The Sabres are set to kick off their 2022-23 campaign and we dig into their lineup ahead of the season opener and how we see them faring this season. We look into each position group, determining where the team’s strengths and weaknesses lie. We also offer up a few thoughts on the rest of the league as the NHL regular season gets rolling.
We kick off another season of the podcast with a conversation about the Prospects Challenge. We run through the highlights of the roster expected to play this coming weekend and even dip into the invites who will be helping to round out the roster for the tournament.
Our conversation touches on some of the expected standouts for the tournament, the unknowns in net and closes with our thoughts on some of the players who could be worth watching for when Sabres training camp opens.
The Sabres, at long last, have announced they will be bringing back their red and black uniforms as an alternate jersey for the 2022-23 season. The team made the announcement on Wednesday, stating that they will wear the jersey 12 times during the year beginning with a November face-off with the St. Louis Blues. We talk about the excitement surrounding the decision and the nostalgia this brings as we reminisce about some of the great memories made while the Sabres wore the Goathead the first time around.
We kick off the show with a discussion on the two contracts the Sabres signed this week as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Tage Thompson each got a new deal from the club. While the UPL deal wasn’t a huge news item, the Thompson contract is. We break down some key points on the seven-year, $50 million contract for the Sabres center.
Remember to use code Instigator on DraftKings Sportsbook as new customers will get $200 in free bets if they place a $5 bet on any football game in week one.
Pete Jensen of NHL.com joins the show to offer up a fantasy hockey outlook for the coming season. Pete lends his expertise to discuss which players are candidates to climb up draft boards, players poised for a breakout year in fantasy and which Sabres will carry the most fantasy value this season.
Noah Ennis, goal mask artist and owner of Shell Shock Paint joins the show for an expansive conversation about goalie mask art and the pro clients Noah works with. New Sabres goalie Eric Comrie is among the roster of pro clients Ennis works with in addition to the Anaheim Ducks’ Lukas Dostal, John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz, Laurent Brossoit of the Vegas Golden Knights and many other NHL and AHL netminders. Our conversation covered some of the finer details of working with NHL goalies on mask designs and the trends and innovations within the wider industry. Noah’s work can be found online at shellshockpaint.com or on Instagram @shellshockco.
As we continue through August, it seemed like a good time to field a few more listener questions. This week’s episode tackles a bunch of different topics including the Sabres Reverse Retro sweaters, shoulder patches, goaltending plans, special teams alignments and trade targets. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for this week’s Q&A.
Chad and Anthony from Expected Buffalo join the show for another roundtable discussion. This time we talk about when the Sabres will be ready to take the next big step in their rebuild and when the right time for it will be. We talk about how this summer has helped shape the next step in their rebuild and look ahead to whether or not next summer will be the time that Kevyn Adams starts making big splashes. We wrap up by touching on the prospects who could be most impacted by future acquisitions and even toss out a few favorites we’d like to see the Sabres target.
This week we tackle the 2022 Stanley Cup Final and offer up our thoughts on the postseason. We move on to discuss Alexander Mogilny missing out on induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame once again and whether his resume is enough to get into the Hall in the future. We wrap up with listener questions which go heavy on Buffalo’s options in net this offseason.
For some lighter offseason content we decided to dig into who we deem to be the best draft pick in Sabres history. We considered a few permutations for our discussion as Gilbert Perreault is an obvious and easy answer to lead with. Our conversation meanders through a number of fan favorites and franchise legends as we assess various picks from a number of angles.
The show kicks off with a quick discussion of the latest in the NHL coaching carousel as Peter DeBoer and John Tortorella became the latest coaches to land new jobs.
The newest Sabres beat writer joins the show as we welcome Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic to discuss a host of Sabres offseason topics. Matthew offers his thoughts on where the Sabres stand with regard to their rebuild and what moves he expects to see made this summer. We spend some time talking about the key vacancies in net and offer up a few potential targets that the Sabres could pursue. Matthew also provides some insight on what it’s been like stepping into a new beat and some of the differences between his previous work covering the Patriots and what he’s looking forward to covering the NHL.
Two in the Box 