Nash Daily: NHL Combine, F&M Bank Arena Opening Scheduled

The annual NHL Scouting Combine concluded over the weekend in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday.

With less than three weeks before the draft is in Nashville 65 forwards, 34 defensemen and seven goaltenders were invited to the event in HarborCenter.

Among fitness tests, the prospects were evaluated in various ways to showcase their abilities aside from meeting with some front-office staff members from NHL teams across the league.

The Top 10 prospects in each category range from doing pull-ups to the sought-after Wingate test.

Those one-on-one interactions for each NHL team were on June 5-9 while the invited prospects were in Buffalo.

Some of the Nashville Predators representatives were incoming general manager Barry Trotz, assistant GM and director of scouting Jeff Kealty, and chief amateur scout Tom Nolan. Nashville has the most picks (13) to utilize in the draft, their most since last hosting the event in 2003.

Around the NHL and National Hockey Now

As announced on June 9 the new F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tennessee will officially open on July 25 at 11 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony

“The Grand Opening celebration is set to ignite Clarksville with a whirlwind of festivities, fun, and unforgettable moments,” SS&E Vice President & General Manager Danny Butler said in a release. “This event isn’t just about a venue – it’s a highly anticipated celebration that will reverberate throughout our community.”

The new venue seats 6,000

-5,500 for basketball
-5,000 for hockey

Primary tenant is @GovsMBB & @GovsWBB *Garry Matthews Court*

— Nick Kieser 🏒 (@KieserNick) June 10, 2023

While the primary tenant is going to be Austin Peay State University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams — the potential for other events can take place inside the arena.

Ford Ice Center Clarksville will open as well on the grand opening from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Select guests may have the chance to win free 3ICE tickets on Aug. 2. The 3-on-3 ice hockey tournament — so far — sounds like the first hockey specific event in the new arena.

More info about the big day can be seen here.

Florida Hockey Now: The Florida Panthers trail 3-1 in the Stanley Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights. Forward Matthew Tkachuk has been a stalwart on offense for the Panthers. He’s been playing at the height of his game despite battling some injury along the way as playoff skaters often go through.

Florida is aiming to be the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to comeback from a 3-1 series deficit. That has been the only time a team down 3-0 came back to win the Stanley Cup.

Vegas Hockey Now: What’s the latest the Stanley Cup will be in the building on Tuesday back inside the fortress? Dan Kingerski has the notes from Game 4 as the Golden Knights are one win away from drinking from the prized chalice.

Calgary Hockey Now: There’s a new face behind the bench for the Calgary Flames after Darryl Sutter was relieved of his duties. Ryan Huska will be named the next Flames head coach today, after serving as an assistant in Calgary for the past five years.

Kevin Weekes reported it was a done deal on Friday after Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman declared Huska the Flames’ leading candidate during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter: @KieserNick

(Top Photo: Mike Augello of National Hockey Now)