Paul McCann: A special night in Smashville

Paul McCann: A special night in Smashville
- pmccann

lol congrats on beating the Hurricanes preseason lineup I guess?

No Svechnikov, no Hamilton, no Slavin, no Pesce, no Staal, no Paquette, no McGinn, and Aho and Teravainen played the fewest even strength minutes of any Canes forwards.

enjoy it!

lol congrats on beating the Hurricanes preseason lineup I guess?

No Svechnikov, no Hamilton, no Slavin, no Pesce, no Staal, no Paquette, no McGinn, and Aho and Teravainen played the fewest even strength minutes of any Canes forwards.

enjoy it!
- BINGO!

That goes both ways dumb dumb. Did you get a look at our d-corp and forwards?? Didn't think so..

That being said your team is better overall.

That goes both ways dumb dumb. Did you get a look at our d-corp and forwards?? Didn't think so..

That being said your team is better overall.
- Polecat

Don't listen to BINGO! The guy is scared out of his wits because his bust of a team is going to cream themselves out of the first round.

I'm going to stay positive for a change, mostly because of the person involved, and its nice to be given a reason to feel positive. If last night was Pekka's last appearance as a Predator, then what a perfect way to end it. I don't care that the game meant nothing overall and was basically played with two taxi squads, that's not the point. That point was showing appreciation to the guy in net whose meant so much to this franchise over the past decade. The only shame here is that this moment didn't happen in a packed Bridgestone. He's had his up and downs but I adore the man, even more as a person than a player. We all know this, the only reason Josi wears the Captains C right now is because the goaltender can't.

I kind of hope he does decide to call it quits after this season. I believe his time here has run it's course and I'd hate to see him in another teams uniform. You can tell the crowd last night felt it too. Retire, and we can go ahead and put your number in the rafters. I know fans from teams who don't pay much attention to the Preds only see the playoff struggles and can't understand the attachment, but every team should be lucky enough to have a Pekka Rinne on it regardless of position. Love ya Pekka, you'll always have a home here.

Don't listen to BINGO! The guy is scared out of his wits because his bust of a team is going to cream themselves out of the first round.
- AdamFrench

That goes both ways dumb dumb. Did you get a look at our d-corp and forwards?? Didn't think so..

That being said your team is better overall.
- Polecat

looked like the usual crap to me

Don't listen to BINGO! The guy is scared out of his wits because his bust of a team is going to cream themselves out of the first round.
- AdamFrench

I guess we'll find out soon.

GREAT FOR PEKKA!! That guy is a class act!! I hope he comes back next year in some role, either a goaltender assistant coach or as our Goalie. Either way, I would like to see #35 Retired.

Playoff prediction: Canes in 5, I'm sticking to my negative Nancy role, that this is a paper tiger team, seems like we bottom fed our way in.... I want Hynes gone so bad its probably clouding my judgment. Now if we make a hell of a run in the post season my view of Hynes may change...

Let me add this, and I almost choke in saying this, but Nashville may in the best position going into the post season, they did sort of have to win their way in, so, maybe they have some momentum... MAYBE

Let me add this, and I almost choke in saying this, but Nashville may in the best position going into the post season, they did sort of have to win their way in, so, maybe they have some momentum... MAYBE
- PREDX1

Momentum is great for the first round or two, BUT overall depth, good goal-tending, and skill usually wins the cup.

This was going to be a rough matchup anyway you look at it. To have any sort of chance, the Preds are going to have to play almost perfect hockey... And that's just to stay competitive. Saros will have to absolutely be on his game, which means likely stopping 40+ shots a game, the brain-farts this team has become infamous for the previous couple of seasons need to be kept as minimal as possible, and they'll still have to find a way to score some goals within a Hynes system that's offensively restrictive against a team that's not exactly a slouch defensively. If the Preds team that showed up the first five or six times we played these guys shows up for the playoffs, Carolina might as well have their brooms at the ready.

