The Maple Leafs are getting ready to host a Powered-Up Buffalo Sabres tonight:

We’ll have the full list of who is in and who is out of this game in a preview later this afternoon. In the meantime, the news:

The two municipalities will have some stiff competition as Global News has reported that Halifax and Moncton are also teaming up for a bid to host the championships while Saskatoon and Regina have also entered the fray.

In addition, it has also been announced that the Quebec government, the Ottawa Senators and Quebecor are exploring the possibility of Ottawa and Quebec City also entering a joint bid to host the tournament.

The games are currently scheduled to begin on Boxing Day in Novosibirsk and Omsk, Russia, but they were pulled after Russia invaded Ukraine.

A little light reading on the activities of Yandex related to the above decision:

Yandex helps websites pushing false news make millions in advertising

Lots of games tonight after an almost dark Monday. The Canadiens inched closer to the bottom with a loss to the Jets in the only game yesterday.

The Bruins play the Blues tonight and the Lightning play the Stars. The Rangers face the Hurricanes in a game that can’t quite put the Rangers in first in the Metro if they win, but the teams would be tied on points.

One interesting note on that, is that the Rangers did a lot at the deadline, and it was smart things. I noted in my deadline roundup that they seemed to have a lot of clarity about how much their goalie was carrying them, something the Jets never seem to have. This caught my eye:

When we talk about deadline acquisitions succeeding, we usually end up talking only about the team that won the cup with a noticeable (aka personal goal scoring) contribution from the new players. This is also deadline success. It’s just hiding behind that goalie.

That’s all for now, see you at gametime.

From The Branches