Buffalo Sabres 2025 Preseason Storylines and Takeaways - Sabres Semantics - The Armchair GM's Sports Network

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.

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Time to sharpen those swords. You're listening to Saber Semantics,
a hard hitting interview and discussion show featuring players, alumni, media,
and all others who covered the.

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NHL's Buffalo Sabers.

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this show is sure to provide an entertaining and unique
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the Armchaired GM Sports Network.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Welcome into another episode of Saber Semantics right here on
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Thank you.

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Brandick Puto and joe Yurdin of Bleacher Report and Noted

(01:41):
Hockey are with you to discuss preseason storylines for the
Buffalo Savers here for the twenty twenty five pre season.
Getting things started here, Joe. You know, the Sabers have
had four played force preseason games so far, still two
to go before they hit the regular season. So you know,
before we get into the player stats, the results, the

(02:03):
transactions that were made as well yesterday at the time
of recording this, what have been your generality takeaways from
what you've seen from the first four games, and I
guess camp as a whole, as we've gotten going here
with the new season.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
Well, something I really liked is the kind of commitment
to what Lendy Rouff wants them to be playing like.
I think that's that's a really important thing to take
away from this is that the way that they play
on ice is that a lot of pressure, a lot
of four check you know, commitment to like getting in
the basically, commitment to getting in the way of the

(02:39):
other team when they want to do anything.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
That's that's been a real big.

Speaker 5 (02:43):
Point for them because the thing that everybody has said
all camp long, all preseason, all before the camp opened
was we got to cut down on the number of
goals against, which, yeah, you gotta, because it was pretty
bad last year, they had the offense to win. Last year,
they just didn't keep the puck out of the net.
And that's been a very strong, big strong point I

(03:05):
think so far this year is that they've for checked
very well. They've been much more physical, not to the
point of like dropping the gloves all the time, but
still noticeably more present with the body, and I think
that's been really good. It's a very high intensity kind
of game. And yet there's still some things that worked
well last year that you still see, you know, very

(03:28):
good five on five, generating scoring chances, all that kind
of stuff, and and your.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
NHL guys have looked good.

Speaker 5 (03:34):
And I think that's that's probably what you're most excited
to see, because the last thing you want in the
preseason is all the guys that aren't going to be
playing in Buffalo playing great, and everybody's saying like, hey,
why don't you give these guys a chance?

Speaker 4 (03:46):
Now?

Speaker 3 (03:46):
You don't want to, you know, want you don't want
a lot of that discussion.

Speaker 5 (03:48):
You want your NHL guys looking like, all right, okay,
this team's ready to go.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
So I think that's been that's been important to see.

Speaker 5 (03:56):
Obviously, goaltending is something we're you know, keeping a very
big eye on just because but some of that is
still yet to be determined because we're waiting on Ugo
Peca lookan and which should be coming this week. But
when it comes to everything else that they're doing, I
like a lot of what I'm seeing, and I think
that's that's important, and you know, I get it. It's

(04:16):
very easy to be I don't know, bitter whatever about
everything about the Sabers, but it's I think the team
right now is in a spot where where Lindy's liking
what he's seeing and when Lindy's happy, I think that's
a good thing.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
We'll get into the injury report here, the updated injury
report that you know we've been provided by the Sabers.
There obviously, as you mentioned, Ugo Peca Lucanan still could
play next week, which is is encouraging. But again that
lower body injury, having them sign Alexander Gorgiev it was
obviously something that they felt they had to do, not

(04:51):
knowing the full extent of what that injury was. Yuri
Koolich still considered day to day at this point, and
then Samuelson dealing with enough for upper body injury at
the at the time of of them releasing this statement.
So do any of those three well, I know the
Luke and In one is sort of concerning, But with Coole,
each and Samuelson, like, do you see them most likely

(05:11):
going to be playing in the upcoming last two preseason games?

Speaker 3 (05:15):
That's tough to say right now.

Speaker 5 (05:18):
What was noticeable and how Lindy talked about all three
of these injuries was you know that this was it
was an injury that kind of built up and it
got to a point where I was like, all right,
let's let's take a break here, Let's get these guys right,
and you know, we'll you know, we'll see how things
progress from there, which is interesting, I because mostly interesting
because I don't know for sure that means. So I

(05:40):
don't know if it's you know, word of that way
to keep us going like that's going on here, which hey,
if it is, congrats they win, but it's I you know,
when you see Cooley and Samuelson off the ice, it's like, oh, man, okay,
all right. You don't want to see anybody off the
ice in camp. That's not great. But uh, you know,

(06:00):
Lucanan's practice hard. The last couple last couple of days
out on the ice when he mentioned he wants to
try to get him in in the last two preseason
games against the Penguins. I think that's positive thing because
he needs those reps.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
A B. He's feeling good, then that's good.

Speaker 5 (06:17):
So that those are that's a positive on the Lucan
in front COOLi can Samuelson. Obviously Samuelson's a brand new
one because he was not on the ice the other
day at practice. Uh so, and you know, unfortunately with him,
I mean we've we've seen him off the ice so
much throughout his career, and I know it's a point
of frustration for him. That stuff really wears on him

(06:39):
from a from a mental standpoint because he you know,
last thing anybody wants to be is hurt. And for
a guy like him that's been banged up a lot
throughout his career and he's so young still, uh it's
something that can affect you, you know, affect your mindset,
you know, going into these things. But but you know,
get him back. They've got enough to of depth that

(07:00):
they can they don't really have to sweat it too much.
But it does make you know, potentially some some training
camp or some camp breaking roster choices very much more
interesting if that's the case. Kolik, Yeah, it's that's bothersome
because you want a young guy like that who's an offensive,

(07:21):
you know, spark plug in the lineup.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
The way they had had the lines going early on, I.

Speaker 5 (07:26):
Think they had him shaping up to be I want
to say it was third line. It was him, don't
and Quinn was shaping up to be the third line,
which is that's fun, that's a ton of fun. But
we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens there. If
he's back on you know, if he's back in the ice.
We've seen him around the rink, so not necessarily on

(07:46):
the ice, but like off of it. If it was
really bad, then I think, you know, maybe he'd be
you know, packed away, packed away his apartment or something
like that. But not a concern right now, and the
team hasn't expressed any sort of overconcern about injuries, so
I think I think everything's okay there, But you know,
injuries are always a bit worrisome when they happen, no

(08:08):
matter what.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
And Alex talk another one that was encouraging that he
was back on the ice and Lindy talked about him
and his presence, just being able to be a veteran guy,
you know, in the lineup and just having the line
shake out a little bit more to what they should
become the regular season. So having Alex Tuck back in
the lineup yesterday was obviously huge because he was out
with that undisclosed injury at the for a little bit

(08:31):
in the preseason.

Speaker 5 (08:32):
Yeah, and he looked good. Talk was a bit self
critical saying.

Speaker 3 (08:37):
He thought he was slow.

Speaker 5 (08:38):
He thought, you know, he thought it wasn't really jumping
in a play. I thought he looked very good.

Speaker 6 (08:41):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (08:41):
He was on a line with Ryan McLeod and Jason Zuker,
So like that's I think that's probably the line you're
gonna see together in the regular season. That crew look
works really good. And Zuoker and Tuck have like a
kind of you know, unstated chemistry where they just know
where the other guy is gonna be.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
No matter what.

Speaker 7 (09:01):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (09:01):
There's more than a couple of passes off the half
wall that Tuck seemed to have like his back turned
to where the flow of the play was, because you know,
it's kind of a board battle wants to win. That
puck off the wall, but you know, he gets control
of it and he's just firing a pass across the
ice and there's Zucker, you know, crash into the net
on the far post or he's zipping through the middle
of the zone and he's right there, you know, within

(09:23):
range of that pass, and it's like, oh, okay, you guys,
you guys know what you guys understand the assignment here.
So but I thought he looked good, and that's that's
a positive thing. He was doing all of his usual things.
He was out there on the PK occasionally very good
no matter what. So Great signs there, right, He's he's
one of those guys that you don't really have to
worry about in the lineup at all. Like he's just

(09:46):
so steady and so smart and so good that like
when as long as he's in, you know what you're
getting from him.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, and they they it was encouraging last night, Like
looking back on it, and you don't want to say
it's their full lineup and the full compliment you don't
necessarily want say with Detroit either, because the other nights
Great played a somewhat of a full lineup in Buffalo
didn't and you know, that's the part of preseason, right
but it was encouraging to see those those top six
players you talk about with Buffalo, you know, have an

(10:12):
impact page, scored a couple of goals. Uh, Norris had
a couple of solid assists as well to set up
those goals you mentioned talking and that that line with
with Zuker and Ryan McLeod, Like, that's just encouraging right
now to see, you know, those guys starting to ramp up.
I think it was asked about Lindy in the post
game yesterday about winter things ramping up, and he said,
we've already started ramping things up. Yeah, it's uh, and

(10:35):
I believe he did. He did bring up another player.
I couldn't necessarily hear what I think it was. Paul
Hamilton asked about a specific player and he said that
he's been doing really well in the bottom six, but
it was hard with the mics. I couldn't hear what
player he was talking about it. Lindy didn't say his
name over again, but it was it was encouraging that
he was encouraged by a lot of the guys, you know, because,

(10:56):
like you said, if if Lindy's upset, then you know
that then then that's a problem. But it looks good
so far surface area preseason. Not going to get too
too far ahead of ourselves here, but especially what you
saw yesterday against Detroit there there was definitely a lot
of good things.

Speaker 5 (11:12):
Yeah, and you know the the point about ramping things up, Uh,
that's been very apparent of the practices. He's been pushing
these guys very hard. And I know the cynical folks
will be like, well, that's why guys are getting hurt. No,
that's not why guys are getting hurt.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
This it's not it's not it at all.

Speaker 5 (11:30):
But like these are these are hard practices and like,
you know, these guys came into camp.

Speaker 3 (11:35):
There isn't a There isn't a guy that I could
like look at.

Speaker 5 (11:37):
And go like, boy, he didn't he wasn't ready. You know,
like you can tell if a guy's out of shape
or whatever. He you know, these guys came into camp
ready and you know it's the classic, you know, best
shape of your life kind of thing. But like you know,
these guys were were all ready. They were they were
giving the heads up, you know, going home for the summer,
like hey, next year is going to be a lot different.

(11:58):
It's going to be a lot tougher. You better be
in shape. And these guys came ready for camp, and
you know, so many of the veteran guys have been
have been like excited talking about you know, the testing results,
you know, coming back from camp, you know, coming back
and like how you know how each guy finished, and
you know, and you know, lots of guys talking about

(12:18):
how like Tage Thompson blew everybody away and all of
like these different measurements, and it's like, well, Tage is
leading the way, then that's a good sign because uh,
you know, I think even Dahlen said, you know, if
your best guy's leading the way and all that stuff,
and then you know, that kind of sets the bar.
And it's also interesting that Dahlene calls Tage the best
guy of the team, because Dahlade's probably the best guy

(12:38):
of the team. But but it's uh but but yeah,
like these guys have been pushed to the limits, and
there's a lot of days where guys are hunched over
and they got the hands on the knees and like,
I know, they're in shape. So it's tiring to watch
how hard these guys are going but you know, these
these kinds of things pay off down the road, and
I think that's finally something that's being established here with

(13:01):
this team.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
And another thing to note with the Rasmus Dhaline situation,
it was nice to see him get on the board
and as you mentioned, get back into things. And obviously
that the personal stuff that he dealt with in the
summertime that he disclosed to you guys last week was
obviously very difficult to to hear for him and his family.
But it seems like he's back in Buffalo. He's back,

(13:22):
you know, on the ice and back in that hockey mode.
And as tough as that is when you've got you're
dealing with you know, personal, you know, stuff in with
within your family, I'm sure that's been a difficult process
for him, but it seems like he's in good spirits
and as the captain of the team, it seems like
he's you know, doing as as best of a job
as he can given the scenario situation.

Speaker 5 (13:43):
Yeah, and I mean given what his his fiance went
through over the summer is staggering, you know, massive heart failure,
had to get a heart transplant. Is back home, you know,
back home in Sweden and resting and trying to get
you know, trying to get back to to speed.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
But the fact that she's.

Speaker 5 (14:02):
Doing well and everything is remarkable, Like that's that's wonderful
to see. And Dolleen, I mean, Dollen looks like the
the guy that we've got used to seeing here. He's
such a he's such an intense competitor. Like it's the
most basic drills and you know, small area games and
things like that they do in camp, and this dude
wants to win every single one of them.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
And like every now and again, you'll see him just
get kind.

Speaker 5 (14:25):
Of mad and like you know, smash the stick on
the on the boards or you know, yell out of
four letter word baby or something like that, and you're
just like, all right, man, take it down a notch,
like like this is practice. Like but you don't want
to cut that out of a guy either, Like you
want you want somebody who's that intense. And yeah, it's
it's good to see him back, and I expect another
massive year from him. I think I think what we

(14:47):
saw last year kind of got swept under the rug
because of how the team did, you know, put this
team in a better place everybody's going to be wanting
them at the top of their Norris ballot.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
For sure, and that the Sabers did trim the camp
roster by twenty four yesterday following the game, so you
see it up on the screen there if you're watching
on the YouTube side, if you're listening on Audie, you
kind of just look it up on the Sabers website.
But Joe, what, did anything really surprise you there? From
the guys that were sent down to Rochester and they're
you know, again, we're getting down to the twenty three

(15:20):
man roster cut down by October sixth, so it's now
down to thirty two, so there's still still more to go.
But anything surprised you from this latest list?

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Nothing really surprising.

Speaker 5 (15:31):
And you know, the Emorks camp opens on Monday, so
that's that's the other motivation for forgetting everything cut down
in a big way here. Because the Amorks got a
start camp, their season starts too, so but nobody really
stands out. Maybe Constant Helenius because he played so well.
He played so well and every he played each of
the preseason games and he looked did not look out

(15:52):
of place one bit. He played extremely well, had A
had a nice setup for Roddy Murca in the gaming
against Detroit on Saturday afternoon, made a nice play. He's
at Roseane, made a heck of a play to get
that started. Took a bit, took a hit to make
that pass to Helenius to to start a two on
one and Helenius makes a really nice pass to Merca

(16:14):
and Murcas slips it under Sebastian Coosa on the play.
The Detroit defense was a little bit crossed up on
themselves on that. Merka took advantage, but Helnius Hilarius built
himself a little bit of a posse in the fan
base because fans are like, he's staying right, He's he's
gonna stick around, right, And I'm like, all right, everybody,
let's calm down a second here, like who are you

(16:36):
taking off the roster to make to make a place
for him? And then you know, that just opens up
the doors for people to name five guys that aren't
going to be cut to make plays for a guy
who can who can easily get through waivers. But he
played really well. You hope that there's not like a
like a mental letdown from that, because you know, sometimes

(16:57):
guys are just like, all right, yeah, I'm making the team.
I'm making the team, and then you know, you get
sent down and it's you know, you're not happy about
it because you're like, I should be there, that's you know,
that should be my time up there. But I think
for a guy like him though, like he he understands
the spot, like he knows he's nineteen.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
He's nineteen, and he's.

Speaker 5 (17:13):
You know, he's going into his second AHL season and
he's playing like this. That's huge for the Amerks, like
because if you're getting a guy that's going to play
like that every game, man like that's that's going to
be a big thing. And you know what he plays
like that, he ain't gonna be in Rochester all that
long if he keeps doing it. So that's a positive
thing for some of the more established guys like Roseanne.

(17:34):
I'm just like quickly looking over the list here, Roseye.
I think Zach Metz Metsa had a nice camp. That
was good to see. Nikita Novakov and Sevola Komarov, like
they those guys need another more time in the AHL.
They could be you could see them in Buffalo at
some point this year, especially Novakov if defensive injuries really
kind of stack up because they probably keep.

Speaker 3 (17:54):
An eight defenseman this year, so we'll see.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
But yeah, just going over the restless list here. You
know Roseanne. You wanted to see Roseanne push a little
bit more and have a better camp. But I know
he might be one of those spots where it's like, okay, man,
like this is the last year of his ELC.

Speaker 3 (18:13):
Let's let's see.

Speaker 5 (18:14):
What's gonna happen here. But and then the goalies they
cleared out Lannan and Rats laughed. No surprise there, Devin Levi. Again,
folks are wondering, like, what's going on with him? Is
there something wrong? No, there's nothing wrong. He's going to
be Rochester's number one guy again. He's going to push
for the for the backup starter job next year in
Buffalo though.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
And you mentioned rose in there because we talked about
it after the the prospect camp that we really want
to see him dominate and he didn't even pick up
a point in that, and then going through training camp
and it was a big, big camp for him because
he's been he's been here in Buffalo now, as you mentioned,
last year of his entry level contract and he's seen
players drafted after him maybe get those opportunities. And now

(18:53):
you're wondering, you know, where does that leave Esch Rose
And you know, does he have another big year in
Rochester and you know, then earn his way into a
bridge contract with Buffalo to possibly try to make the
team next year. So a first round pick, and guys
always want to plans always want to look at that
and say, you know, this guy was a first round
pick a few years ago.

Speaker 4 (19:10):
Wise he not up with the team yet.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
Even Constell Helenius was drafted last year and people are
wondering why he's not on the team yet. So there's
always that rush to to think that first that first
round picks need to be in the NHL within two years.
And I just think you know that, uh, you know,
that's not really a realistic, realistic expectation, even with redeem Merka,
who will get into it a little bit. But does
anything concern you about the rose in situation.

Speaker 5 (19:33):
If there's a concern, it's that that kind of like
setback mentality that you know that that's sort of like
mental you know, uh, disappointment where you know a guy's
play suffers for you know, for a couple of weeks,
maybe a month, maybe two months, however long because they
you know, because they know they're battling, they know they're

(19:54):
fighting against whatever, and they want to be in the
NHL bad, especially Rose and Roseane want it's that NHL job. Bad.
But he did not stick out, And I feel bad
about that because he's a good player, uh and he
shows he's shown that in Rochester and he's you know,
he's had to work hard to get to where he
is now, where he can be, you know, a top

(20:16):
scorer in the AHL.

Speaker 3 (20:17):
Like that's important to see.

Speaker 5 (20:19):
But when it comes to make taking that step towards
the NHL, I mean, I don't know if maybe the
play and the prospects challenge got him behind the eight
ball as camp starter or whatever, but like he he
stayed steady working with guys from Rochester because that's a
good chemistry comfort sort of thing where you're hoping that
those guys can kind of take off playing that way.

(20:41):
I just you know, those shifts they were getting that
wasn't really happening. And then you know, I mean, like
I said, he makes a really nice play in the
game on Saturday to make it happen.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
But that was. That was it for the.

Speaker 5 (20:51):
Game as far as you know, really standing out, whereas
Helenius was a guy who stood out a lot. Wahlberg
you saw maybe a couple of times. That's another guy.
It's a little disappointing, but but Walbrig's still really young. Roseane.
Roseane's a vet now man, and you know, you want
to see more from him. You want to see him
be able to you know, kind of have that chip
on his shoulder he's like, you know, forget this, I'm

(21:12):
doing it. And we haven't really seen that from him.
Maybe we see it from him in the first month
or so in Rochester where he's going to be like,
I know him back here, but I don't want to
come back here. I'm battling my way back to Buffalo
and I'm going to stay up there, which I think
is kind of where it is right now with him.
You want to see him do that, you don't want
to You want to see that sag in his play
and you know, having his head down when he's when

(21:34):
he's playing games, because we've seen that from big Sabers
prospects in the past and it really hurt their ability
to be able to take that next step. And for
some of those guys, they never really made it back
to the NHL. And you don't want to see that
Apple roseane because the talent's too good. He's he's a
good player.

Speaker 1 (21:50):
We'll circle back to the Devin Levi point in segment
two when we get over the goaltending. But the last
thing I want to talk touch on Jill before we
hit to the break here is uh Merca. And at
the time that I did this graphic, obviously NHL dot
Com hadn't updated the third game.

Speaker 4 (22:05):
So he does have a goal and an assist in
the preseason in three games.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
So the stats are a little bit you know, offset
on that one, but blame NHL dot Com for not
getting up by nine o'clock last night. Again, average time
on ice or rad just under twenty minutes forward Deemmerca
in these three games. Buffalo's first round pick in this
this past the NHL Entry Draft. He you know, had
a couple of flashy plays in the in the prospect

(22:29):
camp and now up here as an eighteen year old,
could still go back to the Seattle Thunderbirds in the
WHL and maybe he does get the nine games, who knows,
But he's still up with the team at the moment.
On the most recent list of cuts, Joe, what have
you thought of the big checky in right shot defenseman
of Buffalo.

Speaker 5 (22:46):
I like, I've liked a lot what I saw from
him at the Prospects Challenge, and he's just kept doing it.
Now in these preseason games, I think he's I think
he's looked extremely good. He looks a lot further ahead
and a lot more zoned in than I think you'd
expect any sort of eighteen year old defenseman to be
able to look. But you know, he gets the goal

(23:08):
in the assists yesterday, there was one I forget which
goal it was for Detroit, where.

Speaker 3 (23:12):
You know had looked like a rookie.

Speaker 5 (23:14):
But you're kind of expecting that to happen because he's eighteen.
He's eighteen playing against a lot of NHL guys. I mean,
if he's out out on the ice against like Patrick
Kine and Alex to Brink, it, okay, man, Like, let's
see what you got, buddy, Let's see how that goes.
But but I think with him, what stands out is
that he's just cool. He's cool as a cucumber. He

(23:38):
just does his job. He's so smart about his positioning
and what puts him at risk and what does you
know where he's at. That he wasn't sent to Amricks
camp I think is telling for a couple of reasons. A.
They want they want to get another look at him,
obviously because why not like that? And b I think
it also means he's going to go back to Seattle

(24:00):
because I think if you're if you want to have
him in the AHL, you get him back with that
camp right away and say like all right, buddy, like
you're gonna be there all season, get used to like
get used to being there.

Speaker 3 (24:10):
Let's do that.

Speaker 5 (24:13):
I think you know a lot of folks are going
to look at this and say, like, well, you know,
what else does he have the gain? Amout you know,
going back to junior hockey. That's when you point out
he's only played forty games of junior hockey coming over
from Chechia, so there's a lot to gain. There's a
lot more for him to be able to excel and
get better. And honestly, if he has a dominant season

(24:33):
in a you know, D plus one season in Seattle
and crushes the competition and just kind of owns his
business and does his job, clear the decks on the
roster in Buffalo next year, because you're talking about maybe
him winning a job right away in the NHL a
year from now, which would be insane given you know,

(24:54):
the kind of lack of North American experience for him.
But been very impressed with he's he's such a smart
player and he's stays cool, and other teams have been
testing him too, especially physically after the whistle, trying to
mess with him doing all this, and he just gives
it right back to him, which again, you're eighteen in
that spot. Maybe he just kind of back down and

(25:15):
you know, he just said, wow, whatever, get away from me.
Instead he gets it back, you know, gloves back in
the face, pushing guys after the whistle.

Speaker 3 (25:24):
We saw Mason Gertzen.

Speaker 5 (25:25):
Get in, you know, kind of get involved in a
little bit of a dust up in the game on Saturday,
which allowed Gertzen to get in there and grab two
Red Wings guys by the caller and say like, I
don't think we're doing this today, boys, and everything kind
of quieted down after that.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
So it's really encouraging.

Speaker 5 (25:43):
It's really encouraging, and you know, it goes back to
what I was hearing from folks ahead of the draft
last year. They said, of Buffalo picks this guy, they're
getting a gamer. They're getting a guy who goes hard,
plays hard, does all this stuff, and that's that's an
exciting thing, especially because he's a right handy, which, well, boy,
that looked really nice if he's playing with Dolly or

(26:03):
Power or whoever in you know, the next next couple
of years.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
Yeah, it really gives you a lot to think about
the possibilities of what could come in the next few years.
And he's already got a presence just because he's a
bigger guy. You know, he's hard to miss out there.
He always seems like he's he's involved in the play. Defensively,
you talked about sort of the long stick and the
way that he's able to just move his hips out
and and just poke check a guy away even when
he's not fully in position. So there's a lot of

(26:29):
a lot of layers to his game, and it's really
interesting to see how long it's going to take him
to really grow into that that big body of his,
that big frame. You know, you've already said that about
the top six, and they might keep eight defencemen. So
I think we should level the expectations of him really
making the club this year. I think another year in
the WHL, he only played forty three games after coming
over as an import player in the CHL Import Draft.

(26:51):
So again, like, you don't want to rush this guy in,
Like could he possibly play as your six defenseman maybe,
but like you already have eight guys right now. I think,
you know, sometimes it's better to just like the the forwards,
you don't want to rush them in, especially on the
defensive side. It's such a more difficult position, and and
if there's an if there's a breakdown, it's on you,

(27:11):
you know what I mean. The forwards can sort of
hide a little bit more than the defenseman when you're
a rookie. So I just think, like another year, but
before we start to to really ramp up the expectation
of what you can see. It's obviously been you know,
an encouraging preseason, but you also don't want to, uh,
you know, just just expect that for an eighty two

(27:32):
game NHL season.

Speaker 5 (27:33):
Yeah, And that's that's the other part with him, is
that you know you're given the age, Yeah, go play
at junior own it at junior. Go play World Junior
Championships for check. Yeah, you know, be be the be
one of the best defenders in you know, out there.
And given that he's still eighteen, like you know, an
eighteen year old defenseman at World Juniors where it's you know,
it's twenty and under, that's still that's still a heck

(27:55):
of a thing. Like that's that's still being put in
a big spot, uh in doing that. And but when
the talent's that good, I mean, you just do it,
like you just go out and do it.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
And and I.

Speaker 5 (28:05):
Think that's that's part of the grow up, glow up
kind of thing for him this year is that get
the you know, get that time in, get these reps,
get the you know, get these games in, because you're
still gonna be playing against some really good talent out west.
Uh in the WHL. WHL is not a league that's
lacking for talent.

Speaker 3 (28:21):
Let's go. Let's be real here.

Speaker 5 (28:24):
You know, Gavin mc kinna going to play at Penn
State probably kind of hurts a little bit, but you know,
like whatever, but but you it's still a really good league.
And like I said, if he goes out there and dominates,
then it's like, Okay, we got a guy. It's not
like going out and dominating as a twenty year old.
Doing it as an eighteen year old is puts you
at a different level. And I think you want to

(28:44):
see him do that, get better, ingratiated to the smaller
ice surface, all that stuff, and and you know, hone
his game against guys that are closer to his age
as opposed to having to do it night in and
night out against you know, the Sydney Crosby's or you know,
you know you do it against John Tavares, doing against
you know, all these other guys where it's you know,

(29:06):
you're gonna get it.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
You're gonna get some hard schooling.

Speaker 5 (29:08):
Even the AHL, like the top guys in the A
are still really really good players for sure.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
Three points in the three preseason games for Redeem Murcas
so far definitely been encouraging to see his development, as
you mentioned, as an eighteen year old still getting used
to a first full season of North American hockey. We'll
see how that goes for the eighteen year old. We're
going to take a quick break on todays show. We're
to come back. We're going to talk about the goaltending
situation and look at the rest of the preseason storyline.

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Speaker 4 (33:05):
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here we call the.

Speaker 3 (33:10):
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Ye here we call me some noos from one and one.
Let's hear you from your ons same.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Welcome back to part two of today's Saber Semantics episode
right here on the Armshair GM Sports Network, Brandon Putto
joined alongside Joe Yrdin of Noted Hockey and Bleacher Report,
continuing to discuss the Sabers twenty twenty five preseason storylines
here for their six games here in the preseason. Thank
you to those that are tuned in on our YouTube
channel today and video make sure to hit like, hit subscribe,
smash that belt say up to date with all of

(33:50):
our video coverage of our podcast here on the YouTube channel,
and those that are listening on your favorite on demand
audio platform. Thank you very much for doing that as well.
Make sure to give us a follow on exit Saber semantics.
They update with all of our Sabers covered as well
as our polls for our shows, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok here
on the network. So Joe, going forward here, Let's let's
start off with as I talked about ending the first

(34:13):
segment today that we're going to talk about the goaltending
and at the time I believe it was during the
Prospect Challenge, the Sabers had signed Alexander Gorgiev to a
one year contract, raising some eyebrows about the Yuko Peka
lucan situation and and obviously with with Devin Levi still
in the picture as well as you mentioned going to
most likely be the starter in Rochester and then alex Lyon,

(34:34):
a free agent goaltender they signed to most likely be
the backup to Uko Peka lucan In in this offseason.
You know, what were your first, I guess impressions of
what you thought of the signing of Gorgiev and then
what you've thought of him so far throughout the preseason,
with how this goaltending carousel is kind of gone.

Speaker 4 (34:52):
With lucan In now back at practice this week.

Speaker 5 (34:55):
I think what with the Georgiev signing told us was
that there was concern about Lucanan's injury. You know, you know,
when the camp opens and a guy's not on the
ice and it's a goalie and you're talking about a
lower body injury, you're like, oh, boy, okay, let's and
you know, you know Lucanan has already had he's had

(35:15):
his hips operated on before, so you're hoping, like, oh boy,
I hope it's not that you're hoping it's not a
groat injury.

Speaker 3 (35:21):
You're hoping it.

Speaker 5 (35:21):
You know, it's all kinds of things with the lower body,
with the goalie where something goes haywire. You're you're you're
down in it, like because that's you don't want to
deal with it. I think the fact that they signed
Georgyev told us that signing him to a PTO was
was a risk because sign a guy to a PTO
that means any other team can still swoop in and

(35:42):
offer him a contract and get them because you know,
you're offering a chance to try out. It's not an
official deal, and when injuries come up or there's absences,
then you know things can get.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
A little haywire.

Speaker 5 (35:55):
So this I think was was making sure you get
a guy that you can trust that, you know, and
Lindy Rough talked about how he, you know, spent a
lot of time in the off season chatting with Georgyev
because he he was he coached them in the rate
with the Rangers was when he when Lindy was an assistant,
uh with with them. So he knows Georgiev well and

(36:17):
obviously has some has some trust with him and understands,
you know, there's a bond there. So getting him signed
and getting him getting him in a camp as maybe
not an insurance policy, but definitely insurance policy against uh
you know Lukenan, you know, maybe having some long term possible.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
You know issues made sense. It just makes it a
very crowded house.

Speaker 5 (36:40):
And uh, you know, we asked lind Lindy was asked
a couple of days ago about how he feels about
three goalie set up and and all this, and he's
like he's like, well, I don't like it, and that's
well all right, Like but you know it's you're you're
looking at that possibility you know happening because you know
Alex Lyon there they signed him for what two years,

(37:02):
and Luke at is you know, Lucan is the number one,
so you know, you're you're looking at at a crowd
increase and three veteran guys who you know, granted Lion
and Lucan and both have experience with the three man net.
Lion had to deal with it in Detroit, I think
in his first year there, maybe even a bit last
season as well, because they had all, you know, Cam

(37:24):
Talbot and oh boy, I'm forgetting names here. There's a
lot of goalies and there's been a lot of guys
in Detroit, but so those guys have experience with it.
But it's not a fun situation for anybody because you know,
there's only one net, only one guy can play, and
if one guy's got it locked down, you got two

(37:45):
dudes sitting on the bench wondering when, you know, when
they can get their next crack at it, and that's
you know, and it shortens up the ability to make
changes to the lineup, which makes the coach unhappy and
it's just not a it's not a fun situation. But
now they're kind of dialed into it because they've got
three Georgy has played pretty well.

Speaker 3 (38:05):
Yon was line was okay on Saturday.

Speaker 5 (38:10):
I think the first couple periods was a little bit,
a little bit frantic, a little bit frenetic, a little
bit like, who boy, Okay, this is going to be exciting.
We don't want it to be exciting. But uh, he's
settled down well in the third period. But uh, and Lucanan.
Then he said, Lucanan's looking at maybe getting the start
in the final two preseason games against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

(38:31):
I hope that's the case, because he's gonna need the
reps if he's got if he's gonna be ready for
the season, because we're you know, October ninth is coming
up on us quick. But but you want to see
what he you know, if he's ready, if he's fresh
and like he's ready to go. He's been getting pushed
hard to practice. But boy boy, this is the I mean,
you it's a mess of their own. It's not even

(38:53):
a mess. It's just a it's just a possible headache
of your own creation. But but yeah, I think if
you're waiving, I mean, if you're looking to only keep
two goals, you're waiving one of them and then hoping
he gets through so you can get him at Rochester.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
So Devin has a grown.

Speaker 5 (39:10):
Up You know, backup down there a veteran guy to
work with as opposed to being the veteran at twenty
three years old trying to guide Topius Linen and the
Scott Ratz laugh in their first seasons in pro hockey
in North America. So there's there's reasons for doing it,
but boy, it makes things uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
And Lion stopped twenty six twenty eight, as you mentioned
in that game against his former Detroit Red Wings teammates
in that win for Buffalo in that game. But yeah,
if you put either, if you do sign a guy
like Gorgiev and you have him in line in one,
you send try to send one down to Rochester. Do
you have another situation where James Reimer got claimed by
Anaheim at the end of the preseason last year in

(39:51):
that kind of you know, derailed your plans. You're able
to get him back on waivers because Anaheim rewaived him
and then you were able to claim him again. But
those are the risks you take when you have two
guys that are on one way deals.

Speaker 5 (40:01):
Yeah, and you're looking at a situation right now where
the Leafs just signed Rhymer to a PTO because Joseph
walls away from the team with you know, dealing with
some personal matters, and I know there's there's you know,
there's talk they're going to get stolars locked into uh
uh you know to an extension here, which you know,
whatever this is, we're not doing leafs talk but never.

(40:24):
But but you're talking about, you know, a chief rival
team that could use a guy, and if you're waiving
a guy that can help them out in the meantime,
then that's not what you want to be doing. That's
that's I mean, that's the exact situation that that helped
the Savers have a three man rotation a couple of
years ago when the Tampa Bay Lightning were kind of

(40:47):
going through a minor situation. I think Vassilevsky got banged
up and in camp and they knew he was going
to be back soon ish. But you know, you're not
going to hand a team in your own division a
free goalie, uh to help them out of a that's
for sure, and I don't think the Sabers are too
eager to do that.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
It'll come down to the wire.

Speaker 5 (41:07):
Because you're hoping everything will be settled by the time,
but you have to get that that twenty three man
roster set. But you don't want to just gift some
gift somebody, especially a team in your division of free
goalie if they if they really desperately need.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
One, and you're hoping that maybe some other teams wave
goalies that are maybe comparable to the guy that you're
waving as well, so maybe they look at other options,
not just Buffalo's got the the glaring option that everybody
wants to claim. So looking at that our our twitter
poll here, Joe, just the fan base, you know, a
little bit basically split. They like it, they're indifferent, and

(41:41):
they don't understand the move. Twenty seven point three percent.
Again that Saber semantics get in on our fan polls
for our shows. How do you feel about the Sabers
keeping three goalies at the uncertainty of Kopek, Lucan and
you know, being fully healthy, It's uh, you know, there's
a lot of mixed bags with this. But again, like
like you mentioned, I think it's just going to all
depend on what happens when they have to put somebody

(42:03):
on waivers. If Lucanan plays these last two games in
the preseason and looks good, then you know, maybe you
know releasing Gorgiya from that tryout, and or if they
do like sign them for some reason, then you have
to try to get Lion down down to Rochester to
be the backup for Devin Levio. You said, is you know,
going to be the starter this year again in Rochester
for another season to hopefully maybe try to earn a

(42:25):
spot as the backup next season or maybe the starter.
Who knows, But it's just like right now, there's too
much wait and see with Lucanan's injury situation to say
like it's going to be a definitive. These are the
two guys in the NHL. These are the two guys
in the AHL.

Speaker 5 (42:40):
Well, that's the thing, Like you know, georgy I, they
gurgy if they did sign, it was like an eight
hundred eight hundred something thousand dollars contract, So that's that's
an easily waiveable contract. But also it's an easy one
for any other team to pick them up if they
do waive them, because try to squeeze that that little
amount of money under your cap, Like you got to
be in really a really desperate situation and not be

(43:02):
able to afford that, uh coming through And you know Lion,
like you signed the guy for two years, You're not
You're not stuffing them through waivers to have them go
play in Rochester. You're just not doing that. So I mean,
you know, if you got to do it next season,
when you know with Devin like whatever, like, you deal
with it then. But I don't think you want to
be doing that now. But but if Lucanan plays really

(43:24):
well in those in the next couple of games against
the Penguins, I don't think you're sweating it too much
having to wave a guy and if he gets picked up,
he gets picked up because then you're saying, like, well,
our number one guy's all set, so you know it's
better for that guy to go somewhere else where, you know,
because those are three anything I mean lyon and your
giver NHL quality goals enders. You don't want to have

(43:47):
those guys a languishing. You know, one guy's being a
healthy scratch, you know, you know per night if you're
keeping three and then b you know, having them in
like if you can get him to Rochester, I mean,
hey cool, But you know, boy, that's that's tough. When
you're when you know your top flight quality and you're
you're in the AHL.

Speaker 3 (44:08):
That's that's that's hard to do.

Speaker 5 (44:10):
Like you gotta you have to have the right mindset
to be able to uh, to be able to do
that and and to handle it well and.

Speaker 4 (44:16):
Then leaning in and rats laugh.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
Most likely, if they're not the backup in the American
Hockey League, maybe they start off you know, their pro
careers in the EHL Oh.

Speaker 5 (44:25):
Yeah, yeah, I those guys, it's vital to get them
ice time and to get them games. I I think
if you've got one of them backing up Devin in Rochester,
the other guy goes to Jacksonville and starts as many
games as possible, and then maybe you have rotation worked
out where you know, maybe for a couple of weeks, two,
three weeks, whatever it is, you know, one guy's a

(44:47):
rotch backing up. Then the other guy goes to Jacksonville
plays a ton of games. Because the E schedule is
very similar to the A schedule, where your weekends are
two or three games at a time, no matter what,
because you know, you got to sell tickets, you gotta
get you gotta get got to get.

Speaker 3 (45:00):
Fannies in the building.

Speaker 5 (45:01):
So but but the E, if you've got a lot
of goalies having having the EHL affiliate is huge and
like the Sabers made as best use of possible as
they could when and you know when they were bringing
Luke and along, that was a difficult time given you
know the COVID stuff and and everything, and then you
know he had to get hip surgery. It was just
weird time. But uh, in the ideal situation, having the

(45:24):
E team there for goalies is a is a big
one because you still have some pro pro quality guys
in the EU, but most of all you're getting reps,
you're getting reps, you're playing games, and it's it's a
competitive league. It's a hard league, it's but it's a
it's a competitive league.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
And then just quickly looking at the players some of
the player stats of note from the preseason, Josh Done
is a guy that you know has a lot of
intrigue because of that trade in the off season with
JJ Paterca coming over with from Utah with the Michael
kessel Wering being the son of of longtime NHL or
Shane Doan and and has had a pretty strong pre
seas and so far and in his few few games

(46:02):
of action there, you know what what have you seen
from from what Josh Stone brings as far as his
game and uh, you know, do you think he carves out,
you know, a third line sort of role when the
season starts for this team.

Speaker 5 (46:15):
I think what we've seen from Josh is, uh, he's
come as advertised. You know, he's a he's a high
energy guy. For the style of play Lendy Lendy wants
these guys playing. He plays it to a t. You know,
he's in on the fore check, he plays physically, digs.
You know, he's winning pucks. He's not just digging bucks
out of the corners and off the wall, he's winning them.

(46:35):
And you know, having a guy that's that's just kind
of like a you know, dog on a bone kind
of guy to bring out an old Phil Housley ism.

Speaker 3 (46:43):
Like to have guys like that that have that.

Speaker 5 (46:45):
Ability and and just love to play that way, it's
such a it's such a huge bonus. It was a
little trickier for him with Utah Slash the Coyotes because
they were, you know, they were not quite as talent
heavy they were. You know, Utah was very good last
year and he was he was very good with them,
and but you know, previously to that with the Coyotes,

(47:06):
it was a little it was a little tougher, you know,
tougher road to hoe there. And you know when he
was playing at Arizona State, that was that was you know,
that is a new program in college hockey and they
were kind of lacking on overall talent. Played well, uh
and Doan was a key part of those teams. But
but what you're seeing with him as a guy that
just you know, he just goes in and gets after it,
and that's it's something you didn't really you don't you

(47:29):
don't really get to see that a lot from in
past years from a lot of the guys in the Sabers,
which is kind of telling for why the team didn't
do as well because he didn't have guys that wanted
to get in and get after it like that. But
he does, and you know, seeing him, you know, seeing
him and how he interacts with the guys on the
ice and in the room and all that, you can

(47:49):
tell why everybody has has just all the best things
to say about Josh done He's just like just seems
to be like the guys guy, and you know, it's
such it's the little things like that that you have
guys like that in the room, and it just makes
everything everybody a lot happier. We're having a lot more fun,
and obviously it's preseason, so everybody's still having fun. Anyways,

(48:12):
Like the you know, the hardness of the regular season
hasn't hasn't started knocking you around, but play wise man,
like this guy goes after it and uh, you know,
they had him on a line with Uri Kalik and
Jack Quinn and like that's the perfect guy to compliment
those two guys, because you know, cleek Khalik works hard,
Quinn is a you know, Quinn is a sniper, offensive,

(48:32):
spark plug guy. But when you got a guy like
Doan who plays the way he does, it helps it
helps highlight the strengths for the other two guys. Also
makes their lives a lot easier too, because he just,
like like I said, he just goes and gets it,
which I don't know. It's fun to watch.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
Him play, and it's a do you think that you know,
sort of passed down from his father the way that
he played, maybe instilling that sort of work ethic and
the way that that Josh plays from from what his
dad did.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
All those years with the Phoenix Coyote.

Speaker 5 (49:00):
Yeah, there's a little bit of that. I think Shane
played with with a lot more of a nasty edge,
especially in the playoffs. I mean, geez, so many of
those those seasons where the Coyotes are in the playoffs
and you're like, well, it's Shane Doan and a bunch
of guys on that team. And I go back to
thinking back to the Coyotes twenty twelve run to the

(49:21):
Western Conference Final. Everybody forgets that team made it. They
were a whisper away from the Stanley Cup Final in
twenty twelve.

Speaker 3 (49:29):
But you know that King's team was nasty.

Speaker 5 (49:32):
But Shane Doan was the guy that was going after
literally everybody in a King's uniform that entire that entire series.
He was he was a monster. But Shane, Shane played
a lot more physical, like he just loved going out
and body and guys all over the place and just
you know, getting in on it. But the similarities as
far as like attacking the net, getting into some of

(49:53):
the dirty areas, battling along the walls, like Josh does
a lot of that stuff too. Josh just isn't, like,
you know, a big hulking strong man like his old
man was. But what Josh does does he does it
with some speed and with with a little bit more
a little bit more solid stick work to to get

(50:14):
you know, to win those pucks away. So but I
think the competitive nature though, I think that's I think
that I think that's kind of that's that's that's kind
of borne into him though, because I don't think he
can be Shane's kid and not not be not be
a fierce competitor.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
Now, before we wrap up and sort of look ahead
to the last two preseason games show, is there anybody
that I did not go over today that has caught
your eye? I know you're there every day at the
practices at all the games. Is there anybody that you
wanted to quickly mention that maybe has caught your eye
here in the last week or two.

Speaker 5 (50:44):
Well, I've I've been kind of watching some of the
newer guys just to kind of get up, you know,
more of a feel for what you know, for how
they play, what they do, what they're like. And I
think fans are going to come to grow to or
really appreciate Connor Timmins on defense, A lot of the
fence centric drills that they do. It's a lot of
one on one stuff where it's them against the forward. Uh,

(51:06):
you know, whether it's in zone or you know, you're
tracking guys up and down the ice whatever, you know,
what have you. Timmins is so good about matching up
one on one with guys and keeping them square in
front of them and not on not allowing them to
get wide on him because you know, there's yeah, a
lot of sometimes with defensemen and there's a move that
I call the oh crap spin, except I don't say crap.

(51:28):
There's the oh crap spin where you know, a guy
gets a step on him and then that defenseman is
like doing a big whirl around and they're you know,
they're already lost, like that forward is behind them and
they're going to the net and you're just trying to
catch up and try to prevent a scoring opportunity. Timmins
doesn't seem to get caught off like that. He keeps
guys really square matched up on him, and he's he's

(51:51):
eliminating anything that they're going to do. I've really liked
seeing a lot of that from him, and I think
that's going to be really important on the pen league kills. Obviously,
penalty kills, you need your defenseman to be standing up strong.
But but just overall, his play I think is really solid.
I mean, he's gonna be on the third pair, so
some of those matchups are gonna be a little bit easier.

(52:13):
Not easier, but like they're gonna you're not gonna be
sweating things out too often against the top guys, but
you're still going to see him. They're still gonna have
to deal with them, and you've got to try to
wrangle them, and I think Timms is going to be
really good at doing that.

Speaker 4 (52:26):
And he's basically sort of coming home.

Speaker 1 (52:29):
Nagri native played with the Thoral Blackhawks and the g OJHL,
so I'm sure he's gonna have a lot of friends
and family that are going to be attending the games
for him this season. A little bit easier of a
drive than when he was up in Toronto playing for
the weeks, and you know, had a solid, solid showing
with the Pittsburgh Penguins and you really look at his
advanced stats. So I'm interested to see Connor Timmins as well,
coming over in that trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins and

(52:49):
sending Connor Timmins and draft picked the other way, but
uh yeah, you need those reliable guys on the third pair,
and with Buffalo keeping eight defensemen, we'll see how that
sort of shakes out. But Connor Timmins definitely like a
feel good story for him being able to come back
twenty minutes from where he grew up playing in junior hockey. So, Joe,
as we wrap up the show here, I'm just gonna

(53:10):
quickly put up the preseason results.

Speaker 4 (53:13):
We talked about a lot that their last.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
Two games against Pittsburgh coming up this week, but three
and one in the preseason. Again, nobody's going to give
you any rewards for being good in the preseason because
once they won of the regular season starts, nobody remembers
the preseason. But you know, the two wins against Columbus
and then splitting with Detroit, So you know, just I
guess going into the last two games, what do you

(53:36):
want to see from this team?

Speaker 5 (53:38):
I think you want to see this team playing playing
how you want to see them playing in the regular season.
You're gonna get a much more closer to the NHL roster,
if not like the actual I think the last game
you'll probably get the opening night lineup or something as
absolutely close to it. So you want to see them
playing the way that they're going to be playing in

(53:59):
the regular season. You don't want to see a kind
of I mean, it's it's still in it's tough because
you're still in your mind that it's preseason, but also like, hey,
this is our group, and you're probably gonna be playing
against the Pittsburgh team that's probably got their group out
there as well, so you know, you don't want that
all star game effort in those games necessarily, but you
want guys to be like on point and ready to

(54:21):
go and and showing that like they're ready for the
regular season because like, let's face it, when that last
game is done, the last preseason game is done, you
got another week before you're playing, you're playing your first year,
you're playing the season opener.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
So you got you got some you got you got the.

Speaker 5 (54:36):
Opportunity to kind of, you know, let it hang out.

Speaker 3 (54:39):
And just go for it.

Speaker 5 (54:40):
But but you want to see everybody you know, locked
into the to what you know, what their assignments are
supposed to be playing the way that you know they
want you to be playing, and to just you know,
kind of go, you know, get that light that match
for the start of the season to show that like,
all right, this year is going to be different.

Speaker 3 (54:58):
We're gonna we're gonna attack things in a differ way.

Speaker 5 (55:00):
And you know what, it's the Penguins like Crosby and
Malkin and those guys are probably going to be on
the ice right.

Speaker 4 (55:06):
Like you know, Flurry last night.

Speaker 5 (55:09):
Yeah well yeah, yeah, well Flurry finishes out the rest
of the preseason, that'd be a story on its own.
But but still, like you those guys aren't going to
really necessarily take the night off. They don't want to
get embarrassed. Nobody wants to get embarrassed the preseason. But
but like you're gonna get as much of a of
a regular season look in these last couple of games.

(55:29):
So go out and show that you're ready to You're
you're ready for it, and you're going to attack it
that way. Obviously, you know, you don't want to be
like a gym class all star and you know, go
go too far all out, but the same point, stick
to what you've been you've been getting drilled into you
all camp and be ready to go. And you know,
don't don't don't allow us to ask any hard questions

(55:52):
after the games, basically.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
And I know you always ask the toughest of questions.
You're always you're always and you're always given a given
great insights. So again, really appreciate you being able to
come on and look forward to having you on as
we get in with the regular season and more regular,
regular scheduled programming and things like that. But always great
to have your insight on the ground there in Buffalo.

Speaker 5 (56:15):
Yeah, always fun to be doing this, Brandon. Yeah, it's
gonna be a fun year. It's gonna be it's gonna
be a really interesting team. I'm excited for sure.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
So that's gonna wrap it up again. The Sabers play
against the Penguins at home on Wednesday, and then they'll
be in Pittsburgh on Friday for their final preseason game
before hitting the ice for their home opener and their
season opener against the New York Rangers on Thursday, October ninth.
We'll have a season preview for you guys earlier in
that week. So that's gonna wrap up today's Saberspantics episode
right here on the Armchair GMS Sports Network. Thank you

(56:45):
to those that are tuned in on our YouTube channel.
You can subscribe there if you haven't already, and those
that are listening in your favorite on demand audio platform,
thank you very much for doing so for Joe Yard
and my name is Brandon Kudo. Enjoy the rest of
your Sunday and we'll talk to you again very soon.
You're listening to the armchaired GM Sports Network.

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Buffalo Sabres 2025 Preseason Storylines and Takeaways - Sabres Semantics

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