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00:00New York. I'm the Bulldog. Thanks for being with us. Us being Sal Capaccio, who's joining us from
00:06his home studio. And we are joined now on the West Her Hotline by News Channel 7's lead sports
00:13director, sports reporter. What is your title, Matt Bovee? I mean, whatever. I play golf with
00:18you. I should know. I could have looked, and I didn't, and I'm being sloppy now. The king
00:23czar of Channel 7 Sports. What is your title, Matt Bovee? Director, but really any of the
00:30things that you said, I feel like worked just perfectly. All right. Well, it's nice. We know
00:36Matt in-house here under the Odyssey umbrella as the co-host of It's Always Game Day in Buffalo
00:41with our Sal Capaccio. So I thought while Sal was going to be in here co-hosting with me for
00:46a couple
00:47of hours, that it would be a good time to bring Matt in. Matt, do you want to jump in
00:51on the
00:52conversation we had for the first hour regarding, maybe you've already done this on a podcast
00:56forum with Sal, regarding the two open practices that the Bills have scheduled and now, as of a
01:02little while ago, officially announced? I really like what the Bills did here. I think that there
01:09was a lot of unnecessary kind of blowback on this. I also am coming at it not from a PSL
01:15standpoint.
01:15So like for me, obviously, I'm not somebody who has a PSL. I didn't spend my money to have a
01:21PSL.
01:22But I feel like if you do, you have a lot of opportunities to get there to the stadium.
01:26And if you don't, this is the best opportunity you're going to have. And you know, we have been
01:31fortunate in the media to get several sneak peeks and looks at the stadium. And every time we're
01:36posting stuff, that's the comment we see most often. I'm never going to be able to get here.
01:42I need to look at these videos because I won't have a chance to see the stadium. So this feels
01:46like
01:46a really good opportunity for at least 60,000 people to come in and see the stadium. So I'm
01:52glad that they're doing an additional thing for the blue and red because it would have felt a little
01:58icky to me if there wasn't that opportunity for fans who don't have season tickets, who don't have
02:03PSL.
02:04You know what else was just you brought up to me and someone texted me this and it's a good
02:07reminder. And I think it's been lost kind of in the shuffle, guys, which is
02:11the second open practice is actually after the first preseason game. So PSL holders not only have
02:16the first open practice, you also have the first preseason game right after that, the following
02:22week. And then it's the second open practice.
02:25And this all kind of builds into the whole weird training camp schedule thing this year,
02:31because it feels like they're not in Rochester very long. But now it's starting to make sense why
02:37the schedule was built the way it was, because I know that the longer that they're in Rochester,
02:42the more open practices there are and the more chances people get to see the team.
02:46But with the holiday, with the preseason, with the multiple preseason games, the open scrimmage,
02:51and now the additional open scrimmage, it all is starting to piece itself together a little bit.
02:56And that is a good point, because I didn't even realize that. So I didn't even realize that the
03:00first preseason game and the blue and red scrimmage were actually before this second open practice.
03:05Yeah. All right. Well, that's that then. I saw a clip. We can move on. I saw a clip of
03:12your podcast talking about the Bills standing as, are they the second favorite? Where do they
03:22stand? I haven't looked today. Co-favorites. Co-favorites for the Super Bowl, and whether
03:26that's warranted. And Matt, from what I heard of your opinion, and you can take all the time you want
03:32to elaborate on it here, I'm one who still is sort of looking at that, and I want to respect
03:38it,
03:39but I have questions. Like, there's a lot of change here. And I know Josh Allen is the great eraser,
03:46but I don't know. I don't want to just assume everything goes as smoothly as it appears from
03:54the outside, anyway, to have gone the nine years that Sean McDermott was here. I think there's just a
03:58lot of new faces and new places that, to me, you know, could take some adjustment time,
04:04and their schedule is really tough, especially early.
04:09I agree with you. I actually think that it's probably too much respect, and some people might
04:14scoff at that and say they have Josh Allen. They have the most reliable and trustworthy quarterback
04:19in the entire NFL. I agree with that, but I also think we're maybe discrediting what Sean McDermott
04:24did to raise the floor of this team for several years, and that's not to say that they didn't make
04:28the right decision. They are shooting for the ceiling. They are trying to reach a point that
04:32they had not gotten with Sean McDermott, but I think the thing that Sean McDermott was so good at
04:36was making sure that this team got into the playoffs and didn't have the dips that some of the other
04:42contenders have had. The Chiefs are in a different conversation, and obviously the Mahomes injury
04:46played into it a little bit last year, even though that didn't happen until after they were going to miss
04:51the playoffs. But look at the Ravens, right? They have had seasons where they just kind of vanish,
04:56and it's not just because of injuries. So yeah, the schedule to me is the biggest thing,
05:01and I know you're saying, okay, well, we're talking about the schedule in July. We don't really know
05:06what these teams are going to look like. I have a really hard time imagining that any of those first
05:12five opponents the Bills are going to play aren't really good next year. So just to get out of that,
05:18right? Like 500. If they go into the bye week at three and three, I don't think it's time to
05:23panic
05:23at all. I almost think you might sign up for that right now. You'd absolutely sign up for four and
05:28two. And then at that point, I mean, if you are three and three, you're playing catch up a little
05:32bit. So yeah, I think they should be one of the four or five favorites, but not co-favorites.
05:38I think that's a little. Let's make sure we know people know the co-favorites for the AFC to win
05:42the AFC. They're generally regarded as the third or four overall for the NFL because the Rams are
05:48there, the Eagles are there, and that's generally the Bills and the Ravens, you know, in the next
05:53spot. Okay, let's do a thought exercise, guys. Let's both do this then. Because I understand,
05:57I get it. Like, wait a minute, there's a lot of change here. Look at the roster. Yes,
06:00you have Josh Allen. And as Michael Kay says on Yankees broadcasts, when the Yankees hit home runs,
06:06he says home runs are always the great deodorant, right? I mean, like, they erase a lot of the
06:09stink that you might get throughout. And hey, Josh Allen does that. If something's going wrong,
06:13you have that guy. Look around the AFC. Hang on. You got to hit a lot of home runs
06:17during race, 34 strikeouts over two games. Sorry. Oh my God. And that's what he was talking about,
06:22right? Exactly. He's like, you don't see that number because you see home runs. So, but let's do this
06:27for a second. Let's take a step back and look at the rest of the AFC. If you were making
06:31the odds,
06:32and Bulldog, you guys do reverse AFC power rankings, which actually come into play here.
06:37Where are you putting them then? Because I think it makes sense. I understand that from close up,
06:42you say, well, what's the new defense going to look like? Well, what's the new head coach going
06:47to look like? Aren't they doing the same thing in Baltimore? I mean, Cincinnati's still got a lot
06:52of questions. What's going on in Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes? And oh, by the way, they do still,
06:57and they did have a few offensive line questions, and they've actually retooled their defense quite a
07:02bit. And what about receiver? I just think that every team in the AFC has these questions.
07:06The difference is not every team has a Josh Allen or a Patrick Mahomes or a Lamar Jackson.
07:10I think that's an excellent point because I did what I always do when we do the reverse
07:15AFC power rankings. I just, I pull up the conference, right? And I'm looking, you know,
07:19from the top down and, you know, Denver was the one. And I don't know, do you believe they're
07:26really that good? Is it, do you believe in Bo Nix enough to just assume they're going to have
07:30the same kind of year? New England had the soft schedule. Is there like a comeback to earth for
07:37them? Then you're into already, you're into like Jacksonville, you know, looking at last year's
07:43standings. So I guess I get it from that standpoint. I do think Buffalo and Baltimore,
07:49I have the same questions about Baltimore that I have about Buffalo. So, um, which is like,
07:53can the, the figurehead Kingpin, you know, nine year long, tenured head coach in the case of Harbaugh
08:00was 18 years double. Um, can the new guy just sort of keep the train running on time, so to
08:07speak?
08:07Um, and you know, that, that we don't know that until you get up and running, you know, I, I
08:13would
08:13still expect that there are going to be things that will come up day to day, week to week that
08:19might surprise Joe Brady and Todd Monken. Um, uh, so, you know, I think you are Jesse Minter,
08:26excuse me, he's Baltimore guys. Monken went from Baltimore to Cleveland. I messed that up. Glad I
08:29caught it. Um, so I think anytime there's a new guy in that position, especially, I think,
08:36you know, you gotta just, I don't know. I want to pump the brakes a little on both of those
08:40teams.
08:41Yeah, I agree with basically all of those points. I guess. What is the question with Denver? Is it
08:48just Bo Nix? Because I, maybe I'm giving them too much credit, but I think of Denver a little bit
08:54like I think of, so in my head, when we were doing this, I was thinking about the Patriots just
09:00because, Hey, they won the division. And I honestly think even with winning division, they have an easier
09:06schedule than the bills again, this upcoming season, because it just works out that way.
09:11Yeah. I think of Cincinnati more as like a dark horse, but it feels like that's a pretty common
09:16team that people are picking and that's completely reliant on Joe Burrow's health. But when Joe
09:21Burrow plays, that offense is pretty spectacular and they have a third place division schedule,
09:27which they should be able to take advantage of. Also really like Jacksonville. I trust Josh Allen more
09:34than I trust any of the quarterbacks and the teams that I just mentioned. But I also think
09:38the bills have a much more difficult path than those teams do just because of the way the schedule
09:44falls. I mean, the schedule for the bills is really challenging. Oh yeah. Yeah. You're right
09:50though, Matt. Listen, Denver is like the opposite of the bills or the Ravens, for example, which
09:55is their roster is really good, but you just question the quarterback where the other two teams,
10:00the bills, the Ravens, maybe the Bengals, you know, you're like, man, the quarterback is awesome,
10:04but do they have everything they need around the roster? Denver's really kind of the opposite.
10:09They're buttoned up. Yeah. Yeah. And, but, but, but do you really think Bo Nix is that guy
10:14that can be, you know, okay. Yeah. They have that quarterback who's in the top, you know,
10:1810 in the league. I don't think he's considered like that. I mean, they're kind of like actually
10:23Philadelphia when people were questioning Jalen hurts. And I think Jalen hurts kind of proved a lot
10:26of people wrong by showing he's even better than what a lot of people thought, but they're a very
10:30good roster. The thing that is standing in their way is Kansas city. If Kansas city's healthy and
10:34that, you know, if, if Patrick Mahomes is healthy, they should be better. And that would be something
10:39that to me, I guess, put it this way. If you're Denver is Denver more concerned about Kansas city
10:45than Buffalo is about new England. I could make that argument. Yeah. I think what this exercise has
10:51taught me is that maybe they're all kind of in the same bucket in my brain, as opposed
10:56to like a very clear upper echelon and then a big gap. Like it feels like we could do this
11:03and find different teams. Yeah. One, two, three, four. And they're all kind of right in that
11:09lump. So it feels like the range of outcomes is greater. And that's why maybe to me, the second
11:15best odds or the co best odds to win the AFC seemed at the beginning more drastic or dramatic
11:23than it ultimately is. And feels like we could get ourselves to, at least I could eight or nine
11:29teams that realistically have a chance at representing the AFC in the Superbowl.
11:33Yeah, that's right. I think the, the, the days we got pretty comfortable, even going into last season,
11:39talking about the bills, the Ravens and the chiefs, you know, the bangles were like maybe nipping at
11:45your heels there, but they, they weren't quite as consistent, but like those big three and then
11:50everybody else. And now I think, yeah, I think, and this maybe it's going to be as hard a year
11:56as
11:56there is, has been recently to, because yeah, new England to me at least deserves to be in the
12:02conversation. They won the division last year. Same with Denver's. You've got bonafide contenders
12:07for the divisions, let alone the conference, you know, on top of whatever Baltimore, Cincinnati and
12:14Pittsburgh are going to give us. Um, you know, I, I think it is, there's more competition. I think
12:20whether it's that the top teams have come back, maybe there's, I think some of that because of
12:26the changes in Buffalo and Baltimore and the injury to my homes in Kansas city, and then the elevation
12:31of the chiefs and the Patriots and I don't know, maybe Jacksonville. Like I, I kind of, I feel like
12:37Jacksonville last year, even though the bills beat them in the wildcard, I thought going into the
12:42playoffs, they were the best team in the conference. They looked the strongest on both sides of the
12:46ball, but maybe most well-rounded, if not the best. I mean, I don't think Trevor Lawrence is
12:50better than Josh Allen, certainly, but I thought they had a really, I thought it was going to be a
12:55really challenging. It was, it was a great job by the bills to win that game, but yeah, there's more,
13:00there's more real competition, more depth, I guess, to the conference than there's been in a few years.
