe yearning. Of course, uh, on Twitter, that plus the soul tab. Was it period social for that guy? Yeah, bluska. Yeah, bluska. Yeah. If he just look up my name on blue sky, look up. Joe yearning, man. I don't think there's too many other ones on there. Yeah. Don't be jr. No docky AP stuff. You name it. Joe's all over the place. Doesn't incredible job. What am I? again, one of my best friends in the media. And this was, uh, there's a lot of fun, man. I really

1:20:45appreciate you, dude. Hey, I always treat to come on and talk to you, especially when, uh, and unbelievably delightfully positive favorites. I know. I feel a little bit weird about it. All right, big thanks, Joe yearning. Thank you to everybody for watching, for listening. I always appreciate you. Matt Warren Espination comes on the show joining me tomorrow. We're going to talk about bill's positional needs that are not wide receiver. We're going to figure out some needs and some solutions as well. So talk to you guys tomorrow. Thank you very much.