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          Cross Checks Blog

          Rumblings: Preds' Pekka Rinne says All-Star changes good for game

          Pekka Rinne has been a Vezina Trophy finalist in three of the past five seasons. Nick Lust/NHLI via Getty Images
          • Pierre LeBrun, ESPN Senior WriterNov 24, 2015, 12:42 PM ET
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            • Covers the NHL for ESPN.com and TSN in Canada
            • Six years on the "Hockey Night In Canada" Hotstove panel
            • 13 years at The Canadian Press national news agency
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          Given that his team is hosting All-Star weekend, Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne is in a tough spot when it comes to commenting on the new 3-on-3 format.

          He’s happy for the change, because the old All-Star Game was lame, but he’s a goalie.

          "I think in any given situation in All-Star Games, the goalies are probably the only guys that don’t want to get embarrassed and they’re actually working hard," Rinne chuckled over the phone last week. "But I think any change is good for the game. The skills competition and everything like that is great for the fans and the guys, too, being able to express themselves; but the game itself was not great and everyone knows that. It’s going to be interesting how the 3-on-3 mini-tournament goes. Change is good. But for sure there will be a lot of scoring chances in 3-on-3; at least for the fans it will be exciting."

          Rinne isn’t presuming to be selected among the All-Stars, although it would be crazy if he wasn’t. Just how the 3-on-3 ends up working is anyone’s guess, said the Finnish star.

          "To be honest with you, who knows what to expect, but it’s pretty cool Nashville gets to be the first city and first team to try out the new format," he said.

          Predators' offense

          What to make of the Predators?

          They scored seven goals twice in a week but now have been shut out three straight games.

          Of course Predators general manager David Poile is concerned with the sudden offensive struggles but he’s not phoning 29 other teams looking for an immediate fix.

          "I like our team," Poile said Tuesday over the phone. "I think our forwards are fine. Could we be better? Sure, everybody is always looking to improve. Right now we have some guys that are a little snake-bit, Filip Forsberg only has two goals and Colin Wilson only has one goal, our production is down a little bit.

          "But when you score seven goals twice in a week you know it’s there. We just need to get a little bit more consistency."

          All things being equal, however, I do think if Poile is going to do anything prior to the Feb. 29 trade deadline, it will indeed be up front, no question about it.