January 13, 2025 – The NHL has been making cash by expanding, but expansion has come at a price. Simply put there is not enough good quality talent to go around. Of the 32 teams how many can field two high quality lines and 4d? How many teams have aContinue Reading
November 27, 2024 – I know, I know. I haven’t been writing much of late. Hockey Crunch will most likely be moving behind a paywall on a different website, but for today I wanted to talk about the ills of this season’s Montreal Canadiens. GM Kent Hughes has been playingContinue Reading
March 4, 2023 – The NHL is in a strange place. While the salary cap has been a success, the structure of seasons now seem to be 60 game seasons with a long 22 game wind down until the playoffs start. While mathematically there are still chances for some teamsContinue Reading
It is with immense sadness that we announce the sudden passing of K. Neola Thacker (Nicki), 91, of Perth, Ontario, on December 27, 2022, after a brief illness at the Ottawa Civic hospital. Nicki was an educator, a writer, and a great story-teller. Born in Montreal on May 19, 1931,Continue Reading
December 9, 2022 – It’s bewildering at how so many GM and management teams bemoan the cap age in the NHL. It’s really not rocket science. It’s always been a gamble to make a trade, but it’s still the best way to resolve an issue. First off I like JoshContinue Reading
December 5, 2022 – A member of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Traffic incident Management Enforcement (TIME) team and members of the Leeds County Detachment, safely arrested and charged four people after a traffic stop. On December 4, 2022, just before 7:15 a.m., officers on Highway 401, eastbound near ReynoldsContinue Reading
OCTOBER 31, 2022 – From October 17 to October 30, 2022, the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Detachment (SD&G) of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) intercepted nine high-end stolen vehicles travelling the Highway 401 corridor. SD&G officers patrolling the highway use keen observation skills and investigative techniques to identify stolen vehiclesContinue Reading
October 16, 2022 – Early days, but a few interesting trends are appearing for both teams. Toronto is 2-1 with its loss coming vs Montreal. The Habs are 1-2. Toronto has 9 goals for and 8 against. That’s not good for the Leafs. Montreal has 5 goals for and 9Continue Reading
October 13, 2022 – It wasn’t a great game, but it was entertaining. The kids were alright except for Slafkovsky who really needs to get to the AHL and play lots of minutes. Mostly he needs to keep his feet moving. Compared to Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, and Arber Xhekaj,Continue Reading
October 10, 2022 – There’s a lot of excitement in la belle province as the season kicks off against The Leafs. The Habs didn’t win a pre season game this year, but this scribbler predicts a pounding of Toronto tonight. It’s not that the team is that much better. It’sContinue Reading
August 30, 2022 – So I read about restock.ca in a news story, and was intrigued. I went to look at the site and saw a pallet that fit inline with my honey’s upcoming party. Sometimes a deal looks too good to be true. In this case it looked reallyContinue Reading
MAY 27, 2022 – The Stormont Dundas & Glengarry (SD&G) Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has charged two individuals following a fraud investigation. On May 25, 2022 an officer received a fraud complaint from a local residence. A presumed bailiff had contacted the victim and claimed that aContinue Reading
January 23, 2022 – Kudos to Geoff Molson. The Jeff Gorton & Kent Hughes hires feel good. As someone that was the Habs first Analytics guy and video statographer back in the 90’s it’s great to see the team finally take some strong steps forward with a clear focus toContinue Reading
JANUARY 7, 2022 – GM Ken Holland has to be feeling the pressure. He gambled with the Duncan Keith trade and the signing of Zach Hyman & Cody Ceci while not truly addressing the team’s goaltending issues. The team jumped out to a great start, but now are 2-6-2 inContinue Reading
November 30, 2021 – Many people don’t realize that I actually used to work for the Habs. Way back in the 90’s I was their first real analytics guy during the Rejean Houle/Mario Tremblay days. I actually used a VCR with a shuttle that caught fire to crunch video. SometimesContinue Reading
NOVEMBER 28, 2021 – Omicron and an Anglo hire in Montreal management in the same week. It’s going to be an interesting week and the “le Journal de Montreal” crew will have fun with this, but it’s expected that there will be another hire. Anglo Scott Mellanby resigned from theContinue Reading
NOVEMBER 16, 2021 – What an odd situation the Habs are in. The team is as bad as last year; but for different reasons. Like many pundits I enjoyed the Habs miracle run to the finals, but I’m no wearer of rose coloured glasses. There were no real positives orContinue Reading
NOVEMBER 7, 2021- Hoo boy. First we had that lovely start to the season and now it appears, unless Jake Allen notches a shut out, wins will be infrequent. Carey Price is coming back soon, but he didn’t perform much better statistically than Jake Allen last year during the regularContinue Reading