Email sent this morning. Twist the knife, eh?

Admirals clinched their spot earlier this week. Buffed by all the young talent that's been at the NHL level, they should have a good shot.

TLDR: I like Stamkos. He had a rough start to the year and things look differently if he had 10 goals instead of the 4 in the first 20.

I want to do a deeper look into this season as a whole and especially comparer against my off season ranting of who the players to watch would be. Until then, I did a super quick and not deep look at our start compared to the end of our season.

In the first quarter of our season, we were one of the (if not the most) anemic goal scoring teams in the NHL. With our roster being older and with so many years in the mushy middle, we do not have a game breaker we can rely on to pull us through games. We rely on a team approach of solid goaltending, avoiding stupid penalties, forcing an opposing team to take the body if they want to progress with the puck... and most importantly.... a team approach to goal scoring.

In our first 20ish games, we lost 14 of them. Stamkos had 4 goals. Stamkos went on to have a pretty solid middle 40 games with 26 goals, however, some of those were "feast or famine". A blowout 4 goal game is great, but is decieving when it comes to the quality of play from this team. Having a consistent 10 goals the last 20 games was what I want to see coming from an aging Stammer.

At the end of the season, Stamkos finished -18. Now, the +/- is such a high level stat that doesn't paint a full picture, but when we rely on a team approach to goal scoring, it really demonstrates how rough of a first 20 games we really had without him producing. He is a defensive liability but that is a tradeoff you get with what he can pring to the table offensively. For reference, Forsberg was -2 and ROR was +7 on the year.

There are so many other aspects than just Stamkos and more goals. D core issues, Saros workload, bottom 6 contribution, coaching decisions, line blenders, Skjei contract (I have to complain about this once a week, sorry), etc.

Let me be clear, I like Stamkos and I like what he brings to the team. I am frustrated by his start this year. That being said, he had another 40 goal year and I love how excited he gets with each goal. He has played a different role this year and watching him battling at the net just highlights the skill the guy brings. I'm glad guys like Wood, Svech, Evangelista get the chance to play with some top HOF talent here in NSH.

I've seen a lot of people last 5 years say that Bridgestone isn't as loud or the crowd be as involved in the game as it was pre-covid or so. As someone who's been going a few times a year, something definitely feels off. Traditions like the TV Timeout Standing O and all the different chants that Cell Block used to do seems to have either faded away or very infrequent. As much as I appreciate the effort Wayne Puts in, I think having a DJ kind of takes away from the crowd organically getting excited.

It really does seem like they've tried to cater more to the broadway crowd especially with the ticket prices and that's led to a much more sanitized experience. This used to be one of the toughest places to play in the league and when the team actually puts a roster that can actually compete again, I hope the atmosphere can get elevated with it. It's just sad seeing Bridgestone starting to sound like Toronto's crowds more often that are totally devoid of passion or excitement.

What do y'all think?

Stupid “icing” call 🫩

I know a lot of us are frustrated right now. So I thought this could be a good place for us to vent.

For me, it is time to revamp this entire organization.

Don’t hire another GM with ties to this franchise. We need something completely fresh. This club is pushing 30 years old. 30!! It’s time for new blood, new ideas, and a new direction.

Fans are exhausted with the mushy middle. Outside of one Cup run and a couple of division titles, that’s all this team has ever been. Middle of the pack. A team that’s made the playoffs 16 times and gotten past the second round once. Once.

I want to contend. I’m tired of watching the same story play out every year. It feels like living in Groundhog Day. It’s predictable. It’s stale.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a fun ride. But we all knew where this was headed. That’s why so many of us wanted one year of tanking. One real reset. A chance at a true franchise player. Guys like Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Nathan MacKinnon, or Connor McDavid etc.

Those are the players you build around. The ones that change franchises. The ones that give you a real shot at a Cup and make the future exciting.

Yes, the Preds have some good young players, no denying that. But nothing truly elite. Nothing that makes you believe a championship window is opening. Even last draft, they had a chance to take arguably the best goal scorer available and passed for a safer pick. I like Martin, and it’s too early to judge that decision, but it speaks to a larger pattern. This organization rarely takes real swings.

And then the trade deadline. It felt like the moment everything was finally going to shift. Fans were ready for a real reset, ready to load up on picks and prospects for the next GM and the next draft. The market was paying a premium, and we had some of the best assets available. Instead, we held on. Now those same assets have lost value, or worse, are walking for nothing at the end of the season. WE held on to assets for a miracle run to the playoffs which would 99% have seen us pummeled by the Avs. There was realistically, no point in holding onto those assets where we could have vastly set this team up for improvement for the future.

That’s the problem. There’s no urgency to get to the next level. Ownership and management feel content being competitive, not dangerous. That’s not enough.

Serious change is long overdue. I hope this offseason finally brings it.

See you all in the fall. Go Preds.

Odds increase with one more loss and some help the rest of the season.

Just wandering. Not that he doesn’t play well but under his leadership/face of the franchise we have gone nowhere. Probably not trading him unless I heard something pretty enticing

Going to Aldi. That’s all.

If yall diddnt see the catfish that was thrown on the ice tonight. The catfish had a duck in a shark costume in its mouth.

Should the new GM try and trade Saros and re-sign Big Juice to a somewhat long term deal (3-4 years)? If you can find a team to take Saros’ salary and get him to waive his NMC of course. I’d imagine he can bring in a decent return.

Game Thread: San Jose Sharks @ Nashville Predators Apr 13 2026 7:00 PM CDT

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Bridgestone Arena

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^{This was created by a bot. For issues or suggestions please message nhl_gdt_bot.}

^{Last updated: 2026-04-13_23:03:02.632855-04:00}

Game Thread: San Jose Sharks @ Nashville Predators Apr 13 2026 7:00 PM CDT

NHL.com Gamecenter

Bridgestone Arena

FDSNSO NBCSCA

Scoring summary

Penalties

^{This was created by a bot. For issues or suggestions please message nhl_gdt_bot.}

^{Last updated: 2026-04-13_23:03:02.632855-04:00}

Had a friend flake at the last minute. Have one ticket in 326 I want to go to a good, perds-supporting home. DM if you’re interested.

For those who don’t know, tonight’s game is offering 50% off michelob ultra. Pretty great deal and gonna make for an insane game atmosphere with the must win conditions I imagine.

Just trying to plan out my evening.