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Five-Hole Friday: Ferda

Posted on by Rachel K

Most folks know I’m a huge goalie nerd. If my body wasn’t broken, I’d even give the position a try.

The fact that Nashville has two incredible goaltenders on their roster should be considered a luxury. In fact, Ryan Johansen said on Monday that Juuse Saros was one of the hardest-working Predators and that he’s a quiet leader for the team.

In this week’s column, we’re going to discuss goaltenders.

Pekka’s New Pads

Pekka Rinne made the rounds on Twitter on Wednesday after he was spotted sporting some sweet navy pads at practice.

Rinne has always had exciting and very personal masks, but we’ve never seen him in anything other than white gear. His white setup typically has some gold and navy, but we’ve never seen such a bold setup on #35.

These navy pads will look incredible with both the home and away jerseys.

With Rinne and Saros sporting colored gear in the regular season and playoffs, I can’t wait to see what they’ll choose for the 2020 Winter Classic.

Nashville Predators Save of the Week

This week’s save belongs to the younger Finn, Juuse Saros. He was outstanding in his shutout of Minnesota earlier in the week. His positioning was comfortable, yet aggressive. Saros continues to show us that he’s able to make the big saves when called upon.

Stanley

Is there anything better than this video? Nope.

Coach Laviolette encourages his team and captain Roman Josi asks the boys to keep pushing. Rem Pitlick gets a puck and a speech after his first NHL contest.

The best part, however, is Pekka Rinne handing Juuse Saros the “dog collar.” The Preds have made the collar their “item” this season, passing it from player to player after a win.

The dog collar embodies the spirit of Stanley, the Preds’ chosen Cup mascot. This year’s Stanley is a little bigger than the 2016-2017 Stanley. I think the collar, too, is better than the wolf mask passed around last season.

Pabla

In more Rinne-related news, he brought a friend with him to practice last week. Rinne and his girlfriend have a St. Bernard-Doodle (bernadoodle?) named Pabla and she’s the cutest thing ever.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like Pekka Rinne is the best kind of puppy father. I could gush on and on about Rinne and his puppy, but i’ll stop here.

Playoff Goalies

It’s not exactly a secret that Nashville has two of the most talented goaltenders in the League. It’s been repeated over and over. Saros might even be the starter on another team. Either netminder can be a brick wall when called upon in a game.

That brings us to the playoffs. Pekka Rinne turned in an abysmal effort in last year’s playoffs, after having one of the best regular seasons of his career. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner was yanked from Game 7 against Winnipeg. It’s inevitable…folks will want to know how long of a leash RInne will have in the playoffs.

It’s obvious Rinne will start Game 1 in Round 1. However, shaky play from the elder Finn should mean Saros getting an opportunity to tend goal. Coach Laviolette, in my opinion, should NOT hesitate to switch the two. Saros will certainly give the Predators a chance to win crucial playoff games.

Talking Points