Thursday, September 30, 2010

Dekanich Assigned to Milwaukee, Lindback Remains in Nashville

After not getting in to last nights game in Atlanta, it comes as little surprise that goalie Mark Dekanich has been reassigned to the Nashville Predators AHL affiliate in Milwaukee.

The Predators now have two goalies remaining in camp. Pekka Rinne will be the opening night starter and Anders Lindback is the backup pending any further moves by the team.

Here is the full release from the Predators...

PREDATORS ASSIGN DEKANICH TO MILWAUKEE

_Roster at 26 entering final preseason game on Sunday at Washington-


Nashville, Tenn. (September 30, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has assigned goalie Mark Dekanich to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. The reduction puts Nashville’s Training Camp roster at 26 players – 16 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders. All NHL teams must set their Opening Day player rosters (23-player maximum) by Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. CT.


Players by position currently participating in camp are as follows:


FORWARDS (16): Jonas Andersson, Wade Belak, J.P. Dumont, Martin Erat, Marcel Goc, Patric Hornqvist, Sergei Kostitsyn, David Legwand, Matthew Lombardi, Jamie Lundmark, Cal O'Reilly, Jerred Smithson, Steve Sullivan, Jordin Tootoo, Joel Ward, Colin Wilson.


DEFENSEMEN (8): Francis Bouillon, Cody Franson, Aaron Johnson, Kevin Klein, Ryan Parent, Alexander Sulzer, Ryan Suter, Shea Weber.


GOALTENDERS (2): Anders Lindback and Pekka Rinne.


The Predators wrap up the preseason on Sunday at the Verizon Center when they take on the Washington Capitals (11 a.m. CT). The regular season in Smashville kicks off on Oct. 9 vs. the Anaheim Ducks. All fans in attendance will receive an Opening Night t-shirt courtesy of Bridgestone. Tickets may be purchased at the Bridgestone Arena box office, by calling (615) 770-PUCK (7825) or online via ticketmaster.com or nashvillepredators.com.


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Is the Goaltender Battle Over in Nashville? and Thursday Thoughts

The goaltender race was completly one sided last night considering that Anders Lindback played the whole game and Mark Dekanich rode the pine pony for sixty minutes.

My bet is that Barry Trotz's pre-game "slight edge" to Lindback may have been bigger than he let on. Trotz and company got to see what Lindback could do under the pressure of a tie game and then protecting a lead in the closing moments.

I would say that Lindback passed the test and won the competition against Dekanich.. The next round of the competition could possibly be Lindback against the waiver wire or trade acquisition.

I don't think the Predators would pursue a high dollar player like Jose Theodore at this point, but I do think they will be looking for bargains as teams cut down to two goalies.

The Predators would probably covet a player like San Jose's Thomas Greiss who will likely be the odd man out after the Sharks picked up Antti Niemi and Antero Niittymaki in the off season.

Greiss's $550,000 salary would be perfect for the Predators. The Preds would probably have to part with a prospect and a draft choice or possibly a Cal O'Reilly or an Alexander Sulzer in order to pick up the German goalie.

It will be interesting to watch and see what happens over the next few days as you never know what the poker-faced David Poile will find up his sleeve.

Predators- Thrashers Wrap-Up...

Here is our brief story about last night's game.

Predators.com has the AP story and a few comments from Jay Levin who attended the game.

Jim Diamond also discusses the game and what the back-up goalie situation may be.

In the blogs, we found stories by Amanda at Predlines, Jeremy at Section 303, and Dirk at On The Forecheck.

Dirk's super stats uncovered a really ugly defensive pairing where Kevin Klein had a (-11) Corsi while his partner, Aaron Johnson was a (-10). Johnson's poor Corsi may override his two assist offensive effort in the mind of the defense-first, Barry Trotz.

Likewise, the stats showed that Cal O'Reilly had a much better night than Jonas Andersson, who can go to Milwaukee without passing through waivers.

From Atlanta, Thrashers.com has Craig Ramsey's post game presser on video. The AJC also chipped in with a story.

In Pred Nation...

ESPN's Predators preview has ten things you need to know about the team. They have the Preds right where we like to be, "outside the playoffs." It's fun to prove the pundits wrong every year.

Bryan Mullen has a few notes including one about the dressing rooms being incomplete in their repair.

Jeremy Gover looks at the battle for #2 in the Preds net before last night's game.

Dirk Hoag stuck a link to Thom Abraham's interview with Stu Grimson in yesterday's pregame thread.

Jas Faulkner has a camp wrap up until this point at The Hockey Writers. She also discusses earning a spot on the roster.

David Singleton describes a conversation that he had with Barry Trotz and makes a few Preds predictions.

The Cincinnati Cyclones released the schedule for their preseason camp that starts Friday.

Aaron Sims discusses day 2 at the Milwaukee Admirals camp.

Around the NHL...

A week after getting shafted at Drafted, Launy "The" Schwartz finally speaks in this video. When I first saw it, it brought a tear to my eye as it kills me to see a friend suffer an injustice in the name of TV ratings on a so called "reality" show.

Hockey's Future has 26-50 of their latest Top 50 prospects list and it is filled with familiar names. The Preds are represented by Colin Wilson (39), Jon Blum (40), and Cody Franson (50).

After a couple of weeks in limbo since an early leak, Brian Gionta was named the Hab's 28th captain. Since it was done by press release, I'm not sure what the delay was. I really expected some type of ceremony.

Stay Classy has the things to consider when picking an NHL captain.

The Province has another glowing story about ex-Pred Dan Hamhuis.

Oilers Nation predicts three teams from the Northwest in the playoffs. I don't see it. I do think his Oilers will do better than 13th.

Andy Strickland looks at Manny Legacy and Jose Theordore as options for injury bitten teams.

Here's yesterday's waivers that should clear this morning. I don't see any that the Preds would want.

Ex-Pred Mike Santorelli appears to be making headway in sticking with the Florida Panthers.

It appears that the NHL career of Slava Kozlov is over since he has signed in the KHL.

When I was in San Jose over the summer, I was impressed that the Sharks had a form fitting rug to keep folks off the logo in the locker room. The Panthers might want to consider something like that as being preferable to this from @OnFrozenPond: Panthers block off carpeted logo so the hacks don't tromp all over it.

Odds and Ends...

Star Wars is coming back in 3D, one episode at a time starting in 2012. I personally do not like watching movies with the glasses on. The high tech glasses that they had at the theater at The Palms, where we saw Toy Story, were somewhat more tolerable but the cardboard ones are awful.

Are you ready for a little rehab? After looking at these places, I need to be sent to one.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Veterans Lead Predators to 4-3 Win Over the Thrashers

David Legwand had the game winning goal and Marty Erat had two goals and an assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 preseason victory over the Thrashers at Phillips Arena in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

It was a productive night for the veteran Predators with Ryan Suter having the other goal and an assist on Erat's second goal.

The biggest surprise of the evening was Barry Trotz's decision to allow Anders Lindback to play the full 60 minutes in spite of giving up three goals in the first two periods. Lindback stopped 25 of 28 shots for the game.

Before the game, Trotz had indicated that Lindback had a "slight edge" in his race for the back-up goalie slot with Mark Dekanich. I would imagine that by letting him stay in the game that was tied 3-3 after two to win or lose the game, Trotz was watching Lindback's compete level and resiliency after a second period that was not his best. My bet is that Dekanich will be headed to Milwaukee in the next day or two.

In the other competitions for positions, on defense, Aaron Johnson had two assists and no shots while Alexander Sulzer had three shots and no goals. In the forward race, Cal O'Reilly was 12-5 in the faceoff circle and was a (-1) with no shots. Jonas Andersson had a shot and was 0-1 in the circle.

The Predators were two out of three on the power play and gave up a short handed goal on the penalty kill's only opportunity.

The Preds out shot Atlanta 30- 28 and had a 55-47 edge in the Corsi column.

The Preds returned home after the game and will not play again until they travel to Washington for a Sunday afternoon game against the Capitals.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Rosters for Tonight's Preds-Thrashers Contest

Updated: News from @JoshuaCooper: Other scratches for tonight's game include Parent, Bouillon and Lundmark - Roster updated.

As we predicted in our earlier post, Pekka Rinne is not making the trip to Atlanta leaving Anders Lindback and Mark Dekanich to have a mano-a-mano battle for the number two slot in Nashville's goal at the start of the season.

@NHLPredsInsider also confirmed that Barry Trotz claims that Lindback has a slight edge in the race between the two rookies and will get the start tonight. It will be interesting to see who is on top after what will probably be the last action that either see in the preseason.

Game time is 6 p.m. and can be heard locally on the Pred's new flagship 102.9 The Buzz as well as on NHL Home Ice XM 204/Sirius 208.

Bryan Mullen has the morning update from camp and the news that in addition to Rinne, Wade Belak, Jordin Tootoo and Jerred Smithson will not make the trip and based on Trotz's quote have made the final cut.

There has not been an official roster announced by the Predators. Therefore, we removed those that we know aren't going to come up with the following list. The Predators roster for tonight's game would appear to be 20 of the following 23 players that are still in camp. I will update if we get the actual list.

Forwards
Jonas Andersson
J-P Dumont
Martin Erat
Marcel Goc
Patric Hornqvist
Sergei Kostitsyn
David Legwand
Matthew Lombardi
Cal O'Reilly
Steve Sullivan
Joel Ward
Colin Wilson

Defensemen
Cody Franson
Aaron Johnson
Kevin Klein
Alexander Sulzer
Ryan Suter
Shea Weber

Goaltenders
Anders Lindback
Mark Dekanich


Here Atlanta's roster for tonight's game from Thrashers.com:

Forwards
80 Nik Antropov
49 Alex Burmistrov
15 Nigel Dawes
21 Ben Eager
9 Evander Kane
16 Andrew Ladd
10 Bryan Little
19 Fredrik Modin
56 Fredrik Pettersson
47 Rich Peverley
12 Patrick Rissmiller
22 Anthony Stewart
27 Chris Thorburn

Not on the game roster: Niclas Bergfors, Eric Boulton, Enver Lisin, Andrew Kozek, Jim Slater,

Defense
4 Zach Bogosian
39 Tobias Enstrom
6 Ron Hainsey
44 Arturs Kulda
24 Freddy Meyer
29 Johnny Oduya
3 Brent Sopel

Not on the game roster: Dustin Byfuglien, Boris Valabik, Andrey Zubarev

Goalies
50 Chris Mason
31 Ondrej Pavelec

Here are video clips from Chris Mason and others discussing tonight's game.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Crystal Ball Gazing, Preds in the ATL Tonight, and Wednesday Wrap-Up

Fans had their last home preseason look at the Predators on Monday night and while they are still a bit rusty, it did look like Predator hockey with strong defense, good goaltending, and just enough offense to squeeze out a win.

The Predators made massive cuts to their roster yesterday to get the total in camp down to 27.

At this time, I will look into my crystal ball and try to consider some ideas of what the 23 man opening night roster may eventually look like. This is simply a guess and will go totally out the window if the Preds make a trade or pick up any free agents or go fishing in the the waiver wire pool.

At forward, Matthew Lombardi, Steve Sullivan, Colin Wilson, Patric Hornqvist, J.P. Dumont, Marty Erat, Marcel Goc, David Legwand, Sergei Kostitsyn, Jordin Tootoo, Joel Ward, and Jerred Smithson are virtual locks. Wade Belak is a special case and probably is assured a spot unless the Predators decide they don't need an enforcer, which is unlikely.

That leaves one or two open positions for Cal O'Reilly, Jamie Lundmark, and Jonas Andersson. Lundmark is currently slowed with a slight groin pull.

On defense, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Francis Bouillon, Cody Franson, Kevin Klein and Ryan Parent appear to be the top six. Alexander Sulzer and Aaron Johnson are hanging around trying to be a number seven if the Preds do indeed carry an extra D-man which they have not always done with Belak being able to fill in in an emergency.

In Goal, Pekka Rinne is the only certainty. As it stands right now, in the race for back-up, I would give Anders Lindback an edge over Mark Dekanich based on his looking more comfortable in net and slightly better performance in the preseason.

The bottom line is that the Predators have the best group of players that they have ever had at any time in the franchise's history. Tough choices will have to be made and a few of the above listed players could either be traded or lost to the waiver wire in the next week.

I think the Preds will open with 13 forwards and seven defensemen. I think that based on talent Andersson would get the nod at number 13. However, O'Reilly and Lundmark require waivers which may play in to the decision.

On defense, both Sulzer and Johnson have to pass through waivers so it may come down to who will go through more easily. Based on experience alone, I think Johnson would get the seventh slot.

It is such a close race, my opinion could change after tonight's game in Atlanta. If Lindback and Dekanich play and get lit up, an increased effort could be made to go fishing for a goalie on the waiver wire or package a player or two in a trade for the back-up.

A week from now, the decisions will have been made and the guesswork and analysis will cease.

Predators at Atlanta...

While tonight's game in Atlanta may seem like a replay of Monday's effort, it will be a critical game for those Preds mentioned above that are fighting for the final slots.

In goal I would not be surprised to see Anders Lindback and Mark Dekanich each play half the game as the final audition. Trotz has indicated that Pekka Rinne would play two whole games which leave him doing that on Sunday in Washington.

On defense, you could see Alexander Sulzer and Aaron Johnson on the same line fighting for the last D-man opening and/or the first call-up slot.

Cal O'Reilly and Jonas Andersson will continue to try to impress at forward. Jamie Lundmark has been slowed with an injury that may end up earning him a trip to Milwaukee.

The game will be on 102.9 so folks in Middle Tennessee will be able to hear it.

In Pred Nation...

Jim Diamond spoke with Ryan Ellis and Barry Trotz about the young D-man's departure. Jim also discusses three Predators that appear on a Sports Illustrated list of best players at 101 different sweater numbers. This does not appear to be one of SI's best efforts.

Josh Cooper frames Ryan Ellis's departure in a sad way. He also talks to Mark Dekanich about his Twitter account.

Dirk Hoag presents his first all inclusive, detailed numbers data of the season for the Predators-Thrashers game on Monday and is taking requests for what to add.

David Boclair looks at Barry Trotz's discussion after Monday's game about putting teams away when they have the opportunity.

Predators.com has a piece with David Poile where he gives his thoughts midway through the preseason.

Mark Willoughby has a few first impressions from the Preds preseason. He and I disagree on the back-up goalie.

Amanda at Predlines has here weekly Central Division round-up and also discusses the Preds' roster cuts.

Paul McCann shares his thoughts after Monday's game.

Sam at PredsBlog looks at possible line combinations for the Predators.

At the game on Monday, the Sports Authority presented a commendation to the Preds and Bridgestone Arena for getting the building back in shape for a concert quickly. Now if they could only get the locker rooms open.

The Cincinatti Cyclones signed an agreement with the Knoxville Ice Bears of the SPHL to share players as needed.

Around the NHL...

It was announced that Flyers' goalie, Michael Leighton will be out for a month with a bulging disc in his back. Paul Holmgren indicated that they would not seek to add another goalie during Leighton's absence.

Things continue to deteriorate on the Island as it is reported that Kyle Okposo is now headed for surgery. They did sign D-man Mike Mottau who is no replacement for Mark Streit.

Larry Brooks makes valid points that Wade Redden would not have made the team even without his his bloated contract.

Tim Wharnsby has the latest on Dan Hamhuis from Vancouver.

It's hard to believe that tonight's Hurricanes-Panthers game has be canceled by a tropical storm.

Copper and Blue looks at what the Oilers may want to do with Taylor Hall and Magnus Paajarvi. It's tough having skilled young offensive players.

Ryan Porth has his top five Calder Trophy candidates.

Michelle Kenneth writes about the Sestito brothers at Inside Hockey. Tom was one-half the subject of a video that I put on YouTube that is now over 113,000 hits.

Jeremy Roenick didn't think much of the Thrashers moving Dustin Byfuglien to defense. I don't think he'll be working for the Thrasher's PR department anytime soon.

Over the summer, we had Michael Langlois on POTG Radio and one of the topics was comparing the game today to the game of the 60's and now he has a post on the topic.

The odd story of former agent/coach David Frost continues as he is running a hockey school under an alias in California.

With a running argument about folks Tweeting games, Tom Gulitti has a great compromise. He has set up a separate Twitterfeed for Devils in game Tweets at @fireandicegame. This is a great idea so that those who want a play by play can have one while others who don't won't have to complain.

Down goes Brown has a look at the Eastern Conference while Intent to Blow looks at the Pacific Division.

Odds and Ends...

Something to look forward to this Christmas... True Grit from the Coen Brothers featuring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin. Here is the first trailer.

It's corn maze season again and here is a top ten lists of mazes throughout the US. These pictures are pretty a-maze-ing.

What about the Blackberry Playbook? I don't get it. It's too big to be a phone and too small to be a useful computer.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Predators Send More Players Packing - 27 Left in Camp

The Nashville Predators continued the sorting out process today by sending six more players to Milwaukee. This was first reported by Josh Cooper at Inside Predators who is at Centennial Sportsplex this morning. We will add the official statement when released by the Predators.

Teemu Laakso and Andreas Thuresson successfully passed through waivers and will report to Milwaukee. Kelsy Wilson, Grant Lewis, Brett Palin, and Chet Pickard will also be headed to the Preds' AHL affiliate. Laasko and Thuresson were on a list of players that began the waiver process yesterday.

We will have our analysis as to who the final 23 may be in Wednesday morning's post.

Note - It also appears that Ryan Ellis is headed back to Windsor per Josh Cooper and Jim Diamond.

Note 2- You can add Spaling and Halischuk to the list now. Also Linus Klasen.

Here is the addition of the Predators release with all the moves included...

PREDATORS TRIM TRAINING CAMP ROSTER TO 27
-Club sends nine more to the Milwaukee Admirals, Ellis back to juniors-


Nashville, Tenn. (September 28, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has assigned forwards Matt Halischuk, Linus Klasen, Nick Spaling, Andreas Thuresson and Kelsey Wilson; defensemen Teemu Laakso, Grant Lewis and Brett Palin; and goaltender Chet Pickard to the team’s primary developmental affiliate, the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals, in addition to sending 2009 first-round selection Ryan Ellis back to his junior team (Windsor, OHL).


The reduction puts Nashville’s Training Camp roster at 27 players – 16 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. Players by position currently participating in camp are as follows:


FORWARDS (16): Jonas Andersson, Wade Belak, J.P. Dumont, Martin Erat, Marcel Goc, Patric Hornqvist, Sergei Kostitsyn, David Legwand, Matthew Lombardi, Jamie Lundmark, Cal O'Reilly, Jerred Smithson, Steve Sullivan, Jordin Tootoo, Joel Ward, Colin Wilson.


DEFENSEMEN (8): Francis Bouillon, Cody Franson, Aaron Johnson, Kevin Klein, Ryan Parent, Alexander Sulzer, Ryan Suter, Shea Weber.


GOALTENDERS (3): Mark Dekanich, Anders Lindback and Pekka Rinne.


The Predators return to action tomorrow night at Philips Arena in Atlanta for their fifth of six preseason contests leading up to the 2010-11 regular season (6 p.m. CT, WBUZ 102.9-FM The Buzz). Nashville closes out the preseason on Sunday at Washington (11 a.m. CT).


The regular season in Smashville kicks off on Oct. 9 vs. the Anaheim Ducks. All fans in attendance will receive an Opening Night t-shirt courtesy of Bridgestone. Tickets may be purchased at the Bridgestone Arena box office, by calling (615) 770-PUCK (7825) or online via Ticketmaster.com or nashvillepredators.com.


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Predators End Home Preseason Schedule With a Win, A Jovial Barry Trotz, and Tuesday Tid-Bits

Happy 16th Birthday to POTG co-founder Jackson Oakes!


Predator fans watched a line-up, that was close to what they will see on opening night, seem fairly comfortable in beating the Atlanta Thrashers 2-1 on Monday night. That was the final time that the Preds will be seen at home in the preseason.

If you look at the lineup that was on the ice, remove Cal O'Reilly and Jamie Lunmark, and insert Marcel Goc, J.P. Dumont and possibly Nick Spaling, and that would be the best projection of the 18 men to skate on opening night at this time.

There are still close races for slots 21 to 23 and the second goalie position, but with the above exceptions, the players on the ice last night were a near glimpse of what we will see this season.

Here is our story from last night with a a postgame video of Barry Trotz who was as jovial as I have ever seen him. He said several things that were hilarious right from the start.

Josh Cooper had his game report and Postgame Ponderings. Josh shared a notes column with Bryan Mullen.

Jim Diamond has his posting on the game at the Examiner as does David Boclair at The City Paper.

Jay Levin had his story for the Predators site.

From the blog world comes stories from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Brandon Felder, Section 303, On The Forecheck, and Hockey Night in Nashville.

In Pred Nation...

Ryan Porth has a feature story on something that has gone under-reported. The Arena dressing room area is a long way from being completed and has affected operations in the preseason.

David Boclair looks at the Predators payroll as it approaches $50 million.

Josh Cooper talked about the goaltender battle with David Poile who may have news later this week on who may survive. It sounds like they are staying in house.

TSN has a laundry list of players placed on waivers and includes Predator campers Teemu Laasko and Andreas Thuresson. Former Preds Nolan Yonkman, Hugh Jessiman and Triston Grant

Forechecker pointed us to the details of the Nashville Sports Council's 12th Annual Predators Faceoff Luncheon.

Around the NHL...

Today's RLD Hockey Talk at Noon ET will feature @CraigCustance & @cmasisak22 as they preview the Central & Southeast, respectively.

From @BComptonNHL: Kirill Kabanov has been returned to Moncton. I guess the Isles have bigger things to worry about other than punishing Kabanov for being late with Mark Streit out indefinitely. I hope he gets his act together because he is an entertainer if nothing else.

Michael Schuerlein has the story of Jed Ortmeyer getting a tryout from the Islanders. Good to see it.

Michael Leighton looks to be out at least "a few days." Broad Street Hockey looks at the similarities to Ray Emery's injury last season.

What will the Rangers do with all their cap space after shipping Wade Redden to the AHL? After yesterday's moves maybe they can sign someone else to an overpriced contract.

Matt Reitz looks at defense as the road most traveled.

Sarah McNeil has an update on the Battle of the Blades upcoming season at Chicks Who Give a Puck. It would be nice if we could get a peek at the show in the US. It was also revealed that Jeremy Roenick will be a judge.

The first US College hockey poll of the year was released on Monday.

It's a little late but it appears that the Canadiens now say they meant to trade Price, not Halak. Intent to Blow has the story. Also, not only have the Rangers waived Wade Redden, it appears that the New York fans waived the Rangers.

Odds and Ends...

The Nashville Business Journal reports that Nashville is the 16th most social media savvy city in the US.

A new study says that the "Twitter effect" on movies has been over blown.

This is a little scary but if you sign up for Twtroulette, other folks can see your Twitter feed just as you do.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Monday, September 27, 2010

Shea Weber Leads Predators Past Atlanta



Captain Shea Weber led the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers in preseason action at the Bridgestone Arena on Monday night.

Weber scored the game winner on the power play with at 11:02 in the third. He also had the assist on the Preds' first goal at 3:06 in the first period when Sergei Kostitsyn redirected Weber's shot and totally handcuffed Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec.

Barry Trotz was pleased with the captain's performance, "Shea made a really good pass on the first goal and Kostitsyn had his head up and found him, sort of a high slot, high tip. Then obviously on the power play goal, he gets the puck through and it finds it's way in. Shea stepped up his game."

Trotz continued, "Shea was a force out there. He was physical. He made good decisions all night. He stepped up when we needed something to happen on the power play. He was a difference maker. That's what Shea can be."

The Thrasher's lone goal came at 15:30 in the second stanza when Ben Eager took a feed from Chris Thornburn and pushed it by Rinne from the backside.

Rinne stopped 22 of 23 on the evening to claim the win while Ondrej Pavelec stopped 29 of 31 in the loss..

What We Learned...


The game was the first for many of the veterans to play together and was a confidence builder heading in to the final two games of the preseason. Shea Weber commented, "Obviously, it's the first few games back after five months so I think this game really helped to get a lot of the guys together that will play together this season."

In an odd statistic, Trotz revealed that "We had 13 players that were playing only their second game so we saw a little of the rust come off."

Sergei Kostitsyn's goal was a thing of beauty and could be a sign of things to come. "We've tried it in practice but it just happened," Kostitsyn explained. "The defenseman moved around and Webs shot it and give it to me."

Pekka Rinne is off to one of his hottest starts in Nashville and was positive after the game. "I feel good. Obviously I wasn't tested too much. It was good to play the whole sixty minutes but still it was tight at the end. It's the usual with us. It seams like we always play those one goal games."

Going into the game Trotz was not clear on whether the plan was for Rinne to play the entire game, "Plan B was after two periods to go with Pickard but I looked up and Peks only had 16 shots through two periods and I think he needs a little more work."

On Saturday, after the Washington game, Trotz felt that the veterans were rusty. "This was a much better game. I wasn't real happy the first three games in terms of execution or pace, all of the things we went over in the evaluation phase and this morning I talked about getting into the preparation phase."

The Predators finally scored on the power play after 14 unsuccessful attempts in the preseason. Matthew Lombardi said, "We moved it pretty well on the power play and created some opportunities and Shea got the big goal for us."

Trotz commented on the man advantage, "The power play started to show some signs of doing some of the stuff we've been trying to get them to do."

On the other side of special teams, the Predators took no penalties and never had the opportunity to run the penalty kill. Trotz joked about not getting any PK practice, "If we never have to kill a penalty this year, that's a good thing. The best practice is reps and that will be something we have to work through."

The defense continued to look strong and Trotz was pleased. "Our defense corp as a group played much better with more of a veteran presence in the lineup."

Two players who are fighting to stay with the team were Cal O'Reilly and Jamie Lundmark. O'Reilly was playing on a line with Steve Sullivan and Patric Hornqvist and was given every opportunity to succeed.

Trotz did not seem sold on either player saying, "Lundmark was OK. He's been hampered with a groin injury and didn't play the third period. Cal was a little better than he was the other night. When he plays with pace he is a good intelligent player but when he slows things down and gets too cute and creates turnovers and doesn't manage the puck as firmly as he needs to then I have a little bit of trouble with his game, but I thought he was a little better."

Late in the game, Dustin Byfuglien hit Jerred Smithson on a near blind-side type collision. There was no word on the severity of the injury. With the dressing rooms in disarray, Trotz said, "I don't have an answer right now, because I don't know where to go find him in the dressing room."

The one thing that Trotz was upset about was Joel Ward missing an empty netter in the final minute. "Legwand made a great play to Ward, we had to finish the game off there. We made a mistake like that in Carolina that almost cost us and we all saw what happened in the playoffs. That is the one negative we had better learn from is when you have an opponent down, you had better finish them off."

Up Next...

The Predators will travel to Atlanta for a return engagement with the Thrashers on Wednesday. It is likely that a few more players will be sent to Milwaukee as the week progresses as the Ads get further into their camp and start playing their own games.

Anthem Singer...


Congrats to Jamie Cartwright who won the contest to sing the national anthem. She made her first Bridgestone Arena appearance and absolutely killed it. They should bring her on permanently to sing it every game. She is as good or better than anyone I have seen.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Blake Geoffrion Heads to Milwaukee

The Nashville Predators announced that local hometown favorite, Blake Geoffrion, has been assigned to Milwaukee.

The move is not a surprise as Milwaukee is opening it's preseason camp today and Geoffrion is expected to be a leader on the Ads squad that should be as talented as they have seen in a few years.

He has seen limited action in the Pred's early preseason games and will receive top minutes at the Predators top farm club and possible return as a call-up at some point during the season.

Here is the full release from the Predators...

PREDATORS ASSIGN BLAKE GEOFFRION TO MILWAUKEE
-Roster now at 37 through three preseason games-


Nashville, Tenn. (September 27, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has assigned forward Blake Geoffrion to Milwaukee (AHL).


The Brentwood native appeared in two of Nashville’s first three preseason games, his first NHL games with his hometown team, and will start his rookie professional career in the same state where he won the 2010 Hobey Baker Award and played four seasons with the University of Wisconsin. He became the first Tennessee native to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft when the Predators took him in the second round, 56th overall, in 2006.


The transactions leave Nashville’s Training Camp roster at 37 players – 21 forwards, 12 defensemen and four goaltenders. An updated roster is attached.


The second annual Preds Fest, a fan-appreciation celebration to mark the start of the hockey season in Smashville, concludes tonight when the Predators take on their closest geographical rival, the Atlanta Thrashers (7 p.m., WBUZ 102.9-FM The Buzz). It is also Community Night at Bridgestone Arena, with local non-profit organizations set up around the main concourse to inform fans of the inspiring work they are doing in and around Nashville. Visit nashvillepredators.com/predsfest for more details.


The regular season in Smashville kicks off on Oct. 9 vs. the Anaheim Ducks. All fans in attendance will receive an Opening Night t-shirt courtesy of Bridgestone. Tickets may be purchased at the Bridgestone Arena box office, by calling (615) 770-PUCK (7825) or online via Ticketmaster.com or nashvillepredators.com.


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Rosters Released for Predators-Thrashers Contest Tonight

Note: There appears to be some confusion since the original roster was released, but it now appears that Pekka Rinne will play instead of Anders Lindback and Teemu Laakso, who would have been the seventh D-man, will not dress.

-------------------------
As expected, the Nashville Predators will place almost a full veteran roster on the ice against the Atlanta Thrashers at 7 p.m. at the Bridgestone Arena.

Anders Lindback will get another look in goal and Chet Pickard appears to be getting his first preseason action. For Atlanta, ex-Pred Chris Mason will play for the Thrashers.

Tonight's game should mark the first time that we see how actual forward lines and defensive pairings may shake out. Also, the Preds will hope to improve on their special team record that has gone 0-13 on the power play and 8-11 on the penalty kill in the three "evaluation" games.

Here are the rosters as released by the Predators...

4 D Cody Franson
6 D Shea Weber
8 D Kevin Klein
10 LW Martin Erat
11 C David Legwand
15 C Matthew Lombardi
16 C Cal O'Reilly
20 D Ryan Suter
21 C Jamie Lundmark
22 RW Jordin Tootoo
25 C Jerred Smithson
26 RW Steve Sullivan
27 RW Patric Hornqvist
29 RW Joel Ward
32 D Teemu Laakso
33 C Colin Wilson
51 D Francis Bouillon
71 RW J.P. Dumont
74 LW Sergei Kostitsyn
77 D Ryan Parent
37 G Chet Pickard
39 G Anders Lindback


4 D Zach Bogosian
6 D Ron Hainsey
9 C Evander Kane
12 LW Patrick Rissmiller
15 LW Nigel Dawes
16 LW Andrew Ladd
18 RW Niclas Bergfors
19 LW Fredrik Modin
21 LW Ben Eager
22 RW Anthony Stewart
24 D Freddy Meyer
27 RW Chris Thorburn
33 D Dustin Byfuglien
36 LW Eric Boulton
39 D Tobias Enstrom
44 D Arturs Kulda
47 C Rich Peverley
49 C Alex Burmistrov
51 D Andrey Zubarev
56 LW Fredrik Pettersson
50 G Mason, Chris
31 G Pavelec, Ondrej

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Ready To Get Serious Tonight Against Atlanta and Monday Round-Up

Programming Note: There will be no POTG Radio tonight due to the Predators home game with Atlanta.

The Predators return to the Bridgestone Arena ice tonight to face the Atlanta Thrashers in the first of two preseason games against the team that is closest geographically to Nashville. They meet again on Wednesday in Atlanta.

Based on Barry Trotz's postgame remarks on Saturday, we should expect to see a more veteran line-up tonight since the team has moved past the "evaluation" stage. He was concerned about players being rusty and needing to become more familiar with their line mates in game situations.

Other concerns that Trotz had were the fact that after tonight, there are only two games left (Wed at Atlanta, Sunday at Washington) and the long gap between the last preseason game and opening night on October 9.

With the cuts made on Saturday, there are still a lot of bodies in camp that I do not see playing any more preseason games so I am surprised that a few more were not sent packing. With Milwaukee's camp opening today, I assume a few more departures will come during the week.

In my mind, the back-up goalie race is between Anders Lindback and Mark Deckanich with Lindback looking more confident in his two appearances. The open spots on defense and the forward positions are much less clear.

Here is our story from Saturday's game along with audio from Barry Trotz, Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback. Here are the players remaining in camp after the postgame cuts.

Josh Cooper has his story from Saturday's game along with his postgame ponderings.

Jim Diamond has his thoughts on Saturday's game with the always interesting topic of Preds' line combinations while The City Paper has David Boclair's game story.

In the Preds' blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Jas Faulkner, and See Puck City.

For those who want to see the Kelsey Wilson - Steve Pinizzotto scrap, Hockeyfights.com has the clip.

In Preds Nation...

The Tennessean also has an excellent video piece about Blake Geoffion. Josh Cooper spoke with Anders Lindback before his first NHL game . He also discusses Matt Halischuk's chances of making the team as well as those of Sergei Kostitsyn.

Jim Diamond has a post about Barry Trotz as a player after talking to Columbus Head pro scout, Bob Strumm.

Amanda DiPaolo laments the fact that Garbriel Bourque did not make it into a preseason game this year. She also points to the dramatic rise in the stock of Patric Hornqvist who was listed as the 15th best right winger in the Hockey News ranking.

Dirk Hoag's Sunday round-up makes note of the rash of injuries around the league.

J. R. Lind has a positive piece on the business side of the Predators at Nashville Post.

Jay Levin starts the season preview process at Predators.com with a look at the Goalies and D-Men.

FS Tennessee will have an edition of Preds Snapshot beginning October 5.

The Sporting News had their preseason preview of the Preds over the weekend.

Hockey Night in Nashville is on a campaign to have folks arrive early opening night to get the season started off right.

Sam at Preds Blog is back with Patric Hornqvist's 12th goal in his series looking at all of them.

Former Predator Ryan Jones is in a familiar position, fighting for a spot on the fourth line in Edmonton.

Around the NHL...

Interesting note after all the "blogger cred" controversy from @MichelleKenneth: Btw, the "badge" thing from last night. NON-EXISTENT. A credential is a credential at NYR...either locker room access. (Note: All the credentials look alike at the Predators games too)

Dalia Kurtz, Launy "The" Schwartz's better half, has a few words for fellow Drafted contestant, Meg Morrison. It appears to me that part of the Drafted "confidentiality" agreement must have required the contestants to believe everything that "judge" Greg Sansone says. Anyone with any journalistic sense would not fall for what Sansone is selling unless they were in some way bound contractually to agree. If Meg and the others are that gullible, they will have no credibility as a reporter for The Score.

Around the horn there comes Wayne Redden being put on waivers, Mark Streit going down for up to six months, and Josh Harding out for the year.

Our friend Michael Langlois and his Vintage Leaf Memories are celebrating their first birthday this week. They have a post about interesting hockey nicknames and includes a point about Blake Geoffrion's grandfather, "Boom-Boom." It is a great site with something interesting every day.

While the Kovalchuk debacle was a high profile battle between the NHL and the NHLPA, something that will be remembered in the next CBA negotiations is Wade Redden and Christobal Huet getting buried in the minors to get out from under their salary cap hit. Ken Campbell has the story.

Adrian Dater looks at the Av's options with the latest concussion to Peter Mueller. This is a tough break for a bubble team wanting to return to the playoffs.

David Staples gives a perfect 10 to Magnus Paajavi in his ratings round up from the Oilers first exhibition game. His hat trick overshadowed Taylor Hall's debut and goal. Could the Oilers surprise everyone and push the Blue Jackets into last place in the west?

Also from Edmonton, Oiler fans were ecstatic when a Dan Ellis misplay led to an easy skate in goal for Taylor Hall's first score. Kukla's has the video from TSN. The continued abuse of Ellis kicked into high gear again with that one.

Jim Neveau at The Hockey Writers picks four non-playoff teams from last year that are likely to make a splash this season.

Motley Su kicks off the Western Hockey League season at From the Rink.

Jack Campbell won his OHL debut when Windsor beat Plymouth 5-4 on Friday night. Most likely, Ryan Ellis will rejoin the Spitfires in a few days.

Here is an interesting post on the media debate which points to the Predators as being one of the more progressive teams.

Mike Fisher makes an appearance in a music video of a really horrible, whiny song by his wife Carrie Underwood. I have to admit that I had never heard her sing before but I hope she has some better music than this somewhere in her past.

Odds and Ends...

Big news this morning from my favorite airline, Southwest. They have agreed to acquire Air Tran which will expand their footprint and open up gates in Atlanta for the first time. I hope they get rid of the old Air Tran equipment in the process.

While we hear so much about the decline in Newspaper readership, it appears that the Online versions of the big dailies in Chicago are growing.

Keep your fingers crossed as a new house plan provides funding for an extra space shuttle flight next year.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Predators Lose 2-1 to Capitals in Defensive Contest


Coach Barry Trotz



Anders Lindback and Pekka Rinne

The Nashville Predators concluded the evaluation phase of their preseason schedule with a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in front of a rowdy crowd of 15,218 at the Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night.

Jay Beagle scored the game winning goal at 6:47 in the third period to give the Caps a lead that they never relinquished.

Mike Green opended the scoring for the Capitals with a back door power play goal, 3:21 into the game that came off of a beautiful cross ice pass from Nicklas Backstrom.

The Predators tied the game at 7:25 in the second period when Colin Wilson sent a perfect no-look pass from behind the net to Matt Halischuk who buried it in the net from the slot.

The game was dominated by defense and goaltending as the Predators outshot the Capitals 25-23.

Dany Sabourin got the win after relieving Michal Neuvirth at the halfway mark of the game. Pekka Rinne started for the Preds and Anders Lindback took the loss in relief.

What We Learned...

The Predators special teams continued to struggle. The power play is still looking for their first goal after going 0-6 against the Caps bringing the three game total to 0-13. The Penalty kill gave up a goal on its only opportunity bringing the total to three goals in eleven chances over the last three nights.

Barry Trotz is not concerned about the lack of scoring through three games. "I'm not that worried (about offense), on the other side we have been pretty good defensively. In the first game we were porous on defense and the last two games we've be good on defense. It's a work in progress on the offensive side."

Trotz continued, "Special teams are obviously a work in progress. We went into camp and the first three games were evaluation. There wasn't a lot of match-ups with everybody playing against everybody."

Several veterans played their first game including Shea Weber, Steve Sullivan and Matthew Lombardi and appeared somewhat out of sync. "Our veteran guys are rusty," Trotz explained. "They need some games. They are not ready for the season right now. We have three games left and you will see more of these guys playing."

"We are done experimenting and we have to go from there. We've had our evaluation process and now we are going to have to make hard decisions. These decisions are going to be made for the 'now'. Some guys may not have their game under them but they have a little bit of history so they may have an edge knowing that they will get their game on. Some of the young guys are really pushing from the back side to some of the veterans."

Both Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback looked sharp in net. Rinne stopped seven of eight, while Lindback allowed one goal on 15 shots.

Lindback played his second half-game in two nights stopping 29 of 30 shots in the process. It would appear at this point that the second goalie spot may be his to lose.

Trotz was pleased with Lindback's play, "He's played really well. He's only given up one goal in sixty minutes of play. You put Peks in net or you put him in and they look the same. He's just got to gain experience. He's getting better every day."

Matt Halischuk played a solid game and is desperately trying to make the final squad. In addition to his goal, he also added three shots in 17:47 of ice time. When asked about the difference in the New Jersey Devils and the Predators' approaches Halischuk said,"Every system is different. This one involves more puck speed and puck support"

Matthew Lombardi played his first game as a Predator and logged a very heavy 21:15 minutes on the ice. He played on a line with Patric Hornqvist and Sergei Kostitsyn and appeared to develop chemistry as the game progressed.

Lombardi said "A lot of guys are getting to know each other and we just have to keep getting better as camp goes on so that we will be full force when the season starts."

Blake Geoffrion probably played his last preseason game in front of the hometown fans this year. He centered a line of Wade Belak and Kelsey Wilson and was -1 on the evening while playing 10:42. he had a good evening in the face off circle, winning seven of eleven draws.

After the game the team pared the roster down to 38 players. Trotz commented on the moves, "There's 12 guys, they are the younger guys. They are good players in the group on defense and forward that are going to eventually play but we felt that at this point that we needed to get them settled back in Milwaukee."

"It doesn't mean that hey won't play this yyear for us, it only means that there are others in the pecking order that we need to see first who have a history in the league or have played well in camp. We've got to get a little of the clutter out and bring the numbers down quickly. We've got to work on our game."

My three stars of the game...


1 - Mike Green
2 - Matt Halischuk
3 - Jay Beagle

Up Next...

The Predators will return to the ice for their final home preseason game against the Atlanta Thrashers on Monday night at 7 p.m.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Reduce Roster to 38 after 2-1 Loss to Caps

The Nashville Predators announced another round of roster reductions shortly after their game with the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

In his post game comments, Trotz indicated that he first three exhibition games were part of the evaluation process. These cuts will allow more focus on the players that will be with the team throughout the course of the season.

Milwaukee's camp opens Monday and eleven of the players will report there.

Here is the release in its entirety.

PREDATORS REDUCE TRAINING CAMP ROSTER TO 38
-Club sends 11 to Milwaukee and Beck to Juniors-


Nashville, Tenn. (September 25, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced tonight that the club has assigned forwards Gabriel Bourque, Ryan Flynn, Mark Santorelli and Ryan Thang; defensemen Jonathon Blum and Roman Josi; and goaltender Jeremy Smith to Milwaukee (AHL). The Predators also sent forward Taylor Beck back to his junior team (Guelph, OHL) and released forwards Chris Mueller and Mark Van Guilder, and defensemen Scott Ford and Scott Lehman from Professional Tryout Agreements (PTOs).


The transactions leave Nashville’s Training Camp roster at 38 players – 22 forwards, 12 defensemen and four goaltenders. Players by position currently participating in camp are as follows:


FORWARDS (22): Jonas Andersson, Wade Belak, J.P. Dumont, Martin Erat, Blake Geoffrion, Marcel Goc, Matt Halischuk, Patric Hornqvist, Linus Klasen, Sergei Kostitsyn, David Legwand, Matthew Lombardi, Jamie Lundmark, Cal O'Reilly, Jerred Smithson, Nick Spaling, Steve Sullivan, Andreas Thuresson, Jordin Tootoo, Joel Ward, Colin Wilson and Kelsey Wilson.


DEFENSEMEN (12): Francis Bouillon, Ryan Ellis, Cody Franson, Aaron Johnson, Kevin Klein, Teemu Laakso, Grant Lewis, Brett Palin, Ryan Parent, Alexander Sulzer, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber.


GOALTENDERS (4): Mark Dekanich, Anders Lindback, Chet Pickard and Pekka Rinne.


The second annual Preds Fest, a fan-appreciation celebration to mark the start of the hockey season in Smashville, continues through Monday’s preseason contest against Nashville’s closest geographical rival, the Atlanta Thrashers (7 p.m., WBUZ 102.9-FM The Buzz). On Sunday from 3:30-5 p.m., there will be a free public skating session at Bridgestone Arena, and Preds Fest concludes with Community Night during Monday’s game, with local non-profit organizations set up around the main concourse to inform fans of the inspiring work they are doing in and around Nashville. Visit nashvillepredators.com/predsfest for more details.


The regular season in Smashville kicks off on Oct. 9 vs. the Anaheim Ducks. All fans in attendance will receive an Opening Night t-shirt courtesy of Bridgestone. Tickets may be purchased at the Bridgestone Arena box office, by calling (615) 770-PUCK (7825) or online via Ticketmaster.com or nashvillepredators.com.


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators and Capitals Square Off in Nashville Tonight

The Nashville Predators will play their third preseason game in three nights against an Alexander Ovechkin-less Washington Capitals team at the Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m.

The Preds are fielding their strongest lineup of the year with debut appearances by Shea Weber, Matthew Lombardi and Steve Sullivan. Patric Hornqvist, Colin Wilson, Sergei Kostitsyn and a renewed J P Dumont will also be on the ice. Local Favorite, Blake Geoffrion, will also play.

The most interesting battle to watch will be on the blue line where the battle for six through ten on the depth chart continues. Older players, Aaron Johnson, Bret Palin, and Alexander Sulzer are competing against youngsters, Ryan Ellis and Ryan Ryan Parent for a spot on the roster.

Other than Weber, none of the six D-Men playing tonight are a lock to start the season in Nashville. Parent probably has the best shot to stay. Ellis is the most likely to leave, eventually heading back to Juniors with specific instructions to focus on the defensive side of his game.

Johnson and Palin were both picked up in the off-season as defensive depth players. Palin has spent the last five years in the Calgary Flames organization playing in the AHL. Last season, he started the season as the captain in Abbotsford but was limited to 21 games due to injury.

Johnson has played 225 NHL games with Columbus, NY Islanders, Chicago, Calgary and Edmonton, picking up 14 goals and 32 assists at the NHL level.

In goal, Pekka Rinne will probably start and will be followed by Anders Lindback, who was impressive last night against Carolina, stopping all 15 shots.

Washington's squad will feature Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Knuble. Ovechkin and Alexander Semin did not make the trip.

Here are the complete rosters as announced by the Predators.

Nashville Predators
2 D Aaron Johnson
3 RW Wade Belak
5 C Blake Geoffrion
6 D Shea Weber
9 C Marcel Goc
13 C Nick Spaling
15 C Matthew Lombardi
23 D Brett Palin
24 RW Matt Halischuk
26 RW Steve Sullivan
27 RW Patric Hornqvist
33 C Colin Wilson
38 LW Kelsey Wilson
49 D Ryan Ellis
52 D Alexander Sulzer
71 RW J.P. Dumont
74 LW Sergei Kostitsyn
77 D Ryan Parent
35 G Pekka Rinne
39 G Anders Lindback

Washington Capitals
3 D Tom Poti
4 D John Erskine
15 F Boyd Gordon
16 F Eric Fehr
19 F Nicklas Backstrom
20 F Keith Aucoin
21 F Brooks Laich
22 F Mike Knuble
23 D Lawrence Nycholat
24 F Brian Willsie
26 F Matt Hendricks
36 F Francois Bouchard
42 F Steve Pinizzotto
44 D Brian Fahey
50 F Cody Eakin
52 D Mike Green
55 D Jeff Schultz
75 D Grant McNeill
83 F Jay Beagle
89 D Tyler Sloan
90 F Marcus Johansson
30 G Michal Neuvirth
35 G Dany Sabourin

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Friday, September 24, 2010

Preds Veterans Beat Younger Canes 2-1

With the tables turned from the night before, the Nashville Predators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in Raleigh on Friday night. The game was the opposite of Thursday's encounter in Nashville where the Canes had the more veteran squad. This time, the Preds had the vets and Carolina played more of their prospects.

Carolina scored first at 16:45 in the opening period on a five on three power play goal by Patrick O'Sullivan. The Preds tied the game at 7:45 in the second, when Justin Pogge misplayed the puck and left it behind the net for David Legwand who scored a wrap-around goal to the open side of the Carolina net.

The game winner was scored by Jordin Tootoo off a nifty drop pass from Matt Halischuk at 12:06 in the second period.

Mark Dekanich started the game and faced only seven shots and allowed the power play goal when Carolina did a good job of screening the O'Sullivan wrister. Anders Lindback picked up the win as he stopped all 15 shots that he faced. He appeared to have had more opportunity to prove himself with Carolina being more active in the second half of the game.

The Predator power play was o-3 while the penalty kill was three of four giving up the second goal in two games. Jordin Tootoo led the Preds with five shots while Ryan Suter added four.

The Predators returned home immediately after the game and will face the Washington Capitals at 7 p.m. at the Bridgestone Arena.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators First Preseason Game Round-Up and Friday Findings

Last night the Predators played their first game against an outside opponent and the outcome was fairly predictable with a 3-1 loss that was much closer than the score appeared. The team had several chances to tie the game up until Eric Cole's empty netter with 38 seconds remaining.

The Preds were out-experienced at almost every position as they went with a young line-up while Carolina brought a near full complement of players. Here is our story from last night that includes tonight's line-up against these same Hurricanes for the game in Raleigh at 6.p.m.

There is no local radio or TV for tonight's rematch, but the Carolina radio cast may be found here. Earlier this week, in their prior home game, there was also a video feed at the Hurricanes' web site.

Predators-Hurricanes Game Round-Up...

Josh Cooper had his game story and postgame ponderings. Bryan Mullen also chipped in with a notes column.

Jim Diamond has his game story at the Examiner.

David Boclair has his view of the game at The City Paper.

From the blogs comes reports from Predlines, Brandon Felder, Section 303, On The Forecheck, See Puck City, Hockey Night in Nashville, and Big Kev.

From Carolina comes the AP story (Jim Diamond) from the News and Observer and from Bob Wage at Cane Country.

In Pred Nation...

Josh Cooper has a few quotes from Blake Geoffrion on his first game as a Pred and from Ryan Ellis on skating with Shea Weber. Jon Blum also talks about his chances to make the team.

Just in time for the season, Brandon Felder returns (without actually physically leaving).

Mark Willoughby is still under observation from his dog bite episode but still filled his weekly "My View."

Dirk Hoag has his comprehensive team preview for the Predators.

The Hockey News Puck Panel has the Predators as a "sleeper" pick. Phoenix was a "sleeper" last year. When you make the playoffs five out of six seasons, I would think that it would be an expectation and not a "sleeper."

The Predators announced the first annual Play With a Pro casino night fundraiser that is set for October 7. Go here for details.

The Predators Green Lady is back. Follow her at @PredsGreenLady.

The Milwaukee Admirals announced a return engagement by the Dropkick Murphys for their game on February 25.

Traditional Predator Drama with the Tennessean...

Mark at The View From 111 shares his Letter to the Editor at the Tennessean which shoots holes in yesterday's very tired storyline about the Predators' alleged lease violation. It's too bad most Pred fans have resorted to reading the paper on line, because most canceled a long time ago. It is a real shame that all of the great work that new Pred beat writer Josh Cooper is doing has to be associated with the muck that business writers like to sensationalize.

Paul McCann also jumps in with a rebuttal to the Tennessean article.

Dan Bradley adds humor to the Tennessean situation at Excellence Through Guesswork.

Predator officials admitted that the issue should not have come up and promised to rectify the past misdeeds at the Sports Authority meeting yesterday. Having a new President and CEO in place should prevent future problems in the compliance area.

Around the NHL...

Drafted 2 did give Launy "The" Schwartz five questions after he was DQed and actually published them. I don't understand why they can't accept the fact that he did not lie and showed far more integrity than anyone associated with the show.

An the official announcement of a "Hard Knocks" type series on the Caps and Pens came yesterday. That one snuck up on everyone.

In a controversial early suspension, Nick Boynton gets a game for a "throat slashing" gesture. The season can't be far away now.

There is nothing worse than ownership uncertainty in a franchise. Mike Heika reports that it could be next season before the Stars' situation is resolved.

On Frozen Blog has a nice post about the latest NHL decision on bloggers in visitor locker rooms.

The war of words between Damian Cox and Ted Leonsis rages on.

NHL.com has an update on Mandi Schwartz's stem cell transplant on Wednesday.

The Hockey Writers are starting a new radio show on Sunday. Here are the details.

The Southeast Division gets the treatment from Intent to Blow.

Odds and Ends...


My friend @tapeleg is looking out for my interests and showed me this clip of a new roller derby documentary that just came out in a few markets. Brutal Beauty: Tales of The Rose City Rollers looks like a must see.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Young Predators Lose 3-1 to Hurricanes in Preseason Opener

A youthful group of Nashville Predators played fairly well in a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville's first preseason action.

Carolina brought a veteran lineup that included Eric Staal, Sergei Samsonov, Eric Cole, Brandon Sutter, and others with plenty of NHL experience. The Predators countered with young prospects mixed in with veterans J.P. Dumont, Patric Hornqvist, and Pekka Rinne.

The Predators were especially young on defense with Ryan Parent and Cody Franson being the only D-men with more than a few games experience.

Barry Trotz commented on the mis-match in experience, "They probably had three of their lines in and four of their top D. Our top four defensemen weren't in the game."

The Predators got on the board first on an unassisted shot through the middle by J.P. Dumont at 9:18 of the first period. Patrick O'Sullivan and Sergei Samsonov scored for the Canes in the second period. An empty netter by Eric Cole in the waning minutes of the game was the final nail in the coffin for the Preds as they missed a couple of opportunities to tie as the clock wound down.

"I thought in the second that we stopped skating," Trotz lamented.. "They played a real pressure game as we did. In the third, I thought we turned it on them a bit. We could have tied it up and didn't."

What We Learned...

J.P. Dumont is in the best shape that he has been in in a couple of years and hustles like we have not seen in recent times. His goal was indicative of his work over the summer.

Sergei Kostitsyn plays much better than he practices. I had questions as to whether he would make the squad after watching him over the weekend, but those were erased in last night's game. Trotz commented, "I thought Kostitsen had his best night. He does a really good job o the penalty kill. He skated well offensively."

Patric Hornqvist picked up where he left off last year with six shots and plenty of pushing and shoving around the net, fighting for space in the hard areas.

Blake Geoffrion made his first start in a Preds' sweater in front of the home crowd. He said his biggest thrill was "taking my first face-off against Eric Staal and getting the win was pretty special." He also claimed he had no jitters in front of his friends and family once the game started.

Trotz was pleased with Geoffrion's game, "I thought Blake had a really good game. He was one of our best face off guys. He was real solid on the penalty kill and showed really good poise."

In goal, Pekka Rinne looked better than he has in past year's preseason games. Playing just over half the game, he stopped 17 of 18 Canes' shots that included one highlight film save at the end of the first period that brought the crowd to their feet.

"For the most part I was pleased with Pekka. He looked sharp and made some really good saves," explained Trotz, post-game.

Mark Dekanich stopped six of seven shots in relief as Carolina's offensive push slowed. While he kept from making any big mistakes, Dekanich did not look completely comfortable in net.

Ryan Ellis was paired with Cody Franson and was a -2 for the game. "Offensively he was pretty good. I thought a couple of times he didn't support his partner coming out of our end," said Trotz. Ellis either has to make the team out of camp or return to Windsor for another year in Juniors. Milwaukee is not an option.

