French Collection

It may work out in everyone’s best interest. I think KA is concerned with the Wenatchee situation in the WHL. Benson gets to stick around longer, stretching out that 9 game window. Savoie’s AHL stint is over next week and he can start his 9 game look in Buffalo. Stretching that out a bit can get him close to the Team Canada camp. Does Benson qualify for an AHL conditioning stint now that he was placed on IR?

Mitts’ contract may change the make up of the team. People were saying 4x$5M before the season but it will be more if he keeps his play up to the current level. Paying guys like Girgs, KO and Jost good money might be tough to manage if Casey pushes for Cozens $$. Krebs under team control and ELC guys may become a thing on the 4th line.

Calgary’s start is poor and their two goalies have not played very well. They have 2 time AHL goalie of the year and last year’s AHL MVP Dustin Wolf inthe minors again. Vladar is probably available but I don’t want him.

This is where he can find a niche on the team. If he embraces the 4C role and works hard to be the best at that role, none of the upcoming prospects will move him out of that spot. Benson, Savoie, Kulich, Rosen, Östlund, Wahlberg may all battle for top 9 roles and may not be suited for the 4th line. This is where Rousek or Cederqvist can carve out a role as well if the other prospects are not defensively competent enough for the 4th line. I can see an energy 4th line more than pure shutdown style. An offensive minded rookie could get ice time with Krebs and Rousek/Girgs once KO retires. This would be similar to Krebs’ own apprenticeship. The rookie either outshines the 4th line role, embraces it or moves on. Perhaps none of Savoie, Kulich, Östlund or Wahlberg are suited to play 4C.

I’ve heard guys pronounce UPL’s nickname as Ooh-pee. The Habs/Expos mascot is You-pee.

UPL is important to righting the ship. He is the man right now and Levi will have to play well to get the net back. Long term they could be a tandem. Levi is who I see as a 1A going forward. Comrie is only signed for this year and he has played OK but his durability is an issue. UPL has an opportunity here to lock up a spot in Buffalo and I hope he can do it. He is young enough to find another level, especially if the team plays well in front of him. EJ’s influence will help the goalies. I still do not trust him until he shows some consistency. I was ready to give up on him but KA kept him around which ended up being a good move, for now. I’ll give him this, he wins games. It is not always pretty but he gets more run support than the others.

Wednesday’s game with the Flyers is the Sabres 10th game. DG said at the start of the season that 10 games was the number of games needed for his team to get into a rhythm and have the kinks worked out. A win would put them at .500 with a lot more positive signs. The Flyers started well but are heading in the wrong direction. I am feeling good about the team getting 4 points vs the Flyers.

Murray’s background is scouting and he’s probably not willing to hang around junior hockey barns for the money being offered. Probably some truth to not having tons of friends in the industry, he seemed a bit dour.

My guess is just hanging around his hometown of Shawville Quebec. Didn’t he raise horses? My brother in law dated TM’s sister 45 years ago but I don’t think I can go that route to find information.

I don’t think it will be Savoie because they can keep him in the AHL for another week or so before another decision needs to be made. I can see Stillman or Clague coming up since Clifton has one more game left on his suspension. Bryson will dress based on his play and DG’s glowing comments. I’m not sure about waivers for those two Dmen, I think there is a period (month?) where they can go back and forth without waivers every time.

With Comrie on IR and Coolley sent down there is a roster spot open.

I can’t bring myself to watch Someone told me the same thing.

Done.

I was unable to watch the game but I followed the score on my phone. Too bad I missed this big win. What I didn’t miss was the negativity on this board, it’s so much better when they win. I want them to win as much as other fans but I try to have the marathon vs sprint mentality and try not to get too high or too low to regulate my blood pressure. I watched the highlight video, the post game interviews and read this GDT before posting. They beat a good team, at home. They finally played like we expected them to. UPL and Bryson were not train wrecks. As DG said, confidence is extremely important in this league, and they should be able to build on this. EJ speaks like a captain I would go through a wall for. I love KO the man, teaching the young guys how to be good people and pros but EJ’s leadership has come at the right time. He knows better than anyone what the Avs can do and to have Sabres give it to them shows what they can do. This guy is a winner, a grinder and he speaks his mind. Maybe the Avs played like the Sabres did vs Montreal but who cares, the Sabres played great and would have beaten them anyway. I’m happy for UPL and I hope he finds the consistency he needs. It will take more of this for me to trust him but this is a step in the right direction.

Stay strong John.

Erik Johnson revenge game!

They have good Dmen, as you say, they need to button down in their end. Johnson and Novikov are rookies but good defensive prospects. I hope they develop their defensive games because that is their path to Buffalo.

Avs last game on this road trip. They are a good team off to a good start. This is a big challenge for the Sabres, they win this and the confidence returns. I think this is the kind of game where they need to score 5 to win. Dahlin outshines Makar with the evil goathead gear on. Let’s go Buffalo!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12683967/Horror-ice-hockey-star-horrifically-hurt-game-Nottingham-Sheffield-teams-fans-told-leave-stadium-major-medical-emergency.html Story doesn’t mention whether it was fatal but it doesn’t sound good. Not sure if the contact was like the Malarchuk incident. This is so sad for his family and the hockey community.

I thought DG made it sound like Levi was closer than Tuesday. General soreness was the description. Maybe this rest gets him at 100%.

Like Elliot Friedman says, you want a life preserver but other teams throw you an anvil. There is not much available at the moment and it would take more to pry something decent now than in the summer.

Granato said today that Levi is almost ready, he could have dressed but they want h8m to get more recovery time.

Savoie scored his first AHL goal as the Amerks beat Laval 7-4.

They are fast and their breakouts are full speed straight ahead. The Sabres are fast but do a lot of east west stuff allowing the Devils to get back.

Is Matt Ellis better at drawing up plays than he was creating them?