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Zubcast x Elite Sens Brain: Playoff Preview
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For the first time since 2017, YOUR OTTAWA SENATORS ARE IN THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS!
To celebrate the occasion, we have joined forces with the Zubcast to deliver the crossover episode of your dreams. Experience pure sports joy alongside us as we predict the Sens' most notable playoff performers, imagine the best ways the Sens could embarrass the Leafs, and so much more.
Follow us on Twitter and Bluesky @elitesensbrain or @CBeataE and @erikssonsburner, or follow us on tumblr at elitesensbrain.tumblr.com.
Also make sure to check out The Zubcast on your favourite streaming platforms, or on social media @zubcast.
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Transcript
Opening Chaos and Episode Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Centered last call at the bar. He'll throw it all out there. Carlson works it over. Here's shot. Great save by Lundqvist. Pandemonium
00:00:14
Speaker
in front. They score. Across the new shade, he scores. Steve, do do, do do do see. Pitcher sent it behind, Schaefer out to Alvinson, scores!
00:00:28
Speaker
Carlson got it over to it. Scores. They did it. The hopper takes And Hopper is tied. Carlson across.
00:01:01
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome to episode Gabriel Dumont of Elite Sens Brain. I'm here with many people today. Yeah, we're we're a lot today.
00:01:13
Speaker
Welcome also episode 119 of the Zoobcast. So this is... and we This has been in the works for a while now. Beata and i we met up at a SENS game, and we're like, you know what?
00:01:26
Speaker
If... Not when, because we were still you know speculating at that point. The Sens make the playoffs. it's It's time for a meeting of the minds for the two best Sens podcasts out there for sure. So we're four people here. I'm here.
00:01:41
Speaker
Adam's here. Ericsson's Burner and Beata are both here from Elite Sens Brain. And this is going to be a huge episode. yeah I know we've got lot planned to go over.
00:01:53
Speaker
ah in terms of what what happened leading into this what we expect from the playoffs and everything i don't know if any of you guys have anything else to mention in the intro before we want to keep going here i will give a heads up ah we are going to be uploading the same audio to both podcasts so yeah if you saw two new episodes and you were like whoa those are two massive episodes i'm so sorry it's it's the same episode twice the same yeah but you're welcome to go listen to both Good for the numbers.
Senators' Playoff Memories and Nostalgia
00:02:25
Speaker
Yeah, I'm fired up though. I'm so excited to be taught. Like in the history of the Zoob cast at least, What has been, i mean, Louis, maybe you would know, like, what has been, like, the episode in which there was, like, the Sens were at their most competitive?
00:02:39
Speaker
Oh, woof. That I, you see, you know that I have a full spreadsheet of Zoopcasts for when you, like, reach the thing for attendance on all of us. But I honestly don't remember. I can remember the lowest point, which was the, at least we have a Lone Star episode. Yeah, that was brutal. was so long ago now.
00:02:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:59
Speaker
but like i can't even remember okay but okay here's here's something that i'd like to do because um my friends have like i've had friends that have asked me this so where the last sentence sentence with the playoff is twenty seventeen where were you in your life in 2017 and like where like how long has it been like like it was like I asked my roommate and he's like i was in high school and now I have like a career and I work as an engineer it has been that long and I'm like yeah I was in high school and then I got a degree and then I got another degree and now I also started my career like it has been like literally ages
00:03:34
Speaker
Yeah, I, the last SENS were in the playoffs, I was in high school. I had also just started writing for Silver 7. I started January 2017. And yes, degree, did a gap year.
00:03:49
Speaker
have now enrolled in another degree that I'm like, I've got one more semester after this one. It's wild. i' actually thinking, was realizing the other day I was buying SENS merch, and I was i was like, why did I have such vivid memories of like, maxing my time at the SENS store in person?
00:04:06
Speaker
I wasn't like ordering stuff online last time, and I realized didn't have a credit card the last time the SENS were in the playoffs. Oh my god. Oh my god. yeah ah it's been It's been very long. Eight years is a long time, dude. A lot lot can happen in eight years.
00:04:22
Speaker
What about you, Louis? You have anything special that you were doing seven years ago? Well, you were watching with me seven years ago, actually. Yeah, so Adam and I had just become pretty good friends, like, leading into that year, maybe a year or two before, I would say, because we had started playing hockey minor hockey together,
00:04:41
Speaker
and Yeah, we were watching the games at at the same time. Like, we were in grade 10. And now, yeah, degree done working in ah like on LB hockey stuff, having to get to collaborate with and NHL teams, which is something I did not think would be something I could have been doing the point that the Sens were in the playoffs ah back 2017. And the the story i always tell is that that time in grade 10 when the the sons were still in it I hadn't missed a day of school yeah for being sick or anything in like eight years like maybe even nine it had been since grade one and for the week after the the kundit school I missed I think four or five days straight of school my body fully gave out and I was sick for a week
00:05:33
Speaker
It was brutal.
Sens vs Leafs Playoff Excitement
00:05:35
Speaker
So I'm so excited to do that again, really. It's gonna be great. Yeah, you've been healthy for too long, Louis. It's time. Yeah. Iris Berner, you gonna reveal any personal information or just stay the history? Well, I'm embarrassed because I was in grade 11, I'm a year older.
00:05:52
Speaker
and so You're younger than me, though. That's true. Okay. Yeah, that's basically it. And I was like, oh, now I'm going to be so old soon. But other than that, not much.
00:06:04
Speaker
I did get in trouble the day after the like, and in school, I was talking about it. My friends in the hallway. And I like said a bad word or something. And then my math teacher like yelled at me. And I was like, No, I'm so emotional. like You can't also yell at me.
00:06:21
Speaker
It's just crazy. like high so we we The point is, everyone was very different, and now we are very different than what we were in high school. And it took that long for the Sens to make the playoffs. But now they're going to make the playoffs, and that's very exciting.
00:06:33
Speaker
And it is, like, almost 100% confirmed that they're going to play the Leafs, which... I still ah kind of am having a little bit of trouble wrapping my head around that, to be honest. Like, I was talking, because I'm not, like, i don't think any of us are really old enough to know what it was like back in the day.
00:06:49
Speaker
But, like, I was talking to my dad about it, and I'm like, he's like a so he's been a Sens fan for, like, longer than I've been alive. And so I'm like, like, hey, like, dad, like, like what are you thinking about this? Like, aren't you excited? Like, we've played the Leafs well. And he's like, I am, like, so scarred from...
00:07:05
Speaker
that time like it was like 20 to 25 years ago and he's like i honestly like i cannot imagine it like i'm gonna have to be alone to watch this and so like i don't i i know like you know there's like the like the liam stuff and like i know that they didn't play well but i gotta say i'm like really looking forward to them playing the leafs like i would so much rather them play the leaves than like tamper florida so i think i don't know about you guys but i think that's kind of like best case scenario I feel like we've had time to get used to the idea. Like, it was kind of scary at first, and now I'm like, but no, no, this is what I want. Let us at him.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah, like, i know I know a loss would be potentially worse than any against any other team, but it could be so sweet if we do beat them. Like, yeah but it wouldn't even compare to defeating any other team. and Plus, we'd have with with Tavares and Marner's contract expiring, the rumor that Marner won't come back.
00:07:59
Speaker
We could like hold it over the heads that we essentially ran Marner out of town by having him play his last games in that series. That would be so massive. Ultimate sensing. and Yeah, it would be the ultimate sensing.
00:08:09
Speaker
did we like This is another thing. is i wasn't really chronically online back then um to the same level that I am now. So like we didn't used to like we we were never in a state, I don't think, where we'd say we sensed them in the playoffs ever, did we? like Unless I'm misremembering. No, that started in 2021.
00:08:29
Speaker
okay well there you go yep like this could be the first ever playoff sensing by us obviously nick paul has done it and other former sense players have done it like to the leaves yeah but directly from within the team could be the first there's also so much more pressure on the leafs than the sends in this series like oh it's not even close like if you think people in auto are afraid of this you should listen to overdrive like it is crazy what is happening at TSN right now. Like, they're like, everything comes down to this. Like, the entire legacy of the core and the team is, like, completely riding on this series. And the Sens are just like, we're kind of just happy to be here right now, which i which is great. like they Like, in my opinion, even if it's Leafs, no matter what happens in the first round, unless they get, like,
00:09:15
Speaker
terribly swept which i don't think is going to happen the sense of had a successful year in the grand scheme of things like we're kind of like the rest of this is like gravy now but the leaves need this so badly and they probably i don't know like they just don't play the sense very well so this could be like it could be a sensing of pretty epic proportions like it's shaping up to be that and also leafs fans have been terrified of this like all the the podcasts and stuff have been talking about how afraid they are of this outcome so yeah very excited yes I did want to ask, before we start previewing the actual playoffs here, like i know we mentioned about like all the past and the playoff drought and stuff, but I did have one thing I wanted to touch on, is that throughout all of these years without the playoffs, who was your favorite obscure depth player on the
Remembering Obscure Sens Players
00:10:04
Speaker
team? This is my favorite question.
00:10:06
Speaker
I knew this was pandering to Adam a little bit, because this is literally his type of flair. Favorite question. I believe Ericsson's Britter has one, too. Yeah, go on. I feel like mine, like I made him famous in my head. So he to me, he's not even like like underground anymore. But like Eric Branstrom was always like, I believed in him deeply. he wasn't depth in my heart.
00:10:29
Speaker
So yeah, that caught on and in like mainstream sentence Twitter. Like a lot of people were on that train. There's a lot of Branstrom. mean, you know, both of these podcasts specifically were very Branstrom heavy podcast.
00:10:42
Speaker
yeah But yeah, that was a good one. i I have so many that I could just like think about a lot. I'm like, where are they now? I'm wondering if they're appreciating this. I think of i think of the Brian Gibbons Linsanity run back in the day.
00:10:58
Speaker
um That was going be my pick. I love a good Brian Gibbons player. He was unbelievable. I think of him a lot. I think of when they brought back Ryan Dezingle for the second time. People forget that happened, but he d was back at some point, and it was kind of hilarious.
00:11:15
Speaker
Uh, everyone hates on Derek Stepon, which I kind of do too, but he was kind of funny for like a week when he showed up. Everyone was kind of liking him and he was like the uncle and then he just got injured and never played for the team again. And I was like, that's kind of hilarious.
