French Collection

Ditto, I try and grasp that stuff and have the time to learn it but it just doesn’t capture me. I do like the Coles notes version explained to me and how it reinforces ideas.

Novikov has a great summer and comes to camp as a beast and makes Bryson his b***h, and plays the game we wanted to see from Mule, making him expendable. Sad, but I’m not seeing any good news until September, with these clowns in charge.

If I was GM I would be seeing what the market is for Byram and Power. I can move on from either. The return plus potential cap space could sway me in either direction. Power could bring more back and Byram could be signed for less. KA will not move Power, so this idea is dead.

3B victim. Blocked by Bryson.

Enforcers barely exist anymore. Tough guys are still around. Guys like Rempe and Reaves barely have enough skill to patrol the 4th line. It’s challenging to give a roster spot to a 6 minute player who is barely skilled enough to play. Today’s tough guys like Jeannot, Frederic, Foligno and Hathaway are middleweights. They can play hockey at the NHL level and will drop the gloves once in a while to protect a teammate or try and change the momentum of a game. They are intimidating in today’s NHL, where I would guess that half of the players have never fought at the NHL level. Tkachuk, Bennett are instigators but are also intimidating because they hit a lot and they hit to hurt people. They also walk a fine line between legal and illegal. I would love to have Tkachuk on the Sabres for his body of work but not as a fighter. He drops the gloves only a few times a year and it is only vs guys who he knows he can beat. His toughness is best displayed in scrums with cheap shots and face washes. Brady Tkachuk is more willing to fight but he is bigger and better than Matthews at that. Marchand is a pest, he doesn’t scare people, he just p****s them off and throws them off their games. Being dirty is not being an enforcer. I think Krebs fights more than Marchand.

The time to hire a senior advisor was when TP went out on a limb and hired a first time GM with no front office experience. Out of work experienced people may have jumped at the chance to have a high level role in the NHL and to mentor a young unknown candidate. Now, WTF is the role here??? Owner who thinks he is hockey smart, GM who has failed for 5 years to take a step forward and a coaching staff that is at least a level below the NHL.

Congrats to USA hockey. This is not an easy tournament to win. Strength of roster changes a lot year to year for the countries with a lot of NHLers and some “weaker” nations believe they can win games. I like this move for TNT, showing he deserves consideration for the Olympics, showing up for his country after a tough season and coming through in the clutch.

Bennett is a guy I want. Just a solid player than can play middle six C and doesn’t back down from any challenge.

It would be a good place to start. We all know the culture needs a shake up and it doesn’t happen by running it back with the youngest team, an incompetent GM and a below average coaching staff. Adding vets that are beyond their best before dates like Staal and EJ to a bunch of kids doesn’t work when their bodies can’t back up their words. If their hearts aren’t into it (Staal) there is no way the kids will buy what these guys are selling. It’s not like dropping a still great Messier into a Rangers lineup. Even he had a bunch of older winners to back him up. The Zucker signing was a step in the right direction and they need a few more like that. Dudley would bring a winning pedigree and tons of management experience. If brought in, he should be given the reins to get rid of dead weight and bring in some competent people. These people’s standards would be to bring in players who hate to lose, which is such a higher bar than “want to be here”. There are some good pieces in Buffalo, there just needs to be a team builder at the top. Players will come if there are positive changes and the team starts winning. If a guy like Dudley is given the keys to the franchise smart hockey people will want to learn from and work with him. The tide will raise all boats, attracting quality talent to every part of the organization. These guys would not have a soft spot for existing players like Bryson and others, and would just make better roster decisions. The coaching staff would also be changed. I am not saying that Dudley is the messiah, but he would bring way more to the table than the present option. This is my longest post in a long time, not sure why I bothered, because the idiot at the top of the food chain isn’t doing anything.

Bath and the Cotswolds are nice. You are close to Wales once there, Stonehenge as well. Do you drive once there? I didn’t attempt it, looks too “wrong” to my eye and I thought I might crack under the pressure of traffic. Thank goodness the train and bus routes are good and on time. I want to see more of Ireland.

Climbing over Bryson is an Everest sized block of granite, just ask KA.

We just got home today from a few weeks in the UK, mostly Scotland. I had been there a few times but it was my wife’s first visit. I love Scotland, we stayed in a tiny town between St Andrews and Edinburgh. We are not “city” people so London is not our cup of tea. So much history makes the UK an interesting place. We really loved the coast of Northern Ireland as well. Wales was just a cup of coffee, so I can’t comment

RIP Norm. “I’m only here for 1, maybe 1:30.”

I think JJP compares to Nik Ehlers. I don’t know if there is another level to his game, maybe, but defensive ability has room to grow for sure. I didn’t watch all of Winnipeg’s games but Ehlers game seemed to translate OK.

I remember reading that Matt Duchene’s parents saved every receipt and the total was over $300K, for them. That was over 20 years ago. Martin could have a chip on his shoulder instead of a silver spoon. I am also partial to the 3 Northern OHL teams. Sign me up.

Fredric would add versatility and grit to the bottom six. Pietrangelo is a perfect target for experience and style. Probably would have to shed Byram and Mule for cap space. He is from southern Ontario and may want to move closer to finish out his career. He already has 2 cups so he could tolerate the new role. I would gamble on Demko. Will someone pull a double offer sheet on the Rangers? Schneider and Cuylle. Take that Drury! Tavares would have to publicly burn his Leafs pyjamas, but his uncle could give him a new pair.

Wow, KA is playing 3D chess, getting Hughes’ buddy in order to put a package together for EP. Norris is made of glass, but EP is damaged goods too.

Very few hockey players want to be there.

I believe it was Matt Irwin that KA was excited about.

We got him, we got Brian Galivan!

I don’t give two s***s about Power’s feelings, I meant to say KA would be upset that his prize pick becomes #3. Power has a looooong way to go to get into my good books.

Power would get his nose out of joint at getting passed by. I wouldn’t be upset to see that as an option, Byram can shoot decently too. I think that ship has sailed.

Werenski and McAvoy would be ahead of him for PP1 on two of those teams. Montour and Dunn could be bumped in Seattle.

If Rasmus Andersson had more than 1 year until UFA status, I would like to see him as a RHD coming back. He would fit the bill as a top 4.

That’s what he deserves, call it an internship.