French Collection

I’m surprised by the hits number, especially with their energy line (Gourde, Goodrow, Coleman) gone.

It could get complicated. Can a firm that owns parts of five teams have an ownership stake in a firm that owns parts of five other teams. Back to the original six days when the Norrises owned the Red Wings and the Blackhawks.

One less than Matthews’ debut so I’ll take it, since Quinn isn’t generational.

That is a good screen. Lots of HOFers in the top ten. The great Miro Heiskanen (I like him by the way, just tired of people raving about him and not Rasmus) is 40th.

I wanted to see how the 2 time Stanley Cup champion Lightning were built. For you analytics guys, this isn’t a deep dive into numbers. The roster was not turned over much in those two years. 21 players were on both teams, so I used those guys for my data. 10 of the 21 were their own draft picks. Kucherov, Stamkos, Point, Hedman, Killorn, Cirelli, Palat, Vasilevskiy, Joseph, Stephens. 2 were undrafted but signed by Tampa, Johnson and Gourde. 3 were signed as UFAs, Maroon, Schenn and McIlhinney. 6 were acquired via trades, McDonagh, Sergachev, Coleman, Goodrow, Cernak, Rutta. Goodrow and Rutta were undrafted. Draft position of players: 1st round - 6 2nd round - 3 3rd round - 4 4th round - 1 5th round - 0 6th round - 2 7th round - 1 Drafting a core of Vasilevskiy, Kucherov, Point, Hedman and Stamkos was huge. Kucherov was a 2nd while Point was a 3rd rounder. Good support players in Cirelli and Killorn in the 3rd round. Palat was a steal in the 7th. UFA impact was negligible, Maroon is a good role player and probably a “glue” guy in the room, having won 3 in a row. Trades rounded out the roster well, McDonagh and Sergachev being 1st rounders too. This to me is a great example of draft and develop, trade to fill in some gaps.

I’m just imagining a Wild West hockey scenario. I’ve heard stories about players paid in cash from brown paper bags. I doubt there is a KHLPA to watch over the treatment of players. Spitballing here but maybe you can bet on your own games and make tons on the side.

Rasmus Dahlin is fine. He will be finer. He is still very young by NHL Dman standards and is only getting better.

Maybe he goes to the KHL where there is decent money to be made and there are fewer “rules”. His creditors and other baggage could be left behind.

My son just got an Eichel jersey for his girlfriend. She is new to hockey and he is being prudent with his limited budget.

Good job! I agree with most of this, especially on Levi. I am really pulling for this guy. His athleticism, focus and demeanour are leading him to success at every level so far. I think he needs to turn pro next year and take on the next level. It sounds like he is driven to improve and his size can be overcome. I can’t get enough information on him and will watch him whenever I can. We need to be patient but so far he has progressed rather quickly. I believe the Sabres have a solid group of prospects, maybe tops in the league. I can remain patient and I hope the owners do too.

I am tired. This is a good way for me to lose the Holiday fat I put on though. Walked the dog on our trail which is about 1.5 km or almost a mile. The trail had about 4 inches of snow which makes it a tough walk. When I got home I fired up the snow blower and cleared the trail. Along the trail is our skating pond so I cleared that too. The driveway needed clearing as well but I have a tractor for that, not much exertion required. Cleared the deck and walkways by hand, split some kindling and brought in a few armloads of firewood. Went grocery shopping. Vacuumed the house. Did the dishes. Did another loop on the trail with the dog for her afternoon walk. 8 km or 5 miles later I am finally sitting down. Waiting to make dinner when my wife comes home. She will ask if I did anything today or just sat on my a… Retirement is easy!

The booties are for road salt. The dog’s feet dry out and can start bleeding. My dog doesn’t need them as we walk in the bush with fresh snow all winter long. Enjoy Quebec, beautiful old city. The carnival is later in the year though, that is a party.

I read this story this AM. That dog is smart and cares for his humans. Amazing.

Rotating between 3rd pairing RHD and 7th Dman sounds good. He was wearing a letter so they trust him. Give him more than $750K, because of loyalty and intangibles. The Sabres have space.

It’s hard to know if he is near 100%, mono takes a lot out of people. I am still excited to hear how he does. Even at 80% he is probably better than half the league.

This was a big issue for NHL teams. Send players over and they might get stuck in China for a month. These Olympians know the risk and their teams would provide their approval. Owen Power would miss some school and games but would be there for the NCAA playoffs. School is probably not an issue as he will not be graduating in the near future. I am sure a lot of these JAGs would love to go regardless of the risk.

Dach’s jock got left in the corner. Sick play by Makar.

Man, MacKinnon can go from 0-60 in three steps. Impressive to watch.

What a back check by McKinnon on Dach.

First and foremost it is a rare chance to participate in the Olympics. That is a good opportunity for further development. He will be around some ex-NHLers and compete in a decent tournament, no where near the calibre it was supposed to be, but there will be some decent hockey.

Nice! I want to see him to continue to build on a good start to his season and help the Amerks. Once he is back to full strength, give him a look in the NHL.

He was very impressive in the limited WJHC views as a recently turned 17 year old. The Russians usually take all 19 year olds for their WJ team and Michkov was not only on it but a top line player. It is too bad for the NHL that he is signed to the KHL for 6 years. That may be the deal breaker between him and Bedard. I guess his NHL team could buy him out but that would take many $$$$$. He could be the guy that facilitates a player transfer agreement between those two leagues. The Russian team was escorted off the plane by police in Calgary for being rowdy on their flight home. https://calgaryherald.com/news/russian-czech-world-junior-hockey-teams-kicked-off-calgary-flight

Mitch Molloy.

I liked their gloves, they had the old 1940’s leather look.

Krebs was ranked top ten but dropped after tearing his Achilles’ tendon.