Tuesday, September 21, 2010

POTG Podcast with Rob Higgins, Predators' Camp Round-Up, and Tuesday Tidbits

Last night's POTG Radio show with Rob Higgins was one of the more interesting shows that we have had in a while.

Rarely, do you meet someone who has followed their passion to make a career of it. Rob, however, has followed two of his passions, hockey and music, to be blessed with a duel career that most folks could only dream about.

His recently released book, Hockey Fantasy Index, rose to the best seller list in Canada a week after its release. Destined to be an annual publication for years to come, Rob has put together a masterpiece in his first year that is hard to put down. While fantasy is the focus, there is plenty for anyone that enjoys hockey.

During the show we also discussed Rob's music career that led him to his current gig as head of the Canadian rock band, Dearly Beloved. He was attracted to music and hockey as a very young guy and has followed both with passion that results in quality work.

Please give the show a listen and I'm sure that you will enjoy hearing Rob's story and his interest in Nashville and the Predators. You can click on the player below or download the show at iTunes.

Listen to internet radio with PredsOnTheGlass on Blog Talk Radio

Programming Note...

Today at Noon Central, I will co-host Ryan Porth's RLD Hockey Talk with ESPN's E.J. Hradek and Adrian Dater from the Denver Post. The main focus will be previews of the Atlantic and Northwest Divisions.

In Pred Nation...

In breaking news last night, Jeremy Gover at Section 303 revealed that 102.9 The Buzz would become the Predators' flagship station this season. Tom Callahan has Tweeted yesterday that an official announcement would come today.

Predators.com has video of Barry Trotz's post scrimmage scrum from Monday. They also have video highlights from the scrimmage. Jay Levin has a blog from the game.

Roman Josi's injury is worse than expected as Josh Cooper reports that he sustained a broken left wrist and will be out 4-6 weeks. Josh also catches up with Aaron Johnson and has a story about Ryan Parent's return. Josh also points out how experience (age) helps in the goaltender battle.

Ryan Porth looks at the back-up goalie slot in Nashville. The team officially is confident that one of the four prospects will take the slot but that was not evident over the weekend. Paging Jose Theadore?

Jim Diamond caught up with Joel Ward who looks healthy and is ready to have a good season this year.

Brandon Felder explains what his role will be for the coming season in the Nashville hockey writer community. This is a very thoughtful and classy post where Brandon explains that he is taking a step away from the team due to life's other duties. I would like to publicly thank Brandon for his help over the last couple of years where he was the veteran and I was the rookie. There may need to be a special empty seat for the opening night post game presser where Brandon used to sit as a tribute to his opening the doors for the Nashville new media community.

Amanda at Predlines analyzes who is ready to make the jump to the NHL and has her weekly Central Division shakedown.

Jas Faulkner starts with the letter "H" for hope which is running rampant among Pred nation.

AJ was back in camp on Monday and has his Tuesday AJenda.

On the Forecheck has Colin Wilson's season preview.

Jeremy at Section 303 has three minutes with Wade Belak. He actually looked much better than you would expect at camp over the weekend.

David Boclair talks about comebacks, Ryan Parent and Jonas Andersson, that is.

Tom Callahan is back at Preds Prowl with a few observations from camp.

From Milwaukee, Aaron Sims reports on what he has heard from Ads head coach Ian Herbers. That is a roundabout way to get an insider's view of camp.

Paul McCann has a round-up of stories at HockeyBuzz.

Rachel at What The Puck chips in with her impressions of camp so far.

Ex- Admiral's Short Shifter Ryan Miller is now back in a new format at Admirals Roundtable.

Around the NHL...

With preseason games starting today, the NHL released a clarification memo and video on the new blind-side, head-shot rules. Several examples are given that make it clear what the rule is targeting. Low hits to the knee are also covered. The head shot on Linus Klasen in Florida last week could have been the poster child.

Ken Campbell reports that NHL officials will start working preseason games tonight without a new contract.

Ex-Predator front office man, Ray Shero, has been given a five year extension by the Pittsburgh Penguins. His years under Preds' GM David Poile were great preparation for what he has done with the Pens.

Dan Bickley at the Arizona Republic hopes that the Coyote saga is coming to an end soon, for everyone's sake.

Adrian Dater picks five players that will get off to a quick start.

Columbus goalie, Steve Mason signed a new 2-year deal that will pay $2.6 million next season and $3.2 in 2012-13 for a cap hit of $2.9 million. If he doesn't turn it around this year, this will look like a poor decision.

Andy Strickland has moved to his own site at TrueHockey.com.

NHL Network will air 16 live preseason games and a bunch more on tale. Don't get excited Pred fans, Nashville is not included in the list. There is a triple-header of games tonight starting with New Jersey and Philadelphia in the live game.

The Hockey Writers look at the growing list of training camp injuries.

Sportsnet.ca has the origins of all thirty NHL Teams' nicknames. Great for trivia night.

Sometimes Ohio State isn't the first college hockey team that you would think of as a national power, but they have 15 former players in NHL camps.

Alexander Ovechkin was crushed by a Washington fantasy player not taking him as the first pick.

Odds and Ends...


The Nashville RollerGirls are calling all ladies to Derby 101 on October 17 at high noon.

It appears that Facebook is building a phone. With all the fumbles they have had with settings and security breaches, do you really want one of their phones?

Here's an interesting comparison from the marketing angle of Twitter and Facebook brand loyalty.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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