The National Hockey League and the Players' Association have come to an agreement on a list of players that will be exempt from being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights at the upcoming expansion draft.
These players have all been off the ice for a considerable amount of time due to injuries that have put their careers in jeopardy or effectively ended them altogether, but who are still under contract with their respective teams.
The expansion draft will take place on June 21 in conjunction with the NHL Awards.
A scrum between multiple Blues and Predators players led to offsetting minors for Joel Edmundson and Cody McLeod, but Blues tough guy Ryan Reaves - who joined the scrum as the odd man in - received an extra two minutes for roughing.
A penalty such as this - especially in the playoffs - usually requires the referee to provide an explanation to the coach or one of the players with a letter on his jersey. However, Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo received no such explanation.
"It's the first time I've ever seen a ref not even let the captain talk to him," Pietrangelo told Lou Korac of NHL.com. "I'm sure that's what the C's for."
It's highly unlikely Pietrangelo could have convinced the referee to send an even amount of Blues and Preds to the box for the scrum, but he has every right to plead his case.
There may be no evidence to prove such theory, but the more a well-respected captain such as Pietrangelo questions each call, the more likely his team is to get the benefit of the doubt on a future call.
The Predators, of course, would go on to score on the ensuing power play, giving them a 1-0 lead. It didn't wind up being the game-winner in the 2-1 contest, but it was no doubt a series-altering goal.
Reaves himself, was not pleased with the call.
"I completely disagree with that call. I think it's garbage in a playoff game like that," Reaves said in a postgame interview with Fox Sports Midwest. "You got a 10-man scrum and all of a sudden you're just picking one guy. You can't do that in a playoff game."
The difference between regular-season officiating and playoff officiating has been well documented. The refs are far more lenient in the postseason, not wanting a single penalty call to decide the game.
Unfortunately for the Blues, Reaves' penalty was a deciding factor in Game 4. They will begin their quest to win three straight games on Friday in St. Louis.
A scrum between multiple Blues and Predators players led to offsetting minors for Joel Edmundson and Cody McLeod, but Blues tough guy Ryan Reaves - who joined the scrum as the odd man in - received an extra two minutes for roughing.
A penalty such as this - especially in the playoffs - usually requires the referee to provide an explanation to the coach or one of the players with a letter on his jersey. However, Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo received no such explanation.
"It's the first time I've ever seen a ref not even let the captain talk to him," Pietrangelo told Lou Korac of NHL.com. "I'm sure that's what the C's for."
It's highly unlikely Pietrangelo could have convinced the referee to send an even amount of Blues and Preds to the box for the scrum, but he has every right to plead his case.
There may be no evidence to prove such theory, but the more a well-respected captain such as Pietrangelo questions each call, the more likely his team is to get the benefit of the doubt on a future call.
The Predators, of course, would go on to score on the ensuing power play, giving them a 1-0 lead. It didn't wind up being the game-winner in the 2-1 contest, but it was no doubt a series-altering goal.
Reaves himself, was not pleased with the call.
"I completely disagree with that call. I think it's garbage in a playoff game like that," Reaves said in a postgame interview with Fox Sports Midwest. "You got a 10-man scrum and all of a sudden you're just picking one guy. You can't do that in a playoff game."
The difference between regular-season officiating and playoff officiating has been well documented. The refs are far more lenient in the postseason, not wanting a single penalty call to decide the game.
Unfortunately for the Blues, Reaves' penalty was a deciding factor in Game 4. They will begin their quest to win three straight games on Friday in St. Louis.
An epic photo taken at a bar in downtown Buffalo is making the rounds after it was shared to Deadspin on Tuesday.
An observer caught former Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley and former Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray sharing a conversation at a bar. Whaley was fired on Sunday and Murray was dismissed 10 days prior to that.
Considering ESPN sports talk show "First Take" is shown on the television behind the former sports executives, the meeting likely took part in the morning or early afternoon. Regardless, both Murray and Whaley have decided to remain in Buffalo for the time being.
And they're eating (drinking?) out in style on owner Terry Pegula's dime.
