French Collection

Weber missed the man and the puck.

OHL coach's poll have Jean Dupuy as best penalty killer in the western conference. Nick Baptiste as the best 3rd best shot in the same conference. That's it for our prospects. http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/article/2014-15-ohl-coaches-poll-winners

Building block game for a young player's confidence. I agree that he can be our 3rd line C-LW who can slide up or down a line.

Yeah, he played the off wing trigger man on the first PP unit with McDavid and Strome. North Bay PK was pretty good and prevented good shots. Baptiste is a good skater with average size, could be a top nine guy in Buffalo. I think between him, Bailey and Fasching they should be one or two RWs on the big club in a few years.

Watched McDavid in North Bay today. Impressive speed, agility and quickness. Just better than anyone else. First period was his best, created a scoring chance every time he touched the puck. Finished with 2 helpers in a win. Strome was OK, not impressive but a good sized centre. He got a goal on a rebound, nice shot. Baptiste showed flashes but did not have any great shifts other than 1 PK. McDavid would definitely get points at the NHL level. He just explodes when an opening appears. Signing my son's Team Canada sweater was an added bonus.

He's actually playing on Strom's line. Can't vouch for PP lineups though.

Going to the Erie game tomorrow, haven't seen McDavid play in a few years. Interested in how Baptiste has progressed since last year.

Baptiste with a pair of goals for Erie. If he keeps improving and works hard he could be a 2 or 3 RW with the Sabres in a few years.

Glad to see Compher back on the radar. Good sign tat a player gets hot for the playoffs, clutch.

Neuvirh may be our best option for next year. It would be nice to pry a Gibson or Jones from California. Niemi would only be a stopgap measure for a few years, if he would even consider the move. Depends on Pegula bucks and what other options Timmy has. Anxious to see Ullmark in Rochester.

Old Vienna, I like that. Drank a few of those beers back in the 80's, don't even know if they still make it. I think the Caps can handle the Sabres with or without Ovie. His absence may give the boys hope and keep the score close. Makarov may start due to Charles Lindbergh playing last night.

.927 save% and 2.32 GAA as a freshman. He is a goalie prospect to watch. We certainly don't have our future #1 ready to step in.

Cal Peterson makes 87 saves for Notre Dame in a 5OT game. Wow!!! Future #1?

An addition to Toews' resume is a World Championship in 2007 while never having played an NHL game yet. Sam went with Team Canada last year but only got into exhibition games. Correction to Toews' record is that he didn't play in U18, it was U17 where he won with Team West. If Sam can compile the Championships that Toews has we will be very happy.

I love Reinhart's game, against junior competition. I think he'll be fine with 10 more pounds and a bit more speed. I think he will start with the big boys. Like others have said, he won't wow you but zero in on him to see the detailed work. Then check the scoresheet after the game.

I am a bit worried about Sam's slight drop off in his Junior numbers this year. Kootenay is a bit weaker statistically this year too, maybe he's having to do more with less. My hope is that his body is changing due to working out and adding weight for next season. A previous comparison to Igor Larinov may be the most interesting one I think about. An intelligent 2 way game that makes everyone else shine seems to be his style. He also plays a 200 foot game and all special team situations. His leadership qualities will probably earn him a letter down the road. Previous high draft picks whose numbers didn't grow when sent back to Jr. are Spezza who dropped off a bit in his 19th year. Bobby Ryan's stats stayed the same for his post draft years. Tavares peaked in his 16th year and actually dropped off in his draft year. I think he starts as 2 or 3 C in October.

Going back a generation here but Mario Lemieux had 282 pts in 70 games in his draft year. Guy who was 3rd in league scoring that season never played 1 game in the NHL. Many top scorers in junior were never able to take the next step, could be numerous reasons: Size, fire in the belly, speed, confidence, mental makeup, conditioning etc... We don't know the draft prospects other than by stats like points but that is not the be all end all. I hope Murray has had a look at multiple games of Strome, Hanifin, Marner, Krouse, Provorov etc... In case we pick 3rd.

Hawerchuk is another alumni finding coaching success. Has had some good teams in Barrie of the OHL. I don't think Murray will look at Alumni too hard when he is ready to pull the chute on Teddy.

Not saying Marner doesn't deserve a high ranking but I haven't been impressed with watching him in couple of games. Probably a few of his weaker games because he's putting up a ton of points in the others. Then again, Cody Hodgson was near 2 points a game in his last junior season, so points are not the be all end all.

Detroit has a bad contract in Stephen Weiss. 4.9 cap hit for 3 more years.

Sam Reinhart with 2 helpers but Kootenay loses.

Baptiste finishes with 2 g and 1 helper.

Stewart's value may rise as Timmy waits. As long as there are a few teams that feel left out of the arms race.

Mario Lemieux 282 pts in 70 games in his draft year. Different game then and it was the Q, but those are impressive numbers.

Paul Kariya had 100 pts in 39 games as an NCAA freshman. He was a talented player whose concussion issues limited his production and longevity.