The Instigator Podcast
Episodes
Joe Yerdon joins the show yet again as we discuss the Sabres work at the draft and free agency. We touch on how Taylor Hall will impact the roster and whether or not his acquisition gives the Sabres enough fire power to take the next step. Jack Quinn is on the table as well as we run through the draft and the tepid reaction to Quinn's selection.
Chad and Anthony from Expected Buffalo and Die By The Blade joined the show for our first ever draft round table. We discuss our preferred targets for the Sabres at eighth overall and how the top of the draft may shake out.
We break down the Sabres trade for Eric Staal, discuss what might come next for the team and touch on the hiring of Mike Weber and Adam Mair in Rochester. We also run through the tough situation in Arizona and some of the odd decisions made by Jim Rutherford in Pittsburgh.
Reports that the Sabres are expected to operate with an internal budget this season were greeted with trepidation. Reports that the budget could sit as low as $70 million were greeted with outright anger. We discuss the ramifications such a restrictive budget could have and whether or not we believe the Sabres could actually pull that off (spoiler: we don't). We also touch on news from around the NHL as the league inches closer...
John Vogl of The Athletic joins the show to discuss his recent article about the Sabres Hall of Fame and it's lengthy hiatus. We talk about the odd circumstances surrounding the team Hall of Fame and even get around to discussing some roster building topics as well.
The NHL players led a decision to postpone play for two nights in response to the continued unrest throughout the country. We discuss the decision, the NHL's initial reaction and other factors surrounding the league and how they've reacted to the Black Lives Matter movement. We also discuss the trade that sent Kasperi Kapanen to Pittsburgh and touch on a potential trade partner for the Sabres.
We're playing catch up on this week's episode after missing last week's batch of news. So we run down the Sabres return to royal blue and the unveiling of their new uniforms. We touch on the Rangers lottery win, the qualifying round and the Amerks' hiring of Seth Appert. The bulk of the episode is devoted to the first round of the NHL playoffs and how each of the series has shaped up.
The NHL officially returns in just a few short days and we devote this week's show to previewing and predicting the qualifying round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and offering up our picks for who will play for the Stanley Cup.
With the finalists announced for the NHL awards, we run through our selections on who we think will win the awards - and who with think should win in a few cases. Also on the show is a discussion about the Blue Jays and Buffalo and a quick rundown of the NHL Qualifying Round.
Julie Stewart-Binks, host of Drinks with Binks and Call it a Night with Julie Stewart-Binks on fubo Sports Network joined the show to discuss all manner of topics, including the NHL qualifiers and playoffs, bubble cities, how COVID-19 has affected broadcasting and a whole lot more. You can catch Julie and Drinks with Binks on fubo Sports Network Friday nights at 8pm and 24/7 on the fubo Sports Network website along with Pluto, XUMO...
New details have been released on the schedule the NHL will follow as they proceed with the return to play process. This includes a tentative start date for the 2020-21 NHL season. We discuss just how things will unfold between now and when the Sabres take the ice again in December, the schedule for the qualifying round and playoffs and the abbreviated offseason. We also touch on Lindy Ruff's hiring in New Jersey and other news...
The Sabres are picking eighth overall in the NHL Draft after Friday's lottery. We discuss where the Sabres wound up, who they should target with the pick and offer up a reaction to a placeholder team winning the first pick. We also discuss Rick Dudley surfacing as a possible front office candidate for the club and just what his role might look like.
A quick episode this week highlighting the looming draft lottery, what the Sabres have in store in the top 10 of this year's draft and a brief conversation on Alexander Mogilny missing out on the Hockey Hall of Fame yet again.
The Sabres sent shockwaves through the hockey world as they fired Jason Botterill and named Kevyn Adams as his replacement. Much of Buffalo's scouting staff, player development and minor league coaching staffs were also released in the afternoon, effectively nuking the hockey department from the top down. We talk about the decision to fire Botterill, to replace him with Adams and everything else that transpired over the course ...
The Sabres playoff drought now officially numbers nine seasons and as the postmortem on the season began, the team and its ownership has resumed their usual nonsense. We talk about Kim Pegula putting her foot in her mouth, Jason Botterill following suit and just how much work needs to be done to get the Sabres on the right track. We also run through the league's plans for returning to play as they plan on jumping right into pla...
The global impact of Coronavirus has been astonishing to follow and the spread of the disease has brought it to America where it has begun to creep into sporting culture. As various events and tournaments are impacted, with many being canceled, it's only a matter of time before the NHL and other pro leagues are impacted. We discussed the current state of the league as the virus has caused changes to be made to press availabilit...
Goalie Gear Nerd, one of the web's foremost experts on goalie equipment joined the show for the second time as we discussed his new website, some of the latest news and innovations in goal while also sharing some thoughts on David Ayres and the NHL's emergency backup system.
Jason Botterill made a pair of additions on Monday's NHL trade deadline, picking up Wayne Simmonds and Dominik Kahun for the stretch run. It wasn't without some selling as Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues both went to Pittsburgh in exchange for Kahun as the Sabres hope to transition to contender status. We also run through some of the bigger trades that went down on Monday as the most eventful deadline in years wrapped up.
The trade deadline is next week and the Sabres are in a position where they almost have to make some waves in order to begin the process of finding upgrades to their forward group. We discuss the handful of UFAs the Sabres have to market along with floating a few potential targets Jason Botterill could chase in order to add to his roster. It's a big week for Botterill and the Sabres as the team floats on the periphery of the pl...
Jeff Skinner's career-long goal drought and Buffalo's perpetual status as a one-line team was the focus of this week's episode. We discuss some of the reasons Skinner has struggled to get on the score sheet and whether or not it's a wise decision to reunite him with Jack Eichel and/or Sam Reinhart. We also discuss Reinhart and the tricky situation the Sabres are putting themselves in with respect to his upcoming con...