00:11:30
Speaker
So he, i have, i those are like the three that kind of go back and forth in my mind about. And then there's like the ridiculous, there there was one year where the Sens used like 20 defensemen and like Justin Falk played a game.
00:11:41
Speaker
yeah i don't even remember, I don't even remember what that, like what he looked like or if he even played. Like that might've been a dream that I just, came up with in my brain that he played he was there they had like eric burgdorfer was on the team was that like capital gains guy like capital gains like oh yeah i think what no what was his name it was a different guy it was uh it wasn't burgdorfer no it wasn't oh my god i can't believe we're blanking on this it was a different guy i know it for a fact I'm going to, I actually am have to look this up because it's really making me upset.
00:12:13
Speaker
would say, why don't we look it up? Beanna can go with her. First of all, I want to say that I'm pretty sure the reason it came up in the podcast is because before recording, I looked up, oh, which players wore number 40 for the Sens so we can name the episode after them. I was like, oh no, no, we cannot do this versus Lee preview episode Patrick them. Yeah.
00:12:34
Speaker
We need another one. And then we came up with Gil Dumont. And so but then we started remembering some guys. I don't know. I don't really have like emotional support fourth liners. I feel like a lot of my favorite guys have been the good players.
00:12:48
Speaker
Although I would say Adam Gaudet both times. yeah yeah I have appreciated him. Maybe that's my emotional support fourth liners. Yeah. The player that we were thinking of just to interrupt rudely was Cody Golabeff, Lewis.
00:13:02
Speaker
Oh, you're so right. And I'm just looking at the Melville team from that year. There are some great pulls on this team. There was ah Logan Shaw, Clark Bishop. Do you remember Clark Bishop?
00:13:13
Speaker
That guy would say. He was tall, wasn't he? Yeah, he was tall. He was a big guy. People were getting fired up about him. christian willanen was on this team ollie allsing was on this team you remember ollie allsing he played like two games they had who else that phil or schlappek you remember schlappek he was on this team what a great this is like a crazy belleville team oh guys igor sokolov yeah igor so yeah it's just because bigger sokolov is on this team yeah he's a light he was pretty legendary number one woman after He was on this team, Parker Kelly. Do you remember Boday?
00:13:46
Speaker
JC Boday? I was about to say, Oli Alcine gives me JC Boday vibes. Yeah, man. Probably because they were on the same team. But yeah, they were on there both. There's been so many like just rando, useless players on the Sands. Other teams probably don't sit around and talk about this.
00:14:04
Speaker
like it's like do you remember like six years ago, like that one guy that we kind of played for us for like 12 games and everyone was super fired up about it i feel like this is such like a sense niche thing to discuss this is how i will be talking about crookshank in five years by the way they make yeah like i don't have any of the jerseys up right now but like i will be like going back there to pull out like the the two angus jerseys to just yeah no it's I mean, that's the thing is you guys pretty much hit all the
Playoff Scenarios and Rivalries
00:14:33
Speaker
nose. Like obviously, aside from Angus, the Clark Bishop was hilarious during the COVID season.
00:14:39
Speaker
and and yeah, it was it was a pretty crazy stretch. I mean, we we've we've had so many defense and so many fours. There's a year where we had, I think, almost like almost tied the record for most goalies used yeah in a season, which was That was nuts. Yeah.
00:14:55
Speaker
yeah It was crazy. I'm just so happy we're we're finally here. um The other thing that we had that we wanted to talk about and get into. For those that, you know, might be getting into the Sands more now that we're talking about playoffs and have gone in a hibernation either or completely new to the team ah from the playoff drought is what we should introduce people to or bring up specifically for Bandwagon's fans and what should be known from the deep lore of Sands fandom.
00:15:30
Speaker
I will preface this with, i do have an article going up on Wednesday, so probably before this episode gets listed, um unless unless you're really fast at editing this, Louis, that will be pretty much this.
00:15:45
Speaker
So yeah I have already come up with some ideas, and if there are good ideas presented here, they might make it into the article as well. So everyone go make sure to share the article. So I have ideas, but I'm going to leave it to the rest of you to and to see if there are other things you want to bring up.
00:16:02
Speaker
don't know. Yeah, I don't know about this either. This one was one of the ones that I, yeah, i had the toughest time to bring up with specific... know. The one thing I'm thinking about is if I'm a completely... But there's there's answers that people would just know...
00:16:16
Speaker
by just knowing that hockey and the NHL exists. Like they'd be like, your captain is like hilarious and is just kind of Bambi on skates little bit. but but And he's never scored it between the legs before.
00:16:26
Speaker
and Never. You know what? I was thinking of you a lot this year, Beata, because he stopped trying it. He hasn't tried it in ages. And I'm like, when is this coming? going to do it in the playoffs. Yeah. He's just waiting for the right moment.
00:16:40
Speaker
But I don't know, like, FanWagon fans, like, do they know about, like, Zoob? Do people know about Zoob? This is what was going to say. think so. If you're a fan of, like, you're not a Sens fan and you come in fresh, like, okay, the Sens are my playoff team. You don't have much experience with them.
00:16:52
Speaker
I feel like Zoob is a pretty key point because... They'll be like, wait, why? Why is this guy getting booed? Because that's easy to get like something that's easily misinterpreted.
00:17:03
Speaker
And why is he such a big fan? And it's just or why is he such a fan favorite rather? And I think that's probably the player who's the most like cult classic like in the fan base, I would say, because as good as he is,
00:17:18
Speaker
He doesn't get nearly as much praise. like Maybe now that he's paired with Sanderson, does get a little bit more appreciation throughout the league. But that's definitely a player that I thought of that has so much lore with the 5-1 comeback.
Ottawa Senators Lore for New Fans
00:17:29
Speaker
being like see Him starting it with his first goal in such spectacular fashion on a breakaway. like There's that that picture that should just be in the Louvre, really. it's It's phenomenal. It's one of the wallpapers that I have in rotation on my phone. It's just phenomenal.
00:17:45
Speaker
um But yeah, Zub was like pretty much the big one for me. Other stuff I'm not sure. Like the bite was something I did want to mention just because. I forgot about the bite. Just to give an intro to how feral, maybe not, well, Brady is feral, but how feral the interactions of other players with it. like it just makes As soon as Brady is entered into any situation, it just turns animalistic. And that is the perfect encapsulation of it, really. true.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah, the bite is pretty classic. That was pretty early rebuild days. Like, that was, like, a really long time ago. I kind of forgot that that happened, but that's a really good one. and i was thinking about the Greg empty neck goal for this, too, but a lot of people know that that happened. Like, these are like these are not, like, mysterious, like, but beneath the iceberg kind of lore facts about the Sens. Do people know about the Sickos?
00:18:32
Speaker
Like, when everyone did this to the Sicko thing? but People don't really do that anymore. Your fans knew about that. Yeah. i okay, one, i I think people should know the Shabbat lore, that he is the longest tenured senator, yeah and he deserves this.
00:18:47
Speaker
But that's just me, I'm a Shabbat appreciator. What I will say is there's one important thing that I think the elite Sensbrain listeners might be might need to hear more than others, because a lot of people on our side of hockey Twitter...
00:19:03
Speaker
are they tend to cheer for multiple teams which I respect I think it's cool it's fine a lot of these people are like I just hope both teams have fun you know just here for the vibes whatever that's fine however You cannot cheer for the Sens if one of the teams that you like is the Leafs or the Habs, especially the Leafs.
00:19:25
Speaker
You cannot go into this series being like, I like these teams or like, oh, I'm already seeing people be like, oh, I'm going to cheer for the Sens because they're so fun. But like, oh, I'll be sad if Mitch Marner gets eliminated. Like, no, no, no.
00:19:37
Speaker
if you If you're considering cheering for the Sens right now, i need to pick I need you to picture Mitch Marner in the handshake line with tears running down his face and if you feel an ounce of sympathy for him I would legitimately rather you just cheer for the Leafs than you try to like play both sides like it's so offensive to try to like for people to say that they like both the Sens and the Leafs you have to understand hating the Leafs is like the most important aspect of Sens fan identity That was very eloquently put, and it's 100% correct.
00:20:10
Speaker
Because the only thing, well, not the only thing, but one of the big things that has gotten a lot of Sens fans through the last seven years is watching the Leafs just poo their pants every year. Like, it just brings you so much inherent joy as Sens fan. been our playoffs.
00:20:28
Speaker
like It's been our playoffs. It totally has been our playoffs. I'm not afraid to admit that or ashamed at all, because I take a lot of pleasure in watching the Well, tuned into every Leafs playoff game. I was stressed with games.
00:20:40
Speaker
I was like, have started liking the Lightning just because they played the Leafs in the playoffs so often. Yes. So that's a big part of the lore.
00:20:50
Speaker
People kind of understand it that aren't like in like kind of like Quebec or or Ontario. sadly like It's just like a huge hate triangle. like There's no getting along here. like it's not like You can't just kind of hop on and be like in the middle of the boat and just kind of like, oh,
00:21:06
Speaker
do a little bit of whatever. Like, you gotta pick, gotta pick a side. You do have to pick a side for this, for this kind of stuff. So you're right. I think that's important. When am I good? Like, in real life friends is like she was like well I hope the haves make it because my brother's a huge haves fan but like I really like the Sens too and I was like no you can't but then she was also
Pressure on Leafs and Growing Rivalries
00:21:25
Speaker
like something that I would say to like brand brand new fans is that like the Sens are actually good because like all my friends who don't watch hockey just remember that they're bad so like a lot of them don't actually they must not be listening to this podcast but a lot of people are like might be unaware that the Sens are like legit good now
00:21:43
Speaker
So that's the biggest thing I want to... And they're underappreciated by the national media. So the media won't tell you that they're good, but they are. Correct. Like, you know they're good when someone... When the the national media has them almost top 10 in playoff odds here and there. Like, that that says something. Yeah.
00:22:01
Speaker
Exactly. And yeah, it's like, i don't think people realize how nasty this Battle of Ontario is going to get. People keep being like, this will be fun. And I'm like, no, no, no, this is going to be stupid. Again, again, if again again if you Like, if you have any sympathy for Mitch Marner, you have to accept that you're going to be seeing posts about how his daddy doesn't love him for, like, weeks. Like, until this series is done you're going to see these posts, and if they offend you, cheer for the leaves. Not the Paul Marner discourse. Austin Matthews' hairline. Like, if you think this is mean, you gotta log off. Yeah.
00:22:37
Speaker
You got to be a soldier, man. This is going to be like, it's going to be insane. Like there' there's going to be like, it's going to be like, it's going to be difficult to be on. You got to be strong if you're go to be online for this. Like this is going to be like a hold down the fort situation.
00:22:50
Speaker
But just to do a quick segue, although it's not at the same level of this, of the Leafs and the Habs, This rivalry with Detroit has gotten bigger and bigger the last couple years and it is so sick that they're gonna miss the playoffs again. Like I was so- I almost, almost, almost hate them more than the Habs, but I don't.
00:23:11
Speaker
But it is just like they're so unlikable and every time you play them, the Sens win every single time, most of the time, and the Wings just suck. Iserman is a terrible general manager and his plan never works.
00:23:23
Speaker
They don't have any good players, and they're going to miss the playoff. Are they at nine now? Are they at nine years? there was about to say, they're at nine years. That's insane. Last time they were the playoffs, Datsuk was there, I think.
00:23:34
Speaker
Oh my god, that's insanity. I think you're right, it was last year. you remember when they got ah officially eliminated, i was... Just walking home from a bar, drunk as hell, shoveling down Putin on my walk back.
00:23:48
Speaker
And I saw this. And for some reason, the first thing I did was I pulled up Twitter and I just searched Eyserplan see the Red Wings fans getting upset.
00:23:59
Speaker
Oh, my God. So good. Like they're reaching Buffalo territory. Like 10 years next year is going to be double digits. That is insane. like didn't Didn't they have this crazy streak? They made it like 25 years in a row.
00:24:12
Speaker
And now everyone's like, oh, like all the Red Wings fans I'm seeing online, like we have been through so much pain and agony. Like people should feel bad for us. I'm like, relax, guys. re Relax.
00:24:24
Speaker
No one feels bad for you. It's incredibly fun for everybody to dislike you and wish the worst on your team. won 16 years ago. mean, it's not a lot. mean, it's a cop in the cap era.
00:24:34
Speaker
Yeah. You won in our lifetime. Relax. you You have had your fun.
Sens' Playoff Predictions and Player Highlights
00:24:39
Speaker
I'm for someone else to oh I have seen Red Wings fans make the point that like the reason the Red Wings rebuild is taking so long is that they had to undo the damage of like desperately trying to make the playoffs every year when they could should have you know started the rebuild a bit earlier. So I do get that.
00:24:56
Speaker
But you also made some terrible decisions. Yeah. the best is people who are like give it two more years he needs two more years like ah but it's like okay fair enough give him 10 more years i don't care sorry i thought you guys kept saying that you were ahead of us in our re in your rebuild seriously yeah what happened to last year when uh the red wings were so far ahead of the suns because they almost made the playoffs they didn't because that's just not what they do they just do not make the playoffs jokers yep exactly so this is not as much red wings related but speaking of long droughts i was looking at the habs who you know could likely to make it but there's still a chance that they don't if you exclude the mickey mouse covet seasons i believe their drought is as long as ours i think you're right
00:25:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. Because they made it by being 24th overall in like the 2020 bubble playoffs, which I mean, that doesn't count. Get out of here. And then they had the year after with the Canadian division, which was also I count as one of the COVID seasons. So if you exclude both of those, ah the last time they went there was 2017, just like us.
00:26:09
Speaker
Like, that doesn't get talked ah a lot about enough that they haven't had a legitimate proper run. Anyway, the point is, it's a good time to be a Sens fan and a hater at heart. Yeah, and I feel like this version of the Habs reminds me a little bit of, like, the 2013 to 2017 Sens, where this where this is a deeply mid team that somehow just like overperforms in the playoffs whenever they get there and it's very frustrating to watch as a hater because you're like this team does not belong in the playoffs but you know as we know it's hard to make it far when you're like mid and overperforming all the time because you're not going to do a proper rebuild and stuff and i don't think they've gotten in
00:26:53
Speaker
good talent from their rebuild so if this derails their rebuild and makes them convinces them that they're like contenders now i mean that's a silver lining to them making the playoffs you know it would be great if they miss after like demidoff comes over and they lose the two games so funny when they all went to like the airport i was like oh my gosh this should only end in heartbreak now like if I know, it's like, it's, it's fault I mean, they might be in by the time this goes out, but like right now we're recording this on Monday, and like, low-key, there's a better chance of the Hobbes missing than there is of the Lightning overtaking the Leafs.
00:27:32
Speaker
It's doable. possible, man. Go Jackets, dude. I believe in them. Yep, they can do it. Okay, should we dive into these? I'm excited to dive into these superlatives. Mm-hmm.
00:27:44
Speaker
So as an intro to this, I started writing this podcast bit in my notes app on my phone in 2021 before either of these podcasts existed, I think.
00:27:56
Speaker
And I was doing This Amelnik in Life with Poppy and I was like, one day the Sens are going to make the playoffs and I have a great idea playoff segment for a segment that we can do in our playoff preview.
00:28:09
Speaker
And that is like superlatives where we, cause okay, you know, in the playoffs, there are always random players that just like become completely different players in the playoffs. You know, Kyle Turris, overtime hero, yeah Marner, loser, ah disappearing acts guy.
00:28:27
Speaker
And I want us to predict which player is going to fit which archetype of a playoff player. we ready for this? Should I intro them? I don't know. This has been in the making for four plus years now.
00:28:43
Speaker
yeah And also disclaimer, I think Brady Kachuk can be the answer to like most of these. We're going to try to spread it out. i also have I have ideas for some of them. Some of them I'm going to be coming up with on the spot. We'll we'll discuss this. um So the first one...
00:28:56
Speaker
Is the player most likely to become a villain to another fanbase? Like, they just fucking eat this guy. who Who do we think?
00:29:09
Speaker
ah and There's okay. So two immediately came to mind that okay, we like we're gonna exempt Brady because like like you said he can all of these you can He's already a villain. You're right 100% I thought of Ridley Gregg and I thought of Nick Cousins instantly for this and I think it's more likely to be I think the question is more suited for Ridley Gregg because I think Nick Cousins already is a villain to most other fan bases just because he's been in the league and he's been around Like who hates really Greg right now the Leafs do already and that's kind of it like everyone else is just kind of like oh He's just a dude if you have to play seven consecutive games against Ridley Greg you were You are so gonna want to just like punch him in the face by the end of it So I would I would have to say really Greg for this
00:29:57
Speaker
and that's a good answer. Honestly, my answer is Tim Stutzler. He's already villain the Habs. The Leafs kind of hate him too. He is going to, I think, score a lot of goals. He's going to dive all the time. yeah I mean, I also have him for another kind of similar question later. But i mean, that's kind of an obvious answer too, right? But I think i think people are going to hate Tim Stutzler more than they expect to.
00:30:22
Speaker
I think if he draws a single penalty, that's going to be discourse forever. Yes. Yeah. i had um I knew that Greg, Cousins, Brady, whatever, might be coming up here. So I went a little bit deeper. and I was like, who has made me feel something like that? So right away, I went back to think about how much we hated David Perron last year.
00:30:44
Speaker
i know it was incident, but he's got it in him to do some kind of slimy stuff. And not just that, but like recently he's turned to be actually good.
00:30:55
Speaker
So if you combine him being an actually decent contributing player along with some sort of Antic, he feels like the guy to score his second of the game through a dubious long review goal that definitely should not have counted and then like have a pretty long lasting impact. I don't know. I feel like there's there's something in there that he could he couldn't unlock.
00:31:18
Speaker
I can see that. what So many good options on the set. So many. yeah I mean, let's not overlook Claude Jihou either. Yep. Do you remember the but back in the day when he played the Penguins and he had that shift where he let goes and he bodies Sidney Crosby and then he goes and just immediately scores? like i but If you were the Pence fan, you would just instantly... if I mean, not like you already hated him already, but that is like an instant.
00:31:40
Speaker
I will never like you, probably for the rest of your career. He's got it in him. I can't wait. It's going to be so fun. The next one, I spoiled my answer to this one on Blue Sky, and I'm really curious to see um what other people think, because there are a lot of really obvious answers to this one.
00:31:58
Speaker
Which star player we think is most likely to just elevate, just hit another level? Like, he was already so good, and then he gets to the playoffs, and you're like, what the hell is going on?
00:32:13
Speaker
Who do you have? I like your answer that you posted on Blue Sky. but I'll just say it. I like Thomas Shabbat as an answer. i think that like he wants it so bad.
00:32:25
Speaker
and I think he's having such a good season already that I think it's going to he's going to go crazy. We're starting with this. I'm just going to say, all right, there is one player on the Ottawa Senators that is a proven playoff beast.
00:32:40
Speaker
The last time that he played truly meaningful games, I'm going to discount the World Championships, like, who cares about that. It was honestly a year in which he was, believe, to this day, the only defenseman to ever win MVP at the World Juniors, right?
00:32:56
Speaker
um And then he also won the QMJL equivalent of the Consmite, the playoff and be MVP trophy. Like, he was a monster in those two tournaments.
00:33:09
Speaker
That's the last time he's played meaningful hockey. And I know it was a long time ago. I know that it was junior hockey. It's different. But like, I feel like he has it in him. He's been playing well this season.
00:33:20
Speaker
He has finished the season really well. I feel like he's going to get to the playoffs and we're all going to be like, this is the Thomas Chabot we were promised when he first came into the league. Great answer. And also, this is the healthiest he's probably been in his career, right?
00:33:34
Speaker
Like he's ready to rock. Also, who is better equipped for like a triple overtime playoff game? true It's true. He's already done it in his career just in the regular season like four or five times. He's played like 40 minutes.
00:33:48
Speaker
yeah Shavata's a great answer. He was definitely on my list. I went with another defenseman because I think Jake Sanderson's going to be so good. I think he's going to be so, so good. Like even just watching him in...
00:34:01
Speaker
the Four Nations, because he only got into a couple of games, but in the gold medal game that they lost, he was unbelievable, and scored a goal, and has been having an excellent season, and he's gotten better as it has gone on.
00:34:15
Speaker
I just think he's going to be such a gamer, man. like You talk about like someone who's equipped for a three-overtime game. he will He can play like 60 minutes if he has to as well. like That guy is such a machine.
