Monday, September 7, 2009

Labor Day Weekend Wrap-up and POTG Radio Tonight

After the long Labor Day weekend, things in the Hockey world should really pick up steam both on and off the ice this week.

Eight teams have already started playing rookie games in Traverse City, Michigan in a tournament that has become more popular over the years as it is usually the first live hockey action of the season. Hockey's Future will have complete coverage all week. Most every other team's rookies begin in the next day or two with team's full camps opening by this weekend.

Off the ice, things continue to fester in Phoenix as two days of hearings are set for Thursday and Friday.

Tonight on POTG Radio, we will be joined by Travis Hair of Five for Howling and hopefully also by The Yotes Diva, Heather McWhorter. They are both dedicated Coyote fans and excellent writers that have followed every step of the legal action and can give insight from an insider's view that you won't hear elsewhere.

I realize a lot of folks are ready for resolution in the situation, and no one is more ready than the Phoenix season ticket holders. Tune in to the show this evening or on podcast after the completion to get the latest on this weeks hearings.

Listen to PredsOnTheGlass on internet talk radio

In the Desert...

The NHL finally came up with a couple of expert opinions of how much a relocation fee to Hamilton is worth and placed the figure at $101 to 195 million. This is considerably more than the 11.2 -12.9 figure that Ballsillie's camp projected. Mirtle has his complete analysis here.

Ice Edge Holdings has continued to compete in the bid process and completed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Glendale. There is a City Counsel meeting on Tue that could get interesting where all the potential bidders will be discussed.

In a filing by Jerry Moyes, he objects to everyone but PSE. Imagine that! Judge Baum was set to spend the weekend mulling over thousands of pages of documents in preparation for this week's hearing.

Another kink is that the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs pairing off over who has the final say on teritorial rights. As Mirtle points out, it can be read either way in the constitution.

In Pred Nation...

If you missed it over the long weekend, I posted the Pred's Practice schedule that begins with public sessions on Wednesday with the rookies.

I would like to thank Mark at The View from 111 and Michell Kenneth for kind words wishing my wife Cathy a speedy recovery in the middle of their recent posts. Michelle also takes a look at the Devil's season prospects at Inside Hockey.

Dirk the Forechecker is on a cruise in the Caribbean but rallied his fellow bloggers to contribute thoughts to his site this week. First up today is Brandon Felder from Hockey Buzz. I'm looking forward to this series in spite of our participation.

John Glennon at the Tennessean has has several stories since we last checked in including one today on the first player ever taken in the NHL Draft from the state of Alabama. He has also logged stories about the Pred's grinder line and the PowerPlay and Penalty Kill.

The Pred Blog world grew by one over the weekend, when Pred's Addict Jennifer started the Addicted Blog. Everyone should give her support as she starts her new venture.

Mirtle has good things to say about the Preds in an article today about the worsening situation in Tampa.

Ryan at the RedLight District, Paul McCann at Hockey Buzz, and Tim Rosenthal at Rosie's Hockey are all are previewing a team a day this month as we move closer to opening day.

In an ongoing trend of disrespect, The Sporting News picked the Preds to finish 26th.

From section303.com comes a new edition of the 303:30 @cellblock303: The O'Reilly re-signing, Chelios as a Pred & special guest comedian Mike Birbiglia (@birbigs) on The 303:30 THIS Saturday!

The Nashville Examiner's Jim Diamond contributes to the NHL Examiner's NHL preview series with a take on the Preds.

Dobber Hockey has a good analysis of AHL to NHL transitions that includes Cal O'Reilly as a case in point.

Alan Bass has the Preds as a "borderline" playoff team in his season preview at Inside Hockey.

Around the NHL...

Tyler at NHL Digest put together a calendar of epic proportions that has the birthday of every player that has played in the NHL. Even better, if you click on their name, you get a link to a map of their hometown. Being an ex-Geography major, I could spend days looking a this thing.

Matt Reitz from View from My Seats finished his week of team by team projections on Saturday. Follow the link to get to the final installment. It was an absolutely incredible endeavor to get folks from every team in the NHL to contribute to this project. Matt need to receive praise from all for his work a coordinating such a tough piece.

The Psycho Puck Lady discusses her marriage with hockey and turbulent times.

In a Football vs Hockey debate, Tim Rosenthal asks which sucker punch was worse. He posts videos of both for comparison's sake.

The Bruins Blog discusses the possibility that the Leafs are gearing up to make a move on Phil Kessel. Puck Daddy also covers the story.

In Women's hockey, Team USA beat Canada 2-1 to take the Canada Cup. The game was played at GM Place in Vancouver which will be the home of Olympic Hockey in February.

Two Line Pass at Puck Daddy has a round up of odd training cam invitees. No one ion the Pred's camp gets the odd nod.

Lyle Richardson of Spector's has his "legitimate" rumor roundup at The Hockey News. Heatley, Comrie and Kessel are in the mix.

From InGoal Magazine, ten goalie stories from the off season. This is a good list.

The New York Times ran a piece on Chris Botta and the demise of Islander's Point Blank. It is rare for a newspaper, especially the New York Times, to write about a sports blog.

Also, it's never too early for Memorial Cup predictions from Nathan Fournier at The Program. He expects Ryan Ellis's Windsor Spitfires to make it to the finals once again.

The Edmonton Sun has thirty questions for thirty teams today. Some are pretty good.

Finally, a bit of Chaco news in that the Campground is reopening well ahead of schedule.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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