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Laviolette looking to build upon relationships with his new players

By Jim Diamond

Training camp started just days ago, but new Nashville Predators head coach Peter Laviolette had the opportunity to meet and get to know several of his new players earlier this summer.

When he was officially announced as the second head coach in franchise history, Laviolette was in Europe with Team USA preparing for the start of the World Championships, where he was serving as the team’s head coach. Nashville forward Craig Smith and defenseman Seth Jones were members of the American team, and they found out just before the tournament started that Laviolette was going to be their new bench boss with the Predators.

“I remember one morning, I hadn’t seen it yet, but we got up and he pulled me aside and told me he was (Nashville’s coach),” Smith said. “We shook hands and we were pretty happy it happened before the tournament and we were able to go into it knowing we had some familiarities from the get-go. We used that time to get to know each other’s style as a player and as a coach.”

Laviolette is known as an offensive coach, so a talented forward like Smith should fit in well with his system. After returning from Europe, Laviolette was asked about Smith, and the early reviews were positive. “There’s nothing about his game that I don’t like,” Laviolette told the Predators-gold clad crowd at the Music City Center that day.

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Laviolette was an assistant coach with Team USA at the 2014 Olympics and after being dismissed as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers last October, he had a lot of time to scout prospective members of the American squad. Jones was one of the players on Team USA’s radar up until the team was named, so Laviolette had the opportunity to see him play several times as a scout.

Heading into his second NHL campaign, Jones was a little surprised when he found out that his coach at the World Championships would have the same role in Nashville.

“It was a little weird, but it was nice that I kind of got a preview of what he had to bring,” Jones said. “I really liked it over there and I can definitely see the similarities over here already.”

Following his return from Europe, one of Laviolette’s next moves as Nashville’s head coach was to take a trip to Las Vegas to meet his new captain. Shea Weber was one of the three finalists for the Norris Trophy, so his new head coach took the opportunity to join Predators general manager David Poile on the trip to the NHL’s awards ceremony in support of his franchise defenseman. It was a gesture that was well received by Weber.

“I talked to him on the phone a little bit when he was back from the World Championships, but I didn’t expect to see him there,” Weber said. “Obviously that’s a super nice thing. It was good to see him and David there.”

Now that training camp has started, Laviolette will look to continue to build ties with his new players.

“In all honesty, it is a lot of new relationships and they were by the phone or they were quick meetings,” Laviolette said. “Now they will see more of me than they want to. You end up spending every day together at practices and games and in the hotels. Now you can really start to connect with players and I am really looking forward to that. (There are) some great guys here. I knew that coming in just from being on the outside, but now on the inside, you see the quality of people in the room. Those are great people to come to work with every day.”

According to one player, the impressions are positive.

“I like where he is going,” Smith said. “I like the direction he wants the team to go. I’m all aboard.”

Matt Cullen gets a young linemate in Friday’s first practice

By Jim Diamond

Matt Cullen played his first NHL game October 28, 1997.

Kevin Fiala was all of 15 months old at the time.

Friday marked the first on-ice sessions of training camp for the Nashville Predators. With the large number of players here for the start of camp, the team has been split into three different groupings for the first couple of days of practices.

For some, it was their first experience in an NHL camp while others have been at it for close to 20 years.

The first group to hit the ice was the blue group. Among the forwards skating in that collective were Cullen and Fiala, and the coaching staff had them skating on a line together for nearly the entirety of that first practice session.

After they came off of the ice, Cullen was asked how it felt skating on a line with someone who was born in 1996.

“I was waiting for that question,” he said with a laugh. “It’s funny because this is my 17th training camp, and I remember my first one like it was yesterday. I can relate to where these guys are at.”

One should not look too deeply into line combinations and defensive pairings on the first day of practice, but it’s likely that new Predators head coach Peter Laviolette went with someone he knew and felt comfortable with to mentor Fiala, the team’s first round draft pick from June’s Entry Draft, as he was put through the paces of his first training camp practice. Laviolette coached Cullen with the Carolina Hurricanes, where the pair won the Stanley Cup in 2006.

Cullen’s first camp in Anaheim was an eye-opener for him, especially when he was on the ice with a future Hall of Famer.

Kevin Fiala (Jim Diamond/Rinkside Report)

Kevin Fiala (Jim Diamond/Rinkside Report)

“Seeing guys like Teemu Selanne skating on the ice with me and for these guys to get out with Shea Weber, it’s your realization of a dream that you are finally there,” Cullen said. “You’ve been dreaming about playing in the NHL your whole life and to get on the ice the first time, it doesn’t matter if it’s just practice the first day of training camp, it’s hard to believe. You can see it in these kids, you can see the big eyes and the excitement. It’s pretty cool.”

But do those big eyes ever shrink back down to normal size when you are playing alongside a player of Selanne’s caliber?

“Eventually you kind of settle in, but still you find yourself at times thinking, ‘Holy cow, I’m playing on a line with Teemu Selanne right now. This is pretty cool,’” Cullen said.

It’s rare for a player to make an NHL roster in his first training camp, but once the awe factor dies down, the rookies are trying to do exactly the same thing as the veterans.

“You are a little intimidated at first, but at the same time, you know that you are going to have to be better than one of them if you want to get a roster spot,” Viktor Stalberg said. “Maybe the first day you are impressed, but then you just go out there and play your hardest. You’ve got to get the coaches to know you. You can’t be too friendly with guys just because they have been in the league for very long.”

NHL teams can carry a maximum of 23 players on their active rosters. Over the course of the couple of weeks, it will be interesting to watch which young guys make their case for those jobs.

No contract means no Ryan Ellis in training camp

By Jim Diamond

Thursday marked the start of training camp for the 2014-15 version of the Nashville Predators. The players went through their medical exams and a series of meetings before adjourning for the afternoon. One player who was noticeably absent from today’s proceedings was defenseman Ryan Ellis.

Ellis, a restricted free agent, has not yet come to terms on a new contract with the team. It is important to note that since he is not under contract, he is not deemed a holdout.

Reached for comment Thursday afternoon, Ellis’ agent Paul Krepelka said via email, “Nothing to report regarding any progress made toward a deal.”

Ellis is coming off of his three-year, entry-level deal that, per Cap Geek, paid him an average annual value of just over $1.4 million. In 80 games played last season, Ellis scored six goals and added 21 assists while averaging 16:04 of ice time per game. Two of Ellis’ goals were game-winners.

“We are in a contract negotiation with Ryan, and our goal remains to sign Ryan. The sooner we can do so, the better for both the team and for Ryan,” said Predators general manager David Poile, via email, late Thursday afternoon.

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Friday is the start of on-ice practice sessions for the Predators. Under the guidance of new head coach Peter Laviolette, the players will take to the ice at Centennial Sportsplex. A new coach means new systems, so a player not in attendance runs the risk of falling behind on the learning curve. One thing working in Ellis’ favor in that respect is the fact that Phil Housley remained on the coaching staff following Barry Trotz’s departure. Housley ran the defense and power play units last season.

“My job is to make sure that this team is ready to go and the players in camp here are ready to play,” Laviolette said Thursday afternoon when asked specifically about Ellis. “When it comes to contracts, that goes upstairs, and you’d probably be best to talk to David about all that. Right now, we are focused on these guys and tomorrow should be fun.”

In another possible wrinkle to the situation, the Predators announced Thursday that they have added defenseman Brian Lee to the training camp roster on a tryout agreement. Lee has more than 200 games of NHL experience split between the Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning. He did not play at all last season due to a knee injury. The first round (9th overall) pick of the Senators in 2005 will look to challenge for a spot on the Nashville roster.

The Predators play their first of six preseason games Tuesday in Tampa against the Lightning.

My “Candle in the Wind” style tribute to Josh Cooper’s departure from The Tennessean

By Jim Diamond

 

Goodbye Joshua Brett

From your first days as an intern

You were always a good guy and became a great friend

You didn’t fit into the newsroom of the future

That shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing for you

By firing you, like many others before,

Those asshats have all but killed a once proud paper

Be glad you are no longer employed there

 

And it seems to me you worked that beat

Like you cared about your audience

Never knowing when the next furlough or layoff would come

And I would have liked for you to stay

But I know you will go on to better things

As that paper continues to devolve into the abyss

An idea-thieving columnist stays

While hard workers like you, Chip, and Mo are gone

 

Sure you drink some weird-smelling tea

And your hand lotion smells even worse

But you were a great guy to have next to me the last four years

Your troll job last trade deadline day was masterful

Sending waves across North America

Thinking Leggy had been traded

And when he did go to Detroit later

You looked like a genius

 

And it seems to me you worked that beat

Like you cared about your audience

Never knowing when the next furlough or layoff would come

And I would have liked for you to stay

But I know you will go on to better things

As that paper continues to devolve into the abyss

An idea-thieving columnist stays

While hard workers like you, Chip, and Mo are gone

 

Your Twitter is quite bizarre

But that is part of your charm… I guess

Springsteen, The Room, and humidity

All in the regular rotation

But we put up with it

Since there was bound to be something about hockey to come

So as you put that paper in your rearview mirror

Know that we hope the best for you in the future

 

Photo set from Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers rookie game

Photos taken at the rookie game played between the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers Sunday, September 14, 2014 at the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee.

Photo set from Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning Rookie game

Some photos from the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning rookie game played September 14, 2014 at the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee.

 

Photo set from Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lighting rookie game
Photos taken at the rookie game played between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday, September 13, 2014 at the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee.

Photos taken at the rookie game played between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday, September 13, 2014 at the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee. (Jim Diamond/Rinkside Report)

 

Photo set from Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers rookie game
Some photos of the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins rookie game played September 13, 2014 at the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee.

Some photos of the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins rookie game played September 13, 2014 at the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee. (Jim Diamond/Rinkside Report)

Ekblad, Drouin headline rosters headed for Nashville rookie tournament

By Jim Diamond

When the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Boston Bruins head to Nashville for next month’s rookie tournament, they will be bringing with them some players whose names were called very early in recent NHL Entry Drafts.

Aaron Ekblad, who the Panthers selected with the first overall selection in June’s draft, was announced as one of the 25 players Florida will bring to the Ford Ice Center, where each team will play one game against each of the other three during the September 13-16 tournament. Located in Antioch, the Ford Ice Center features Nashville’s two newest sheets of ice.

Ekblad sustained a concussion during Team Canada’s training camp game against the Czech Republic in early August, but told reporters, “The concussion is perfectly, completely gone. I feel great,” at last week’s NHL Rookie Symposium held in Toronto.

The Lightning’s roster features highly touted prospect Jonathan Drouin along with three other recent first round draft picks. Drouin was taken third overall in 2013. The Predators took defenseman Seth Jones one pick later.

Other first rounders slated to be in the Bolts lineup include goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (2012 – 19th overall) and defensemen Slater Koekkoek (2012 – 10th overall) and Anthony DeAngelo (2014 – 19th overall).

The Bruins will bring 20 players to Nashville, half of whom are attending their camp on a tryout basis. They will have two recent first round picks with them in forward David Pastrnak (2014 – 25th overall), and goaltender Malcolm Subban (2012 – 24th overall). Subban is the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens blueliner and 2013 Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban.

Nashville’s squad of 19 is the fewest of the four teams. 2014 first round selection Kevin Fiala (11th overall) and Filip Forsberg, taken ninth overall in 2012 by Washington headline the roster for the home-standing Predators.

The tournament schedule is as follows. All games will be played at the Ford Ice Center in Antioch and are open to the public. All times Central.

Saturday, Sept. 13
1 p.m. Florida vs. Boston
4:30 p.m. Nashville vs. Tampa Bay

Sunday, Sept. 14
4 p.m. Tampa Bay vs. Boston
7 p.m. Nashville vs. Florida

Tuesday, Sept. 16
10 a.m. Tampa Bay vs. Florida
1 p.m. Nashville vs. Boston

No hard feelings as Canadiens, Subban reach eight-year deal ahead of arbitration award
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By Heather Engel

The Montreal Canadiens…without P.K. Subban? It was a question running through many minds following Friday’s arbitration hearing, before coming to a screeching halt on Saturday afternoon.

With a one-year arbitration award looming, Subban and the Canadiens reached an agreement on an eight-year deal worth a reported $72 million, an annual average value of $9 million per season. The contract is the richest and longest in team history, surpassing Carey Price’s six-year, $39 million pact signed in the summer of 2012.

“It’s not easy to negotiate an eight-year deal like this and ultimately that’s what both sides have wanted,” Subban explained on a conference call from Toronto. “Obviously [Friday], going through the arbitration hearing, it’s a part of the process, it’s a part of learning, part of the game, and it’s part of the CBA. We followed every step in terms of the process and that was a part of it but I’ve always felt strongly about being a Montreal Canadien. I never thought that I would end up anywhere else.”

Common expectation was that the two sides would reach a deal before stepping foot into the room with the arbitrator. Then 9 a.m. hit and there was nothing. The hearing got under way and the hours ticked by until all parties emerged from the room for good early in the afternoon.

General manager Marc Bergevin declined comment as did Don Meehan, Subban’s agent. The defenseman spoke but was measured. And while negotiations on a new contract could continue up until the arbitrator’s ruling was announced, Twitter was abuzz with speculation on what his future with Montreal might hold should the one-year award be the end result.

As much as talk as there is about the negativity associated with the process, Subban never felt it.

“When you hear different things about your game and critiques and so on and so forth, I think that stuff can be positive as well. I think a lot of people looked at the arbitration hearing as something that’s negative and I didn’t really see it that way,” he said. “I think the only thing that might be unsettling is that sometimes you just want to get a deal done.

“I have more respect for Marc Bergevin and Geoff Molson than any other time in my career since I’ve been in Montreal in terms of the way they conducted themselves. They’ve treated me very well, both on and off the ice, since I’ve been here,” added Subban, acknowledging that the input of Molson, owner and team president, throughout the process was “monumental”.

In his third off-season at the helm, Bergevin was facing his toughest moment yet – both from a hockey standpoint and in the public eye. Many felt it should never have gotten to the hearing after the GM held firm on a bridge contract two seasons ago. Subban, after all, had followed that up with a Norris Trophy in 2013 and a career year on the ice – including a team-leading 14 points in the playoffs – this past season.

“A lot of people that know Marc Bergevin know the type of guy he is; he cares a lot about his players and I know he cares a lot about me. He would never put a player in a position that would hurt him or hurt this team and this organization,” the blue-liner noted. “He’s been great for this team moving forward, he’s made some great decisions for this team in the best interest of this team, and a lot of people have to lay off of him now.

“I really don’t want to hear those negative comments towards those guys because they’ve done a great job and they’ve worked so hard to try and get this deal done.”