Tag: Erik Karlsson

2017 NHL All-Star Roster Announced

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Image Source: NBC Sports

Moments ago, the NHL released the final roster of the 2017 NHL All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles January 28th-29th. Not surprisingly, Nashville has only one player on said roster: P.K. Subban, who was voted by the fans as the Central Division Captain. And, with his upper-body injury slated to be healed by the All-Star Weekend, Subban may have to relinquish his captain duties to someone else for safety’s sake.

– CENTRAL DIVISION

  • P.K. Subban – Nashville Predators
  • Corey Crawford – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Devan Dubnyk – Minnesota Wild
  • Ryan Suter – Minnesota Wild
  • Duncan Keith – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Jonathan Toews – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Vladimir Tarasenko – St. Louis Blues
  • Patrik Laine – Winnipeg Jets
  • Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche
  • Tyler Seguin – Dallas Stars

 

– ATLANTIC DIVISION:

  • Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens
  • Tuukka Rask – Boston Bruins
  • Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Shea Weber – Montreal Canadiens
  • Erik Karlsson – Ottawa Senators
  • Frans Nielsen – Detroit Red Wings
  • Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Vincent Trocheck – Florida Panthers
  • Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Kyle Okposo – Buffalo Sabres
  • Brad Marchand – Boston Bruins

– PACIFIC DIVISION:

  • Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers
  • Martin Jones – San Jose Sharks
  • Mike Smith – Arizona Coyotes
  • Cam Fowler – Anaheim Ducks
  • Brent Burns – San Jose Sharks
  • Drew Doughty – L.A. Kings
  • Ryan Kesler – Anaheim Ducks
  • Joe Pavelski – San Jose Sharks
  • Jeff Carter – L.A. Kings
  • Johnny Gaudreau – Calgary Flames
  • Bo Horvat – Vancouver Canucks

– METROPOLITAN DIVISION:

  • Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Braden Holtby – Washington Capitals
  • Sergei Bobrovsky – Columbus Blue Jackets
  • Evgeni Malkin – Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Wayne Simmonds – Philadelphia Flyers
  • John Tavares – New York Islanders
  • Alexander Ovechkin – Washington Capitals
  • Ryan McDonagh – New York Rangers
  • Justin Faulk – Carolina Hurricanes
  • Taylor Hall – New Jersey Devils
  • Seth Jones – Columbus Blue Jackets

What do you think about the roster for this year’s All-Star Weekend? Nashville isn’t the only team with one representative, but if you want to include former Preds (Ryan Suter, Devan Dubnyk, Seth Jones, and Shea Weber), then Nashville’s actually pretty well represented.

All joking aside, the big question is will Subban be healthy enough to participate? As mentioned, his 2-3 week recovery time ends at about the time of the All-Star festivities, but should not participate if it risks re-injury (thus keeping him out of the lineup even longer). Of course, that will be something the organization and Subban discuss as time gets closer.

 

 

NHL All-Star Game Roster

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Roman Josi, Shea Weber, Pekka Rinne

Source: AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

Shortly after revealing the All-Star Game jerseys, the NHL released the ASG roster. Without further ado, here you go:

Atlantic Division

F Patrice Bergeron (BOS)

 Central Division

F Jamie Benn (DAL)
F Jaromir Jagr (FLA) F Matt Duchene (COL)
F Leo Komarov (TOR) F Patrick Kane (CHI)
F Dylan Larkin (DET) F Tyler Seguin (DAL)
F Ryan O’Reilly (BUF) F Vladimir Tarasenko (STL)
F Steven Stamkos (TBL) F Jonathan Toews (CHI)
D Aaron Ekblad (FLA) D Dustin Byfuglien (WPG)
D Erik Karlsson (OTT) D Roman Josi (NSH)
D P.K. Subban (MTL) D Shea Weber (NSH)
G Ben Bishop (TBL) G Devan Dubnyk (MIN)
G Roberto Luongo (FLA) G Pekka Rinne (NSH)
Metropolitan Division Pacific Division
F Nicklas Backstrom (WSH) F Johnny Gaudreau (CGY)
F Claude Giroux (PHI) F Taylor Hall (EDM)
F Evgeni Malkin (PIT) F Joe Pavelski (SJS)
F Alex Ovechkin (WSH) F Corey Perry (ANA)
F Brandon Saad (CBJ) F John Scott (ARI)
F John Tavares (NYI) F Daniel Sedin (VAN)
D Justin Faulk (CAR) D Brent Burns (SJS)
D Kris Letang (PIT) D Drew Doughty (LAK)
D Ryan McDonagh (NYR) D Mark Giordano (CGY)
G Braden Holtby (WSH) G John Gibson (ANA)
G Cory Schneider (NJD) G Jonathan Quick (LAK)

I’ll be completely honest here (and so will a bunch of other bloggers): I honestly did not believe Nashville would get three players to the roster. Of course, it ended up between the three everyone thought had a chance. Shea Weber had a shoe-in, simply because he’s the captain and they want him in the ‘hardest shot’ contest, but Roman Josi and Pekka Rinne were toss-ups. Though Josi definitely deserves it, Rinne is more well known and money talks.

