Day One of the four-team rookie camp in Nashville gave us two close games,
a bold fashion statement by new Predators COO Sean Henry, some serious laughs from the panel at the Skate of the Union between games, an absurd number of breadsticks from Olive Garden at the media meal and an incredibly optimistic outlook for the growth of hockey and affinity for the Predators in middle Tennessee.
Since this is a rookie camp, I'll start with the prospects...
In the early game between Boston and Florida, which saw the Panthers skate away with a 2-0 win, the two players that you noticed nearly every time they were on the ice were Aaron Ekblad and David Pasternak. So cliche to go with each team's first round selections from the NHL Draft this past June, but they made it hard to overlook them.
Some people think selecting a defenseman first overall is a waste of a #1 pick, but
like I said on twitter yesterday, franchise defenseman don't grow on trees! Ekblad is positionally sound, a great skater, physical and makes great decisions with the puck. In short, he's everything you want a defenseman to be. Plus, he's got an amazing work ethic. Amazing. There is no ego that comes with his first overall selection. He knows that there is still plenty of room for improvement and is more than willing to put in the work needed to make it happen and, if you're a Panthers fan, that should get you all sorts of excited as he strives to reach his potential.
Pasternak won me as a fan back at the draft with his spectacular personality, but now that I've seen him play, I see what all the fuss is about. Kid's got moves. Several times he made those of us in the press box ohh and ahh as he deked around defenders and blazed a trail to the net. "They" say he's not that fast, but....he looked pretty fast to me and, as an added bonus, he's got some fire in him. There was zero hesitation going into the dirty areas and throwing what little weight he has around. He's spent the past week or so in Wilmington training and skating with the Bruins in anticipation of training camp and was always the first guy on the ice and the last guy off it. His effort doesn't not go unnoticed.
In the late game between Nashville and Tampa Bay that saw the Predators earn a 2-1 OT win to send the hometown fans happy, the standouts were Tampa's goaltending tandem of Andrei Vasilevskiy and Kristers Gudlevskis and Nashville's top line of Filip Forsberg, Colton Sissons and Kevin Fiala. While it might be taking the easy way out picking more than one player to highlight, it's hard to praise one without recognizing the skills and effort of the others.
For the goalies, they were tested and tested and tested....and tested again. While they each let up a goal, in their defense, it was against the Preds' top line, which, as I mentioned above and will expand upon in a bit, was firing on all cylinders and cashed in on two beautiful goals. Outside of those two goals, we're talking great saves galore especially of the glove variety. With Ben Bishop under contract for the next three years - the latter two at nearly $6 Million per - there's no doubt in my mind that these two will push him to stay on his game (just in case he actually needs to be pushed to do that) and challenge the value of his next contract. If I'm Yzerman, these two are tremendous assets to have should a move need to be made to improve other areas of the team.
In regards to Forsberg/Sissions/Fiala, incredibly strong contenders to force Laviolette's hand in terms of lineup decisions come October. I had been waiting all day for someone to just dominate and this trio took the game over every time they hopped over the boards. They know they are more than good enough and they aren't holding back. It's like these three have been playing together for years, not hours. Forsberg's skill stands out the most - a quiet confidence when he has the puck with a willingness to share the love with crisp passes. Very eager to see how these three fare over the next two games.
Today I'll have my eye on Florida's Vince Trochek, Boston's Brian Ferlin, Tampa's Jonathan Drouin (not his best game yesterday) and Nashville's Zach Budish.
Regarding the Skate of the Union, the panel was fantastic - entertaining, engaging and informative - and gave the fans in attendance more than a few reasons to cheer including moonshine, better wifi and a bigger merchandise shop at the arena. You can watch the entire Q & A below:
This camp and the festivities that surround it are all part of the grand opening of the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, located about 25 minutes southeast of downtown Nashville. When the NHL expanded in the late 90's, the intention was to grow the game of hockey and give the league a larger footprint in non-traditional areas. Fast forward 15+ years and in Tennessee, the lack of local areas is more apparent every year and the Ford Ice Center was built to help alleviate that need with two NHL sheets of ice and off-ice training facilities to serve as the home of the Junior Predators, the club hockey teams for Vanderbilt University and Middle Tennessee State and the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy - perfect for all your recreational skating needs for both youth and adults, as well as the facilities needed to help you improve your skills and reach higher.
It's a beautiful facility and, to my surprise, it serves beer! (Is this a thing in other parts of the country that I'm unaware about? They don't serve alcohol at local rinks in NJ....)
Two more games are on tap tonight, if you're in the area, come on by...admission is free! If you're looking for updates, be sure to
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Shout out to Miss Missouri 2014, Jessica Hartman, who showed some love for the St Louis Blues at the Miss America Show Us Your Shoes Parade last night on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. A great reminder to tune into ABC tonight at 8pm ET to see who will be crowned Miss America 2015!! ;)
Julie
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