In the heat of the moment last night, Predators' Coach Barry Trotz unleashed a tongue-lashing on his team like I have never heard after a win. He was clearly not a happy man.
You owe it to yourself to check out the video where he stated talking without even waiting for a question before he bit his tongue and asked for a question where he then proceeded to continue on with his rant.
As frustrating as it was for Trotz and the fans, there were clearly highlights and the overall result could not have been better.
Most importantly, the Preds got two points and won their fifth game in a row and are now 7-1 sine they returned home for their final 12 of 15 at home stretch to finish the season. The consensus was that id they won 10 of 15 that they would be in the playoffs.
With the good push here in the last two weeks, the Preds now have a legitimate shot at fourth or fifth in the west is they win the games that they should win.
In spite of what the score sheet said, Pekka Rinne had another outstanding game. Trotz also touched on the disservice done to him at the end of the game. "We exposed one of the top goaltenders to have to make some real acrobatic saves when he probably didn’t have to."
Ryan Suter had the occasion to be in the odd position of basically scoring two goals for the opposition in the third period. The final goal, in which Suter soccer-kicked the puck off the crossbar and into the Preds net was the goal of the night on NHL on the fly.
The Predators Jennings Trophy chances took a hit as they fell to third, behind Boston who benefited from a huge 7-0 win over Montreal.
So what should you take away from all the disgust and ill will after the game? Probably not a lot. It wasn't pretty but the Preds got the two point regulation win that they needed and ended the night in sixth place just behind LA who was also at 90 points. They are five points behind Division leader Detroit and have a much easier schedule for the rest of the way.
The positive thing is that the team got a game that taught them how bad it felt to lose without suffering the consequences in the standings. If they can win against Dallas on Saturday, then their playoff berth is looking good, barring a loss to a team that is not in contention.
Preds-Ducks Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night with post game video that is a must see.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, postgame ponderings, and a special bonus post of all the good stuff from Barry Trotz's lively post game pressor.
Jim Diamond discusses Barry Trotz's post game rant in spite of a win.
David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.
From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Marc Torrence, Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Fang Finger Fever, and Hockey Night in Nashville.
For the OC side of the game see J.P. Hoonstra, The Battle of California, the OC Register, Anaheim Calling, and the LA Times.
Audio clips from the Predators come from Sergei Kostitsyn, Pekka Rinne, Jordin Tootoo, and Shane O'Brien.
From Anaheim comes clips from Coach Randy Carlyle, Dan Ellis, and Ryan Getzlaf.
In Preds Nation...
J. R. Lind has a nice feature at the Nashville Scene on Blake Geoffrion.
Section 303 looks at three top Pred prospects that finished in the top ten in scoring in the OHL.
The Ottawa Citizen has a piece on former Senators in their new homes and takes a dim view of Mike Fisher's contributions in Nashville. I disagree with their assessment.
Around the NHL...
Donald Fehr spoke with Mark Spector in an exclusive interview about concussions and the upcoming CBA negotiations. It is interesting that Dennis Bernstein told us on RLD Hockey Radio on Wednesday that Matthew Schneider will be the point man on dealing with operational issues like concussions in the upcoming dealings with the NHL.
The City of Glendale put out an FAQ about the bonds related to the sale of the bonds to finace their portion of the sale of the Coyotes to Matthew Hulsizer.
It is still unclear if Mike Green will be able to return this year for the Caps. In New Jersey, Lou Lamoriello says Zach Parise will return before the season is over.
Stu Hackel looks at the Western Conference injury situation at SI.
NHL researchers found out that Teemu Selanne's fourth game-tying goal in the last three minutes of a game in the same season is a first.
It appears that parents of a group of kids were horrified at an AHL game in Portland, Maine when fights broke out. Maybe a little homework on what happens at a hockey game would have been in order.
Odds and Ends...
Thanks to AJ for sending me this link to a video of Hunter S. Thompson interviewing Keith Richards in 1993.
Will I really be getting Gingerbread on my Droid X next week? I guess we will see.
Google has stared its own online magazine called Think Quarterly which is about data and the impact on business.
Hard to believe but a destroyed highway was replaced in six days in Japan. We have a major road in Maury County that they haven't done anything to since the floods last May 1.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
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