NHL should expand the playoff format for Buffalo

NHL should expand the playoff format for Buffalo

Off day today so I’m ready for a big picture type of question plus a mailbag coming up but first should the NHL expand the playoffs for the Buffalo Sabers it’s not as crazy as it sounds I’ll let you know coming up what I mean here on the locked on Sabers

Podcast your locked on Sabers your daily podcast on the Buffalo Sabers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day Y and thanks for making lock on Sabers your first listen every day sneaky Joe dbsi here part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day we are

Encouraging you as always to check out our locked on saers TextLine join sub text.com loock ons saers if you would like to get in on a mailbag like we’re going to have today or you’ve got a question or comment throughout the week or we want to get into it during the

Game itself join sub text.com loock ons saers where you can sign up today and then text uh for the the remainder of it so lot to get to on today’s show it is an off day for the Sabres they are not in action until Friday night hosting the

Philadelphia Flyers before a couple of games on the road as we are nearing the end of the season only six games to go for the Sabers they are five points out of a playoff spot it doesn’t sound that bad but you’re six points out very very

Very unlikely to make it coming up a little bit later on I will have a scenario that Sabers live broke down on uh how they could get in and it does kind of show off just how unlikely it is also on today’s show a mailbag from you guys amar’s playoff check in where

They’re at in the standings and some roster movement in the last couple of days that starting to show what that lineup might look like a question about Matt seavoy and the amirs which was a stupid situation last year and I don’t know whether it’s going to be dumb again

This year before we get to all of that though it’s an off day we’re between saber games here and the playoffs are approaching for the NHL and I wanted to get into a little bit today A A Commentary and a topic that Elliot fredman broke down on 32 thoughts this

Week and it kind of has me using the Sabers as Elliot did as a an example of why the NHL might want to consider expanding their playoffs but in a very specific way now before we get into the details of this proposed scenario that would basically be a carbon copy of what

The NBA does which I think is the way to go about it there are financial reasons as well and of course there are selfish bias reasons because we are sick and tired of not having playoff hockey here in Buffalo any form of it would be accepted I think by most before though

We get into the specifics of it just know I am aware of the counterargument and I am aware of the simple fact that would make me hesitant too that you already have half the teams that make the NHL playoffs there are 32 teams in the league 16 make it for a while there

More than half the league made it and one thing that fredman said in his talk about it was find me another sport that has expanded its playoffs and regrets it Major League Baseball expanded their playoffs the to they had the wild cards added right the NFL expanded their

Playoffs they added a wild card team a couple of years ago the NBA has their play in tournament expanding the playoffs all three of the other leagues have expanded their playoffs in recent times and for the most part I think Elliott’s right I don’t think any of those leagues regret going into the

Playoffs or expanding their playoffs what one difference though that’s very key that I will point to why the NHL is different and it’s a point I’ve already made where was Major League Baseball coming from nobody made the playoffs it was like six out of 30 teams made it

Before they expanded NFL it was 12 out of 32 teams made the playoffs before they expanded the NBA it was that’s the one that’s similar right that’s the one where it was the same as the NHL and that’s why I just want to directly look

To the NBA I want to throw out the NFL and Major League Baseball for this because they already had so few teams make it it made total sense for them and it didn’t have to be that creative They just added teams into their existing playoff format the NBA wanted expanded playoffs

But they did not want to just have a 10 team field so what fredman campaigned for and what I would campaign for too is the two added playing teams in each conference instead of one through eight gets in you have 10 teams get in you

Have seven8 nine and 10 play in a one or a two game series and the winner of the 910 has to play the loser of the 78 game and the winner of that game goes through so working from the top down if this will make it more clear if you’re not

Familiar with the NBA rules the seven seed in the NBA plays the eight seed on a certain night and the nine seed plays the 10 seed the winner of the seven versus eight game is through to the playoffs you only got to win one game if

You’re the seven or the eight and you’re the seven if you lose you still have a chance if you’re the seven eight loser the 910 matchup they play the winner of the 910 goes to play the loser of the 78 the loser of the 910 is eliminated

You’re done and then the next night we play the winner of 910 against the loser of 78 winner gets the eight seed that is the NBA playoff format so the nine1 teams have to win two games to get in the a two out of two the seven or eight

They got to win one out of two so you still have the advantage of being the eight over the 910 and what that format does and it’s so smart is it creates different levels of races you have a race for the six seed the race for the

Six seed that is very important so if you are a team that is around the playin tournament or you’re a team that’s at the five you know this year for instance the uh Toronto Maple Leafs maybe for instance the Toronto not not not even Toronto tonight this I guess is

A bad year because there’s such a gap in the Eastern Conference between the seven and the six um in the west you would have it though but imagine you’re the five seed in the east on a given year and you’re nine points clear of the nine

Seed you don’t care Seasons you you know cruise control get us to the playoffs but now under this format well you might be nine clear of the nine but you’re only three points clear of the seven you better be careful because if you drop down into that play in then you could be

Eliminated without even reaching the playoffs theoretically so you’re creating a race for six it’s important to get to six you’re you have a race for eight because the seven and the eight have an advantage over the n910 and you have a race for the 10 just to get into

The thing all different level Lev levels of races and that’s exactly what you’re trying to get the most important games possible and the Sabers for instance this year would be right now they are five points out with two more games played than the Washington Capitals and

They have to beat out four teams to get that spot it’s not going to happen but under this format 10 teams make it you’d be four points behind the Islanders they only have one more game to play than you do and you have three targets now instead of one t actually instead of

What the way I should say it is instead of four teams to climb over you only have to climb over two it would be a lot more realistic and the race in the last month would have been a real race and this is what fredman’s overall point was

And I agree with it is the NHL and why they should want to do this they are the most gate driven league in sports the NBA and the NFL especially and also Major League Baseball thrive on their TV money they have monster TV contracts look at the

Percentage of Revenue in each of these leagues and the the TV Revenue versus the gate Revenue the ticket revenue and the TV revenue is King for the NFL for the NBA and Major League Baseball for the NHL TV revenue is still important not nearly as much they are very reliant

On people coming to their games buying tickets buying beer and drinks and food at the arena merchandise they’re very reliant on that that economy to work for them so what I would say to that and I would use the sabes as an example I don’t need to make them the reason but

They are an example you want tickets you want people in the building and for that you need games that people care about and this would be a way to do it I’ve talked this season wondering about the long-term sustainability of the Buffalo Sabers and part of the reason why is fans have sto

Going to games because they’re so bad but also because they don’t play meaningful games this would be giving the fan base hey if the team can’t do it screw it all right NHL you do it and they might they just very might we’ll give you the meaningful game saber fans

Your team can’t do it so we’ll do it for you you’re now in a playoff race congratulations and now you might actually make the postseason last year they would have been in the play in tournament and saber fans would have gone nuts for that and you would have

Had more races you would have had more tickets you would have had even if it’s only you know this Tuesday night game uh Jeff Skinner night maybe instead of 14,000 fans maybe there’s 16,000 fans in the building because 2,000 more fans think they can make the playoffs and

Want to go see it happen uh make the play in at least and that’s money those couple of thousand fans that’s money that’s beer money that’s parking money that’s an economy that you are seeing in front of your eyes and I think it makes a lot of sense while also not completely

You know changing up the playoff formats you’re just it’s playing games I think if you watch the NBA you know that this thing works you know that it creates entertainment you know that people care about it and it’s not really that gimmicky it in the surface it feels

Gimmicky but once you start to see it in action you realize that it’s really not a gimmick it’s just a smart sensible idea that fans like you know fans if there’s push back at the start guarantee you once it happens you can tell me right now that’s is stupid just leave it

One through eight whatever and then the moment the Buffalo Sabers are hosting the Pittsburg Penguins in a playin game winner goes to the playoffs uh as the seven seed to go play the New York Rangers you are going to be at that game you are going to be fired up you might

Even be at the party in the plaza because you’ll be so into it the Sabers are the example of why the NHL should do this you have too many teams it’s not just Buffalo Ottawa is good for this Detroit who is on a seven uh year losing

Streak uh and has had some fan interest start to wne a little bit you have a lot of teams around the league that when they’re dead people don’t show up and the Sabers been dead for a long time ottawa’s been dead for a long time Detroit has been dead for a long time

Anaheim has been dead for a long time and if you could create games that those fans will care more about because you’re creating races in the each conference I think it’s a very smart idea cap would go higher too because there’s more money in the league so it’s good for the