00:34:25
Speaker
And people are like starting to come on now. like People are like, um like you know he's getting them more like attention. And people from other fan bases are like, oh, I guess just Jake Sanderson guy. like Let's watch him. And now what he's going to do in this first round of the playoffs is going to be like, okay, like he's like actually like, everyone's just going to consensus realize that he's just insane at hockey. And he's going to be so, so, so good. So I will say i will say Jake Sanderson for my answer.
00:34:49
Speaker
It's a good one. I also think that people are underestimating Tim Stutzler and don't realize what a like absolute gamer this guy is. yeah Like he, I think it's just the European stereotype that people are like, oh, you know, he's not going to be that good in layoffs or whatever. But like, no, you don't realize how hard this guy works, how much he, like how well he plays when he truly cares.
00:35:16
Speaker
Right. I'm excited to see what he can do. Especially if he continues through on that promise of like shooting more and focusing more on that because know he's got a laser of a shot.
00:35:29
Speaker
And so I knew we were going to touch on Shabat, Sanderson, Timmy. So if we can bring down the criteria to just general player, most likely to elevate his game to a degree that's way above.
00:35:41
Speaker
i don't Listen, hear me out. How about Fabian Zetterlund? okay Yeah, love that. i he's played I think he's played great. The production has not really followed, as we as we've known, but I think that's kind of obscene levels of bad luck.
00:35:55
Speaker
And I think so much of his game is geared to knowing how his team moves the puck around him and his line mates tendencies and using that to really get into spots where he can utilize his shot and his finishing instincts, that that's going to be tough for any player that comes into a new system.
00:36:14
Speaker
And just yeah because you there's going to be a learning ah step every, every single time when you're doing that, like when he got traded to San Jose originally, sure. You could say it was a bad team effect, but his production dropped from like 20 points in 45 games to three and 22.
00:36:29
Speaker
And we're seeing it happen again this time. He's still playing well and battling really hard, but the points are not coming as much. And I just think it's a matter of time before he kind of goes crazy. and Like, he's got the finishing ability in his career at least get i'll go on a bit of a bender and score, like in every other game almost. I feel like he's he's a potential player there for for a big elevation.
00:36:52
Speaker
here Okay, our next one is very similar. Who is a player, a star on the Suns, who we think is finally going to get the league-wide respect? Like, I'm thinking, you know when 2017, when everyone was like, oh, wow, guess we should have voted Eric Carlson for the North Trophy. And it's like, where were you? Like, yeah, you should have, right?
00:37:11
Speaker
um So what am thinking for that? I feel like I kind of just, like, said it. Like, i kind of just hinted at it with the last answer, but it has to be Jake Sanderson. Like, Jake Sanderson is so, so good. And he's, like, had it. Like, since the Four Nations, people are, like, starting to realize how good he is. And it's just going to get even more so in the playoffs.
00:37:28
Speaker
If I have to, like like, to not be lame and give a different answer, because I don't want to use the same guy, like, twice in a row like that, I... I don't know. I do think, like, part of me is, like, people don't really know, just because he's a bit inconsistent, people don't really know how insane Drake Batherson can be when he's good.
00:37:47
Speaker
but But if he has, like, a really good showing in the first round, and people are going to be like who is that like, who is this guy in Ottawa's top six who's making four and a half million dollars, who is, like, just disgusting with the puck and, like, passing it was to, like, Stutzel and all that and making plays. So I'll say my original answer was probably going to be Sanderson, but to switch it up, I will also say Batherson.
00:38:09
Speaker
I honestly am going to go with Timmy again because I feel like around the league, people like athletic or at other like, you know, more league wide like ah news outlets.
00:38:22
Speaker
Whenever they talk about the Sens stars, they're always like, well, Brady is the the number one, the big star, the guy everybody knows about. And I'm like, Brady's not like the consensus best player in Ottawa. like I think Timmy. I feel like Timmy does not get a as much respect as he deserves around the league for how good he is. like People outside of Ottawa are like so sure that Brady is far and away the Sens best player. And like, you know...
00:38:48
Speaker
I don't disagree necessarily. He's very good. i don't want to like take away from what Brady contributes to this team, but like Tim Stutzler is the most talented player here. He has the highest ceiling. And I think if he has a great playoffs, people are going to be like, wait, hold on. We knew he was best player from his draft. This is one of the best young players in the league. Where has he been this whole time? You know?
00:39:14
Speaker
Yeah, I was also initially thinking, like debating between Shabbat and Sanderson, because Sanderson's gone to a point where I think there could be comparables to how ah Gus Forsling last year after that playoff run for the Panthers,
00:39:31
Speaker
just started becoming talked about as a top 10 defenseman in the league. Whereas I think a pretty decent portion of just general NHL fans didn't even really know him that much. And that could be a similar trajectory to what Sanderson had.
00:39:43
Speaker
But the main one I think here that I had was Shabbat, because as you said, you know, he's proven to be clutch, only defenseman ever to win the MVP at the world juniors. And I think people, because how good Sanderson is, forget that Shabbat is a legitimate top pair defenseman.
00:40:01
Speaker
Like he is, and and not just that, like looking at the data I have on him in my model, he ranks 21st this season of, and like across all ah defensemen. that is That is not just top pair, that's number one defenseman level numbers.
00:40:16
Speaker
So I think if people tune in and just watch how smooth he plays, it's it's mesmerizing. Like that's the kind of player that you're going to have ah just fans and audiences eyes draw to. And I think that could really help his case in terms of reputation.
00:40:31
Speaker
It was actually, i i was going to say, and I forgot to say it earlier, my like boldest prediction for these playoffs is I think Shabbat plays so well that he earns himself a spot on Team Canada at the Olympics.
00:40:44
Speaker
<unk> i like that Or at least at least gets into the conversation. You know, he's an injury replacement or something. Okay, the next one I have is the one the one negative one, but I thought this could be fun.
Potential Controversies Among Sens Players
00:40:59
Speaker
Who is a player that we think most likely to cause controversy within the sex fan base? As in the fans are torn on this player, he doesn't play well, or something like that.
00:41:13
Speaker
This feels mean. My answer is I think Tyler Cleven does something dumb very early. And like yeah and it like i can see it happening so clearly.
00:41:27
Speaker
i just feel like it's definitely like 100% going to happen. We're hard on our defensemen. yeah Yeah, like he just loses his gap or gets completely blown by or something. That's exactly what I was thinking. It's oh, man, like there's potential for disaster here, especially with him.
00:41:43
Speaker
Like there's already debates about how if he's actually really that good defensively or not, that it's just going to get just exponentially bigger as the playoffs go on, especially with having to face the Leafs weapons.
00:41:55
Speaker
It's there's potential for disaster there for sure. I think and another answer on D is, like like, so the question is, at least on the on the planner, is is player most likely to create controversy within the Sens fan base?
00:42:10
Speaker
And I think just by playing a game, Travis Hamannick is the answer to this question. Like, if he gets in the lineup, everybody is just going to be like, well, we're cooked. Like, that's it. Let's go to the next game. And, like, they're just going to be... and then a fando Like, that's not even courtesy, though. yeah well just hate him. I think that that was, like...
00:42:29
Speaker
Everyone universally is like, ugh. but I have to change his answer. But I just thought of that immediately. Like, if he plays a game, it's going to be carnage. I was also thinking, like, okay, with all their stars, like, all of his good players seem to be like players who would do well in the playoffs. Like, obviously, we don't know.
00:42:48
Speaker
but the one player that I was, you know what, he's had some bad stretches, This year, he's constantly missing open nets. I know, Adam, you said that you think Drake Batherson is going to get league-wide respect, but like if he misses on a big chance or something, or he has like a bad turnover, like I could see that happening. I could see there being like a bit of discourse.
00:43:11
Speaker
I don't think we're going to run him out of town, but... Yeah. It's fair. When you were going on your preamble for that and you said missing open nets, I thought you were say Shane Pinto. Oh, no. I was like, oh, man.
00:43:23
Speaker
That would be really tough. Pinto's great. Every time he so every time it gets a point, they freaking win the game. So, like, people aren't really allowed to hate him. But i think that's I think that's fair. I think there's a bit of, well, I mean, there's as much pressure and him as anyone else. But, yeah, like, if he if he is not finishing chances or if he's passing up good opportunities that gets from Stutzel, I think I could totally see that for sure.
00:43:44
Speaker
I think actually for a long time, answer for this was Josh Norris. a p Sad. sad. he sad Louis, what's your answer to this? Have you said s have you said your answer yet? Well, it it was mostly Clevin.
00:43:57
Speaker
i do think like a sneaky option could be Gaudette in the sense that he's cooled down so much that if he doesn't really get any sort of production, there could be the what does he even do here discussions.
00:44:09
Speaker
like it could It could just be like, why is he like just discussions of scratching him and putting in some other bottom sixer that will remain unnamed, but everybody knows who I'm insinuating here.
00:44:21
Speaker
yeah I don't know. like i think I definitely think Cleven was the one I was thinking of the most if we exclude the Hamannick thing. Because Hamannick for me, again, is less controversial and more so. We all are united in thought on what what should be the case with his playing status. yeah Yeah, that makes sense.
00:44:41
Speaker
I think, okay, but let's go back to the positive ones. That was our one negative one. Yeah. Now, none of us are betting people here, but the Sens go to overtime, and you need to place a bet on one player that you think is most likely score an OT winner.
00:45:01
Speaker
I feel like we all kind of have the same answer. This is the obvious one. This is Brady Kachabi. Yeah, for me as well. I was just assuming we have to say something different than Brady. Yeah.
00:45:12
Speaker
I'm challenging her to say something different, but I think here, like, yeah now it's like, we're almost disrespecting Brady now. We've gone so long without talking about him. Okay, so let's let's let's just, like, All of our answers, Brady. Like, let's just say that.
00:45:25
Speaker
if If we had to pick ah second i have to be a second player, who would it be? Right? Because then at least we get some variety. I've got a pretty decent one in mind for an alternative option because I figured everybody would say Brady or that we all agree on it.
00:45:39
Speaker
But so, actually, Beata, as you said, my answer here would have been Norris if he was still here. just given that he just finds a way in clutch moments like that so through transitivity i think my answer is dylan cousins yeah oh yeah but like outside of just you know the norris connection which means a lot obviously the cosmos will respect that um But at the international level, he's already got a ton of really big moments. Like he's ah led the, I think it was the world championships and goals was the runner up in points in world juniors. He's won gold there.
00:46:13
Speaker
And he already has a pretty hotly debated. I don't know if anybody was watching the Ivan Holinka tournament back in 2018, but like that's ah essentially a step down from the world juniors for those who are listening that don't. um and he had a goal that He scored, it was against the States, with literally zero seconds left. like In fact, the clockp the clock had stopped, and there had been 0.2 seconds around that had elapsed by the time the puck went in.
00:46:40
Speaker
But because they didn't have video review, the the refs just had to huddle together and say, okay, did it go in And they just said yes. They went with the call on the ice, they counted it, and he went on to lead Canada to win gold.
00:46:55
Speaker
for the rest of that of that tournament. So he's got proven experience of getting big goals, and I think he could kind of be a sneaky pick, obviously, outside of Brady too to get one done.
00:47:07
Speaker
I like that. i Honestly, I'm also going to say Timmy for this. I think I'm picking Timmy as much as I would be picking Brady, but like again, this guy, he's got a lot of overtime goals. He steps it up in big moments. I believe in him.
00:47:22
Speaker
That goal yesterday was crazy in OT. That was unreal. Yeah, it was so sick. It was a great play. I am going to go off the board. Well, not maybe like to conception a little bit off the board with this.
00:47:35
Speaker
And I'm going to say Michael Amadio because it two years ago, for some reason, I have a very distinct memory of Michael Amadio scoring a double overtime goal with Vegas against St. Louis in like the first round.
00:47:47
Speaker
And I was just like, oh, like, what a beast. Like, i but I was watching, for some reason, I was watching this game, and I was like, oh, what a beast. Like, this is the type of guy that would, like, just score a goal in the playoffs. And then, I don't think he's got another overtime goal in his life, probably. But because I saw that one, in my mind, and honestly, like, logically,
00:48:04
Speaker
That third line is going to get a lot of playing time, especially if a game goes to overtime. And I could totally see just like the greasiest, greasiest Michael Amadio like net side goal. Like Ridley Gregg is like half his body is in the net and like someone's on the ground and there's like nothing going on. Like I could i could see a Michael Amadio greaser going in in overtime.
00:48:24
Speaker
That makes sense. I was also going to say about Cousins, I feel like this is a great opportunity for Dylan Cousins to truly, like, endear himself to the Sens fanbase. Like, this, he he needs this, you know? it was ah it was an emotional trade for many of us, and I feel like this, we're going to love him after
Playoff Mindset and Unexpected Heroes
00:48:41
Speaker
this, you know?
00:48:41
Speaker
Yep. Yeah, he's gonna prove it wasn't Buffalo. it Like it was sort that it was I guess I'd say. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like ah Derek Brassard like coming in. And we were all kind of like, Oh my god, he's not me because of Benajad. But he had some playoff moments, right? yeah How many times are we gonna hear the workhorse from Whitehorse on the broadcast throughout the series?
00:49:02
Speaker
I know we're not betting people the over unders would be great for that, though. The over unders on workhorse from Whitehorse home, man. Man, we're gonna love him. I'm sure. ericson's brother did you give a pick i didn't but my answer is boring because it's recency bias and tim stutzla so but i feel like is he is like heating up right now like or like he's always been good but i feel like he's like really revving it up right now he's revving up the red believe it's huge That's big. Actually, like, after the game, did you guys see his interview when he was first star?
00:49:34
Speaker
I remember the whole game, i was, like, I kept making jokes about how, like, oh my god, Timmy's so serious, love but he's not even, like, celebrating. You know, he's the type of player who will have the best game of his life, and then his post-game scrum is like, yeah, well, I had a couple turnovers here and there, you know? I went only 45% on face-off, so like just got to work on those things, going to get to practice tomorrow, be better next game, right? and But no, after the game, he was hyped.
00:50:00
Speaker
hyped He was really excited, so can't wait. i My dad and I, we were watching that that post-game interview, with and it was like we were telling each other, do we think he's going to do the whole the fans bit again? Where he would just like like just essentially say something to really get like a reaction from the crowd, and he essentially did. like He knows how to play that really well. like I know he can be really serious sometimes, but when he leans into it and really tries to get the crowd going, it's it's hilarious, man. It's just... He's such a sweet little guy and he's going to destroy some psyches of Leafs fans.
00:50:36
Speaker
Yes, he will. And even like, do you think that the team gave him the option to sit out this, the last game? Cause I was like, why is Timmy playing? Like he needs to rest. Do you think he was straight up like, no, I'm in a like goalless drought. I need to get going before the playoffs. Cause in my head, that's what happens. I can see it.
00:50:54
Speaker
I get so see it. Like his production has slowed down and he's definitely like, I can't go into the playoffs with this drought. There's no chance. like Yeah, it's totally the type of thing he would do. Yeah, exactly. He's going to develop some weird superstitions during the playoffs. That's my prediction.
00:51:10
Speaker
We're going to find out some weird stuff Timmy's doing. He's going to be shaving his head every other day. oh no not again ah um Okay, Adam, you kind of gave an answer to this one already, but who do we think think was is the obscure, unknown player most likely to just randomly become a playoff hero in the style of Jean-Gabriel Peugeot? That's the main one I'm thinking of.
00:51:38
Speaker
So I went into some stats on Amadio for this because he was immediately the guy that jumped off the page right away. So first of all, we know, he like again, being on the shutdown line, and if that that line plays effectively like they will, um immediately he's going to be held in high praise. And like I don't think we've had a player that's able to stick check like him since maybe Stone. like It's unbelievable the level at which he can pickpocket players.
00:52:04
Speaker
um But yeah, so looking at his average regular season pace in the like over a full 82 game season, he averages 13 goals, 26 points.
00:52:16
Speaker
If you look at his career in the playoffs, that goes up to 13 goals, 51 points. So essentially his is production, both in terms of goals and assists, and as a result, points doubles.
00:52:28
Speaker
when you reach the playoffs and he's got a cup and he's just going be able to play a nice defensive role. I think he's going to be a big part of the talk of if there's sense success, which obviously, why am I saying if there will be, ah he's going to be like one of the more underrated parts that people mentioned.
00:52:44
Speaker
I didn't know this about Michael Amanio and now I'm so like excited. Thank you.
00:52:51
Speaker
I was going to pick Adam Gaudette, actually. i just think he's the type of player who just randomly shows up and you're like, Adam Gaudette sent us to the second round? Yeah, sure. Totally. I was thinking the exact same thing. like Just a random like Power Play 2 unit comes on in the third period and like there he is and like just like flick one on, random randomly goes in doesn't do anything the rest of the game.
00:53:12
Speaker
i totally could see it. it just gets a hat trick out of nowhere yeah the exact opposite of like a model is just like his crystals line up perfectly that day and like that's why he's a hero I mean and not super obscure but like I think Ridley Gregg will be a good asset to the team too But the beauty of this is we don't know.
00:53:37
Speaker
It's going to be someone random. but I'm so excited to find out who. Okay. Our last one is... Well, I guess i i there was another one that i guess we're adding here. But second last one, then,
00:53:50
Speaker
is And this one's kind of related to like our earlier one um about who would become a villain to another fan base. But who do we think would like just cause one specific incident that will just haunt the opposing team for the next like decade? you know Because there's always stuff like that playoffs where it's a missed call, it's a goal that should have been called back, it's a hit that injures someone... like who Who is most likely to cause this? answer has to be Ridley Gregg.
00:54:24
Speaker
But out of respect for the fact that I'm sure someone else would have also said Ridley Gregg, I think my Dark Horse backup option is Shane Pinto. Because he...
00:54:35
Speaker
yeah i Yeah, I like that. Because he's like, you know, he's in he gets in there. He's like gotten shoved around more this year than I feel like he has in past years. And people are kind of getting... And he's done he's doing this thing now when he scores with his tongue. You guys see this?
00:54:52
Speaker
Yes, of course. In a playoff environment, I could see another team like Morgan Riley being like, we can't stand for this. Like, this is like insane, like immature behavior. And he just comes up, like gives like a cross check and the cross checks are right in the face.
00:55:06
Speaker
I could so see Shane Pinto pulling something like this. But I think my my primary answer would be Ridley Gregg because he just is who he is. I can see it. I do remember like this morning on The Athletic, Sean McIndoe did a prediction for the Sens Leafs series where he said that Brady Kachuk is going to do something really controversial.
00:55:26
Speaker
And then what he said was both fan bases are going to get so riled up about this that you're going to that like everyone else is going to hate Sens and Leafs fans so much. And I feel like that's just a given for the Battle of Ontario. like Guys, you've got to pick a side. You've got to get on board because like you're going to hate us like I figured we'd be mentioning Ridley Gregg here. And listen, i am not personally a Nick Cousins fan, but given the way he plays, I could totally see him doing something absolutely absurd. Like the way that he already does some pretty dirty stuff, but can still kind of score a greasy goal. Like I mentioned Perron being able to get like some long review goal. Cousins would absolutely accidentally, but totally on purpose, fall into a Leafs goalie or interfere a player that ah directly results into a goal.
00:56:14
Speaker
And we're talking about, we know that it's going to be the Leafs pretty much in the first round. He already has the eliminating goal in the deepest Leafs run of this core. like the ask if If he stops their hopes again, this would haunt them for forever, really. yeah like yeah It would be a player that should have no business just being rent-free in their minds like he is. But he's just such a little douche-nozzle that he totally could Yeah, I'd say another honorable mention for me. I'm saying him for everything, but, like, truly, there's a... If Tim Stutzler, like, draws a penalty and then scores on the ensuing power, it like, that exact move has, like, broken the brains of Habs fans.
00:57:00
Speaker
Like, this could be catastrophic for Leafs fans. But yeah, I think Greg is the good answer here. Yeah. And Brady, obviously.
00:57:10
Speaker
Yes. ah He's going to bite someone this time. Yeah, he is. Exactly. If we're about to do this next one, at the beginning, I know you said Brady could be an answer to all of these. Not this one. much you know but yeah Yeah, I wrote this down and realized I could have gone into the superlatives too.
00:57:28
Speaker
Guys, who do we think who will have the best playoff beard?
00:57:34
Speaker
is not Brady Kachuk. I think it died my case my my mind immediately went to Giroux because he's already got a good one going. And if he just like, because he's trimmed, like he keeps it kind of short, but you can kind of like, it's pretty bushy. If he lets that thing fly and the Sens go on like a couple of weeks worth of a run, that is going to be a glorious, glorious main on that man.
00:57:56
Speaker
My pick is Jake Sanderson. I think he could just go full like the mountain man. He's young. I know, but like, yeah I think he has the ability. i love that.
00:58:07
Speaker
That's unreal. I could see it just really shaggy. Sure. Yeah. I don't know. The full Montana beard really like the but it's it's really getting in. yeah um I like I knew Giroux was going to be possible option here, but I think a good sleeper pick would be Nick, Matt and Palo.
00:58:28
Speaker
Yeah, he's got a bit of the Viking beard already growing and it would not take much for it to like fully grow out and be some pretty majestic stuff. So I i would say it be him. I also thought of a potential Shane Pinto mustache return, but I think that'd be too big of an endeavor unless it was a full cup final run, which I mean, it will. Let's let's be honest. it But I Matt and Palo for me is someone that I thought of as as a good option.
00:58:55
Speaker
But see, remember Jake Sanderson had like a really dramatic mustache at one time. Like I'm telling you, he can grow it out. He can. And if we're counting mustaches as playoff beards, then you have to shout out Travis Hamanick, even if he doesn't play. Because he has had the best duster going all year.
00:59:13
Speaker
But, and the other guy besides Brady... and could Can Tim grow anything on his face? Has he ever grown anything on his face? I don't think that's going to be a thing either. know, I feel like most of the core is to be nothing. I feel like Shabon is definitely going to stick with the Carlson goatee. Carlson never grew playoff beards.
00:59:31
Speaker
No. Timmy is going to do the Alfie shaving his head because because he cut last time he shaved his head, he got out of his scoring drought. So like every time he goes a game without scoring, he's going to shave his head.
00:59:45
Speaker
Yeah. My pick was fully Travis Hamannick also. And I feel like it ah it would be just like the best if the guy with the best playoff beard gets like zero games played. Like knock on wood, hopefully happens. But like I just see it happening. Yeah.
00:59:59
Speaker
That's good. Remember when Joe Thornton did that run to the cup final, grew out the the craziest beard, and then just kept it? Yes. He just had that for the rest of his career.
01:00:10
Speaker
yes Please nobody do that. Oh my god. Anyway, so that's that's it for that segment. That was
Creative Playoff Intro Ideas
01:00:18
Speaker
very fun. we're all completely correct, of course. Feel free to to revisit this episode later to see how correct we were.
01:00:26
Speaker
After the sentence of won the cup. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. but So now now we're moving on to another segment. um I have no ideas for this, but I wrote it down in case other people did. And I hear other people do.
01:00:40
Speaker
um The Sens will have to come up with an intro, a playoff intro. And what do we think they're going to do? Are they, I mean, they could always bring back the Spartan.
01:00:53
Speaker
It's, it's gotten, it's been long enough. It's gotten funny now. So electric, but you have to make sure that it's like the guy with like, it's the same kind of like dinky getup and he has to have his script on the inside of the shield. And he has to keep forgetting the words. Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:09
Speaker
it has to be the same i think in terms would actually hate that no i would hate it i'm like oh my god no i want i want something actually going to get me hyped for the game i know like i know louis i know you said you had a bunch of ideas for this so i want to let you go but my one thing is that like you know they'll do like a video right like they'll do a video to get people fired up i think i i honestly think you have to do like a minute or two of like the worst things that have happened in the last eight years. Uber video? Yeah. Literally, yeah. That one's crazy, yeah. You need to remind people how unwatchably bad it has been, and then everyone is gonna get so fired up. Like if you start putting danger flutes in after that, it is gonna be so electric.
01:01:51
Speaker
was gonna say it's just a two minute Ben Harper highlight pack the whole time. Yeah. No, they just open like with the players in the Uber.
01:02:03
Speaker
I don't know, some line, i don't even even remember what they said in that video, just one like egregious line about, as you can tell, our PK is pretty bad these days.
01:02:14
Speaker
that's Yeah, Marty Ramo comes out for the ceremonial puck drop after that. marty Marty Ramo, the first guy to have the worst penalty they kill and worst PK. Can we track down the Uber driver?
01:02:27
Speaker
way. Drop the puck. Yeah, get him to drop the fucker. Get him to be, so like, I would be so, i think that would be so sick. Put him on the bench for a game. Oh my god. That would get the people fired up. Oh my god. Okay, not totally related to the intro video, but you know what I was thinking of yesterday? i was watching the commercials and I was like, God, they need to bring back Julia Robillard for the playoffs. Yeah, man. Yeah. I'm totally with that.
01:02:52
Speaker
yeah That would be so good. Like, they'll be like, oh, everyone's like, oh, Lyndon Slewidge is going to sing the anthem. No. Here comes Julia Robillard to sing the Canadian national anthem. But she just says hearingisbelieving.com and then leaves the red carpet and then we drop the fuck and play the game.
01:03:10
Speaker
So the one thing I had thought of for the intro, like obviously like there needs to be some sort of Danger Flute Return that would be ideal. But okay, this is, as I mentioned when we were talking before we started recording, this is very niche. So I grew up in a very dancing-heavy household. My mom is a dance teacher, or was a dance teacher.
01:03:31
Speaker
My sister was in gymnastics and dance growing up. So growing up, I always like watched like So You Think You Can Dance when that was on... on TV and then our family became really big World of Dance fans. i don't know if anyone in here also watched World of Dance when it was on air.
01:03:46
Speaker
In season three of World of Dance, what is largely or arguably the best performance in the show's run, there's this ah team called the Kings. where in the finals they pulled out and a choreography choreography that ended up being Emmy nominated for how good it was.
01:04:04
Speaker
And it was essentially a Spartan theater battle inspired routine. And I think if we just bring them out on the ice, listen, I don't think the audience is really like the same between World of Dance super fans and Sens fans in Ottawa getting ready for the first playoff game.
01:04:22
Speaker
But there it could be pretty sick. I don't know. like It would be very niche, and I think that's the best kind of thing you could go for. Second, I thought you were going in the direction of like the team needs to pull out this dance in the style of like that one episode of Lee.
01:04:40
Speaker
I would love to see it. It'd be hilarious watching like Brady trying to do anything artistic. it like Oh my god. yeah
01:04:51
Speaker
Yeah. Like, I think about that sometimes, too. Like, Brady, like, just doing any kind of movement that's not on ice. Like, when he like he's married, like, danced at his wedding, presumably. Like, how did that...
01:05:03
Speaker
out of that look. Like, there has to be some kind of clip of this. Like, he would have to be, like, 100%, like, as soon as he's off the altar, he just tarps off. And he is just, like, doing just the most ridiculous stuff on the dance floor. But I would so pay for that if they dressed up all the Sens players in, like, Greek, Spartan, like, kind of like,
01:05:23
Speaker
getups and then you have them all on the blue line like just doing some kind of like aca spartan thing in front of the leaves it would be so sick yeah i can't tell it'd be funnier if we absolutely shat our pants after that and just got destroyed or if we killed the leaves like i like either way it would be absolutely it worked in glee It's true, there you go.
Imagining Sens vs Leafs Playoff Drama
01:05:44
Speaker
so So guaranteed it'll win. We just gotta we just gotta to make them learn this choreography. We only have a week. It's a perfect plot.
01:05:50
Speaker
Like, this is what the Amazon series should be focusing on, really. It slowly turns into a sports musical. like keep forgetting that Amazon is following this series. I know, this is gonna be insane. and that that That series is gonna be nuts.
01:06:04
Speaker
Again, people do not realize how stupid it's gonna get. Okay, the next segment that we had... So, okay, when we planned this episode, we thought that probably this would happen after the Sens clinched the playoffs and before we knew their opponent.
01:06:20
Speaker
Technically, we don't for sure know the opponent, but we were going to say that we would come up with the most embarrassing way for each of our potential opponents to lose the series to the Sens. But I think we're only going to talk about the Leafs here.
01:06:34
Speaker
the yeah How can we damage the Leafs emotionally? Game seven over time. has to be game 7 overtime, there's no other answer. Although, the only other answer is like, would it be worse if it's a sweep for them? Game 7 overtime reverse sweep. I was gonna oh my god. I would not want to experience a reverse sweep, yeah but the payoff.
01:06:57
Speaker
it'd be so insane. yeah You're right, that would be the, that would so be the way to go, oh my god. feel like that's the only way they haven't lost, you know? because Yeah, because the Habs series almost killed them. like that that People are like still very like sensitive in Toronto to talk about that. And that was just 3-1.
01:07:18
Speaker
and This would be like so new like nuclear levels of, I might never watch the team again. would be fantastic. This team has like the energy of a team that would get reverse swept. like It's kind of shocking that they haven't.
01:07:30
Speaker
Totally. i like will say also... this series feels like destined to go seven because guys, I'm not sure if you remember this little, this fun little stat about the Ottawa Senators hockey club.
01:07:44
Speaker
You're probably going to hear it. If we get to game seven, this team has never won a game seven in franchise history. Also the Leafs have a terrible record in game sevens.
01:07:54
Speaker
So like if this goes seven, Like, the narratives for either team. If the Sens finally, like, the first series back in the playoffs and they win in game seven, that's like, you have slayed your demons. Like, it's a fresh start.
01:08:12
Speaker
All, you know, we beat the Leafs, we won a game seven, everything is in the past now. I believe it's not even just like never won a game seven, but also the team with the most losses in a game seven without ever having won one.
01:08:27
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, to be fair, most teams have won a game seven at some point. Exactly. Yeah. So the sample size is already small. But yeah. Can I throw one little caveat for or like extra thing to add for the reverse sweep game seven overtime winner?
01:08:44
Speaker
Can it be on a power play where Marner gets a delayed game penalty? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That is so sick. Oh, man. Like he's never coming back in that case. There's no way. Or Marner turnover.
01:08:58
Speaker
Marner turnover. Yeah, true. Or Marner, yeah. It would be curtains. He would be so gone. There are so many options.
01:09:09
Speaker
And when he did that against the Habs, Marner, didn't he cry in the penalty box? Like, wasn't there literally, like, people were, like, looking at the video back and they're like, are those tears coming out of his eyes after he flipped the puck out of the... Like, it would just be so insane.
