French Collection

I always had a low regard for his GM skills. Probably because of the Tradhers stint. Maybe he’s gotten better. Pegula may have chatted with him at some Govenors meeting and TP thought he was Sam Pollock reincarnated.

Most goalies I’ve known are not the best skaters, as far as stride, crossovers, pivoting etc… The need to be on their skates for close to 60 minutes is big part of the comfort end of things. The edge work required is totally different as are the side to side pushes. Totally different skating technique.

I don’t think I was saying Dahlin is a RHD. I know he is a LHD, I was saying that he has a comfort level on the RH side. I doubt KA goes out and gets a 1st pairing RHD so Dahlin, Power, Byram or Mule will probably have to play on the RH side as a left shooting Dman.

It’s interesting how there are complaints about the pairings having the same handedness. It is a good thing Dahlin is versatile enough to play RHD which helps a lot. He and Mule were kind of switching sides quite a bit when paired together. Dahlin was roaming around and Mule would adjust accordingly. If Mule is in the top 4 then a possible third pairing is Clifton and Jokiharju, two RHD, creating a similar issue.

I figured they would be a bit rusty for game 1.

Last day of work until Tuesday. I’m retired but doing some work for American company. Missed Victoria Day but Memorial Day is great.

We’re running out of weird kids who can’t skate.

The job is there for the taking. No blockers at the moment, he just needs to keep improving and get experience.

Ekholm is a big solid Dman. It would be nice to have Mule get near that level.

Draisaitl gets the first one of this series. Not exactly riveting hockey yet, I was rewatching Canada-Slovakia.

Two OHL goalies I follow who were on the right track had down years in their final junior seasons. Ben Gaudreau led Canada to U18 gold a few years ago, was drafted by San Jose in the 3rd round and hasn’t done much since. Dom Divencentiis was OHL goalie of the year last year, drafted by Winnipeg and took a step back this year. Goalies are different. They don’t seem to have as much year over year growth as skaters.

Devils hockey, Jacques Lemaire would be proud.

Ratzlaff was 3rd on Canada’s WJ team this year. He’s an ‘05 so could be the #1 this year. Rousseau and St-Hilaire don’t seem like sure fire prospects yet. Doesn’t seem to be a Carey Price on the horizon.

Czechs must be buzzing, beating USA in front of the home crowd.

Hockey Canada is probably hoping for him to take the next step. He’s on their radar, World Juniors, Olympics and World Championships already, although he didn’t play Olympics and got a taste of action at the WC.

That team could make the playoffs, even with Krueger coaching.

Canada vs Slovakia and Germany vs Switzerland at 10:20. USA vs Czechia and Sweden vs Finland at 2:20. I have some work to do on the computer but the TV will be on in the background.

I think Dallas is better but McJesus walks on water, the frozen kind.

The last 10 minutes were better as the crowd was trying hard to rally the troops.

Marc Savard “agrees” to leave his assistant coaching job in Calgary. He was an assistant to Berube in St-Louis, stay tuned.

There are no consensus picks after Celebrini but most lists have Helenius around 7-12. His performance in Liiga was really good for a 17 year old. My concern with him at 3 is he turns out more like Kakko than Barkov.

Because the alternative is to cheer for another team, and I’m not going there. He is the GM of the Buffalo Sabres and I have no control over that. If he fails to make the playoffs this year then I think he is gone and it’s next man up.

That didn’t look like a clear cut too many men call.

I watched his junior career closely, he played his OHL hockey here. Decent size and some skill, scored 50 in junior. Definitely a bottom six player at this level, although he has had stints on the top 6. He plays hard and has won a Cup. Wouldnt give him big money but he would out produce Girgs.

Finished the season strong with 5 goals in his last 10 games. Led the playoffs in hits, so far. Good size, will drop the mitts if need be. He plays middle 6 LW but has played some C and can win a few draws.