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Episode 10 - Bills be Billsin' and Sabres Season Prep!
61 Plays2 years ago
The boys have a therapy session to debrief from the Bills loss to the Jags in London. They also gear up for the Sabres season!
3 buds. 2 teams. 1 city - The "Let's Go Buffalo" Podcast. Your new favorite podcast for all things Sabres and Bills. Our mission is to be your guide through the ups and the downs of being a Buffalo Sports fan. We are not members of the media nor are we experts - we’re just 3 friends who love our hometown teams and want to bring you along for the ride. This podcast will be for both veteran and newly ordained fans. We’ll have in depth conversation and debate with a few “newbie” questions sprinkled in to keep everyone afloat. Thanks for being here!
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Transcript
Introduction and Social Media
00:00:09
Speaker
You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo Podcast, your new favorite podcast for everything, bills and sabers. What's going on everybody? You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo Podcast
00:00:28
Speaker
your favorite podcast for all things bills and sabers with the pals, Nigel, Tom, and Jake. Episode 10 is coming at you. Quick reminder, peeps, to follow our social medias. You can find us on Instagram and X at let's go buff pod. That's buff with two Fs. Let's say hello to the fellas.
Personal Updates and Future Episodes
00:00:54
Speaker
Tom, how are we doing? Are we upright?
00:00:57
Speaker
Uh, upright, um, and for a guy who is a teacher and is not working on indigenous people's days, um, I should be slightly more cheery, but, um, no, man, I'm good. I'm good. I'm glad we're here. Had some time to decompress and kind of get that, uh, that, um, well, I'm sure we'll talk a lot about, um, out of the system a little bit, but yeah, Jake, what's up with you, bud? I am great. This is the last podcast we'll record before the saver season opens that we'll get into later, but I'm pumped.
00:01:26
Speaker
Shoo! Yeah, buddy. That is exciting, I'm pumped. Yep, something to look forward to there. Yeah, it's been a tough couple days here in, well, at least a tough, about a tough 24 hours now in Bill's Land, which we'll get into. But yeah, man, some exciting things to talk about for the savers as well, which
00:01:46
Speaker
we will get into. Be on the lookout for this week, folks. We're going to throw two episodes at you. So this one is, like I said, episode 10. And episode 11 will be coming at you probably in a couple days from now. But we're going to get into a pretty in-depth Giants preview with a good friend of ours.
00:02:08
Speaker
That'll be something to watch for this week. Stay on your toes. Yeah, stay on your on your on your toes, peeps. But I guess for right now, folks, I'm certainly ready to crack a beverage. How about you, gents?
Podcast Beverages Discussion
00:02:20
Speaker
Yes. Yes, please. Here we go, buddies. Ready? Three, two, one. Delicious. Yes, please. Torpedo. Yes, please. What are you drinking, my guy?
00:02:38
Speaker
I am dipping back into the swift water well and drinking a hefeweizen from them, a German style wheat beer.
00:02:47
Speaker
It's the season for that German style. Happy October. Sure is. Tom, what about you, buddy? Speaking of seasons, I am getting a little spooky and I got a harpoon UFO journey to planet pumpkin. Tom, you spooky guy, you. I know. I know. I remember being in our 312 apartment in Ithaca, Tom, and absolutely just crushing the southern tier pump kings.
00:03:12
Speaker
Oh, dude, that's gonna, oh, I gotta get one for one other pod. Those things are like, it's like just staking.
00:03:19
Speaker
a pumpkin pie through a siphon. Yeah, you know, like I remember some tough mornings drinking way too many of those in that rundown apartment that was not architecturally sound. No, no, not at all. Well, boys, I've got a nice beverage here from Industrial Arts Brewing Company. I've got the torque wrench here. It's a hazy double IPA. It says sticky and tropical, which
00:03:48
Speaker
I don't know if there's a better way to describe me personally. But yeah, this should get me cruising pretty nicely. It's an 8.2 ABV. So maybe maybe I'll maybe I'll get get going on a nice rant here at some point.
00:04:06
Speaker
All right. Well, I guess let's get to get into our bills recap here. I'll
Bills' Recent Performance and Injuries
00:04:12
Speaker
start. What the fuck? That absolutely sucked, dude. That was what a shitty start to the Sunday. Yeah, I just. Oh, man, there's like so many things that I guess you can talk about and I just.
00:04:31
Speaker
There's a lot of there's a lot of really, really, really big negative things that came out that have absolutely nothing to do, nothing to do with the record or the bills have now or the outcome of that game. But just man, I'm so tired of watching this team drop games to lesser opponents to like you like you can set your watch to it. It's fall when the leaves are changing and it starts to get a little bit colder and the bills lose to somebody they freaking shouldn't.
00:05:00
Speaker
Yes, I don't know what the Jaguars like they have. I don't know what it is. I don't understand. It's it's it's yeah, not the way I wanted to start my Sunday. I was all excited. Nine thirty football. Let's go. Oh, my God. Do I know? Like, let's go then watch the rest of the slate and feel happy and good about what's going on. And I think.
00:05:21
Speaker
There are, there's not much you could have added that would have made that game a worse outcome for a Bill's trip to London and back. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I don't think there's much. I really don't know. Jake, did you have any thoughts that you wanted to share about the game there and off the top of your head? I guess just, yeah, that like letting, letting the Jaguars escape situations where we should have had him pinned. I can't count the number of times where they were on their.
00:05:46
Speaker
10 or less yard line on third and long. And somehow, some way Calvin Ridley's open and they get the first down. I can tell you how. All right, we're just going to go there. We're just going to go there. No, that's Kyer Elam. That's how. We're going to be a little disorganized tonight, folks. No, it's Kyer Elam, this first round draft pick who is supposed to be a stud, who is supposed to be able to be a locked down corner.
00:06:06
Speaker
He played man coverage like really well in college. That's what he's known for. And he's he was put in that situation. McDermott had him go in and was playing man his strength. And this guy like he wasn't in the same zip code as Calvin Ridley. He wasn't close. He wasn't close. I don't even know where to start. He was the reason why they converted all those different social relations, important situational plays.
00:06:33
Speaker
And he just was a liability. Eventually he got replaced by a practice squad, Jamarcus Ingram. Nope. No, this is no shakes against Jamarcus Ingram. None at all. But this is a first round's top 25 pick. Second year, not his first year, right? He's a second year player and he needs to come in and lock that down. Especially when we go down a player, he knew all week he was going to be playing. He knew all week he was going to be there. And that's, that's a problem. I am not impressed.
00:07:01
Speaker
Yeah, dude, it is. It is concerning and a handoff, dude, because a lot of people, a lot of people did say this, that they didn't think he had it, man. And I was, I was one of those people that vouched for him. Like I, cause I, listen, man, if you go back to that Miami game last year in the playoffs,
00:07:16
Speaker
I'm not sure we win that game without some of the plays that Kyrie Elam makes. But that's not the same Kyrie Elam I've seen. It's I don't understand. And but that's that's the thing that sucks, man, is because it looks like I mean, that Kyrie Elam exists like there's a world where he's there. So I'm just trying to figure out why the why the epic regression here. Can you hang it on a sophomore slump? Is it still like you still try and hold on to this guy and think that he can turn it around? I don't know. But I'll tell you what, man, when we made this pick,
00:07:46
Speaker
I was banging the table for Creed Humphrey and I'm starting to look like I really, really, really knew what I was talking about there, which, I mean, it wasn't a blind take on my end, but it looked like, I mean, Creed Humphrey looks absolutely sick for the chiefs.
00:07:59
Speaker
All the God, he's a top three center in the league. He's a top three center and he's in his second year and he's going to be for the next 10. Yeah. Like that was absolutely a drop by, um, by Brandon Bean and not to pick this, this kid right now is, is in my, on my blacklist and he's, he's got a big hole to dig out for me. Yeah. Well, I guess we should talk about maybe Jake, Jake, did you want to add anything to that? No, no, no, no. I agree.
00:08:24
Speaker
I guess maybe what we can do here is talk about why he has to be in there. And obviously we talked about Trey White. The Christian Benford not playing yesterday, dude, that to me was a surprise. Yeah, I agree. I was under the impression that he was going to go. For me, man, so obviously Kyrielyn can't start.
00:08:47
Speaker
right like he showed that like yeah so the we are we are at this point and this is assuming benford plays this coming sunday night um assuming he plays we are still one injury away to either benford or dane jackson from kairi illam playing meaningful snaps for this football team so jake i'll just get your opinion because i think this is you don't have to be a
00:09:09
Speaker
a football guru to just have an opinion on this one. If you're the GM and you know that you're one injury away from Kyrie Elam playing meaningful snaps, how aggressive are you being to improve the depth at that position? Are you riding with the guys you have or are you trying to be a little bit more aggressive and trying to acquire somebody?
00:09:30
Speaker
I mean, I guess aggressive because like you guys said, he didn't look good to you guys. He didn't look good to me, someone that doesn't really know what they're talking about, but you could see the gaps and the misplays that he had. So, I mean, I would answer and say aggressively. I just don't know how easy it is to go out and find the serviceable cornerback. They're not giving them away, right? No, they're not. Week five, like almost every team is still hanging on to the hopes of
00:09:55
Speaker
winning with their roster, right? So, I don't know. I mean, it's unfortunate that a practice squad guy comes up and like you said, nothing against your Marcus Ingram, but a first round draft pick playing cornerback in his second year shouldn't be replaced by somebody that is almost by definition, a replaceable player. They landed on a practice squad to start the year, right? So, it doesn't bode well, no.
00:10:17
Speaker
Oh, and my biggest issue is that if that was the only, if we had just the Trey white injury and that was it just for folks, I don't know if everybody's all cut up. He is out with an Achilles. He's getting surgery done, most likely out for the year. I don't think we're going to see him for the rest of the year. I don't know if we actually had that news last week.
00:10:35
Speaker
But not only do we have Trey White out in the secondary, we have Matt Milano injury this past game and Daquan Jones injury. The three best players at all three levels out, it's not just one injury. I now have concerns across the board.
00:10:54
Speaker
And that's what hurts the most, right? Like the loss is what it is. It sucks losing to a Jacksonville team. Not a bad team by any means, but the injuries hurt more. You take the loss, you take your lumps. It happens in the NFL, but the injuries for the rest of the year are just tough to stomach.
00:11:11
Speaker
Yeah, so yeah, both players at this point confirmed by Brandon being will require surgery. He has not yet gone as far as to label them both out for the season. I would think best case scenario. Both guys like Milano's probably if he's able to come back and this is obviously a huge if best case scenario probably January like for the playoffs. Yeah.
00:11:34
Speaker
Daequan Jones probably right around the same. Maybe a hair earlier if you want to be optimistic. But yeah, dude, that is.
Lineup Changes and Defense Speculation
00:11:42
Speaker
And at the time, I could push back a hair and say that Oliver is probably the best player on that defensive line right now. But sure. Yeah, it is right there playing the best part of it. We've seen him play so well, at least it's frustrating and just it just I can't imagine being on the team, me being a fan. I might the air was just sucked out of the room for me.
00:12:02
Speaker
I can't imagine being in that locker room. So what does that mean going forward then? So at this point, right? I mean, we're down a lot of starters. Von Miller still is not full systems go currently also down Greg Russo. He didn't play down Daquan Jones down Matt Milano down Christian Benford down Trey White. That's six starters. That's more than half of your
00:12:28
Speaker
Starting unit so oh man Sean's got his work cut out for him, dude He's got his work cut out for him now. I want to I want to talk about mr. Sean McDermott in a minute here, but real quick Tom
00:12:41
Speaker
What is the starting? Let's let's say none of these guys come back for next week, right? Same six guys are injured. Let's go down. And what's what's our starting? What's the starting lineup? So let's start. So let's start the line. So it's going to be Floyd and Appanessa, who and I said, we're going to get into a moment. That guy played his brains out. So happy for him. Love. We'll get to him in a bit because I want to stay in my sadness cloud.
00:13:05
Speaker
The so those two will be edge. I think it's going to be Puna and Jordan Phillips. We're going to see really see what this Puna Ford signing is all about because he has not been active all year. This is his chance to come in and prove. OK, he is a significant player and a big piece on this line.
00:13:22
Speaker
And then I think it's going to be Dorian Williams and Terrell Bernard in the middle of that defense. I really do. Like, let's see it. Let's go see what this tools, the athletic third round pick rookie and Dorian Williams can do. Let's let's let them go play ball. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen there. Oh, man, I really don't. I think they're probably going to put in dots.
00:13:50
Speaker
Unfortunately, I hope that I hope that we need upside at this point, right? We need the upside. We cannot play for the floor. And you saw both guys play too.
00:13:59
Speaker
Dory Williams, I thought, played pretty well. He was flying around making some decent plays. Dotson also made some nice plays. It could be a by
Frustrations with Coaching Decisions
00:14:05
Speaker
committee situation. I don't know. Thankfully, you still got Hyde and Poyer back there. That's some huge piece for the communications. That is huge. Yes. Yes. Dane Jackson, dude. Dane Jackson. He looked great overall. So many great open field tackles. I thought he played really well. And then obviously we just have to say our prayers that Christian Benford can play because
00:14:28
Speaker
If Kyrie is going to go, I mean, Oh, Lord, help me. We're watching it in person. So Nigel, you have to share with my eyes, pal. We're going to have to. We're going to be in that stadium for Sunday Night Football against the Giants this week. You're going to have to like, I'm going to go put myself in over Kyrie.
00:14:43
Speaker
Um, I gotta get into some coaching gripes that I have here. Um, and then, um, I'm going to, I'm going to take over here, but if you guys want to hop in, obviously just, just say so. Um, I'm getting really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really sick and tired of watching Sam LaPorta look this good and watching Dalton Kincaid look this useless.
00:15:02
Speaker
I don't think Dalton Gage is doing anything wrong. I think the usage so far is super underwhelming for a guy like this and what he can do for a defense. And I'm watching Sam La Porta absolutely ball out for that Detroit offense. And it's making me absolutely nauseous. I don't know what the answer is there. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I think
00:15:23
Speaker
You know the answer is just automatically start throwing him up the seam non-stop, but I am absolutely sick and tired of it I don't know why these tight ends aren't doing more. They're both too good
00:15:36
Speaker
I don't understand why it's it's it's Dorsey not queuing up these easy buttons for Josh Allen. He needs to just put them in some crossers across the middle of the field, put them in conflict with defenseman who aren't sized the same way they are. Like he needs to start just I don't I don't get it. It's in my big frustration is
00:15:56
Speaker
Game one against the Jets. Dorsey looked like a kid who's got his lunch stolen. Then game two through four. He looked like a genius. He looked so great. It was awesome. And now game five against the Jaguars, he looked like he just pooped his pants and then smeared it all over his playbook and decided to call from there. Like, I don't understand the difference. I don't know. Because Josh Allen played really well. He writes? Is that the podcast name right there? Is that poop his pants on the playbook? That's it.
00:16:27
Speaker
That got me pretty good. Cat was just a little jet lagged. Okay, should we get into that? Should we get into that? Well, I think so. Despite the injuries, and I know they're playing on a... They took away the grass field and brought the turf out for the game at Tottenham Spurs Stadium. Because that's better, right, Jake? That's a healthy thing to do?
00:16:50
Speaker
It's gotta be better it's artificial so it's it's it's bouncier and springier for you don't play in the same field as football players as european football players we have better for fields. But you guys think that it is good experience for the players to be put in a little adversity go across the pond play at a different time you know and and just just get that experience no no i don't think that i can't even take you seriously.
00:17:16
Speaker
Bro, I, oh my God, if there's ever a way, I don't know how it'll ever happen. Roger Goodell, I hope you hear this. And I hope you listen and I hope you listen well. You are the most appalling, greedy piece of shit I have ever seen in my entire life, dude, is if you don't have enough goddamn millions, dude, you feel the need, and now look,
00:17:44
Speaker
I am going to, I am going to blame this travel. And what I'm not going to do is totally excuse the players and Ken Dorsey and Sean McDermott, who I got a grip with him too. I'm not, I'm not going to pin it on the ref student, but oh my God, these are, these are elite pristine top of the line.
00:18:06
Speaker
Like, like throw, like throw a piece of sand in the mechanism and the mechanism fall apart, falls apart. Like finally tuned athletes, man. And you want them to travel to Europe and play a football game against a team that has already been there.
00:18:24
Speaker
for over a week, dude. I am so goddamn sick of this playing in London bullshit, dude. Because there's a clip going around right now anyway of Goodell being like, yeah.
00:18:37
Speaker
It's going to be a great experiment. Does it end up being one advantage for the team that's been there or is it an advantage for the team that just got there? How can we not know ahead of time? Like, dude, are you fucking kidding me? We have to fucking know. Yes. Roger, you know how small a window is for a team to win a championship, and you're going to fuck with ours because you need somebody to be a lab rat?
00:18:56
Speaker
it is
00:19:16
Speaker
And all it is is it's just all about the money, dude. It's just shit. Yeah. About anybody's knees or limbs. Take out the grass. Put on the turf. Godel doesn't care. I am like. Because look at the second half of that game, dude, second half of that game, we beat the shit out of them. Yeah. But we just couldn't. We are had was so couldn't get there stuck on the plane still for the first half of the game.
00:19:39
Speaker
Travis Etienne started running back for the Jaguars, is quoted today or earlier this week saying, oh my gosh, we felt so good. We felt so good. And we were seeing them feel like we felt last week when they played, when Jaguars played Atlanta in London and then stayed the extra week. He's like, oh my gosh, we had the energy. We had the juice and they didn't. And we saw that in them. Like that should be example number one. That should be example number one of this trial.
00:20:08
Speaker
for why this is a dumb idea. Now you watch, dude, I bet. I bet this won't be a thing going forward. I bet. I bet it will. No, no, no. I bet. I bet you. I bet you you won't see teams. You won't see a situation where one team's been there for a week already. Well, you know what, then that freaking sucks, because I'm glad we were the only ones who ever experienced that. Well, you know what, dude, that seems to be a lot of the way we're from Buffalo, right? That's exactly. Yeah.
00:20:33
Speaker
Well, at least the bills only lost a home game to travel 3500 miles across an ocean. Yeah, don't even get me started on that. Shout out bills mafia who were there. We could hear you on the broadcast. Yeah, for sure. You were huge. That was that was pretty sick to hear you guys sing in the shout song and make noise like that was cool. But I got it. And I can't imagine being there.
00:20:52
Speaker
I got to have one more grip here. And it's with Sean McDermott, dude. My Lord Almighty, how many times can you blitz, watch the blitz not be successful and decide to keep blitzing, dude? I like, there was that play at the end of the game where it was third and like four, I want to say. And he's at this point, he's blitzed like,
00:21:14
Speaker
five of the last seven third down, something like that. It's been unsuccessful every time. Lawrence has attacked the attack the blitz and found an open guy. And I'm like, OK, dude, just drop seven. Don't let's just drop seven and let your front four get there. What does he do? He blitzes. And what does this blitzing scheme do? Isolates Mike a freaking hide against Calvin Ridley one on one at one of the most crucial points of the entire game. Like, dude,
00:21:44
Speaker
you can't like it's it's not it's not it's not like the run game where establishing it like really opens up a lot of things in your playbook dude stop with the blitz when it's not working a guy like Trevor Lawrence is going to exploit it and make you continue to pay like he did all afternoon I couldn't understand it for the life of me dude it was driving me crazy
00:22:04
Speaker
Yeah, that was ridiculous. It just kept going. It kept happening. It never stopped. I didn't understand. Like I'm watching it. I'm like, OK, eventually he's going to stop. And he keeps going. And I'm like, OK, he's got to stop this drive. Right. And what does he do? Blitz is on third and three. And it's immediately a conversion for third and eight because Trevor Lawrence is smart and threw it right at the blitz. Right. Like my God, Sean. Huh.
00:22:29
Speaker
Yeah. And then, you know what? My last gripe is going to be with this Buffalo Bills offense. We've already kind of touched on it. And I mean, Josh Allen, you're going to look at the stat sheet. You look like you had a fine game. But you cannot start a game in the first half with four punts. Then come out for the second half and start with two punts and expect to win a game. I don't understand. I mean, knock on wood, the offense came out pretty clean. They didn't have many injuries. They weren't banged up. It was all on the defensive side.
00:22:57
Speaker
How are we supposed to expect this defense to hold on for their dear lives? And we'll kind of give some flowers in a little bit here, because I do think they played really well considering the circumstances. It wasn't the defense who lost this game. It was the offense waiting until the last four minutes to come alive, and so they can actually have a pulse and actually put some points on the board. Correct. Yep, I agree with that a little heartedly, Tom.
00:23:21
Speaker
All right. Well, let's get into some of those hours here. I feel later, actually. Yeah. And it's kind of cathartic to get on here and just just bitch with you guys.
Bills' Offensive Analysis
00:23:30
Speaker
We kind of touched on it, but Josh did. I mean, if you again, you look at his stat line, it did ultimately look pretty good. Hard to hard to put a lot on him. It was just too slow. It just took too long to get going. Yeah. And I think I think the other thing that's really tough in this running game was non-existent.
00:23:48
Speaker
Where was I mean, they were so physical against Miami last week. And then it looked like they were like, I don't know, made of like tissue paper. It was bad. It was bad. No two ways about it. Josh was the leading rusher with 14 yards. Like, that's a I know he's a good rusher, but that's that's a problem. Yeah. AJ up and that's a man. He talk about a guy who stepped up when he was when he was needed. What do you have three to four like past deflections right at the line of scrimmage?
00:24:18
Speaker
Yeah, he's got that fly slaughter working. Yeah. Yeah, dude. He had some really big plays yesterday that led to the Bills getting the ball back on offense. I don't think he had any sacks. I don't I think he had one. I want to say I'll go. I'll do a little producing here. I'll let you guys keep talking. I'll find a stat sheet.
00:24:34
Speaker
Yeah, so he was huge, man. It's nice to see him come up like that in a big moment where you don't have a Greg Russo. Von Miller is on a pitch count. Yeah, dude, just really good to see him have that kind of game, for sure. And then Diggy continuing to be wide receiver one. I mean, again, you can't ask for much more than him.
00:24:58
Speaker
What you can ask for is a little bit more contribution from everybody else. I mean, Gabe Davis still a nice day yesterday. You know, can't can't knock him. But I think like Gabe Davis and stuff on digs account for like 96 percent of the touchdowns so far from this team, it would be nice to see. Nice to see some other guys get in the end zone a little bit. Trent Sherfield, Dalton Kincaid. Nice to see James Cook get a couple more tuds in there. So I don't know, Jake, any thoughts on those guys?
00:25:26
Speaker
Uh, yeah, just spread the wealth around. Um, I, I agree. I thought Gabe Davis had a good game. One, one drop that was noticeable that I thought he probably should've had, but that's like a second of the, of the year. And last year he looked like he had real dropsies, right? Like, so he's been all right with that. You're right.
00:25:49
Speaker
Like he would and he I mean we had that that one touchdown drive the second touchdown we scored He caught it. He made a great catch. Boom had a reset Offensive pass interference play it again. He catches again in another really tough catch like he came in and he played Yeah, it was good. Yeah, you're absolutely right And then the defense dude, I mean, you know all those injuries are
00:26:14
Speaker
They still have really had some great moments, dude. I mean, you hold you hold a team that's got some weapons there. I mean, Trevor Lawrence is an elite quarterback, dude. Calvin Ridley, Travis Etienne has some speed. Evan Engram is no slouch at tight ends. You hold that team to twenty five points, dude, losing, you know, down six starters. I think you got to give those guys some flowers, man. I think that's I think that's all you can ask from that group.
00:26:38
Speaker
especially when our offense is averaging like 32 points a game. Like. And then they just disappear. Just disappear. Oh, it's so frustrating. Yeah. It's just, this is a bills bills or bills and bills or bills. All right, boys. Well, any other football things we want to touch on before we switch gears a little bit here?
00:26:54
Speaker
No, no, I just sometimes wonder why we ride this freaking roller coaster, but we do because we're here and we're masochistic and a little sick at the time, dude. If there was one thing that I could change about myself, I desperately wish I didn't like sports 100 percent. I would trade all this away if I could. I can't stand it. It causes me so much pain. Yeah, but here I am all the same.
00:27:18
Speaker
Well, you're talking to the right people. Yeah, seriously. Right. Yeah, here we are. So well, anyway, so we'll like we said, Nigel said earlier, we we will get to a Bill's Giants preview. But later on, we have a fun little surprise for you all with a little crossover episode. Yeah. But I want to I got I got some two boys across the way here from me who are getting ready for their basically Christmas Eve and their buddy season. So, Jake, get us get us going here, buddy. What are we excited about? Where are we looking? What are we looking at? Let's get going, bud.
00:27:47
Speaker
Yeah, let's get
Sabres' Pre-Season Overview
00:27:48
Speaker
going. Well, they kick off their season on Thursday, October 12th against the Rangers at home. So excited for that final rosters got set last night at 5 p.m. So we now have full clarity on how wrong or right we were in our little podcast prediction. Right. Right. Well, yeah, how right we were. So, yeah, let's let's get into that first. Nigel, any any surprises that you saw that you wanted to talk about?
00:28:13
Speaker
I'm honestly not really, dude. I think the biggest surprises for me are the fact that at this time, Zach Benson made the team, bro. I mean, and that is like, it's tough, man, because we've talked about it a little bit.
00:28:32
Speaker
Well, first of all, I'm going to backtrack here. This is really impressive of this kid, right? The kid is 18 years old. He wasn't gifted the spot by any means. Maybe he had a little bit of help with, um, the Matt Savoy injury, but he still had guys like Lucas Rusek, Brandon by row, Brett Murray, right? Like, uh, I'm Yuri Kool-Eek, right? Like legit players in Rochester that he had to beat out for this spot and goddamn dude.
00:28:56
Speaker
The kid flat out did it. Um, so it's going to be real exciting to watch him. He's going to make his NHL debut at 18 years old right after being drafted, which is pretty freaking sick. Um, so that's the biggest surprise, honestly, for me. Yeah. If you said that before training camp, I think it would be a surprise, but given how he played, I don't, I'm not surprised by it anymore. I mean, he just continued to prove why he should be here still.
00:29:21
Speaker
Dude, there's one rookie that had more points than him in this preseason and his name is Connor. So that's pretty decent company to be in. He had more preseason points. This, um, his rookie preseason than Jack Eichel did. Um, so, I mean, the kid right now, dude, looking, looking like he could be a contributor early on here. It's pretty sick. Yeah. How often does that happen across the league? That, uh, like a rookie, rookie player makes the team and makes a contribution.
00:29:47
Speaker
I think, I think the big thing here, the really notable thing is how often does the 12th, 12th overall pick, right, Jake? 12th or 13th. Yeah. Something like that. I think 13th, 12 teams passed on him before Buffalo got there. How often does that player make the league right out of the bat, dude? I would say rarely to never. Yeah.
00:30:05
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's rare. He's he's young, 18. His 19th birthday occurs after the season ends. Yeah. Oh my God. He's a little baby boy. Yeah, he's a little baby boy. He's just a nugget. All right, Zach, go get your go get your go get to go to bed, buddy. Yeah, right. That time.
00:30:20
Speaker
And then at this point, technically, Matt Savoy is also on the team. He's currently listed as injured. So I don't know really what they're going to do through him. I think at this point, they're still waiting to hear the decision on if he can be exempt from the rules that would not allow him to stay in Rochester. They might try and do a conditioning stint with him in Rochester to keep him there for a little longer.
00:30:44
Speaker
I'm not really sure what's going to happen with him, but as of right now, he is also on the team. He has not been sent back to juniors. Yeah, I think it sounds like he'll start the year on IR so he'll be ineligible for the first seven days, which is I think the first three games that they'll play. You don't know what happens there.
00:31:04
Speaker
With with any player could get injured and he comes back and takes their spot And then I think if he does come back I think they're able to send him on a conditioning stint for two weeks in the ahl to get some games in Okay, that would be nice Yeah, I would like to see that
00:31:20
Speaker
Yeah, me too. I'd love it if he sticks with the team and even if he doesn't, I'd love to see him not have to go back to juniors. That would be the best case scenario. I really, really, really, really hope they can find a way to let him be exempt from that thing because what a waste to send him back down to juniors at this point.
00:31:38
Speaker
So the other surprise for me from the final roster at one, and maybe it's not a surprise given who they are and how the team's operated at the end of last year, but we have three goalies on this roster and I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm correct that this is the only team in the NHL carrying three goalies at the moment. So that's a bit of a, a bit of a hairy situation, but I think there's pluses and minus from it.
00:32:03
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, obviously the big minus is you have to send a guy like Riley Stillman back down. You know, we can't keep him on the team as as the eighth defenseman. So I don't love that. I think Jake and shout out you because you you were the one that kind of mentioned this to me and I shot it down. But I think this is exactly what happened. I think this decision is being made because
00:32:26
Speaker
At this point, they just don't super know. They don't know what to expect from Devin Levi and his rookie season or his first full professional season. None of the, none of the backups really ran away with the job. Yeah. Comrie had the better preseason, but UPL probably looked better towards the end of last season. So I think at this point, they're just doing the thing to keep as many options as they can on the table. As far as the goalie situation, which on one hand can be smart, but does take an important roster spot away, which I don't like.
00:32:54
Speaker
But it does. Yeah. I'm sure they were a bit scared that either Comrie or UPL would not clear waivers and they had a better chance with, you know, Stillman who put him through on a day where there's a lot of waiver activity. There's many more defensemen going through waivers than there are goalies. So that could have played into the decision making there. Yeah.
00:33:17
Speaker
So this three-goal situation, what is the way that this comes out looking good that you guys decide this was a good decision? How does that look? If we were halfway through the season, how does this look like, OK, they made the right decision? Do you know what that looks like for you right at the top of your head, Jake?
00:33:31
Speaker
I mean, I don't know if there's like a certain black and white scenario where I say it's good. The reason I think it's a good thing is because like Nigel said, there are a lot of unknowns. We don't know how Devin Levi will play as the 1A goalie on an NHL team throughout the course of a season. And we know how Eric Comrie and UPL have looked in the 1B role, if you will. And I think there's a lot of question marks there with their games.
00:34:03
Speaker
So yeah, it allows flexibility. You can ride the hot hand, you can see who's playing well, start them and get guys more rest. I think there's an opportunity there for a lot more coaching and development with some of these goalies. All of them are very young or fairly young goalies.
00:34:22
Speaker
Yeah, rotating in for who has the hot hand. I think I think that's what would be a success for me to in a long winded way to answer your question is who's playing well, start them and see what happens. I mean, like I've said before, they play fire wagon hockey. There's going to be a ton of shots on their on their goalies. So let them rest when they have the opportunity to. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. I think Jake pretty much hit that on the head, dude. I would I might if I was going to put a statistical goal on the whole thing.
00:34:53
Speaker
It would be just have ever goalie be above 900 in terms of a save percentage, right? Let's try and stay out of the eights. That's a league average. Yeah, it's all an ugly place to be if you're in the eights as a goaltender. So
00:35:07
Speaker
We'll see what it looks like, man. I'm curious. Maybe it ends up being the right thing. Here's the good thing, man. In the last couple of seasons, this coaching staff and general manager situation have done very little to make me think that it's a bad idea. So I have very little reason not to trust them at this time. So I'm going to ride with it. Yeah.
00:35:31
Speaker
Yeah, man. So, yeah, that's the big one. And then the last really big, not even big, but when we predicted rosters, I wanted to keep Riley Stillman and send Jacob Bryson walking. Don Granado and Kevin Adams felt differently. Don and his most recent interview was, you know, quoted saying how what a great camp he thought Bryson had didn't do anything for me. I think Bryson's a bit of a wimp. I like Stillman's game a lot more.
00:35:58
Speaker
Bryson is a little more offensive upside, but I don't know, man, for me, I like, I just like Stillman's game more as the seventh defensive on the team, but there's a reason I don't get paid to do the job. So that's the last thing I guess. I agree. And I will absolutely scream if Bryson is on one of the three pairs for Thursday night. I don't think he will be.
00:36:17
Speaker
I hope not. He belongs. He belongs is the 70. I'm fine with that. But he should not. He shouldn't be playing more than 40 games for Buffalo's here. Yeah, ideally. Well, speaking of those seven demon, we got one guy we really
Rasmus Daliin's Contract Extension
00:36:30
Speaker
got to talk about. And maybe I can convince him to send me like, I don't know, 10 grand because that could solve most of my problems in my life right now. But Rasmus Daliin inks long term, baby, eight years, 88 million dollars fully guaranteed.
00:36:47
Speaker
Chew. 11 million AAV. The leader of the defense is here to stay. I don't know about you, Jake. For me, it's a hair richer than I was hoping. I was hoping it would come in a little bit closer to 10. But with the salary cap getting projected to go up in the next couple of years, this guy possibly starting to be more consistently in the conversation for Nora's trophy winner, I think you got to do whatever you got to do to get that guy signed. And if 11 million is what gets it done, dude, then
00:37:17
Speaker
I continue to sleep like a baby. How about you, bud? Same. Yeah. I totally agree with you. In a perfect world, would I see it closer to 10? Sure. But I am not willing to sacrifice him not signing for that less than a million dollar increase. Exactly. First of all, the contract does not kick in for this season. It kicks in for the following season.
00:37:43
Speaker
Like you said, that's when the caps will hopefully, as it's been predicted, will start to rise a couple a couple million a year more than it has. So, yeah, as of today, this would make him tied for second for highest paid defenseman in the league. And given his play, especially if he continues or continues where he is or continues to improve, it's worth every penny 100 percent. I agree as well.
00:38:10
Speaker
He's the pulse of the team. I think he's probably going to be your next captain when Akbozo hangs him up. It's worth every cent for me. Yeah. I agree with you. I agree with you. He's also one of the few guys on the team that has a really, really, really consistent physical edge to his game. Yeah. Which I think is huge, which he's developed over the last several years. He's mean. Yeah, he is. He's a prick to play against.
00:38:38
Speaker
Yeah, man, I absolutely I mean, there was never a doubt in my mind this was going to get done. You do what it takes to get to get this deal done. And I'm sure Kevin probably wanted it to be closer to 10. But for all the reasons we just mentioned, you you you signed the 1100 or the $11 million deal and you run. So glad to see that get done. Jake, any thoughts on who the next guy is going to be to sign an extension?
00:39:04
Speaker
Well, Owen Power comes to mind. I know they did so well negotiating over the summer, so I'd like to see that get done, but not necessary. He's an RFA. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, Kevin Adams has done four long-term contracts since he took over.
00:39:23
Speaker
Samuelson and now Dalene. So all four of them, I would say are phenomenal contracts, very team friendly. And so I just, I'm super excited about what he's doing and how he's structuring the team. Yeah, man. Me too, dude. Awesome.
00:39:38
Speaker
All right. Well, Jacob, let's do we'll do a couple. We're going to just real, real, real briefly touch on the first couple of games that the Sabres are going to play this season. Talk about the matchup, things that maybe make us a little nervous, things we like, stuff like that. And then we're going to each all three of us make a couple bold predictions for the Sabres season. Talk about one player oriented thing and then maybe one sort of team oriented thing.
00:40:04
Speaker
So let's start with the Sabres first game of the season which will be this Thursday October 12th at home against the New York Rangers and boy oh boy Jake we talked about this very briefly this team this team definitely scares me dude I don't know about you but um
00:40:22
Speaker
If you just talk about that center depth all alone, you got Sabana Jed, you got Philip Heatle, Nick Bonino, Vincent Trocek, dude, that's a couple real nasty guys that have to go against on that center line there, Barclay Goudreau. So talk to me, give me some thoughts that you have about this Rangers lineup going against the Sabres on Thursday night.
00:40:42
Speaker
Yeah, they're a deep team. They're sound pretty much in every position. I think led by their captain, sorry, not by the captain, led by Adam Fox. He's a monster from the blue line. And you can't discount Artemit and Aaron. I think they have high end talent that can break a game open.
00:41:05
Speaker
I think with a lot of their players, they can be a bit streaky. They can be shut down. I wouldn't say Panarin. I'm not trying to take anything away from him. He's a lights out player. But he can be shut down. He can be invisible in games if you can contain him. I think some of their younger players do not scare me at all.
00:41:30
Speaker
I think about Capo Caco has struggled. Alexi Lefrenier, first overall pick, has looked like dog water. Game in and game out. As the kids say. Yes, as the kids say, yeah. So I think, yeah, I think they have good depth. I think they have really good high-end talent. Their power play scares me a lot with Chris Crider and the Buffalo's weakness at the penalty killing.
00:41:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think those are things to look out for. Play a disciplined game where you keep them to the outside. Try to limit chances that Panarans throws cross-ice.
00:42:07
Speaker
We haven't, we haven't brought up their most important player yet, but I think we should, uh, Igor Shasturkin. Oh, I was going to, you beat me. Who are you going to say? Well, no, I was just going to have, I just typed the name in the chat and I was going to have Tom pronounce the name. I was going to be my game that I did. No, I think, no, I think Jake did a great job. Nice work. You sound good, buddy. Yeah, dude. Igor Shasturkin, man. He's going to, he's the biggest problem. Right? I mean, now I'll also, I mean, dude,
00:42:36
Speaker
throw you a couple names at you here, Jake. Is there a better top four in terms of defenseman in the league? Adam Fox, Jacob Truba, Ke'Andre Miller, Matt Lindgren, or excuse me, Ryan Lindgren, Ryan Lindgren. There's
00:42:51
Speaker
They're up there. Carolina comes to mind. Yeah, that's another really, really, really good decor. Their top four doesn't even include Demetri Orloff. But Jacob True would do like that guy just lives to take heads off. Right. Yeah. Yeah. He's a scary guy. Ryan Lindgren is no joke. And Ke'Andre Miller, I think, is an underrated defenseman in the league, man. So they're deep, like you said. But yeah, I don't know, man. Is this a team, Jake, for you that
00:43:21
Speaker
you think they attack more with speed or with a physical game? That's a good question. I think they do have some speedy players, but I think they succeed more in the cycle and off the rush.
00:43:39
Speaker
I wouldn't, I wouldn't say they use speed to their advantage. I don't know if I would describe any of their players as particularly speed demons, like Filipino, I think has a motor, but like Chris Crider, I don't think he's not like the fastest forward out there. I think they're just very positionally sound and know to get to those dirty areas. Yeah, I don't think.
00:43:58
Speaker
I don't think Chris Crider is the 10th fastest player on the Sabres. I agree, yeah. I mean, the team is a problem, make no mistake. They're a playoff contender, a Stanley Cup contender, for sure. Just Sturkin alone puts them there, for sure. Can you solve him? I think that's what the game comes down to from Buffalo's end.
00:44:18
Speaker
For sure. So before we go on to the next game, it's game one. I got I got to ask what's what are we hoping to see win or loss? Is there something you can come out of seeing?
Sabres' Season Strategy
00:44:28
Speaker
OK, game one of the season. What do you want the Sabres to look like? And what are things you need to be seeing to feel good going forward?
00:44:36
Speaker
Big biggest thing for me dude is Keeping up the offensive intensity that they had last year while also finding a way to be more defensively sound this year You can't let poor Devin Levi get shelled for 45 shots every single game in this first year The poor kid is gonna go home with his tail between his legs not wanting to play hockey anymore so you have to you have to find a way because I mean the Sabres last year I
00:45:02
Speaker
I believe Jay, correct me if I'm wrong, like a top three goals for team in the league. Um, so, but, but way, way, way, way, way too high in goals against. So obviously the trick is, and every team tries to figure this out, but you figured out half the equation, which is more than a lot of teams can say. So you just have to find a way to be a little bit more defensively sound. Jake, go ahead.
00:45:25
Speaker
Yeah, what a lot of rebuilding teams struggle with. So if you're a rebuilding team, you want to be able to figure out the offense. You need high-end offensive players that can put the puck in the net and display that. And what happens on defense? To hell with it. It doesn't matter. Be able to score. It doesn't matter how many goals you give up. When you are ready to make that turn away from rebuilding and be a playoff contender,
00:45:52
Speaker
you need to learn how to tighten up defensively and still not lose that offensive output. And so that's where I think Buffalo is. So like Nigel said, limit the defensive breakdowns that have happened. Every team has defensive breakdowns. They're going to happen. But don't be the number one team in the NHL giving up breakaways and odd man rushes like Buffalo was last year. Try to limit that, try to play a little bit more defensive, but keep that blistering pace in the offensive zone.
00:46:22
Speaker
attack off the rush like they do. And I think you have a successful game plan there. Yep. That's the big one for me. Cool. Sure. All right. Go Sam's touch on it real quick, Jake. The Islanders, they scare me a whole lot less than than the Rangers. A couple of big names here to keep in mind. Matt Barzil, he's still an insanely good player. But as I go down the list, man, I see a lot of guys that are
00:46:52
Speaker
aging pretty significantly or aged or aged. Yeah. And then another team where honestly, the biggest issue for me, dude, probably the goaltending. So Rokin is is a problem. Really, really started to come on strong last year. But yeah, do you look again like Scott Mayfield, not a young guy, 30, not terrible.
00:47:17
Speaker
No, but like Kyle Clutterbuck, Matt Martin, Kyle Palmeri. Can you believe Kyle Palmeri is still in the league? I know, dude. Anders Lee, 33. Matt Martin, 34. Kyle Palmeri, 32. Brock Nelson, 31. Casey Cizek is 32. Like these guys are up there, man. Now that means... Nigel Jake and Tom, 30. Yeah, exactly. But you start to get to a point where like,
00:47:43
Speaker
these guys, yeah, they're, they're hockey IQ is really, really good. But at what point does, does the, the lack of athleticism and youth on the team start to rear its ugly head? I mean, your youngest guy that's got a pulse is Barcelona. He's 26, which is not old or young by any means, but he's in his prime outside of that, dude. I mean,
00:48:04
Speaker
So Barzell definitely scares me. He's a dynamic playmaker. And what I think, one of the only things that excites me about the Islanders, because they are just a dearth of dirty nonsense in the hockey world. But that's a story for another time. What excites me is him and Bo Horvat playing together. They played on the same line for two games, I think, after that trade happened last year. I think they can be a really good line together.
00:48:32
Speaker
Barzell feeding the puck to Horvat. He has a great shot. So I think that's a line to look out for. And like you said, yes, Ilya Sorokin is, I don't think unfair to say top three goalie in the league. Yeah. Top three, top four, top five. You can make a case for any of those for sure. But yeah, he's a brag. Drag this team to relevance, much to my disliking. Yeah. Truth be told, dude, I, I love the Sabres in this matchup. I think our speed is,
00:48:59
Speaker
not a thing this team is going to be able to hang with truly. It's a trap game for me. I think it could be an issue. I think they play a very grinding, slow the game down style that Buffalo needs to find a way to overcome or shift their game plan to play into it. Adam Pelich is a great defenseman. He
00:49:26
Speaker
However many minutes he played last year, no mistakes. He plays mistake-free hockey, and it's just really sound defensively. So he scares me for sure. But I don't know. Yeah, it's a way to find a way to break past their stifling style, the key there.
00:49:45
Speaker
Yeah, well, I think the only way to do that is speed and don't be afraid to get get a little bit nasty in the corners, dude. And then we'll do one more one more quick little touch on. We have Oh God, I just lost it. Lightning. Lightning is the third game of the season. It's a bit of a tricky opening stretch there. Tuesday the 17th against the Lightning.
00:50:09
Speaker
They're a team that for me, dude, they're starting to look at the decline. Are they not?
00:50:17
Speaker
I think, yes, don't bet against the lightning is my mantra, but I think they have been so competitive for so many years that the cracks are starting to show. And what I love about them being early in the schedule for at least one of these matchups is Vasilevsky going down for surgery a couple of weeks before the season.
00:50:41
Speaker
They're starting a backup goalie. And I think it's a you got to win that game in my eyes. That's a divisional opponent with no without their starting goalie who is the best goalie in the league. You got to you got to come away with the win there. Now, Jake, here's a name for you. One of the goalies on this this lightning squad right now, Jonas Johansson, you think there's any chance that they let him suit up against the Sabres that night? Could be. Who's the other goalie on that team?
00:51:11
Speaker
Well, they got three on here right now, so just real quick. Jonas Johansson was a goalie that was in the saber system for a little while and sucked real bad. So we got rid of him. Yeah, now he finds himself with the lightning. Two more names, Jake, that I genuinely, if you lined up four guys, I wouldn't be able to tell you these two guys. Matt Tompkins, Evan Fitzpatrick. Two names I've never heard.
00:51:38
Speaker
Yeah, same here. So I don't even have to be. And now maybe it doesn't even matter because Zach McGosian, Victor Hedman, Eric Cernak, Mikhail Saragachev. That's also a disgusting top four, dude. That's a defensive core that is a little bit older, right? You got the Goshen, 33. You got Hedman, 32. Calvin DeHaan, 32. But you still have Saragachev, this 25, a bunch of young guys there. Saragachev, I
00:52:08
Speaker
I was pounding the table to draft him that year. That was the same year we drafted Alex Nylander. And I flipped a lid because I wanted Sergey Jeff. I did too. You weren't alone. Nope. And then obviously, dude, I mean, you still got some real, real, real nasty forwards. You got to think about Nikita Kuchirov, Steven Stamp Coast, Brayden Point.
00:52:30
Speaker
Um, who drove as a guy for me, like he, there's, there's like 15, 20 games in a season where he just does whatever he wants. It, it, everything happens for him, you know, and it's, it's hard to predict when that will be, but if he's on there, there's, there, there might be no one harder to stop in the league other than non-humans like McDavid. You know what I mean? Like he just, he just takes over the game.
00:52:54
Speaker
Outside of those three guys, though, dude, at least as far as the forwards are concerned, the star power names on this team have definitely lessened. Yeah, for me, it's Kucharov point and. Stamkos, but he again is kind of towards the he's declining. It's tough to say for a guy like Stephen Stamkos' abilities, but he's he's on the back nine. He still shoots the puck like a son of a bitch, though. One of the best snapshots and snapshots in the week, 100 percent.
00:53:23
Speaker
Um, all right. Well, I think that's it for those for the first couple of games there. We should, we should have another, um, another episode before we get to some more games there. So we'll stop right there. Um, let's get into some bold project predictions here. Tom, I miss the sound of your voice. You want to start
00:53:38
Speaker
I would love to. Should we start with player-specific or team-specific? Should we each do a team-specific and then we'll start the list again and do the player-specific? Let's do it. All right. So my first bold prediction of the 2023-2024 season is that the Buffalo Sabres as a whole have a strong first third of the season come out hot.
