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Ep. 61 - Buffalo Bills Chatter feat. Greg Tompsett
34 Plays6 months ago
SPECIAL GUEST ALERT - the boys somehow convinced Greg Tompsett to join us for a deep dive into the Buffalo Bills. We dive into the early season trends for the Bills and discuss the road ahead for our favorite team. As a salary cap guru, we pick Greg's brain about upcoming roster management and potential trades we'd like to see. To round out the evening, the boys fully preview the Sabres upcoming duels with the New Jersey Devils to open up the 2024-2025 NHL season. As always, thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Introduction & Social Media
00:00:22
Speaker
Oh, what's going on, everybody? You're listening to the Let's Go Buffalo podcast, your favorite podcast for all things bills and sabers with the pals. Nigel, Tom, Jake, and maybe a surprise fourth pal this evening.
00:00:40
Speaker
episode 61 coming at you. Quick reminder, folks, you know the drill. We're on all the social medias. You can find this on all of them. Instagram X, TikTok, YouTube with the handle at let's go Buff Pod. Tom, how many F's do we have in our in our handle, buddy? Do a do a two F's. Let's go Buff Pod to F's. Let's get around the horn here and say hello to the fellas.
Hosts Chat on Sports Events
00:01:04
Speaker
Tommy, what's going on, brother?
00:01:06
Speaker
I'm fantastic, dude. Kind of ah a heartbreaker, but that's okay. That's what we're here for, right? We're here, and this is these are the podcasts that are important, and the ones that we gotta get into. But I think it's important to say, Jake, happy belated birthday, buddy. Hey, Thorpedo, 31, right, buddy? Yes, sir. Old man, now I'm in my 30s. Whoa, dude, easy. so but Some of us are already 31, excuse me, before did, so take a breath there, Mike.
00:01:31
Speaker
Well, fellas, let's ah we have we have some ah a lot on the on the docket for this evening. So fellas, if you're ready, I would say let's just pop a beverage real quick here and then we'll get on with what we got going on this evening. You ready, fellas? Yeah. Count me down. Ready. Three, two, one. One of you had a premature pop. I heard it. Well, my my beer cap wouldn't but wouldn't be me. So I'm drinking a flannel Friday tonight. My harpoon boys. It's a fall is here.
00:01:59
Speaker
Nice little harpoon. Jake, what do you got, buddy? I might have been the premature pop, but I got a lot of Vermont and a little bit of Austria. It's a Von Trapp Brewing Pilsner. Nice, dude. I wasn't going to call you out on the premature pop, dude, but you did it yourself. So wow yeah, boys, I do finally have a new beer.
00:02:16
Speaker
We got the Yazoo, you can't quite see with my light, Yazoo Hoppry hazy IPA. So we're sticking with the hazies, but I do have a new one. I kind of already had one before the pod. It's really good. I'm not going to lie to you. so yeah Good stuff, baby.
Guest Introduction: Greg Tomsetz
00:02:30
Speaker
All right. Well, folks, we have a super special guest coming on this evening.
00:02:35
Speaker
We are incredibly excited. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to welcome our special guest for the evening. This is someone that we all look up to a bunch and also enjoy a bunch. We are weekly with listeners of his podcast, Cover One Buffalo, that he co-hosts with his partner in crime, Mr. Aaron Quinn.
00:02:52
Speaker
the salary cap guru in the Buffalo Bills Media Space, Lifelong Bills fan and budding Sabres fan, Mr. Greg Tom Setz. Greg, whoops, I might have just removed you there. Greg, how we doing, my friend?
00:03:12
Speaker
Good, good. It had an interesting day. It was kind of slow. And then all of a sudden, lots of fun news came up that I'm guessing may come up here on the show. So it's been been a lot of fun getting going back and forth from soccer games while answering questions in my tweets. Amen. That's what the life is, right? you know You got to go from one thing to the next. And and ah life is all about just juggling the transitions. And um man, we are we're so thankful for you to take some time to be here with us.
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah, looking forward to it. I really appreciate all everything you guys are building over here and looking forward to joining. Appreciate
Greg's Background & Bills Fandom
00:03:44
Speaker
you, brother. Well, um man, we're going to start a little bit more general and then we'll kind of narrow it down into more some more specific things. But Greg, Tom and I have been fans for a long time. um And what we don't know is your sort of upbringing into Bill's mafia. How did you become a fan? Was it a family thing? We'd love to get the background on that.
00:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So I'm actually the only person in my family who doesn't still live in Western New York. I grew up down in the southern tier. Most of my family's down around like Jamestown, Chautauqua Lake area. ah Most of my family's still there. So grew up my whole life ah in Western New York, but down just south of the city. ah Then went out to college in Cleveland and and met my wife here. We've moved all over since then, but Uh, now, uh, unfortunately I'm well past my 31st birthday. So, uh, I've lived more of my life outside of Western New York than how much I grew up, uh, there, but obviously have just been loyal to the bills ever since, uh, ever since I was born. It's my my favorite memories growing up. It was always big, crazy, loud Italian family, Sunday dinner,
Bills' Early Season Performance
00:04:46
Speaker
spaghetti and meatballs and rigatoni and sausage and yelling, swearing to the TV over bills games. That's, that's everything I remember growing up. Yeah.
00:04:54
Speaker
Wow. I think you just peeked into my, yeah, I was going to peeked into the front of the living room window of my family, too. Yeah, exactly, dude. What do you got, brother? So I think it's been a little bit of a tumultuous first four weeks here, right? We had some really great showings at the beginning of the year, kind of a fought our way through the Cardinals to smack the Dolphins, smack the Jaguars, and then, boom, we had this game against the Ravens.
00:05:19
Speaker
So, but for four weeks is enough of a ah data set that we can really kind of take some things away. So for you, Greg, just what are your thoughts on like these first four weeks? What have we learned? It's kind of like, what are the, maybe the one or two big points what we've learned about these Buffalo Bills in these first four weeks?
00:05:35
Speaker
So
Game Strategy & Injuries Discussion
00:05:36
Speaker
I think one, it should be reassuring that it wasn't the the complete kind of rebuild that some people were trying to project that they were going to fall apart without Stefan Diggs or they were going to struggle to score points. So after three weeks, they were the highest scoring team in the league and they're still ah one of the highest scoring teams in the league. I think it also should be a good reminder that things like the You know, all the cliches people talk about it's a week to week league, you know, any team, any Sunday, all the different things game script is really important. And the two games against the dolphins and the Jaguars are good examples where when we get out to a lead.
00:06:14
Speaker
We can pin our ears back and come after you when we know you have to pass and we can remain balanced on ah offense where you think we're going to run, but we can run a lot of play action and take shots over the top. We are an incredibly dangerous team. I think we can be every team in the NFL. If we get off to a hot start also.
00:06:32
Speaker
When we let teams get out on a star against us and then make us one-dimensional where they're not as worried about the run, they're not as worried about the play action, they're willing to just kind of drop back and play the pass, they are able to stay balanced and run against a defense that's built more for speed and pass rushing coverage, not stout run defending.
00:06:57
Speaker
yeah We're not built for that either. is We found out the hard way Sunday night. And I say that in the sense that, you know, if we play the Jags and the Dolphins again, I don't know that we're going to run it back 78 to 20 and just house them again. I think we'd win, but I don't know that we would just completely drowns them in the same way. And honestly, if we play the Ravens again, I'd take my chances. Like, yeah, if they get out to a good start, they'd probably beat us again. But if we get out to a good start,
00:07:25
Speaker
And they need Lamar to pass them back into the game. And they're worried about our balance on offense and having to play the run more seriously. We can beat them too. And especially air everybody saw the three guys sitting over there on the sideline and Milano Bernard and Taryn watching the game together like us sitting there watching. and um I'll take my chances in the future, but it just goes to show.
00:07:45
Speaker
you know it's It's how New England beat Cincinnati. It's it's how the 49ers lost the way they did. It's how the the Raiders beat the the Ravens. like The Raiders aren't aren't better than us, but they beat the Ravens. It's how these games happen. It's how those things happen. is it the any given Sunday game script, things like that, that become coaching cliches that you get frustrated that, well, why don't we just you know do this every single time? Like, well, when they know it's coming, it's not as effective. So um I think it was a good wake up call that this team's very talented. I think we can beat anyone in the NFL, but if they catch us on the wrong day, we could probably get our butts kicked too.
00:08:23
Speaker
yeah I
Defensive Challenges Analysis
00:08:24
Speaker
think we were definitely playing on our back foot. And I kept saying, I think you brought up a point about having like our entire, you know, middle of our defense um watching on the sideline and their baseball caps. I kept saying in our group, in our friend chat, like it's almost as if we're missing, you know, we're playing our fourth, fifth and sixth best linebackers, right? It's almost as if. that they're the reason that we can play small, small personnel on defense and still match up really well. It's because we have Taran Johnson who plays like a truck and we have Matt Milano and Terrell Bernard who hit really hard and can fit the run really well, as well as playing and um really defending the pass as well as they do. So it's like, I just, I was frustrated in this past game of, man, it there it seemed as if this coaching staff set up
00:09:08
Speaker
Bail Inspector Dorian Williams to play the same way as if they're Matt Milano and Trill Bernard. And that that was frustrating. is like i don't I think, yes, they they're good linebackers and they they can't. They're NFL players and they should be able to do to similar things. But, man, it seemed as if they were asking them to do what we would ask we wouldt ask our whole crew, Matt Milano. Yeah, yeah in it it's tough because, you know, you've The desire to want an alternative is not correlated to there being an alternative. like right where you know like We could want them to be like, hey, why didn't you do something different? And their answer would be like, any ideas? Sure. like we' We'd love to do something different. yeah Bring on the suggestions. Let us know which one you'd like us to do.
00:09:52
Speaker
Uh, you know, sometimes especially Baltimore who plays through the most two, two tight end sets in the league with the biggest running back in NFL history and combined with a read option with one of the best running quarterbacks in NFL history. If you don't let them get started, you can beat them. If you let them get ahead of steam, they would steamroll everyone in the league. So would you consider an 87 yard touchdown on the first play getting them going early, Greg?
00:10:23
Speaker
Uh, less than ideal, less than ideal, less than ideal. Um, as I put it, I think I put out the fear said, all right, goals for the second drive, touch a Baltimore ball carrier. It would be cool. If a Buffalo don't could touch an NF or a Baltimore ball carrier, that's progress. We'll take baby steps.
00:10:45
Speaker
Absolutely. Jake, i saw I thought I saw you on mute there for a second. Did you want to hop in there every for a moment? I did. Yeah, it's kind of piggybacking off it, but somebody in our Instagram live popped in and asked a question. Is there any concern in the percentage of light boxes that we saw against the Ravens? Yeah, go ahead, Greg. I mean, concern is is a relative term. It's more so that when you're winning it is let me flip this around if you go back and watch the jaguars and dolphins games their fans would ask should we be concerned that the bills had so many light boxes well yeah we're we're up 21 to nothing i dare you to run i dare go ahead yeah by all means take advantage of these light boxes um so
00:11:31
Speaker
Yeah, like I don't love it that they could just dare us to run, but they were winning 21 to three. Like, yeah, they wanted us to run the ball. Every second they clicked off,
Salary Cap Insights & Future Moves
00:11:42
Speaker
clicked off the the clock was, you know, to their advantage. So, you know, if we are in a back and forth game,
00:11:50
Speaker
And then they're daring us to run and giving us those light boxes. Yes. Then I'd be concerned and that's purely game script. That's, Hey, all they're worried about is not getting beat for big plays, big plays over the top and things like that. Uh, short of when your quarterback's one yard from the sideline, it chucks at 52 yards back across over four guys heads. so Um, You know, other than that, they were daring us to beat them, you know, with short dink and dunk stuff and wanted us to run. So um it's a fair question because the numbers look concerning, but it was way more game script than them not respecting James Cook or not respecting the run game. They were, they were begging us to run.
00:12:27
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, too, like we've seen it. like The proof is in the pudding ever since Sean McDermott's been the coach on this team. We don't adapt really term in terms of personnel a ton in terms of like going, you know because we're primarily nickel and dime sets on defense. We're not going to suddenly go 4-3 and have three linebackers are out there all the time because we're playing the Baltimore Ravens. Sean McDermott has shown us in the past that he doesn't do that. We stick to what we do. And you know sometimes this is the byproduct, but I think we get a lot more positive out of this than we do.
00:12:55
Speaker
negative especially when you consider the fact that we are missing the guys that were missing so well you even take it it goes beyond there it goes up to the front office it goes to philosophical elements
NFL Landscape & Bills' Potential
00:13:06
Speaker
would you want them to have a really highly paid or high draft investment third linebacker that two out of three games doesn't really play, but the, hey, we got them sitting there waiting. Like if we need them, we got a really fancy nice thing that sits there and we don't use it most of the time. Cause most teams pass the ball way more than the Ravens that don't, you know, represent that kind of risk, but we have it just in case. And it means we don't have Connor McGovern or we don't have, uh, some other starter in another spot because
00:13:42
Speaker
we invested in that extra piece to have. So, you know, I actually, in, in all of those things together, the one thing that's come of this is Dorian Williams has shown he's a really good run defender. Like he, he, he brings a hammer, like he can play, he, he's Terrell Datsum. He is the guy. Yeah. When it's in front of you, going downhill, read and react, just, hey, see ball, get ball stuff. I like him being on the field. So when we have Terrell Bernard and Matt Milano, I'm cool with him being the third linebacker. I don't want him out there isolated in space against Justice Hill. trying to cover him yeah down the field. But in that sense, we actually probably have that guy. Like he he probably is that guy. It's just right now he's playing two spots over his head for what he's intended to do. Yeah. Um, great. I had next question for you. So I, and this one, this one to me feels, I don't want to say I have like a very definitive thing that pops out of my head for this question, but what is the most concerning thing that you've seen from the bill so far through four games?