An epic photo taken at a bar in downtown Buffalo is making the rounds after it was shared to Deadspin on Tuesday.
An observer caught former Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley and former Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray sharing a conversation at a bar. Whaley was fired on Sunday and Murray was dismissed 10 days prior to that.
Considering ESPN sports talk show "First Take" is shown on the television behind the former sports executives, the meeting likely took part in the morning or early afternoon. Regardless, both Murray and Whaley have decided to remain in Buffalo for the time being.
And they're eating (drinking?) out in style on owner Terry Pegula's dime.
The contest was scoreless in the third period when the Blues were tagged with an extra penalty following a post-whistle scrum. Cue Ryan Ellis, who scored on the ensuing power play, leaving Blues head coach Mike Yeo to backhandedly compliment the Predators in the wake of an eventual 2-1 loss.
"I'll be the first to admit I know that we could have killed the penalty, but I thought that they did a really good job lobbying for that," Yeo said, per Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"Every stoppage, they're yelling at the refs, talking to the refs and it worked there. It's worked all series, let's be honest. We had one game where we've had more power plays than them and the other three, they're winning that category, clearly."
The Predators have indeed been awarded more power plays than the Blues in three of the four games so far, with the final results falling in line with that advantage.
Game
NSH PP
STL PP
Final Score
1
2-3
0-1
NSH 4 - STL 3
2
0-0
1-5
STL 3 - NSH 2
3
0-3
0-1
NSH 3 - STL 1
4
1-4
0-2
NSH 2 - STL 1
The Blues did get a power-play opportunity later in the third period Tuesday, but it was nullified by a call for too many men on the ice shortly thereafter, much to Yeo's frustration.
"That was not good on our part," Yeo conceded. "We get down and it was obviously frustrating to be down the way we were competing ... the way that we went down with the penalty call and it took us a while to regroup after that."
The Blues, now down 3-1 in the series, will have an extra day to regroup in an attempt to salvage their season, with Game 5 set for Friday back in St. Louis.
The contest was scoreless in the third period when the Blues were tagged with an extra penalty following a post-whistle scrum. Cue Ryan Ellis, who scored on the ensuing power play, leaving Blues head coach Mike Yeo to backhandedly compliment the Predators in the wake of an eventual 2-1 loss.
"I'll be the first to admit I know that we could have killed the penalty, but I thought that they did a really good job lobbying for that," Yeo said, per Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"Every stoppage, they're yelling at the refs, talking to the refs and it worked there. It's worked all series, let's be honest. We had one game where we've had more power plays than them and the other three, they're winning that category, clearly."
The Predators have indeed been awarded more power plays than the Blues in three of the four games so far, with the final results falling in line with that advantage.
Game
NSH PP
STL PP
Final Score
1
2-3
0-1
NSH 4 - STL 3
2
0-0
1-5
STL 3 - NSH 2
3
0-3
0-1
NSH 3 - STL 1
4
1-4
0-2
NSH 2 - STL 1
The Blues did get a power-play opportunity later in the third period Tuesday, but it was nullified by a call for too many men on the ice shortly thereafter, much to Yeo's frustration.
"That was not good on our part," Yeo conceded. "We get down and it was obviously frustrating to be down the way we were competing ... the way that we went down with the penalty call and it took us a while to regroup after that."
The Blues, now down 3-1 in the series, will have an extra day to regroup in an attempt to salvage their season, with Game 5 set for Friday back in St. Louis.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - James Neal scored the game-winning goal with 6:57 left, and the Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.
Pekka Rinne outdueled St. Louis' Jake Allen with 32 saves, and the Predators are a victory away from reaching the Western Conference final for the first time in franchise history.
Ryan Ellis scored at 5:09 of the third to break up a scoreless game. Neal then scored with 6:57 left to crank up the Nashville celebration.
Joel Edmundson scored with 3:49 left as St. Louis avoided the shutout. Blues coach Mike Yeo pulled Allen late, but they couldn't beat Rinne again. Allen finished with 23 saves as the Blues lost consecutive road games for the first time since Feb. 28 and March 3.
