Nashville Predators Global Series Season Opener from Prague Now in Jeopardy
By Chad Minton
The ongoing war in Ukraine has put the Nashville Predators season opener from Prague, Czech Republic in limbo as we await response from the NHL.
The opening of the 2022-23 regular season for the Nashville Predators just two weeks away in the Global Series. However, the games are in unclear territory now.
Per a report from the Associated Press, the Czechian government is urging the NHL to not bring Russian players to the Global Series games, with the Nashville Predators scheduled to play the San Jose Sharks twice in Prague on October 7 and 8.
The Predators’ current Russian player that could be affected by this is Yakov Trenin. A vital piece to the depth of the team, and a part of the infamous “Herd Line” that was consistently one of the most trusted forward lines on the team last season.
Losing Trenin for the first two games would throw a huge monkey wrench into the gameplan for the Nashville Predators.
Nashville Predators season openers from Prague in jeopardy
It’s currently unclear how the NHL will respond to this. With the season opener for the NHL, not just the Predators and Sharks, being just two weeks away, it leaves the league very little time to come up with a fallback plan.
The NHL seemingly has three options; postpone the games and wait to play them at the same site later in the year, postpone the games and play them at home-and-home sites, or go on as planned and not allow the Russian players to play in the game.
The third option doesn’t seem fair to either team or the players. The Sharks also have a Russian player, Evgeny Svechnikov, who would not be able to play.
The fairest option for everyone involved in this complex matter, including the Czechian government, is seemingly to postpone the games. I’m not sure if the NHL would be willing to do that, but how can you penalize the players and the teams for a war that has nothing to do with them?
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You don’t want two games to open the regular season heavily impacted because key players weren’t able to participate due to major, and due to much more important factors outside of the game itself.
The NHL has to act fast so that both teams can plan accordingly. Training camps have already opened, with organized practices beginning on Friday for the Nashville Predators.
The Global Series hasn’t happened since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The NHL has heavily marketed this event, but first and foremost it’s about the safety and fairness for everyone involved.