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Leafs Pick Off A Penn State Power Forward |
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Talk about awkward. The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed a free agent power forward Casey Bailey out of Penn State University.
On its surface, it doesn't look like much, but when you dig deeper, you reveal that Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula is a Penn State alum.
Leafs GM Dave Nonis went hunting on Pegula property.
Literally.
Oh, well. All's fair in love and hockey.
College free agents re like loose pucks: whoever gets 'em, gets 'em.
The 6'3" power forward hails from Anchorage, Alaska.
He will report immediately to the Leafs and will be in their lineup when Toronto plays Buffalo on April Fools Day.
Playing Bailey in games now will start the clock on his two-year entry level contract. The Leafs will burn a year by playing him now.
Bailey scored 22 goals, added 18 assists and 27 PIMs in 36 games this season.
Pegula donated $102 million for the construction of the on-campus Pegula Ice Arena in 2010.As a result, Penn State, which had fielded a club team for years, transitioned to NCAA Division I starting in the 2012-13 season.
This led to a domino effect across the college hockey landscape. Because six Big Ten universities had Division I hockey programs (the minimum number of teams required for a conference to be an automatic postseason qualifier), it was announced that Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State would join Penn State in the Big Ten hockey conference starting in the 2013-2014.
I wonder if Pegula and Sabres GM Tim Murray had conversations about the Sabres signing Bailey. Did Buffalo opt to pass on Bailey or was Toronto more aggressive in their pursuit of the Penn Stae products?
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Great news, Sabres fans.
Taylor Hall will finally be making his triumphant return to the Edmonton Oilers lineup tonight against Philly.
Kiss Edmonton's tanking blues away!
A curious move to say the least as the 28th place Oilers trail 29th place Arizona by only one point and 30th place Buffalo by just 3 points.
Tanks but no tanks.
The Oilers have nothing left to play for other than their McEichel standings. So, why risk losing ground to Arizona and Buffalo, who play head to head on 3/26 in Buffalo and again on 3/30 in Arizona? Could it be that the Oilers are focusing their laser pointer on U.S. born D-man Noah Hanifin and the third overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft?
Hall has missed 23 of the last 24 games with an ankle injury, and yet he still is the #3 scorer for the Oilers with 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points
He skated today on the third line with Anton Lander Lander as his center and Andrew Miller as his winger.
“He’s definitely a big part of our team,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said Friday.
“He’s a driving force out there for sure. He makes defencemen think twice about a lot of things. When he’s driving the puck wide he’s creating a lot of space for everybody else on the ice. If we get him back it’s going to be great for us and we look forward to getting him back into the lineup as soon as possible.”
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I'm happy for Drew Stafford and Tyler Myers. More so for Stafford who I had the opportunity to cover for ten years in Buffalo.
If ever a guy needed a trade in order to kick start his NHL career, it was Stafford.
Ditto Tyler Myers.
Stafford had nine goals in 50 games when he was traded from Buffalo in February as part of the Tyler Myers-Evander Kane-Zach Bogosian blockbuster deal.
Betcha didn't know that Stafford now has 6 goals in 15 games since the change of scenery.
Stafford is thriving in The Peg because he isn't buried on the fourth line playing 5 minutes per game, like he was when Ron Rolston was coaching him. Staff is playing with offensive threats Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler and the trio is killing it.
“So far it’s been an unbelievable experience here,” Stafford said Friday.
On Thursday night, the University of North Dakota star scored the game tying goal and another important one in the Winnipeg shootout win over St. Louis.
Stafford doesn't look back in anger at the way his Buffalo tenure ended.
“Losing isn’t fun,” Stafford said humbly.
“I feel for those guys ( in Buffalo) and what they’re going through, and that organization. But more importantly, the fans, too. They deserve a winner there as much as anybody. It is draining losing so much....when you get a chance to be part of a team and a playoff push and get back in the hunt again, it’s a shot in the arm.”
Thanks, Jets TV
Stafford will no doubt hit the 20 goal plateau again this season. He is a UFA on July 1. He will be rewarded with a long term deal to keep him flying high for the Jets for years to come.
Good dude, that Drew Stafford is. Many of his former Sabres teammates miss having him around. He's an excellent team-first guy.
I have always believed in Stafford. I'm happy for his new found success.
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There's definitely something positive in the air and water in The Peg that agrees with Tyler Myers.
He’s accumulated 10 points in 14 games with Winnipeg. He had 13 points in 47 games with the Sabres.
Myers has thrown off his mental chains and has become the defenseman he always knew he could be.
“The way we’re coached and the system we run and how all the guys are on the same page, it sets up everyone in the room to get the most out of what they can do,” Myers said.
Myers fits in perfectly on the Jets blue line where he is skating 28-29 minutes per game. He is playing a featured role with poise and confidence.
“You can feel there’s a lot of confidence in our room right now,” Myers said. “We’re playing to win. We’re not playing scared to lose.”
There's a lot of work left to be done by the Jets. They are not guaranteed a playoff berth. They have to earn one. Calgary and Los Angeles are formidable foes right now. Myers isn't counting his chickens before they hatch.
“We’re a team that believes we can do some damage in the playoffs,” Myers said. “But we’ve got to get in, first.”
Thanks, Jets TV
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For the second straight year, Boston University will battle UMass-Lowell for the Hockey East championship.
This time around, UMass-Lowell will have to find a way to silence the nation's most prolific college scorer in Jack Eichel.
The #1 seeded Boston University Terriers advanced to the Hockey East championship game with a convincing 4-1 semifinal victory over University of New Hampshire on Friday night in Boston.
BU (24-7-5) will face off against two-time defending champion UMass Lowell in tonight's brawl for it all.
VU and UMass-Lowell have split championship game decisions, with both teams winning 1-0 games.
BU won in 2009 while UMass Lowell won in 2013.
Super sniping freshman and Hobey Baker Award favorite Jack Eichel scored the final two goals of the game for his 19th multi-point effort of the season. Eichel is currently rated the #2 NHL Draft eligible by Central Scouting and International Scouting Service. Yes, people. Eichel is THAT good. Eichel has scored 22 goals and has chipped in 41 assists for 63 points in 35 games. He scored 4 game winners, 6 PPGs, and 2 shorthanded goals. He has blocked 34 shots and is +44 on the season.
Eichel's first goal was a doorstep play to give the Terriers a 3-1 lead. He would later add an empty netter to seal the deal for BU.
Cason Hohmann and Chase Phelps also scored for the Terriers.
Evan Rodrigues assisted on both of Eichel's goals
Junior goaltender Matt O'Connor was solid between the pipes for the Terriers, turning aside 32 UNH shots to pick up his 21st victory of the season. He made 22 saves over the final 40 minutes.
Thanks, NBCSN
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The Sabres have been held to just one goal or less in a game on 34 different occasions this season. They are three games short of setting the NHL record.
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Mitch Marner will be a top five NHL draft pick in this June's NHL entry draft. The diminutive sniper reminds a lot of scouts and observers of Patrick Kane because he has the hands of a surgeon and can make enemy goalies look stupid.
Marner's London Knights concluded their 2014-15 regular season on Friday night with a win over the Saginaw Spirit.
Marner currently leads all OHL scorers with 44 goals and 82 assists for 126 points. The operative word being "currently" because two Erie Otters are breathing down Marner's neck and are in hot pursuit of the NHL scoring crown.
Dylan Strome and Connor McDavid have two more games to play in their regular season. They play tonight in Plymouth. They will conclude their regular season tomorrow afternoon in Niagara.
Strome enters tonight's action with 121 points ( 40G, 81 assists) in 66 games played.
McDavid has 118 points ( 43G, 75A ) in just 46 games played.
Boith Strome and McDavid have the capability to light up opponents for multi-point games and have done so numerous times this season.
Strome and McDavid have lit up Plymouth for 13 combined points in two games played against the Whalers this season.
The OHL scoring title is not the only heavyweight belt that's available for Strome and McDavid to win this weekend. Last season, Connor Brown set the all-time scoring record for the Erie Otters when he scored 128 points.
Strome and McDavid won't say so publicly, but they are competing with one another to see to it that an Erie Otter claims the OHL scoring title. I've personally asked both of them about winning the OHL scoring title and breaking Brown's record. They give you the "golly, gee, aw shucks" response, but down deep they both want to finish on top.
Don't be misled or fooled by their baby faces.
Strome and McDavid are alpha dogs.
That's what makes them superior talents. They are not content to finish #2.
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