Author: Colin Campbell

Predators Still On Fire After Addition of Kyle Turris

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NASHVILLE, TN – In hockey, a great idea on paper doesn’t always work out on the ice.

Brett Hull and Wayne Gretzky didn’t set the NHL on fire during their brief run together with the Blues. The days of Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne in Colorado are best forgotten (and many people have done just that). Peter Forsberg and the Predators mixed like water and oil.

So, there was always the risk that the Kyle Turris trade wouldn’t work out for Nashville. Instead, it’s been a smash success beyond just about anyone’s expectations. Even GM David Poile would probably admit that he didn’t expect this sort of boost.

Predators: Why Craig Smith is best story of team’s season so far

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NASHVILLE, TN – When they’re all gathered together in a small area, as they were at Tuesday’s practice at Centennial Sportsplex, the Nashville Predators are a frightening bunch.

Not like Halloween frightening or bar brawl frightening, but worth a shiver or two if you have any empathy for teams that must play them. And if you’re projecting what the Predators could become before this season’s over … scary. Good scary if you live in Nashville.

There was Filip Forsberg, who’s on his way to another level of NHL stardom, working a drill with Bobby Orr impersonator Viktor Arvidsson. There was P.K. Subban getting a shot past Pekka Rinne. There was recent addition Kyle Turris, showing no ill effects from a puck that smashed him in the cheek a day earlier.

Dylan Larkin Growing with Detroit Red Wings

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DETROIT, MI – Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill was hurting the confidence of forward Dylan Larkin, and he knew it.

He knew he needed to do it.

Larkin had excelled in his first 50 games as a rookie in 2015-16, scoring 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists). He had shown holes in his game after that — not stopping on pucks, not managing the puck well — but the stretch run wasn’t the time to teach.

So after the season, Blashill told Larkin it was his job to make him a complete player. When Larkin didn’t do what he was supposed to do early in 2016-17, he got his ice time cut, or got an earful on the bench, or got a video session.

Beyond the Superman Punches, Kevin Bieksa helping fight stigma of mental illness

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ANAHEIM, CA – There’s joy to Anaheim Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa.

It’s in talking about his family: His wife, Katie, and two children, Cole and Reese. It’s in talking about his team, which has remained in the Western Conference playoff hunt despite a devastating series of injuries to key players. And sometimes, it’s in the way Bieksa, 36, brings joy to others through unorthodox means: Like getting a rise out of the crowd with a “Superman Punch” in a fight that goes viral; or getting a rise out of his teammates by donning a disguise and making them an unwitting co-star in a comedy video.

Elliott Named NHL’s Third Star of the Week

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Philadelphia, PA – The National Hockey League announced today that Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott has been named the Third Star of the Week.

Elliott recorded a perfect 3-0-0 mark as the team faced a tough, Western Canadian road trip that saw them play three games in four nights. He posted a .954 save percentage and 1.66 goals-against average on the week after stopping 103 out of 108 shots, including 28 saves on 29 shots he saw in third periods.

“It’s great to be recognized, but whenever you get those recognitions as a goalie it shows how the group has been playing, especially this last week,” said Elliott. “It’s my name up there, but definitely the Philadelphia Flyers whole team deserves that.”

Kyle Turris and Predators Playing Well After Big Trade

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Nashville, TN – It would be hard to imagine a much better start with a team than the one forward Kyle Turris has had since he was traded to the Nashville Predators on Nov. 5.

Turris, who came to Nashville as part of the three-team trade that hadMatt Duchene go from the Colorado Avalanche to the Ottawa Senators, has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 14 games since joining the Predators.

The Predators traded defenseman Samuel Girard, forward Vladislav Kamenev and a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft to the Avalanche to acquire Turris.

How Khaira brothers went from slow starters to Surrey standouts

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Surrey, B.C. – Sahvan Khaira didn’t want anything to do with hockey. It was a game that had left him in tears and he surely wasn’t going to skate back to it.

It was the mid 2000s in Surrey, B.C., and there were lots of things an elementary-school kid could do with his time. Soccer was particularly popular, but somehow Sahvan found himself back at the rink.

Excellent Ice is tucked away amid industrial complexes and offices just off Highway 10 in the southern part of the Metro Vancouver city known for its large Punjabi diaspora. Sahvan’s older brother, Jujhar, was receiving one-on-one lessons, so their mother would bring Sahvan along. The instructor took note and let Sahvan skate on the other side of the ice while Jujhar was going through drills.

Sparks Seeing the Results of More Serious Approach

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TORONTO, ON – There was nowhere Garret Sparks wanted to be more than in his net last April, guiding the Toronto Marlies through a playoff berth they’d fought hard to earn.

But that chance was cut short for the netminder. During the second game of the Marlies’ first-round series against Albany, Sparks suffered a leg injury that would cap off a roller-coaster year spent battling ailments, veteran competition and a few problems of his own making.

Mike Smith to Play in 500th NHL Game

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CALGARY, AB – Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Smith has redrawn the map of his comfort zone.

Before the 35-year-old from Kingston, Ontario, was traded to the Flames by the Arizona Coyotes for goalie Chad Johnson, defenseman prospect Brandon Hickey and a conditional third-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft on June 17, he had played 11 seasons for NHL teams based in the southern United States.

From 2006-08, Smith played 44 games for the Dallas Stars, who selected him in the fifth round (No. 161) of the 2001 NHL Draft. He then played four seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning and six seasons as the No. 1 goalie for the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes.

Despite growing up in Canada, Smith, whose next game will be his 500th in the NHL, has seen a whole new side of being an NHL player in Calgary.

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