Tag: Mark Giordano

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!

2015 NHL All-Star Weekend in Review

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Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Columbus, Ohio was the place to be this weekend has the city hosted the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend. As you know, Nashville was chosen as the host city for the 2016 ASG Weekend, which will be an event on its own. But until then, let’s recap the fun that happened this weekend in Columbus… Oh, and for the sake of keeping this post from being ninety pages long, we’ll stick to Nashville’s accomplishments:

Team Foligno:

  • Nick Foligno – Columbus Blue Jackets
  • Brian Elliot – St. Louis Blues
  • Marc-Andre Fleury – Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens
  • Drew Doughty – L.A. Kings
  • Duncan Keith – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Kevin Shattenkirk – St. Louis Blues
  • Dustin Byfuglien – Winnipeg Jets
  • Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Arizona Coyotes
  • Brent Burns – San Jose Sharks
  • Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Edmonton Oilers
  • Bobby Ryan – Ottawa Senators
  • Alexander Ovechkin – Washington Capitals
  • Anze Kopitar – L.A. Kings
  • Radim Vrabata – Vancouver Canucks
  • Ryan Johansen – Columbus Blue Jackets
  • Zemgus Girgensons – Buffalo Sabres
  • Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers
  • Phil Kessel – Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Coaching Staff: Darryl Sutter – L.A. Kings

Team Toews:

  • Jonathan Toews – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Corey Crawford – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Roberto Luongo – Florida Panthers
  • Jaroslav Halak – New York Islanders
  • Aaron Ekblad – Florida Panthers
  • Mark Giordano – Calgary Flames
  • Shea Weber – Nashville Predators
  • Johnny Gaudreau – Calgary Flames
  • Brent Seabrook – Chicago Blackhawks
  • Ryan Suter – Minnesota Wild
  • Justin Faulk – Carolina Hurricanes
  • Filip Forsberg – Nashville Predators
  • Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim Ducks
  • Patrik Elias – New Jersey Devils
  • Patrice Bergeron – Boston Bruins
  • Rick Nash – New York Rangers
  • Tyler Seguin – Dallas Stars
  • Vladimir Tarasenko – St. Louis Blues
  • Jakub Vorachek – Philadelphia Flyers
  • John Tavares – New York Islanders
  • Coaching Staff – Peter Laviolette – Nashville Predators

As you recall, Pekka Rinne was not included in the All-Star “draft” due to sustaining a knee sprain. Because Filip Forsberg was chosen last for Team Toews, he was the lucky winner of a brand new Honda Accord. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also won a new Honda, as he was chosen last for Team Foligno.

Source: @NHL

Source: @NHL

Saturday – Skills Competition – Winner: Team Foligno

Despite a good show by Team Toews, it was Team Foligno who reigned in the Skills Competition held on Saturday evening. Both Weber and Forsberg participated in the relay and shootout, but it was Weber who shined – not surprisingly – during the Hardest Shot round.

Shea originally missed his first shot, but more than nailed his second attempt, clocking his shot at 108.5 MPH. Weber certainly won the competition, but missed notching the hardest shot ever recorded, which is held by Zdeno Chara at 108.8 MPH. Forsberg shined in the relay portion, showing off his crazy insane puck-handling skills.

Sunday – All-Star Game – Winner: Team Toews

Though the fell short in the Skills Competition, Team Toews out-powered Team Foligno by a long shot during the actual All-Star Game, winning 17-12. And, believe it or not, though the All-Star Game tends to always have a ton of goals, this was the highest scoring game in its history. Filip Forsberg’s two goals helped get Team Toews to the win, the first goals scored by a Nashville Predator in an All-Star Game. Shea Weber also notched an assist off of Tyler Seguin’s goal.

From the World Wide World of Twitter:

So that’s a wrap on the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend. Next Stop: Nashville! But before then, the Predators must press forward with the remainder of this season and push into the playoffs. Pekka Rinne should also be re-evaluated soon, along with Ryan Ellis. The Predators return to the regular season this Tuesday as they welcome in the Colorado Avalanche at 7PM.

Preds fall to Flames 3-2 in the Shootout

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IMG_2896

Image Source: Zimbio

Ahh, the victories were short-lived, weren’t they? It is hard to argue against the fact that Nashville came out on sluggish note last night against the Calgary Flames. It was an all-around a sloppy game with too many mistakes and, although Calgary made a few of their own, they ate up every chance Nashville gave them and slipped by with the win in the shootout. But, all is not lost as the Predators did squeeze a point out of Calgary by sending it into overtime. Lest we not forget, there were some other slick moves that brightened last night’s loss that highlighted the potential within some certain players.

Scratches for Nashville: Rich Clune, Victor Bartley
Note: Sadly, Calgary scratched Brian McGrattan, a former Pred – though his time short – made a lasting impression on Nashville.

First Period:
– Unlike the first two games of the season, Nashville put a point on the board first with a goal from Filip Forsberg, his first goal of the season. Derek Roy (3) and Craig Smith (1) picked up the assists.
– Calgary didn’t give Nashville a chance to gain momentum as not even two minutes later, TJ Brodie skirted one by Pekka Rinne for his second goal of the season, tying the game.
– Nashville was given two chances on the powerplay during the first, but couldn’t garner the stability to capitalize on either one.

Second Period:
– Calgary would take the lead at 5:19, capitalizing where the Predators could not on the powerplay. The Flames took advantage of the powerplay within seventeen seconds.
– However, barely ten minutes later, Nashville would tie the game at 2 with a sheer luck tip-in from Mike Ribeiro, his first of the season and first as in Predators’ gold. Colin Wilson (1) and Craig Smith (2) garnered the assists.
– Derek Roy saved the Predators from possibly a complete loss with his ridiculous reflex skills, deflecting the puck from clearing the net while Pekka was distracted. Check out the gif below:
yxdZ1e– Toronto reviewed the play, but miraculously called it a no-goal. From the video angle in the .gif, it definitely looks like it passes that sweet red line, but if Toronto says no-goal, we’ll take their word… for once.

Third Period:
– Both the Flames and the Predators would scrap back and forth, though Calgary held onto the puck just a wee bit better. Neither team would notch a goal during the third, thus sending the game into overtime.

Overtime:
– Since this ends in a shootout, you can guess no one scored during the overtime “action”.
– Nashville took one shot on goal during overtime to Calgary’s two shots.

Shootout Summary:
Nashville – Derek Roy: Save
Calgary – Joe Colborne: Goal
Nashville – James Neal: Save
Calgary – Jiri Hudler: Save
Nashville – Olli Jokinen: Save

Three Stars of the Game:
Mark Giordano – Calgary
Karri Ramo – Calgary
Craig Smith – Nashville

Karri Ramo was on point last night and for that, we have to give him props. Any chance Nashville had where they managed to gather themselves into shot mode, Ramo was there with what we’d like to call “Pekka-like reflexes” to thwart the Preds.

A question we heard last night was, “What was up with that interference/embellishment call [on Engelland and Forsberg]?”
1377665821442Why can you not have both an interference call & an embellishment call on the same play, Susie? Because it doesn’t make sense; it’s that simple. It is almost impossible (with how NHL rules are set up) for you to call interference and embellishment on the same play. You either have one player interfere or you have the other player called for “diving/embellishment”. Sadly, it’s just one of those quirks in the NHL that no one bothers to address and still happens on occasion, much to the delight of those who enjoy yelling, “Ref, you suck” at any given moment.

No brooms for this home stretch, but Nashville has started out on the right foot this season, even with this mark on their record. We’ve seen some great potential from both our new guys and the old ones, which is a great sign for Laviolette and his staff.

The Preds head North to Manitoba to take on the Winnipeg Jets on Friday at 7PM and then catch a flight to Chicago to face the Blackhawks on Saturday night. Wee.