Nashville Predators News & Notes:
My Story: My First Task as Mayor – Helping to Save the Preds | NHL.com
Karl Dean, hockey fan.
What went wrong with Kyle Turris in 2018-19, and where do the Nashville Predators go from here? | On the Forecheck
Do you like arguing about underperforming forwards? Sure you do. Why would you even be on a Preds site if you didn’t?
Rumor/Analysis: Matt Duchene interested in signing with Nashville Predators | On the Forecheck
ICYMI, I did a quick breakdown of Matt Duchene as a player and discussed what he could–and probably couldn’t–bring to the Preds.
Other News & Notes:
Berube’s Blues living dangerously, on verge of winning Cup | TimminsToday.com
“Living dangerously” is one way to put “knowingly and intentionally putting their opponents at serious risk of long-term health issues, as a game strategy”. The danger’s not to the Blues, it’s to the players they’re headhunting.
Bruins’ Chara was more than just brave in Game 5 | ProHockeyTalk
Zdeno Chara is certainly an adult who doesn’t need me telling him what to do, but I’m not thrilled about the tone of the coverage of his decision to go play hockey with a freshly-broken jaw being “inspirational” and “legendary”. There are young hockey players–kids, or teenagers–absorbing this coverage, thinking this is what you have to do.
(Also, again, the Blues think hitting people in the face and/or head is a cool game strategy, so that seems like a bad place to take your broken facial bones.)
A look at the most controversial calls of the Stanley Cup Playoffs | Sportsnet.ca
That’s just this year. Can’t wait for the referees to just start taking away goals while the Cup is in the building!
Sabres sign Jeff Skinner to eight-year contract extension | Sportsnet.ca
Alas, Jeff Skinner is off the market–and at a pretty reasonable price, too. Skinner is a great player and if I’d had any hopes at all that the Preds could have signed him I’d be very disappointed by this. But this is good news for Sabres fans, who could use it, and probably good news for Skinner–with his concussion history, I bet that extra year of term was very attractive.
Full Circle: The growing industry of player-run hockey camps | The Ice Garden
A cool look at how the current generation of women playing hockey are helping develop the next generation–including All-Star defender Alyssa Gagliardi’s attempts to grow the women’s game in the Southeast.
The Phil Kessel Situation: When new metrics challenge what we thought we knew | Raw Charge
I was closer to lukewarm about Phil Kessel in our roundtable chat than some of the other participants, and now Raw Charge/Hockey Graphs’s loserpoints brings an in-depth look to justify me.
Report: Flames are exploring their trade options for James Neal | Flamesnation
So…Paul Fenton is going to grab him for the Admirals West Wild, right?
Not Hockey:
We’ve been joking about natural disasters instead of the Cup being awarded this year, and I’ll have another disaster-movie scenario for you tomorrow, but large portions of Missouri, including St. Louis, are actually experiencing catastrophic flooding right now.
We might not like the Blues as a hockey team, but I’m hoping we can spare a few thoughts for the people of Missouri—as well as those throughout the rest of the Midwest being hit by these floods—who are at risk of losing jobs, homes, and lives. (The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency is collecting donations here, if donations are your thing, or you can look for another charity (in Missouri or elsewhere) if you want to donate but not to the MO SEMA. I certainly don’t expect donations of anyone, but wanted to mention it just in case.)