01:09:21
Speaker
Him going down the handshake line after costing the Game 7 overtime penalty and he, like, has to shake Brady Kachuk's hand and he's bawling his eyes out. It would just be... oh it would be so It would just be the best. I'd be so happy.
01:09:34
Speaker
Again, if any of our listeners are listening to this and they feel even a little bit bad for Marner, don't don't cheer for the sense. Go away. We don't want you. Yeah, this is the time to gatekeep.
01:09:45
Speaker
like This is the only gatekeeping I will do. had an answer for this that kind of went in with like, a haunting moment I feel like if like probably Allmark just goes on like a really hot streak and they just can't solve him that would be like so devastating because that's kind of like always what happens is like the top line they're just like we just got goalied again and again and again so I think if it happens like another time it would just and like that ends up being Marner's like last time in Toronto it would just be like very devastating.
Impact of Goaltending and Desired Game Outcomes
01:10:20
Speaker
I love that there's so many different ways for the Leafs to just be so devastated by this series. think any way you slice it, it could be bad for them. And the other thing with the Olmark thing is like the Leafs have struggled with the goaltending.
01:10:34
Speaker
And with Olmark, it was like they could have had him. Like the Sens got this guy last summer. It's possible. So yeah, I like that. Also, yeah, if it's like a Boston goalie that like they're not playing Boston, but it's a Boston goalie that comes over and then they lose to him in game seven. Yeah, I feel like it would be very good.
01:10:55
Speaker
ah guy finally like beating his playoff demons. Leafs can't relate.
01:11:02
Speaker
Can't wait. I'm just I'm just thinking of it like ah there are so many ways this could go wrong, but I know ah so so many ways it could go well for us. Yes. Yeah, i like so when when we were bringing together ideas for that, I guess like we kind of essentially covered it, because I was thinking, what would like the perfect sense playoff game look like? But this is like, if we're talking about reverse sweeping the Leafs in Game 7 overtime with a moment that would tragically haunt them, I guess the only thing... It would be in Toronto.
01:11:31
Speaker
Yeah, it would true. true be in toronto i think i guess that's the that's the one part, which it would be great for breaking their hearts, but man, it would be so electric to see that here. like if right I guess that's a good thing about a what a sweep would be, is that the series would end in Ottawa.
01:11:48
Speaker
Yes. Also, like, okay, yeah, it's nice to drag it out. The reverse sweepers are painful, but, like, I don't know, sweep would also, like, devastate them, right? And again, it's like, I don't know if you tell me if you ask me, like, how do you want each game to go? I'm like, I want them to win 10-0. I don't want to be stressed. But then it's like, you know, a game, because, yeah, it's like a game that would be enjoyable to watch versus, like, a game that, in hindsight, is, like, an absolute classic, and you're like, shit, I can't believe I experienced that, you know? Like, those are two types different types of games.
01:12:18
Speaker
Mm-hmm. But yeah, I would say game seven double overtime, or not double overtime. I, oh, I'm so used to saying that. I'm like, game seven double overtime. Oh my god. I say those words all together.
01:12:30
Speaker
that's a conditioned response. It's so bad. Guys, we need more playoff hockey. I was thinking about that too. I was like, what would be like the perfect level of overtime that like they would win in? The perfect level of overtime. Is there an answer to a point where it's like, I you know i don't want to stay up for six hours, but also how legendary that would be?
01:12:51
Speaker
like i don't think there's a limit. I would love to see it. In my lifetime, I'd love to see like a seven or eight overtime game, like just to say that I'd seen it. like That would be insane. Leonis Almark makes 118 saves in the game.
01:13:04
Speaker
yeah My one caveat is I'm like, okay, I have a lot of final papers due at the end April, roll and I'm like, okay yeah as long as it's after that, because I plan to stay up for every game, I'm good at managing my time, I'm a morning person, but I'm like, if it gets to a point where like I will not be able to like concentrate the next day because I'll be so tired, hmm, I'm going to not enjoying watching that, you know? Yeah, so, I mean, I guess we...
01:13:32
Speaker
and The only thing that would be left is who would score in that game, but I think we kind of already went into who we think is most likely to score an OT winner. like Just imagine if Zub scored. Oh my god, it would be sick.
01:13:46
Speaker
That would do healing prepare years and years of fandom. Here's the thing with playing the Leafs is like anything that would devastate the Leafs is a plus for us.
01:13:59
Speaker
So it's so I'm like Zub scoring would be great for us. I feel like I would love Zub to score an overtime goal against the Florida Panthers in round two. But in against the Leafs, I want whoever is going to be like most devastating. Truly Brady Kachuk OT winner to send the sends to the second round.
01:14:19
Speaker
Sounds perfect to me. Yeah, it does. I think we're we're overthinking it. You can't get... it's a It's an overtime goal and it's between the legs.
01:14:30
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sends the second round. and And if Zub is going to score an overtime goal, it has to be at home because the Zub's, like the crowd Zub's after that goal would be so loud.
01:14:44
Speaker
Like you just would not get that in trouble. That's the game six. Yeah, exactly. Right. And um at some point in, I don't know, game four, right? Because it's a reverse sweep. They win game four.
01:14:57
Speaker
um It's actually a blowout win. And really, Greg doesn't empty that slap shot. Yeah. Because I was also thinking like, down man, if games- Oh my god. Can you imagine if we eliminate them? And Ridley Gregg is like, let me do this one thing.
01:15:13
Speaker
God. That would be unreal. Which player would be like most likely to do it after Ridley? G, 100%. Okay, yeah. the moment The moment Greg pulls that move, I was like, he learned that from Knojihu. That's a Knojihu signature move. Like, G was whispering in his ear the whole time.
01:15:35
Speaker
So, kind of touching on the the Greg clapper, it was essentially the main piece that I was focusing on for this segment that, Beera, you wrote down about constructing our ideal line brawl.
01:15:50
Speaker
yeah Because i essentially, the centerpiece for me there is Greg versus Morgan Riley. Okay, so who are the five sons on the ice, Louis? So, okay. You hear me out here. Okay, wait, wait. We needed we need an intro to the segment.
01:16:05
Speaker
this is I think this is how we're ending this,
Dream Line Brawls Against the Leafs
01:16:07
Speaker
right? We're ending the podcast with this. We have... So one of my favorite playoff memories of all the time is the Sens vs. Habs line brawl. And I do not condone violence.
01:16:21
Speaker
I generally don't think fighting and hockey is great. i'm not a huge I'm not that into fighting, but playoff line brawl against the Leafs.
01:16:31
Speaker
It's so sick. It would be great. I think it would be fun. I say... game one opening night face-off, like opening face-off. Oh my god. Set the tone.
01:16:44
Speaker
Set the tone. Either that or like, same as the le as the Hobbs one, just like a ah blowout win for the Suns where the Leafs get upset. So yeah, who who, if we are Travis Green, who are we lining up for the Suns?
01:16:58
Speaker
Okay. Ridley Gregg. Ridley Gregg has a spot on the line. Ridley Gregg. So the way the way I built out the line brawl was like, it was less so who would we send out and more which pairs do I want to see go off against each other?
01:17:11
Speaker
if that makes sense. so these these were the pairs. I can run you run you through them and we'll see if we have any modifications or whatever you guys might prefer. Brady Kachauk. Beating Mitch Marner's ass.
01:17:22
Speaker
say so i i yeah so the second one was brady but i had brady versus max domi because like both of them have like the history with their dads and i think that could be pretty cool brady would whoop his ass obviously it wouldn't even close um David Powell versus John Tavares, just because I want to see a bit of a geriatric fight. And I think that would be really funny to contrast between the hatred between John Tavares fight.
01:17:48
Speaker
No. We're just like, which players do we want to see the sentence beat?
01:17:57
Speaker
And then the other one that I'd really wanted was this is specifically Zubcast focused and it would be Zub versus Simon Benoit. For anyone who's listened to the Zoopcast, for some reason, this depth defenseman that I don't even think was a full-time NHLer when we first brought him up, has somehow popped up multiple times throughout the history of our podcast.
01:18:19
Speaker
And he's now on the Leafs, so this is the perfect opportunity opportunity to put the the most random Zoopcast ah regular versus the namesake of the pod And he's also the Leafs, like, Hamannick equivalent from what I understand. Like, nobody really wants him to play, and he's kind of a pylon. So him even being on the ice, like, picturing him being on the ice for this Lion Brawl is very funny to me, because something's clearly gone very wrong if he's on the ice for this. Yeah, so opening night face-off. Yes, agreed.
01:18:48
Speaker
Right away. Already done. right.
01:18:51
Speaker
I had like the the the fifth slot was open for me like I didn't really have anything else. I want to see G. Oh wait we think another defenseman right? Because wait up forward we have We have Greg, we have Brady.
01:19:04
Speaker
We could put James I'm not super attached to it. Oh, yeah. get home Okay. yeah you do Yeah, do that. Giroux instead of Perron. I want to see... i want to see G whip someone's ass.
01:19:14
Speaker
Yeah, Giroux gets Tavares. He could he can totally take Tavares. I'm down for that. That's a geriatric fight. Yeah. Actually, that would be really funny, Chirou versus John Tavares. That would be a great fight. People would be talking about that one. That would be sick.
01:19:29
Speaker
but They were enemies in the Metro for years. like They were the captain. like there's There's a bit of a storyline there, maybe. i don't know. Isn't the answer the second sense defenseman, Travis Hamannick?
01:19:43
Speaker
No. I don't want him on the ice though. I know. That's what I'm saying. That's why I was thinking 7. Because if somebody's going whoop it, just go crazy, and we'll actually be in the lineup hopefully, and we're building our ideal one, I had him there.
01:19:58
Speaker
It's one way for Travis Hamannick to win back the Ottawa fan base. It's to get on the ice and beat the crap out of Austin Matthews or something. He could totally do it. right yeah It would do well for him, I think.
01:20:12
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, low-key, Jake Sanderson occasionally gets into fights. He does. Yeah, it's true. I could see. It could be funny. yeah And obviously, this is all with the caveat that none of our players get injured.
01:20:27
Speaker
Yes. this like This is another thing that i ah kind of was thinking about earlier. And if Brady comes back... but before but but but Like he will, but once he does, yeah, yeah yeah if yeah ah once once he's back, like, is this like a fully, how I'm knocking on wood big time here, but is it is the roster fully healthy?
01:20:48
Speaker
was thinking about that earlier today too. pretty insane. crazy Well, even like the Sens aren't haven't been resting any of their stars after clinching the playoff spot, which is a good indication that everyone's healthy, right? Like there were a few players who were healthy scratches and maybe they wouldn't disclose if they were injured. But I feel like, you know, if Timmy was battling something, he'd be out. If Shabbat was battling something, he'd be out, you know? Like Jensen's the only guy that I can think of. That's very likely. Yeah. yeah Jensen's injured right now.
01:21:15
Speaker
But also, can we just, okay, I just want to go back to this because if if if we're talking about a line brawl, are we including goalies? oh ah Yeah, I want to see Olmark.
01:21:25
Speaker
Olmark never punch someone. No, but if he did, it would be so fun. Him him against Wall. I was going to say, he's saying it should be Wall because Stolarz is huge.
01:21:36
Speaker
Stolarz is 6'8". We've accidentally built like... a re- like a lineup that could actually happen. Cause like Greg usually isn't on the first line, but like if if we have Brady, Jihou and Greg, like that's not out of the realm of possibility. And then Sanders and Zoum, that's a pairing. That's pairing, yeah. That's a good point.
01:21:54
Speaker
Realistic. This is going to be so sweet. I think that's a great way to end this though. This line brawl. Like people can just have this image in their head of how insane this is going to be when this happens. Like I'm so fired up. I'm literally so fired up for this to happen. and And we don't know when the first game is yet, right? They haven't come out with yet. Like we don't know for sure, for sure, but it's going to be like Easter Sunday.
01:22:17
Speaker
Okay. I'm already in like, I have to be wearing Sens jersey or a Sens logo on me at all times. Like I, the other day I was on the Metro and I saw a guy wearing a Sens jersey and I was like, those Sens go. and yeah um just it's It's like, ah the energy.
01:22:36
Speaker
It's crazy, man. And in all of the car flags are everywhere now. yeah am seeing so many cars. I love that that's still a thing. Like it's been so long since the Sends were in the playoffs and people are still doing it. They're like, what do we do now that they're playoffs? we put flags on our car. I guess that's what we're supposed to do.
01:22:51
Speaker
But it's been pretty electric in the city of Ottawa. And they put the Sens miles sign up on Elgin. I know, I i own a Stutzla jersey and i think day one like game one of the playoffs I'm gonna need to walk around Montreal just where yeah and wearing that.
01:23:07
Speaker
I mean hopefully Montreal is eliminated by then. gonna be in Toronto the second weekend of the playoffs So I'm going to bring so much Sen's attire to wear for like the few days that I'm there just because like the timing could not have worked out any better.
01:23:28
Speaker
Yeah, I remembered the other day that back when the Sens used to make the playoffs, I don't even remember why I did this.
Playoff Traditions and Podcast Purpose
01:23:34
Speaker
I used to paint my nails in Sens colors, and like every time the Sens lost, I would redo them and do another Sens-themed design. I never paint my nails. I don't know why I randomly did this during the playoffs, but I'm like, do I do that now?
01:23:48
Speaker
Do I bring back the tradition? and just need to have Sens everywhere. Sens colors, Sens logos. Because we know that correlates directly to their success. ask Yeah, exactly. Exactly. yeah Why else would you do it?
01:24:02
Speaker
Yeah, and it's just I need everyone to know that I cheer for a great team that's in the playoffs. It's important for you to be in Montreal and like in Toronto and do that. I feel like yeah agree you have to let them know they're not safe there. At any given point, a Sens fan can be there.
01:24:18
Speaker
because that's our reality. and And we're made aware of it pretty clearly here. Yeah. you're you're You're going to be like a jump scare for so many people and you should take a lot of pride in that. Yeah. Actually, a last like question for folks. Are we worried about the amount of blue jerseys that we're going to see in the stands at the CTC?
01:24:36
Speaker
i am. Yes. Here's the thing. During the regular season, you know, the reason there are so many Leafs fans in the arena is mainly because season ticket holders sell them to Leafs fans because Leafs fans are willing to pay way more than Sens fans are.
01:24:50
Speaker
And for a lot of Sens fans, it's like, well, yeah, that's like one or two games in a season, usually the least enjoyable games because the Leafs fans, like, of course, I don't want to go to that one, right? It's like Sens fans don't want to go, leafs fans Yeah.
01:25:02
Speaker
playoffs are going to be different because since fans actually do really want to go to these games and are probably willing to pay a decent amount for it. We don't have as much money as Toronto people do. um You know, because we're we're marginalized people. We're we're working people, not those, you know, millionaires from Toronto. Everyone should cheer for us, by the way.
01:25:21
Speaker
but so I think especially like with the sale initially being reserved for season ticket holders, that will help a lot. Yeah, the org putting in work to really do everything they can to ensure it's as sense as possible helps a lot. And yeah, like it's in the regular season, it's an easy choice. Would you go to one...
01:25:41
Speaker
one game where it's a rather unpleasant experience with all the fans around you or like you could pay the same amount to go to two or three other games it's it's an easy decision right oh some people literally say that selling their Leafs tickets pays for their whole package yeah yeah like yeah that's how much Leafs fans and obviously yeah Leafs fans are going to be willing to pay a ton of money to go to these games but I do think there is a will among Suns fans to like keep them out of the arena especially for such a special moment where like You know, it's their first time back in the playoffs for a while.
01:26:11
Speaker
Like, remember a few years ago, the home opener was against the Leafs and it was like all Sens fans. So like, yeah and obviously, you know, Leafs fans are a little less motivated to go to that game.
01:26:22
Speaker
But like, I don't think it's going to be as bad as people are expecting it to be. I think even in 2017, I seem to remember the Sens like almost selling out with just the season ticket holder sale. Like,
01:26:33
Speaker
Yeah. All those series against the Hobbs, it was always like mostly Sens fans of the crowd, right? Yeah, exactly. I just think like you've definitely seen it in the last couple of years. Like it has been like overwhelmingly like 75% Leaf fans at least. And so like, I don't think it's going to be that bad if I had to put a number on it because there's still going to be like, there's no way for them to completely just not sell a ticket to someone who lives in the GTA like that. You can't really do that.
01:27:00
Speaker
I think it's going to be like 65 or 70% sentence fans. And I think that would be ah great success if they were able to, to get that to that number. I'm even more optimistic. I say game three, 80% sentence fans. I love it. I so hope you're right. That 20% is going to hurt.
01:27:18
Speaker
It will, but it won't look that bad. It won't look as bad as 50%. No, I think we'll have a good sense fan turnout. It's also like, even if you limit it geographically, there are so many Leafs fans living in Ottawa. Exactly. Exactly.
01:27:30
Speaker
Yeah. And like, yeah, it's like, oh, sense fans are more more motivated to show up. But like, truly sense fans have less money than Leafs fans do. Like, yeah. Okay, is that it?
01:27:42
Speaker
I think we covered a lot today. Yeah, we covered a lot. This is easily the longest, shirt like on on our side for Zoocast, it's definitely the longest episode we've had in a while, I would say. we knew this was going to be a mega, though. we all Yeah, this was this was the point. This was the point. is's let's like The sense of finally clinched, let's pull out all the stops and make one huge preview episode.
01:28:02
Speaker
And everyone's going to be so fired up. They're like, so much listening material for me now. This is going to be able to take up so much of my day. Yeah, exactly. The real fans will listen to it on both platforms. just yeah and and time Yeah. Yeah. So everybody go over whichever podcast like feed you're listening to it on right now. Like go over to the other one.
01:28:24
Speaker
Yeah. It's going to be like, we're going to cut out one segment from each one and you won't know which one. No, we're not actually going to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you imagine? and Just to get people listen to both. No, ah truly, like, we don't really monetize this.
01:28:38
Speaker
Neither of us do. So we do not care about the numbers. Like, on Elite Suns Rain, we don't even look at our listener numbers. So or for the listen to it on whichever one you want. but if you want to listen to it again go ahead
Social Media and Project Promotions
01:28:50
Speaker
um you want to stream it on mute in your sleep that's fine too yeah yeah i mean you're welcome we make no money but like it feels good yeah getting a chance to infiltrate our thoughts into your subconscious when you're sleeping great time just really just really like yeah inception level stuff with the sense that's yeah Yeah, like especially if you're not a Sens fan, but you're like thinking of joining the bandwagon, you know, like this will turn you into a Sens fan, right? you You just go to sleep with this and it's like the go Sens go energy. Yeah. If you replay the part where we said reverse sweep, like maybe you'll like lucid dream that it happens.
01:29:26
Speaker
um Yeah, it's a good point. And you'll understand the joy that we would feel. Yeah. So one thing I do want to say is that we tend to, I mean, we don't tend to plug our stuff as much because we just generally forget to.
01:29:41
Speaker
And every time we've had Bieta on, we've had to. Sorry. Yeah. Hello. Sorry. We've forgotten to get her to get her to plug her thing. So we're going to go around and everybody can plug their stuff. So i can go first. So you can find me on Blue Sky at Louis Boulay, just my full name, and find my work at LB Hockey. So that's lb-hockey.com. Bunch of different tools, dashboards, visualizations, and on the Zoopcast.com.
01:30:09
Speaker
So you can find me at C Beata, that's B-E-A-T-A-E on Twitter or Blue Sky, mostly Blue Sky though. ah And Sense Brain, it's at Elite Sense Brain on Twitter and Blue Sky. You can also leave us an ask on Tumblr at EliteSenseBrain.tumblr.com.
01:30:26
Speaker
And you could read my writing at Silver7Sens.com. We have tons of fun stuff planned for the playoffs. Come hang out in our comment section. Come read our content.
01:30:37
Speaker
ah We are completely independent now. So also, if you want to give us money, please give us money. um We might even have some merch coming out. we've already We've got a bit of merch if you want to rep your favorite SENS blog.
01:30:49
Speaker
We might have some playoff stuff happening. So um go go read Silver7. And I think that's it for me. i nothing to i have nothing to plug. i go follow theop Go follow the Zoomcast on Twitter and Blue Sky. that That's all I'm here to say.
01:31:06
Speaker
Ryan has also just followed me at Ericsson's Burner on Blue Sky. but yeah, Beata said all the Elite Sons Burn stuff. So thank you so much to everybody for listening. it was an absolute blast. and one last time before the playoffs, go Sons go.
01:31:23
Speaker
Go Sons go.