Players it’s good for the owners because they’re making more money it’s good for everybody uh the last thing I’ll say on this my bet is though they don’t do it until there’s expansion again again the point about more than half the teams making it I bet you have to wait till

Expansion which I think we’re going to get Atlanta showing interest again uh Quebec City has always been interested you’ve got other cities around the country Houston for instance that have always been looking for a team team Salt Lake City is the new one on the Block this year I think they’re going to

Expand at some point and when they do and go to 34 teams it is absolutely the right decision that they should do this play tournament idea when we come back ammer Who’s down there who’s going to be going down there why you should care about the AHL playoffs which are

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With the Amar your droughty of the day for the Buffalo Sabers and I do believe this is some good trivia that you should use for your friends your buddies whenever the next time you’re looking for a question like this Sabers droughty of the day there are

11 Hall of Famers that have played play a playoff game more recently than the Buffalo Sabers have 11 Hall of Famers you could play The Guessing Game now this is not radio this is podcast so hit the pause button see if you could figure out a chunk of them and then come back

And I’ll give you the answers if you won’t want to hang around just find out the answers yourself I’ll give them to you right here 11 Hall of Famers that have made that played in the playoffs more recently than the Sabers at the bottom a guy that I always use for this

And it’s incredible to me that he did it Mike madon has played a playoff game more recently in the Savers 2 uh for the Detroit Red Wings who he played for right at the end of his career Chris Pronger has done this Nicholas ledstrom Daniel alfredson Mark wcky teu salani has played a

Playoff game more recently Jerome ainla Daniel sadine Henrik sadine Marty St Louie and Maran HOSA those are your 11 Hockey Hall of Famers have finished their careers gone through the period of time you have to wait to make the Hall of Fame made the Hall of Fame all in the

Amount of time the Sabers have had their playoff drought good question of trivia if you’re looking for it the ammer Devin Levi back to Rochester and I would imagine for the uh the finale of the season in Rochester I would expect the next time he puts on blue and gold it

Will be next season uh Levi has been unbelievable on the year 20 games played in Rochester a 928 save percentage he is one of the best goalies in the AHL I think he had the second highest save percentage at last when he got called up

Last uh and if you look in comparison to the other goalies in Rochester Levi a 928 save percentage Dustin tarski an 890 save percentage Michael Hower an 871 save percentage they need Devon Levi for this playoff run now they’re pretty good they’re probably going to be fine making

The postseason in the North Division uh five of the seven teams make the playoffs the amirs at this point in time are in second place they have 77 points and they are only three points away from first they also that that division matters for finishing top three if you

Finish fourth or fifth I just talked about play-ins you basically have to play a playin to get to the next round the final four if you will of the North Division in the AHL and as it stands the Amar are four points clear clear of that

With only a few games to play uh they have seven games remaining so Levi goes down there they next play on Saturday at Providence and uh before uh they have a while before they’re home so they need him that team is starting to heat up a

Little bit again when it comes to the prospects uh Yuri Kulik uh has been playing a little bit better as of late although he’s still not finding the back of the net as much as you would hope but I’m excited for the playoff run in Rochester it was exciting last year they

Went all the way to the semi-finals playing the Hershey Bears Isaac Roseanne Yuri Kulik are playing great again um although as I mentioned they’ve kind of slowed down the second half of the year that’s mostly it for me though I mean we know the guys Lucas rusek down there

Brandon brro Brett Murray Michael Mish lenus weissbach like there are some over aers down there but the prospects that you are going to care about are going to be Kik Rosine and Devin Levi and then oh also Anton Wahlberg who just uh showed up there second round pick

Um I don’t know what they plan on doing with him in terms of playing he’s played two games one assist in the two games we’ll see how much he plays in the playoffs um and then we’ll see who else gets there because Matthew seavo we’re talking about here also Noah Olen who I

Think is eligible to go there after his season ends but I don’t know the timing of that and whether or not he actually will but seavoy is the one that’s more interesting to me what is Rochester’s plan going to be with Matthew seavoy after what happened last year and if you

Remember what happened last year this the AMS got Matt seavoy after his Junior season had ended they put him in for two games in the AHL semifinals and he did not play well he did not do much at all kind of disappeared didn’t play well at

All but it was only two games and it was at the end like part of it is hey the seasons’s on the line right so what did they do they benched him they did not give him that experience they did not give him that opportunity to to get big

Meaningful games in the AHL playoffs as a as the one of the best prospects and important players in the sabers organization what they did instead was they played Austin strand who was a eighth defenseman who had played 11 games total for the amirs as their seventh defenseman now they put him in the

Lineup and they took seavoy out and if and there was other roster moves too um but that was like the one that would that stuck out to me wait a minute you’re putting this guy in your lineup after not playing at all in the playoffs and you’re taking seavoy out listen I

Understand if you want to take seavoy out because you’ve got some guy on the bench that is worthy of playing veteran that scored a bunch of goals but you are trying to win a series here why not have the unknown of this first round Star level saber prospect that maybe heats up

In a couple of games or as one big game for us instead we’re going to put this guy in to play seven minutes on the blue line that we know is not going to do anything to help us never made sense to me and the logic that was used to defend

It was just psychotic it is what I will go to the Grave that is one of the dumbest weeks of my life because I could not believe people thought that that dude strand no offense to him but deserve to be in the lineup over maybe

You get a crazy good game out of Matt seavoy seavoy has gone back to Juniors and he’s way too good for the WHL he should not I mean he shouldn’t be down there and that’s more of a rules problem um you’ve had the AHL and the CHL just

They they’re not allowed to play in the AHL at a certain age CHL agreement but he should be in the AHL he has 33 goals in 37 games since the Sabers returned him 33 goals in 37 games unbelievable he has three in the playoff for Moosejaw four in the playoffs for

Moosejaw um excuse me that wasn’t updated I forgot he scored a second goal last night he actually has 34 goals in 37 games in Moosejaw since being returned so he’s been crazy good if his Junior season ends in time to catch the amirs in the playoffs I mean they gotta

Play them they just got to play them learn your lesson that series ended by the way last year with seavo on the bch and they lost one to nothing so could have used a guy that was out of your lineup that has some ability off offensively seavoy should play a big

Meaningful role and you know if I’m being really uh uh picky here I’d really love to see seavoy with Kik and Rosine on the same line I mean that would be ideal and that would really get saber fans in tune I think for the uh for the

Amers playoffs so we’ll see what they do we’ll see how seavo Junior season continues um I know they’re doing well with Moosejaw uh so we’ll see how that goes for uh for him uh but the amicks playoffs were still a couple of weeks away from that getting going when we

Come back mailbag before we wrap things up today here on the locked on Sabers podcast we are presented by Robin Hood did you know that even if you have a 401k for retirement you can still have an IRA Robin Hood is the only Ira gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you

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Sipc is a reg registered broker dealer all right final segment here on the locked on Sabers podcast Sabers and flyers Friday night at 7 o’clock it is time for a mailbag edition of today’s show which we always have fun with these are coming from our texter on our locked

On Sabers text line join sub.com loock ons saers if you want to sign up all right question one who’s the Sabers version of trading away Stefan Diggs I tackled this yesterday on the show if you missed it check it out it’s the Ryan O’Reilly trade for me I really wonder if

Terry Pula what wanted Brandon Bean to make this trade and I wonder how much Bean wanted to and we know that was the situation when they traded Ryan O’Reilly I wonder about Pula for that second how much should the first round pick be in play this year I think there

Should be a less than 5% chance we make the pick I don’t know about that it’s a top 10 pick I mean in theory I agree with you you package a top 10 pick with a star Prospect and go get me a superstar uh I like that but I got to put it

Higher than 5% just because I don’t know how How likely that is to be available to the Sabers How likely a player like that will become free but if there’s a guy Brady kachu or someone like that COV that becomes available then I would agree with you that I would be mad if

The Savers made their first round pick um there’s also 5% Chance by the way it’s first overall if it’s if that happens you you can’t say less than 5% chance to make the pick if the pick is number one overall that’s at 5% so it’s got to be at least five because even

This texter I don’t think would tell me that he’d want to trade the pick if they got Macklin cerini at number one especially given that he’s a center next up question three what’s your ideal realistic lineup for next season coaches included all right so this is something

That I’m going to get really in the Weeds on after the season is over but I’ll give give you a a rough draft of the lineup that I’ve got for the start of next season Tage Thompson Alex tuck JJ PKA I’ve loved that line together recently the speed I got Skinner with

Cousins and Quinn I just don’t know where to put Skinner that’s going to be a tough one for me but I’ll put him with cousins and Quinn I’ve got Benson With Yuri Kulik centered by Boon Jenner I think Jenner is a realistic trade Target we’ve talked a lot about him uh in saber

Twitter recently uh Center third line guy would be a really strong third line Center I think he makes sense between two kids on line three and then I got Krebs and Greenway in line four and I don’t have a fourth guy I don’t want garson’s back uh Scott lon’s come up but

I’m going to have to really dive into those fourth line free agent types and see who makes sense for the Savers coaching wise I would like to see Lindy Ruff be the coach no doubt about it and who were Lindy’s assistant coaches back in the day well Kevin Adams but that’s

Not happening all right next up question four if we sign petka and Quinn is a future forward uh because we know who he is are we realistically looking next offse for a third line Center to support Kik and Skinner I just mentioned Bo Jenner I think veteran makes sense I

Think kolie can play center seavo can play center I don’t know that you want to put a kid though in that spot and I listen I wanted to see pton Krebs in that role I’m not impressed he’s got to show me something in these final six

Games or you’re not going to find me this summer campaigning for uh pton Krebs to be their third line Center so yes I think veteran is probably the most realistic outcome for that spot all right next up if Adams made to trade this host would rather have l or Boon Jenner I’d

Go with Jenner l no thanks this he is bigger Victor olivon at this point in his career I don’t want any part of that should Levi this is question five should Levi have a chance at being the starting goalie next year I’ll say yes but not the first chance ukap peka Lucan has

Earned every right to be the starting goalie at the start of next season but we saw how this season went Devon Levi earned the to get this the starters net at the beginning of the year he played four games and Uka Lucan and stole the job from him that’s what should happen

Next year you go into the year you play Lucan in the first five games of the year if you want but whatever you go into the year and upl’s your number one and if he struggles a little bit and Devon Levi shows up and is incredible which I think is possible then Devon

Levi is your starter uh so I think it could be the same situation next year that it would be this year where you start one guy but if the if your plan changes then be willing to change it so I would be willing to put Levi in there

As the starter at some point and finally our final question of the day which prospects have the best chance of making the team next year also what are your thoughts on Noah Olen where he projects to be next year next year I think Olen is almost undoubtedly in Rochester I

Think the Sabres want him in North America I think Olen has said that he will eventually be in North America um I think Rochester for sure for him you never know though Benson surprised me so maybe osen could too the prospects I think have the best chance if I were

Going to rank them in order I would go Ki number one I don’t know who to put to actually I might go a tie for a second with Rosine and Matt seavoy I think seavoy excites me more but timeline wise Rosine makes more sense I might go Rosine

Because seavoy I could put him in Rochester and that’s still a step up for him right that’s a that’s a better level of competition for him than Juniors so maybe start the year for him in Rochester whereas Rosine if he gets passed by another saber Prospect that’s younger than him then

I’m starting to wonder if he’ll ever be an NHL I’d like to see Rosine in the NHL next year what in whatever role bottom six but it’s time you’ve played you’ve played for him what is it two or three full seasons in Rochester it’s two full seasons in Rochester and that was after

A year in Sweden I at 21 years old he’ll be 20 uh no he is he just turned 21 uh 21y old season I think I want him in the NHL getting a crack at it so I might put him number two Sao number three also number

Four all right it’s going to do it for us today here on the locked on Sabers podcast thanks everybody for listening Sabers and flyers tomorrow night 7 o’clock we’ll talk more about the flyers uh we talked a little about John torella yesterday Danny Brier how’s his season

Going as Flyers GM we’ll talk about them and comparing them to the Sabers tomorrow stay tuned for that and be sure to check out lock on sports today they’ll be talking Lots about Stefan digs today uh if you’re tired of all that shouting ESPN Fox Sports be sure to

Check out lock on sports today YouTube or the free Fire TV channels app as well talk to you tomorrow here on the lockdown Sabers podcast part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day

The NHL adopting the NBA’s play-in tournament, expanding the playoff format, has popped back up as a topic of conversation. Sneaky Joe says the league should adopt the format BECAUSE of teams like the Buffalo Sabres.

Plus, Matt Savoie is lighting up juniors. Will he play a role in the Amerks playoff run? And a fan mailbag!

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