Now if you have read some of my other posts (if you haven’t then please go and read them, I need the exposure) you may find that this post isn’t what I would normally post. This is because game reviews, at least in my opinion, are done everywhere so my input would be deemed useless compared to a professional or someone with a greater following. So why review this one? Because I was there, in Prague, watching the game live. 

I watched the first game the Preds and the Sharks played which was on the Friday. If that means nothing to you then this might: it was technically the home game for the Predators so they wore their yellow jerseys. Before the game had started you could tell the atmosphere was electric, everyone was excited to see the players in person, and this was fully confirmed during the national anthems. The USA one was, if I am being totally honest, underwhelming. The Americans sat behind my Dad and I were clearly very happy, but then when are they not patriotic about everything. But when the Czech national anthem was sung, there was a quiet hum into a roaring collection of all the Czech people in the arena singing, it was amazing. Great start to the game. 

In terms of the actual playing of the game, I was excited to see the Sharks and how their rebuilt lineup would fare against the established core of the Preds with their new additions. I was hoping that the game would be pretty level in terms of scoring and chances and I was hoping even more that Tomas Hertl would score in his hometown. However, as soon as the game started you could tell that the Sharks were outclassed. They couldn’t enter the zone very well and when they did it was quickly disrupted by the Preds and a chance was created the other way. When Nashville did score, which they did four times, you could tell that the Americans behind us were happy because of their loud singing and obnoxious chanting but when I write that the noise was deafening when Tomas Hertl scored, words cannot describe what it was like. Now I can’t be certain what everyone was feeling during the match but I would put money on almost every fan in the building wanting Hertl to score. After they tied the match they never really managed to build off of that energy despite the shot counter being pretty equal. Juuse Saros is not one to be messed with though, he was incredible in net. 

In terms of what I enjoyed and what I was disappointed by, I can tell you that there was not much disappointment. Seeing James Reimer in net was fantastic, as a Leafs fan it was fun to see. To see Cody Glass on the ice and seeing him play was really great and watching the fight between Gadjovich and Borowiecki was really fun, especially because they really looked like they wanted to beat the shit out of each other. Watching the game itself was really cool, and that might seem like an obvious statement but since it was the first professional hockey game I have watched so far in my eighteen years of existence, it was a great one to watch. The only thing I was disappointed by, apart from the Americans, was the fact that San Jose didn’t score more. I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like if they scored more, nevermind winning. Overall, I would rate the match eight out of ten, it was really fun to watch and I actually think my Dad enjoyed it as well!