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Sandie is playing hooky from hockey today and tomorrow, so you're stuck with me. Sorry.
The season is finally over for the Semyon Varlamov, who backstopped team Russia in the IHF World Championships to a gold medal victory with a 6-2 win over Slovakia. I'm too lazy to look for stats, but Varly had a 1.74 GAA and .940 save percentage going into the game. Fellow Avs Paul Stastny (USA), Ryan O'Reilly (Canada), Gabriel Landeskog (Sweden) and former-and-maybe-future Avalanche Jonas Holos (Norway) also played in the tournament.
It is Russia's fourth world championship and its third in the last five years, and it punctuates a perfect tournament for the Russians who finished 10-0. [Pavel] Datsyuk tied [Alexander] Semin with a game-high three points, while Russian goalie Semyon Varlamov finished with 29 saves.
There is still one player from the Avs' system still playing: the Shawinigan Cataractes are one of the four teams who made it to the 2012 Memorial Cup. Dillon Donnelly, whom the Avs drafted in the 7th round of the 2011 draft, is a forward for the Cataractes (as is former Avalanche Michael Bournival)
Between the four teams competing for the 2012 Memorial Cup are prospects representing 20 NHL teams. In all there will be nine first-round picks playing in the tournament, which starts Friday and runs through May 27.
Finally, former Nordique Dale Hunter has some advice for Patrick Roy should he decide to coach in the NHL:
"To coach in the NHL is a privilege," Hunter said Sunday at the Bionest Centre, where his London Knights are competing in the Mastercard Memorial Cup. "But Patrick has to do what’s best for him and his family.
"It’s a challenge, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s the top league in the world. It’s fun coaching elite players. If you’re ready to make the commitment, you should go."