As Scott Darling makes save after save in Round 1 of the playoffs for the Chicago Blackhawks, the Nashville Predators must feel horrified.
Darling, the Blackhawks backup who has won both games for Chicago in its first series against Nashville, was essentially created by the Predators.
Last season, Darling, 26, sort of entered the Predators organization on an American Hockey League contract, first with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, and then with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals – both affiliates of the Predators.
While he wasn’t brought into Nashville with the Predators, he worked with then-Nashville goaltending coach Mitch Korn and Admirals netminder coach Ben Vanderklok.