00:53:58
Speaker
waver a bit in the middle. They have to go find themselves. They're going on a little bit of an odyssey. So they come back together, they put it back, and for the last third, propel their way to the playoffs, breaking the playoff drought, and sabers make it to the playoffs. Yeah, buddy. Love that. Love that, Tom. Yeah, it's about time that we get to those playoffs, huh, boys? You know how superstitious I am. I'm not going to jinx it in a public forum. Yeah, I know.
00:54:28
Speaker
Hi, Jake, what do you got there for your your team goal? So my team goal, bold prediction is as bold as they come. I'm predicting that the Sabres do not finish in the bottom half of the league on the penalty kill. And given how they've performed on the penalty kill for the last 400 years, I think that's pretty pretty goddamn bold.
00:54:53
Speaker
Yeah, it is. 28th last year, 73% on the penalty kill. I'm hoping that improves. We re-sign Zemka Skirgensen's one of our
00:55:05
Speaker
more prominent penalty killing forwards. We brought in Eric Johnson who has through his career been a good penalty killer, particularly for the Avalanche during their juggernaut cup runs. So I'm hoping some of that can rub off. I'm hoping some of our higher end skill guys will contribute on the penalty kill and play those minutes.
00:55:26
Speaker
Try to get the puck into the other zone with some skill guys, not, I love USD, but not just Semgus Gurgensons carrying the puck down the ice. Yeah, yeah, for sure, dude. What's yours,
Sabres' Bold Predictions
00:55:36
Speaker
Nash? All right, well, you said yours was bold, and I think mine makes yours look like a freaking fairy tale. That didn't make sense, but whatever. I am predicting that the Sabres don't just finish as a playoff team. I am predicting in my Super Bowl predictions that they finish
00:55:55
Speaker
as a top three team in the Atlantic. I think they're going to find themselves defensively. I think you're going to see Devin Levi just. I don't know, man, I know he's like a little bit rocking these last few preseason games. I think this kid's just got all the tools and mental components to be an absolutely elite goaltender. I think they're going to I think they're going to make the playoffs as a top three team in the Atlantic.
00:56:20
Speaker
I love it. He just, he looks, I know you can't trust goalies, but he just looks different. I can't put your finger on it. There's no stat you can point to. I trust him with my life at this point. Yeah, me too. All right. Nice carry on what, uh, let's, let's switch to the player side. There's the players and we'll bring us, I'll bring us right back down. Um, well, we talked about a little bit earlier folks, Rasmus Dali, and he signed that big ticket.
00:56:46
Speaker
I'm going to predict that in an effort to prove he deserves every dime of that big ticket, excuse me, that pick ticket. He is going to finish top two in the Norris voting at the end of the season. Norris voting being based solely on the regular season and votes on who is the best defenseman in the league during the regular season. I think, oh, then who wins it?
00:57:12
Speaker
Oh man. I figure he didn't win it if he said top two, otherwise he'd say he won. Well, there's a possibility he does, of course, right? But I think if it's not him... Nigel's hedging his bet a little bit. I think you should go say he wins it.
00:57:35
Speaker
No, no, I think you should I think you should make call your shot now Rasmus Daliin wins the Norris trophy I'll change that in the planning doc right now
00:57:47
Speaker
I grew up with chickens, but I've never heard a more realistic chicken sound. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. All right, Jake, on to you. You're single player for the boldest of bold. My single player. So we're focusing on JJ Paterka. Uh, I'm predicting he has 20 plus goal season and I'm going to change it right now. I'm saying 60 plus points. Um, so last year, 12 goals, 20 assists. Tom, how many points is that? 32.
00:58:16
Speaker
Nice. Well done. This should be a segment. You should make Tom do point math all year. That's what we should do. I'm into it. So JJ Pederka went over to the World Championships after the season ended last year. Played great. I think he was forward of the tournament. He was. For Team Germany.
00:58:37
Speaker
So I'm basing this based off of Dylan Cousins, the offseason prior. Went over, had a great tournament, and came back to Buffalo last year and broke out. Had an incredible year. I'm predicting the same thing to happen for JJ Paterka. He'll come back and look a lot more comfortable as an NHL player, and the points will follow. I like that one.
00:58:59
Speaker
All right, Tom, my final one is that, uh, sir, Devin Levi finishes the season within the top 10 of the league in say percentage, mostly because he taps into his Jedi training and establishes a connection with the force. My goodness gracious. I think that's all that I'm calling for it. Will that, or will that not involve floating above the crease?
00:59:21
Speaker
It absolutely could. It could involve mind control, getting other players to score against their own goalie. It could involve some backflips. It can involve anything you might see on any of the very popular Star Wars series and movies. Real quick, I've got live breaking news here.
00:59:44
Speaker
Uh, bills are signing Josh Norman to the practice squad. So I'm not thrilled at all. That's
Breaking News: Josh Norman Signing
00:59:50
Speaker
me neither. Might as well go on to the geriatric, you know, go and gone.
00:59:54
Speaker
Jake, you think you could suit up with cornerback this season? No, my God. We signed him two or three years ago, and we thought he was old then. I thought he was still on the moon when Derek Henry, from when Derek Henry sent him there on that stiff arm, dude. Oh, my God. Brandon Bean, do better. I didn't realize he came back down from the moon, dude. Welcome back, Josh Norman. Well, I guess we have to fill Jamarca Zingram's spot on the practice spot. Sure do. Practice squad. So we have to put somebody there. All right, Tom, do you want to take us out of here, buddy?
01:00:23
Speaker
Yeah, on that note, let's let's close this out before any other breaking news, please. OK. All right, folks. Well, hey, thanks for hanging out with us and sticking it through.
Closing Remarks and Social Media Reminder
01:00:32
Speaker
Go see some Buffalo sports this weekend. Bills are the Giants Sunday, October 15th at 8 20 p.m. on the broadcast. Look for two drunk doofuses in the in the crowd. Nigel and I will be there loud and proud.
01:00:47
Speaker
Um, then the Sabres are playing their first three games of this season. So you got to tune in Thursday night opener at home versus the Rangers, October 12th at 7 PM. Then they take on the Islanders on Saturday, October 14th at 7 30 PM.
01:01:02
Speaker
And then they take on the lightning on Tuesday, October 17th at 7 30 p.m. So please tune in, root for the boys. Let's go Buffalo. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for spending some time with us. It would mean a lot to us if you would please share this episode. Give us a like. Give us a follow. Go play it for your grandma. I don't really care like this. Let's get some. Share this. We have some cool things going on. We'd love to have you guys along for the season. Please follow us on Instagram and X at Let's Go Buff Pod. That's two F's.
01:01:32
Speaker
These are my pals, Jake, that's Nigel. My name is Tom, and you're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast. We're sending you love wherever you are. Go Bills, go Sabres. Let's Go Buffalo.