A good first step, bench the 'Duche' and play someone willing to put in the effort and play within Hynes system. Me first players like him are complete labilities when you have to climb a mountain like this.

This was going to be a rough matchup anyway you look at it. To have any sort of chance, the Preds are going to have to play almost perfect hockey... And that's just to stay competitive. Saros will have to absolutely be on his game, which means likely stopping 40+ shots a game, the brain-farts this team has become infamous for the previous couple of seasons need to be kept as minimal as possible, and they'll still have to find a way to score some goals within a Hynes system that's offensively restrictive against a team that's not exactly a slouch defensively. If the Preds team that showed up the first five or six times we played these guys shows up for the playoffs, Carolina might as well have their brooms at the ready.

A good first step, bench the 'Duche' and play someone willing to put in the effort and play within Hynes system. Me first players like him are complete labilities when you have to climb a mountain like this.
- Squatchy

Well stated as usual.

Congrats to Pekka on a great Preds career ! Hell of a man.
This should be his swan song. This is how he should be remembered...(i know i will)

As for the first round series...I know most don't think the Preds have a shot. Depends on which Preds team shows up and which roster night after night is willing to play 60 minutes and keep their foot on the gas.

This is starting to feel a little like 2017 ?

Well stated as usual.

Congrats to Pekka on a great Preds career ! Hell of a man.
This should be his swan song. This is how he should be remembered...(i know i will)

As for the first round series...I know most don't think the Preds have a shot. Depends on which Preds team shows up and which roster night after night is willing to play 60 minutes and keep their foot on the gas.

This is starting to feel a little like 2017 ?
- wrister

Wish I could say the same, but I just don't get that feeling yet. I understand the sentiment and wanting to find optimism in that moment, but those two teams just don't feel the same to me. The 2017 team, despite being clear underdogs in every series they played, were still able to find ways to take it to the other team. In a lot of the games I've been able to watch for the Preds this years, even when they win it almost always feels like their hanging on for dear life it that makes any sense. Especially against the Top 3 in the division. It also doesn't help that a lot of the guys who helped right the ship through all the injuries to pull the Preds out of the dumpster, will likely get passed over in the playoffs for the more established guys, and we all saw how they played the first couple months of the season.

If the Preds have any chance of repeating the magic of 17, I can only see it happening if it ends with Juuse Saros being the undisputed Conn Smythe winner. If we can get past Carolina, we can start talking about 2017... Because their aren't too many teams in the NHL as good or better than Carolina right now.

Wish I could say the same, but I just don't get that feeling yet. I understand the sentiment and wanting to find optimism in that moment, but those two teams just don't feel the same to me. The 2017 team, despite being clear underdogs in every series they played, were still able to find ways to take it to the other team. In a lot of the games I've been able to watch for the Preds this years, even when they win it almost always feels like their hanging on for dear life it that makes any sense. Especially against the Top 3 in the division. It also doesn't help that a lot of the guys who helped right the ship through all the injuries to pull the Preds out of the dumpster, will likely get passed over in the playoffs for the more established guys, and we all saw how they played the first couple months of the season.

If the Preds have any chance of repeating the magic of 17, I can only see it happening if it ends with Juuse Saros being the undisputed Conn Smythe winner. If we can get past Carolina, we can start talking about 2017... Because their aren't too many teams in the NHL as good or better than Carolina right now.
- Squatchy

yeah, if they can get through the Canes, I think they have a real good chance at getting on a roll and taking this thing.

Tampa and Florida are already hurting and are going to beat each other up even more. CAR doesn't play that way, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about injuries.

yeah, if they can get through the Canes, I think they have a real good chance at getting on a roll and taking this thing.
Tampa and Florida are already hurting and are going to beat each other up even more. CAR doesn't play that way, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about injuries.
- BINGO!

You know it's ironic, but I don't believe I've seen another team in any other major sport benefit as much from having a crap ton of injuries like the Predators did this season. I am hoping I'm wrong and the Preds can at least make this an entertaining series rather than receive the complete flogging I've been expecting.