I start off with a reminder to my fellow blogger in St. Louis, Jason Millen, we made a small wager on this series… losing team’s blogger makes a donation to the winning team’s blogger charity of choice… My choice was Best Buddies of Tennessee… a charity very familiar to fans of the fang…
Hey Jason (and anyone else so inclined) … click here to donate to this great cause!
I certainly appreciate Jason bringing this idea to the table… he does a great job covering the Blues and this was a way to do a little good in the process, so a stick tap to Jason. Now… on to today’s proceedings…
The Nashville Predators have enjoyed some well-deserved and much-needed rest while waiting for their Western Conference Final opponent. The team has been off since clinching the series with St. Louis and they return to work today with a light schedule of meetings before getting back on the ice tomorrow. This team has to be dinged up so this is much needed recuperation time between series that they were able to use to full advantage between rounds one and two, and given that there is a game seven Wednesday night to determine their opponent in the Western Conference Final, they could get as much as five to six days between games.
While the players were off yesterday, hockey operations was busy working on the future of this team, delivering two signings that shouldn’t go under the radar. The first signing was announced yesterday, 2013 sixth round pick Emil Pettersson to his entry level contract. Petterson has been spending the last four seasons in the Swedish Hockey League, finishing his time in Sweden in the elite league with Modo, Skelleftea and Vaxjo. Pettersson is a 23 year old, 6’2… 164 pound center that will begin his North American career in Milwaukee. The left shooting forward will take some time to adjust to the smaller ice surface, but scouting reports indicate he has great vision on the ice, distributes the puck well and has shown well at the Preds development camps he has attended. The other signing has not been officially announced by the Predators yet, but thanks to the hard work of Jeremy K. Gover, who writes for 102.5 the Game’s website, he unearthed reports coming from Sweden (do you see a pattern developing here?) that much sought after free agent center Victor Ejdsell has either signed, or will sign with the Predators. According to an article in Sweden’s KVALLSposten, Ejdsell was being courted by Chicago and Detroit, but the young Swede attended game four of the Chicago series and reportedly made his decision from that experience.
Why is a 21 year old free agent that went undrafted by the NHL all of a sudden so sought after? Weeellll… 57 points in 50 games last season and the fact that the young man has grown to be a 6’5… 215 pound beast may have had a little to do with it. Is he NHL ready right now, not sure about that, he seems to have the size and skill but will need some time in Milwaukee… how much is up to him, but the cupboard is being well stocked with solid centermen.
So, as you look at these prospects and add in players like Forsberg, Arvidsson, Jarnkrok and Ekholm that all hail from Sweden, the big question while we wait for game one is…
Is Smashville becoming Swedesville?
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Round Two Reset
Eastern Conference
NYR vs OTT – OTT leads 3-2 - Game six is tonight in New York
WSH vs PIT – Series tied 3-3 - Game seven is tomorrow night in Washington
Western Conference
STL vs. NSH – NSH wins 4-2 – waiting for opponent in Western Conference Final
ANA vs. EDM – Series tied 3-3 - Game seven is tomorrow night in Anaheim
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Playoff Random Notes
- I will be curious to see what other injuries come to light when the Blues hold their clean-out day. We know about Steen’s broken foot and unconfirmed reports have Vladimir Tarasenko requiring surgery.
- Pekka Rinne continues to dominate the leaderboard in most goaltender stats, either leading or tied for the lead in GAA, Save %, wins and shutouts.
- Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson are 1 and 2 in +/- among players still active in the playoffs… Forsberg has a +11 so far, Arvy has a +10
- At least two game sevens in this round, we will find out if we get a third tonight as the Senators have a chance to close out the Rangers.
- The Caps stay alive and force a game seven. Boy, if they are going to slay their dragon, this is a good way to do it… however… if they can’t, this would be a loss that would rip the heart out of their fans.
- The New York Rangers have a chance to send their series back to Ottawa and deliver a third game seven in the second round by winning tonight.
- Y’know… when you see a headline that say “Ducks not thinking about past Game 7 failures… … you know they are thinking about past Game 7 failures.
- One game in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight – 6:30pm – OTT @ NYR (NBCSN)
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