French Collection

If KO leaves there would be a need for an experienced veteran, preferably with playoff experience. Not someone to take over as captain or to lean on for important minutes, just a solid leader who can play a bit and mentor the players, similar to Anderson’s role this past season. If I was KA I would contact Jonathan Toews. He is done as a Blackhawk and will be a UFA in July. He will be 35 and has been dealing with Covid related issues. His Hawks were tanking and the last few years have been challenging. However, he still got 31 points in 53 games and led the NHL in faceoff percentage at 63%. He could be brought in as a 4C with the possibility of taking time off (load management) to keep him in good shape. There aren’t as many players who have won what he has in his career. 3 Stanley Cups, 2 Olympic Golds, World Cup, World Championship Gold, 2 World Junior Golds and a U17 World Championship Gold. It’s not like bringing in Eric Staal as a 2C, Toews would be 4C and 13F. He could take key faceoffs, play a shutdown role and help the emerging leaders by mentoring them. He could work with the young C group with faceoffs, positioning, PK and other intangibles that lead to wins. At this point in his career, he doesn’t need the money and he wouldn’t command a huge salary. The draw would be mentoring a team that are hungry to get to the next level. This might not happen due to health concerns or his desire to play elsewhere. You never know unless you ask.

A 28 goal scorer in his prime getting scratched has to be embarrassing. It wasn’t a very positive exit interview. One that I was looking for was Bryson. I guess the reporters didn’t care about him and he probably didn’t want to talk. I was just curious about his thoughts.

I’m not opposed to Musty. What’s it worth to Chicago to go from 20 to 13? They have a bunch of second rounders, 35,44,52,56. There are quite a few Dmen in the 2nd round that Buffalo could select.

They have young kids, that’s why he has cut back his schedule. She’s now Assistant GM for the Canucks.

Watching the Rangers/Devils OT. I like Ray Ferraro doing colour commentary. He was on TSN forever but retired and now does a bit of ESPN. Smart guy.

90% of the play has been in Toronto’s end.

Kucherov with a grade A chance didn’t get it high enough.

Matthews trying to throw punches at Stamkos was pretty funny.

Exactly, if the NHL has been a goal of his then a couple of games is probably just a teaser. He seems to like the organization and they like him. They showed some faith by bringing him up to play while others were healthy scratched. I don’t question anyone going back to Europe if they don’t like the grind in North America or if they have a need to be home.

I often don’t hate the Leafs but I always hate their fans. Leafs fans are arrogant, I’ve been to Leafs games in Buffalo and Ottawa and they act like it is their barn. I find there are so many of them around here that they have a herd mentaliy, oh you’re flying your Leafs flag in July so I’ll install my car flags. It’s July and you haven’t won f*** all in 55 years. You cannot have a real hockey discussion with many of them because they are going al the way this year, Matthews is better than McDavid, Dubas is a genius and they deserve a Cup because they want it so bad. There’s nothing I would like more than to have Matthews lead them on next year and then Tavares them on July 1st. Again, their fans just can’t understand why he would want to play elsewhere.

Will Borgen?

Might have to bring in someone other than Kyle for that. Gotta mix it up though so the opposition doesn’t know what’s coming.

Hire a private investigator and make sure there is no tampering going on by other clubs. They cannot talk to him until August 15th.

We have two ears and one mouth, we should listen twice as much as we speak.

I know it won’t happen but wouldn’t it be great to get Doughty for a few years to solidify and mentor the D corps.

I guess you could call it a win for your C if he puts it in the right place, ties up his man but your winger/Dman doesn’t get to the space to gain possession. I can’t wait until the Sabres have a go to guy who is above 50%. Right now I feel like they will lose most of the important draws. Did you know he played centre in 2013/14?

I guess it may be tough to determine a win in some cases. A C can lose a draw cleanly that goes to open space where a teammate gets it. Your team gets possession but you lost the draw.

With all of the stats tracked by analytics people you would think someone is on top of that.

Oilers coach Woodcroft looks more like someone from the Big Bang Theory than someone on an NHL bench.

Wow, Isles score 4 in the third to win their first game of the series. I wasn’t paying attention, finding those games kind of boring.

Bruins ball washers saying you know a team is good when an NHL MVP is on the third line. My take is how badly an MVPs skills have eroded to be on a third line.

Why do I think klepto when I see Crypto.com arena?

It’s easier to verify you’re getting screwed when you’re ordering a number vs by the pound like some places do.

Another comment for the faceoff debate. Bergeron took over 1700 of the Bruins faceoffs this year. The next guy on the team was Coyle with 1000. Bergeron took close to 40% of his team’s faceoffs. I would put money on most of his extra draws were not in the neutral zone. His win percentage was 61.1%. Did this have an impact on team success? Having possession on over 61% of the key situations is an advantage.

HNIC has a segment with Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde between periods. He was the Bolts PK coach for many years and he explained a few subtle things the other night. He talked about where sticks should be, depending on where the puck is. He said the four man unit places their sticks in a certain position to minimize passing and shooting options. He showed video examples as teams were moving the puck around in the PP.