French Collection

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.

The Bruins should be rusty, jump all over them early. Dahlin with 1G 1A. Right the ship boys. Meandering waste.

We will see where Boucher is at after half a season in the OHL. He will be in the top half of the age group for this league. I am spitballing but he may have had a higher opinion of himself than his coach in the NCAA. I would not call an ‘03 kid a bust. I think he was over drafted as well, but he can develop into an NHLer.

I am reading Mark Messier’s book. He quotes Scott Stevens as saying you can’t evaluate a Dman until he has played 250 games at the NHL level. His reasoning is that there are a lot of nuances to learn. Dahlin is at that threshold and Power will need time to adjust. I like the D, especially the LHD if you throw in Mule + Johnson.

All 4 seasons are on Amazon Prime here in Canada. I have yet to catch up to the latest release, getting close, season 4 episode 9.

I didn’t know we had Prime until a few weeks ago, would’ve started Yellowstone a year earlier. We like it, just not huge Costner fans. This would have been a great role for a younger Clint Eastwood in my opinion.

Dahlin remains hot and will get a couple of points again tonight. He looks confident with the puck and I get the feeling it will get out of the Sabres end and/or gain entry every time. He still needs work on the other side of the puck but I see improvement. He uses his body more and has a decent stick. Tuch will find his legs and chemistry to improve his performance. JJP will figure out how to best deploy his speed and get some chances. I thought Krebs was OK and I like the comparisons to Gilmour, hope he gets there. As a team they need better exits and entries than last night in order to generate some chances. Let’s go Buffalo!

Went to our skating pond, which is 300 yards from the house down a bush trail. I shoveled it and came back to the house to get 10 gallons of water to flood it. It looks good and the weather is great. While I was out there, the mother of one of my son’s teammates came by and grabbed his skates for a sharpenening. The boys U18 team has a practice tonight and she was getting some skates done. My son’s skates will be brought to the practice tonight. Oh well, the pond should be good tomorrow.

That is sad. I hope your daughter gets through this OK.

My wife will expect some chores to get done. I think there is a possibility of getting this tournament completed in the summer. That is if the IIHF wants to.

I hope this hasn’t spread through the USA team, defending champs and perennial contender. Stay healthy boys!

I can’t wait to see the new guys in game action. I wanted to see Quinn but that will have to wait. Canada vs Germany is on at the same time so my thumb will be getting a workout.

Wright’s performance so far reminds me of Quinton Byfield. Byfield only had one good game in two years of playing this tournament. Keep in mind Wright is the second youngest player on the team and he is the consensus #1 pick, not a generational player. I expected more from him, maybe he is feeling the pressure of it all. Bedard is elite, he and Michkov could end up in a Crosby/Ovechkin rivalry for many years. Bob McKenzie also adds Adam Fantilli to those names.

Bedard made something happen every shift. He wasn’t in the top six but generated offence all night. He had a chance at #5 but dished to a line mate. His stick blew up on his last shot attempt as well. Power didn’t get much ice time because they dressed and played 8 D. He will be relied upon in the close games.