Smashville News:
Stanley Cup Final: Nashville arena readying for awards show, not hockey | The Tennessean – Apparently Bridgestone Arena is lonesome for actual Stanley Cup Final festivities. Also, where have they taken Ben and Gill for the summer?
My Story: Covering Nashville’s Favorite Hockey Team | NHL.com – Some great behind the scenes tales from an unsung hero in bringing hockey fandom to Middle Tennessee.
Nashville Predators’ keys heading into ‘19 offseason | Yardbarker.com – No surprises. Maybe it will sound better coming from an outside voice.
Best of 2018-19: Filip Forsberg | NHL.com – Here are Prince Filip’s highlights for the year.
Best of 2018-19: Ryan Johansen | NHL.com – And also Joey’s greatest hits. I love the layout pass to Arvi.
Now for some fun and games. First, use this link to watch Calle Jarnkrok cheating Lindsay Rowley at the Whisper Challenge.
Are You Southern Yet? | NHL.com – “Pekka Rinne, Ryan Ellis, Matt Irwin and several other Preds take a quiz to see if their time in Nashville has made them southerners yet.” I’m disappointed that Pekka and some other long timers did not have higher scores. Also, I so want to see this entire video with all the questions to all the players.
And of course who could be having more fun than these guys. My husband thought Doug was laying down. I kept saying “No, he’s flying!”
Central Division News:
Blues shake up lineup, but Binnington still in net | NHL.com – Did anyone think they would start Jake Allen? How did these changes work out for them?
Captain Marvelous: How Jonathan Toews’ nutrition renaissance became one for his career | Chicago Sun-Times – Today’s long read. No real details on his nutrition regimen, but man he played through a lot before he learned what his body couldn’t tolerate.
A childhood dream’: Alex Turcotte hopes to follow in Jonathan Toews’ footsteps with Blackhawks | Yahoo Sports – ”Alex Turcotte grew up a Blackhawks fan. He was at the 2010 Stanley Cup parade in Chicago. Idolizing Jonathan Toews as a kid, Turcotte hopes to be half the player he has become and it would be a “childhood dream” for him to do it in Chicago.” So do they use their first-round third pick on him?
Blues’ ‘Gloria’ moment bittersweet for manager preserving singer’s legacy | NHL.com – I had forgotten that Laura Branigan had passed.
Other Hockey News:
Patrice Bergeron, Ryan O’Reilly are a study in contrasts | ESPN – Okay, I’ve read this twice but it still seems to me they have more in common than not. The major difference seems to be their career success so far.
NHL rumors: Erik Karlsson taking long, hard look at staying with Sharks | NBCS Bay Area – ”Erik Karlsson has a big decision to make this month, and we reportedly could know what he wants to do within a week.” What do you think the odds are he stays in the Bay Area?
Gabriel scores big win for inclusion with use of Pride Tape in NHL game | NHL.com – It’s such a little thing, with big meaning. I’m surprised more players don’t show some visible sign of support.
Berglund hasn’t ‘regretted one second’ of walking away from NHL | theScore.com – Someone help me out here. How can he return after so short a time and not have to return to the Buffalo Sabres? Did they get any compensation for him doing a runner?
NHL should allow teams to replace concussed players during games | The Boston Globe – I like this proposal, although there would be more details to be flushed out. It should be applied for all injuries that the coach thinks worth the two-game sit-out to follow. I don’t like teams being down men for practically the whole game during the playoffs. The games are hard enough.
How the NHL is planning on using data analytics to change the game for everyone | ZDNet – ”Gone are the days of coaches receiving a rushed print-out on how their players are performing; now the NHL is looking at how to track the puck and the players in real-time.” Sounds like they have good technical partners and are taking time to build the source data correctly.