Sunday, May 30, 2010

Hawks Win Unusual Opener and Weekend Round-Up

After looking through a ton of projections, predictions and analysis of what to expect from the Blackhawks and Flyers Stanly Cup Finals series, I don't recall anyone saying that game one would be a wide open 6-5 game that would look like something you would expect to see in mid-October.

The game was the perfect opener for NBC and Gary Bettman who wanted to attract non-fans for the remaining games. Having ten goals scored in the first two periods provided enough action even for a casual fan that normally claims that there's not enough scoring.

The third period was more typical of what you would expect to see in a game in the finals. Thomas Kopecky's game winner 8:21 int the period was the difference in the Hawks 6-5 victory. Kopecky had been scratched the last five games and played only because of an injury to Andrew Ladd.

Most of the scoring for both teams came from lesser known players with Patric Sharp and Danny Briere being the only "name" players to score. Briere also had three assists for the Flyers. Troy Brouwer was another hero for the Hawks, scoring twice.

The much ballyhooed match between Chris Pronger and Dustin Byfuglien was a non-factor other than Byfuglien leading all players in hits with 10.

The Marion Hossa "curse" also did not come in to play as Hossa played a solid two-way game and had two assists.

Game two will be Monday at 7:00 p.m. on NBC. I expect to see a totally different contest with the teams more focused on defense. Both teams will try to slow down play in the neutral zone and push play to the boards and into the corners.

It is unclear if the Flyers will start Michael Leighton or Brian Boucher who came in after Leighton gave up five goals on 20 shots. Boucher played better giving up one goal on 12 shots and may be called on to star game two, especially if Leighton's confidence level is down after being pulled.

One thing became clear in game one. The Flyers can be competitive with the Hawks and could push this to six or seven games if they can win game two. Game one was not what anyone expected but it still goes in the books with Chicago leading 1-0 in the seven game series.

Special Thanks...

I'd like to give a special thanks to Charter Cable and Columbia Power for their quick response to getting the power and cable lines restored after a freak storm knocked down the lines in my yard on Friday night. The Power company was on the scene within an hour and the cable/Internet was only off for 19 hours. I consider that excellent response on a holiday weekend that allowed us to watch game one last night.

Programming Note...

We will not have a POTG Radio tomorrow as it would fall at the same time as Game two of the Finals. We will return next Monday with a special Nashville Flood Relief Tweet-up Edition live from the Tin Roof. If you are really dying to hear POTG Radio, check out our archive of 63 episodes at iTunes.

In Pred Nation...

Bryan Mullen of the Tennessean sits down with Bary Trotz to get the coach's breakdown of the Hawks-Flyers series.

Buried at the end of this article is a note that the NHL GM of the Year ward in which David Poile is a finalists, will be announced Wednesday.

Mark Willoughby has a great piece on the drama playing out in the sale of the Texas Rangers and the "best interest" clause that may be invoked that could decimate future financing for sports franchises. The big issue will be whether a short term solution will lead to long term problems in the industry.

Ryan Porth looks at the Predator's forwards for next season.

Big Kev goes through the Predator free agents on defense.

Around the NHL...


Steve Lepore has the game one overnight ratings news for NBC. it was the best in eleven years.

Puck Daddy gives his readers their marching orders on how to improve ratings during the Stanley Cup Finals.

From the Point reports that Sidney Crosby will sign the biggest endorsement deal in the history of hockey.

Intent to Blow has the story behind the story of Pittsburgh getting the home ice for next season's Winter Classic.

Odds and Ends...

This time lapse video of the Gulf oil splill is a little confusing due to clouds cover at times but I guess it is the best that NASA has.

Like a lot of folks, I did not know that Seattle's Best was owned by Starbucks.

Which state has the least knowledgeable drivers. According to this survey, it is New York. i imagine part of that has to do with the fact that many urban dwellers do not drive.

Talk about the bottom falling out of the luxury housing market, a house formally owned by Cecil Fielder in Brevard County, Florida that was built for $4 million in the early 90's sold at auction for $1.16 million. The video with the story is interesting.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Friday, May 28, 2010

Predators sign Atte Engren to Two-Year Entry Level Contract

The Predators brought their sixth goalie under contract for next season when they signed Atte Engren to a two-year entry level contract.

The 22 year old Finnish goaltender was drafted in the 2007 NHL Entry draft and most recently played for TPS Turku in the Finnish Elete League where he was 7-1 in the post season.

Here is the full release from the Predators...


PREDATORS SIGN 2007 DRAFTEE ENGREN TO AN ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT

Nashville, Tenn. (May 28, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has signed 2008 draft pick Atte Engren (AH-tay EHN-grehn) to a two-year entry-level contract.


Engren, 22 (2/19/88), is fresh off backstopping TPS Turku to the 2010 Finnish Elite League (SM-Liiga) title. In his first appearance in the SM-Liiga Playoffs, the 6-1, 184-pound goaltender posted a 7-1 record, ranking fourth in postseason goals-against average (1.82) and fifth in save percentage (.936). In 35 regular-season appearances with TPS in 2009-10, Engren also ranked fourth in the Finnish League in save percentage (.921) and ninth in wins (21) after appearing in just six contests for the club in 2008-09.


The Rauma, Finland native was Nashville's ninth choice, 204th overall (seventh round), in 2007 Entry Draft.


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Officially Announce Roman Josi Signing

The Nashville Predators officially announced the signing of 19 year old defensive prospect Roman Josi to a high dollar three year entry level contract. According to Cap Geek, the cap hit would be $1 million a year including salary and bonuses for any time spent at the NHL level.

The Bern, Switzerland native, has played in numerous international competitions and was scheduled to play for the Swiss Olympic team in Vancouver before suffering a hand injury. He is one of the Preds higher regarded prospects as indicated by the dollar value of the signing.

The signing first hit the Internet on Thursday at Swiss Hockey site Slapshot.ch.

Here is the official release from the Predators...

PREDATORS SIGN 2008 SECOND ROUNDER ROMAN JOSI

Nashville, Tenn. (May 28, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has signed 2008 second round draft pick Roman Josi (ROH-man YO-see) to a three-year entry-level contract.


Josi, 19 (6/1/90), helped SC Bern win both the Swiss League regular season and playoff titles in 2009-10. In Bern’s postseason run, the 6-1 198-pounder led all defensemen and tied for fourth overall in goals (6), in addition to ranking second at the position and tied for ninth among all skaters in points (13). During the 2009-10 regular season, Josi was limited to 26 of Bern’s 50 contests due to injury, but ranked second among Swiss blueliners in points per game (.81). In 2008-09, he led all Swiss League junior players in points (7), goals (17) and assists (24), and in 2007-08, Josi was one of just four 17-year-olds to play in Switzerland’s top division.


The 38th overall selection in 2008 also has a lengthy international play resume. The Bern, Switzerland native led Swiss defensemen in points (1g-2a-3pts) and plus/minus rating (+3) in seven games in his second appearance at the World Championships in May. He has also played three World Junior Championships and two U-18 World Championships. Josi was named to the Swiss team for the 2010 Olympics, but could not participate due to injury.


Josi will attend Predators training camp in September, and is expected to play his first North American season in 2010-11.


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Stanley Cup Finals Picks and Friday Round-Up

The last two days we have discussed the strengths of each team in the Finals and how either could win the Stanley Cup. On Wednesday, we looked at how the Flyers could win and yesterday we looked at the same thing with the Hawks.

Today we will put it on the line with our choices. Based on our track record, I'm not sure you should head to Vegas with our picks. In the first round, I was 3-5 while Jackson was 4-4. We were each 1-3 in the second round as I had Chicago as my lone winner and Jackson had San Jose. In the Conference Finals, we each picked both winners.

Buddy's Pick...

In the preseason, I had the Philadelphia Flyers winning the Stanley Cup. I had Ray Emery with a good shot at the Masterton as they rolled over Anaheim in the finals. Most folks have forgotten Emery is even on the team but the core strength of the Flyers team that I held in high esteem is still present.

I thought that Chicago's goaltending would be their downfall as Christobal Huet was not up to the task. I was right about Huet but never saw the emergence of Antti Niemi on the horizon.

On paper, heading into the Finals, the teams appear similar. I do think that Chicago has the edge in speed, defense and depth. If Michael Leighton and Niemi continue to play as they have, they are probably a wash in goal. Philadelphia might have a slight edge in physicality but the Hawks will not be bothered by the Flyers grit.

I will not be totally shocked if Philadelphia wins the series, especially if a "hero" emerges and takes the team on a roll. I fully expect the Hawks to take the cup if they continue to play as they have. I see both teams splitting their first two home games and the Hawks winning game five and six. As for the Hawk's hero, Marian Hossa is going to put the past two years behind him and have a good series. Blackhawks in six

Jackson's Pick...

All the ingredients for a long, hard fought series are in place. Two gritty, 60 minute teams going at it at the big dance.

All year long, I said that the Stanley Cup Champion would be out of the Western Conference this year and I’m sticking to it.

At the start of the playoffs, Chicago’s main concerns were with Antti Niemi. As we sit here, a day away from game one of the finals, I think it’s safe to say that Niemi has been anything, but a concern.

Philadelphia? Same thing. Going with two back up goaltenders into the playoffs isn’t something you want to do. Not only did they adapt to the given circumstances, both goaltenders played lights out hockey for their club.

Offense obviously hasn’t been a problem for either of these teams throughout the playoffs. Chicago has a slight edge in Goals per Game with a 3.31 over Philly’s 3.18.

Both teams are in the top two in the GA/G column. Basically meaning we’ll be seeing a lot of low scoring, intense, to the buzzer games.

Without any ease, I’m going to take Chicago is seven.

Are your tired of History Will be Made? Try this...




In Pred Nation...

Seth Lake must read every foreign language hockey blog that there is on the Internet. On Monday, he found the story from Sweden about the Anders Lindback signing. Yesterday, he found the Swiss site that had the details of the Predators signing young defensive prospect Roman Josi. No official announcement from the Preds yet. Section 303 has a more English oriented story.

Tom Callahan has his thoughts on the upcoming Cup Finals.

Paul McCann has a few points about the Finals at HockeyBuzz.

David Boclair points out that the Predators lost to the eventual Western Conference Champs in their last two playoff appearances.

Mark Willoughby has his weekly My View at 111.

Jeremy Gover at Section 303 is very frustrated with the NHL for the alleged choice of Washington playing at Pittsburgh for next New Year's Day's Winter Classic.

The Milwaukee Admiral's Web site has the story of Kimmo Timonen playing for the Cup.

Around the NHL...

From @TSNBobMcKenzie: NHL will announce Friday what has previously been reported: Was vs Pit @ Heinz Field Jan. 1 and Mtl vs. Cgy at McMahon Stadium in mid-Feb.

Adrian Dater lauds the glory of the hardware that is the Stanley Cup.

TSN will have a live blog during the NHL combine today.

So why Chelsea Dagger?

Jon Jordan discusses potential coaches for Tampa Bay and tells what Rick Tocchet had to say about the Steve Yzerman hiring.

Is this year's Windsor Spitfires the best ever in Junior Hockey? Bob Duff looks at some of the best ever.

The city of Glendale actually coughed up $25 million into Coyotes escrow account. I can hear the Goldwater folks warming up for this one.

Michelle Kenneth analyzes the Ilya Kovalcuk situation in New Jersey.

Amanda Fortier analyzes the stages of elimination grief at VFMS.

Word has leaked that the teams of the International Hockey league will join the Central Hockey League to create the largest AA league in the US.

Freddy Charles explores the 1972 Summit Series.

Odds and Ends...

The Space Shuttle Atlantis completed a near perfect flight and may never fly again. Of all the billions of dollars wasted by the government, they get more "feel good" bang for the buck from the space program than anything else. Let's hope the program is extended until firm plans are in place to be able to service the ISS.

Industry week shares how Ford has prospered when other car makers are in deep trouble.

Being a Geography major, I love maps. Here are 10 interesting maps in one article.

The wizards at NOAA are scaring people with their hurricane forecasts to keep their funding level up.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Why The Hawks Could Win The Cup and Thursday Thoughts

Yesterday, we took a look at why the Philadelphia Flyers could win the Stanley Cup. Today, wee will look at at How the Chicago Blackhawks could win. Tomorrow, we will reveal our picks.

Chicago struggled in their first round series against the Nashville Predators but hit their stride in the second round against Vancouver. The conference final series against San Jose was near perfect.

Destiny: After the miracle finish in game five against the Predators when Patrick Kane scored short-handed with seconds left to tie the game and Marion Hossa scored coming out of the penalty box in OT, you knew that the hockey gods were smiling on the Hawks.

Western Conference Style of Play: Granted, the Flyers play tough and have speed of their own, but the Hawks are used to skating hard for 60 minutes along side other speedy teams from the West. I doubt that the Flyers will be able to completely slow them down.

Too Young to Crack: Patrick Kane said the team was too young to be nervous during the playoffs. With Kane being 21 and Captain Jonathan Toews at 22, all they know to do is win.

Pronger vs. Byfuglien: Big Buff has frustrated Roberto Luongo and Evgeni Nabokov so Chris Pronger will have to keep him away from the less experienced Michael Leighton or he will cause problems for the Flyers.

Road Warriors: The Hawks have won their last seven road games going back to game four in the opening series. If they win the first two at home, it will be a short series.

Goaltending: Before the playoffs, goaltending was the Hawks big question mark but Antti Niemi has responded going 12-4 with two shutouts and a 2.33 goals against average. He is playing like a seasoned veteran after three solid rounds.

Explosive Offense: The Hawks have many weapons with Jonathan Toews the odds on favorite for the Conn Smythe Trophy, Dustin Byfuglien scoring dirty goals in front of the net, and Patrick Kane, who I feel is the most dangerous player in the West with the puck on his stick. Toews is on a 13 game point streak and leads all playoff scorers with 26 points. The danger doesn’t stop there as all four lines can put the puck on net.

Defense: The Hawks top two pairings can match up with anyone in the league lead by Olympians Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith. Campbell, Sopel, and Hjalmarsson have also logged big minutes as the Hawks play deeper than the Flyers. No one has shown more heart than Duncan Keith who played after losing seven teeth.

Special Teams: All season long, the Hawks have been excellent on the penalty kill and rarely have to use it as they are a very disciplined team averaging 10.2 pims in the playoffs. Their power play has improved in the playoffs as they are scoring at a 22.6% clip.

X-Factor: On the Stanley Cup Finals losing teams the last two years, Marion Hossa may find renewed life against the Flyers. In his career, he has 8 goals and 14 assists in 16 games against Philadelphia. Could it be that he has played the wrong team the last two seasons?

Tomorrow, we will be back with our final predictions in a series that should provide fans with plenty of excitement.

AHL Finals Set...

The final match-up for the Calder Cup was set last night as the Texas Stars scored four unanswered goals to beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-2 at Copps Coliseum. Hamilton was ahead and seemed to be in control but Texas kept hanging close and finally went ahead and won the game.

The Bulldogs out played the Stars for most of the game and lead in the shot count 43-20. For the series, the Stars only lead for only 24:19 of the 446:11 total minutes.

The finals will pit the heavily favored Hershey Bears against the Stars and will not start for over a week. Here is the complete schedule:

2010 Calder Cup Finals (best-of-seven)

Game 1 – Thu., June 3 – Texas at Hershey, 7:00
Game 2 – Sat., June 5 – Texas at Hershey, 7:00
Game 3 – Mon., June 7 – Hershey at Texas, 8:30
Game 4 – Wed., June 9 – Hershey at Texas, 8:30
*Game 5 – Fri., June 11 – Hershey at Texas, 8:30
*Game 6 – Mon., June 14 – Texas at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 16 – Texas at Hershey, 7:00
*if necessary... All times Eastern

In Preds Nation...

Before the Tweep-Up event at the Tin Roof on June 7, Slap Shot Radio is doing a live remote and Stanley Cup watch party at the Vandy/Midtown Pie in the Sky Pizza on Wednesday June 2nd from 5pm - 9:30pm to raise awareness and money for Youth Incorporated's Inline Hockey program. Their rink in Bellevue was destroyed by the flooding. We will be having a silent auction and donations that will go directly to the rebuild effort. Rebuilding a rink is an expensive proposition, especially for a non-profit like Youth Inc. Their inline hockey program really drives up participation in youth ice hockey in middle Tennessee and continues to make new fans for the NHL and most especially, the Predators. Pete Weber and Paul McCann will be on hand along with a lot of other Pred fans. make plans to attend. AJ at PMFF has another post on the event.

The Predators officially announced the signing of Swedish goalie Anders Lindback on Wednesday. David Boclair spoke with Paul Fenton, who indicated that the Preds will probably enter camp in the Fall with Mark Dekanich being given a chance at the back-up role behind Pekka Rinne. Jay Levin has much more on the goalie pipeline at Predators.com.

Jim Diamond has details about the Predator's Dancers tryouts at the Examiner. On a more serious note, he also gives his thoughts on the finals with a bold prediction.

Jeremy at Section303 has the story of why the Hawks-Flyers series is good for the NHL.

Chris Burton at OnTheForcheck has Five Reasons to Root for the Hawks. The survey shows that most Pred fans are indeed, pulling for Chicago.

Around the NHL...

The NHL combine continues. News has been sparse but can be found at the NHL blog.

More details are out about the NHL's shakedown of the Glendale city council in the pay $25 million or lose the team deadline last week.

From @SBJSBD: NHL and NHLPA renew deal w/ Bridgestone Tires for 5 years; keeps company as league's official tire and as title sponsor of Winter Classic.

Pierre LeBrun looks at 10 Conn Smythe candidates heading into the final.

Steve Lapore reports that Chicago's ratings were better than San Jose's during the four game sweep. He also checks out all 30 team's ranks on Google

Matt Reitz analyzes who the fans of the the 28 teams not in the finals are pulling for.

Michelle Kenneth shows another side of Zack Parise as he encourages kids to read.

A very slow news day yesterday as the NHL replacing 30,000 disposable bags at the NHL Store in NY and at the two SCF arena shops was big news.

Odds and Ends...

SBD asks the obvious question, Will Meadowlands Super Bowl Lead To More Cold-Weather Sites? The Nashville Sports Authority ran a survey this week about Music City hosting a Super Bowl. Folks love visiting Nashville so why not LP Field.

If you are trained to be charismatic is it really charisma? I would think it would lead to some really poor acting.

In Canada, $930 million doesn't go as far as it used to.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Predators Officially Announce Anders Lindback Signing

The Lindback signing was announced in a Swedish newspaper on Monday. Here is the official release from the Predators...

PREDATORS SIGN 2008 SEVENTH-ROUND PICK ANDERS LINDBACK

Nashville, Tenn. (May 26, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has signed goaltender and 2008 draft pick Anders Lindback (AHN-dehrs LIND-bahck) to a two-year entry-level contract.


Lindback, 22 (5/3/88), spent his first full season as a starting netminder for Timra of the Swedish Elite League (Elitserian) in 2009-10. The 6-6, 205-pounder ranked fifth in the Elitserian in save percentage (.913) and sixth in goals-against average (2.46), while tying for fourth in the league in shutouts (4) last season. The tallest player ever drafted by the Predators, Lindback recently earned a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2010 World Championships, his first time representing his nation in international competition.


The Gavle native was Nashville's seventh choice, 207th overall (seventh round), in 2008 Entry Draft. He is expected to attend training camp in September and play his first North American season in 2010-11.


Here's a little more from Cap Geek about the signing.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Why The Flyers Could Win The Cup and Wednesday Wrap-Up

With three days before the Stanley Cup Finals begain on Saturday, we are going to take a look at how each team can win today and tomorrow then give our predictions on Friday.

First up, we will look at the Philadelphia Flyers who have soared through their last nine games, winning all but one. So what are some of the reasons why whey could win the Cup?

Destiny: The team has had a storybook tale ever since clinching a playoff berth in a shootout on the last day of the season. They handled the Devils with little trouble. They won four in a row to come back from an 0-3 deficit against the Bruins for the first time in 35 years. Then they beat a Habs team that had a couple of miracles to their own credit.

Chris Pronger: Whether you like the big guy or not, he comes alive when the playoffs start. His teams have made the playoffs every season since 1996. He has 116 points in 164 playoff games. He won a ring in 2007 with the Ducks and fell one game short with the Oilers the year before.

Goaltending: Since his return, when Brian Boucher went down in the second round, Michael Leighton is 6-1 with a .948 save percentage and a 1.45 goals against average. He had three shutouts in the four wins against the Habs.

Scoring Power: The Flyers have several folks that have been contributing in the playoffs. Mike Richards has 21 points. Danny Briere has four game winning goals. Claude Giroux has really come into his own in the post season. Simon Gagne and a host of others have taken turns scoring key goals and making the big play.

Defense: The Flyers will have one of two of the best D-men in hockey on the ice almost the whole game in Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen. In key situations they each have pushed 30 minutes in ice time. Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn have been good line mates for the top two.

Special Teams: In the playoffs, the Flyers have 17 power play goals to lead all teams. They also are second on the penalty kill with a 87% success rate which has been needed since they have been hit with 193 pims, the second most in the post season.

Toughness: This year’s version of the Flyers has put the bully back in Broad Street. They aren’t afraid to hit and play with grit through out the entire line up. During the regular season, the Flyers had four players with over 100 pims.

Hossa is on the Opponent ;) Although there is nothing to it I’m sure, Marion Hossa is appearing in his third finals in three years and is yet to win the cup.

X-Factor: Both the Flyers and the Hawks are loaded on the top two lines so the difference may come down to secondary scoring on the lower lines and whether an unexpected player comes out of no where to be the hero as we have seen so many times in years past.

Come back tomorrow for the low-down on the Blackhawks.

Thanks to Patrick Hoffman and Kukla's Korner...

We would like to thank Patrick Hoffman and Kukla's Korner for running an interview with me about how PredsOnTheGlass came about and a wide range of other topics. Kukla's is one of the best and most widely read hockey sites on the internet so it was a privilege to spread a little Predators hockey to their audience since they do not currently have a Preds representative in their stable of excellent writers. Thanks again guys!

In Pred Nation...

Predator "prospect" Alexander Radulov was named the MVP of the KHL yesterday.

Predators.com has the final stats amd medals for all in the organization that participated in the World Championships.

Paul McCann has a few comments on the finals and a preview of tonight's SlapShot Radio Show.

Chris Burton looks at next year's Predator defense at OnTheForecheck.

Jas Faulkner has a good piece about former Preds and other teams helping the Nashville Flood Relief at The Hockey Writers.

Rachel continues her year end wrap-up with part 2 in a series at What The Puck.

Cycward wraps up the Cincinnati Cyclones season in a very complete fashion.

Around the NHL...

Steve Yzerman was named the Tampa Bay Lightning's new GM at a Press conference yesterday. Puck Daddy has a good commentary on slowing down the circus in Bolt Country. Mirtle discusses how Yzerman was in the running for the Detroit job a while back. I heard Jon Jordan on XM last night and he was excited. Here's some points that he made.

The NHL Combine is underway with 100 players reporting to Toronto for interviews and tests. NHL.com has a blog featuring numerous stories every day.

The best Eulogy of the post-season is the Hab's at Puck Daddy.

Craig Custance has an interesting story of what led to Marion Hossa becoming the first player to go to the finals with three different teams in consecutive years.

Puck Report looks at the number of games it takes to win the Cup through four rounds. The record for the least is Edmonton in 18 games in 1988. So far, Chicago is 12-4 while Philadelphia is 12-5.

Chris Wassel is trying out his new gig at the Devil's Examiner with a preview of the finals.

The final segment of Kingcast's 5-part series is now up. This is a good time to watch them all as it is a very good discussion between the best of the best of Kings writers.

Steve Lapore confirms that Versus will air Hockey Central every night during the finals.

Ryan at the RLD takes a look at Five Conn Smythe Finalists.

The Arizona Republic indicates that he NHL has a buyer in hand for the club if no one solidifies a deal in Phoenix by 12/31. I assume the team will move back to the Peg if nothing is resolved.

Whay is one half of the Carolina Hurricanes worth? Not as much as you would expect, according to Forbes.

This story about the NHL embracing social media is a few weeks old but is still timely.

Adam Foote will return to the Avs for another season.

The celebration got out of hand for one Flyers fan who had to be Tasered at work yesterday morning. Intent to Blow has the details.

AHL Playoffs...

Game seven in the AHL Western Conference playoffs will take place tonight when Hamilton hosts Texas with a Calder Cup berth on the line. A bit of added flair was announced yesterday when it was revealed that P K Subban and Ben Maxwell will bolster the Bulldogs line up for the rubber match in the series. The game can be heard on XM Radio.

Odds and Ends...

Tony Hawk says it's a long way from Dogtown... The Protec Pool Party 2010. There is some amazing stuff here.

Creed Bratton from The Office recently visited MTV to offer interns advice and also sings a song. He actually has released a real album.

Great advice from Seth Godin for everyone.

Here is a great photo gallery of pictures from the gulf oil spill from Boston.com. Here's a representation to see the scale of the spill.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Flyers Finish off Habs and Are Ready for Hawks and Tuesday Tidbits

The Philadelphia Flyers finished off what has been an incredible race to the Stanley Cup finals with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens which was almost a carbon copy of Sunday's Blackhawks clincher.

Montreal started the game with what appeared to be the upper hand as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than a minute into the game. Late in the first period, the Habs were on a power play and one of the worst plays of the series was a preview of things to come.

Jaroslav Halak skated way out of the net to stop a cleared puck and collided with Mike Richards. The puck squired free and Richards came up off the ice and had an easy tap in to tie the game. The Habs never played with confidence again.

Aaron Asham and Jeff Carter scored goals 88 seconds apart early in the second and the game was basically over. Scott Gomez made it 3-2 early in the third, but an empty netter with 23 seconds left in the contest started the final celebration.

Mike Richards defied superstition and grabbed the conference cup after the game and took it to the locker room.

The Flyers were preseason favorites for a lot of folks, myself included. However, they did not clinch a playoff berth until winning a shoot-out over the Rangers in the final game of the season. They surprised New Jersey in the first round and were down 3-0 in the second round to Boston before making an historic four game run to move to the conference finals.

With a 4-1 romp over Montreal, the Flyers are no Cinderella headed to the finals. Clearly, along with the Hawks, the two hottest teams are headed to a showdown starting Saturday night in Chicago.

For a complete schedule of the finals with times and TV networks go here.

In Pred Nation...

From a Swedish newspaper comes early word that Goalie Anders Lindback has signed a three year entry level "dream" contract with the Nashville Predators. Lindback was the third stringer on Sweden's entry in the just completed World Championships.

Jim Diamond continues his Predator's movie casting with the goaltenders.

Ryan Porth takes a look at the Preds defense for next year. Personally, I think the Preds will trade the rights to Hamhuis and Grebeshkov before the entry draft. Check Ryan's site later today as his 30 in 30 feature will begin.

Here's Ryan's first post at From the Point. It is a discussion of Dale Tallon's part in the current Blackhawks run.

Dirk raises the question as to what fans should expect from the Predators next season.

Mark Willoughby is wasting no time with his review of round three and his pick for the finals. Way to be the first Mark.

You can follow Dan Ellis's summer league hockey exploits at the league site. Dan is on team 5 (red) while Jed Ortmeyer is on team 3 (gold). All they need is a Ustream feed for some real action.

Around the NHL...

The NFL's loss in the American Needle case could have huge ramifications throughout the world of pro sports. This was a big issue in last summer's case between Jim Ballsille and the NHL as to who controlled where teams were located. Had this come down a year earlier, we may have had the Hamilton Coyotes. Mark Willoughby has the analysis that I was waiting for in the matter.

Steve Lapore asks if the NHL is ready for Saturday night primetime on NBC. He also reports that Sunday's Hawks-Sharks game was the highest rated indoor game this year.

The Islanders aren't going to China for camp in September as had been discussed. Chris Botta thinks there is more to the story than the request by the NHLPA to make a trip before hand to check out the facilities.

PHT is reporting that up to half of the Carolina Hurricanes may be on the sales block.

Matt Reitz discusses how the NHL is a Land of Confusion. It is not what you may expect.

Russ Cohen caught up with Tyler Seguin prepping for his six hours of draft coverage for XM Home Ice and has an article about their visit at Sportsology.

As we follow Chris Hayes' year long journey at Freddy Charles, he is now learning to skate.

For off season reading, you may want to read Chris's Magic Ice which is the story of a father and son and their pond hockey exploits. It is written by wife and mother Brenda Schultz and part of the proceeds go to charity.

Odds and Ends...

Here's some tips on how better to use Twitter search.

For fans of The Office, do you want to create part of a fanisode?

The Big South Social Media Summit that was scheduled for the flood ravaged Schermerhorn Center on August 13th is relocating to... the Internet. Here is the story.

For Foursquare folks, here is a way to map your travels on Google Earth with a couple of clicks. (H/T to @dani3boyz for the find)

The small Google Pacman app that was up for two days allegedly cost the US 4.82 million man-hours of productivity.

More Later....

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Monday, May 24, 2010

Stanley Cup Finals Kick Off Saturday

The participants have been decided and the schedule has been set. Here is the complete release from the NHL.

2010 Stanley Cup Final To Begin Saturday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 24, 2010


2010 STANLEY CUP FINAL TO BEGIN SATURDAY

NEW YORK (May 24, 2010) – The National Hockey League announced today the schedule for the 2010 Stanley Cup Final between the Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks and the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers.

Based on their superior regular-season performance, the Blackhawks will host Games One and Two of the Stanley Cup Final, as well as Games Five and Seven, if necessary. Games Three and Four will be in Philadelphia, as well as game Six, if necessary.

NBC will telecast Games One and Two and, if necessary, Games Five through Seven of the best-of-seven series in the U.S., while VERSUS will broadcast Games Three and Four. In Canada, CBC and RDS will provide coverage for the entire series. All games also will be carried on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

NHL Network, the League's 24-hour, all-access pass to the most comprehensive hockey coverage, will feature special programming surrounding the Stanley Cup Final. NHL.com will continue to provide extensive digital coverage.

2010 Stanley Cup Final Schedule

Game Date Time (ET) Chicago vs. Philadelphia Networks

Game 1 Saturday, May 29 8:00 p.m. Philadelphia at Chicago NBC, CBC, RDS

Game 2 Monday, May 31 8:00 p.m. Philadelphia at Chicago NBC, CBC, RDS

Game 3 Wednesday, June 2 8:00 p.m. Chicago at Philadelphia VERSUS, CBC, RDS

Game 4 Friday, June 4 8:00 p.m. Chicago at Philadelphia VERSUS, CBC, RDS

*Game 5 Sunday, June 6 8:00 p.m. Philadelphia at Chicago NBC, CBC, RDS

*Game 6 Wednesday, June 9 8:00 p.m. Chicago at Philadelphia NBC, CBC, RDS

*Game 7 Friday, June 11 8:00 p.m. Philadelphia at Chicago NBC, CBC, RDS

* - If necessary

All times listed are Eastern Time

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Blackhawks Sweep Away Shark's Cup Hopes and Weekend Round-Up

Programming note: There will not be a POTG Radio show tonight as we will be closely watching the Habs-Flyers game 5. We will also be off for Memorial Day next week but will return with a live remote from the NHL Tweet-Up on June 7.

The Chicago Blackhawks did the unthinkable on Sunday afternoon when they swept the San Jose Sharks with a 4-2 win at the United Center.

The legend of Dustin "Big Buff" Byfuglien grew larger as he had the game winning goal goal for the third time in the four game series. He will receive serious consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy should he continue on the same pace in the finals.

Chicago missed becoming the 17th team in hockey history to win via a "pure sweep" as they never were behind in the first three games of the series.

San Jose came out and dominated the Hawks early, going ahead 2-0 and looking like they would force the series back to the West coast. Things looked especially grim for the Hawks when Patrick Marleau scored short handed when Chicago was down 1-0 and trying to tie the game on the power play. Chicago came back with two quick goals at the end of the second period to even it up.

The game was played very close to the vest in the third with neither team wanting to make a crucial mistake. When Byfuglien scored with less than six minutes left, you could tell that it was over for the Sharks. When Kris Versteeg got the empty netter with 42 second remaining, the party officially began.

It was another playoff disappointment for the Sharks and their fans, but there is some consolation for them to make it to the conference finals.

The Hawks will move on to the Stanley Cup Finals and they will have home ice advantage and host game one, possibly as early as this weekend, depending on when the Flyers-Habs series ends.

Tonight's Game...

Montreal will travel to Philadelphia tonight to try to extend their season. The Flyers are up 3-1 and don't want to let the Habs come back as they did in the first two rounds against the Caps and Pens.

Michael Leighton has three shut outs in the first four games and played well on Saturday after having his shut out streak broken in the Flyers game three loss. It will be interesting to see which team will come out with more hunger tonight.

Memorial Cup Championship...

The Windsor Spitfires waltzed to the Memorial Cup Championship with a 9-1 victory over the hometown Brandon Wheat Kings on Sunday night. The game was close early but once the Spitfires got on a roll, the contest was over. The only question was how big the margin would be.

Brandon, who got in the tournament as the host team, beaten the WHL champions, the Calgary Hitmen on Friday to play in to the championship game.

Jim Diamond and Jeremy Gover have more on Ryam Ellis and the Predator angle to the story.

World Championships...

The Russians finished off a year of disappointments on Sunday when the Czech Republic beat them 2-1 in the Gold Medal game at the World Championships. After being embarrassed at the Olympics, Russia was taking this tournament very seriously.

On paper, Russia looked unbeatable as they had far more NHL quality players than any team in the tournament. However, the Czechs ended their 27 game win streak and their two gold streak in the World tourney.

Tomas Vokoun won his second gold medal game and had only Jaromir Jagr as a fellow NHL type player on a team made up of mostly local players who played a strong team-oriented game.

Sweden took the Bronze with a 3-1 win over the host German team. Germany's goaltender Dennis Endras was selected the MVP as he took the home team further than they had been since the current format was adopted twenty years ago. He was the first ever German MVP and the first all-star since 1987.

Another Programming Note...

Last night, I was on Connect Community Puck Talk with Su Ring from Daily Su and Cassie McClennon from SB Nation's Raw Charge. They have a new show on BTR that is a good one. Chelsea Alexander was also a guest for her reaction as a Sharks fan seconds after the Sharks lost to the Hawks.



In Pred Nation...

The Cincinnati Cyclones won the Kelly Cup as champions of the ECHL with a 2-1 win over the Idaho Steelheads in game five on Friday night. Preds Goalie prospect Jeremy Smith along with Habs prospect Robert Mayer were named co-MVP of the playoffs.

Five years after the fact, Hockey's Future looks at the Predator's choices in the 2005 Entry draft. It was a good one for the Preds.

David Singleton has a post about Being David Poile at Hockey Independent.

Chris Burton takes a look at the Curious Case of Cal O'Reilly. Will be hang on this season or turn into a lifetime AHLer?

Congrats to RLD's Ryan Porth who will be contributing to Brian Metzer's From the Point starting this week.

Jeremy at Section303 has a post about the Tweet-Up at the Tin Roof on June 7.

Rachel at What The Puck has the first of many Pred's season wrap-ups.

USA has a Predators team report that blames the power play for the Pred's early exit from the playoffs. The post also is a good round-up of where things stand with the team since the season ended.

Around the NHL...

@mirtle: The Sporting News has named Phoenix Coyotes GM Don Maloney as executive of the year and coach Dave Tippett as coach of the year.

Brian Burke is upset with the IIHF and is part of a majority of NHL GMs that would like to not have the World Championships in Olympic years.

Mirtle stirred up Don Cherry on the issue of European goalies. Here's more on the topic at Puck Daddy.

Is @DonaldSCherry real or not. Even if it isn't, it is entertaining.

Here is a nice story about Michael Leighton's parents and the sacrifices that they made for him to play hockey.

@JeffMarek: CHL News: Tyler Seguin named Top Prospect of the Year. CHL Player of the Year is...Regina's Jordan Eberle.

Ken Campbell chronicles the NHL putting the screws to HNIC to cater to NBC.

Steve Lapore has the latest numbers for the Conference Finals.

Hockey Wilderness has an odd evaluation of Tomas Holmstrom's value as a free agent.

What's taking the Blue Jackets so long to hire a new coach? Bob Hunter has some thoughts.

Glenn Miller shoots holes in the theory that being hot at the end of the season leads to playoff success.

Michelle Kenneth has more favorite moments from the season.

Funny Tweet from @TravisHair: Dave Shoalts' least favorite story to write ever. Coyotes Staying put at least for this year. :) On the flip side, there appears to be a December 31 deadline or the league will sell to an out of town buyer.

Odds and Ends...

Here are 100 Thoughts on Social Media from Conversation Agent.

From the folks who brought you People of Walmart they now have JawDrops.

From @consumerist: "KFC says it expects to sell its 10 millionth Double Down later this month." I've not had one. It seems really expensive for what it is at $5.99.

Google celebrated the 30th birthday of Pacman (the game, not the thug) with a logo version of the game.

Talk about on the job training, a guy in Europe has been flying 737's for 13 years without any training or a legitimate license.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Habs Make A Return and Friday Update

Everyone who thought the Eastern Conference Finals would be a short series probably was a bit surprised by last night's contest. The The Montreal Canadians team, that we had seen in the first two rounds, returned and beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 at the Bell Center.

All of the Hab's difficulties of the first two games disappeared as they solved the scoring problem and scored early and often and never really let the Flyers get a foothold. Joroslav Halak also returned to form and received much better support from his defense.

Michael Leighton, who had been unbelievable for the last three games, came back to earth and seemed very average. To be fair, he had bad breaks on a couple of the goals, but it was obvious that he was not at his best.

Saturday's game will be interesting as both teams make adjustments. Remember it is a day game at 2:00 CDT on NBC.

Tonight we will see if the San Jose Sharks still have any life in them after two home losses to the Chicago Blackhawks. Two days off had to be helpful to the Sharks as they were not able to keep up with the Hawks in the first two games.

The Hawks have played so well on the road in the postseason so they decided to stay in a Chicago hotel last night to emulate the road experience.

I have a feeling that the Sharks may make a brief comeback in one of the two games in Chicago, but I don't see them taking the series.

The game gets underway tonight at 7:00 p.m. CDT on Versus.

World Championships...

The field was cut in half at the World Championships on Thursday. The simi-finals are set for Saturday with Sweden playing the Czech Republic and the dominant Russian team playing the home-standing Germans. The winners meet on Sunday in the finals.

Yesterday. in the battle of current vs. past Pred goalies, Tomas Vokoun (Czech Republic) beat Pekka Rinne (Finland) 2-1 in a shootout. Pekka stopped 33 of 35 (including the shootout) while Vokoun stopped 29 of 30.

Germany continued their "Miracle" run with a 1-0 win over Switzerland to advance to the simi-finals for the first time since the current system was introduced in 1080.

Russia embarrassed Canada with a 5-2 win that deteriorated into a few frustrating events from Canadian players that were nothing that they could be proud of.

Sweden beat Denmark 4-2 in the other game leading up to the simi-finals.

Memorial Cup...

The Calgary Hitmen will meet the host Brandon Wheat Kings tonight at 7:00 CDT on the NHL Network to determine who will play Windsor on Sunday night for the championship. Calgary beat Brandon 5-1 on Tuesday in the final round-robin game in a chippy game that should insure a good contest tonight.

Sunday's Championship game will be at 6:00 on the NHL Network.

Nashville Flood Relief NHL Tweet Up...

Mark at The View From 111 is starting to get some of the items listed at the eBay Giving Works site that has been set up for auctioning the items from around the league in conjunction with the Nashville Flood Relief NHL Tweet Up. Go here to check it out. Bid high, and bid often.

Mark also has news that the Blue Jackets Foundation is stepping up to help out with a generous contribution to the cause.

This guy has the first negative article I have seen about Nashville's Flood Relief efforts.

In Pred Nation...


The Cincinnati Cyclones are one win away from winning the Kelly Cup after a 3-2 comeback win over the Idaho Steelheads last night at U S Bank Arena, They return to the ice tonight at 6:30 CDT for game 5 with the Cyclones last chance to wrap it up at home. It is also been declared Cincinnati Cyclones day in the city so it would be great timing to end the season.

If the 2009-10 Predators were in a movie, who would play the coaching staff. Jim Diamond has the answers.

Paul McCann is really irritated with the hippocracy of the IIHF in their recent blasting of athletes for not playing in the World Championships as well as a few other topics that don sit well.

Curt Smith has glowing praise for the Pred's voice, Pete Weber.

Mark Willoughby still has time for his weekly View in the middle of the Tweet Up planning.

Dan Ellis is skating out for his summer rec league team and checks in. @dellis39: A little rusty 1 goal 3 assists in a 9-8 win over the yellow team. Great way to start the season!

Around the NHL...

The Flyers seem to think that Michael Leighton is their man of the future. He has certainly cut in to the chance that Dan Ellis would join the Flyers in the off season.

Before last night's game, Matt Reitz takes a look at what changed with the Habs in the Conference Finals.

Not only is Pat Hickey a good writer, he was almost a good investigator too as he thought that he had found the guy that vandalized his car and stole his license plate on Facebook. The liscense plate showed up on this guy's Facebook page but has since been taken down. They are closer to finding the perpetrator since the Facebook guy does know who took it.

Brian Burk called the IIHF writer who criticized players not playing "ignorant". He also suggested not having the world championship in Olympic years. That makes a lot of sense.

The Panthers are getting creative on the fact that they are having trouble selling seats. Our friend Vickey Godwin had a good rebuttal to the moves on Facebook, "I think this is one (or two depending on how you look at it) of the most awful ideas the Panthers management has ever come up with! Why would you 1. put those nasty, ugly, insulting covers over seats to only bring worse attention to the Panthers and their inability to sell out, when on TV for viewers to see, and 2.There is no price scale depending ... See Moreon interest in the game... it's an excuse and guise for the management to raise prices and find a reason to excuse behavior - threatening to raise prices to games that people already aren't attenting as frequently as they should is probably not the best strategy - but that's just my opinion... good luck!"

Michelle Kenneth has a few favorite moments from the past season.

From @NHLdilo: I am looking to hire a social media manager in NYC who excels at platform/partner + business development.

Condolences to the family of Lightning Defenseman Kurtis Foster who lost their infant daughter on May 10.

Steve Lapore has the history of playoff games on US TV dating back to 1993 and also has the lowdown on this weekend's NBC coverage.

Folks in Canada aren't happy with NBC moving playoff games to the daytime now that nicer weather has moved north.

Karma struck back after Lance Armstrong blasted Versus. He was accused of doping and then had a wreck in the Tour of California.

Light House Hockey takes a look at John Tavares and the Calder chances.

Pensburgh takes a look at next year's version of the Penguins.

Jeremy Roenick has hard feelings against the Hawks for his 1996 trade to Phoenix but still thinks they will win it all. I'm looking forward to his commentary during the finals.

The Point - Fantasy Edition on XM with Rob Higgins and Boomer Gordon is up at the Dearly Beloved site. You got to love a fantasy expert who is a rock star and vice versa.

Freddy Charles searches for the first European hockey player and gets a variety of answers.

Sports Fan Graph has interesting figures on social media followers by team across all major sports. Interesting stuff.

Blades of Funny has an interesting feature commenting on other stories.

Odds and Ends...

Mark Cuban takes a look at the potential of Google TV.

This is something Jackson needs. Free ACT prep material.

From @belcourt: The 7:45 screening of CASINO JACK on Friday will be the inaugural screening with our new seats in the 1925 hall. This is great that the improvements at the Belcourt are partially in place.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Thursday, May 20, 2010

A Visit To The Rink Podcast, Auction Items, and Thursday Thoughts

Last night was a bit of a preview for the long summer hockey off season. With the odd scheduling in the Conference finals, the only hockey on TV in the US was the final round robin game in the Memorial Cup that was played for pride and pride alone.

Moncton was eliminated from the tournament on Tuesday night when they lost in overtime to Windsor. Moncton finished 0-3 while Windsor, who is 3-0, moved directly to Sunday's championship game.

Calgary and Brandon moved to Friday's simi-final play-in game so the potential tie breaker game will not be needed tonight.

So with the final seedings set, last night's game was a battle for pride between the two best teams from the WHL regular season. Calgary eliminated Brandon in the WHL semifinals with a 4-1 series win.

Last night all the scoring took place in the first period with Calgary going ahead 5-1 but the action did not there. There were plenty of scraps and a lot of positioning for Friday's game that counts. It was a fun game to watch on an otherwise hockey-less night in the US.

Programming Note...

I was pleased to be able to appear on the latest edition of The Rink Podcast with James "Tapeleg" Gralian. We discussed the Pred's early exit, Jason Arnott's captaincy, the Pred's free agents and also the upcoming Flood Relief NHL Tweet-Up. Also appearing on the podcast was K of C and Jay Kumar. It was a fun visit as James always does a great job on a podcast that I never miss.

World Championships...

The World Championships also had Wednesday off but will jump into the quarterfinal round today when four more countries will be eliminated.

Finland will play the Czech Republic which should match Pekka Rinne against ex Pred Tomas Vokoun. Rinne did not start against Russia on Tuesday but I would imagine he will be the go to guy for the Fins in the medal round.

Canada will be a heavy underdog against a stacked Russian team that is out for revenge. The Russians are still stinging from the 7-3 loss at the Olympics that ended their medal chances. Canada's team in no was resembles the squad that took the ice in Vancouver, while Russia has proven to be the strongest team in the tournament.

In the oldest international rivalry, dating back to 1910, the hometown German team will play Switzerland. The game will feature four Predatos with Roman Josi playing for Switzerland and Marcel Goc, Robert Dietrich and Alexander Sulzer for the Germans. This is a great match between two teams that have not advanced far in recent years.

The other game will be between Sweden and Denmark. The simi-finals will be Saturday and the finals will be on Sunday.

The biggest stink of the off day was caused by this article that was posted on the IIHF website that was critical of the number of players who chose not to represent their countries in this long Olympic year. Dirk Hoag has a poll on whether Shea Weber and Ryan Suter were unpatriotic for not playing in the games.

Chris Burton at On The Forecheck has the latest stats for Preds participating in the tournament.

Here is today's complete quarterfinal schedule.

Finland -Czech Republic 9am
Sweden - Denmark 9am
Russia - Canada 1pm
Switzerland -Germany 1pm

Tonight's Playoff Game...

The Flyers - Habs series will have a change of scenery tonight at 6:00 CDT when the action moves to Montreal for game three. It will be interesting to see if Michael Leighton will continue his unbelievable run since returning from his recent injury. I've rarely seen a goalie appear to be as excited as Leighton was as the clock wound down in game two.

On the other end of the rink, all will be watching to see which Jaroslav Halak shows up to play. Will it be the unstoppable one of the first two rounds that stole games against the two best teams in the East or will it be the one who has received little support and was pummeled in the first two games of the series.

Fans, who want to see a long series will be pulling for the Habs because if they lose, then I doubt it will go more than five games.

In Pred Nation...

Mark Willoughby released pictures of the first batch of auction items for the Nashville Flood Relief NHL Tweet-Up. There is also more information at the NHL Tweetup site. Sign up to attend at the TwTvite site.

The Winnipeg Free Press has a nice feature story about Ryan Ellis.

The Cincinnati Cyclones return to the ice tonight at 6:30 p.m. CDT against the Idaho Steelheads to try to take a 3-1 series lead.

Scott Hartnell was a guest on last night's Slap Shot Radio with Paul McCann.

Tales from the Batcave ranks the Pred's logo as the second best in the NHL.

Around the NHL...

The Sporting News named Henrik Sedin as the NHL Player of the Year.

The Oiler's Kevin Lowe declared that they were changing back to a philosophy of home grown talent instead of free agents. I guess you can say that when you have the number one pick.

Jeremy Roenick will join NBC's studio team for the finals. Maybe he'll finally take a swing at Mike Milbury.

Matt Reitz has a different look at the Dale Talon hiring in Florida. He also points us to the five part Kingscast year end wrap-up. We are looking forward to meeting these guys in person at the draft.

Here's an early list of unrestricted free agents by position from SportsCity.

With all the discussion of Canada needing more teams, how is Ottawa losing money? Down Goes Brown takes a look.

From the Point has the inside scoop on how to purchase the last Mellon Arena hot dog. They also have the story of Lance Armstrong being a whiny baby over Versus cutting away to Game 2 of the ECF after suffering the wrath of hockey fans for starting game one late on Sunday.

Michelle Kenneth has a new look at her site.

Odds and Ends...

Here's a Blackberry app that is supposed to help avoid the dreaded battery pull.

Here's another great review of Rob Higgins' Dearly Beloved album "Make It Bleed".

Finally... I admit that I'm on the Michael Leighton band wagon and I really liked this HWBM.



More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A Pair of 2-0 Series Leads and Hump Day Highlights

Two game twos were played last night with similar results to Sunday's game ones in NHL Conference final action.

In the late game, the Chicago Blackhawks continued to overwhelm the San Jose Sharks as they won 4-2 at the HP Pavilion. Four different players scored for the Hawks while Patrick Marleau had both goals for the Sharks.

The teams have two days off as they move east to Chicago for the next two games. Adrian Dater feels that the Hawks have dynasty potential in a post at Versus.

In the Eastern Conference finals, Montreal failed to show up again as the Flyers won 3-0. Daniel Briere's goal 4:16 into the game proved to be the game winner.

Michael Leighton continued his fairy-tale season with the shutout which was his second in a row. His story is unbelievable and you could tell that he was really enjoying the moment as the clock ticked down.

There are no NHL games tonight as Philadelphia moves to Montreal for game three tomorrow. The schedule will alternate nights for the rest of the third round but it's not clear that either series will be a long one at this point.

Memorial Cup...

In the match between Pred Prospects, Windsor beat Moncton 4-3. Ryan Ellis had two assists for the Spitfires while Gabriel Bourque again did not make the scorecard. Windsor heads straight to Sunday's final Championship Game at 6:00 p.m. where they will try to repeat last season's championship.

Tonight Brandon will play Calgary to wrap up the preliminary round robin at 7:00 p.m. CDT on the NHL Network.

World Championships...

After a full slate of games yesterday, the World Championship arenas will go dark for a day in preparation for tomorrow's quarterfinal action.

Team USA won the relegation round with a 3-0 record but they had to go to the shootout to beat Italy 3-2. T J Oshie's shoot out goal sealed assured that the US would not be sent to second tier status next year. France was the other survivor of the relegation round while Italy and Kazakhstan were demoted.

In other games, Russia beat a Pekka Rinne-less Finland 5-0. Germany beat Slovakia 2-1, Sweden beat Switzerland 5-0 and Canada was upset by the Czech Republic 3-2.

Thursday's quarterfinal match between Canada and Russia has the appearance of a projected early exit by the Canadians. Russia has been unbeatable and Canada has been sub par to say the least.

Here is Thursday's complete quarterfinal schedule.

Finland -Czech Republic 9am
Sweden - Denmark 9am
Russia - Canada 1pm
Switzerland -Germany 1pm

In Pred Nation...

Holly Gunning has the Hockey's Future outlook for Pred's prospects in the AHL and ECHL.

Predators.com has the news that all nine Predators and prospects advanced to the Final round at the World Championships.

Jim Diamond has the story of ex-Pred captain Tom Fitzgerald's son Ryan, being selected in yesterdays USHL Future's draft. I remember when Ryan played in the same soccer league as Jackson in Brentwood and everyone would get excited when Captain Tom showed up for games on Saturday morning.

The Predator's ECHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones, returned home for game three of the Kelly Cup finals with a 2-0 series lead but lost to the Idaho Steelheads 4-3 in a double-overtime thriller. Evan Barlow scored his second goal of the game 48 seconds into the second overtime to cut the Cyclones lead to 2-1. Here is some video.

Bryan Mullen has the news of former Pred fan favorite Scotty Nichol raising money for Nashville Flood relief. Dirk Hoag also pointed us to the David Pollak piece from San Jose on the fundraiser.

Paul McCann checks in with an update and a reminder of tonight's Slap Shot Radio.

Pekka Rinne is listed as the ninth best late round selection in recent history at Bleacher Report.

Restoration of the Bridgestone Arena from flood damage appears to be proceeding without any issues.

Around the NHL...

Michelle Kenneth has tips for attending the NHL Awards in Las Vegas Next month. She mentions our planned trip to In-N-Out Burger with a plan to be liquored up for the journey.

Steve Lapore has the latest ratings news from Sunday's NBC game. Versus broke all records for ratings in second round NHL contests (even ESPN). Similar success was reported for the combined first two rounds. Over 2 million viewers watched last Friday's Bruins-Flyers game seven.

Matt Reitz has numerous betting opportunities for the conference finals that you might not find in Vegas.

Scott Burnside chronicles Michael Leighton's journey through numerous towns that led him to where he is now. As he won last night, you can't help but be excited to the guy. He really was enjoying the last couple of minutes of the game and it showed.

Ryan Porth has the story on how Dale Tallon's Chicago stint led the Hawks to their current success. Steve Gorton has a Tallon round-up including word of a news conference this morning at 10:00 CDT.

Nathan Fournier has the update from yesterday's USHL Future's Draft.

Odds and Ends...

I had shared recipes with reader @littz11, and she reported success with the squash croquettes. As an added service, I'll be happy to email a few recipes to anyone who is looking for something different for dinner.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass