It's okay. If yinz think that'll help.....trust me.....won't take it personally.

I'm all for Steeler Al or BFingersby starting the thread if that would guarantee a Penguins win.

Not to sound like a shit but seeding in the NHL playoffs usually doesn't mean anything. Sure, if the fact is a "16 seed" has never won the cup, then so be it, but has Nashville looked like a "16 seed" the last month and a half? Nope. In fact, I've watched almost every single game they have played since the playoffs have started and I really think they have looked the best out of any team that made the dance.

Game 5 win in Anaheim is what I am focusing on. Their coach is an asshole but he's very good. The Preds are very good. They can go into your arena and beat you, as evidenced by that win in Anaheim.

Pens cannot fuck this game up at home. They have to come out flying and shoot shoot shoot. I still think we need to mixup the PP a bit because our second unit sucks balls. Sullivan is the man and I trust him, but it's going to take some serious effort by the dudes on the ice to win this series.

No kidding Orange.
I watched the Nashville/Chicago series. The Preds put the clamps on what might have been the second best team in the league. First time I had seen Toews frustrated in April in a long while. After they swept them in Chicago it was like an avalanche had fallen on Kane and company.
I don't think anyone saw that coming and to be honest it wasn't a fluke. Nashville is real.

But they are a 16 seed, and as someone else pointed out, for a reason.

Do they "look" like one, certainly not against the teams they have played in these playoffs. But again, as someone else stated, an 80+ game sample is pretty good.

They lost the season series to the Blackhawk 4-1, but somehow sweep them in the playoffs?

And I don't think the Blues or Ducks were all that good.

We are just gassed with little left in the tank. But would much rather lose to them than some other WC teams.

JJT is either a troll who is pretending to be a Pens fan or he squats to piss. Either way, he's pathetic. Your choice - go over to the Nashville boards and be their cuckold or nut the fuck up and prepare for victory.

Call me whatever you like. But anybody that has a ton of confidence after watching the last 4 games that we can win 2 of 3 must be watching different games than me.

One thing is for sure, they lose Thursday and this is over in 6 games.

agree..im willing to bet pred fans and players are more nervous then us and pens squad..

I guarantee neither team is nervous. These are hockey players at the highest level. They have huge, brass fuckin balls. One excellent team is not going to win this series and it will not be for lack of effort or from being nervous.

As far as fan bases being nervous, well yeah. I'd bet more Preds fans are just happy to be along for the ride though than Pens fans. Preds fans have never been here before, had no expectation of making it this far, and are enjoying the hell out of it all. Pens fans have high (unrealistic) expectations and many feel entitled. "Ohhh we lost two can you believe it two straight games in the cup finals?! And to the 16 can you believe it 16 seed?!?! Now the series is tied! We're fucked!!"

Every Preds fan I've had the displeasure of talking to assumes they're gonna roll the Pens in 6 games.

There is no such thing as a Preds fan. There is a "I live in Nashville and the Titans suck, Vandy sucks, the Vols are in Knoxville so not relevant, and I literally have nothing else to do other than listen to music and drink whisky, so I guess I'll root for these bearded Canadian, Swedish and Finnish guys skating around on frozen water" fan.

You're all full of yourself Orange

Those fans are the reason hockey took in that market

One of the few southern team exceptions, the other being the Stars

They've been packing them in for years.

Seems you're looking for any angle to discredit

But that is you sir in a nutshell

I think we win game 5, and then a 3-2 lead will feel much better than a 2-2 tie.

True.

Man are you a douchebag. Go jerk off to your Ron Hextall poster, Beth. Oh wait, you've been watching hockey longer than anyone here, got it. Then go post away on a Flyers board. Yeah Nashville is a real hockey town. Idiot.

Moved to Nashville 10 years ago and this city is evolving into a hockey town. Yes, fans are coming out of the woodwork now that they are in the Finals, but the Preds have done a great job in the community to build a fan base over the years.

That said, I want nothing more than to beat them in this series. Really can't stand their chants during intros or after goals.

Go Pens!!

I hit Nashville about 10 times a year, love the town and intelligent city planning. It's now one of the 5 hottest real estate markets in the US; money, people and business are pouring in. The music industry understandably vacated debt ridden tax burdened California for Nashville, tech sector is exploding also. Great town for everything you'd want for your family. Within my own family those that made themselves feel better about their conditions by putting others down had a shorter life expectancy. Save it for when it's justified.

My concern tonight are the refs. Winner tonight will win the Cup. Calls helped Preds open the door in 3 & 4, our careless mistakes contributed. Their disallowed goal in Pittsburgh was a call that could have gone either way. The casual hockey fan around the US is rooting for Nashville, the underdog that has never won a championship. Pittsburgh is perceived as old guard with a history of championships across the board. We will have fire tonight, Subban will get his ass kicked hopefully within the rules. For the sake of the sport if the league lets the game just flow naturally Pens win and the Preds get help in 6 forcing 7. Still think OT somewhere.

Go Pens

Lemme know. I'll check back later this afternoon. Whatever's best for the team. Go PENGUINS!!!

Nashville isn't what it is simply because people are escaping "burdensome" taxes and regulation in liberal states. Nashville is the center of country music. It's also the state capital, with legislators and like minded regulation free corporations that want to build the city. With taxpayer money and corporate sponsorship. What does that tell you when the state capitol falls into the top ten attractions of the city? TN state museum and Grand Ole Opry/ country music hall of fame are at the top the list. Scatter in public works like parks and restoration projects for plantations and southern "culture." Other states that have low taxes and little regulation and are either stagnant or in a free fall.

I'm not bashing Nashville as a city. Never been there, but this election cycle has divided cultures, so it doesn't surprise me Nashville is attracting individuals from other states because of "low taxes" but it's also "murika!" This boom has occurred in the last 3-5 years, from what I can tell. Look at other state capitols and how they are doing. Government attracts workers, lobbyists, press, etc. There is a conscious effort to build the city at the heart of country music and a beacon for the "south." That requires infrastructure, like hotels and housing and hospitality and transportation, which in turn requires labor for the service industries. And the glut of housing with an influx of government workers drives home prices down, creating a real estate 'boom.' It will bust, eventually, because boom and bust economies is where free market proponents build their wealth.

As far as the pens? I have no fucking clue. This naive hockey fan is sure they will come out swinging and will get some calls. But they can't let stupid mistakes give free, easy shots at murray, and they need to generate a fuckload more offense without spending too much time in the neutral zone.

Jesus CHRIST, COR, NO ONE HERE is politicizing these hockey threads except you.

Why do you keep going there?

Beth's right, to a degree...over the last six years, Nashville's been becoming a better hockey town.

Before that, after an initial spurt of excitement when the team was awarded to Nashville, it was pretty moribund.

Amazingly, the hotbed of American hockey right now is Texas. The Stars moving to Dallas really sparked the growth of youth hockey programs there.