Paul McCann: Offside, Predictions and Notes

RE:San Jose vs. St. Louis – A rematch of the 2016 Western Conference Final, this one will be a grinding, physical war of a series as both teams play a similar style of hockey. Both teams went deep in their playoff series this season so far, St. Louis has played 13 playoff games, San Jose has played 14. The much maligned Martin Jones has been excellent overall for San Jose and the Sharks have supported their netminder well. The Blues’ rookie sensation Jordan Binnington has been simply amazing and is the reason St. Louis even made the playoffs after being in last place at the start of 2019. The turnaround story is one legends are made of. The Blues have gotten contributions across the board, seemingly coming up with a new hero every game. This series will go seven and I believe that San Jose’s good fortune hasn’t run out yet. Sharks in seven.


We shall see! I don't suspect many hockey people are going to pick the Blues to win this series. However, not many people picked us to beat Winnipeg and we did. Not many people picked us to beat the Stars but we did. I kind of like the role of underdog! GO BLUES!!!

I'm sure the Preds will end up with additional picks after the Subban salary dump. You cannot pay Josi 9M and he is the teams best defencemen. The return on that deal will bring the Preds back. The team is going to flounder without making this move

I'm going to set aside the specifics of that call to talk about replay in general. Get rid of it. It does nothing for the game but disrupt the flow of the game, wreck momentum, create more controversy and generally outshine the play on the ice. And this isn't just hockey, it's all sports. EVEN HORSE RACING. End it.

As far as that specific call, the rule may have dictated it was the correct call, but it doesn't pass the eye test. That whole thing stinks worse than asparagus farts. This reminds me of the "skate in the crease" BS that happened back in the day. Enough.

RE:San Jose vs. St. Louis – A rematch of the 2016 Western Conference Final, this one will be a grinding, physical war of a series as both teams play a similar style of hockey. Both teams went deep in their playoff series this season so far, St. Louis has played 13 playoff games, San Jose has played 14. The much maligned Martin Jones has been excellent overall for San Jose and the Sharks have supported their netminder well. The Blues’ rookie sensation Jordan Binnington has been simply amazing and is the reason St. Louis even made the playoffs after being in last place at the start of 2019. The turnaround story is one legends are made of. The Blues have gotten contributions across the board, seemingly coming up with a new hero every game. This series will go seven and I believe that San Jose’s good fortune hasn’t run out yet. Sharks in seven.


We shall see! I don't suspect many hockey people are going to pick the Blues to win this series. However, not many people picked us to beat Winnipeg and we did. Not many people picked us to beat the Stars but we did. I kind of like the role of underdog! GO BLUES!!!
- mattbode

Anyone still undervaluing the Blues is still overreacting to their abysmal start. This is not the same team that took the Ice in October. I wouldn't even try to pick a winner in this series, the teams are that even. I do worry that whoever makes it out of the east might be able to take advantage of a physically taxed western conference team.

I'm not completely against replay but it needs to be limited... Preferably to only those rare occasions on goals when the Refs are legitimately unsure if the puck was in or not. Get rid of the Goalie interference challenge if you're going to have zero consistency in interpreting what goalie interference actually is. If the contact wasn't egregious enough to be noticed by the ref on the ice, then it probably wasn't enough to affect him playing the puck anyway. Same thing with offsides, if the infraction was so close it can't be seen by the linesman in real time, then it really doesn't need to be called. The rules designed to keep players from camping out in the o-zone, not to disrupt a rush because some 6'5 winger can't do the splits and keep his heel from crossing the blue line a millisecond before the puck does. It's never going to happen, but I wish the offside rule will get tweaked one of these days.

Are other Preds fans like me watching these other playoff games?
Are you watching these teams play with emotion, fire, speed and playing like there is no tomorrow... because, well, there is no tomorrow ?
I sure missed missed this watching the Preds lose to Dallas.

Are other Preds fans like me watching these other playoff games?
Are you watching these teams play with emotion, fire, speed and playing like there is no tomorrow... because, well, there is no tomorrow ?
I sure missed missed this watching the Preds lose to Dallas.
- wrister

You've hit the nail right on the head. The lack of these core principals was the most frustrating thing about watching the Preds all year... I can deal with losing to a better team, but it's harder to forgive the lack of consistent effort and the aloof nature these guys took to ice most of the season. Out of all sixteen teams to make the playoffs, I don't think it's out-of-bounds to say this Preds team wanted to win the least... Or just expected too, and forgot they had to work for it. I don't know where this team's work ethic went... Maybe they all signed it away as part of those fat contracts they signed the past couple of seasons.

You've hit the nail right on the head. The lack of these core principals was the most frustrating thing about watching the Preds all year... I can deal with losing to a better team, but it's harder to forgive the lack of consistent effort and the aloof nature these guys took to ice most of the season. Out of all sixteen teams to make the playoffs, I don't think it's out-of-bounds to say this Preds team wanted to win the least... Or just expected too, and forgot they had to work for it. I don't know where this team's work ethic went... Maybe they all signed it away as part of those fat contracts they signed the past couple of seasons.
- Squatchy

1. They got paid
2. They got cocky
3. They got lazy

They got their fannies spanked!

Yet another great post by Poliecat!
ALSO WHY ALL THE HATE FOR SUBBAN???????? WHY WHY WHY

Yet another great post by Poliecat!
ALSO WHY ALL THE HATE FOR SUBBAN???????? WHY WHY WHY
- PREDX1

I like PK. However, he needs to get back in the game and return to the level of play that raw potential indicates he has. If he can't return to what was, then his value will quickly melt away.

And what's with your dislike and disregard for Ekholm, arguably the most important (along with Josi) D-man the Preds have at the moment?

Are other Preds fans like me watching these other playoff games?
Are you watching these teams play with emotion, fire, speed and playing like there is no tomorrow... because, well, there is no tomorrow ?
I sure missed missed this watching the Preds lose to Dallas.
- wrister

The Preds had every bit of that. Unfortunately it only lasted for about 1 period of every game.

Let's GO BLUES!!

Ekholm had a horrible post season, oh I forgot dump Kyle Turris....

I like PK. However, he needs to get back in the game and return to the level of play that raw potential indicates he has. If he can't return to what was, then his value will quickly melt away.

And what's with your dislike and disregard for Ekholm, arguably the most important (along with Josi) D-man the Preds have at the moment?
- blueline

Let's GO BLUES!!
- jlhtn18

I hate to admit I'm rooting for a blue/Canes STF..

Let's GO BLUES!!
- jlhtn18

No, sir - Go Sharks!

Ekholm had a horrible post season, oh I forgot dump Kyle Turris....
- PREDX1

The whole team had a mostly horrible post-season. Your suggestion is to dump them all?