Weekend Wanderings

Good Saturday evening. I am a little late getting POTG together today as I have spent the better part of the day working on a story for The Daily Herald on the history of the Oakes Trophy. I will post the complete story at some point, but in short, it is a trophy that was started by my grandfather in 1945 that annually goes to the top citizen/athlete at Columbia Central high.

Later tonight, I will make an appearance on the SportsTalkSoup BTR Radio show tonight at 10:10 CDT to talk about the NHL playoffs.

In commemoration of the start of the Conference finals, I will release our predictions before the game on Sunday.

With no playoff games until Sunday and none on Friday we will move right in to the news of the day. This is what it will be like every day starting about mid-July, I assume.

In Predator News...

The coming out party for Pred prospect, Colin Wilson will be Sunday after noon from 2:00 to 5:00 at the Sommet Center during the Pred's open house. More detail here.

The Latest edition of 303:30 from Section 303 debuted today ayt 3:03 PM and I had the podcast rolling by 3:05. Puck Daddy is the guest and it's another great show from Jeremy and Codey.

Forechecker has a couple of new stories including a wrap up of Boot's DelBiaggio's plea and the discussion that Phoenix may now move to Winnipeg or Las Vegas. Gary Bettman is now covering his bases by moving in to the ABB mode (Anybody But Balsillie).

Mark at The View from 111 has his picks for the Conference finals along with a wrap up of the second round. Other friends picks include Mark Manning with the Hawks in 6, Pens in 7, while Dustin Morley went with Wings in 6 and Pens in 6. Mirtle has his here. The complete breakdown, as always, is at the RedLightDistrict.

Around the League...

In Phoenix, approximately 500 Coyote supported appeared at the first Save The Coyotes rally all decked out in white. With only a few days to put the rally together, it has to be considered a major success for the coalition that has formed to raise awareness of the team's need for more support.

I also received a very charming email from Jim Balsillie, himself, where in addition to wishing me a happy Victoria Day holiday weekend, he is agreeing to remove the "scheduling impediment... and leave the team in Phoenix for one additional season." If you think the attendance was bad before, this would virtually guarantee an empty house next year. The Preds had the same "offer" too at one point.

The Memorial Cup got underway Friday night Kelowna besting the host Rimouski by a 4-1 score. Drummondville beat Windsor earlier today 3-2 in OT. Play continues through May 24 and is available on the NHL Network in the US.

Sad news today that Ex-Predator and playoff hero, Scott Walker, found out this week that his wife, Julie has cervical cancer. A full recovery is expected. What a roller coaster week for Scotty. First, he punched Aaron Ward in what has to be the low point in his career. Then, he scored the GWG for the Hurricanes which had to be the highlight of his career and now this. Our thoughts and prayers go to Scotty, his wife, and their family.

To wrap up the Bruins season, For Puck's Sake has the final story and good-byes.

Predictions tomorrow...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass