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00:00Position.
00:01You know, know what you don't know.
00:03I can't predict the future.
00:04Sports, a lot of randomness.
00:05You never know.
00:06But these last two nights, when you have lineup matchups like we've had,
00:10the Sabres, basically the Amerks playing against Pittsburgh
00:13and then vice versa last night.
00:16The Cleveland Lake Monsters?
00:20Sounds right.
00:21I think is their AHL.
00:22These are more predictable when it comes to hockey games.
00:24Should be.
00:25These last two.
00:26Should be, yeah.
00:26Both kind of went the way you thought.
00:28Yeah.
00:28Probably.
00:29So, Paul, I mean, you could have made an exception here these last two nights
00:33predicting the outcome.
00:34You probably would have nailed it.
00:36Right.
00:37So, they were asking me earlier, like, if they would have played a kid's team,
00:40Brad was asking me, would I predict it?
00:42And I said, no.
00:43I wouldn't do it.
00:44But think back to, actually, remember when the Sabres went to Europe
00:47and the Amerks basically played the Sabres exhibition schedule here in North
00:52America and did pretty well?
00:53I remember, like, Ratzlaff stood on his head in one game
00:57and beat one of the NHL teams, basically had their NHL players.
01:01And it was really goofy how, you know, the AHL team was coming in
01:06and maybe being dominated at times, but hanging in there and maybe winning a few games.
01:11Well, we should have been able to figure out then that they should have just stayed up.
01:16The drought could have ended much earlier if they'd only had the foresight to do that,
01:20to just play all of those players.
01:22It would have worked out so well.
01:25Well, there was, you know, we'll get to some things that you could certainly like off of last night,
01:30Benson and Ausland maybe specifically, and we'll get there.
01:34But, I mean, it's hard to have a preseason game.
01:36I think even if this had been a 5-1 regular season game, the injuries would still be the thing
01:42we'd be talking about
01:43and want to know the most about.
01:45And, unfortunately, it's one of the things we probably know as little about as we can, right?
01:51I mean, we've got lower body on Samuelson.
01:53We might suspect that was from blocking a shot, but we don't know.
01:57And that's week to week.
01:59And Zellweger with the head injury, and that's concussion protocol.
02:04How big a loss, Samuelson, Paul?
02:06I mean, became a very important player and maybe sort of the symbol of the whole rebirth here
02:13because his career felt like it was getting away from him when last year was beginning.
02:18And, like the whole team, he just turned it around and is bordering on like a folk hero status now
02:25with this fan base.
02:27But he's going to be out for some time here.
02:31Yeah, there were times last year until Darlene really, really kicked it in that Samuelson, I thought by far,
02:37was their best defenseman, including Darlene.
02:40Just, you know, he added offense to his game that we never had seen before to go with the defense.
02:45And it was just like it was a wow factor of it.
02:49And, yes, it's going to be huge as well as Metza played last year.
02:53I mean, you lose Samuelson and Metza goes in.
02:56And Metza's not Samuelson for sure.
03:00He'll, you know, fill in, I think, admirably if he plays like he did last year.
03:04But, you know, that's what you have depth for because you're going to have to use it.
03:09All we can do is speculate that it was blocking a shot, but he didn't play after that.
03:13So I think it's a pretty good speculation that, you know, it was from blocking a shot.
03:18And anybody that's played hockey knows that, you know, you block a shot in the foot or the ankle, you've
03:24got protection, but you can still break a bone.
03:27You know, I can raise my hand.
03:29That's happened to me.
03:30It's probably happened to you, Bulldog, playing defense.
03:32I mean, it just, these are pucks, and they're hard, and they're frozen, and they can get through padding and
03:39break bones.
03:41Whether that's happened here, we don't know.
03:44But he could have been hurt before he blocked the shot.
03:47We don't know that.
03:48So all we know, it's just a lower body, and it's going to take a little bit.
03:53Paul doesn't throw me in there as somebody that might probably have suffered a broken bone.
03:57I know you didn't play hockey, so I knew you didn't block frozen pucks.
04:01What I would do, we played a lot of street hockey, and I would just walk it off.
04:03But I don't know.
04:04Maybe I had a broken bone.
04:05And, Paul, yeah, I never suffered an injury from blocking a shot because I'm tough, Paul.
04:10I'm old school.
04:11If you don't get a report, then you'll never know.
04:14There's got to be a bone sticking out of my skin for me to miss a shift.
04:18I did suffer a sublux peroneal tendon walking, playing golf, though.
04:22See, now we play tennis balls in street hockey.
04:24We didn't use pucks.
04:25It's my one surgery except for tonsils ever.
04:28Anyway, enough about me.
04:30Yeah.
04:31Well, and Zellweger, Paul, like.
04:35Sounded encouraging about him.
04:37Lindy said he was considerably better today when he came in, but he's in the concussion protocol now.
04:45The seven days isn't a requirement, but it's a strong suggestion.
04:51So, you know, they may keep him out seven days as far as that goes.
04:55But it's good news to hear that he came in today, felt better.
04:59And that wasn't a dirty hit by any means.
05:02It appeared to me like he hit his head on the back of his head on the ice when he
05:07went down.
05:07Yeah.
05:08Lindy thought so, too.
05:09Yeah.
05:09I never got a great look at it because, you know, I was watching the Jumbotron feed, you know,
05:15is what we had last night on Sabres.com.
05:17That was how the game was presented.
05:20And I didn't get a great – I saw the replay, but it was the same replay,
05:23and it was hard to tell points of contact and all that.
05:26But I did think I also saw the players had to hit the ice when he landed.
05:30Yeah, he had his head down, and he got clobbered.
05:32I mean, it was a clean check.
05:35And great on Malenstein, you know, for squaring things up afterwards.
05:40And I will still, as much as I don't mind hockey fights at all,
05:44I still don't think that Susie had to answer for that.
05:47I think – I don't – I hate that people have to answer for clean hits now.
05:52It didn't used to be that way.
05:54People understood.
05:55If you want to – somebody hits your guy hard and clean, go hit him hard and clean.
06:00You know, and that's how you get him back.
06:01But now, any little thing, it's got – you got to go fight him.
06:05You got to – and it's just – I don't know.
06:07And the – and I would expect the Sabres to still be very sensitive to that
06:11because of a couple years ago.
06:12Right?
06:13So –
06:13No, but good on Malenstein.
06:14Here's a new guy.
06:15Right.
06:15Sure.
06:15You've said it.
06:16Yeah.
06:16Good on him.
06:18It shouldn't have to be that way, but it is.
06:21And so –
06:22That's something that you could administer.
06:25You could regulate.
06:27Call instigator stuff.
06:29You know, like if I'm the official and I say the hit was clean, which I did
06:33because I'm not calling a penalty on the play, and you go after him, that's clearly something.
06:39But Susie knew it.
06:41I don't know if they said something to each other because when they were done, Susie patted
06:47them on the back.
06:48Yeah.
06:48Like, okay, nice job.
06:49It was after – it wasn't in the moment.
06:52Like, the hit happened, no penalties.
06:55It was the next period.
06:55And then the next period started, and that's when – so it wasn't like an instigator situation
06:59where Malenstein came over and just threw his gloves off and, like, we're fighting now.
07:02I think that he just sort of said, like, we're going to – we should do this, and Susie
07:06agreed.
07:07Okay.
07:07Well, not the best example, but you could do the other thing.
07:10That's right.
07:10That's right.
07:10You know, and Susie is a tougher guy, so he would think what the new hockey is that you've
07:16got to answer for it.
07:16This is the code.
07:17I will answer for it.
07:19I will give you the opportunity.
07:21I'll pat you on the back when we're done.
07:23We'll go do our penalties, and that'll be the end of it.
07:25What do you think it means – I know what the depth chart has looked like so far with
07:30Metza and Gilbert as the extras on defense.
07:34Do you think this injury situation, with two of the top four being out, like, who's next?
07:42Like, I know Metza certainly goes in the lineup, I would expect.
07:46Is there a chance here, like, that Mertka could pass Gilbert on the depth chart because
07:51of an injury?
07:52Like, I get why they'd want to send him to Rochester and get him acclimated to where he's
07:57likely to play, you know, the majority of this season, but I don't know.
08:02I wonder if he might rank as someone – can he earn a spot in the opening night lineup in
08:09these next two games, I guess I'm asking.
08:10It would be Johnson before him.
08:12Oh, okay.
08:13They both were up here.
08:14Right.
08:15And only because – and I'm going by what I saw in the prospect showcase.
08:20Case, he's not ready for the NHL.
08:22I'm not even positive he's ready for the AHL, but he had some rough times.
08:27Right.
08:27Yeah, he had some rough times there.
08:30And you know what?
08:31He's ready for the AHL.
08:32He'll learn it quickly.
08:33I mean, he's got a ways to go, and there's things he's going to have to learn from Mike
08:37Leone and the staff there.
08:39But, no, I don't feel – maybe they feel differently, but I don't feel he's ready.
08:44I think Gilbert stays until Zellweger gets back and then probably goes down.
08:51But – no, not goes down.
08:53He stays and actually would be in the lineup and then would go as your – he would go
08:58to the seventh team.
08:59Metz, I think, would still be in the lineup until Samuelson got back.
09:02And then Gilbert would go down and Metz would go to number seven, you know, once they –
09:06Once everybody's healthy again, yeah.
09:08But you know how that goes.
09:09You know, one guy comes back and the next guy gets hurt and all – so Gilbert could –
09:14Gilbert Metz could wind up here all year.
09:16I mean, you know how injuries go.
09:19Paul Hamilton with us.
09:20Paul, what do you think of Kulik through two games?
09:25Yeah, he was better yesterday.
09:26I mean, he's still finding his way.
09:27And, you know, I thought about it because I've been talking about, well, they're going
09:31to have – if no more injuries, they're going to have to waive either Danforth or Kozak.
09:35And I thought, you know what, maybe Kulik could use a little time in the AHL just to get
09:40acclimated again.
09:42You know, he's going to probably play all four preseason games, but they don't appear
09:47to have a spot for him in the lineup that would actually behoove him.
09:51He can go down without waivers.
09:53So you could conveniently send him down.
09:56But also, would it be better for him, you know, after missing a year, to go down and
10:02get acclimated with the team and see the puck go in the net a few times?
10:05And, you know, I don't think he'd have to spend a lot of time down there, to be quite
10:09honest with you.
10:10But I could listen to that, that it would help you out in a roster crunch number one.
10:17But I think more importantly, it would help him get acclimated a little bit too.
10:21Yeah, I got to have my mind open to that, because I'm pretty sure I agree with you that
10:26him playing on the line he played on last night doesn't really make a lot of sense.
10:30It makes sense from a let's get him some games and let him work his way back up the
10:36lineup sort of standpoint.
10:37But if it's opening night, I'd rather have Danforth in his spot, I think, with Malenstein
10:42and Carrick.
10:43I just think that makes more sense.
10:44Flip him and McLeod.
10:45Yeah, sure.
10:46Put McLeod in that spot and put him with Norris.
10:49Yeah.
10:50Well, I wonder what they'll end up doing there, because I think the ceiling still should be
10:56thought to be pretty high with this player.
10:59And if he doesn't rate a top six spot, I think what you're suggesting might make sense.
11:04I just wonder if they'll actually do it.
11:06Like, send him down there, let him center the top line for a couple of weeks.
11:10And, you know, like you said, get some production, get some confidence, and then bring him back
11:15up, hopefully into a spot that makes more sense in the lineup than playing fourth line
11:20left wing.
11:21In this lineup, I think we could go top nine.
11:24I mean, whether he's a center or as Norris as a center, or, you know, or centers with Thompson
11:31on the wing.
11:32I think any of those would be fine for him.
11:34I think he could flourish on any of that.
11:36And maybe you keep him in Rochester until you have an injury, and you have a place to
11:40put him, and then he gets this opportunity.
11:44Paul Hamilton with us.
11:45You want to talk about Benson and Ausland, Paul?
11:48Yeah.
11:49Talk about immediate connection.
11:50They played a little bit together last year, but boy, I think Ausland can connect with whoever
11:55he plays with.
11:56Kind of like Krebs.
11:57You know, Krebs adjusts to whatever line he's on, whatever teammates he's on with.
12:02He seems to be able to gel with anybody, that he can play with Malenstein and Carrick, or
12:09he can play with Thompson last year, Tuck, you know, and he started to flourish there.
12:13I think Ausland's the same way.
12:15I think whoever's going to play with Ausland is going to look good and be able to play with
12:19them and have a good chemistry with them.
12:21And now it's Benson and Quinn, and they certainly had a very good chemistry together.
12:27And, you know, the kid, I don't know when it's going to be, but I can almost, all right,
12:32I got a prediction for you.
12:34I can almost guarantee at some point soon, we're going to be saying, boy, what a deal
12:37that contract is at Ausland's son.
12:39How's that prediction for you?
12:43Yeah, I mean, if he ends up, you know, becoming this year, even a 60-point player, I think you'll
12:49be saying that.
12:50Like, okay, good foresight, good job.
12:52Yeah, there is.
12:53I think if it's not this year, it's coming.
12:55Yeah.
12:55At some point.
12:56Yeah.
12:57I mean, there is the vision.
13:00We saw this when he, like, entered the Boston series, right?
13:03When Norris was out, he came in, and suddenly they looked that much better with him on the
13:10ice, and it didn't last long.
13:11He got hurt in game five, and that was that for him in the playoffs.
13:15But, yeah, really encouraged.
13:18And I like hearing, what did he put on, about 10 pounds of muscle, right, to try to.