00:14:50
Speaker
Um, probably that they were as dependent as we are on an early start and on game script. Like we're, we need it to get to go well. So I mean this sincerely. If we score first or get a two score lead in forest rate playoff games, we'll win the Superbowl. Not can, we will, we will win the Superbowl.
00:15:17
Speaker
If we don't, we probably get knocked out in any of those games. Um, so some of those things, you know, there are some costs to having whatever the latest number is $62 million dollars in dead cap space. Like that's yeah when you think about the fact of like, Hey, that's probably.
00:15:37
Speaker
eight really good veteran contributors at some different spots to have depth and versatility and another piece here and there along the roster that that happened. So, um, we'll get back to that. You know, we have a cadre of draft picks next year and a pretty healthy cap situation next year. So that'll come back around, but right now we're probably playing a little over our heads and a little thin. We were in a position where we couldn't really afford injuries and we've had worse injury luck than usual. So um I would say it's probably my biggest concern is we are incredibly dependent on GameScript, on staying on schedule, on us getting an early lead and playing from ahead. And we are gonna be really good front runners that will boat race way more teams like we did to the Jaguars and Dolphins. And when we don't,
00:16:26
Speaker
that whole streak that we had of the 43 games without a six point loss, that was because we had more depth and balance and versatility. And now we're a little
Bills vs. Texans Preview
00:16:36
Speaker
thinner and a little more top heavy that when it starts rolling the wrong way, we're going to get the other snowball effect. And we might have, we might get house two more times a year. Like it's just. Right. It's the way we're built and we're not set to be able to, to stop that ball from rolling downhill. If, and it's only certain teams, but if the lions get rolling downhill with that run game, if the 49ers get rolling downhill with that run game, like they're both capable of doing that to us. And again, if we jump out onto a lead on either of them, we could be both of them by two touchdowns. So, um, that's probably my biggest concern is we.
00:17:12
Speaker
We are not built to, you know, take a couple of shots in the first couple of rounds, reestablish our game plan, and then come back out and switch to, you know, you know, fighting left-handed and to beat a team. we We don't have that in our, in our ah ah playbook anymore. So we'll get back to that next year. But this year we have really good fastball and what we can throw in. we're good easter famine Right, right. mean i think But I think having Josh Allen is the one kind of piece that could flip that. right If all of a sudden Josh Allen goes out and but you know is is Superman, he could push the ball a little bit back. We're going to roll in the other direction. But I think you're right. I think, yeah, if we get behind, that's the issue.
00:17:54
Speaker
And again, we will have some games where we will get behind, like Arizona. Arizona's a talented team, but Arizona couldn't couldn't punch us in the mouth the way that Baltimore did, so we could come back. So we're going to have the game. but I'm not saying that any team we get down against, we can't come back. Of course we can. The upper echelon who are built to be able to play from in front with a pass rush, with a run game, um they're going to be able to kind of keep us stiff armed and hold us at bay. ah And then even even all that said,
00:18:24
Speaker
you know, if Kincaid catches that ball on the first drive at the end of the first half, if Coleman catches that ball there, if a couple things, if the, their fumble doesn't bounce into Ricard's arms, if, um, hell, ah no one's, you know, yeah I have defended that calling a trick play in that moment was not a bad idea. That trick play was a horrible idea. yeah calling a trick play, it we needed to take a shot. We had not sustained a drive all game. Our only score was when Josh literally was leaping out of bounds, throwing it 52 yards across over four guys' heads. Like we had not sustained a drive all night. Taking an aggressive shot made total sense. If in that moment, Josh recognized that, oh shit, Van Noy is about to get me, eats it, and Van Noy tackles him forward right in that exact same spot, it's third and nine.
00:19:23
Speaker
Yep. It's 39 and we've got the ball and we're still moving just fine. And in a spot where we're at midfield, where even if we only get like five yards on the next play, we're probably going for it on fourth down. Cause we're literally at their 45. So.
00:19:39
Speaker
All that said, like even getting punched in the mouth as bad as we did, we were still a handful of plays from probably stealing the win we didn't deserve. So, you know, this team's still going to be really good. We're still going to win double digit games. Maybe it's 12, maybe it's 10. We'll see.
00:19:55
Speaker
but you know there's still plenty to be excited about no one should be jumping off the off the bandwagon here and the best news everybody has is if you ask 10 like NFL media people who are really plugged in who the best team in the league is You probably get like six or eight different answers. There is no juggernaut this year. yeah the
Trades & Contracts Discussion
00:20:16
Speaker
Like we just said, the Raiders beat the Ravens. The Chiefs literally are the worst for no team. by and his yeah beauty i don't understand another hor ah There's no juggernaut. There's no unbeatable team this year. There's plenty of reason to still be very excited. Yeah. yeah I'm know i'm the oh sorry. I mean, go ahead, buddy.
00:20:35
Speaker
So I think we're kind of amiss of having you on and not talk some contracts, money stuff, salary cap things. And like you said, I'm sure half of your DMs today and Twitter replies were probably 75% were all about some wide receivers starting to want to shake loose on their teams. So we saw Devontae Adams request a trade today.
00:20:55
Speaker
um And was it definitively that he requested a trade or was he just like I know later on Yeah, that there was a there was a clarification later that he has formally requested to be treated. Oh, wow. I didn't even know that that was breaking news for me Yeah, so he's trying to shake loose. He's gonna go find his buddy Aaron um but uh, but um So it was I think I would love to hear your thoughts Davante Adams seems like completely Absolutely not possible for us. The other name I was curious of is a Mari Cooper Um, a Mari Cooper restructured his deal and he's at, um, I think it's like a one and a half million dollar cap pit. Like it's much more reasonable. What are your thoughts on maybe guys like those two Devontae Adams or Mari Cooper possibly being moved in, brought end into Buffalo. So I will reframe this and give you a glimmer of hope in both directions. The bills can trade for any player making $1.21 million. dollars
00:21:51
Speaker
so No problem, no problem. fact So if the Raiders would like Devontae Adams to have a $1.21 million dollars contract in exchange for more draft compensation than they were going to get from another team.
00:22:08
Speaker
We've seen that before. That's what the Giants did with Leonard Williams when they traded into the Seahawks. They ate his salary to get a second round pick and set up a third round pick or a second instead of a fourth. Um, so if let's say some really ugly red and yellow team was offering a fourth round pick.
