Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills put up a stinker this past Sunday, so let's lead off with hockey, because I make the rules here.
Let's go!
Sabres in Europe!
The Buffalo Sabres will kick off their 2024-25 regular season this weekend with a pair of games on Friday and Saturday in Prague, Czechia against the New Jersey Devils.
There is an odd amount of hope heading into the season, despite a lack of major additions in the offseason.
Part of it has to do with the pure speed added to the bottom-six. While not popular additions, nor flashy ones, Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod, Beck Malenstyn, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Sam Lafferty are among the fastest skaters in hockey.
The top-six needs to step up and rebound, as all but JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn (limited during the season with injuries) seemed to regress in their production from the 2022-23 season. Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens and Alex Tuch need to be better in order for Buffalo to succeed this year, and the hope is they will, at least, return to form.
Zach Benson rounds out the top-six with the mix of skill and tenacity that made him an instant favorite last year.
On the blueline, a full offseason for Bowen Byram with the group will help him get more acclimated. New captain Rasmus Dahlin will still be his dominant self, while Owen Power should be ready to take the next step in his game. Henri Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson, Connor Clifton and Jacob Bryson will round out the group, and that feels better than any usage of Erik Johnson last year.
As long as the bottom pairing is not a travesty, they should be improved here.
The Sabres have far fewer questions in net after the emergence of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen last season, and either Devon Levi or James Reimer will settle in as the backup.
Finally, it all comes down to head coach Lindy Ruff.
Coaching was a major issue last year, as former coach Don Granato couldn’t seem to get any more out of this developing core. Granato nurtured this team, even saved them from disaster after his predecessor almost ruined players of Dahlin’s caliber.
But Ruff returns, now a part of this team’s history in every decade of existence. Can the adjustments under Ruff, particularly to the special teams, help push Buffalo in the right direction?
It would be a hell of a story for Ruff, the last Sabres coach to make the playoffs, to be the one to break the drought.
What's up in Boston?
It is getting ugly in Boston, as Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman remains a holdout while looking for a new contract.
Bruins president Cam Neely tried to throw his goalie under the bus in a press conference on Monday, saying there are "$64 million reasons" for him to be on the ice. Honestly, a bit of a bush league move by Neely to even make it public in that sort of tone, but hockey does a great job of being an "old boys club" and getting in their own way with growing the game.
Hours later, Swayman's agent immediately released a statement, saying that number had never been offered, and that no offer had even been made at that level of payment.
This has become an ugly contract dispute that has now spilled out publicly. Worse off for the Bruins, they traded away Linus Ullmark this offseason to the Ottawa Senators.
The Bruins were able to survive a depleted center core last year on the backs of Swayman and Ullmark. Now, one is gone and the other is in a nasty holdout.
Will this finally be the curtain call on the sustained success of the Bruins in the Atlantic Division? Maybe, just maybe, Boston might be on thin ice.
There was a game Sunday night?
There was a lot of bad football on Sunday. For once, the Buffalo Bills were included in that.
It was the first blowout loss in nearly three years suffered by the Bills (Indianapolis, Nov. 21, 2021) this past Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Buffalo holds the longest stretch in league history of avoiding being blown out, so its a foreign feeling for the fans to see this iteration of the team getting walked all over.
Honestly, they’re probably fine. Teams have stinkers. Hell, these same Ravens lost to the Las Vegas Raiders, a roster rather devoid of talent. It more points to sports being weird sometimes more than the Bills being in serious trouble.
This game did point out the injuries at linebacker and the wide receivers needing to produce more, which will be answers a full season will reveal.
So, it's as simple as this: How does this team respond to being punched in the mouth?
Well, if Josh Allen’s postgame comments are to give any sense, they’re ready to go. Often times, Allen was rather down in the dumps after a loss and rather self-reflective in answers. After this game, Allen seemed very confident that they will get right.
Honestly, it was a welcome change of pace to his press conference following a loss.
If they don’t bounce back against the Houston Texans, then we can have some real talks about what they really are, because the answer may become more unclear.
You hate to see it
Sadly, Buffalo’s loss only keeps them one game up on the New York Jets.
With that said, sheesh, the Jets blew a chance to tie for the division lead after four weeks.
The weather did not do them any favors, but it was also usual Jets football over the past few years: Waste an incredible defensive performance where they gave up all of 60 yards passing, but lose because the offense cannot deliver.
The Jets were overhyped this offseason by national pundits, and most of the projection for the Jets came from having such a soft schedule. However, they barely escaped the lowly Tennessee Titans because Will Levis can’t avoid becoming a meme every week, and dropped a game to a Denver Broncos team that is struggling to move the football through the air with rookie quarterback Bo Nix.
Maybe, until the Jets actually prove something, we shouldn’t have them shoved into our media consumption.