13:24And it obviously didn't affect him in a bad way.
13:27Right.
13:28I mean, at least playing against, you know, whatever, AHL guys last night.
13:32Sure.
13:33And you know what?
13:34This would help something we talked about yesterday.
13:38To me, and maybe it is to you guys, it's not crazy to think at some point, Austin could
13:44wind up Thompson's center.
13:46And it would, like, Tuck used to clean up for Thompson in the defensive zone.
13:50Austin certainly would.
13:53And maybe that's something that could work at some point soon and work very well with
13:58those two together.
14:00What's the schedule for the rest of the week?
14:03Well, they have a game tomorrow in Detroit, so they'll have the pregame skate here tomorrow.
14:07Again, that will probably be mostly in Amherst's lineup.
14:11And then, because veterans can only play two games, and they play the two home games.
14:17So, and then at 3 o'clock on Saturday, and they do have a party in the plaza, by the
14:22way,
14:22for that, if anybody wants to go.
14:24Okay.
14:24I think Sabretooth's birthday or some goofy thing.
14:27But it is a party in the plaza that is happening.
14:30So that, and then on Friday, it'll just be a practice.
14:33Did you see any evidence, Paul?
14:36Because, you know, it's early, and it's only been a couple of games.
14:39But I thought the power play yesterday, I don't even know what the stats were on the game.
14:46Like, did they score on the, I don't even know what it ended up being.
14:48But I know a couple of times they had the man advantage.
14:51And there were, there was a lot more movement, I feel like, than there had been.
14:57And, boy, they had some down low stuff working with Ausland and Benson.
15:01That was really, really pretty hot, I thought.
15:04I love the down low finding.
15:08They had Thompson shooting through the slot.
15:10It wasn't necessarily, it was stationary once.
15:14But he was kind of shooting through the slot a couple of times.
15:17So I like this low high thing that they did.
15:20And I thought they did it pretty well.
15:22Benson was kind of leading the way with that.
15:24Because Benson got the puck.
15:25And I thought he was going to take the lane to the net, coming out from the side of the
15:29net.
15:29And that was open to him.
15:31But he had the vision to see Thompson coming.
15:35And he had the pass to him.
15:37So instead of taking the puck to the net himself, he set up Thompson.
15:40And Thompson probably scores nine out of ten times on that one.
15:43Talbot made a good save on him coming down.
15:46It was, I think, the first opportunity they got in the power play.
15:50And, no, the little bit we saw of it last night, I liked what I saw, especially the first power
15:55play.
15:56And what do you think will happen with the tuck penalty kill minutes?
16:00I saw Norris out there.
16:02I didn't look.
16:03Honestly, I meant to look and I forgot to see if it was the end of a shift.
16:06I didn't look to see if Norris spent a lot of time penalty killing.
16:11I want to look back and see if Doan spent a lot of time penalty.
16:15Because that was Lindy Ruff's idea last year at locker cleanout that, you know,
16:21he'd like to give Doan some more ice time and some penalty killing time and those types of things.
16:28So, yeah, that's one thing I want to do is sit down with the sheet
16:32and see who was doing the penalty killing and for how long.
16:35All right, Paul, any interesting comments lately from players, coaches?
16:40What's the most interesting conversation you've had in there?
16:43They've been pretty generic.
16:46I enjoy talking to Ellis about his growth and, you know, the things that he's been doing so far.
16:54And it was interesting when he talked about it, too, and people who heard the pregame show heard it,
17:01he talked about he looks at what Bussie did.
17:05You know, Bussie also was claimed on waivers by Carolina last year.
17:09And by the end of the season, he was kind of the number one goaltender.
17:12But he didn't get the nod in the playoffs, which surprised me.
17:15Because he was kind of playing like their number one goaltender.
17:18Anderson got it.
17:19And then Anderson got hurt, and here's Bussie in the Stanley Cup Finals winning them the Stanley Cup.
17:26And he said, absolutely, I look at that and think, why can't that be me?
17:31You know, he goes, that does give me hope of my journey and where he came from.
17:37And, you know, he had a good first year as a rookie.
17:39And I've said many times that it wouldn't shock me if Lucanen or Lyon get injured
17:45and Ellis gets an opportunity if he didn't grab the job like Bussie did.
17:49So, I found that interesting that, you know, he really took stock in that.
17:54And he said, he goes, why can't that be me?
17:57Will Lucanen play this week?
18:00Weekend?
18:02I think, well, so far each goaltender's played two periods.
18:05So, you could do that again if you wanted to.
18:07And then each goaltender would have four periods.
18:09So, I could see maybe Lucanen grabbing the road game instead of Lyon since Lyon had the road game before
18:17with Ellis taking the last period.
18:20You know, two periods to one.
18:21And then the home game, Lyon takes the two periods and Ellis takes the one.
18:25And then each goaltender would have four periods going into the season.
18:28Paul, I'll save you some time if you trust me.
18:32I looked up the...
18:33I never trust you.
18:34I looked up the information.
18:36Norris led them in shorthanded time on ice last night.
18:39Three minutes and eight seconds.
18:41Just ahead of Ryan McLeod who played 3-0-4.
18:44Benson, 2-55.
18:45And then the rest of it's in the minute and a half range.
18:48And down from there.
18:49Did Doan get any?
18:51Doan did not play a single minute of penalty kill last night.
18:54Okay.
18:54So, it looks like they're going to maybe give Norris the first opportunity at it.
18:58But I just want to see when I'm watching the penalty kill and the power play, I'm watching the structure
19:01of it.
19:02I'm not necessarily taking names.
19:04And that's what I was doing.
19:05And then I noticed him out there right at the end of a penalty kill.
19:08And I said, now, before I say he was killing penalties and he was out there for six seconds.
19:12Right.
19:12Let's make sure.
19:13Right.
19:13I want to go back and see.
19:15And I wasn't sure if Doan had gotten any either.
19:17So, I want to go back and thank you for looking that up because I was very curious about it.
19:21If you don't trust Bulldog, I don't know where I fit in there.
19:24I mean, on the scale.
19:26Hey, Mike, I trusted you with my cards, you know, back when you were a card collector.
19:31Yes.
19:32And I told you, I said, I thought you and I made a very good deal.
19:36And if you made money on it, I'm happy for you.
19:40I am not mad in the least.
19:42I feel good about the deal.
19:43And I will always feel good about the deal because, as I've told people and I tell you,
19:48that if I'm going to trust somebody, Mike Shope is absolutely somebody I'm going to trust.
19:52I mean, I don't think Mike Shope is going to try to pull the wool over my eyes.
19:56Clip it.
19:56Clip it.
19:57Clip it.
19:58Well, that's very nice of you.
19:59And there's one card that I happened to look at last night that was yours.
20:05Because, yes.
20:06Johnny Unitas with the eyes X'd out because he's dead?
20:10No.
20:12The one that somebody wrote on it, Jimmy is a crook.
20:15And Paul claimed to not know who Jimmy was.
20:191957.
20:21Checklist.
20:22And it's all checked.
20:23And somebody wrote at the bottom, Jimmy is a crook.
20:25Somebody got a bad deal.
20:27Maybe you and I made a good one.
20:28That was my next-door neighbor's kid that did that one.
20:30I was the one that when guys got traded, like on the AFL cards, I would write, I'd cross off
20:36bills
20:37and put chargers or something like that.
20:38Or my hockey cards.
20:39Which you let me keep.
20:40You didn't want those.
20:42You had no interest in the hockey cards, and I was glad because those are the only cards I was
20:46interested in
20:46is the AFL cards and the hockey cards.
20:49And you said, nope, that would have to be part of the deal.
20:51Keep those.
20:52Interesting.
20:52There was a 51 Mantle.
20:54I know that.
20:55I don't have that card anymore.
20:56If I did, it wouldn't be that I, quote, made money off of it until, like, now.
21:03Because now, like, a lot of those vintage stars are way up in price from those 20 years ago.
21:09I remember her sons grew up in the 50s, and she just said, do you want it?
21:14She didn't even, I guess they were kind of mad she did this.
21:17She just said, here are their cars.
21:19Take them.
21:20I gave them to me.
21:22And it was like, okay.
21:24A lot of kids your age, I'm going to say separate you and myself here, I think have that story.
21:30Like, I moved out and I left the cards in a crawl space, and my mom gave them away.
21:35Sure.
21:36Yep.
21:37And I didn't want to, you know, Mike knew the value of cards.
21:40I would have had to buy books and everything and spend a lot of time trying to figure out,
21:44this is worth that, that's worth this, I should have this in a container, whatever.
21:48It's like, I trust Mike.
21:50And as I said, even if Mike makes money on it, fine.
21:54Because I'm happy with the deal he gave me.
21:56Yeah, it's win-win.
21:58All right, so then I won't ask you what you remember about the Fred Merkle bonehead play
22:05118 years ago at the Polo Grounds on this date.
22:09Howard Simon would know that.
22:10He was probably covering the game.
22:11Okay, really it's your joke with him.
22:15Thank you, Paul.
22:15We'll talk again later in the week.
22:17Take care.