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Tuesday’s Dump & Chase: When You Switch to Hynes, but You’re Out of the (Playoff) Huntz

Posted on by Bryan Bastin

Let’s lead off with a fine tweet from last night:

Playing your top center with the worst overall and defensive player on the wing against Auston Matthews and John Tavares seems like a great idea, in my opinion.

(If you can’t sense the sarcasm seeping through, I’m sorry.)

Nashville Predators News

Nashville Predators 2, Toronto Maple Leafs 5 Recap: Hitting Snooze – On the Forecheck
The Predators really, really, really needed to win this game.

Narrator: They did not.

Burning the Candle from Both Ends – The Remaining Predators Schedule – On the Forecheck
Nashville enters the All-Star break with the fewest games played, but the distribution of their remaining games may be cause for concern.  I broke down what could turn out to be the most brutal second half to a season in recent history.  And let me tell you, folks:  selling off players for peanuts means it’s going to make next season bad too.  If you sell, you sell side pieces for prospects and picks.  No veteran middle-six player is going to change this team this season or not – sorry to break it to you.  Not Ghost Bear, not Brendon Dillon.  If selling off and trying to restock is your goal, wasting money and trade/draft capital on players like Dillon or extending outright bad ones like Austin Watson is just treading water.

2020 NHL Entry Draft Profile: Thomas Bordeleau – On the Forecheck
The son of a former Predator has been a top performer for the U.S. this season.

Puck Talk: Winter Term #2 – Spider-Jack, with Bryan Bastin and Peyton Turnage

Few things terrify me more than talking on air, even more so when you’re on the phone.  But Jack was a lot of fun to talk to – we got in-depth on analytics, the Predators and where they stand, and had a serious talk about Marvel movies – which ones we want to see, and an unsolicited discussion about the Robert Downey Jr/Jude Law Sherlock Holmes movies by Guy Ritchie and how much I enjoyed them.

PHT Face-Off: Ryan Johansen’s rough year – ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports
Also, Alex Killorn is putting up impressive numbers.

Just South Hockey Weekly – Episode 4 | Just South Hockey
Second of two shows I was lucky enough to join in the last few weeks that released last week.  All-Star discussion, hockey news, some quick analytics, and background on how I got started here at On The Forecheck.

NHL Playoff Race: The coaches and GMs that will impact second half
We look at six NHL coaches and general managers that could play a big role in the Stanley Cup Playoff race in the second half of the season.  John Hynes makes an appearance.

On The Forecheck’s Post-Game Interviews from Last Night

Thanks again to Shaun for the wonderful coverage this season – his work cannot be highlighted enough.

I highly, highly encourage you watch this last one and I ask you: what do you think this means?

Hockey is For Everyone

Boston Pride are 2019-20 NWHL regular season champions – The Ice Garden
This is the third time the Pride have finished at the top in the regular season

NWHL responds to comments about league on Sportsnet – The Ice Garden
The league refutes Cassie Campbell-Pascall’s on-air statement.  When you have women’s hockey on one of its biggest stages ever, spouting misinformation as a representative of a former rival league is just low.

Color of Hockey: Canada Post stamp celebrates Black History Month
William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog for the past eight years. Douglas joined NHL.com in March 2019 and writes about people of color in the game. Today, writes about Canada Post’s 2020 Black History Month stamp that honors the Maritimes Colored Hockey Championship and the history of the Colored Hockey League.

Canada beats US, 2-1, in Elite Women’s 3-on-3 Game at NHL All-Star Skills Competition – The Ice Garden
Plus how Poulin and Knight fared in the Shooting Stars event

The Elite Women’s 3-on-3 was a success. Now what? – St. Louis Game Time
Will the NHL’s continued partnership with the women’s game help grow the sport?

How Kendall Coyne Schofield’s clutch All-Star performance changed the game | Sportsnet.ca
“It took 14.346 seconds for Kendall Coyne Schofield to thrust the women’s game into hockey’s biggest spotlight at last year’s NHL All-Star Skills Competition. In the year since, she’s been leading the charge to keep it there.”  As you can tell, I care a lot about hockey being accessible to women, people of color – truly everyone.  And Schofield is truly an ambassador for one of those things.   I hope she uses her platform to raise others up and encourage those who are doing the same next time.

Accessible Analytics!

We’re @EvolvingWild (Josh & Luke), Creators of Evolving-Hockey.com. Ask us Anything! : hockey
The EvolvingWild twins stopped by the hockey subreddit to answer questions, and they did a tremendous job – nearly every question was asked by people who are either new or completely unfamiliar with analytics, so this is a wonderful way to read some responses and learn a thing or two – I use their site more than nearly anyone else.  Also there was this:

Diving into the defensive zone – Stanley Cup of Chowder
An in-depth view of the Bruins defensive zone coverage.  I can’t recommend this highly enough – this goes beyond what you might see from other people.  If you’ve been wondering what tracking data might look like or what we’ll be able to learn from it, Shawn Ferris has done a tremendous job and a LOT of work to discuss that thing.  I mean, look at this:

Features About Nashville’s Upcoming Opponents

What’s next for Gerard Gallant? Top potential coaching destinations for the fired Vegas coach – Knights On Ice
This is surely not the end for Gallant, and he’ll have plenty of suitors this summer

Garden State of Hockey- Episode 27: Bye Week – All About The Jersey
We play a new game and look ahead to life after the bye week.

Jakub Vrana Gives the Caps Something They Haven’t Had in a Decade – Japers’ Rink
A quick look at how Jakub Vrana’s emergence as a lethal scoring threat on the second line is reminiscent of another era of Caps’ hockey.

News From Around Hockey

NHL mourns death of Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant’s death on Sunday sent shockwaves across the hockey world.  This is all I can say about this subject.  There’s nothing that my opinion or feeling can add, and honestly, nobody needs it.  All loss is tragic.  Legacies have a way of defining people.  And if someone doesn’t have anything earnest, worthwhile, or novel to add to a national conversation – like I don’t – then it’s better off not being said.

NHL players in favor of ‘international flavor’ All-Star idea – ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports
The league is in talks with players to bring what Commissioner Gary Bettman called a ”distinct international flavor” to 2021 All-Star Weekend in South Florida.

McDavid declined surgery to play this season for Oilers
Connor McDavid said he was able to play in the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Game because he chose to not have knee surgery nine months ago.

Kings prospect Frk sets AHL record with 109.2 mph shot
Martin Frk set an American Hockey League record with a 109.2 mph shot at the AHL All-Star Skills Competition at Toyota Arena on Sunday.

Should the Winnipeg Jets fire Paul Maurice? – Arctic Ice Hockey
The Jets have been struggling as of late. Should someone pay with their job?

Song of the Day

I’m being selfish this go around and picking a song I enjoy very much, and I think you will too.  You might even recognize the beat.

Talking Points