Transcript of The Hockey Show: Princess Claire Is Here

Can the Buffalo savers pull off a miracle? This is the Hockey Show. David Drogue of the Hockey News is here. Ethan is over there, and Rose is on the University of Miami campus, trying to stay out of trouble. This is the Hockey Show. You can follow us on YouTube at the Hockey Show DLS. You can go to TikTok at the Hockey Show 7, and on X Instagram and threads at Hockey Show DLS. The soap opera, that is the New York Rangers, continues. They have lost nine on their last 11. For the fourth consecutive game, the Blue Shirts have given up four goals or more, including a 10-spot against the Bruins on Saturday. It's been a disaster, Madison Square going.

I thought that the win for them in the Winter Classic was supposed to be the big turning point for the Rangers when they smoked the Panthers 5: 1 at Lone Depot Park, but five straight losses since then. They did score four goals the other night, but they gave up eight. What have they given up? In those four games, they've given up, let's see, 15, 19, 27 goals in four games.

How about just the two games where they led up 18? They led up 10 and 8 back to back.

30 goals in five games.

Man, it's been a disaster.

They miss Igor.

Over there in Manna. It doesn't even matter that they had Igor. They're still dead last in the conference, 46 points. And I have an idea. Since we haven't been doing too well with Puck luck lately, I got an idea. We're doing the opposite of winning people money, but I have a plan. In 28 of the Rangers's total losses this He's in 17 of those losses had a margin of defeat by two goals or more. So that's over two-thirds of the losses, right? Okay. In the 17 Rangers' losses at home, 11 of those games had a margin of defeat being of two goals or more.

Okay, I think I see where you're going with this.

Right. So again, over two-thirds of losses. Most likely, no matter who is in the net for the Rangers, whether it's Jonathan quick, Ego Shesterken, or the other guy, who is Spencer Morton, the back-up goal tender right now, most likely, they're going to give up two goals or more. So my plan is, my tip to everybody, bet on the range's opponent against the spread for the rest of the season. Do you agree with that?

The logic is sound, but here's the problem. Well, maybe it's a problem, maybe it's not. All right, here. Because our betting record, as you alluded to, is not the best. Oftentimes, we bet on something, the opposite happens. So by doing this, are we backhandedly potentially saving the Rangers' season by betting against their opponents and betting on the Rangers losing With our track record and the reverse curse that we do, we're going to bet on the Rangers, and suddenly the Rangers is going to start winning a lot of hockey games. If this happens and we end up losing money on the Rangers's success, I expect whoever's in charge, James Dolan I don't know. Whoever's in charge of the Rangers, cut us a check. We're helping you guys in the playoffs. If this happens, cut us a check. All right.

Also, what Dave is also saying is, fade. Fade what we're talking about.

Well, either we get our bets right or the Rangers succeed. One of the two will happen if we go forward with this.

The Rangers are much closer to having the first pick in the draft right now than they would be to making the payoff, so I don't think you're going to have to worry about.

Oh, ye of little faith in our betting trawice, Ethan.

No, what are you doing?

Right now, they're 10 points out of the playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are just nine points ahead of the last place, Vancouver, Knox. By the way, have you seen the bottom of the West?

Yeah, they would have a bit of time in the East. It's gross.

They would be It's been a lot more fun in the West than they are right now. They're in the East. But who would have thought before the year that the Rangers would be more in the running for Gavin McKenna than they would be to get back to the playoffs? I think a lot of people expected they would be on the fringes. They might even bounce back and make the playoffs this year. I wasn't necessarily one of those people, but it has turned ugly fast. It's not like Mike Sullivan has provided a huge coaching for them because they just can't score. That Winter Classic you mentioned, Dave, that's looking like more of a one-off where the Panthers just had a bad night, got a little caught up in the spectacle, had a bad night, then the Rangers being a turning point, or even for the Panthers' sake, it being the other way for the Panthers because they played pretty well the last couple of games, which we'll get to later.

Yeah, the Rangers being five points out of a playoff spot in the West. If this was COVID season, it would be a much better situation for them.

Can you imagine having a 15, 9, and 2 road record at the midway point of the season, six games above 500 on the road midway through the season, and you're dead last in the conference? What the hell? What is that?

Yeah, they're not going to catch Pittsburgh. Five wins in 23 home games. How are we doing Hey, Rose is here. Rose just came back. Hey, again, are your eyes still puffy? Your eyes are still puffy, eh?

No, sorry. Yeah, they're still, but it's more because I was with Tony outside and I just came in.

He made your eyes puffy?

This job makes my ass puffy. So what can we do?

Yeah, well, that's true. Having to deal with us all the time. Yeah, sure. Let's move on to the retired numbers that have happened this week. Two of them, one in Detroit, one in Boston. The number 91 for Serge Fedroff has gone up to the rafters at Little Caesar's Arena. And the number 33, a very famous number in the city of Boston, this time for the Boston Bruins, has gone up in TD Garden for Zdeno Sharra. Now, Fedroff's red-ring tenure did not end well. It ended in 2003. He ended up signing an office sheet with... Who was it again?

Anaheim, did he name it?

Anaheim, I believe. Yes, it was Anaheim. At the 13 Seasons, I mean, 13 Seasons in Detroit. I mean, he is a beloved figure there. So it's good to see that all is forgiven between Detroit and the and Serge Fedraff. His number goes into the rafters. Took him 16 years to retire his number.

Man, did you even remember that Fedrav played for Columbus, Washington?

Washington, yes. That's how he ended his career in 2009.

I'm looking at his stats. He spent three seasons in Columbus, parts of three. What?

Well, Columbus, as you know, very forgettable franchise.

185 games in a Columbus Bluegatchets' jersey. And 133 points.

Yeah, 113 By the way, two-time Selky trophy winner. They use excellent defensively. Let's not forget that. Hard trophy winner, three-time Stanley Cup champion, Hall of Famer, and also in Boston was O'Chara, a Norris trophy winner, and got his one Stanley Cup. The captain, his number goes up in Boston. Talk about that for a second.

Well deserved. I mean, that Boston team, they only won one Stanley Cup, but that Boston team was really good for a good decade plus with Bergeron and Marshand. Nathan Horton was around back then. Toukharast was a... I mean, he was a little eccentric, but certainly fun to watch. But no, I mean, look, for Boston team, and I know how we feel about Boston teams here in South Florida, but no, I mean, Charro was that team. They're not winning without him, that scary, massive presence on the blue line, taking two strides, getting from zone to zone. He really came into his own, a Hall of Fame guy. So So yeah, I thought that that was well deserved for Charro in Boston. I thought that was cool.

A lot of people give the credit for that locker room almost exclusively to Chara and that being one of the best locker rooms. And I was listening to what Chaos yesterday, and Pete and DJ were talking about it and his presence and how it's contributed to the Bruins. And it seems like it's in a way contributed to what the Panthers are now because Brad Marshan learned at the knee of Zdenyo Chara and saw how he ran a locker room. And a lot of the things people have said about what Brad Marshan has brought to the locker room are the things that people say about Zdeno Charha and what was learned from the Bruins. In a way, Zdeno Charha, I think, has had a big impact on how the Panthers are right now in terms of the camaraderie that they have in the locker room.

Big Z is a prime example of what it is to be a captain. He was a Messier Award winner as well. Here's a guy that in the offseason, he came in strong. He's the toughest training hockey player, especially at that size that anybody has ever seen. I think the Bruins really took to that.

Lead by example guy. When you're the captain, when the spotlight's on you and you can still go out, first guy and last guy out mentality, and then go on the ice and always have your teammates back. That Bruins team, that was a good personification of a Boston hockey team. They had plenty of skill, but they didn't take any shit from anybody.

Classy guy Big Z is. And congratulations to both Serge Fedroff and Zdenya Chara. Let's to move on to the Panthers then. The Panthers. That was a rooster. That was a rooster sound.

Yeah, we were mixing the Panthers with roosters because since we are all Cubans today and I became Cuban, I'm from Guatemala, so I'm becoming Cuban just for one day.

C. The Panthers are now on a four-games into a six-game road trip, which they are currently two, two, and O on. They Again, they beat Ottawa and they beat Buffalo on the road. The Panthers have actually done well against Boston in the last 10 games, but I was worried about them going in the Buffalo, but they managed to do well in that game. The Panthers stopped off at the White House yesterday before going to Carolina today, and they continued to stay afloat as reinforcements come along. They also have extended the contract of defenseman Uwe Spelinskas. What are we looking at here right now, and do you have any other updates on the team, David?

Well, it looks like everybody's getting close, right? And the Panthers, they made some moves. I think they're making some space on the roster. Noah Gregor Jack Steenika, I believe, are bound to be heading back to AHL Charlotte. Tobi Bjornfott also. They're getting healthy, right? I mean, the blue line, they need to get Seth Jones back. Dimitri Kulikow will be back after the Olympics. Seth Jones, hopefully before. But forward-wise, I mean, Brad Marshan and Matthew Kachuk are right there. They're hopefully playing this weekend. I mean, at this point, it's just like, what are we doing? They're on the ice. They're practicing. It looks like they're okay.

Yeah, Marshan, he had the noncontact jersey on, but he ended up participating in drills.

He wasn't on the ice for the morning skate today, per Jamieson and the guys that are up in Raleigh. Kachuk was there, but not taking line rushes, which may or may not mean anything.

Maintenance.

We'll see. I mean, look, we've It's just about it ad nauseam, how this team gets so much more deadly with their depth. Adding just one of those forwards and increasing the top six into a top nine, basically, that's going to go a long way. Even though we're just wringing our hands right now, waiting for these guys to get back in the lineup, they're right there. Florida is relatively right there. I mean, what is it, Roy? They are five points out of a playoff spot right now with three games in hand on the Bruins. So right now, just stay close, get hot, get healthy, and I still think things will be okay.

This is a big weekend for the Panthers. These four pointers are so important, especially against two good teams from the Metro in Washington and Carolina. I thought the last two efforts have been a lot better. They're getting used to life without Seth Jones. But also last week we saw what life without Seth Jones can be like, and it can be very difficult because the Panthers were having a very hard time offensively and defensively. They've looked better the last couple of games, though. It'll be interesting to see their effort after this long stretch without any games. That's why there's so much distance right now between them and the wild card teams. But I think, like Dave said, it's all about just being in striking distance at the Olympic break, coming back from the Olympic break, getting hot, getting healthy, and seeing All they got to do is get in. And if they get Barky back, it's anybody's guess what will happen.

