Hockey Thread! (NHL etc.)

[Claytone]

2-2!

It's been a blast to be in Nashville for the two wins. The first I saw with my dad (who first took me to Preds games well over a decade ago now) in Bridgestone, which was awesome. Hype levels in the stands were definitely appropriate for the franchise's first SCF home game. Great to be in the stadium for an assbeating. I hadn't seen the Preds win in person since high school, despite a good number of attempts. Great game to break the curse with!

Game 4 was a party too, since the Preds never trailed. It was fun getting in the mix on Broadway outside the stadium. The crowd was an absolute mob (although I would say Game 3 attracted an even more raucous and street-flooding crowd. I also got to see it with some college buddies that joined me from Atlanta, so that was great. Just proselytizing the good word of the Preds.

If the Preds win game 5, I will be on a flight back to Seattle during a potentially cup-clinching game for Nashville. I might just have to contact the airline to see if I could return the following morning instead. I can't think of many (potential) memories I would treasure more than being downtown for the first ever Stanley Cup victory for the Predators.

[Kong Wen]

I also got to see it with some college buddies that joined me from Atlanta, so that was great. Just proselytizing the good word of the Preds.

I saw at least one guy in the crowd with a Thrashers jersey on!

[Kong Wen]

With the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup, it looks like I'm also going to win the TONe hockey pool with only one or two points over Slurm! Even if Holtby wins the Vezina, we have the same Calder pick.

It was a good year. Thanks a bunch, Slurm, for putting this pool together this year and keeping track of it for us! Hopefully we'll have a few more people who have the time and interest to participate next season.

[Kong Wen]

Drouin traded to the Habs, who signed him to a 6-year deal.

The NHL is going to be more interesting in the immediate off-season than it has been in past years because of the expansion draft. Teams have to have their protected lists locked in by Saturday.

Ottawa's in a bit of a pickle after Phaneuf decided not to waive his no-movement clause. That means the Senators are either going to have to find a team willing to take him in a trade, or they'll be forced to protect him, thereby exposing Methot or another player they'd prefer to protect.

Nashville may be in a similar conundrum, having to expose either Jarnkrok or Neal. Plus I've read that Fisher may retire, so that team will look a little bit different next year either way. Still, they've been a smart team-building team, so I expect to see them shore up with some interesting pieces as well.

Fleury is almost certainly going to the Knights. I wonder what kind of team they can build up in front of him.

[SkyPikachu]

With the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup, it looks like I'm also going to win the TONe hockey pool with only one or two points over Slurm! Even if Holtby wins the Vezina, we have the same Calder pick.

It was a good year. Thanks a bunch, Slurm, for putting this pool together this year and keeping track of it for us! Hopefully we'll have a few more people who have the time and interest to participate next season.

Yeah I needed Holtby and Capitals to win it was really close though

[Kong Wen]

The trade freeze is now in effect, and not too much of interest happened.

The NHL will be making teams' protected lists public tomorrow morning, so we'll finally know for certain which players are exposed to the Knights in the expansion draft.

[Claytone]

Preds are supposedly protecting Jarnkrok. Interesting move. This leads most to believe that will expose James Neal, who is certainly an asset.

Not sure how I feel about the move myself. Certainly interested to see how that pans out.

[Kong Wen]

Interesting stuff. It would be fun to be a GM with 0 salary cap responsibilities going into the next few days with these lists in front of you.

The Ducks exposed Patrick Eaves, Sami Vatanen.

My Wings have exposed Darren Helm, Niklas Kronwall, and Drew Miller.

Jaromir Jagr and Roberto Luongo are on Florida's list. Neither's probably worth the risk. The Knights will probably take Marc-Andre Fleury from the Penguins, and they wouldn't want to pay Bobby-Lu's salary for a backup. And if Jagr didn't want to play there he would just retire.

The Kings exposed Dustin Brown, Jerome Iginla, and Marion Gaborik.

The Habs exposed Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov.

The Preds exposed Mike Fisher (who's probably just going to retire anyway), James Neal, Colton Sissons, Yannick Weber, a couple Smiths.

The Sens exposed Bobby Ryan and Marc Method.

The Penguins exposed a couple players but it doesn't really matter because I imagine Fleury will be their sacrifice.

The Sharks exposed both Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton (?!)

The Caps exposed T.J. Oshie, Justin Williams, Kevin Shattenkirk.

[Kong Wen]

An interesting thing to consider is the Vegas GM won't be building his team through this expansion draft, but rather through the entry draft, trying to use all these "free" players to wheel other deals and build up a collection of draft picks, prospects, and other trade assets. If there are players a team was forced to expose because they didn't have room on their protected list, for example, the GM can make a side-deal to allow the team to keep those players.

[Kreegs]

Dumba and Haula both exposed. I dont want to lose either. Stupid Pominville's contract making him protected.