The Sabres have plenty of issues to work on and we thought there would be no better way to fix them than by suggesting some New Year’s resolutions for the club. We each run through a pair of resolutions for the Sabres, focusing on special teams, Dylan Cozens, goaltending and the front office. And we wrap up with one last brief suggestion for good measure. Whether or not these resolutions can be kept is an entirely different question for a Sabres team desperately in need of a winning streak.
Author: Chris Ostrander
Warpath #1: The Founding
The founding of the Buffalo Sabres is an interesting tale of dogged hard work by the Knox brothers mixed with a bit of vintage NHL chicanery. Follow the path the Knoxes took from prospective NHL owners, through their dalliance with the Oakland Seals and, finally, to the succwssful end of their pursuit of bringing NHL hockey to Buffalo.
The Instigator Podcast 12.12 – Lacking Depth
The Sabres tough Saturday carried to Tuesday and it got worse with Tage Thompson’s injury. We discuss how Buffalo’s injury woes at forward have thinned their lines, and Thompson’s injury exacerbates the problems. We talk about the holes in Buffalo’s lineup and how it’s past time for Jiri Kulich and other high-end prospects to get a look. We wrap up this week’s episode with a brief conversation on the team’s struggling power play and a few adjustments we’d make to clean it up.
Grow your Collection with a Charlie Brown Bills Bobblehead
FOCO’s impressive collection of Bills bobbleheads has grown once again. Just weeks ago, FOCO released an awesome Snoopy Buffalo Bills bobblehead and the Peanuts NFL collection has grown once again, this time with a Charlie Brown Buffalo Bills bobblehead. And no, Lucy isn’t there to yank the football away.
Continue readingThe Instigator Podcast 12.11 – Calling for Kulich
Alarm bells are going off in Edmonton and we start this week’s show talking about everything that seems to be ailing the Oilers. We also tie in our Oilers discussion, and their need to stay competitive with the push the Sabres will start to feel when it comes to making a big trade of their own.
We also talk about Buffalo’s young stars, namely Matthew Savoie and Jiri Kulich. Savoie has arrived after his two week conditioning assignment and will likely slot into the lineup this week. But even though Kulich has been scoring at a torrid pace, he hasn’t earned a call up just yet. We talk about where in the lineup he could fit and how much longer the Sabres can realistically wait before bringing him up.
The Instigator Podcast 12.10 – Neck Guard Adoption and Listener Questions
We took listener questions and ran through topics like the Shane Wright plan, expectations for Devon Levi, how Peyton Krebs and Casey Mittelstadt should be handled and line juggling as the team finds the right fit for their forwards. We open the show with a discussion on the adoption of neck guards, what might be preventing early adoption for NHL players and how a grandfathered requirement could come into play.
It’s Time for an NHL All-22 Product
The NHL released their latest statistical innovation this week, pulling back the curtain on the player and puck tracking data they collect. The tool is somewhat limited in its current state, but it has laid the groundwork to make more internal league data available to the public.
It’s a wise step for the league to take, especially with the proliferation of advanced stats in both the public and organizational realms. This sort of data will play a huge role in the future of the game and giving fans access to even a fraction of it shows that the league understands the value in opening those doors.
Another feature that I desperately wish the NHL would build out for its fans is a form of the NFL’s All-22 product. This has been a favorite topic of mine for quite some time and it’s something that I think the NHL is completely missing the bus on.
Continue readingThe Instigator Podcast 12.9 – Frozen Frenzy and a Decentralized NHL Draft
It’s been quite the week in the NHL. Tuesday’s 16-game slate was a hit, with ESPN’s Frozen Frenzy the highlight of the evening. We talk about the effort to put the night together and how we look forward to the next iteration of the NHL’s version of Red Zone. We also spend time talking about the league’s movement to decentralize the draft. We weigh the pros and cons of pulling most, if not all, team staff from the on-site draft and the movement to a model that more closely resembles the NFL Draft. Along the way we touch on the Sabres first seven games, where they’ve struggled, where they’re enjoying positive momentum and why we remain optimistic despite their early struggles on offense.
Nickelodeon and the Bills: A Perfect Combo
Doug, Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, Spongebob. GUTS The Nickelodeon catalog is vast and elite and today, you can grab your own awesome piece of the Nick universe with FOCO’s Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs 2023 Nickelodeon Glow in the Dark Bighead Bobbleheads.
Both bobbleheads feature the Bills superstars on top of a Nick branded base with a barrel of glow in the dark slime spilling behind them. In place of a football, both players are carrying the famous Nickelodeon blimp. Allen is sporting his home blue jersey while Diggs is decked out in Buffalo’s away uniform.
Continue readingMake it a Draft Week with “NHL Con”
On a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman floated the idea of the NHL putting on “NHL Con” or soe other form of convention as part of the draft celebration. The idea came as an offshoot of the discussion surrounding the league’s push to decentralize the draft.
It’s a terrific idea that the league should pursue with, or without, a shift in operations for the entry draft. The NHL Draft isn’t quite the fan extravaganza that the NFL Draft has become, but it’s certainly a draw for die-hards and there’s local interest as it moves from city to city. Tying in a massive, hockey-focused festival for the week of the draft would be an excellent way to draw more fan attention to the event, and to keep people engaged beyond the first round on Friday night.
The NHL’s version of Comic Con could become an offseason Mecca for various offshoots of the hockey community. Pulling in interests from equipment, collectibles, hockey history and kid-friendly events could provide days of relevant programming that builds up to the weekend’s draft. There could even be ancillary programming like a concert or two that the NHL could help put together as part of their arrival in the city that week. Maybe, if the city’s layout made sense for it, you could create an NHL Campus. Where you have the arena as ground zero as that is where the draft will occur, but other nearby venues (whether it be a convention center, park, college campus or concert hall) are all part of the programming that takes place during the week. That way if you were a fan hoping to see the Stanley Cup and get some autographs, you’d go to the Fan Fest space at the local convention center. But if you were there for a panel discussion, maybe you wind up at a smaller concert venue close to the arena. Regardless of the shape this would take, I’d hope that Elliotte’s initial suggestion was either an educated guess or that it has caught the ear of the special events people at the NHL and they’ve started to develop something. They won’t be short on options to include.
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Two in the Box 