MUSIC CITY MADNESS
Hockey rocks in Nashville, and the NHL can thank Predators GM David Poile for making it happen
The NHL draft is now less than three weeks away which means Canucks fans can almost start paying attention again. While we wait, here’s something that will make the time fly by: the Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports.
The first time your agent took in an NHL game in Nashville, the between-periods entertainment was a mullet contest hosted by, wait for it, Billy Ray Cyrus.
This was shortly after the immortal Boots Del Biaggio had tried to buy the Predators and move them to Kansas City. Ultimately, a local group cobbled together the funds to keep the Preds in Nashville with the help of a Save The Predators campaign.
Del Biaggio, meanwhile, became a Preds’ minority owner before he was found guilty of securities fraud and sentenced to 97 months in The Big House.
A decade later, of course, Music City is now ground zero for the biggest party in NHL history and for this the league and city can thank GM David Poile for keeping the franchise alive. Even when the Preds were operating on a shoestring, and even when they teetered on the verge of bankruptcy, Poile and his organization kept the team relevant by drafting and developing as well as any franchise.
Eventually, they would assemble the makings of a championship team which has created the current euphoria. The Preds’ run has unleashed some strange and wonderful forces in Nashville and the city was built for this kind of shindig. But, before the NHL takes credit for finding this great hockey market, they should first thank Poile.
Still with the Cup final, others have made this point but it bears repeating. More has been written about P.K. Subban’s breath in the last couple of days than Roman Josi’s three-point performance in Game 3.
Subban doesn’t always ask for it but why does he usually end up in the middle of these things?
One question concerning Chris Tanev, the most talked-about twogoal defenceman in NHL history.
The Canucks have already lost Nikita Tryamkin on their blue-line and might lose Luca Sbisa in the expansion draft. They’re also committed to signing Ryan Miller for another year, theoretically, to stay competitive in the West.
Why then, would you bring back Miller to play behind a defence which was bad enough last season and is now missing three regulars?
High drama in The Big Smoke on Sunday when Roberto Osuna struck out the side in the ninth to preserve a 3-2 Jays’ win over the Yankees.
We’ll know soon enough if that win, which gave the Jays a much-needed split of the fourgame set, has any long-term significance but the Jays are getting healthy and they’ve been pretty good for the last five weeks.
Now they need Aaron Sanchez to come back from his finger ailment and the emergence or acquisition of another reliable bullpen arm. It would also help if career .220-hitter Justin Smoak continues to produce like Edwin Encarnacion. Just not sure if that’s realistic.
And finally, don’t expect anything resembling the regular-season lineup when the B.C. Lions play their first pre-season game in Calgary on Tuesday. But there will still be some intriguing storylines when Wally Buono takes a mostly young, untested crew to McMahon Stadium.
“They’re going to get a great opportunity to show what they can do,” Buono said in Kamloops over the weekend.
“We’re asking them to earn the right to play in the second (pre-season) game (on June 16 at B.C. Place). That starts in practice but you validate yourself in the game.”
With that in mind, there will be a couple of players to watch. On the defence, jobs are open on the line and former NFLer Frank Alexander starts at tackle against the Stamps while Andrew Hudson starts at rush end. One outside linebacker spot boils down to second-year Lion Cam Ontko and CFL veteran Tony Burnett, who should both see playing time in Calgary.
Buono also wants to start import Steven Clarke at safety but Canadian Anthony Thompson has had a strong camp and is scheduled to start against the Stamps.
On offence, most of the battles are for backup and practice roster spots. At quarterback, Keith Price and newcomer Alex Ross figure to get the bulk of the action. Price, the University of Washington product, is currently the third-stringer behind Jonathon Jennings and Travis Lulay but Ross, a first-year man, has had some moments at camp.
Buono said the first round of cuts could come as early as Thursday. The predominant theme of this Lions’ camp has been the depth of competition at most positions and that’s led to some interesting decisions for the head coach.
Those decisions begin this week.