EP 31: Kris Baker, The Athletic (Buffalo)

On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews Western New York’s preeminent expert when it comes to hockey prospects and now a contributing writer for The Athletic’s brand new Buffalo division, Kris Baker.

The two discuss the formation of The Athletic’s Buffalo division, how the opportunity came about for Baker to join the staff, the other writers hired to represent Buffalo, what his vision is for the site and what this means in regards to competition alongside The Buffalo News directly for the eyes and dollars of sports fans.

Of course, the reason Baker was hired at The Athletic is his unrivaled analysis on Buffalo Sabres prospects and he provides listeners with a straight up education on soon-to-be first overall draft pick Rasmus Dahlin. From his physical skill set to mental make-up and immediate role he’ll play in the Sabres rebuild, Baker tells you everything you need to know about the Swedish prodigy defenseman.

Baker (@sabresprospects) also spends time discussing some of the other top prospects in the Buffalo pipeline and gives a honest assessment on the state of the Sabres roster and things he feels they need to be better at in order to legitimately compete with the rest of the league and move out of the NHL basement.

We also get a very rare glimpse into Baker’s personal life—where he grew up, his hobbies and what got him into wanting to write about Sabres prospects in the first place.

Immediately after that it’s the debut of a brand new segment titled “The Run-In With Joe.” Joe from Buffalo Wins (@buffalowins) joins the podcast to discuss the Buffalo sports media and more specifically, the budding feud between The Athletic and the Buffalo News.

How much have the recent departures at The Buffalo News hurt the sports department? Can they recover from what’s clearly a down time in the newspaper’s history? Even with the exits of many older veteran writers does the sports section feel stale? What will they do with The Athletic now serving as direct competition in the market? What’s up with the beef between Mike Harrington and Tim Graham?

All that and much more.

♦♦♦♦♦

Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @patmorantweets and “like” the Moran-Alytics Facebook page.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed