French Collection

Krebs on PP2. Quinn had a couple of great chances.

Montembeault was identified as #1 early on. He lost vs the Swiss but they have a decent team. Montembeault has NHL seniority but in a short tournament the leash should be arms length. Levi should have started at least two games. He should be #2 after the Hofer shootout fiasco. He should take the net if Montembeault falters, it may be too late by then in the knockout round. Sabres fans value him more and we are probably way more in tune with his game than Team Canada’s staff but they should know his upside is higher than the other two. Hofer should have been #3 as he was brought in late and he hasn’t proven anything at the NHL level yet.

Quinn hasn’t taken off at this championship like Cozens did. He is relied upon to deliver, PP1 and last minute ice time. He just looks ready to break out, I hope it happens soon.

I hope so. If Sam helps Florida win the Cup that is a definite win from their perspective. If Levi and Kulich are a part of a Sabres revival, that may win a Cup, I consider that a win too.

First time he looks like $10M Bob since he signed that deal. He’s definitely dialed in, just like his Vezina years. One more round like this and he adds a Conn Smythe to his trophy case.

Some companies here do pay out unused sick days. It would’ve been a nice option. Like I said, I always felt that sick days were a benefit to be used when you needed to, not something you earned.

I retired with almost 300 unused sick days. Most of the younger staff thought I was stupid and should have used them to make the last years easier. I knew guys that milked those days to coast into retirement or add more pensionable years to their careers, butI couldn’t do it. My thought was that if I ever was seriously ill or needed procedures my wages would be covered for a year or more. The newer staff saw these days as an extra vacation entitlement. Call me old school but I took pride in being at work.

Vegas and Dallas look slower to me than these two.

What gets me is Levi commuted to the team before Hofer. It’s not like Hofer is Brodeur, he is a prospect like Levi.

Send him home and give his ice time to Krebs.

I’m sure Nashville would get rid of the Johansen contract. Another C option.

Cooley would have made that team and helped them.The fans in Arizona may never see Cooley play. Good for the kid, let them get their s**t together. Bettman just doesn’t want to admit he made a mistake.

That’s right, I had forgotten those incidents.

That is brutal. My only other recollection of a player using a skate to try and injure someone was Boris Mikhailov on Gary Bergman in 1972.

He’s towing the Russian line, bidding his time. I’m sure he would like to come over ASAP but can’t so he is saying how much he loves it there, wants to help his team, develop his game and so on. Too bad he signed such a long contract. Offering $$$ to a sixteen year old would probably get him to sign anything. I wonder what his father thought.

Someone will get traded from that core and it won’t be pyjama boy Tavares.

Canada loses 3-2 to the Swiss. Quinn with an assist and he was out for PP and the last minute with the goalie pulled. Krebs had a regular shift, he had a great chance to tie it late but the goalie got a piece of it to send the puck over the net. Levi backed up Montembeault.

A little deeper dive into the math. Including 2023 there will have been 52 Cups awarded since the Sabres joined the league. None in the 2005 lockout. In that period there have been 14-32 franchises in the league. I did the math and the average for that entire period is 25 teams. The Sabres should have won 2 Cups by now. The Leafs should have won 2 Cups in that same time period. From 1927 until 1970 there were 44 Cups awarded. There were mostly 6 teams but early on there were 7-10 and 12 in the last few years of that era. The average teams per season was 8. The Leafs should have won 5-6 Cups in that time period but they doubled their success rate to win 11. From 1927 until now they should have won around 8 Cups, so they are still ahead of the average due to a ton of success in the first 40 years. If the Sabres can win 1 in the near future I will be extremely happy. If they can pull off a Chicago/Pittsburgh/Los Angeles/Tampa run of 2-3 they will be up where they should be. A 32 team league makes the average just over 3 Cups in the next 100 years.

Weegar being traded to Calgary opened up some key minutes for him.

The Swiss just got reinforcements with Hischier and Sigenthaler. Hischier ties it at 1.

Yes, BC boy.

Krebs playing on a grind line with Lucic and Sammy Blais. Quinn with Laughton and Crause.

Kelly Hrudey pointed out that Howwden clipped his pad on the way by, causing him to spin around.

The depth would be awesome but I doubt Boosh sits in the press box for a big chunk of the season. Two new contracts would probably mean having their 7&8 Dmen on league minimum deals.

I jinxed Winnipeg.