13:06Would you sign up for 11 wins for the bills right now? If I told you that they went 11
13:10and six. So
13:11that is exactly a half game over. They're over under from Vegas. They're 10 and a half. So 11 and
13:18six,
13:18that's definitely putting them in the playoffs for sure. It's probably given them a really good shot
13:24at the division, just because the Patriots schedule is going to be more challenging. That one is a really
13:30interesting question. At least to me, I'm of the belief personally, if they are in, they have a
13:37chance to go to the super bowl every single year because of Josh Allen and just getting hot at the
13:42right time. I don't think, even though we just did all this whole conversation, I don't really see a
13:48world where they're the one team in the AFC. I just think the schedule is too hard. And for them
13:53to win
13:5313 or 14 games feels a bit far-fetched. So that's why to me, I'm like, just get them in.
13:59If you guarantee
13:59that they're in, they can go beat whoever they have to beat, whether it's at home or on the
14:04road, once they get to the playoffs. So question for both of you, would you take 11 and six right
14:08now, or is that not enough respect? I feel like the best, would you take question
14:15hurts to answer. And this one definitely qualifies. Um, 11, like I I've said for years, Matt, and I
14:24don't know, Sal, if you know, this, it probably has come up in, you know, the millions of times we've
14:28talked on the air over the years. I think if you win 12 games in any NFL season, you've had
14:33a great
14:33year. I think 12 out of 17 games, it was easier to say when it was 12 and four versus
14:3812 and five,
14:39but I still think 12 out of 17, you've had a great year. Uh, I don't know what, you know,
14:43might not guarantee you, uh, the top seed you would hope it at least let you start at home in
14:48the
14:48playoffs, but still who knows? Um, so 11 is only one fewer. I think with everything that we've already
14:56talked about and how I'm generally feeling about the change here, that I'm not just assuming
15:02everything goes smoothly. I think I would have to sign for 11 wins right now. I think I would,
15:07I don't like it at all, but I think if you put a gun to my head, I'm going to
15:11say, yes,
15:11I would take 11 wins. I would take it for the same reasons Matt said. And I'll, because
15:17I just did the research as we were talking about it. It's very rare a team hits 11 wins and
15:22misses
15:22the playoffs. It's actually only happened a couple of times. Now this is only a 16 game season. I know
15:2511 and six actually puts you in a little different bucket, but the last time it happened was 2008,
15:30the Patriots season when Brady got hurt before that was in the nineties. So like you're getting
15:36it at 11 wins. So basically what you're asking me, Matt, is if I gave you right now a guaranteed
15:41playoff spot and just fall, let the chips fall where they may, I would take it. Yes.
15:46I was at a 4th of July party with my family. My father-in-law was there. My father-in
15:52-law
15:52had built season six forever. And we were having an eerily similar conversation while throwing a
15:57football around in the backyard to the bills and the outlook for the entire season, because, you know,
16:02that's what we do in Western New York. We have the same conversation everywhere we go. And my
16:06father-in-law was like, this is what it was like during Superbowl years of almost like the stress
16:11and anxiety that comes with the regular season to just get to the point that we're talking about
16:17this team getting to of like, okay, if you can press the fast forward button and I know
16:22the regular season is still really important and still really fun, but I would imagine this is what
16:27those teams in the nineties were talking about. And I would imagine this is what they are talking
16:32about in Kansas city and what they were talking about in new England for all of those years of
16:36like, okay, do you have to be the one seed or do you just have to get in? Does it
16:41really matter?
16:42Like last year, I thought they had as good of a chance as they have ever had at going on
16:47a run.
16:48And then they still fell short. And there's a lot of factors that go into that. I just feel like
16:53as long as they're in, I like their chances because I think Josh Allen can go toe to toe
16:58with anybody. And I mean, he had a really bad day, relatively speaking against Denver,
17:05and they still had a chance to win the game and probably should have won the game. So
17:10I think offensively, it'll be much of the same this year in defensively. I think it'll be a bit
17:17more boomer bust. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that there's going to be games when
17:22they look far more dominant and also games where they probably get exposed to more. And I think
17:26that's just going to be the Jim Leonard way of like the Rex Ryan aggressive defense and also just
17:33personnel on that side. Like, I think they've got a bunch of good players, but not really any truly
17:38great players on that side of the ball. Matt Beauvais from News Channel 7, co-host of the
17:43It's Always Game Day in Buffalo podcast with Sal Capaccio. Sal's also on the line with us. Guys,
17:49before we wrap this up, we've got about five minutes here. I didn't want to just end up talking about
17:54football, although I know that's largely the focus of It's Always Game Day in Buffalo. But Matt,
17:59I know, and you too, Sal, you know, we're a week into NHL free agency now. We all know what
18:06has
18:07happened and what hasn't happened. I'd like a read from both of you on how you're feeling about
18:13what Jarmo Kekalainen has done and not done so far this summer.
18:17Go ahead, Matt. I can talk about this after you.
18:20Yeah, I don't think they're done. It just doesn't make sense for them to be done because of the amount
18:27of cap space they have, the amount of forwards they have, the lingering names that they're still
18:33tied to, mainly Connor Hellebuck and Patrick Kane. It just feels like something else is going to
18:39happen. And, you know, I'm like most other people. I wanted to see what Elliott Friedman had to say
18:45for his 32 Thoughts podcast. And I listened to the Sabres part, and then I immediately went to the
18:50Winnipeg part. And when he's like, hey, I don't think Connor Hellebuck is going to go back to
18:54Winnipeg. My mind immediately goes, well, where the heck else is he going to go if it's not the
19:00Buffalo Sabres? So that's why, to me, I still feel like that domino might eventually drop. And
19:07I will feel, as long as it's not like a gross overpay, which I don't even think at this point
19:13it would be, that that would be a smart move for the Sabres. And then it's like the domino effect
19:18of,
19:18oh, well, if Jack Quinn was traded to Winnipeg in part of the Connor Hellebuck trade, then I could
19:24understand why they want Patrick Kane. And why is he waiting around all the way up to this point?
19:30And like, there's still so many players that we have questions about on what's going to happen
19:35to them, mainly Dylan Larkin. Is he the big domino to fall? What's going to happen with this Carlson
19:40offer sheet? So I don't think they're done. I think it's incomplete at this point. If they don't do
19:46anything else, if the only other thing that they do is sign Peyton Krems to some sort of contract
19:50and then trade out one of their forwards in some minor move, I'll be underwhelmed. But I don't
19:58think anybody should be pressing the panic button. I think that this is like very methodical. And hey,
20:03you just really trust that Helen Neust and Auckland and Cooleague are all going to take steps.
20:08And you hope that Zell Wigger can be 75% of what Byram was. And Crevier is probably a better
20:15version of what Stanley was. But it feels like more is coming. Yeah. Because if it's not,
20:21then that would be underwhelming. Yeah. The one piece that I agree with that read of the lay
20:28of the land. And I also am paying attention to what any of the Kingpin hockey reporters like
20:33Elliott Friedman, who you mentioned, are saying. And it still does feel to me like Hellebuck is going
20:38to get moved. One problem I have, and I made this point last Wednesday, maybe around now after
20:45Jarmo Kekalainen spoke four hours into free agency and sounded like he was headed to Muskoka for the
20:50summer. You know, once July 1 tolls, guess what happens? Ukko Pekalukinen has a five-team no-trade
20:59list. Josh Norris has a 10-team no-trade list. And like, you're talking about Winnipeg. And I don't know
21:05that Norris was ever going to be a part of a deal, but it's always made sense that Lukkanen
21:09would be. And now he has to agree to that. You know, and I don't know, like, it's not like
21:15we're talking about San Jose, LA, and I don't know, Boston. It's Winnipeg. Like, if you have
21:20a five-team no-trade list in the NHL, I'm going to bet the chances, unless you love Winnipeg
21:26or your family's from Winnipeg or something, that Winnipeg, much like Buffalo has been, would
21:30be on that list. So that muddies the water to me up considerably on a Hellebuck Sabres
21:37trade, because I just don't know how they send a goalie back or live with Lukkanen here,
21:43unless they can find, like, and this is, I'm assuming a lot. I don't know that Lukkanen
21:47would nix it. I'm just saying he has that option now, and that complicates things.
21:52It does, but we're also under that, assuming that he would be a big piece of that trade,
21:59and he might not be because of the Stuart Skinner stuff in Winnipeg. Like, maybe they
22:03don't care about Ukopeka Lukkanen, but that was just the way for the Sabres to make it
22:07work. I don't see a world where they would have Conor Hellebuck and Lukkanen on their
22:11roster. That's just way too much money committed to a goalie. But if the trade ended up being,
22:16and once again, this is completely hypothetical, like Ryan McLeod, Jack Quinn, Redeem Mirka,
22:23and something else, right? You just replace Lukkanen with something else? Then I think you just
22:28trade Lukkanen into a team that isn't on his no-trade list, because even though he's not
22:33super valuable, he's still probably an upgrade to some of the other teams that are looking for
22:39goalies. Or if you're getting ready to trade this, you know, make this trade, you'd be like,
22:44hey, man, we're trading for Conor Hellebuck. You're going to play 20 games if you're here.
22:49So go to Winnipeg and try and be a 1A to a Stuart Skinner 1B, or we're just going to
22:56trade
22:57you somewhere else. And it might be an even less favorable situation for you to be in. I just
23:02don't know how much value Lukkanen has in a trade like this. I don't know if he's like a big
23:07piece
23:07that Winnipeg is looking for, or if he was just the piece we all immediately jumped to, because we
23:13know, hey, goalie in, goalie out, makes the money, makes sense for both teams.
23:17Yeah. I could see them wanting to pair Skinner and Lukkanen. They're pretty comparably paid.
23:22Like, Skinner got a modest contract, right? 3.5, 3.75, something like that. Lukkanen's at 4.5.
23:29Like, I think you could live with that. So that's why that piece has always made sense. But yeah,
23:35good point. If they can fulfill Winnipeg's wishes. And again, I don't mean to be assuming
23:40that Lukkanen would say no. I'm just saying it's, I think we've been talking, a lot of people have
23:45been talking all along, like, of course he'd be in the package. And he has to agree to that now.
23:50That's all I'm, all I'm saying. It's a little more complicated. All right, boys, you want to
23:53promote, promote away? When's, when's the next episode drop? We already did one today and it
23:59just came out and we had our buddy John Harrison, sideline reporter of the Houston Texans, because
24:04the Bills do play the Texans week one. So it's very appropriate there. Changes in Houston, you know,
24:09what, what, what it looks like there. And John's very big on the NFL draft. So we got a lot.
24:14I thought Matt,
24:14John did a great job of analyzing the Bills draft, you know, and, and what he thought
24:18about some of those guys. And then we actually recorded two today, Bulldogs. So one will come
24:22out later this week when we answered some fan questions and some were pretty fun, including
24:28who's the best goalie the Sabres have had since they drafted Jess, Jack Eichel.
24:34Hmm. I can't possibly take a kick at that can without thinking about it. So, and time is tight. All
24:40right, Matt, I will see you Sunday on the golf course. Yeah. Thank you guys for having me. I very
24:46much appreciate it. And yeah, well, I'll talk to you Sunday. All right, Matt Bovain, channel seven.
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