French Collection

I work in the Powerline industry and have seen this once in a while. We had gas line markings near where our pole was going so we excavated with a vacuum truck to find the gas line first and the dig accordingly. We dug down to the bedrock (7’ down) in every direction and never found a gas line. The quality of utility locates has gone down in Ontario since they’ve allowed one contractor to locate all of the utilities. They run the same equipment and do decent locates most of the time but lack common sense and utility background. When a utility used to provide their own locates, they had a grasp of where their plant is and knowledge of utility standards and practices for the initial installations.

I prefer watching the wild card race, but during this lull in Sabres hockey, I want to get a glimpse of the ‘23 draft prospects. We can’t rely on these picks for many years but the Sabres have gaps to fill and they need to keep fuel in the prospect pipeline. I don’t want them to become the present day Penguins, trading every prospect and 1st round pick for one more failed playoff run. I know the Pens have their Cups but their pipeline is where they fell short trying to please Sid. Mario got out at the right time. The Sabres have a decent 1st round and three 2nd round picks so this may be their last chance to add some higher quality talent to their pipeline. This draft could yield Power’s long term partner, a 4C who excels at PK and the faceoff dot, a goalie to compete with UPL/Levi/Portillo/Leinonen, a Foligno type winger for the bottom six or a physical 5-6 Dman that can defend like Bill Hajt.

Mid season top 40 list from Jason Bukala at Sportsnet. He was director of amateur scouting for Florida. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/scouts-analysis-top-40-prospects-in-2023-and-how-to-build-a-draft-list/ Quite a few RHD in the 25-40 range.

Gil would never sign it.

Did he and Evander Kane have the same financial advisors?

It would also remind you how far you’ve come in player evaluations.

I would throw Bryson in there so they get someone to play right away.

This reinforces my view of the Cozens deal. I would much rather pay for future performance than past performance. The Kadri, Horvat and other recent deals like those are fair dollar wise but the term is what I can’t fathom. It’s easy for the player to take those deals but GMs committing 7-8 years to guys at or past their primes is crazy. You can get burned by young guys flaming out or even falling short of their ceilings, but there is a greater chance of outperformance from a 21-23 year old than a 28-31 year old.

That would be a cold business move. He is providing tremendous value and should be wearing a letter then. He skates well so I can see him lasting a few years after his current deal. His role will change and I can see him accepting a spot on an energy line.

If a part of the salary is “shares” in the team, would that count vs the cap? There are probably CBA rules against that sort of thing but I am trying to get creative with a franchise player. TP wouldn’t go there anyway.

In three years time his pay will be at the low end for a 2C. When his line mates improve he will put up some great numbers.

Horvat, at 27 is scoring at 50% more than his career average. Nowhere but down from here as he ages, he is at his peak, accentuated by his desire to get paid as a first time UFA. Cozens is slightly behind Horvat’s best season, at 21 years old, making $1.5 M less. His best years are ahead of him. BTW Tavares makes over $11M per year.

I thought Quinn could score 20 goals this season. It is still possible, he gets chances and has come close on many occasions. He is a better shooter than he has shown so far. Once the seal is broken he will be a regular contributor. He skates well enough, handles the puck really well and has great playmaking skills too. He just needs to get stronger and gain the confidence that he can score at the NHL level. Coming soon, to a scoreboard near you.

He is vertically challenged but he is getting thicker. He has a 40” waist now, how big will he be in a few years?

Yeah, it’s not like you’re drafting Lindros regardless of him reporting.

Krebs and Jost are auditioning for the 3C role now. Krebs has more development ahead and I think he nabs that role. I like Jost, he has a spot in the bottom six for awhile. He hoped for more due to his draft status but I think he is now embracing a lesser role in the NHL. He could be the Sabres 4C for a few years if Savoie and Kulich move to wing. Their present skill sets are top 9 so it will be interesting if they get there.

I’m not a physicist but I would imagine he could hit that number skating into the puck. He hits 100 mph on a one timer.

-36 here last night, -14C now. There were still embers in the wood stove this morning to get it going again. There is no heat like it. Stay safe everyone.

Their recent drafting has been good, I agree on Leinonen. I think they wanted a top goalie and somehow thought he was going to go elsewhere. Goalies develop differently so this will be a long term project. I’ll be encouraged if he ends up Finland’s WJ tam next year. 3 second round picks, there’s usually decent talent available that they can take their time with. They may also get decent picks if they become “kingmakers”, taking on cap casualties and/or retaining $ for UFA deals like Kane and Toews

He stopped 45 of 49 shots, from the glass half full approach.

Josh Bloom scored 1 on the PP in a loss for North Bay. He was -3 for the game.

Nice goal. It was the OT winner. He is having a really good season.

Canes are a good team that is going for it. Adding some veteran pieces to fill gaps. Weaponizing cap space. They added Pacioretty from Vegas for nothing, just took the cap hit ($7M). Vegas even threw in Dman Coghlan. His $7M is now in LTIR so they will probably add a big piece at the deadline.

His numbers have improved over last year. He has 35 points in 30 games in the USHL. His elite prospects page says he is committed to U Conn. next year. He barely made the NHL draft, being a mid August birthday.

He was getting some attention to his lower back on the bench, shortly before he left.