Here are some questions with the start of the preparatory calendar.
1- Jeff Gorton affirmed during an interview on an English-language radio station last week that the Canadian would be very creative in his management of the salary cap.
Cool. How will we go about adding flexibility to the training payroll? When you belong to the group of teams that have no chance of obtaining a pass for the playoffs and that you occupy the first place in terms of the salary cap, it is because the equation is false.
So far, the CH’s hockey boss and general manager, Kent Hughes, have corrected several shortcomings in the daily operations of the team, but their biggest challenge remains the unjustified salaries of several skaters. How will they proceed? To be continued…
2- Martin St-Louis during his appearance on the show JiC on TVA Sports: “It’s the team that will provide us with the answers”.
A comment you don’t hear very often.
“How are we going to progress? I don’t know,” added the CH head coach.
Players will be given several responsibilities and they will have to provide convincing answers. Attitude and effort at work are the two non-negotiable conditions for them. For the rest, they will have the opportunity to show off their talent, they will be able to show their creativity. And, we will provide them with all the means to progress.
If we summarize well, the hockey players who will find it difficult to adapt to this policy, those who will be slow to embark on the process, will not benefit too long from the patience of the decision-makers.
3- The preparatory matches will provide us with an answer as to where exactly Jonathan Drouin in St. Louis’ early-season plan. For the moment, when we try to find a place for it in the top 6, and even the top 9, we cannot provide all the arguments to justify such a decision. The one who can really set the record straight is Drouin himself. It’s up to him to convince his trainer…
4- Much emphasis is placed on deficiencies in Kirby Roof in the face-off circle. The organization’s decision-makers are convinced that he has all the resources to excel in this position. But we can’t help pointing out the troubles he has in this aspect of the game. Can’t we fill this gap by using another member of the line for the face-offs?
The example of the Canadian
Well, well, in Toronto, we recognize that the future of Kyle Dubas is not very rosy. If the Maple Leafs ever come up empty again, the young GM will be fired, that’s for sure. After all, the Leafs and Brendan Shanahan informed him that there would be no negotiations for a new contract. In other words, the Leafs win and Dubas remains in office, otherwise, we know the sentence. But in Toronto, a list of possible candidates for Dubas’s post has already been drawn up. Marc Bergevin appears there.
We also wonder about the new administrative management of the Canadian and we wonder if there is another Jeff Gorton in the world of hockey.
In the meantime, we have to believe that Shanahan seems to enjoy some immunity from the owners of the Leafs. Despite the team’s failures, we never discussed his involvement in the day-to-day management of the team. Curious, isn’t it?
No Russians
Good. Czechia’s foreign minister has advised National League leaders that Russian players will not be welcome in Prague, where the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks will face off on the regular schedule. Yakov Trenin of the Predators, as well as Alexander Barabanov and Evgeny Svechnikov of the Sharks, are the targeted players.
We also wonder if Finland will adopt the same policy regarding Russian players when the Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus Blue Jackets are visiting.
That the Czech Republic is so intransigent, should we really be surprised? We will never forget the Prague Spring when the Soviets invaded the former Czechoslovakia. And of course, we draw a parallel with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Should we on the side of the leaders of the NHL cancel the games scheduled in the Czech Republic? Policy makers had not anticipated such a reaction from the government of this country. Canceling games is a decision many will support, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the league didn’t maintain the status quo.
Well done Felix
It was a great weekend in sporting terms, especially on Sunday when Félix Auger-Aliassime beat Novak Djokovic. A spectacular performance. the tennis player Quebec was in perfect control, to the point that Djokovic, for one of the rare times, seemed unable to tip the momentum on his side. “FAA” responded blow for blow. He was right to say it was his best game.
Alouettes and company
And on Friday, the Alouettes’ victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats could save a season that was not only going to be disappointing, but whether we like it or not, the fragility of the franchise constantly comes up in conversations when the team accumulate failures.
And finally in the NFL, we go from surprise to surprise, the Buffalo Bills losing in Miami, defeat of the Kansas City Chiefs, Aaron Rodgers winning his duel against Tom Brady.
What a weekend!