I have heard the phrase “my phone blew up” many different times but yesterday… well… let’s put it this way… I had just hopped on a plane back to Nashville and turned off my phone after seeing the news of Taylor Hall being traded… Fast forward 90 minutes… Who knew that the Hall trade news was the start to the craziest 30 minutes in recent NHL history? Upon landing back in Music City I turned my phone back on and noticed that it was taking a little while to boot up. OK… sent a quick text to my wife that I landed… then…
BOOM!
My phone literally almost jumped out of my hand with texts, tweets, Facebook notifications asking what I thought, how about that etc… It seemed like it couldn’t process everything that hit it at once…
WTF?
Then I saw the notification from the Preds app… and then I couldn’t process everything.
Shea Weber traded? The Predators got PK Subban? I almost felt the need to check the date because this had to be April 1st. Nope… it was real…
Driving home, prepping for the season finale of SlapShot Radio, a thought was running around in my head, this trade is not the steal everyone was portraying it to be. Make no mistake, I think the Preds won this trade, but I do think this trade fills a need for the Canadiens. I also think that the Montreal front office did not handle the Subban situation well at all… players watch things like this and the leadership (as has been well documented) did not handle the swirling rumors about their star defenseman with any kind of class at all leading up to the trade.
I know the fashion has been to bash Shea Weber lately in Nashville, citing analytics, citing the contract and heaping a little too much responsibility on one player for the game 7 disaster in San Jose. Given that the Habs have cast their lot with coach Michel Therrien, Weber may fit into his system a lot better than he fit into Peter Laviolette’s in Nashville.
I will miss Shea Weber in Nashville, talking a little baseball with him, seeing him pregame, and watching his thunderous hits and his amazing slap shot. Heck, we watched him grow up here and you won’t find a better man. I wish him well in dealing with the Montreal media. I believe the Habs will get a very motivated Shea who could dominate against a much less physical Eastern Conference … which is a very good thing.
So, what does Nashville get?
Nashville gets four years younger on the first defense paring with a bona fide star personality. The very thing that seemed to cause problems with the front office in Montreal will be something Nashville fans have not seen. The Predators have had their personalities, Wade Belak is probably the closest that comes to mind, but PK Subban is a
personality that will transcend the sport in Nashville. The flashing smile, the sense of humor, the fun… all of that was on display during All-Star Weekend in Music City and Pred Nation ate it up. But that is off the ice… what about on the ice?
Subban will fit into the Predators speed game like a glove, he is dynamic on the rush, has amazing hockey sense that leads to great playmaking and has shown the ability to put a team on his back and will it to win. Look no further that the 2014 playoffs and the Habs incredible series win over Boston… Subban was the straw that stirred the drink in that series. PK plays a riskier game, an offensively oriented game that will require outstanding communication between Subban and whoever he is paired with. Not to mention the forwards… but his risk/reward game is strong and the coaching staff in Nashville will be able to handle it, unlike the Montreal coaching staff.
Exciting times in Smashville… so much for the boring offseason.
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The season finale of SlapShot Radio is posted…
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Random Notes
- The tweet of the day yesterday goes to Jim Diamond…
Truer words were never… ummm… tweeted.
- A lot of chatter about the tax implications of the trade for the players… Shea will take a HUGE hit, PK gets a raise!
- The Montreal media lost their collective mind over this trade… very few reasonable voices coming out of Hab Nation right now.
- Oh BTW… Filip Forsberg signed his 6 year $36 million contract… reasonable term, reasonable dollars… wow! (I can’t believe I wrote that $6 million is reasonable)
- Oh… BTW… Steven Stamkos signed an eight year deal yesterday, staying with the Lightning.
- Speaking of Stamkos… the Toronto hockey media embarrassed itself yesterday on Twitter… their hurt fe-fe’s were hysterical to read… an obvious “dog in the manger” ploy from so-called “non-biased” reporters.
- The Taylor Hall trade makes zero sense… they couldn’t get anything more for this supremely talented left wing? The Devils got a steal here.
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