Jason Pominville is leaving Buffalo behind, at least temporarily.
Some locked-out players have created a series of charity scrimmages in Quebec, with a team of Montreal-based players facing a squad from the rest of the province. The first game is Thursday in a Montreal suburb, and the Quebec-born Pominville is joining NHLers such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Brian Gionta and Simon Gagne.
"I’m going to go down and play there and practice there Friday and come back here after and see what it is like next week," Pominville said today after a workout in Northtown Center at Amherst. "I’m thinking about playing there. I don’t know if I want to go to Europe right away or not, so for right now I think that’s my option. I can still spend time with the family and still work out and do the things I need to do to get ready, and at the same time play hopefully two good caliber games a week."
French Canadian players staged a similar barnstorming tour during the 2004-05 lockout.
"They want it to be good hockey," Pominville said. "There’s going to be three lines on each side, and it should be pretty good, and it’s for a charity so it should be a lot of fun."
---John Vogl
