Sounds like you New York guys got hammered compared to Mass. I think we ended with just about of foot, but it was pretty wet snow. We had some pretty bad wind, but it wasn't the storm that everyone expected, at least not here. The blade worked perfect for me here. My QA42 is not ready for service yet, but it will go on my 1200(ish) next year. I've got a walk-behind Cub Cadet 1132 SWE with a cab as well, but I might as well cover all the bases with the QA42.
Every time I use a snowblower I recall the couple of times in my career when I've gathered up people's finger from their snowblowers to bring to the ER.