00:22:28
Speaker
to the Raiders and they were saying, well, we sure as hell don't want to trade them to that team. Uh, and the bills were like, listen, we'll give you a fourth round pick, but we can't take any money. And then they said, well, that's crazy. We're not going to eat that money, but okay. Well, how about a third round pick? up Okay. It's getting closer. Well, you guys have two second round picks. How about you keep Minnesota's pick and you give us your second round pick and we'll eat Devontae Adams salary and send them over to you.
00:22:53
Speaker
You know, I crazier things have happened. There's precedent that that has happened in the past. There's you won the bills. That's the only chance they cannot fit his current salary. There's no combination of restructures. And we have pulled all the levers. We have flipped all the switches. We we broke it off there. There are no more there are no more no more strings to pull. um But like I said, if they want to make it happen, they can. The things in the NFL, they can make it happen if they want to. um So that brings us to Amari Cooper is already in that position. He's in the final year of his deal. His salary is 1.21 million. He's making plenty of cash. The Browns just already gave it to him. So if the Browns get to a point where they decide, hey,
00:23:38
Speaker
Cooper doesn't want to be here next year. that Another quick caveat is, Devontae Adams has a huge amount of money due to him the next two years. I don't think that any team that trades for him is going to give him that money. It's it's two years and $72 million. dollars It's $36 million dollars per year. I, that's, it's almost so much that it's a good thing for the bills because if it was say two years and 40 million and 20 million a year, there probably are a couple of teams that might give it to him and guarantee him that money. It's almost helpful that it's so much money that they can go to his agent and be like, listen,
00:24:18
Speaker
no one's gonna give that to you. So how about we commit to you that we will redo his deal right now and that he gets to play with Josh Allen and then be a free agent and you get to go get the best deal you can get and we'll throw an offer out to you too in March, but you don't have to worry about it. You don't have to wait and like him and ha are we gonna be a free agent or are you gonna get the money? We'll tell you right now, we're not gonna give you that money, but we don't think anybody else is either. So come here.
00:24:43
Speaker
Play your play your butt off earn yourself one more really nice contract catching balls from one of the top two quarterbacks in the league and let's roll with it so it's almost so much money that it's helpful in my mind amari cooper is a free agent he has already been paid he they actually because of all the weird stuff they were doing in cleveland They already restructured his like $20 million dollars salary as a signing bonus to pro rate it. So they're already paid in the cash. So any team, the trade firm would only get 1.21 million. They've already done the hard part. We'd be asking the Raiders to do. It's now just them reconciling the sunk cost of, Hey.
00:25:23
Speaker
do we want to, how much draft compensation do we need to sleep at night that we just ate all that money is basically the gist of it. Right. I
Buffalo Sabres Preseason Highlights
00:25:31
Speaker
feel like just Cleveland just likes just chewing on money. I think that's their plan, you know? So they,
00:25:38
Speaker
It's weird because they restructured guys that they didn't even have to do. They restructured it to create, I think it's like $65 million dollars in cap space right now. Like they have $65 million dollars in cap space and now to roll over to next year, but because of the way they restructured Deshaun Watson's deal.
00:25:58
Speaker
his cap hit is seventy two million extra so they just like gave themself a coupon. For like next year to cover his deal but they pulled forward like four different got like in joku and miles care and all these other guys deals to allow them. To cover that for next year's right i don't know that i fully grasp why they did that but um.
00:26:19
Speaker
Amari Cooper was one of the guys they did it with and they could have just, you know, they had the money to just pay him 20 million, pay it as you go, take your medicine and move on. And they would still have had $40 million dollars in cap space this year, but instead they restructured it, kicked it out into the future when he's not on the team. So.
00:26:35
Speaker
I don't know. Maybe that tells me that they think they're going to re resign him and they're going to be able to keep that pro rated and not take a big dead cap hit. But, um, if they decide they're not, or if he tells them that, Hey, I don't want to be here. Uh, Hey, I think to Sean Watson sucks. I don't want to play with him anymore. That'd be a crazy thing to say. Um,
00:26:52
Speaker
If, if he were to say something, you know, outlandish along those lines, they might just accept the fact that like, ah, screw it. We already, we already bit the bullet. Let's just let him roll. Yeah. Yeah. Very nice. A team known for its good decisions trading for Deshaun Watson, what they did. Um, but so great looking, looking to next year when that Steph Diggs money comes off the books, any early thoughts on what bills might try to do with that? You talked about depth already, but you know, is there a certain need or a player that you have your eye on or anything like that? Um,
00:27:22
Speaker
So the good news is they don't have some like gaping hole or, uh, super bad need. So we're Sewell Douglas is ah literally the only starter that's not signed for next year. They almost have like 20 or 21, um,
00:27:42
Speaker
of the starters back for next year. So I would say right now, especially with like the whole weird Von Miller situation, he, you know, it's hard because everybody knew the situation allegations that happened. Everybody knew the report, the recanting, you know,
00:27:59
Speaker
but people could speculate on reasons why someone would recant a statement like that. And and don't none um I don't know the the actual real truth. But everyone had kind of reconciled that and move forward. I had moved forward with the idea that, hey, he's just an anchor around our neck. We can't really do anything about it until 2025. So he's just going to be on the roster. And he'll just be like a guy that stands over there.
00:28:21
Speaker
Then all of a sudden in training camp and preseason, I'm like, Oh, well that looks interesting. And then he gets a sack in each of the first three games. And I was like, Oh, well, holy crap. maybe we actually wanted to be on the team next year. And now this happens and I have no clue. I don't even know what to think. Um, so I would say pass rush is probably my number one need. I want to pay Gregory Russo. yeah I already think AGF and S is fine, but not an answer to any question that matters. Like he's a roster caliber guy, but he's not, you know, he's not going to be the difference maker.
00:28:55
Speaker
So whether that's a top two round pick next year or you decide that, hey, let's go out and try to get Joe try on Sri Lanka or some there's a handful of top end pass rushers that are going to hit hit the market. Maybe you want to go throw some money at one of those guys that that'd be the one area that I would splurge. We have such a good track record with drafting in the secondary in corners that I'd i'd be shocked if we paid a corner like um There's a number where it makes sense to bring Russell Douglas back. It's bad business to pay corners after they turn 30, but his style of play, how zone heavy we are, that he plays the short side of the field and Benford plays the open side of the field. ah If we go year to year with him, and then we also draft a guy in the second round or third round and like pair them up as the answer on that side, I'm good with that.
00:29:46
Speaker
um So I would say right now if I was going to throw something out there, um of course, I never mind if we had another weapon for Josh, but I think my actual top wish list item would be a shiny pass rusher. Yeah, absolutely, man. For sure. Well, great can you guys help me? What time do I have to wake up to watch hockey?
00:30:06
Speaker
all the guys i think it's pretty darn early man so we're starting out the savers are actually opening they're taking a page out of the n h l book and trying to grow the game and expand the game overseas uh... so we are starting in prong on friday morning
Sabres vs. Devils Game Preview
00:30:23
Speaker
my brother which is a beautiful city this is an amazing places to Didn't know it was like a, and it's a real game. Like that's not a, it's not like an exhibition. Like it's, it's literally like the London or Germany games for the NFL. Like it's a real regular season game. But I saw one of them's at like one o'clock, one of them's at like 10 AM. Friday at one, Saturday at 10 AM. So early split times over there, but they do a home and home. The both teams go over New Jersey and Buffalo. So they'll split the games that way. And yeah, so they each gave up one home game. They go over and play there. Uh, and if, so is New Jersey good?
00:30:57
Speaker
Yes. This will be a really good early benchmark for what Lindy Rupp is going to be doing with the boys. So, okay. So, so if we steal one and we split one and one, that's a, that's a win. I'd be very happy. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Anytime you have Staver's questions, Greg, feel free to feel free to send it my way, brother. They wrote me into a cover one fantasy hockey league. I have a fantasy hockey team. No way.
00:31:23
Speaker
Uh, I am now learning more. Uh, I, I don't know if I know any of my players. Uh, I was just going to pull it out. I don't know if it'll let me share my screen. I was going to show you guys my team. Oh, please. you act I got Sam Reinhardt. I got Sam Reinhardt. Hey, we love that. But it's totally five goals they not only wrote me into a fantasy hockey league, they wrote me into a 12 person fantasy hockey league. So it was like, wow. like a like but like yeah yeah cause that's Like getting down there to the final draft. Like I, we got past like the third round and I'm like, all right, guys, I'm out of people I've ever heard of. and Like that's it. We're out. I, those are all the guys that I know the names of. like Oh, yeah. We'd love to see your team if you want to share it to us. that yeah that's why Let's see. I, uh,
00:32:16
Speaker
Oh, clo pray i could I can pull it up for you. ye Yeah. Yeah. We can. We can add that real quick. Yeah. so I love it. yeah so But it's good because I am, um, like obnoxiously competitive. So I'm going to check my lineup all the time. I'm going to look through the different stuff I do. I play in a fantasy baseball league that I've finished first and third. I hate baseball. I don't even like baseball, but I still like, I like numbers. I like numbers and I like tracking like who's doing well, who's trending well. Uh, so I'll, this will force me to pay attention and I'll know, I'll now know.
00:32:53
Speaker
more of who ah who's doing well and and who I should ah go after here. So we'll see. for what This looks like a pretty solid squad to me, my friend. Holy cow. what The good news is I had no like I had no like I just literally went by like their average draft ranking and like picked the position that I needed. I was like, yeah this is the next highest ranked guy. So like, I just kept getting the guy who fell to the next spot. Cause I wasn't reaching for anyone. Cause I didn't know anyone's name. So it was great. Hey man, I'll tell you what, it looks like a solid squat from what I can see the fact that you've got Jeremy Swamin as your goalie. I know he hasn't signed yet, but he's just going to say, I felt really good about it until I saw the whole thing. But I also, uh, I read.
00:33:40
Speaker
a good thing about my my second goalie too that maybe he's young and doing okay so yeah he's he's young and and most importantly he's playing for a great team so they'll stop okay cool yeah cool there you go well greg man dude this is fun man i appreciate it thank you so much for your time tonight brother it really does mean a lot to us we're we're big fans man greg please please please tell the folks where they can find you tell them all about cover one the floor is yours my friend Appreciate it. ah So everywhere that you're watching this awesome show and and checking out the guys here, you can also find our work at cover one. So after you finish watching this, uh, coming over and find us, Aaron and I will be having a Brett Coleman on to preview, uh, the bills Texans game this week. So we'll be going over, uh, the matchup here with Brett. And, and this is a, I think really good that the bills have to rebound quickly. Cause this is a team that we're very likely ah to face in the playoffs. We can't kind of lick our wounds and feel bad for ourselves. We have to turn things around quickly.
00:34:33
Speaker
And I think that almost helps you flush it and move on. Cause you know, you have to turn around and be ready for this game. So,
Promotion & Podcast Schedule
00:34:39
Speaker
um, really looking forward to it. This was a ton of fun. Uh, happy to come out again. Anytime you guys need awesome, Greg. Thank you so much. We appreciate you guys. Hey, co at night night ghost save so bill's made go, Yeah, that's right.
00:34:54
Speaker
Awesome man. Shout out Greg, dude. Oh, that's a big deal for us. cool That's a guy that we we really look up to and and appreciate a lot, man. So thank you to Greg for doing that and ah spending some of his time. He's a, he's a husband and a dad. So, I mean, Tom, you can attest that's not, not easy in terms of juggling all your schedules. And he literally came straight from a soccer game and his family. So um we really, really appreciate Greg hustling around and Yeah, sharing some of his value time with us. So and just like kind of just one more thing about the the cover one show, they always do a post game show. So if anybody is ever looking for some kind of therapy after the game, it's like immediately like half an hour after the show, he and Aaron hop on. So there'd be times like on but on Sunday night. I had it on my headphones while I was sitting there trying to feed the baby at midnight. And I was listening to them and it was, you know, it's, so it's, if you're looking for the post game, we are all oftentimes multiple days after, but you want immediate reaction. They're a great place to go.
00:35:54
Speaker
They're a good place to go. And then they prime every game on Wednesday nights. Wednesday nights, you can listen ah to Aaron and Greg discuss the game the upcoming game. And they usually bring on a beat writer um or a or ah you know media pundit in some capacity on for that pregame like he just talked about. So that's another great pod for you all to check out. Tom, do you know what time they they start on Wednesdays? I want to say eight.
00:36:18
Speaker
Eastern. it's I think it's 9pm. I think it's late. nine yeah i think it's happy If you find him on Twitter, it's ah you can, I mean, at Greg Thompson on, ah on Twitter, I believe he's, he's on there and yeah you'll find him. So it's definitely worth your time folks to go and find these guys. And in addition to like Anthony Prohaska, like the cover one film room is, is, that is incredible. Like I learned a school from that go to school when you watch the cover one film room and it's awesome.
00:36:42
Speaker
I love that. It's awesome. So they're awesome at what they do. Definitely
Significance of Bills vs. Texans
00:36:46
Speaker
infinitely better than us boneheads, but yeah well entertainment factor over here. yeah yeah they're entertaining it well Not to say they aren't, but holy cow, you can laugh, you know, a little bit at hours, you know, ineptitude over here. And look how look how good looking you are, Tom. I mean, who's going to not come hang out with us, you know, right hey with your awesome Let's Go Buff Pod shirt? Yeah, we we we should get t-shirts made for everybody. We should get some t-shirts made up. So before we I know we got lots of saber stuff to talk on, but can we talk two minutes just real quick about the Texans game coming up on Sunday? Because I think that's, you know, right. That's that's another big deal. We have we have another AFC team who is going to be a ah playoff contender.
00:37:24
Speaker
I'm coming up. We are playing one p.m. in Houston. So no more prime time, folks. We can all you know get to bed on time. That's right. Noon for me. Noon football, baby. No, no. Wow. I
Game Predictions & Analysis
00:37:37
Speaker
want to come watch football with Nigel. Like dude come down the Nashville, baby. It's so warm.
00:37:45
Speaker
um So big deal. Right. This is C.J. Stroud. This is Stefan Diggs, guys. This is Stefan Diggs. um They're a little bit of a beat up team. They just got handled by, uh, by Minnesota. sure so They So there they can be had. They, everybody came in, they.
00:38:04
Speaker
They i'm go put the big on the Royal Day, meaning the the entire Texans team were talking big talk all off season. Right. C.J. Strad was on every different podcast. Holy shit. He was adorable. You know what? It's like, all right, dude, I get it. You are an incredibly talented young man who just has a gazillion dollars and had a really good team. I get it. But holy cow, you better back up what you're talking about.
00:38:29
Speaker
um And adam they're a good team, but they're not the juggernaut that they were kind of set up to be. So my big thing for this weekend is we need to make sure that we're playing our game.
00:38:43
Speaker
Right. Greg kind of just talked about it, right? this I was going to bring this up for this game, but then Greg kind of elaborated really nicely um of kind of and what made what that looked like when it didn't happen against the Ravens. We need to go in and we need to take control. The offense needs to to hum. They need to be efficient and they just need to get points on the board. And I think we can take control here.
00:39:04
Speaker
Um, night, you've been kind of scared of digs. Are you still scared of digs? I'm gonna be honest, dude, I am. um I've had this one circled as a I think this is going to be another lose 35 to 10 game kind of a vibe for the Bills. I really do, man. I just listen, there's going to, there's two main factors that I think about and it's Josh Allen wants to prove that he can play without Steph Diggs and Steph Diggs wants to prove that he can play without Josh Allen. Both of these guys are, they're going to, you know, they're going to play nice with the media and all that stuff.
00:39:38
Speaker
But you know, these are guys that are competitive as hell, the grown ass men. They want to handle their business in front of the in front of the world. No, it's not a primetime game. But, you know, people are going to be checking out what's going on with the step takes revenge game. That being said, dude, this just feels like a game that Buffalo typically doesn't handle well, like a like a revengeful, you know, a previous player kind of a situation. I just I don't know, man. And and obviously, like Houston doesn't run the ball like like ah like a Baltimore does. Nobody runs the ball like a Baltimore does.
00:40:07
Speaker
Um, but I, I just, I just don't have a good feeling and I don't have any numbers or data to put behind that. This just feels like a Buffalo Bills trap game. I would imagine Stefan Diggs has 150 receiving yards and two touchdowns. And I think we probably get spanked. That's how I feel. I really, really, really, really hope I'm wrong. And I hope Stefan Diggs doesn't catch a single pass or hope he catches like two for three yards. That might even be better. And you know, and I just, I don't feel good about it. Yeah. I'm terrified of Stefan Diggs.
00:40:37
Speaker
i I think getting our butts smacked on prime time on Sunday is going to I think this team is going to be ready to play. I think they're not ready to take that twice. Right. I hope so. Right. Right. The goal. Oh, but again, it's all vibes. Right. That's that's what this is. That's what it is. Yeah. That um our comment here said that Tankdale might be back on um on Sunday, which is which is a problem. Right. He's a good receiver. Nico Collins and right now is on track for like two thousand yards this season. The guy has been playing like crazy.
00:41:05
Speaker
Um, so yeah, he's I don't know he's leading the league receiving I think or maybe maybe it's close if he's not the leader if he's on track with 2000 yards that he better be so Fair enough. Or he's got to try harder. So oh yeah. So I don't know. Do you guys want to do some score predictions real quick and then move on to some saber stuff? Because you guys have important things. The the season is coming. Yeah, man. um Yeah, I would say, oh, man. You just said 3510, bro. yeah I think you have to stick with it. All right, 3510. 3510 Houston. I got the bills. but I got the bills 3 and 2 after this weekend. I'm going to go tight game 24, 23 bills.
00:41:46
Speaker
Woo, taking the boys. Alright, I love it. but ti game um I'm going to go kind of split the difference, but I tend to agree more with Nigel. I'm gonna go 3124 Texas.
00:41:59
Speaker
Cool. I don't like it. Hey, I don't like you guys. I'll
Sabres Season Expectations
00:42:02
Speaker
see you guys. I'll see you guys next week. Here we go. I sure goddamn hope that Jake and I are wrong. We all know that like I am, I am banging the table for Jake and I'd be wrong, but I just, I don't know, man, it feels icky to me just and it's a way in Houston. Um, I mean, obviously, you know, I don't, I don't get the impression that Houston Texans fans are, you know, like a fan base that we should be nervous about, but all the same, you know,
00:42:24
Speaker
home field advantage, I think does matter in this league. And it just feels icky to me. So Jake, we haven't heard many of your sultry tones this evening, so I would love for you to drive this bus to the Sabre stuff, brother. Is that OK? Can I pass off the baton to you?
00:42:41
Speaker
Yeah, please. I think we, I think we ripped through a lot of these and kind of get to the meat of it, which is the fact that the NHL season and starts this Friday.
00:42:53
Speaker
But to kick us off a couple of newsy items. First of all, new captain in town, Dali got named captain with the rotating A's being tuck, Thompson, cousins, and Samuelson. So dude, any thoughts on Dali being captain? I kind of expected this. It was writing. I was on the wall and I'm thrilled about it.
00:43:10
Speaker
Yeah. To me, there were, there were only three options, right? And they were Rasmus Darlene, Tage Thompson, excuse me, beer, air bubble, and then Alex duck. Um, so those were the only three guys I was anticipating. or lineman but Yeah. Okay.
00:43:25
Speaker
Those are the only three I was expecting. And I do think that Lindy made the right decision. Dallas has been here longer than any of those guys. The the growth that we've seen for Rasmus Dollin has really been, it's been nothing short of awesome, dude. Like he he he was a slow start, but he has developed into, I mean, I think he's a top 10 defenseman in this league. I don't think, I think if you dispute that, ah I mean, OK, give me your top 10, I guess, but I think you're dumb. um He's turned into a guy that is obviously offensively incredible. I mean, he plays like a forward, but his defensive game has become incredibly sound. And you do not. I'm going to repeat that. You do not fuck around with Rasmus Daliendu because he will punch you in the face with his glove on and not give a shit about it. you So me he's developed a real nice edge to his game with that offensive ability.
00:44:15
Speaker
Um, you know, he's been through the doldrums. He's ready to lead this team into the, into the future. Um, so I think the right call was made, um, a hundred percent. And I think the A's are are correct too, man. Um, I think all those guys are great leaders. I think it's nice to get Sammy in there. Um, you know, and again, like we just said that Tage and Tuck were the only other two captain possibilities. So obviously they got A's. Um, I think this coaching staff absolutely hit it on the head in terms of the C's and the A's.
00:44:43
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I think any three of those guys that you mentioned as candidates for the captain's chair would be good choices. So it's a breath of fresh air to have those to choose between. No disrespect to like Brian Giantha or Jason Palminville, but I'm happy that there's a bit more of a younger core that's taking the leadership role yeah by the horns and with it.
00:45:04
Speaker
yeah ah Real quick hits on preseason. ah The Sabres, whether it was the A team or the B team, had success in the preseason. The Buffalo Amorks, if you will, beat quite a few teams down the stretch and and look good doing it. I think they showed a lot of flashes of young talent on the roster. Noah Osland, I wanted to point out, looked really good in a lot of those games. A couple of beautiful primary assists in that game against Ottawa. I think it was. Position for Osland?
00:45:31
Speaker
He's a center. Thank you. Yeah, yeah for sure. a Young kid, I think he's from Sweden or Finland. Yes, correct. Sweden. Yep, another Swede. Yeah, um anyone else jump out to you in preseason play that you wanted to touch on much?
00:45:44
Speaker
Um, man, I had, there's two guys that kind of popped to me in from what I saw. And, and I just want to reiterate that Osland was from, from my eye test. He was the guy that was, I mean, he was playing his ass off, dude, that overtime goal that he had against, I think it was Ottawa. Don't quote me on that, but he had an overtime winner last week.
00:46:04
Speaker
that was I mean my god dude what a sick move it was absolute silk for hands um and then yeah that game where he had the three primary assists I mean whoa that kid that kid might be a problem in the a so I'll be excited to see him other guys um I am really excited about Anton Wahlberg dude I like Anton Wahlberg a lot I think he's a big he's just different than a lot of what I've
00:46:30
Speaker
the body. but But, um, Anton Wolberg just plays like a real power forward kind of game, similar to Tage Thompson, not quite as big. And he doesn't have the the ability to quite handle inside a phone booth the way that Tage does. But man, I saw some really great things from Anton Wolberg in the Amherst playoffs last season and in this preseason. And then the other guy that they jumped out to me, dude, and this is probably a good thing because he's going to get the chance to start with the Amherst.
00:46:56
Speaker
Um, was constant, heenious I thought he looked, he didn't look out of place at all, dude. Um, so I'm excited that, you know, like we went through all that shit with Matt Savoy, where he was in that limbo where he couldn't go or he wasn't ready for the savers, but couldn't play in Rochester. Just grateful to have a guy that's in that same spot, but can just go directly to Rochester. Cause man, from what I saw last night, that that kid's ready. Um, so those were the big three that popped for me with, with these games for sure.
00:47:24
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I like that he gets to go to Rochester. he's He's somebody that I think is maybe the most true natural center that we have in the prospect pipeline. So he he can marinate for, he's 18. He can marinate for two years down in Rochester and come up, you know, as some of the bottom six contracts in the forward group for Buffalo start to Play themselves out. Maybe he you know he he jumps right into a spot there after getting some good seasoning in the A. So yeah, I'm thrilled about him. ah the The main NHL squads been in Europe for the past week. They played Red Bull Munich mentioned on Friday they won 5 nothing.
00:48:02
Speaker
Not to beat up on a, you know, a German hockey team, but you know, you'd expect Buffalo's a group to, to handily defeat them. And they did, but what a cool experience for JJ Paterka. He started his career in Germany, playing for that team. And he gets to go kind of have a homecoming, uh, in a way and go back and play against them. So just a cool series. I like that they do that for the preseason. Yeah, for sure, dude. That was cool.
00:48:25
Speaker
And we kind of alluded to this earlier, but that takes us to Sabers opening game Friday, 1 PM in Prague against the New Jersey
Sabres Score Predictions
00:48:34
Speaker
Devils. They do back-to-back games against the Devils 10 AM m on Saturday, squaring off with them again. These are a tough two games, Nigel. I mean, New Jersey Yes, they finished lower than Buffalo in the standings last year, but I just do not think that's indicative of where they are as a hockey team. They're getting two huge additions, one through a trade for Jacob Marks from Annette, where they've had a lot of instability last year, and the second through coming back from injury. Dougie Hamilton missed the entire year last year for all intents and purposes. He's back. He should be conditioned. He should be ready to play. He's a big ad for their blue line, and that was a position that they also struggled in last year. So they they really have their hands full.
00:49:14
Speaker
going up against the devils this weekend yeah and i think the biggest the biggest change obviously with the devils this year like what was the big knock on them last year like why did lindy ruff get fired it was goaltending right and now they have jacob markstrom from calgary who is a legit number one so and then yeah man like you mentioned the doggy hamilton injury i mean that is at this point I think Dollyn's probably better than Dougie Hamilton but it's this like that is pretty much the same it's your number one defensemen going down right so to put it in savers terms it's Dollyn being out for the season right so having Dougie Hamilton back is huge I'm I like that defensive group that they have all the way around period
00:49:50
Speaker
the
Podcast Wrap-Up
00:50:08
Speaker
against that Devils team so we're gonna see that new revamped Sabres fourth line up against you know some legit players very very soon like I said when Greg was on dude I just and I mean it's early you know 82 games you can't put all of your stock into what happens in the first two games right it's just like it's just like football right week one's kind of a liar right these first few games teams are going to be finding their identities a little bit
00:50:31
Speaker
But this will still be a solid benchmark to see, you know, if Lynn structure system is um there, we're at this team and all that stuff because yeah, the devils are no joke. You got guys up and down that lineup. They can score starting with Jack Hughes. Jack uses a legitimate number one center in this league. Now an absolute problem. His brother Luke Hughes on defense is also no joke. So anywhere you slice it, this team is a challenge, but.
00:50:58
Speaker
I think you're going to find this team in the very much in the playoff conversation because they addressed the biggest ailment, which was that goaltending, by acquiring a legit number one goaltender. So it's you know it's it's a little bit nerve-wracking, but it's the first of 82 games. you know you can't You can't just live and die by that. So it'll be a challenge, but it'll be a good benchmark too.
00:51:20
Speaker
It certainly will be. I'm always interested to see how new goalies fare in new environments. Jacob Markstrom's been in a few destinations and proven that he is adaptable and plays well behind a variety of different systems. So I think I'm not too worried about him. But this is also a Devils team that really let their goalies get shell-shocked last year. So I think it'll be interesting to see how he looks. I do think it's interesting, interesting too, that they have Sheldon Keefe coming in as coach, moving on from Lindy Ruff in the offseason.
00:51:47
Speaker
um You know, I think any team when they have a new coach kind of gets a bit of a bump just from wanting to impress the new head coach. And he is a he is a good head coach. I mean, Toronto's had its share of issues. I don't know how many were him or how many were a variety of other issues. But I think that is a I think they're going to be a problem this year, man. at at the At worst, at worst, they're a team that you're battling for a wildcard spot with. At best, they're they're easy top three, top two in the division fighting with the Rangers for the top.
00:52:17
Speaker
Oh, yeah, dude. Yeah, it'll be tough. But like I said, dude, I mean, yeah. Hey, man, you want to make the playoffs? You got to beat these teams, right? Jersey. Are they in our division? think the No, sir. No, sir. OK, just the same conference. But you're still fighting with them. Still fighting with them. Yes. One hundred percent. I mean, those are like if if they are, you know, if they take only a couple of steps from last year, like that could be a team that we're fighting for a wildcard spot with. I don't know. So, you know, I like don't put all your eggs in it, but Yeah, OK, game one matters because this team could be someone you're dealing with down down the road. So it'll be it'll be like I know i so like I've said it 100 times, but I keep saying a benchmark, right? It's a good team. It'll be good to see where we stack up against these guys. For sure. I think score predictions are tough, but I do want to do maybe like a player that you think will have a big, big weekend type thing. But before we do that, Tom, you had your hand up. What what do you got down? Sorry, yeah that was bad. Mr. Smith. Yeah, this is great. um
00:53:13
Speaker
What's something that you guys want clarity on on this Sabres team in this first few games? What's something you're not sure how it's going to go in, but you're going to get information these first few games on, and you're going to be able to like, okay, we're going to learn about this team. What's something you're going to get clarity out of these first few games? Jake, me or you buddy? I'll go first. I think style of play, how they play under a new head coach, one who has a reputation of playing fast, hard hockey with New Jersey in the past couple of years, particularly two years ago with the Devils. They were humming. They were in your face. They were quick through the neutral zone and quick in the offensive zone. I want to see that. And I want to see how the bottom six plays with that. I think it is drastically improved, particularly with that style of play. So yeah, I want to see what that system looks like in game action and how the players react to it.
00:54:05
Speaker
for me it's For me, it's the that's the line configurations. right Who does Lindy put with who? right How does Zach Benson do? It looks like right now, Zach Benson is going to be on that second line with um Dylan Cousins and Jack Quinn. She looks like Jason Zucker is going to be on that third line right now.
00:54:20
Speaker
um How does that shake out, right? Like that was one that Jake and I were concerned about. We didn't want to see Zucker in the top six. We wanted it to go to Benny. It looks like that's how it's going to start. But, you know, if Benny's going to stay there, he's got to produce. How does that look? Does Peyton Krebs fit in on the fourth line as he had healthy scratch over Nick Abbe Cubel? I'm really, really, really interested interested to see, A, who are the 12 forwards that Lindy decides to dress? B, what are the line configurations that we have going into the opening game of the season?
00:54:49
Speaker
So that's the big one for me. i'm I'm really interested to see how it all shakes out. Roll that into who, what, what player do you have your eye out your eye on to kind of have a big impact this weekend? I am looking for Dylan cousins, baby. I'm looking for Dylan to come out out of the gate hot after taking a significant step back last season. I think having guys like Benny and Jack Quinn will be helpful for that.
00:55:14
Speaker
But that being said, dude, like, that's like that's a guy that we want to be able to see drive the bus by himself on a line. Right. So I'm I'm that's the guy that I'm going to be super keen in on. I want to see him get back heading down the right track from game one, baby. I'm i'm all eyes on Dylan Cousins. I love it for me. I think ah I'll cheat. I'll give you two. I think JJ Paterka continues the streak that he's had.
00:55:40
Speaker
last year and into this year. I think he's primed for a bit of a breakout. um And then the other one, Zach Benson, he's a year older. He's filled out a bit. He's 19 now. um I think there's a big difference. I think there's a big difference between guys that are small shoes now. Let's go. Exactly. Yeah. But no, I think, I think guys that are small get a bad rap, but there's a big difference between guys that are small and guys that are just 18. Like he's, he's not that tiny and he, yeah, he's a little skinny maybe, but exactly. And exactly the mental's, the, the ability that he has to be a better hockey player is monumentally more important than is he a touch bigger than somebody else. So I'm looking for him to have a breakout year as well. I don't think there'll be much of a sophomore slump.
00:56:24
Speaker
I'm so grateful you knew what this meant, dude, because this could be, like, Frankenstein. This could be a lot of different things, dude. He's got he's got nice eyes. His is temples are really nice, dude. I literally was sitting here in my head going, Mentals, Mentals. Oh, man. o Man, oh, man. All right, buddy. Score prediction. Wait a minute. I want to get a quick score prediction for Friday. Should we do Friday and Saturday?
00:56:47
Speaker
Yeah, sure. Let's do it. I'm going to say, I'm going to say we, we win game one and I'm going to say it's a three, two overtime win. And then I'm going to say we dropped game two. I'm going to say we drop it four to two. I think we might get a little cocky after game one. It's going to be a hard fought game. So I'll say three to two OT win game one, 42 loss game two.
00:57:07
Speaker
I love it. I'm not saying this to be different. I was going the opposite. I think they I think they get a little shell, you know, coming off five, nothing against Red Bull. They've been in Europe for a week. I think they get a little shell shocked against a really good double steam on Friday. I think they lose that one. I'm going to go five to empty netter. But then I think I think Lindy fucking reams them out in the locker room after that. I think they come back strong and they win for one on Saturday. Empty netter, dude, I just met her, Jake.
00:57:37
Speaker
Tom, score predictions. Watch me be your rights. I can't wait to be just the most right. I will keep track. I'm going to keep track of my my score predictions all season this guy this year, guys. So we're going to go ah a three one win first game on Friday and then a one zero win on Saturday. Tom, you're going to an O UPL, baby.
00:58:04
Speaker
I love it. I love it. Coming out sending the Jedi on the bench. um Kevin Levi's going to be great on the bench. Yeah, he's going to be awesome. and Tommy, get us out of here, bro. Hey, if anybody is still here and hanging out with us, we appreciate you. um And please give us a like and a follow. We're on on Spotify. We're on YouTube. We're on Apple Podcast. Please give us a follow. All this is awesome. We really appreciate Greg hanging out with us today. That was awesome. So cool.
00:58:35
Speaker
And Hey guys, it's onwards and upwards boys. Steak stick with us all season. Sabers are just starting. The bills are up and rolling guys. This is the time. This is the time for Buffalo sports. So peak sports baby buckle in folks. This is the time.
00:58:50
Speaker
Love you all. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for spending some time with us. Please give us a like and a follow on Instagram X, TikTok, and our YouTube channel at Let's Go Buff Pod. These are my pals, Jake and 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 Savers. Let's Go Buffalo.