POTG Wednesday Headlines, News and Notes: It's Not Time to Panic, Yet

The Nashville Predators woke up in Vancouver this morning (literally) and Pred fans are hoping that they will wake up (figuratively) tomorrow night when they face the Canucks for the first time since last year's second round playoff series.

Inconsistency is probably a nice way to describe the Predators 2-2-1 start to the season. After wins in their first two games, they have now lost three in a row with the worst game, by far, coming Monday in Edmonton when they only had 12 shots on goal in a lackluster 3-1 loss.

Pekka Rinne has been the star of the year so far as he has battled an average of 34 shots per game while the Preds have only produced 23 shots per game. Scoring, especially during five on five play, has been non-existent with the Preds scoring five of their twelve goals in special team situations.

Being this early in the season, it is not time to panic, but improvements (and a few wins) need to come quickly. Hopefully, a return to Rogers Arena for practice today will fuel the fires that are needed to set the team in the right direction.

Make the jump for all of today's news and links...



Programming Note...

Today on RLD Hockey Talk our special guest will be Craig Button of TSN and NHL Network. Craig was also the General Manager that was credited with building the foundation of Calgary Flames team that made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004. Join us live at noon CDT on Blog Talk Radio or anytime on podcast.

In Pred Nation...

Jim Diamond reports an up-tempo practice for the Preds yesterday after a team meeting.

Josh Cooper has a round-up of thoughts after Monday's loss. Jerred Smithson expressed frustration after Monday's loss in Edmonton.

Amanda DiPaolo has a feature on Matt Halischuk's inner rock star.

Ryan Porth discusses Lane Lambert's smooth transition to the NHL.

Bryan Mullen has the "team first" approach as the key to the Preds' power play.

David Boclair looks at the Predators' low shot totals.

Mark Willoughby has a virtual tour of the bowels of Bridgestone Arena.

Robby Stanley saw little effort or execution in Monday's sordid affair.

Paul McCann points out that the Preds need to "shoot the damn puck."

Fang Finger calls for the Predators to step up.

One of the low-lights on Monday's game was the pregame adventure with a runaway oil derrick.

Sam Page has more on "Moneyball" and the "Predator Way."

Shanny TV...

Shanny TV proves it is not dead with a new video from Brendan Shanahan discussing Kris Letang's two-game suspension for boarding Winnipeg forward Alex Burmistrov during Monday night's game.

Around the NHL...

Josh Cooper took in the Rangers-Canucks game and got a few comments about Ryan Kesler's return.

RLD Hockey has the video tribute to Rick Rypien shown before last night's Canucks-Rangers game. The Rangers whitewashed the Canucks 4-0.

Jesse Spector has an odd three division realignment proposal. This one makes sense geographically but I would not like a playoff scenario

Were the Kings that good, or the Blues that bad in the 5-0 blowout on Tuesday night?

Folks are giving Jamie Benn props for his early season "goal of the year" effort. You have to consider that it was against Columbus.

John Buccigross has his early season look at what has transpired.

So far, the Predators have not deserved to be in NHL.com's new feature, the top 16.

Gary Bettman appeared on George Stroumboulopoulos' show on Monday. Backhand Shelf has the story.

How many times have we heard a deal was near in Phoenix? Add one more time to the list.

Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson is urging the NHL to look at raising the age of draft eligibility to 19 years old. I guess anything is possible in the upcoming labor negotiations.

Speaking of Phoenix and labor negotiations, the escrow amount is still being debated with an eye on whether the $25 million from the City of Glendale is "revenue."

Marty Brodeur still has an ailing shoulder and may not be ready to play by Friday.

Jaromir Jagr has his own "late night hockey school" and all his teammates are invited.

Patrick Hoffman looks at some of the youngsters playing well early in the season.

Jeff Carter was officially placed on injured reserve in Columbus and will be out a week to 10 days.

HBO's "Real Sports" took on fighting and depression in the NHL in a segment last night.

With the World Series starting tonight, Down Goes Brown has a guide for hockey fans.

Odds and Ends...

The movie "Swingers" turned 15 yesterday and I watched it to celebrate the occasion. Here are ten things you may not know about the 90's classic along with a few video clips.

Here is an interesting profile of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. I like the concept of his "two pizza rule."

More Later...

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