The Predator special teams picked up where they left off last year going 0-4 on the power-play and 5-6 on the penalty kill. The movement on the man advantage was much improved is spite of not finding the net. Trotz was disapointed in the dicipline that led to six penalties, "Last year we were one of the most disciplined teams and we've got to get back to that."

Notes...

There was plenty of confusion on the lower level of the arena as the Predator locker room renovation remains unfinished from the flood. Barry Trotz commented that he hoped the contractors were listening and could get the team back in the room by October 5.

The crowd was lively for a preseason crowd, with over 10,000 actual bodies in seats which is not bad for a Thursday in September in Tennessee.

Next Up...

The Predators leave this afternoon to fly to Raleigh for a return engagement with the Hurricanes. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. tonight. Here is the roster that will make the trip.

POS. NO. PLAYER
D 2 Aaron Johnson
D 7 Jonathon Blum
D 8 Kevin Klein
RW 10 Martin Erat
C 11 David Legwand
LW 12 Andreas Thuresson
C 13 Nick Spaling
C 16 Cal O'Reilly
D 20 Ryan Suter
C 21 Jamie Lundmark
RW 22 Jordin Tootoo
RW 24 Matt Halischuk
LW 28 Jonas Andersson
RW 29 Joel Ward
D 32 Teemu Laakso
RW 33 Colin Wilson
RW 45 Ryan Flynn
D 51 Francis Bouillon

NO. GOALTENDER
31 Mark Dekanich
39 Anders Lindback


More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Opening Night at Bridgestone Arena (Sort Of), The Schwartz Speaks, and Thursday Thoughts

It has been almost five months since the Nashville Predators lost game six of their first round playoff series against the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks putting an end to a great late season run.

As fate would have it, even if the Preds had won and moved on to round two, that probably still would have been the last home game of the year for the Predators. After the Bridgestone Arena was flooded on May 1, it was closed for events for over three weeks. Renovations to the locker rooms and coaches offices continued well into the summer.

Now, everything has been cleaned up and the whole arena has a fresh coat of paint. Tonight, at a few minutes after 7 p.m., the puck will drop for the first of at least 44 times between now and
April. Predator fans would like to see many more games than that as the team hopes to go deeper in the playoffs than they ever have before.

Not only does the arena have a fresh look to it, the Predators have a bright outlook too, both on and off the ice. The team sent Jason Arnott to Jersey, and lost Dan Ellis and Dan Hamhuis to free agency.

In their place, they added the speedy Matthew Lombardi and the talented, but unknown quantity, of Sergei Kostitsyn. They also brought former Preds, Ryan Parent and Jonas Andersson, back for an encore shot at life as a Predator.

Additionally, the Preds sport the best group of prospects in the NHL according to Hockey's Future. Only a few have a legitimate shot at starting the season with the team but many will be wearing Preds' colors in the years to come. Click here for the roster of 20 players that will see action tonight.

Off the ice, the Predators made a few moves that solidified the franchise and give the team the best chance to succeed financially that we have seen since opening day in 1998.

The specter of 25% of the team being tied up in Boots DelBiaggio's bankruptcy court was lifted when the other owners were allowed to purchase the outstanding shares at a discounted price. In the front office, the Predators looked outside the organization for a couple of successful hockey businessmen and hired Sean Henry as President and Jeff Cogen as CEO.

All in all, having watched the franchise grow from its infancy to a regular playoff participant, I can honestly say that the present, as well as the future has never looked brighter.

All that is left to do is to drop the puck. Go Preds, make it happen.

Launy "The" Schwartz Update...

I try to keep a positive tone to our posts at POTG. I am really struggling to not be vicious and vindictive toward The Score's Drafted 2 competition where our friend, Launy Schwartz, was unceremoniously booted off the show Tuesday night based on an uncorroborated lie just to create drama and draw ratings. You can watch all of the fabricated for TV reality action here.

I will have more to say soon, but Michelle Kenneth captured the truth of the matter in her post here.

Last night, Launy appeared on Chris Wassel's The Program for over an hour and gave keen insight into the world of (not) reality TV. If you are a fan of Launy at all, or want to learn how an innocent person can be used for ratings, give it a listen.

Listen to internet radio with The Program on Blog Talk Radio



In Pred Nation...

Josh Cooper made the call to Patric Kane to get his thoughts on Sergei Kostitsyn. PHT adds their two cents to Josh's story. Josh also discusses the veterans that Barry Trotz says are being pressured by the crop of rookies. This morning Josh discusses opening night and headlines with Ryan Ellis in his notes column.

The Carolina Hurricanes announced that they would travel with an experienced roster for tonight's game at Bridgestone Area. They already have a game under their belt, losing 4-1 to Florida on Tuesday, so they may be a little further along in their look at prospects.

The Preds officially announced their deal with The Buzz 102.9 to carry every game at the same place on the dial for the first time since 2004. Here is an audio clip from Pete, Terry and Tom being introduced on the station. Preds.com also has their game preview for tonight.

Keep in mind that tonight's game is also the beginning of PredsFest that runs from the pregame activities tonight until the third game in three nights on Monday when Atlanta comes to town. In between is a game with last year's President's Cup winning, Washington Capitals on Saturday.

At OnTheForecheck, Seth Lake reviews the Predators' full day spent practicing with special teams on Wednesday. He has good news to report and the fact that Barry Trotz appears to be taking ownership of the most troubling part of the teams play over the past few years. Chris Burton discusses the "new era" in Preds Nation and it is all good.

Jim Diamond talks to Patric Hornqvist and Colin Wilson about the team's power play prospects for this season.

Amanda at Predlines takes a detailed look at the home ice debut of Brentwood native, Blake Geoffrion.

David Boclair points out that we may see more of Pekka Rinne in the preseason than you might expect. After starting slowly last season, Barry Trotz wants him to hit the ground running (or skating, I presume).

Many folks think that hockey is a sport that is too hard to understand. Patten Fuqua breaks the game down to a few things that anyone can understand. Also, at Section 303, Jeremy has news of how you can be the "in game DJ" at Preds games.

From @kausatoday: #Predators Coach Barry Trotz says "Jonas Andersson is tremendously fast...he might even be faster than Lombardi." Kevin also has a post about Colin Wilson and a longer one focused on captain, Shea Weber.

Admirals' Roundtable also looks at their Milwaukee favorites that are set to dress for tonight's game.

Social Media mogul at The Tennessean, Eric Shuff, is making a move to become the Predators' Interactive Marketing Coordinator. Congrats, Eric, you will be a real asset to the team.

Hockey Night in Nashville is back with their predictions in the Central Division. This is the most optimistic look yet for Pred fans.

What would any type of opening night for the Predators be without a story from the Tennesseean's business page about financial troubles. So, here is the latest version, just in time for the opening puck drop. This is a very tired subject.

Here's a look at potential future Preds owner Brett Wilson's house from the Ottawa Citizen.

Around the NHL...

Ryan at RLD Hockey has his top five Vezina candidates for this year. Preds fans will like the list.

Amanda Fortier takes a look at NHL ticket prices broken down in several ways at View From My Seats.

I am on board with Bob McKenzie who thinks that the Wings will be much improved this season.

Kirill Kabanov just doesn't get it. He showed up late again yesterday. This guy is a great talent and could take a job as a comedian doing one liners. I really would like to see him play in the NHL someday but he is not on the right track.

PHT takes a look at top scorers from last year and the effect a contract year may have on them.

McKeens has their top 100 defensemen and top 50 goalies. Pekka is fourth and Shea is sixth. Ryan Suter is underrated at 28th. I can't wait to see that over the full season.

James "Tapeleg" Gralian went on the road and has a report from the Avs-Blues game on Tuesday with plenty of pictures at Jersey's and Hockey Love.

After last year's Olympic year schedule, Vancouver players are looking forward to a return to normal.

Odds and Ends...

Here are a few things not to do on Twitter. It appears that drunk tweeting is frowned upon.

GQ has a great read on my favorite movie of all time, Goodfellas. I can't believe it has been twenty years since it was released.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass