Nashville Predators News & Notes
Nashville Predators 4, Los Angeles Kings 7: Comeback Fails as Kings Defeat Predators in Home Opener | On the Forecheck
Folks, about 42 minutes of that game were terrible. If you missed it, Rachel has you covered. If you didn’t miss it, my condolences, and hey, how about that attempted rally in the third?
Preds Stage Another Comeback, Ultimately Fall in Los Angeles | NHL.com
The team is saying the right things. Here’s hoping they follow up by doing the right things.
Other News & Notes
NHL Fact or Fiction: Whose hot start will prove sustainable? | Sportsnet.ca
Andrew Berkshire with some good news for the Matt Duchene fans out there (and some bad news for the James Neal fans).
Argentine players overcoming hurdles to get on ice | NHL.com
The lede to this story is “Argentine hockey players have to go to the end of the world if they want to play a five-on-five game in their country.” and I’m not sure I can improve on that. The Argentine women’s national team’s coach fixes everyone’s broken sticks and skates because they’re too expensive to import. The men’s and women’s teams practice with inline skates and get as much ice time as they can at tournaments (like the Colombian team, which has no ice rinks at all in their home country). It’s incredible, and it sucks that they have to go to all that effort just to practice and to have equipment.
The Kings are covering up Taylor Swift’s ‘eyesore’ of a banner | Los Angeles Times
Long live Kings fans’ fearless belief that the team’s struggles since two thousand fifteen are the result of some kind of fairytale curse from a banner instead of the team’s need to begin again now that everything has changed, and by “everything” I mean “Jonathan Quick’s ability to stop a puck.” I’m not saying 2014 was the last time they’re ever going to win a playoff series, but their wildest dreams for right now seem a little wilder than ours. Kings fans, you need to calm down—call it what you want, but believing in curses is treacherous.
(No, I’m not sorry.)
Kakko scores first goal, but Rangers fall to still unbeaten Oilers | ProHockeyTalk
Ah yes, the [adjusts glasses] undefeated Oilers [glasses fall off face]
This season has been really, really weird.
Frankenfest, Devils team up for players with developmental disabilities | NHL.com
The program started in 2002 for kids with autism–as an adult with autism I feel like playing hockey would be more than a little bit of sensory overload for me (everything happening really fast and pretty loud), but it’s awesome that there are so many people it does work for and that they’re having such a good time.
Makar is off to a strong start for Avalanche | ProHockeyTalk
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Central, the Avalanche are stockpiling young defenders like it’s going out of style. Cale Makar hasn’t been asked to replace P.K. Subban the way Dante Fabbro has, and–unrelatedly–he’s off to a very good start to the season.
Hockey Canada Shares Short-Term Plans, Long-Term Support | The Victory Press
It’s great to see Canada responding to the women’s national team’s recent–gasp, shudder–silver and even bronze medals (I’m sorry; I know it’s rough for Canada, but it’s fantastic for the sport as a whole for other countries to get a chance) with increased funding, outreach, and support for girls’ hockey and discussion of how to support women’s hockey. I’d like everyone to get their act together about women’s hockey, but in the meantime getting girls’ hockey off to the best start possible is great.
Now, every other country just needs to also step it up, and then they can just keep competing with each other to fund their athletes more and more and more…
Quick Shifts: How Flames, Senators can reap more from bad trades | Sportsnet.ca
I really loved last year’s wacky trade conditions. Do you think we see more of those this year?