Nashville Predators News & Notes
Preds Foundation Hosts Successful GnashVegas Casino Night | NHL.com
Is it just me or does it feel a lot weirder to have them doing this event now that there’s actually a NHL team in Vegas?
Five-Hole Friday: Entry-Level Deal Season | On the Forecheck
It’s almost contract time.
Milwaukee Musings: Texas Road(trip)house | On the Forecheck
The Admirals had a surprisingly good week. Catch up here if you missed it.
Other News & Notes
Colorado Avalanche lose Gabe Landeskog for up to six weeks | Mile High Hockey
Getting shut out in something close to a must-win game within the wild card race was bad. Losing Gabe Landeskog to injury in the same game was way worse. (Mile High Hockey describes Landeskog as the team’s second-best player, which is interesting given his linemates.)
Push for the Playoffs: Hurricanes, Canadiens look to build some cushion in East | ProHockeyTalk
Narrator: They didn’t.
The Hurricanes got blown out by the Jets, losing 1-8, while the Canadiens somehow managed a 2-8 loss of their own to, I am not kidding, the Anaheim Ducks. If ProHockeyTalk says the Preds want to build some cushion in the West, we riot.
Truth By Numbers: Is Columbus good enough to make the playoffs? | Sportsnet
Some of it’s about luck as well as skill, but teams do make their own luck to an extent. More to the point, the Jackets are playing not just for their playoff lives, they’re playing for fun GMing at the deadline for everyone. Jarmo Kekäläinen did something almost no NHL GMs ever do—he took a big, splashy risk. If it doesn’t pay off, he probably gets fired (unless he manages to get John Tortorella out the door instead) and baby GMs for years to come will hear creepy tales around the campfires of that one time a GM took a risk and what happened to him afterward.
How to Watch: NWHL, CWHL playoffs | The Ice Garden
There’s some schedule conflict with NHL games, but TIG has the basic information. Tonight’s games are the NWHL’s Boston Pride vs Buffalo Beauts and the CWHL’s Toronto Furies vs Calgary Inferno, but there’s more hockey coming up this weekend.
Q&A: Coyotes GM John Chayka on dealing with injuries, Tocchet’s influence | ProHockeyTalk
They could still miss the playoffs entirely, but if the Coyotes make it in after all they’re going to be an impressive story.
Tampa Bay Lightning clinch playoff spot | Raw Charge
Hey, you know who’s not going to miss the playoffs? The Tampa Bay Lightning, who clinched last night during the Canadiens’ little embarrassment.