Predators Losses Have Come in Bunches and Monday Wrap-Up

The Predators have put Saturday's 6-1 shellacking at the hands of the Kings in their rear view mirror and are ready to move on to this week's games. After the game, Barry Trotz said, "I probably won't even look at the game."

In light of the loss, Wednesday's game in Chicago may be one of the most important games of the year for the Predators. The majority of Preds losses this year have come in bunches, packed into five game and four game losing streaks.

The Predators started the season getting points in the first eight games and roared to the best record in the league on October 24 in spite of having a three game overtime loss streak in the middle of their success.

The Predators then proceeded to lose five in a row which included losses of different levels of ugliness. Pred nation was fit to be tied.

The team recovered and won four of the next five which included the devastating second period collapse in Toronto. That game stands alone as the only regulation loss that was not in a streak with Saturday's game still pending to see if it is isolated or the beginning of a new losing streak.

Thanksgiving week was not kind to the Preds as they lost four in a row but gained two loser points for their efforts.

Then, despite an ongoing series of injuries, the Preds had their best run of the year, winning eight of nine and getting a point in the other game to end up with the second highest point total in the West before Saturday's loss to the Kings.

Based on the trend so far this season, Wednesday's contest with the Hawks looms large as the Preds will try to put a halt to a new streak before it becomes one.

It appears that Patrick Hornqvist and/or David Legwand will return along with Pekka Rinne. I imagine that Anders Lindback will get the start in Chicago and Rinne will get the home start on Thursday against Ottawa if he has no further setbacks in his rehabilitation.

POTG Radio Returns...

We will be back with a new show tonight with special guest Travis Hair of Five for Howling who has joined us six or seven times in the last couple of years following the Phoenix Coyote ownership saga. We will look back and forward at all that has transpired.

We will also have a few leftover clips from the post game from Saturday night's game. Join us at the link below or on iTunes.



Preds-Kings Round-Up...

Here is our game story from Saturday night along with Barry Trotz's post game video.

Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, postgame ponderings, and locker room quotes.

David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.

From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Dirk Hoag (with his advances stats), Jeremy Gover, AJ at PMFF, and Hockey Night in Nashville.

Wes Cunningham also has a photo gallery from the game at Inside Hockey.

The Kings side of the story comes from Mayors Manor, Jonathan Moncrief, Kingscast, KingsCourt, Jewels from the Crown, Kings Insider, J.P. Hoonstra, and the LA Times.

In Preds Nation...

After Saturday's game, Mark Dekanich and Steve Begin were sent to Milwaukee. Begin's return was a sad one. Read this post from yesterday to see why.

Amanda DiPaolo writes about Pekka's pending return and the great job Anders Lindback did in his absence.

Hockey Night in Nashville has a preview of the Winter Classic.

The Ottawa Citizen has an early preview of Thursday's match with the Preds.

Patten Fuqua has a weekly wrap-up of the Milwaukee Admirals including news of their weekend games.

24/7 Episode 1 Now On NHL.com...

After millions of fans were shut out of seeing the most talked about NHL video in years since it was only on HBO, NHL.com now has the first episode of 24/7 up in a bleeped out version right here.

Shea Weber and Barry Trotz comment on the 24/7 show.

Steve LaPore also has the ratings for the first show.

Around the NHL...

Donald Fehr was officially announced as the new head of the NHLPA on Saturday and participated in a conference call. Kevin Greenstein has a great story with an historical perspective.

Chris Link at Puck and Punk combines all of his color scales into one piece. I really think this is fascinating.

Adrian Dater look a a bunch of NHL GM's who are handicapped by their overspending and inability to unload bad contracts.

One of the more controversial topics in Canada over the last week has been the suspension of a coach who refused to put his team on the ice due to racial slurs that were made to one of his players. He has been suspended for the rest of the season.

Details were announce for a statue of Mario Lemieux to be dedicated on December 27 outside the CONSOL Energy Center.

RLD Hockey Saturday Faceoff looks at the best off season bargain acquisition. Ryan also looks at what is next for the Devils and goes inside the Sharks locker room.

The Copper and Blue looks at hockey in Oklahoma City where switching from a CHL team to an AHL team has killed attendance.

Friday afternoon, Aaron Wood, Anthony Perez, and Monique Rough participated in a Coyote's Roundtable discussing the recent city counsel meeting. AZ Vibe has the replay.

Phoenix is off the radar as the team most likely to move as Atlanta now holds the crown. Quebec City has also replaced Winnipeg as the City most likely to get a team. I gues Jim Ballsille has enough to worry about with Android phones beating up the BlackBerry to make a run at the Thrashers.

After last week's teddy bear toss video from Calgary went viral on You Tube, fans in San Antonio were disappointed when the visiting Texas Stars shut out the home team, depriving them of the toss.

For those who were worried, Thrash was released over the weekend.

Odds and Ends...

The annual tradition of sending Christmas cards is fast going by the wayside in the digital age.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass