Breaking Down The Buffalo Sabres 2025 Schedule
What’s the most notable thing about it for you? You know, how they really got into those Saturday afternoon games and uh there were they they used to really load up on them, especially against Western Conference, you know, Far West teams because if it’s a one:00 game in Buffalo, it’s an 11:00 a.m. game in in San Jose type of a thing. They only have a couple on Saturdays, which uh you know is and then you know I’ve been reading some things that the NHL is trying to be uniformally a seven o’clock league and I wonder if that had something to do with it. They only have two afternoon games on Saturday. So that was a little bit surprising to me. Um they have a home afternoon game on a Monday against the Colorado Avalanche on Columbus Day and later that night the Bills are in Atlanta to play the Falcons. So, uh it’ll be a a hockey day around noonish and then a Bills day later on. And there are a couple other uh uh Bills, uh two others, I think. Uh the Sabres are in Seattle and the Bills are in New England on December 14th. And on December 21st, the next week, the Sabres are in New Jersey, and the Bills are in Cleveland. So, those are really the only three conflicts, the Atlanta game and those two. And none of those three is one where both teams are home. Correct. Actually, the they’re all on the road except Buffalo home against Colorado that that 1235 game. The Bills are away on all three of them and the Sabres are away on two of the three. Did you ever go to two? Were you ever lucky enough to go to two games in one day? Bills, Sabres. So did Kent Hall. I mean, the Bills would play and the Sabres would play at 7:05 and Kent Hall was in his season tickets. He was there. you know, so he’d bring, you know, Mitch Farad or he’d bring guys with him. Uh, so yeah. No, quite often, uh, just straight from the stadium right down to the arena, you know, to to do it as a as a kid. Yeah. No, that never happened. I never I only actually as a kid, you know, my parents did the best they could, but they really only could take me to one game, so we would decide what game to go to. So it wasn’t a situation and we’d rarely and now rarely go to a Bills game. So it was just, you know, the one hockey game and that was it. I never did both in a day, but at least once my father and I went to Stallions, then Sabres in the odd. So indoor soccer, maybe 2:00, then dinner somewhere, and then back in for what might have been an 8:00 Sabres game in those days. Uh, so that that was pretty special. A lot of these a lot of these Saber schedules look the same every year with like front-loaded home games. Um there’s a lot of road games in December. One thing about this, Paul, before I even thought about it, like, okay, here’s the schedule. It looks like the schedule looks starts October 9th, ends April 15th. That’s about the usual calendar, but it not only adds two more games, but there’s the Olympic break, almost a 3-w weekek break. It’s going to feel like they’re playing every night. We’re going to kind of lose the season. I mean, the last game is February 5th at home against Pittsburgh. The next game is until February 25th in New Jersey. So, you kind of forget maybe the season’s going after a while. Uh when when it’s going to be that long. And you mentioned the home games early and the Saber. I mean, this if they want to make the playoffs, they have to take advantage. Six of their first eight are at home. They have to take advantage of that. And they have only four road games in October and two are in Boston. The Bruins maybe might not be that good this year. So, yeah, one of the home games is against Colorado and one is against Florida. I get that. and you can lose at any point, but I I really think they have to they really have to be on it in the beginning of the season. Uh and come out of come on come out out of October with a really good record and get this season off to the right start if they want to, you know, break this uh thing of 14 years without being in the playoffs. I have to remind myself that Boston’s down. They’re they’re ne they’re never down, it seems. And so like you’re saying that like Oh yeah. uh six out of the first eight, 10 of the first 14, I believe, into the first week of November uh before a road trip. But it is going to be I I don’t know. It’s not going to be something that you’re necessarily even aware of. But 84 games instead of 82 and they’re packed into about the same time frame. It’s not like the season’s going till May because of the Olympics. It’s It’s going to feel like they’re playing every night. Yeah. Um, you confused me there. Well, I mean, they’re they’re they’ve added two games to the schedule and you’re taking almost three weeks out from the middle. So, the these games have to be packed in somewhere, you know, like if you look at January, you’ve got two weeks in a row where you’re playing four times. It’s um it’s it’s going to be it’s going to feel like that. No. Yeah, definitely. It’s uh when with the Olympic year, we really kind of see bad hockey. We’ll see good hockey when they come back in February. They’ll be flying. Everybody will be flying, but that’ll end. And then it’s everybody’s going to be tired. Everybody’s You’re always going to have a team three and four or both teams three and four. And that’s just not good hockey. Uh, you know, to be watching that. You’re talking about the advantage of playing at home early like that to try to just not get buried or even get a lead 10 of the first 14 games. I I wonder how they’ll do, Paul, this off season in trying to get the building back, you know? I mean, you don’t want to have it