Over all though, I am definitely happy Shea Weber, Pekka Rinne, and Roman Josi will get to represent Nashville (in Nashville) for the 2016 NHL All-Star Game and weekend.

Here’s what others are saying about the roster choices:

Okay, so I am officially excited; I am not going to lie. Nashville is well represented and that is satisfying enough. Congratulations to Weber, Rinne, and Josi!

Hitting the Market: Jordin Tootoo declines Offer from Preds

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Is this Jordin Tootoo’s Swan Song in Nashville?

The city of Nashville hosted its Sportsfest at the Nashville Convention Center yesterday, bring some of the greatest names in sports to speak. But for Predators fans, the conference involving Brent Peterson and Pete Weber peaked the most interest.

Peterson made some interesting comments including the possibility of bringing back Hal Gill, the “60/40 chance” of Ryan Suter re-signing with the team, and his thoughts on Erik Karlsson winning the Norris Trophy over Shea Weber (not favoring Karlsson, of course). However, one particular subject perked just about every ear in the convention center, hockey fan or not.

When asked about Jordin Tootoo, Brent Peterson stated that the Predators offered the popular enforcer a “sizable” three-year contract, but declined and is expected to hit the market on July 1st. After his tear-jerking speech from his ‘Tootoo on 2’ finale, stating that Nashville is his home and he wants to bring the Stanley Cup to the city, many fans couldn’t fathom as to why he would turn down a decent offer to stay.

Perhaps Tootoo has been getting some ideas from Ryan Suter. However, besides being teammates, that’s where their similarities stop. Ryan Suter has value on the market and teams are willing to drop what he wants for his rights. Not that no one would want Toots, but if he is thinking he can get more from another team, he might be gravely mistaken. Sure, some team will pay him well, possibly more than what Nashville offered him, but will this new team be as tolerant to his behavior as Nashville has?

We aren’t saying Toots will make another run for rehab, but what if he does? Will this new team stand behind him through thick and thin like Nashville has? Welp, there’s only one way to find out and that’s exactly the road he’s heading down.

Don’t panic, Tootoo fans; Until Jordin officially signs with another team, don’t count it all as lost. Unlike Ryan Suter, we think Tootoo will return this upcoming season in Predators gold. Though “sizable” to us means a good deal, in all honesty, it could mean anything so Toots could be holding out for a better deal.

We can only hope what he said in that final ‘Tootoo on 2’ was the truth and that he wants to bring the Stanley Cup home to Nashville.

2012 NHL Awards not so Nice to Nashville

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Mike Fisher brings home the only award back to Nashville.

Yet another disappointing NHL Awards for Nashville Predators fans.
Okay, so we can’t call it a complete loss; Mike Fisher did win the NHL Foundation Award thanks to his charitable work within the Nashville community. The NHL even donated $25,000 to Room in the Inn, a local non-profit that serves the homeless of Nashville. As residents of the city of Nashville, we are proud to have someone like Mike Fisher in our community and to us, this is the greatest award the Predators could have received…

HOWEVER, as proud as we are and excited for Mike Fisher, we still are a tad bit bitter.

Pekka Rinne fell short to Claude Giroux for the NHL13 cover, which completely baffles anyone involved with hockey (we’re pretty sure even EA Sports was confused by the announcement). However, according to EA Sports, it was decided “by less than a one percent margin, in what was the closest matchup of the entire campaign.” Hmm… as much as we were stunned by the announcement (I mean, jaws hit the floor), we can always cover the NHL13 box with this awesome photo:

Fan-made NHL13 Cover. Just print this out and tape over Giroux.

  • Surely, with the performance Shea Weber made this past season would edge him over Erik Karlsson and Zdeno Chara for the Norris Trophy, right? WRONG. Offensively, Karlsson deserved the trophy, but did anyone note Weber’s penalty kill moments? Not the NHL, obviously. Weber came in second to Erik Karlsson by just 12 points.
  • David Poile came in third between Doug Armstrong and Dale Tallon. Armstrong, who won GM of the Year, possibly won due to the fact he took over for the fired Ken Hitchcock, who enviably won the Jack Adams Trophy. We are exactly sure, but even after being praised for his Trade Deadline moves, Poile had no chance for the GM of the Year.
  • Second time Pekka has been robbed of the Vezina, Henrik Ludqvist (who was so happy he dropped the F Bomb) stole the spotlight from the deserving Finn. Okay, so we didn’t have too much faith he’d win this one, but the bitterness of the video game cover still stings. Lundqvist did lead his team to the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference, so no surprise that the Swede was given the Vezina.

Yes, we’re a bit bitter with the losses, but hey, Mike Fisher snuck by and nabbed an award, and an award to be proud of at that. Congratulations, Mike Fisher!

Friday begins the 2012 NHL Draft, in which Nashville gets two 2nd Round picks and the Predators Prospect Camp starts next Tuesday at Centennial Sportsplex. We’ll keep you updated on the trades and signings as they come in. And yes, Chris Mueller was signed to a one-year, $550,000 contract this morning.


Thanks to Gene Vestal for the video. Sums up all Preds fans thoughts exactly.

(Mike Fisher photo courtesy of Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)