Paul Hamilton On The Sabres Recent Success + Josh Norris Injury Update| Schopp and Bulldog

Paul Hamilton On The Sabres Recent Success + Josh Norris Injury Update| Schopp and Bulldog

Paul Hamilton, ABBA fan. That’s what the that was the point. I think that’s why we made that association because Paul loves his ABBA. You’ve nailed that. Has that held up, Paul? Is it still like a ABBA time in your house every so often? You know, I have all sorts of things on my listening device. All sorts of music. There’s a little AB on there. So, there’s all sorts of different things on there. Do you ever just surprise you and things would that not surprise you? Okay. Do you ever just sort of like let it ride, shuffle all your liked songs? Whatever you get, you get that you’re not in a certain mood necessarily. You’re just going to because there’s a a wide We all have this probably Bulldog maybe not as much a wide range of of genres. What kind of thing is that to say to me that I don’t have a wide range of genres? Just because I don’t like journey. I don’t have a wide range of genres. Well, I can’t see you listening to like classical music or That’s fair. I don’t It’s not something I do a lot. You’re not coming to the journey final concert, whatever that mess is. Listen, Final Frontier. I don’t I don’t I don’t want to get into all this again. I I respect that. It’s just not my thing. No. No. I’m not gonna go. No. Uh Yeah. Rock. Listen. I you you I I’ve I’ve thrown a Steely Dan Elman in the attic and I sit there. It’s a it’s a battle because I feel myself. I I’m like really dig this. I’m singing along. What is happening to me? Stop it. Go do something else. I don’t because I feel like I I I don’t want to like Steely dance. It’s only barely, you know, whatever. So, yeah. You know, it’s not like the schmaltzy kind of yacht rock that I think more defines the genre. Deian is more interesting. Musically, they are extremely interesting. How many Sam Spence Sorry, Paul. Just one more. How many Sam Spence songs do you have in your uh on your list? I’ve got like 30 NFL films. See, that’s one that’s another one. That’s what I meant. I can’t see you plugging in. That’s absolutely NFL films. You’re right. I I’m sorry I took I objected so vigorously. I I certainly respect your taste. I understand what you’re getting at. That’s all. It’s not weird. When you finished watching the Bills movie the other day, followed by the Chiefs movie, which is on right afterwards, are are you hooked on Hallmark now, or did you just sit all night and watch the rest of the movies that were on? Uh, I I don’t I don’t I don’t I don’t even want to continue this line of query inquiry. Did you watch it? Was it out? It’s out. I No, I have I have not. I I’m happy for all of the people that I that I know and I know a number of people who were involved and like good for them. I a I sent in an audition reel to the guy that reached out to me. I went for it. I’m not but no I I you know No, I’m not. No. What about watching? Paul, have you seen it? I have. Yes, I’ve seen both. What’s your review? What’s your review? I thought they did a really nice job of portraying Bill’s mafia and Bill’s fans. It it wasn’t too schmaltzy as as I’ll use the word that uh Mike just used. Yes. Um it was, you know, the typical hallmark schmaltzy, but it didn’t go overboard with it. And um Yeah. No, I think they did a really and and it was something I saw an interview with the with the stars and they really really really wanted to do it justice, you know, for that Buffalo fans would say, “Hey, you guys did a good job.” And they said at the premiere they got a lot of comments from the fans that they felt that they portrayed it the right way. Good. All right. All right. Now to the Sabres who are on a little bit of a roll. Impressive game. Well, nine goals. What? Friday was fun. Impressive. And then I think Bulldog said himself just a little while ago, the Carolina win impressed you more. uh because that’s just a quality team that can be tough, you know, on the road, that kind of thing. Um what are you thinking, Paul? Like are they they’re getting a little bit healthier? I mean, it’s looking up a little bit here. Yeah. And four out of five. I mean, the Detroit game in its own mind, in its own sense, rather was impressive the way they did it. So, they’ve had to me three impressive wins, but all in different ways. But um yeah, the Norris I thought maybe since he had his own line today with Benson and Austin that that would he was basically telling us he’s playing tomorrow and he was alternating on the number one power play with Benson. Um but uh he is not. But I would probably be surprised if I didn’t see him on the weekend. He’s he’s that close. He really and Lindy Ruff said he’s not ruling out the weekend. It’s three and four. So, you know, for sure he’s not playing three and four. Probably not even playing back toback. So, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him maybe Friday and Monday, you know, something like that. Uh so, uh but I would be surprised if we don’t see him on the weekend. He seems like he’s right there ready to play. Winnipeg is here Monday night. I’m uh I am I’m pretty intrigued by that line that he was on, but now that you know we know he’s not going to play tomorrow, I’m wondering if that was just like a get through the practice placeholder kind of line or if that is something that Ruff would want to take out for a spin. Yeah, Don was there. I mean, then Don would be the one that would was out of the lineup if Norris was going in from the lineup of the Carolina game. So, um, he might I think he maybe wanted to see it. And I’ve been kicking this around with Brian and anybody who wants to kick it around with me. You know, what do you do now when he’s ready to come back? Because I’ve really liked the Thompson tuck and Don line. Those three players have all taken off in this little winning streak. And Thompson has a personal high. His goals in six straight games. He is now back on a 45 goal pace. Yeah. you know, for a while he was on a 29 goal pace and um so I don’t think I’d be in too big of a rush to break that line up. So now you’ve got now you’ve got Norris with Benson who were together. Who do you put on the right wing? My thought was Quinn that I thought that just might be something that gets Quinn scoring goals the way I when he was younger thought he could do in the National Hockey League playing with a guy like Norris. So that that was my thought that that might be a pretty good combination. Yeah, I I um I’m prepared at this point. Like I think the the we think we know the reason why Thompson got moved to wing in the first place. like it was it was around this time last year I think right was talking about both he and Cousins like if they can’t handle what you know what needs to be done uh in this system from that position then we’re going to have to make a change and they made a change right so there goes Thompson to the wing and that went well enough that you wanted to keep going with it but you know injuries have forced their hand it’s working for now it’s always a pivot they can make later I suppose but I’m not inclined to mess with Don Thompson in talk right now. Well, Ruff said that the numbers would tell you Thompson is a better player on the wing than at center, but he said, “You also have to take into account who he’s been playing with.” And he goes, I he goes, “I think that matters.” He goes, “A lot of the time he was on the wing, you know, he he without Benson, without Norris.” Right. Right. Right. So, you know, then he went to center and he seems to have flourished again. So, um, that’s one of the reasons he gave for leaving him on the wing last year. He just said the numbers would tell you that’s where he belongs. But he goes all of a sudden you had a need here and it’s worked out very well. Yeah. Some of those numbers I imagine are like all around like defensive metrics, that kind of stuff because that that is I think like to circle all the way back here to the original point that that’s why Thompson got bumped out of center in the first place. And I guess until that becomes a problem again that they can’t live with that’s not offset by the the rest of the lineup and Thompson himself specifically performing then um I think I would want to just ride with it for a while here and see you know see where we land because it does you you remember like going all the way back to Don Granado’s idea to pull Thompson off the wing. I I it’s one of my favorite all-time hockey coach commentaries was well the walls sort of defend him and he’s in the middle and he can use his reach on both you know both sides. It’s just there’s a lot more there that you’re just losing out on if you know one one of the boundaries defending him is the wall. So I still think that that makes sense. Um, it’s just a matter of whether you can live with the defensive shortcomings that I think Thompson finally admitted that he he feels more comfortable at center. He’s never admitted that. He’s always said he’ll play where he’s needed and he has scored goals on the wing. It’s not like he stopped scoring goals over there or whatever, but he finally admitted when he went back over there and and kind of got out of this funk that he had been in for quite a while. Um well, he took over that Detroit game, went to the middle and took it over. Yeah. I mean, and has played great ever since. He’s been T Thompson again. Um so, yeah, there’s no reason to move him. A big part of Friday night was talk and the four assists he had. And Paul, we we had you and I had a lengthy conversation on pregame about where he had been this year and the contract. And you know, you’re starting to wonder if that is looming over not only him, but the entire team, you know, collectively, like, what are we doing here? Are we going to pay our guy? We’re going to trade our guy, just fold the tent and go home. Um, and boy, I mean, it must have been a big relief, I think, for everyone to see him have the night he had on Friday. Yeah, I was really bugging him. And talking to him after the game, he he he said, he goes, “I felt more like myself finally.” He goes, “I just haven’t felt like myself out on the ice.” And when you’re when that happens, you start pressing. And then you start doing things that are not good for the team or yourself. And then it turns into just bad bad things. And that’s the way it’s been. But, you know, ever since he started to feel more comfortable, did you notice now that, you know, he’s stripping people of the puck again, which he that wasn’t happening, you know, and and causing turnovers and, you know, getting transition going the other way, all those things, you know, happening. And, you know, Don fits right into this group because when those two are playing like that now, Don, he’s always going to be around the net. He’s always going to be in on the forche and winning battles. And you know, that’s that’s the way he goes. And by the way, his his numbers and JJ Purker’s numbers are pretty close, closer than than closer than Utah bargained for when they made the trade. Let’s put it that way. Yeah, he does look like a nice find. I mean, if this team gets good, that guy is going to be a he’s going to be popular. Be a kingpin. like it’s already happened, but they got to get to a level where if he, you know, cuz they talked about how him, you know, reaching, you know, he has an upside, you know, and um Purka has nine goals and seven assists for 16 points and Don has seven goals and eight assists for 15 points. And I don’t think that’s what Utah was counting on uh when they traded for JJ Purka, that he and Don would be almost identical in their numbers. And you know, don’t also don’t forget he just hadn’t scored in the National Hockey League level. He had in the American Hockey League. I mean, uh, you know, with Tucson in 2023 24, he scored 26 goals in 62 games and then in another 11 and 28 games last year. So, it’s just a question. Can you now carry that over to the National Hockey League? Right. And we really haven’t seen a lot. He’s got a very He doesn’t have Purkus shot. Peter has got a very high level almost Olison level shot. I I would say Don Don doesn’t have that but we have we have not really seen he but he does have a very I’d say above average NHL wrist shot Don has but mostly his goals are they’re around the net. I’m going to the net and I’m just going to I’m going to be here to shovel stuff in or if it bounce in off me or whatever. And that’s to his credit, too. But I guess I’m I’m just saying there’s there’s a skill set there still that I don’t think we’ve seen from him. So, when I was doing my homework when I was doing my homework on Don, I a lot of people were saying to me, he’s got a great shot. I don’t think we saw it until Tuck sent him in on that twoon-one the other night and then he he ripped it and just roofed it under the crossbar. um goalender, you know, didn’t have a chance. That was the first time I Yeah, there’s that shot I heard about that that was he just wired that thing and it had some juice on it. Um but he’s not like Purka like that kind of shot. But if they’re numbers are going to be like their goal and assist numbers are going to be fairly similar. I’ll take Josh Tone. I mean Josh Done can play in the defensive zone. He can play Yeah, he can he can win battles on the forche. He’s around the net. Um, the only thing that JJ Purka has on him is a shot and probably by the end of the day is gonna score more goals than Josh Don is. But I quite honestly think I would rather have Josh Don than JJ Purka. I I think I can already say that and I probably will still say that next year and the year after. Lukanin looking up. Paul, he is. I mean, his last five games his numbers aren’t bad now. They all aren’t starts. The one was he played most of the game because um Lion only played six minutes and got pulled Colorado. Right. Right. But uh Lukan’s three and two in his last five appearances. He has a 242 goals against in a 910 save percentage. So uh you know he’s kind of rounding into form. I thought the last game against Carolina. Carolina will just rip shots from anywhere that they they’re a shot volume team and that’s what happened in the third period when the shots were I believe 13 to4. But I thought I never once in a 3-1 game said to myself, “Uh oh, the Sabres are in trouble.” Because Lucin was solid. He was stopping, you know, the long shots, you know, holding on to the rebounds. If if he had one from in front, he made the save on that one. But how many great A’s really did they have in the third period? Maybe one or two, maybe. Um, but I never thought to myself, boy, they are in trouble. They’re they’re they’re hanging back here. It’s just that’s that’s what Carolina does. They shoot the puck from anywhere. That’s what was so impressive to me about that win, Paul, is that they it wasn’t a hang on. It was a just close it out. And there’s a there’s a difference. Yeah. Get it to the garage, as you like to say. And that was a perfect game where they got it to the garage, you know, without any damage being done to them. How about the blue line, Paul? I mean, Dalene is he settled right back in here and it’s almost like he never left. Yeah, I mean, he played those four games, uh, you know, coming back from Sweden at seven assists, actually had a goal, but the NHL, for whatever reason, didn’t think that was a goal, but, uh, I thought it was. I don’t even think there was any question. But anyway, uh but uh yeah, I mean offensively he’s been good. Samuelson as a partner with him, they’ve both been good. Um Samuelson is like a shot blocking machine. Um, Darene, you know, every now and then he gets a little too carried away and turns the puck over and he kind of his numbers are a little high that way. But overall, I mean, ever since he’s been back from Sweden and got a chance to see his fiance and have some appointments, you know, life appointments, you know, things that the two of them need to know for the rest of her life. I mean, he came back. I haven’t seen like that. I can’t tell you the last time I saw him like that. He was just all smiles and all positivity and that had to rub off on his teammates, you know, also say, you know, look at look at Raz. He, you know, he’s he’s doing good. Everything’s going well and he’s doing good. And I think he just needed to go back and see it for himself and participate in those. And the Sabres would never admit this, but knowing that Dene had to go back and do that at some point, that was the time to do it because you’re not winning in Colorado. You probably aren’t winning in Utah. I mean, you’re not winning in Carolina, even with him out there. So, let him go do that. You’re going to lose those games anyway. And uh you know, he’s back for the Detroit game and they turn it around and win it. Last thing, Paul, quickly. I’m sure you’ve noticed I the standings are amazing. Division conference, all 16 teams in the East are within nine points. Top to bottom in the Sabres division is 28 to 21. So 60 games left. I mean, the the season did not get away from them. Well, I might push back a little bit on that. They still have seven teams to leaprog to get over. That’s tough even though that’s only four points to get to the playoffs. I mean, if they were seven points behind it in ninth place, I wouldn’t even worry about it. You can make up seven points on one team. That’s fine because it took them to they had to get four wins and eight points just to get out of the cellar. That’s what it took to get out of the cellar, right? You know, and they got by at that point they got by both the Leafs and the Rangers. The Rangers won last night, so now they’re tied with the Rangers. Um, but as far as I go by points percentage because it takes the games in hand out of out of the equation. So they’re both 500. The Leafs are 477. The next team is Columbus at 543, which is three points ahead of the Sabres or points percentage 543 to 500. I mean the Pittsburgh Penguins, they’re in ninth place. You’re playing them tomorrow. They’re right there. But the problem is you’ve done all this mostly at home. Now you’re eight out of 10 games are on the road. You’ve won one game on the road and you were darn lucky you won that one. That was the last game against Detroit where you were down by three and all of a sudden you started playing the way you were capable of playing and you were able to come back and win a hockey game. But the road has not been good to the Buffalo Sabres. They’re five and two and eight are their next 10. So what happens now? Do you lose everything that you’ve just gained by picking up those eight points quickly or have you figured it out? How many times have we said that in 14 years? Have they figured it out in this streak? Have they really figured it out? And then seems like a really good place to wrap this up. Yeah. Yeah. Prepare for us to be confused for the rest of the year about that, right? That’s probably what’ll happen. All right, Paul. Safe travels to Pittsburgh and we’ll talk to you tomorrow. Okay. Sounds good, guys. Paul Hamilton on the Western Hotline. in his appearances with us here on WGR. Brought to you by Equitable Advisors. Planning for your futures about more than just money. Let Equitable be your guide. in by relax.

Mike Schopp and The Bulldog talk to Paul Hamilton to get the latest injury news from the Sabres and talk about the recent success they have been getting

Share, Thumbs Up & Subscribe to WGR 550 for New Content Daily!

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WGRSportsRadio550
Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WGR550
Follow on X/Twitter: https://x.com/WGR550
Follow on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/wgr550
Follow on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/buffalowgr550