You guys have to understand that although Nashville has grown as a city and has absorbed a migration of liberals from both coasts, it is a historically very conservative city in the middle of the bible belt in the southern US. You can go to bars there and listen to country music, ride a mechanical bull, sip some pretty good bourbon whiskey, and eat some very good barbecue pork ribs, but escort parties in the hotel are NOT HAPPENING in Nashville. So for the Predators, this trip to Montreal was fun and games they know they cannot get at home.
Do the Habs have to rely on a little cultural deprivation for the players on some of the American teams to catch them not ready to play NHL hockey? I suspect this will be an issue with some teams and not others. The same thing will not happen with the NY Rangers, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers, who will get plenty of action back home. Nashville and St. Louis, not so much.
If any of you guys ever read the book written by Lawrence Taylor (1980s former NY Giants linebacker, Hall of Fame player, probably the best LB in NFL history), he wrote that he personally paid New York City escorts with his own money ($ 10,000- $ 20,000 at that time) to knock on the hotel door of and party with the opposing team's QB the night before Giants home games. His instructions were simple: party with the QB and "keep him up all night." He only did this in big games against difference making QBs. Admirably, Taylor did not break the code and identify the quarterbacks he did this to, but it has been widely speculated that John Elway and Joe Theismann were two of his "victims."
Along the same lines, it occurred to me that Bergevin, knowing his job is on the line, may very well have called James at Euphoria or Sammy at XO and arranged an anonymous party for the Preds. The GMs all know what hotel the other teams stay at. It is not rocket science and within the sport if you want to party out an opponent, and if he allows it to happen, it is very doable. Stuff like this has happened in sports in the past, many times. Most teams have "intelligence" as well on where the opposing players like to go out to, or eat at, and the Habs may very well employ staff to keep an eye on them. Bergevin merely had to pay 4 of James/Sammy's girls to go and party with the Preds at their restaurant/hotel rooms for 4 hours. I am guessing this gets done for $4000 which is chump change for Bergevin, especially with wins necessary to keep his job.
In this situation, you would target only the Preds top players, e.g., Duchene, Granlund, Saros, etc.. You would always go after the starting goalie in hockey, like Taylor did the QB in football. Did anyone notice that Saros was WAY off his game last night: 5 goals allowed on 19 shots, .737 save % (TERRIBLE) and was pulled from the game in favor of Rittich, a seldom used backup. I wonder what Saros was doing the night before? Kinda looks like a party boy to me:
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