get to like it’s been so many times, the middle of the season where it feels like they’re already dead and the the building can be so dreary when when that’s the case. Do you think they have a a good look at or any look at sort of getting fans to a an optimistic place so that when they’re playing these home games in October and early November like you mentioned they can feed off the crowd? Yeah. I mean get the crowd going and Mike I I wanted you you what you confused me on um it’s only 82 games this year. Oh they haven’t gone to 84 yet? 84 next year. Okay. Sorry. So I I just wanted to correct that. Well, I can find I can find a couple of open dates where we can add a couple if we need to here. Yeah, that that’s what got me that’s what got me confused when we when we were talking and so Okay. I thought that was 8 it’s 82 this year. All right. It’s still true. What you’re saying is right. It’s it’s it’s condensed because of the Olympics. Um they have 12 backtobacks which sometimes they have 12. I mean, that’s not crazy, you know, back tobacks and you don’t get too many early. You got a really good Toronto back toback in October, which is cool. And then you don’t have another one till mid November, you know, when they go to Utah and Colorado. So, uh, then it takes you to December before you have another one in Calgary and Edmonton. So, you don’t have really too many backtobacks. Those are the only backtobacks this calendar year until you get into January where it’s mid January where you have a couple. So, um, you know, I think that helps that the thing is back to backs, I think, are better early than they are later because because you’re not as injured, you’re not as tired. Um, but they they they tend to be a little bit lighter on the schedule in normal years and you don’t get quite as many backto-backs to start the year. And I would think it would make more sense to do it earlier in the season than later. I wonder if because of this overall point with the Olympic break, it looks like maybe the league or at least the Sabres, I’m not looking at the other teams, at least in terms of the Sabres, there are longer stretches of home stands and road trips as opposed to, you know, two here, two there, three here, whatever. Just like breaking it up. you’ve got weeks where you’ve got, you know, all home games, all road games, not even traveling that far. I I wonder if that has been um a strategy here just to try to reduce travel in a year where there’s going to be, you know, that break again makes it that the games are just more condensed. Well, they got that six game, the longest one is six games and you start in Philadelphia and then you have a day off and then you play in Winnipeg and then you have two days off and you play Calgary and Edmonton back to back. Then you have a day off and you’re in Vancouver. Then you have two days off and you’re in Seattle. So it’s going to be a long trip. They’ll leave for Philadelphia on December second. They won’t get home until December 15th and will have played six games. They also have a fivegame trip uh in there too. So they have a six-game trip and a five-game trip uh this year. And then they do have a fairly lengthy home stand also uh a fiveame home stand in January uh where they’ll be you know around and and you might as well and a fivegame home stand in March and as I said earlier you talked about you got six of eight to start the season at home so and one of the road games is against Boston so uh you know that’s it’s you know six games is a little bit long for a road trip for the for an Eastern Conference team not for a Western Conference team but uh Again, I think it’s because of the Olympics about the the fans point though from from earlier. I asked you about like we we’ve of course been through all the the different things that have happened. Purka’s trade and the you know the Byron stuff he’s he’s going to be on the roster almost definitely signed now. What what’s your sense of the fan base’s sort of attitude about this? I mean, 14 years is 14 years, but it do you think the Sabres will have a tough time building up to these early home games where they’re going to feel there’s going to be some pressure on on and off the ice, I think, with these guys to get off to a good start so we don’t have another season that feels lost early. And when when I talk about this, I’m not criticizing the fans. It’s been 14 years, but it’s been pretty toxic around here lately with the fans. I mean two years ago the players basically declared war on the fans because they were booing them like every all the time one little mistake and you know so they didn’t think it was fair and I don’t know if some of the players are even over that yet but you know how you fix that win some hockey games early just like you said in the October maybe you’re going to feel some pressure being at home especially if you start losing and they’re on and they’ll get on you quick because of what’s happened here in 14 years they’re not going to put up with much. So, the best way to change what is happening around here is just start winning. You know, win some hockey games. You got six of eight at home. Win five or six of them, you know, and get off to a good start. Give them something to cheer about, you know, instead of a power play where you never even got the puck in the zone and they’re booing you. give them something to cheer about, you know, and like you did at the end of last season, you know, when you got hot and, you know, of course there was no pressure on them or whatever. Too late, right? It was too late, but you know, at least they played better. Well, do that in October, you know, and and that’s how you get your fans back. That’s how you get them in the arena because they’ve commented as players that, you know, when they have really good games and the fans really get into it, they’re like, “Wow, the fans were great tonight.” because it’s it’s almost like, you know, they put on a good performance and the fans appreciate it and the fans really got it into and they were loud and they were, you know, booing the referees and they were really into the game and uh but to me that’s the only thing I can tell you is just start winning and you will you will get your fans back. Do you expect to be optimistic for them? I mean, these changes this summer, Bulldog isn’t here to talk about how they haven’t replaced Purka’s offense, you know, but really that’s a fair point. Do you expect to be optimistic? [Music] I’m just basically just neutral. I I I I like some of the things they’ve done, but I still don’t feel they’ve done enough. I think for three years they’ve been trying to get a top six forward and failed, and I think that’s a failure. But, you know, I still believe that if the goalending comes through and your goalending is better than it was last year and you get good goalending uh and get the save percentage up and make the big saves. When somebody makes a mistake, you bail them out and help them out. You know, that’s how that’s what it that’s how you play as a team. You know, somebody makes a mistake, you’re there to bail them out. the defense might bail out a forward or there’s a turnover and a goalender bails out and keeps you in a hockey game, you know, and and instead of being down one nothing because you couldn’t make a big save and there was a big turnover, it’s still 000. All right, cool. Now, let’s let’s go the other way. But that’s the biggest thing. Uh but I I still think it’s a failure that they haven’t been able to get a top six forward. People, you know, like Kevin Adams talked about Benson or Quinn. If we’re looking for somebody on the roster who could maybe make up for Purka, yeah, one of those two guys could, but that wouldn’t be the first name out of my mouth. Yuri Koulik would be the first one out of my mouth. You know, Yuri Koulik really made strides last year. This guy can put the puck in the net. He has got a a great shot. He really improved his two-way game. So if if some you ask me, well, all right, if they don’t get somebody, who who on the roster could help? Yuri Koulik would be the number one name off my tongue, not not Jack Quinn or or Zack Benson. The whole thing about the the fans, I mean, you and I know well just what Buffalo Sabers like that that energy when they’re good, it’s way up there. I mean, it’s been so long, but when it last was that, you know, the town went crazy. And we’re at a point, and I want to bring this up with Brad May, who’s doing TV out uh covering Vegas. Not anymore. Oh, he’s not? No, he been a couple years since he was doing it. Okay. Well, I actually don’t know what he’s doing. I think he’s located in Toronto now, but I don’t think he’s doing media. Okay. Well, he unless he’s picked Unless he’s picked something up for this year. he has had experience with uh you know that scene out there and we’ve watched it and what hap what’s happened in Florida and these markets. I mean, Vegas is obviously relatively new, but the league is different now in in this way where a player thinking about Briier, right? He’s always the first one that comes to mind for me just, you know, how it felt like hockey here. You you could say that about Fort Lauderdale or Las Vegas or Seattle, right? Where it we used to they either didn’t exist or we would look at them very differently. And it sort of pushes the Sabers down in this way. It’s a tougher thing now to accomplish. this is like marketing players and that that kind of thing, but to get those those early wins would just be a step like a badly needed step toward reestablishing that kind of atmosphere because lately it’s just not what you think of. I mean, it’s just been so long since they’ve been good enough for it to matter late in the season and where you get into that sort of playoff mood. So, it’s tougher now. We’ve got new markets and just older ones that have come to life. uh Florida most namely Dallas even where you’ve just got you know it’s I think it’s pretty pretty impressive and exciting to think about hockey in those places. Florida was an utter embarrassment for years. They covered the seats up top. They covered them. It was such an embarrassment because nobody was up there. Yeah. And then they got good now you get people in the building. Carolina you you went to a Sabres game in Cal Carolina. It was like a Leaf game here. It was just like it. And Carolina fans did not like Saber fans. They did not feel the Saber fans behaved in their building. Um I I don’t know. I wasn’t in stands. I can’t I was say to it, but uh yeah, now Carolina, they have their own fans in there who are loud and ex, you know, excited and that type of thing, but that’s not the way it used to be. They had to win first to get those fans in there. in Buffalo, which had no problem getting fans in the building getting excited. Now, you know, it’s it’s went near the bottom as far as average attendance and that type of thing. So, um winning winning cures everything and they’ll have those uh early home games to see what they can do. All right, Paul, thanks for your time
Mike Schopp talks to Paul Hamilton to open the show today to talk about the Sabres schedule release and biggest takeaways with the Olympics happening in the middle of the season. #billsmafia
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