“Get Your Nose Over The Puck” | Josh Dunne On First NHL Goal And His Hockey Family | Buffalo Sabres

“Get Your Nose Over The Puck” | Josh Dunne On First NHL Goal And His Hockey Family | Buffalo Sabres

Our Twitter poll question of the day happens to revolve around a St. Louis staple, toasted ravioli, and what your thoughts are on it. Love it, hate it, meh, or I didn’t know that was a thing. Um, I think this guy, Josh Dunn, probably has an opinion on this. I mean, it’s an easy love it. Like, if you’ve never had it, you got to try it. It’s it’s fried ravioli. Like, it’s it’s the best. So, are you doing it as a as an appetizer, as a meal, a dessert? Like I would think like you could probably put maple syrup on there and some cream. You know what? That’s a game changer. I haven’t thought about that. Oh, that’s a game changer. I kind of like it, but no, I I usually most places will serve it as an appetizer, but it’s just like anytime we’d ever get pizza growing up, obviously you got to get the toasted ravioli, too. Like, you can’t have it without it, you know? So, is toast I didn’t even know that was a thing. So, is St. Louis like style ribs or barbecue more famous or is it toasted ravioli more famous? I think that’s a good question. I think it’s like a very niche thing the toasted ravioli but I think we’re known for our barbecue. St barbecue is the best. So yeah. Yeah. I know when we went Duffer and I had an excursion late at night one night in St. Louis and it had nothing good. It didn’t have toasted ravioli or ribs. Yeah, you got to text. We’re looking for the ribs, but at 4:00 a.m. I don’t know if I don’t think you’re taking that message, but uh um who’s the grill master in your house based on uh Yeah, all of this. My dad is. Uh we we do mostly like steaks and but um my uh my sister’s uh sorry my sister’s husband’s father sister father-in-law uh he made he does a bunch of barbecue stuff and like we’ll go over to his place and like oh my goodness it’s incredible. But we live like right down the street from a couple a couple good places. So yeah, we’re spoiled with barbecue down there. Yeah. And and the music scene are you because Duffer is huge in music scene. when we go on the road, especially those type of uh cities, he looks for the concerts and the good spots and and sometimes unknown artists. But are you big in the music scene? Are you do you like something specific? Uh I mean, I kind of like it all, but I agree. I think I think St. Louis is just such a cool city to where there’s so many cool little things that there like the toasted ravioli or some of the jazz or some of the music down there that’s like you can’t really find it anywhere else. So I I love it. Yeah. Well, it’s it’s good, but we’re playing the St. Louis Blues tonight, so it’s not about them, right? That’s exactly about Josh. It’s about you. That’s right. I say from St. Louis, that’s why. So that’s good. Um, how do you describe your hockey family, you and your siblings? Uh, I think the first word is actually competitive. Like they’re we could we it was funny growing up, we could never play a board game because it would end up in like a fist fight. Like it just it never worked out. So um I I think that’s the thing. So we’re super competitive, but it’s it’s healthy now. We’ve kind of mellow it out a little bit in that regard, but uh no, we we all uh our parents never played hockey, ironically, growing up, but I got into the sport in roller hockey when I was younger, and my sisters were like, “That looks like fun.” So, we all got in and I think it was easy for my parents just to stick us all at the rink all day. So, can can you rattle off for our audience all your siblings and their alma modders? Yeah. Uh Jessica’s the oldest, Ohio State. Uh Jiny’s the second oldest, Ohio State. Then myself, Clarkson University, uh Josie, uh she’s she was at Minnesota, then transferred to Lynwood now, which is actually in St. Louis, so it’s kind kind of pretty cool. And then, uh James, Oklahoma State, and then youngest sister, Joy, Ohio State. How did you enjoy your uh your time at Clarkson and uh and and that little area that uh is is pretty cool like in, you know, upstate New York, like near the the Canadian border. Yeah, it’s gorgeous. like it it’s an unbelievable area. We’re so close to Lake Placid and and right next to the border. So, I went there in the summers, too. And it’s it’s so pretty in the summers. And um it was awesome cuz it was my first time I was introduced to a lot of like Canadian players on my team cuz most of our team was from Canada. So, we’d always go to Montreal and Ottawa on some of our off days and our Lake Placid. So, it’s a great area. It’s super small, but like they treated us so well for hockey and it felt like a little pro town. So, um it was a great school, great people. Actually, a ton of Western New York people go up to Clarkson. really. I didn’t realize that till I was kind of up there, but uh I I loved my time there. I love the people there. And it’s it’s an awesome school. And just to go back to your siblings, Joyy’s going to be here this week, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. That’s rivalry series. Yeah. Well, so actually to make it even funnier, so Joy is coming in to play. My girlfriend is actually on team Canada. So it’s kind of hilarious. They’re playing against each other. Yeah. No. Who’s that? Uh Ella Shelton. She’s a defenseman. Yeah. So it’s my we had Sarah Nurse on yesterday on the show. I mean we should have uh like asked a lot of question about about and found out some of the some of the trick and trade. So wow. So well you have a game Saturday so but uh they also play tonight in Cleveland. So Joy’s having a terrific season right now, right? Yeah. She’s she’s awesome. She’s she’s grown so much in her game and she’s having a great year so far. So I’m really excited for her. Wow. Yeah. That’s really cool. So, what do you do? You put your uh team Canada t-shirt on under your team USA like Jersey. Like, how does that work? So, my my like I always make the joke and I’m non-confrontational, so I always try to stay out of it. But, uh they got me a shirt that said USA eh Canadian flag, US flag. So, like if I have to wear anything, I’ll wear that. But, uh no, it’s awesome. I’m so happy for them both. Like, they’ve both been like unbelievable and uh worked so hard to get to this moment. So, I’m really excited for them to get an opportunity to to play in like such awesome ranks and and get this opportunity. Do either of your siblings or your girlfriend ask you about part of the games that you see like almost like a um a trained eye to give them some tips or do they try to stay away from that? It’s not about, you know, work like work stays at work and we just talk about other things. Yeah. I mean, I think obviously our relationships are first first and foremost most important, but we’ll bring up stuff about hockey as well. I mean, like when you watch Dene at the blue line, you’re like, you kind of have to bring it up, you know? You’re just like, it’s so impressive. Or you see some of these guys or you see some of these plays and you’re like, oh jeez, like this is crazy. Like you got to see this. You got to try this. You got to look at this. And so, uh, for me that’s that’s like I I love it so much and I know they do too. So like I I want to share. It’s like I just saw this today. Like incredible. I just learned this today. So this is an awesome experience for me too. just learning each day from some elite players and playing against them and with them and uh just seeing some things that are just I’m having so much fun. How do you describe this stint in the NHL for you right now? Uh it’s it’s awesome. I I think for me the older I’ve gotten, the more I appreciate every opportunity I get. Um just cuz you never know. Like it’s a pro is so dayto-day that you can’t focus too far ahead. And I think early in my career, I took some stuff for granted. But, uh, I think now I’m just so thankful every single day and just try to focus on what I can bring each day and trying to be the best, uh, teammate and person I can be and whatever the day calls for from in the lineup, out of lineup, whatever, whatever practice is, just trying to help the group however I can and just try to learn from the experiences and just understand how fortunate I am to be in this situation. So, I’m I’m so thankful for right now, but I’m also trying to enjoy it and work hard and make the most of it. You mentioned how competitive uh you guys were, all your siblings and yourself. Uh who sends you the first text when you scored the other day? Like is there like a time stamp and you’re like, “Haha, you get bonus points, a better Christmas present. You were the first one on the list.” No. No. There’s a group chat though and they were just blowing it up in the group chat and it was cool. It it made it really special. That’s just cuz they’ve seen my whole journey. They’ve been with me from the start and so for them it was it was special and for me it was special just to have that support group and just realize how thankful I am. So I I I that was probably the most important thing for me. Yeah. My kids have this thing where it’s like a group text but it’s do not open until like later so they text in the group but they leave it unopen. Yeah. Um did you rush to your phone to see what was happening after the game or did you give it some time and you’re like okay now I want to like really take that in. I think I gave it a little bit of time just because I I wanted to make sure I did everything I had to first before I got in there. But I made sure it was on do not disturb so my phone wasn’t blowing up there because they’ll they’ll text quite a bit in those group chats. So, um but yeah, it took some time and like I said, just so thankful for the support I have and and the group I have. What ultimately led you to this organization after you had a really big playoff with Cleveland a couple years ago? Um, honestly, I think a lot of it was uh from them just believing in me from the start. And that was kind of the same reason I went to Clarkson in the first place. Uh, just the belief and I could tell this organization believed in me. Um, like I said, after my season, after my playoff run, I’d had some unfortunate injuries and they didn’t hesitate. Um, and there’s a lot of familiarity playing against Rochester so much that they’ve they’ve seen me a lot. So, it wasn’t just like, ah, like we like them. It’s like they knew me as a person, as a player. Um, and I know apps saw me play a lot. Carmonos and they there was just uh a lot of familiarity and I I honestly I think I played Rochester more than any team as well. So um for me it just felt it felt really good, felt really comfortable. I said I was familiar. Um I knew a lot of people up in in the area from my Clarkson days and uh I’ve heard great things about it and so for me it was just uh it just it wasn’t even that hard of a decision. Just felt like the right right place right away. You guys have switched up the lineups a little bit, right? You’ve played with different players. Um, but it seems like the the role and the identity of your line is staying the same. How do you communicate with whoever is playing, if it’s, you know, Krebs or if it’s Malenstein or if it’s Gson or if it’s Tyson Kosak to be able to say, “Hey, listen, this is what we have to do.” Do you guys get together before the game or in game to make sure that you’re on the same page? Yeah, I think the communication’s the biggest part, especially when you’re new to playing with linemates. have to realize what what each of your strengths are, what you can offer. And so playing with a guy, for example, like Mal, he’s so good in the for check that if you go and support him quick, you’ll you’ll you’ll get those pucks back. And so for us, it’s it’s there’s a lot of communication involved and understanding that we’re fourth line and our strengths, a lot of our strengths are very similar with with playing hard, playing physical, uh getting our nose over pucks. And so I think for us, it’s it’s just trying to get to that as uh as soon as we can. And um yeah, it’s been great playing those guys cuz they work so hard, they compete so hard, so they make it easy for you to kind of do your job and not have to focus on still that get your nose over pucks. Yeah. Like meaning like you’re in there like you’re on top of the puck. You’re going one-on-one battles and you get your nose on top of the puck. Yeah, exactly. You just like you you got to want that puck and like I’ve I’ve heard that from coaches growing up and I think it’s a really good one because it actually makes you focus on getting over that puck rather than kind of reaching in there or like with your stick like I don’t know like get some girls over that puck. I think it’s a strength for all of us. We’re all very like big strong players and so when you do that it’s hard to move guys off pucks. Any Blues memories as a kid? Uh well actually my favorite player was Cam Jansen growing up. So he he was a St. Louis kid playing for the Blues, but a lot of memories of him getting in fights and waving off guys and and just like just fighting like John Scott. I’m like this guy’s an animal. So, but I actually got to meet him um a couple years ago and I’ve gotten closer with him. But it’s uh I think for me that was a lot of them. And then u just watching that Blues team grow up during kind of my younger days with like David Bakis and Oshi and Piran and those guys. It was it was just so awesome. I love the way they played. They competed so hard and um yeah, they made they made the city really proud to be a Blues fan. Were you a big Marty Brdor fan when he joined the Blues? Oh, it was a great pickup. Yeah, it was I like everybody like there’s not a lot of people that do remember that actually happened, but he was there for a little bit of time. Ryan Miller was there as well. Like there was I remember that. I was like this guy’s a legend. Like they got this is great. I know. So no, I remember that they uh they had him they had Yeah, they had some they had some great goalies and Hawk when he was playing really well and and Brian Elliot were like a tandem together. They were good. Yeah, they had uh they had some awesome goalies and so for me it was awesome. Remember when Turk was there? Big tall lefty. They even had been Bishop for a little bit too at one point. Saber, you know. Yeah. Paper transaction. Yeah, exactly. Um, but no, it was it was it was awesome watching them uh grow up and just like how hard they competed, the way they played. And I think that’s a little similar to like how I wanted to play and so I think watching them made it easier for me to kind of lean into that identity as well. Very cool. Love the trip down Blues memory lane. Good luck tonight against St. Louis and uh thanks for the awesome insight. Really appreciate it. Thank you guys so much. [Music]

Forward Josh Dunne joined the Buffalo Sabres’ show, Sabres Live, with Brian Duff and Martin Biron on November 6, 2025. They discussed his first NHL goal with the Buffalo Sabres, the importance of communication between line mates, and growing up in St. Louis. They also talked about his competitive hockey family and how his sister, Joy Dunne, will be playing with Team USA in the Rivalry series against his girlfriend, defenseman Ella Shelton, who plays on Team Canada.

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