What Have We Actually Learned About the Nashville Predators This Season?

4 comments

1. I really love Emma but is she ever trying anymore ?

2. AK/EL, good one, EL good tease on the "Askarov should probably have not been drafted" (eye roll lol) when you look at the list of guys that went after him (ya'll can google) there are/were some really good "A" level guys there (not all, but Dawson Mercer, Anton Lundell, Seth Jarvis, etc). Yikes. What could have been. Anyway, there definitely needs to be an organizational shift here in the offseason. I definitely agree with the whole take of a "psychological reset"—as fans we think sometimes in a vacuum if the puzzle pieces fit on paper and in a video game "create-a-team" environment that it means that that team will win. It's never that simple..there are lots of psychological and , yes, structural elements in a team and front office that must be solid and sound in order for things to come together. I have family members that have worked and dabbled in training and teaching managers how to manage good (lol) at a corporate level—and so, yes, there is a real art form to getting a group of people (this includes professional athletes) to work together and communicate in an ever changing world of emails and social media–the point is things have to be aligned from management to the guys and gals that are cleaning the facilities and working at the front desk. It's got to be a collective rowing of the boat and that goes for the Preds and any kind of team or business that relies on individuals working together for some common goal. If it ain't working–you gotta try to find what works.

3. This season has by far been the biggest discrepancy between expected performance and actual performance in this franchise's history. Atm, Preds are, if not NHLs laughing stock and Buffalo's equal, a big enigma.
   And that involves not only the player's performance, but how the coaching staff and the management has handled the season as such. In pretty much every game, also the ones that have been won, questionable stuff has been going on.
   After the Canes' game I asked myself looking up some goalie stats 'Why is Bruno running Saros into the ground when in this part of the season your prospects and pipeline players should get some playing time to get that valuable experience?'
   We got 11 games left. I seriously believe Annunen should start in 50% of them, 5 or 6 games. Leafs ran Freddie A into their precious Toronto ice at a time when they were in rebuild and the results were comparable to Preds present stuff.
   Life expectancy of a modern goalie is hard to predict and injuries can pop up around any corner. I dont give a flying f about Saros carving out the victory against Canes. We all know Saros is up there with Bob, Vaz and Conor when he is on his head.
   Justus is the guy that needs to see these kinds of games. Earlier I said I am perfectly fine with Bruno finishing the season as coach. If he wants to tag Saros with 75 games this season I am not so sure.

4. The St. Louis rivalry is the closest we get to an SEC rivalry game. We hate them and they hate us. I really want the Preds to spoil the Blues playoffs hopes and make em eat a fist full of $#!+! They're just the worst! Their Cup win STILLS irks me! I hope McCarron gets some nice penalty minutes along with Smith…. Maybe even throw ZLH in there for good measure. Sorry, but the Blues are up there with the Phillies, Saints, Alabama for teams I dislike … A lot!