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00:00Bills night? Buffalo Bills night?
00:03They did.
00:04And they just announced all their theme nights, and I did not see a Buffalo Bills night.
00:08Yeah, it's not like they wear, you know.
00:10Like the Amerks wear a Bills-themed uniform with a moose on it.
00:16You get a giveaway, I think, when the Sabres were doing it.
00:19But I don't remember what the giveaway was. I thought it was there.
00:24Well, this year, one of the big giveaways, they did the gravy boat a couple years back.
00:28This year, there's a salt and pepper shaker, and there's also going to be a beer stein.
00:33A commemorative beer stein ticket package to one of the games.
00:36The Sabres had a jersey giveaway.
00:40It was a blue hockey jersey with the Bills striping on it.
00:45And then that logo that you like, the yellow Buffalo with the Sabres down the middle,
00:51it was that logo but red.
00:53Oh, okay.
00:54It actually looked sharp. I don't think they gave that to everybody, though.
00:58It's a crossover event, as they say.
01:00You know, all these crossover events.
01:01And Paul Hamilton joins us in the Western Hotline crossover event.
01:03Our Sabres beat reporter covering the Bills this week with Sal in Cooperstown.
01:07I saw Sal, they have a game at 11 p.m. with 12-year-olds.
01:10Like, kids playing 11 p.m. on that field.
01:12It'd be a dream come true as a kid, you know.
01:14Play under the lights. What's cooler than that?
01:16So, anyway, Paul's here with us.
01:18Paul, good morning.
01:18Good morning. How are you?
01:20Good, Paul.
01:20Looking forward to tomorrow's first preseason game.
01:23The first game environment in the New Highmark Stadium.
01:26Should be fun.
01:27Do you guys remember the very first play ever at Ben Ridge Stadium?
01:33It was 22 years before I was born, so I do not remember.
01:37Hold on.
01:37Wait, you've said it, though.
01:38Was it a kick return for a touchdown?
01:40Yes, it was.
01:41The Jets or the Bills did it?
01:43Washington.
01:44Washington.
01:44It was the preseason game.
01:48And, yeah, Washington did it.
01:50Paul, you were there for that?
01:52No.
01:52No, you were not there for that.
01:53You just knew the play.
01:54Well, because what I was asking is, I think, and I don't know if they would do anything tomorrow
02:01for this, but I've seen pictures of the commemorative coin that the Bills gave away for the first
02:10ever game in Ridge Stadium because they did that for the last game against the Jets.
02:14They gave a coin away that kind of matched it.
02:16And they gave the coin away for the first preseason game against Washington that you're
02:21referencing, not the regular season opener.
02:24So, I don't know.
02:25If they do something like that, maybe it would be tomorrow's game, not the regular season
02:29opener, but I'm not sure.
02:31Last, I got all the coins from last year.
02:34They did coins for every game.
02:36Right.
02:37And they put it out in a set, and somebody gave me that.
02:42So, because, you know, I have coins from, like, the Olympics and that type of thing.
02:49I have, so, yeah, it's kind of a neat set that they did, that they gave away.
02:58So, you came in for every game.
03:00You don't have exactly a coin collection, but kind of like a commemorative coin collection.
03:04Yeah.
03:04Nice.
03:05Yeah, exactly.
03:06All right.
03:07Paul, the Sabres open up on October 3rd.
03:09And speaking of, like, little commemorative things, here's a cool one.
03:12For the home opener, fans get, all fans in attendance get an Atlantic Division champion
03:17mini banner.
03:19Nice.
03:19Yeah, right?
03:20Like, a great way to remember the season.
03:22They're going to raise a banner.
03:23It's a division banner.
03:24There's not that many banners up there for the Sabres.
03:26So, adding one to it, you know, it's a great way to remember what was a great season.
03:30Anyway.
03:31Yeah, you keep saying, I can't get used to it.
03:34I know.
03:35Like, opener, October 1st.
03:37I'm going to be driving to the opener in September.
03:40Yeah.
03:40It's like, wow.
03:42It's not that far away.
03:44Yeah, it's definitely not.
03:46And I remember a couple years ago in baseball, the Bisons, they had their earliest game in
03:54March.
03:56You know, so these openers keep getting earlier and earlier in sports.
04:01Jeremy, did it have a picture of what the banner looked like yet?
04:04It does not.
04:05You want to know if it's like...
04:06I still want to know what color it's going to be.
04:08Goathead or blue and gold?
04:09Well, no, I'm not thinking it's going to be a goathead.
04:11No, it'll be blue and gold.
04:12Oh, blue or white?
04:13I just wonder if it'll be blue or it'll be white or...
04:15There actually are a couple yellow banners up there.
04:17Yeah.
04:18From the 80s.
04:19But...
04:19Good question.
04:20Well, Paul, you were covering Bill's practice yesterday and Joe Brady gave us a little
04:24bit of news on what to expect.
04:26And speaking of crossover events, he treated the injury report like a hockey injury report,
04:30right?
04:31Upper body, lower body.
04:33We kind of mentioned that he probably won't get away with that in the regular season because
04:37football has different rules, but he did sound like a hockey coach.
04:40Yeah.
04:40They wanted me to feel at home.
04:42So we did a little hockey by going with...
04:45And they were all lower body injuries.
04:48You know, McGovern, Bishop, Hairston are all dealing with lower body injuries.
04:53So he said he did not want to give out any timetables or anything like that.
04:59Now, as you mentioned, when you have to do the injury report in the regular season, it
05:03has to be different.
05:05But he doesn't have to do that right now.
05:07It's preseason and he's not going to do it.
05:09So, you know, he just talked a little bit how there's a physical toll training camp.
05:15He understands that injuries are going to happen.
05:16But he says he's just not comfortable right now saying if somebody's going to be out or
05:22how many weeks or anything like that.
05:24And it is obviously very different than hockey, Paul, because hockey, you can do that all
05:30year and you get fined in the NFL.
05:33What do you...
05:33I mean, I think I know the answer to this.
05:36Would you wish hockey would do it like that, where you kind of have to have clarity?
05:41Because that's in the NFL.
05:43You have to put on the injury report when they release it every week, like what a guy
05:47had treatment for.
05:49Yeah, I'm so used to it now.
05:51It just, it doesn't even phase me anymore.
05:54Um, you know, the hockey, they're worried about people targeting injuries.
05:58Well, they can target them in football too, if they want to.
06:03And, uh, but it's hockey.
06:05It's like, all right, well, somebody knows they have a wrist injury.
06:07So now they're going to get a hard slash across the wrist or, or something like that.
06:13Um, so that's how they get away with it.
06:15Um, isn't, isn't with football though, a lot of it is, is partnership with, uh, gambling
06:21places and that type of thing that the NFL has.
06:24And, um, it is now, doesn't that have something to do with it now?
06:29I think it does now, but I, the injury reports, I think have gone back further than when that
06:35started.
06:36Cause that's only in the last, you know, few years that, that is something I've heard
06:39about hockey a lot though, is because they're now in bed with these gambling books and companies
06:45that like that would change how injury reports are kind of released.
06:49And it hasn't really changed anything.
06:50No, no, it hasn't changed, especially in the playoffs, you get in the playoffs and you're
06:55getting nothing in the NHL.
06:58Paul Hamilton joining us.
06:59All right, Paul.
06:59So it's going to be preseason game number one.
07:01And we learn if you're healthy, you're going to play other questions that, you know, we'd
07:06kind of been waiting to find out where the offensive coordinator is going to be right on
07:09the field or in the booth.
07:10Pete Carmichael, I believe, uh, Joe Brady said he'll be in the booth, you know, where
07:14Carmichael is.
07:15He's going to be Brady's right-hand man for these games.
07:17I wonder like what Brady's preparation is for this of all the things that have to get
07:22worked out and process.
07:24And it seemed like Brady was very keyed on how their routines in the new stadium will
07:31take place.
07:32I feel like for the coach himself, he's the one that might need the most work on what
07:38this is.
07:38He's got three games to practice being the head coach.
07:42Yeah.
07:42Now Carmichael is going to be up there for this game.
07:45Um, there, there's also going to be a game where he's down on the field.
07:48They're going to, they're going to play with that a little bit to see where, and I asked
07:51Josh Allen, if it matters to him, where the offensive coordinator is in the booth on the
07:57field.
07:58And he said, not really.
07:59It doesn't, because he said when he comes off the field, he normally is going to talk
08:02to the quarterback coach anyway.
08:04Um, so he said, as far as the offensive coordinator, where he might be, uh, it doesn't really matter.
08:13Then he kind of went into this thing.
08:15Oh, I'm glad you brought up his name because he's really liked Carmichael a lot.
08:20You know, he said, uh, he goes, I love this guy.
08:23He said, he's been quote frigging awesome.
08:26He said, he's been great for our room, the energy that he brings.
08:29I remember last time Allen talked, uh, he was coming off the field and practice and Carmichael
08:36said, how did you like such and such?
08:38They were talking about a specific play and how it was set up formations and everything.
08:43And Allen goes, I loved it.
08:44He goes, let's take it to Brady, you know, type of a thing.
08:47So, uh, he's, he's gotten a pretty good sense of Carmichael and he's liked, uh, the interaction
08:54that they've had so far, uh, even though Brady obviously is going to be the offensive coordinator
08:59and calling the plays Carmichael has to do a lot of the other stuff, uh, meeting wise.
09:05And, uh, you know, and a lot of the things that they're going to do, whether it's in the
09:10playbook or not, you know, he's has a very strong sense and a very strong say in what they're
09:15doing there.
09:17Alan also said he was into getting some preseason reps, right?
09:21Paul, I don't, I don't know that we heard from Brady or him, unless you can think of
09:25anything, an indication of how much they'll play.
09:28Not that anyone's expecting it to be a lot.
09:30You're right.
09:31Uh, Brady did say, as you mentioned that, and we, you, you've heard the cut too, that,
09:35uh, you know, the, if you got through practice and you're, and you're in pretty good health,
09:40you're going to play.
09:41So, but we don't know how long and, and Alan wants to play.
09:45First of all, he loves to play.
09:46He always says he wants to play in the preseason.
09:49He says, and it was no different yesterday.
09:52He said he'd love to play, but he says, I can't tell you how many drives or, or, but he,
09:57he wants a sense of the game and he, he wants to get a sense of what's going on around
10:03him.
10:03Uh, the environment.
10:05He goes, everything's a new routine.
10:07He says, uh, we want to make this as real as possible.
10:11Uh, he, he said, he's got to find out, you know, so he can find the play clocks in a
10:16hurry.
10:17You know, he doesn't know where they are right now.
10:20He's got to be, you know, in the middle of action.
10:22He can't be thinking about where's the clock, where, where, where's this, or whatever.
10:26He said, he's got to have a sense of that.
10:27He goes, even the turf.
10:29He wants a good sense of that.
10:31You know, what can he expect footing?
10:33You know, that type of thing.
10:35The lighting.
10:35He said, especially for receivers.
10:38He said that they have to be used to the lighting and where, what that's going to be like, whether
10:43you're returning kicks or you're trying to catch the football.
10:47All those things are things that he feels they need to get down in the preseason.
10:52And, uh, you know, he wants to, you know, be in there to, to try to figure those things out.
10:59Yeah, it's definitely like, I'm glad you mentioned the lighting, Paul.
11:01Like I've been joking about wanting to find out what the sunlight looks like in a one
11:06o'clock game.
11:06Understanding that, you know, when we get to, you know, September, October, November, it
11:10might be a little bit different in the sky, but the bills might have a pretty solid idea
11:14of which way they want to go early, like left or right, or, you know, which, I shouldn't
11:18say left or right, but which end zone they want to go toward early and go toward late.
11:22There's a lot of things to figure out with this, with this new stadium.
11:25And they got the practice at night.
11:27Now they're going to get a game during the day, you know, so, you know, you're going
11:31to, all right, how did the lights affect them?
11:33Now, how does this, the daylight affect them?
11:37And as you mentioned, where's the sun going to be in a one o'clock game, you know, uh, uh,
11:42but, but at one o'clock or at four o'clock now, it's going to be different in the winter
11:46time, obviously than it is right now because of time changes or not time changes, but just
11:51the way the earth rotates.
11:54So, you know, what, what they're going to see with the sun in this game is going to be
11:58different than what they're going to see in the sun in November.
12:00You know, so, but still it's something that, uh, Alan, and I agree with him.
12:05I, I would think that would be important to them.
12:07All those things that he was mentioning that he, uh, you know, has to get used to and, and
12:12just the routine getting to the game.
12:14Where's traffic, you know, what are traffic patterns?
12:18What time do they have to leave to get there to the game, get to the stadium on time when
12:22they need to be there?
12:24Um, all those things, uh, are the things that they, they're trying to find out now.
12:28Paul Hamilton joining us on the Western hotline bills and Panthers tomorrow at one o'clock.
12:35You know, Paul, we've talked a lot about the, uh, the offensive coordinator and Pete Carmichael,
12:38what he's going to do for the game.
12:40Uh, do you get the sense that defense will play more than the offense, the starters?
12:44Because Jim Leonard has, um, maybe the starters are also more loosely defined because we don't
12:50exactly know who is the number one of the couple spots and they're trying to figure things
12:55out like their best front.
12:57The way that Leonard talks this talk this week, it sounds like he really is going to use this
13:03to get a good look at who can do what.
13:04But yeah, and I think it's what you, what's your name?
13:08Who, who are you as far as the defense and what type of starter?
13:13If you're a defensive back, you might be in there longer.
13:16You know, he might want to, you know, give them more, get them a more cohesive unit to
13:21get them out there.
13:22Now you also, you know, probably aren't going to have, uh, CJ Gardner Johnson.
13:27I mean, you would love to have him out there just again, to get him out there and get them
13:32in as a unit, you will have D Alford is who's going to be new.
13:36Um, but you're not going to have, you know, Harrison who also had injuries last year, if
13:43you recall, you know, so, you know, he's been in the NFL for two years and he's had
13:48trouble, you know, staying on the field and training camp.
13:50Cole Bishop is another one who did stay once he got on the field last year, stayed on the
13:55field for the most part.
13:57Um, but, uh, again, is now dealing for the injuries again with him.
14:02So, um, I think that's, that's just going to be different.
14:06What's your name as far as who you are?
14:08Is, is, is that Oliver maybe going to play as long as, uh, another guy whom they might
14:13consider a quote starter?
14:15Um, I would say probably not even though Ed Oliver is going to have a little bit of
14:20different role with what they're trying to do with him, getting him in one-on-one matchups
14:24to make him more dangerous and we've seen it in training camp.
14:28He's, he's been a pain in the, you know, what for Josh Allen, he's been around him and
14:33would have had sacks, uh, you know, if you're hitting the quarterback, which they're not.
14:38And, uh, you know, he's, he's done a pretty nice job in getting himself, uh, at the quarterback
14:43and getting himself free.
14:45Yeah.
14:45I wonder if they could also just match what Carolina will do on that front.
14:49Like, Hey, well, we're going to play our starters as long as they play their starters.
14:53I think the Panthers coach said like 20 snaps.
14:56So what would that be like a drive or two?
14:58Like, again, like it could be different, but they might just say, you know, when Bryce
15:03Young leaves the field, that's when Ed Oliver leaves the field.
15:05We don't need to have him out there against, you know, all second team guys.
15:08And we, we all know, you know, from the offensive standpoint, Josh Allen doesn't need to be out
15:12there for any of it.
15:14I mean, he, he's fine.
15:15He'll be just fine on opening day if he doesn't play in a preseason game, but he does want to
15:21get those things that we were talking about out of the way, but that might all, they might
15:25just do it in a series, you know, find out where your clocks are, find out where everything
15:31is out there, get, get what you want to get done on this field and confidently get it done
15:38quickly because we don't need you out there for a half.
15:41We don't need you out for the first drive of the third quarter.
15:45We, you know, we, we, we don't need you injured.
15:48So they, they may tell him get it done quickly because you're going to get a series and that's
15:54that.
15:54I'm just talking.
15:56Brady didn't say that.
15:57I'm just, you know, talking.
15:58Paul, is your time with the bills done?
16:02No, no.
16:03I do this.
16:03No, I do this with Sal in conjunction with Sal, you know, through the whole.
16:08Well, as I, I, I've said earlier in the week, I, I, from the beginning of OTAs until this
16:14year, but I had something to do at the beginning of OTAs this year called playoff hockey, something
16:19I hadn't, hadn't had to do before.
16:22So, yeah, I usually take this right through to the first regular season game and then,
16:27then the training camp would start and I'd head back over to the Sabres.
16:31I'm pretty sure.
16:33Yeah, that's about, I think that's probably what it'll amount to because the two games against
16:37the Bruins prospects, Sabres camp will start later that week.
16:43So, so I'll, I think it'll happen again where I maybe I'll get in for the first week with
16:48the bills for practice and stuff.
16:50And then usually what I do is, you know, Sal is able to get guys coming off the field, do
16:57those types of things.
16:58I'll sit at the podium and whoever's coming to the podium, I'll do that for him so he doesn't
17:02have to worry about that.
17:03So we, we kind of do the bills in conjunction, but you know, he, I find out what he's going
17:08to do and then I'll do something different.
17:10Paul, what, how will you cover the bills when the Sabres announced the Hellebuck trade though?
17:14Joe wants to know.
17:15Yes, I'm very curious.
17:16Where will you sit for the press conference?
17:18We're still waiting on that one.
17:20Yeah, we'll see.
17:21Thanks, Paul.
17:23Take care, guys.
17:24Paul Hamlin.
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