On the Forecheck
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Predators and Blue Jackets split the pair
by Forechecker on 10/19/08 at 10:33 PM ET
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After failing to show up on the scoresheet during the first 5 games of the season, David Legwand finally made an impact in Saturday night’s 6-3 romp over Columbus, scoring the first goal by tipping a Shea Weber shot. There were still some troubling defensive gaffes, but seeing the whole gang chip in to score a six-pack goes a long way to address concerns that Jason Arnott’s absence would leave the team desperate for goals. In fact, this team which is built around the “scoring by committee” theory happens to have the most goal-scorers in the NHL (14 different players), tied with Colorado.
While it’s great to see role players like Joel Ward and Rich Peverley score, however, it’s the performance of Nashville’s rising star, Shea Weber, that should make the rest of the league sit up and take notice. Big #6 scored his 3rd goal on the young season, added 3 assists, and notched a +5 rating in 21:06 of ice time. At this point Weber leads the team in scoring, and will get his chance to impress the Canadian media this Thursday when the Calgary Flames come to town.
Let’s go to the highlights…
So what to make of this home-and-home split with the Blue Jackets? It would have been nice to kick Columbus down the stairs and keep them in the Central Division basement, but instead we’re left with a less decisive result; these are two teams which boast some exciting talent, but are also a long ways from playing their best hockey. Despite each team winning on home ice, I’m guessing both Barry Trotz and Ken Hitchcock can’t be happy about seeing so many dangerous scoring chances allowed, even in victory.
Having played 6 games already, Nashville’s coaches will have plenty of material to identify habits which need to be corrected. Fortunately for them, the team has until Thursday to sort things out in practice, with just home games against the Flames and Kings on tap this week. I’m guessing these skates will also present an opportunity for either Kevin Klein or Ville Koistinen to earn some marginal playing time; neither has especially impressed Barry Trotz with their work so far.
Up front, there may be some battles brewing for ice time as well. Nick Tarnasky, acquired from Tampa Bay late in the preseason, is due to make his Predators debut soon, and Jason Arnott might be able to return to action with some form of protection for his broken finger. The question then becomes, which depth forwards might be relegated to the press box?
One possibility might be Ryan Jones; not necessarily due to poor play on his part, but Trotz has consistently pointed out that dealing with the NHL schedule will be a major challenge for the former NCAA star, so occasional scratches may well be part of the plan for him.
With four of the next five games on home ice, the next two weeks will be important in terms of generating some chemistry between players and consistency in team play. Starting November 4 the team goes on a six-game West Coast road trip that will go a long way towards establishing whether the Predators are Western Conference contenders.
By the way, has anybody else noticed that Preds broadcaster Pete Weber appears to be bitten by the hockey statistics bug? I’ve noticed in recent games that he talks quite a bit about “total shots” (when applied to individuals, it’s often called the “Corsi number”), which adds Shots on Goal to Missed Shots and Blocked Shots Against to reflect the total number of times a shot is attempted, which, when compared with the opponent’s data, can help provide a more thorough description of which team is carrying the play. Kudos to Pete & crew for adding a fresh angle to the game presentation.
Filed in: Nashville Predators | On the Forecheck | Permalink
Tags: Ryan+Jones, Shea+Weber,
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About On the Forecheck
Dirk Hoag is the Forechecker, churner of NHL stats and analysis. Having started over 10 years ago writing for websites like In the Crease and e-Sports, Dirk launched On The Forecheck in 2005 to cover the Nashville Predators as well as apply statistical analysis to NHL hockey.
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I haven’t listened to Pete and Terry yet this year (don’t have cable) but i have to say i love Tom Callahan and his calls. Pete and Terry on the radio were just poor (sorry, i felt like all i got were highlights, the game wasn’t called well in the simulcast) and even Eli Gold was just so-so to me. Tom Callahan is like the old days of listening to my Spurs on the radio with Jay Howard or Bill Schoening. I feel like i can see the game in my head much more, right down to the “from left to right across the rink in your head” descriptions. He is also much more of a hockey guy, though used to non-traditional hockey markets (where Eli was a hockey guy decades ago had clearly moved on). Major improvement in my book!
Posted by pwnicholson from Nashville, TN on 10/20/08 at 12:16 AM ET