Not having Seth Jones. That is major, major minutes lost. I mean, that is major, major minutes lost. And offensively, he has He provided basically the most out of everybody on the team from the blue line.

He's been their best defenseman this year on both sides of the ice, on offense and on defense. And losing him has been so critical because, like you mentioned, Roy, they don't have anybody eating those critical minutes that he eats. It's just been difficult. They looked like a different team without him. Hopefully, these last two games are more of a reflection of what they'll be like without him because those looked like solid defensive efforts.

I agree. I I think that we're fortunate. We talked about the depth earlier, but we're fortunate that they have Anuvis Balinstis or even a Tobi Bjornfott, Donovan Sabrengo. These aren't high marquee type guys, but they can come into your lineup and they can keep your team from falling apart. The Panthers are losing all-star-level players. In terms of their forwards, potential Hall of Fame type players. These are top high-end guys that are coming out of the lineup, and they're still maintaining. So again, discredit to Bill Zito and his staff for finding guys that can keep the ship afloat because it's been a disaster of a season, injury-wise, and they're still right there.

Yeah, it's just a spackling of the holes being filled through injury instead of the actual plugging and fixing. But it might be enough to get the Panthers into the playoffs.

Yeah, and as we know, just get in.

That's all you have to do.

If they're healthy, is there any team that you would not want to face more than the Panthers if they're healthy? What have they shown that they can do in the playoffs over the last three years?

Yeah, exactly. We found that out three years ago. Thank you to the Chicago Blackhawks, by the way.

Peter Mrazic.

It's time for Puck Lock. It's brought to you by DraftKings. Draftkings, the Crown is yours. David, can we actually win money this time?

That's the plan. Hello.

Bet against the Rangers.

Step one, bet against the Rangers, especially if they're at home. Yeah, I know Puck luck hasn't gone our way, but I got a little crazy this week. I wanted to play it safe, and instead, I gave you a plus 760. Let's But the logic is there. The logic is there. Let's go through it. We're going to take Colorado on the Puck Line tonight against Nashville. They lost at home Monday to Toronto, so you know they're going to be pissed. It was their first home loss since October 23rd, Roy. Today is January 16th. It's been a while. Colorado is going to be a little bit pissed. They've had four days to stew on it. Nashville is in trouble. Colorado on the Puck Line. We're also going to take Marty Nietzsche in that game. Over two and a half shots. He's hit that over in three or four overall in six of his last eight on home ice. I like Marty Nietzsche to light up Nashville tonight. Nashville also gives up about mid-range shots on goal. Dylan Larkin. San Jose has given up the second most shots in the NHL, and Dylan Larkin has done over two and a half shots on goal in three or four and in 14 of his last 19 home games.

So I'm taking Dylan Larkin over two and a half shots. And then, to add a little sauce to the parlay, we're going to take Tampa on the money line at San Jose. Tampa has won 11 straight games overall. They're playing suffocating defensive hockey. St. Louis overall isn't exactly a high scoring team. Vassilovski is probably in net tonight, so I'm in Tampa. All those combined plus 760. Please, let's make some money today.

Okay, it is time for the Hockey Stat of the Week, Rose. You are currently playing with my daughter?

Yeah, I'm going to show you what I'm teaching your daughter. Come on, Jason.

Just put it off there. Roy, you forgot to mention the most important guest that's in studio today. We have Claire.

No, put in Roy. Look at that. Rose is the best. Then we have the Chickens. Then you have the Claire show.

The Claire The Claire Show. Yeah. Star Roy Bellamy.

This is The Claire Show, by the way. That's the title of today's episode.

There's a son on my face. Okay. All right.

Your daughter sees it like that. So thank you very much.

That's so The Hockey Set. What's just happening? The music just started. Anyway, go ahead, Ethan.

Hello, gentlemen.

We were talking to you.

Welcome back to the Hockey Set of the Week. Thank you. Hi. All right. Fine. Missed you. All right. This comes from Jack Michiels, the Edmonton Oilers' play-by-play announcement, one of the greats in the game. The oilers lost 1-0 to the Islanders last night. It broke Connor McDavid's 20-game point streak. He had 46 points in those games. However, the more interesting stat from that loss is that this is the first time the oilers have been shut out at home by the Islanders since Billy Smith shut them out in game one of the 1983 Stanley Cup final.

See, that's a miss right there. That should have been a trivia question for us.

I guess so. They play the Islanders once a year in Edmonton. In Edmonton.

That's still 43 years that they haven't been shut out since.

There have been some good goalies that have played for the Islanders potentially in Edmonton over the... I'm thinking like DP, Felix Potvin. They've had some decent goal tenders that can pull a shutout.

Yeah, that is true. But 43 years is- That's insane. That's including the playoffs as the Stanley Cup final. That's insane.

Are you happy about the Islanders doing that or because you go against the Islanders?

I am not happy about the Islanders doing that. I would never be happy about their success, especially this guy.

But they set out Edmondson.

That's good. Yes. And I needed Edmondson to win. I had a seven-leg parlay last night. And that was the only leg that missed.

You should stop betting because every time you bet, This is a great call.

That's a great call. That's a mean thing to say.

Thank you, Rose. Sorry. No, I am the same.

She's telling the guy who's at the sponsored betting segment on our show to stop betting.

I mean, that is a good point. It's sponsored, so he actually has to do it. All right, it's time for Rosa in Un Minuto. Rosie, please play the music. Please. Music and voices. And voices.

And voices, okay. So today I don't have a team because you know what? I forgot my team. So what I'm going to give you is a recap of what I did in the week. So do you know? Look at Claire. Yes. She's giving me the energy. It's all about the canes. Right now I'm rooting for Mendoza, so people are really against me. But you know why I'm rooting for Mendoza? Because everybody is rooting for the U. So why go with everybody? I will always go where nobody goes. So that's why I'm going with Mendoza. That's my bid. And let me be. My grand, it's a bid. So don't hate me. Thank you very much. This was less than a minute with Rose about the Canes. Not the hurricanes, Carolina hurricanes, but the Canes here in Miami, if you know them.

All right. That was apparently Rose in a Minute. Now it is time for Rosa in Un Minuto. Can you do that in Spanish, please? And Roy. Okay, that's that. There you go.

Do you guys want to know the Spanish sayings I learned from Rose this week?

Not really.

Yes, please.

All right, go ahead. No, I'm not going to do it. You're not going to do it? You're a coward.

You have to get the bleeps out. I don't want to do more work. You don't have to bleep.

. You have to bleep the Spanish words.. You got to do that at the end.

No, you bleep the wrong word.

You bleep leche, not You bleep milk? She goes, make algo de beep.

There you go. It's time for Wins and Fails of the Week. Dave, what's your win?

Abby Murphy.

Oh, there you go. Yeah.

Abby Murphy is my win of the week. She's getting ready to light it up for Team USA at the Olympics. She's right now been lighting up the NCAA for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. She scored an assist. Assisted. She scored an assist. No, she scored the assist.

She earned an assist.

It was like a Sasha Barcov type play. Against the Rangers, yeah. She flicks the puck up in the air, and then just as the defenseman reaches for it, she knots it back down on the ice. Do the defenseman leg. Nutmeg. Reaches out with one arm to corral the puck as it's going away from her and then flips her wrist and sends a perfect pass across the crease through another defenseman stick leg hole, the triangle, the Dorito, right to her teammate. Who was it? Oh, it's Bella Finale, and scored this great goal. I don't know. I'm just excited to see Abby Murphy in the Olympics. I'm happy what she's doing with the gophers, and that was just so sick.

That might be the greatest individual play I've ever seen. That is so nasty what she did. I still can't believe it. I've seen it 100 times this week.

You know what else that's called? Bad defense. Really? I think there's no defense for that play, dude.

There's no defense for that. That was unbelievable.

On Saturday, prior to the Red Rings, Canadians game, James Van Reem's dike showed up to the Bell Center, and I repeat, the Bell Center.

The Bell Center.

No, God damn it, it's the Bell Center.

The arena is called Santra Bell. The arena is called the Bell Center.

It's the Bell Center. It's the Bell Center. Don't hand me the metric system, all right? James Van Riedem's showed up to the Bell Center wearing a Batman costume.

Batman.

The reason why he showed up to the Bell Center wearing a Batman costume is because he wanted to celebrate his son's fourth birthday. It was a gesture to his son, Liam. So Liam, there you go. Your dad is a superhero. All right, Ethan?

My Win of the Week, guys. This is one of... We talked about maybe the greatest goal I've ever seen, greatest individual skill play. This might be the greatest hockey video I've ever seen. This comes from the Hersey Bear's Minor League game, the Mighty Mites game in the intermission. This has been everywhere this week. It was on the Levitard show. We talked about it. Look at this scrap between these kids just coming in. My favorite part is the two kids on the same team that start fighting each other for no reason. Just an absolute mayhem right here. The goal tender walking around, just headhunting. I mean, this scrap is amazing, dude. This is what every kid dreams of, right? Is going out on the ice and just scrapping. Yeah, sure. Scoring a goal in an NHL arena, fine. Dandy. That's great. Dandy. A bunch of kids have done it. How many kids have gone out there and just gone to war with each other? That was awesome.

Isn't that crazy for wanting to normalize this? For our kids across two nations to see this video and say, Next time I'm on Mighty Mites at the Pepsi Center or wherever.

No, no Pepsi Center.

Whatever that's called now, Ball Arena or Joe Lewis, Little Caesars. What? God, I'm...

Little Caesars, Ball Arena. You got there. You got there.

Nassau Coliseum, Meadowlands. The next time the kids are on the ice is that don't exist anymore. No, but seriously, can you imagine if that became a thing? Every time kids did this, they're just like, Bleep, storm goals. I'm going to go out and level somebody. I'm taking that kid's helmet off.

Yeah, the other goal tender, you need to back up your team, man. What are you doing?

Right? That one goalie was flying. Come on, guys. But no, seriously, that was cool.

Rose, do you have a win this week? Did you even think of one?

Yes. Is this rooster over here?

You got a winner in that rooster. I think I'm going to end up keeping it, and I'm going to take it home, and everybody's going to be like, Where's that rooster? You're going to put it outside your door?

I don't know. It's going to be in my room now.

Okay, you're going to sleep with the rooster. I was about to say it. I was about to say the other word for the rooster. You're lucky that Claire is in there. Thank you. You're absolutely lucky that Claire is in there. David, what's your fail?

The last 30 seconds. My fail. Earlier this week, the Oilers were in Nashville. It was a good game. It went to overtime, three to three. And that's when Tristan Jari did something that I generally would advise against, Roy.

Stay ass in the crease, man.

Right. Well, this didn't even make sense. And you guys are going to have to go online to watch the video, but there's a picture right there that we're putting up on the screen. You can see Roman Yosey. He's about two feet from the puck. Tristan Jari is about, I don't know, a mile from the puck. And that's when he decided that he's going to go out and play the puck. It makes no sense at all. He got knocked on his ass. Roman Yosey ended up getting the game-winning goal because there was nobody in the net. Just a big mess. What are you thinking? Just stay in the crease, buddy.

This is overtime, too. Yeah. There's no excuse for him to lead the crease.

Between Tristan Jari, Stu Skinner, and Evan Bouchard, does any team have more calamitous mistakes than the Nashville... Excuse me, the Edminton Oilers?

Both teams are.

You could say the Predators as well, but maybe when Georgiev was in San Jose, but...

Have you guys seen Skinner stats over his last five or six months?

He's played well the last few games, right?

He has.

We mentioned the Rangers earlier in the show, and I want to point out something specific from this week in the 8: 4, Loss at Home to Ottawa. Jonathan Quick gave up Number 6. Gave up goal number 6 before Mike Sullivan decided he had enough, and he got replaced for Smiths and Martin to, of course, a booze at Madison Square Garden. And funny enough, it was a milestone night for Jonathan Quick as it was his 800th start of his NHL career. And after giving up six goals on 17 shots, I don't think that he will be taking that milestone buck at all. So, yeah, the trainer can probably put in his back pocket or and used it for practice the next night. Ethan, what is your... I'm sorry.

No, just real quick. Crazy Jonathan quick stat. 800 starts out of 819 games.

That's crazy.

That's insane.

Right? Straight into the starter net.

That's crazy. He has come on in relief less than 20 times in his career.

That's crazy. Ethan, what is your fail?

Roy.

You're going to have to be quick here.

I know. I got time. The whole thing with... I know I don't have a lot of time, but I have time to fit in what I want to say. This whole thing with the White House, it just really stinks. It's very conflicting. You want to see your team celebrate their championship. You want to see their team get to do the whole thing. But people have overreacted to the whole thing. The Panthers wore red ties because the Panthers color is red. That's it. They wear red ties when they go to the Stanley Cup celebrations the last two years. They wear red ties when they go to the White House. They did not wear red ties to dress up like Trump. So all those people out there, my fail of the is for the people that made a big deal out of this because this is their uniform. I know, Roy, you had a problem with the Panthers not being extremely uniform in their red tie look.

You got to wear blue suits, man. Blue is your secondary color. You got to wear blue suits. And there was a mesh-mash of black suits and blue suits in there. Got to be uniform. You are a team. And yes, I hated the fact that they were there, but it's tradition. I don't know what to say other than that.

We're a whole thing.

We're a tan suit.

We're a tan suit. We're a tan suit. We're a tan suit and piss everybody off about it. That would be great.

Like the winter classic pants and gloves. We're a tan suit, blue tie, red shirt. Boom. Done. Panthers.

The whole thing was the fail of the week. Just the whole, whole thing.

It stinks. The entire thing. All right. If you are watching on DraftKings Network, check out our YouTube- Yeah, I did not have a fail of the Week.

Thank you very much.

We don't have time for that. I'm sorry. But if you are watching on DraftKings Network, check out our YouTube channel, because coming up next, we have Shonda Paz from What Chaos to talk about his Buffalo savers. Coming up next.

Well, actually, that's my fail of the Week. You guys thinking that you don't You know what? I quit.

Yeah, you can take your rooster with you.

Rose is acting a little cocky right now. Oh, no.

Oh, no.

No. I didn't even think she heard that.

No.

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Sean DePaz is a very capable producer, and he produces the What Chaos podcast. They talk hockey on that one. And very famously, he is a Buffalo savers fan. And very surprisingly, they are having a excellent season, a major, major turnaround. They have won their 15th game in the last 17 when they beat Montreal last night. And within that, they had a 10-game winning streak. Losing street, I'm sorry. This is last year's savers. But they had a 10-game winning streak this year. Within that, 15 out of 17 game winning trend. And quite frankly, it's looking like they have some 2018, 2019 St. Louis Blues vibe. Bold.

I like it.

I certainly like that. I can't disagree with you. It does seem like a switch has been flipped a little bit. I was in the building last night for the Montreal game, and the atmosphere there was unbelievable. The Saber just looked like a good hockey team. They've had over this drought periods where they They've won a bunch of games, but it's proven to be a fluke, and it felt like a fluke. Right now, they are playing really good hockey. Everybody is participating in playing good hockey. We're not just being carried by one guy. It's a great time to be a Sabers fan, that's for sure.

I'd say the major difference between the Sabers right now and the Blues team of that year is the firing. They fired Mike Biot, the head coach, and the Sabers fired the general manager, Kevin Adams. That firing, was that the point in the season where everything turned around?

I mean, it's hard to say otherwise. I mean, I will say the 10-game win streak technically started two or three games before the Kevin Adams firing. So it's hard to say that it was entirely that, but it certainly seems like since that point, there has been a wake-up call within that locker room, and now everyone is putting forth an effort or has reached a new level that they weren't able to prior to firing Kevin Adams and hiring Jarmo Kechalina. I don't know. Obviously, I'm not in the locker room, but it certainly seems like that was a flip. I know Tate Thompson has said publicly that Jarmo came in there and basically told every player on that roster that they're expendable, and they might not have had that feeling under Kevin Adams, who is known to be a really nice guy, which is awesome, obviously, but maybe not the best trait to have when you need to make hard decisions. I don't know. Maybe there was some wake-up call when that firing and hiring took place, but I don't need answers. I don't need to know what changed. I'm happy they're winning games. You don't need answers.

You need results.

I need results, exactly.

Do you give more credit to the Kevin Adams firing or the joke that was made about Buffalo and Heated Rivalry? Because that has also been linked to the 10... They're like nine and one or maybe even like 12 and two or something at this point. Since they made that joke in heated rivalry about the Buffalo hockey team at that point.

Yeah. I mean, why not both? Why not both, right? Maybe there's a sense of, Hey, this GM might trade us. And also we got to put on for our city a little bit who was getting trash talked in this major pop culture thing right now. I don't know. Maybe it was both. But like I said, I don't really need answers. They're winning games. So whatever is motivating them to win games, I'll take at this point.

All right, Sean, here's the real question. Let's say the playoff starts tomorrow. Buffalo's in, right? Who's starting in net game? Assuming everybody's healthy, who's starting in net game one? Because you've gotten solid play from Colton Ellis, from Alex Lyon. He's not Georgia, if I tell you that. From Uco Peca Lufan. Obviously, UPL is the goalie of the future or whatever, but they've all been pretty solid. So in your opinion, game one, tomorrow night, who's in net?

It's tough. I would say if we're looking at the whole body of work from this season, you have to say Alex Lyon. He's been our best goal tender this year. Nice. Upl has been playing really good recently. But honestly, all three of our goal tenders have been playing well. The team has been playing well recently. So it's tough. I think Alex Lyon is more of a veteran. He has much more experience playing big games than either of these guys do for sure. I think that's the one you have to start with, but I will say it's going to be a short leash. I think ultimately you're going to go into the playoffs without Colton Ellis, I would have to say, just because UPL is your guy that you have committed to long term, longer term, I should say. And then Alex Lyon, I think, gives you the best chance of winning games right now. So Colton Ellis is probably the odd man out there. But the leash is going to be short for whoever plays because all of the goalies have played really well. I could see it being an oiler situation where you end up needing to turn to a backup for big games in places you're not hoping to be turning to a backup to.

Well, the savers have some decisions to make very, very soon Alex Tuck is going to be a UFA after the season. Jason Zuka, Bo Byron, Alex Lyon included, and Jordan Greenway are going to be UFAs in two seasons. They have eight players on the roster right now with three years or more left on the contract. So they are going to have to make some decisions. And they're hosting the draft, so they're going to have to make some decisions there as well. What do you see Jan Boal Kekeleina doing?

I mean, the Alex Lyon one is tough. He's an upstate New York guy. People I like to say he's a Western New York guy. He's a Buffalo guy. It's not true. He's from two and a half hours away from New York, Syracuse. And he's a really good player. But when you hear the numbers that he was asking for, upwards of $10 million a year plus, and you look at the players that they're going to have to sign, they're going to have to figure out a way to keep Josh Stone when he becomes an RFA who's been probably the most important Buffalo Saber this year, which is not something anybody, I think, saw coming. But it's unfortunate. I think they're in a situation right now where they have to be prepared to let Alex Tuck walk because he's too important to this team right now to trade him when they're playing really good hockey and I think have a chance of... I'm not ready to sincerely call them a cup contender yet, but I think they have a chance of making noise in the playoffs. You got to keep Alex Tuck around for that. But I think the number is too high to keep him around and keep this team in a place to win in the future.

I think you just have to be prepared to let him walk and take care of some of those other guys who maybe not as important individually as Alex Tuck, but give you a better chance of winning when you have a more well-rounded roster.

Had trick and two assists for Tate Thompson in last night's win against Montreal. Usa. Usa.

Usa.

He's been a vocal leader in that locker room, and he will be for Team USA as well.

So glad he's going.

Yeah. He's not scared to tell everybody how he feels. I'll tell you that right now. Is this guy the most important? Well, I mean, is this guy the most important guy on the team right now? Other than goalies. Other than goalies, apparently.

Yeah, I mean, it is hard to say otherwise. Leading goal scorer, definitely the best player on the team. But it almost feels unfair to other guys on the team to say he's the most important player on the team. I think if you ask a lot of Buffalo Sabers fans, they're going to point to a guy like Josh Stone who seems to have brought with him. He's the legacy, in an endearing way, I guess, of Shane Dohn, who is known to be this hard worker, plays the game the right way, and doesn't get negative even when he's in bad situations. Josh Dohn seems to have brought a lot of that energy to this team, and that's exactly what this franchise has needed. And he plays unbelievable hockey. You look at the number of goals that guys like Tate have scored because of plays that Josh Doane has made, where he's getting not even primary, but secondary assists because he's going and retrieving the fuck. He's such a hard I know his player is always in the right spot. So, yeah, of course, on paper, Tate Thompson, the guy that's going to the Olympics, is our best player, our most important player.

But there's a lot of guys who I think have been very instrumental to this team being good, and not just good, but sustainably good, because I don't think you can do that with just one player carrying it.

Tate Thompson, a throwback player. We're sitting here thinking about who he reminds me of. He's like a skinny Keith Primo, almost. But he just strikes me as a 1980s, '90s power forward type of guy. Just fun to watch.

Yeah. When he's on, he's the biggest guy on the ice most of the time. He's able to be physically imposing, and he knows that. There's that awesome highlight from earlier in the season when they were playing Detroit in overtime, and he just chases down Alex to brink it, throws him into the boards, gets the fuck away, and sets up. I think it was Alex Tuck for the game winner. When he's doing stuff like that and is on, he is genuinely one of the best players in the NHL, at least best offensive players in the NHL. He has so much skill and is so physically imposing and knows how to use both of those. I think you see a lot of times when you got certain guys, it's a criticism. Owen Power has gotten a lot where he's highly skilled, but he's also a big D man, but he doesn't use his physicality in a way you would like him to. Tate Thompson is able to do all of that, and it is definitely like the team would not be here without Tate Thompson being one of the best players in the world.

Buffalo is currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 2005-2006 team. That team came off three straight years of missing the playoffs and ended up going to the conference final that year. That was the first back to back. Now, the Sabers haven't made the playoffs in 14 seasons. What do you believe to be the difference here?

I do think they're going to the playoffs this year, and it just is like they... Go ahead. At this point, I feel good. Something will have to go wrong for the Buffalo Sabers not to make the playoffs, which is definitely not out of the realm of possibility. This is a Buffalo sports team after all. We have got a really big football game tomorrow. But yeah, I mean, what's different? I don't know. Like I was saying earlier, I don't really know what ultimately flipped the switch, but they're winning hockey games, and they're doing it in a way where it's not a fluke. I think a big part of the Kevin Adams tenure and where things really went wrong for him is that he was expecting a lot of these young players to make big steps. That included guys like Dylan Cousins, who he eventually had to move off of. But it included guys like he committed to guys like Matias Samuelson, who now is genuinely having one of the best years of any defenseman in hockey. He said he's already set career highs in goals and assists, is going to score double-digit goals this year as a D-man, and he's never done that before.

These I think Kevin Adams were hoping would step up have actually started to step up now. Maybe that's because they realized that they could get shipped out of town at any point if they're not stepping up. That's something that you almost brought. I just think that there has been whatever it is, a noticeable shift in the energy. There is an actual identity for playing or that the Buffalo Sabers bring, and they're not an easy team to play against anymore. And they take pride in being Buffalo Sabers. I think they take pride in for the city of Buffalo. Now the atmosphere at the arena is incredible. I think that's the first time a lot of these guys have played fun hockey. I think there's a lot of little things that have added up to it just being a different franchise, honestly. The crest isn't poison anymore.

Hi, Sean. Hello. I'm Rose.

Nice to meet you. How's it going? Nice to meet you, too.

Yeah. You could have been in here the whole time.

Our producer's back. We don't need you to come replace Rose.

You took your rooster and you left. I mean, come on. What's going on here?

Look at me being a producer. I just produce a show from outside.

We saw you on the screen.

Yeah, thank you very much.

All right, Rose. Thank you very much. You have anything to add?

No. I'm just introducing myself, Sean.

That's great producing there, Rose.

Yeah, there you go.

Thank you. Dave?

Well, I wanted to piggyback on what Sean was just saying before Rose hijacked the show for a minute.

Without a rooster.

Yes.

Oh, there it is.

Rose is very cocky today.

Yeah. Rosie the rooster.

Again? Yeah. Well, I don't know if it got on the first time.

Okay, well, there you go.

Anyway, Sean, I'm sorry. I wanted to You see what I have to deal with Sean?

Okay, go ahead.

You're the chaos agent.

He deals with DJ and Pete. I think he knows. That's funny about doing chaos.

Wait, you are DJs and Pete's producer?

Yes. Oh, my God. We have so much in common and so much trauma in between. Yeah. Trauma? You understand me.

Talent's tough to deal with, right? Talent's tough to deal with.

Wow. You understand me now.

Unfortunately, we don't have much of that here. Dave?

Dave, go, please.

So getting back to the savers in the playoffs. No, Sean, have you ever been to a savers' playoff game at home up in Buffalo?

No. I mean, they haven't been to a playoff since I was a child.

I didn't mean that as a set up or anything negative. I was in the same situation growing up as a Panthers fan down here. I had not been to an NHL playoff game, and I was in my adult years. My dad took it upon himself to say, Okay, this year we're going to a playoff game no matter what. This is back in 2007. My first ever Stanley Cup playoff experience was Saber's senators, game five of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Yeah, that's it right there.

And even though Buffalo lost in overtime, the arena, the atmosphere outside, like hours before the game with the tailgating in Buffalo and everything, then going inside, and that place went besert when they tied the game late. Just such a cool experience. So since you haven't yet, I'm excited for you to go and to be... Because I'm imagining it's going to be 10 times more insane just based on the fact they haven't been in so long.

By the way, there's no excuse why Buffalo lost to Ottawa in the conference final. And Ottawa going to the Stanley Cup final and getting blasted by Anaheim. No reason for that. No excuse.

Yeah. That's why I am unapologetically a Saber's fan. I have three teams that are absolutely no-goes for me. The Ottawa senators are one of them. The other two are the Boston and the Toronto Maple leaves. Although I'm not... Being a Toronto hater, I suppose, is not particularly unique in 2026. But yeah, the atmosphere is going to be incredible. I think Buffalo has a reputation of being a football town because of just how successful the Bills have been over the last handful of years and how the reputation that Bills Mafia has. But I truly think that this is a hockey town. When the Buffalo Sabers are going, I have memories faint memories, but I do have memories of what it was like in those '05, '06 days when they were originally wearing the GOAT heads and you had guys like Maximus Fentek-Gunov and Danny Brier and Brian Campbell and Ryan Miller doing real things. Jay McKee. Yeah. I have memories of that. I know a little bit of what it's going to be like, but being a grown adult now and getting to experience that atmosphere, I truly... I don't say this as any disrespect to any other hockey fan base.

I truly don't think there's anything like it. I I think the Sabers, when they have playing good hockey, it's the best environment in hockey. Because I went to that game last night, it was 10 degrees outside, zero with wind chill, and I'm walking through the snow with 19,000 other people There was a lot of Habs fans there, to be fair, because there's good hockey to be watched. That's an awesome, awesome feeling. I can't wait for when there's real playoff stakes.

Will you, in your Goathead Saber's jersey, Body slam yourself through a folding table before game one of the playoffs?

Sean did this the other day at the Bills game. I did do this.

I was going to say- Went through a table.

Will you do it for the Sabers?

Absolutely. I don't have a Goathead Jersey currently. You got I have a starter jacket, though, right? I do have a starter jacket.

Fresh ass starter jacket.

Yeah, I wore that yesterday. I also have a Sabers turtleneck with the embroidered goat head on it. It was a fit.

But never to buff a slug, ever.

Never the buffer. Oh, my God. There's people that defend that thing. That's He's genuinely one of the worst logos in American pro sports history, in my opinion.

The only defense I have on that jersey is they won. The only thing that made that look good was Ryan Miller.

That was the only thing that made that jersey look bad.

What a badass. True. He could make anything look good. Yeah, Ryan Miller rocks.

All right, real quick. As you can tell, Sean, I watch way too much What Chaos. You guys are my favorite show, but you guys have become the- Daisy. I'm obsessed. You guys have become the heated rivalry show. Could you have imagined at all when you guys were like, All right, this is what we're going to do. We're going to talk about this show, and then slowly but surely, it took over the show. Could you have imagined the whirlwind that it would be in terms of the popularity that you guys have gained because of this show?

No. I mean, I don't think I can speak for myself, but I think I can speak for all three of us. I don't think that was ever on our mind. It was something that's right up our alley. We are big, genuinely on the inclusivity of hockey. We want it to get... We want to grow the game. We want more people to be invested in the game. When we see that there's a gay hockey show, we're like, Absolutely. We're watching that. We're going to talk about it. Then, yeah, it just became the biggest thing in the world. I think None of us expected it to be as well received. I could say we've talked to several people involved with the show, the authors of the books, the writer and the director of the show. They didn't expect it to be this big of a deal. Yeah, no, there was no way we ever expected. It was just something that piqued interest, and it ended up being genuinely a really good television show, and it piqued a lot of other people's interests. We certainly got some new fans that have come along with that, but we're just doing it for the love of the game, I guess.

Sean, tell everybody where you can find What Chaos on audio and video, please.

What Chaos on any podcasting platform, Spotify, Apple Music, or Apple podcast. Youtube. We're live on YouTube every day, Monday through Thursday, and then we release special bonus episodes on our on Friday. You can find us everywhere, social media at What Chaos Show. We're always pumping out new content, stuff like that.

He is very famously a Buffalo Sabers fan, and we are happy for him and the city of Buffalo because now they are winning. That's Sean Dupaz of What Chaos.

We just put the bills loose on Saturday.

Okay, thank you, Ethan. I'm trying to close the show here. Sean Dupaz, thank you for joining us. Thank you. All right, before we get out of here, Rose apparently has something brewing for us here to close the show. What is it, Rose? I'm trying to get out of here.

Okay, first thing is I want to jump from a plane, so I need you guys to help me.

That's not happening with me.

I don't care. Why do you don't care? Give me likes, give me whatever. If I'm your sponsor, and I'll jump from a plane, and I'll give you hockey takes. I don't care what, whatever. Second of all, can you please put the camera on Roy, and can you please show what Claire just did? Look at that beauty. She's an artist, bro.

What an artist.

Wow. I didn't know there was color on that telestream.

This is the Claire show. Yeah.

All right. So that's on audio. She used the Telstra to create artwork, and it's very beautiful.

Watch it on YouTube.

Check it out. Yeah, watch it on YouTube. Thank you to Gino and Jason. Thank you to Sean, the Paz, for joining us to talk about the Buffalo Sabers. Thank you to Claire Joy Bellamy, my daughter. Beautiful girl over there in the other studio. That's Ethan. That's Rose. That's David. I'm Roy. Go, Keynes. We'll see you next.