Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Mid Week Musings - Tweetup Organizer Needed

As I followed along all the goings on at @dani3boyz's New York City NHL Tweetup on Tuesday night, I realized how much more interesting hockey fandom has become with folks who otherwise would have never met coming together to share the common interest they have as hockey fans.

The New York City event is even more unique in that fans of three bitter rivalry teams, the Rangers, Islanders and Devils, can bring fans together and co-exist over a few brews with nothing but a little trash talk to stand between them. Here is a picture and map from @speakofthedevs from where the event was held.

The first Nashville Tweetup event that was held in April was one of the more successful ventures across the country with at least 100 Predator Tweeters showing up and meeting each other face to face, for the first time for most. The Closing Bell Wall Street Pub had a good layout for folks to mix and mingle.

The second Tweetup venture at O'Charley's for the draft party, was a little less conducive for interaction with a different layout and less of a focus on the twitter crowd.

Our original Tweetup leader, George Scoville @stackiii is leaving town and we need new leadership to put together an event similar to the first one, sometime in the second half of August. That should be about halfway between the "Skate of the Union" and the opening of fall camp and would help stave off the pangs of #NHLwithdrawal.

Are their any volunteers to be Nashville's new NHLTweetup organizer? If so, it's time to step up and make yourself know.

In Pred Nation...

Brandon Felder tells the story of the one the Preds let get away in the free agent chase. For the kind of money that was discussed, there are several others that are still on the market that could be had.

Forechecker had a poll on whether the Preds should pursue Vinny Prospal who was bought out by Tampa on Tuesday. The results were not surprising since no one is spending their own money. Dirk's Breakfast Links for Wednesday are here.

What about Jan Hlavac? He played in Europe last year after the Predators did not re-sign him after the 2007-08 season. He produced at a point a game pace in the SEL and seemed to fit into Trotz's system well, playing on the top lines down the stretch two years ago.

Jim Diamond discusses Shea Weber and whether he will be one of the leagues highest paid players when his contract comes up again in two years. Will the Preds be willing to pay that much?

Paul McCann follows the vulture, Jim Ballsillie's travels to Chicago for today's meeting with the NHL.

John Glennon wrote about several topics at Inside Predators, leading off with the high expectations of David Legwand and Mary Erat this season.

The Milwaukee Admirals announced a new web site make-over prior to the season starting in October.

Which player from Nashville is likely to get in the Hockey Hall of Fame? This piece has a list for every team.

Around the NHL...

Tuesday's highlight for me was Ryan at the RedLightDistrict's handiwork that is a plan for visiting all thirty NHL hockey rinks in 30 days. He has routing and pricing information for a month-long journey that would start the day after Christmas. The post had not been up 10 minutes before the Section303 guys were looking for a sponsor to take on the challenge.

The US Hockey Hall of Fame announced this year's inductees that included Tony Amonte, Tom Barrasso, John LeClair and the late Frank Zamboni, creator of the iconic surface machine.

Not that I want the Coyotes to leave Phoenix, but as long as weird proposals are being made, The Puck Report has a suggestion that sounds really off the wall at first but would produce some interesting results while allowing cities to "try out" for a permanent franchise.

The AZ Republic adds some points that would go against the traveling circus that Ice Edge wants to employ as part of their Coyote purchase agreement. Their meeting with the NHL is today in Chicago.

This must be the week for interesting long posts. Defending Big D has a round table interview with Puck Daddy, Dallas Beat Writer Mike Heika, and radio host Bob Sturm about journalism and the new media. The second half of the discussion is fresh this morning. This is one of the best comprehensive looks at traditional vs. new media to come down the pike yet. This is the second major "must read" articles coming on the heels of Tripp Mickle's Boots DelBiaggio expose on Monday.

Craig Custance has a line up of the teams most likely to make the playoffs in the coming season that missed last year. He's not hopeful for the Preds, but doesn't advise betting against them either.

The Hockey News has a glowing report on the St Louis Blues who will be one of the teams the Preds need to get past in the Central division to return to the playoffs.

Ex-Predator defenseman, Andy Delmore signed a contract with Detroit on Tuesday. He was one of the more successful offensive D-men for the Preds in the pre-playoff years. I would have thought he would be older than 32 at this time.

Mirtle had an interesting post of just what each NHL team cost at the last sale.

Off topic... This is now designated as Chaco Culture week with a story about a Chacoan outlier community at Chimney Rock that only lasted about fifty years.

More later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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