Tuesday, May 31, 2011

POTG Holiday Weekend Wrap-Up, News, and Links

Welcome back to the start of a short work week. I did something that I rarely do over the weekend. After Friday's fantastic game seven when Boston got past the Lightning, for the most part I stayed completely away from the internet and Twitter until last night.

Between dealing with all the tragedy from the Missouri storms at work and not taking a break at all during the hockey season, it was good to step away from the keyboard and watch a few movies and take a break from the real world for the holiday weekend. I also have been recovering from ehrlichiosis that I got from a tick.

June is going to be a busy month with the Stanley Cup Finals on TV, trips to the NHL Awards in Las Vegas and to the Entry Draft in Minneapolis as well as some unplanned work travel so it was good to get a bit of a breather. Also, it looks like today will be the day the Thrashers officially move to Winnipeg.

When the Preds lost to Vancouver, I lost a bet to the guys at Pucked in the Head and sent a package of local items to them and I got to see a few of them in use in this picture of Jason Kurylo's daughter decked out in Pred gear. They were such good sports that I'm receiving goodies in return. Vancouver fans as a whole were very gracious winners when they got past the Preds.

Make the jump for the weekend round up...


Programming note...
Today at Noon Central Ryan Porth will present the Stanley Cup Finals Preview edition of RLD Hockey Talk Radio. Special guest will be Joe Yerdon from NBC Pro Hockey Talk. I'm pretty firm in my pick for the winner so it will be interesting to see what the other guys have to say.

In Pred Nation...

The biggest news for the Predators over the weekend was top Preds defensive prospect Ryan Ellis winning both the CHL player of the year and the CHL Defenseman of the year and the awards presentation at the Memorial Cup on Saturday. You can see a video of Ellis speaking here.

Even though I was taking a break for the weekend, I showed up at On The Forecheck doing a guest piece grading Shane O'Brien. Amanda DiPaolo did the grade on David Legwand while Chris Burton looked at Chris Mueller. Dirk gives the grade to Anders Linback also.

Bryan Mullen caught up with Blake Geoffrion to reflect on his "wow" season.

Jerred Smithson is enjoying being a fan at this point but takes time to reflect back on the past season in The Vernon Morning Star.

Dirk Hoag was on target with the number one moment of the Preds season when Blake Geoffrion had his hat trick in Buffalo. We'll have more on Barry Trotz's thoughts on his top moment in the next week or so.

If you are not a fan of Josh Sacco (The Miracle speech kid) on Facebook, you should go to his page now and "Like" him. He is really a neat kid. Hopefully, we'll catch up with him again this summer for a story.

Mark Willoughby had a good Memorial Day Tribute yesterday.

Hockey's Future looks at the talent on the farm in Milwaukee.

Robby Stanley reviews the missing season for Matt Lombardi.

Sam Page does an extensive review of David Legwand's value to the Predators.

Stanley Cup Finals...

The most unbelievable story of the finals so far is that Manny Malhotra could play in game one of the finals.

The Hockey News was the first to have a breakdown of the finals up early Saturday after the last participant was decided Friday night.

NHL.com also gives their synopsis of the finals and also has a complete breakdown.

Ryan Porth has the list for possible Conn Smythe winners down to five players.

Mark Willoughby reviews past picks and chooses the winner for the finals.

Atlanta to Winnipeg...

This morning TSN says that True North has called a 11 a.m. CDT press conference to address the status of negotiations. Sounds like it will be more than that.

Be watching out today as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that the Atlanta owners are working out final details of the sale.

The CBC is expecting an announcement today. Nick Kypreos said on Twitter that 10 AM today is a possibility.

Be watching Illegal Curve all day today for the latest breaking news.


Around the NHL...

Binghamton and Houston split the first two games of the Calder Cup finals and will move to Binghamton tomorrow for game three.

St John won the Memorial Cup this year in a tournament that didn't have the big names of recent years in the final four.

Ex-Pred Ryan Jones got a new two-year contract in Edmonton.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins told Adrian Dater that he would love to come to Colorado. I'm sure the Avs would like that too.

The NHL combine is underway and NHL.com has all the latest news.

View from My Seats previews the Vezina Award and have a little love for Pekka Rinne.

The Sports Business Journal as a detailed story about high tech marketing to get folks in the arenas.

As much as we don't trust Forbes monetary estimates of teams, they have a story on attendance figure lies.

Versus had great viewership numbers for Friday's game seven per Steve Lapore.

Odds and Ends...

The final space shuttle launch will be on July 8. The Kennedy Space Center is doing a lottery for tickets to see the launch as close as you can get anywhere. It is free to sign up so you might as well take a shot at tickets.

Horse-racing in Prescott, Arizona came to an end after a 98 year run when Yavapai Downs closed on the day the racing season was supposed to begin.

Edible medical Marijuana is becoming a new niche in the pot treatment field.

A plane overshot the runway in Sedona, Arizona which is not good considering it is on the top of a flat butte with steep slopes at the end of the landing zone.

A good friend and excellent teacher at Columbia State Community College, Aubrey Flagg won the First Farmers Bank Achievement Award. Aubrey was my adviser when I was at C-State and sent me on the path I am on today.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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