Buddies on the Beat
The Nashville Predators have created an established partnership with the local chapter of Best Buddies International, “a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities”. Their work with the organization has even seen some of the team form lifelong friendships.
The team’s work with Best Buddies caught the attention of hockey fan and musician Jay Weinberg. You might have seen Jay around the arena taking in a Preds game, or putting on a show…
Nashville may have reached hockey city status but music will always be its heart. For the locals who love both, Music City and Hockey City are at their best when they’re working together for the greater good. A greater good Weinberg nailed with his Buddies on the Beat event last night.
Putting together a group of musicians to jam everything from the Misfits to the Rolling Stones, and adding in a guitar playing hockey player, no problem, it’s Nashville.
That’s Craig Smith playing guitar with Max Weinberg. Oh yeah, Jay’s dad is the drummer for Bruce freakin’ Springsteen.
Smith’s scoring goals on Monday…
Not a bad week for Craig.
To learn more about how Jay got involved with the Best Buddies organization you can check out his interview with Forbes and visit his silent auction page to bid on exclusive items or leave a donation.
Now on to your regularly scheduled…
Hockey News & Rants
The case for ‘Making Hockey Fun Again,’ and the Capitals’ place in it | NBC Sports
Nashville’s been “making hockey fun” for a while now, but I’m biased. Although if it’s not fun I’d make a case that you’re probably not doing it right.
Connor McDavid sets NHL record in Oilers’ come-from-behind win over Jets | Sporting News
Whoa there’s a lot happening here. Connor McDavid dug the Oilers out of a 3-goal deficit, broke records, and carried his team to victory. Meanwhile Winnipeg…let him? Not sure what happened there. Don’t get me wrong, Winnipeg definitely has some discipline issues they need to work on, but McDavid is also just that good.
It’s still too early to say the Jets have a serious problem on their hands, but their lack of discipline against the Preds and this isn’t giving them the best start to the season.
Changing face (and pace) of NHL underdogs | Yahoo Sports
I love a good underdog story, but the Montreal Canadiens are not an underdog story. They’re the story of a team making terrible decisions, blasting their own players in the media, and then constantly questioning why everyone is being so hard on them.
I’m not saying they’re doomed but… #SaveShea
More feuds, more personality means more fun for NHL | NBC Sports
There’s that phrase again “more fun”. The league is admittedly pretty up-tight and stuffy compared to the likes of the NFL and NBA, but again if you’re not having fun you might not be doing it right. Or you might need a new team.
NHL Mixed Bag: Maple Leafs become league’s most entertaining team | Sporting News
I don’t know, I still kind of feel bad for the Islanders for the whole John Tavares thing. It just doesn’t seem fair that the Leafs get to have Austin Matthews and Tavares.
PHT Power Rankings: Making sense of early NHL noise | NBC Sports
I don’t think the Ducks deserve “Second Tier” after that disaster they called hockey Saturday night, but other than that, I don’t hate this list.
Jillian has nailed it every video so far. This is hilarious.
If every NHL team raised a banner 😂😂. pic.twitter.com/Tmuj8UBV5B
— Jillian Fisher (@FisherJillian) October 16, 2018