Hump Day Highlights

Jackson got his copy of NHL 10 last night and I've never been much of a gamer but I was really fascinated by all the stuff that could be done with the new game. Jackson invites everyone to look for his gamertag which is Oakez as he appears always ready for a game.

In a rare bit of advance planning, we already have our guests lined up for the next two Monday editions of POTG Radio. With the next big planning and zoning meeting regarding the Lighthouse Project set for next Tuesday, we will have Nick Giglia from Let There Be Light(house) on to give us the latest update on Monday night.

We will also have the long awaited POTG debut of Katrina Cady, the Psycho Puck Lady from Psycho Lady Hockey. Anyone who has read her material at the site will be intrigued to see what Katrina is like live. I am looking forward to finding out more about the wit and wisdom that has created such an exceptional site.

On Jackson's birthday on the 28th, we will have Launy "The" Schwartz from Hockey54.com on to make a special announcement and Ryan from The Red Light District to help with our Predator and Western Conference Previews.

In Pred Nation...

If you every were going to choose a day to play hooky and catch the Pred's practice, today would be a good time to do that. At 10:00 at the Centenial Sportsplex, the Preds will play an inter squad game between the Blue and Silver groups. My money goes on the team that has Pekka and the Pred's first line of Sully, Arnie and JP.

The Predators released their FSTN television schedule on Tuesday which looks similar to last year's schedule.

The Predator rookie team avenged Monday's loss to the Thrashers with a 3-0 win on Tuesday. Colin Wilson, Nick Spaling and Taylor Beck each had a goals. Chet Pickard and Jeremy Smith combined for a shutout and also won in the shoot out that went eight deep. Ben Wright at Blueland had a live blog during the game and video afterwards.

In the two game series Colin Wilson and Nick Spaling each had two goals and an assist in the series while Taylor Beck had a goal and two helpers.

Back in Nashville, Jeremy at Section 303 and Rachel at What the Puck have the rest of the Pred's camp activities covered with full updates. Rachel has an interview with Jerred Smithson who has been a standout so far in camp.

John Glennon continues his stellar camp coverage at Inside Preds with a wide variety of news including Colin Wilson's Sommet debut on Thursday. This morning he has a nice piece about Mike Santorelli having a good shot at the wing slot on the second line as well as a notes column. Also a piece on five questions with Jason Arnot who is not big on Twitter.

Forechecker has an extensive analysis of the Predator's posibilities for dealing for Phil Kessel.

Our friend Ryan from the Red Light District is set to have his Predators Preview up today that is part of his 30 in 30 piece. Ryan previewed the Eastern Conference with us on POTG Radio and we are scheduled for the Western Conference on the 28th.

Jim Diamond has an excellent piece on what Barry Trotz is thinking about who to play in the upcoming three games. He also has five questions with Dan Ellis.

Jennifer at Addicted is excited that the puck drops tomorrow and adds her thoughts.

David Boclair at The City Paper has a story about Hugh Jessiman who he says is the only first rounder from 2003 that has yet to play an NHL game.

Big Tex at On Goal Analysis has a fairly extensive season preview of the Preds.

Brandon Felder checked in on Twitter last night with his latest take on Phil Kessel. @brandon_felder: "Talked to my best source re Kessel. Sounds like Rads rights & Blum r being bandied about. Also that Phil DOES like NSH & friends with Suter". Brandon later tweeted "Also should add, contrary to what my friend @eklund heard, I'm not convinced there's a deadline tomorrow from what my source says" and "Blum may be the center piece from what I've heard. Tough to part with".

Since I'm compiling Tweets, here is another good one from PA man Paul McCann, @PredPAPaul: "Just got a copy of the Game Script for Thursday... man am I ready for some hockey"!!

A belated Happy Birthday to new Predator marketing guru Derek Perez who celebrated his first birthday in Nashville on Tuesday.

Around the NHL...

We received a Press Release from B. D. Galloff that the new Hockey Independent web site will launch today. From the Press release:

We have over 50 bloggers. Initial coverage will be strong for the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Chicago Blackhawks, with at least 5 bloggers each, but HockeyIndependent strives to provide that same level of coverage for all 30 teams. The bloggers are a mix of experience: some credentialed with teams, some established bloggers looking to expand their audience, and some new people, prominent commenters or knowledgeable fans, who are ready to cross the chasm into mainstream blogging. They range from journalism graduates & current students, journalists in-the-field, former coaches, former scouts, and regular hockey fans, but they are united in their passion for hockey and commitment to good coverage.

Longtime Boston Broadcaster Fred Cusick passed away yesterday at the age of 90. ESPN has the AP story.

In Phoenix, the Gretzky-less Coyotes won their preseason opener against the Kings 4-2 in front of a couple of thousand folks. The bankruptcy itself is killing the interest in all but a few diehards. A solution needs to come soon so folks will have a reason to go support their team.

Alan Bass at Inside Hockey has a Central Division Preview and has the Preds buried deep as most folks do that don't realize the Predators potential.

Tyler at NHL Digest writes about Blackstone Sports Flat Botton V technology. We first heard about this from Steve Wilson on a POTG Radio show a couple of months ago. Last weekend, I talked to Wade Belak about it and he was a big fan of the technology.

Here's something that I wasn't aware of from Atlanta's @BenThrashers: "Waddell reminds fans that players on a 1 year deal who are pending UFAs can't talk contract extensions until January 1".

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass