Pred's Coach Barry Trotz Finishes Second in Jack Adams Voting

Nashville Predator's coach Barry Trotz finished second to the Coyote's Dave Tippet in this year's Jack Adams Trophy (NHL coach of the year) voting.

Tippett received 57 of 59 first place votes (291 points). He led the Coyotes to the playoffs after being hired immediately before Phoenix's season opener. The Yotes experienced a summer of discontent last year when ownership was tied up in the court system and remains unclear almost a year later.

Tippett joked when receiving the award that he would like to thank the owners but wasn't sure who they were.

Trotz finished second in the voting with 60 points after leading the Predators to a seventh place finish in the Western Conference and 100 points for the season. Trotz's Preds have made the playoffs five of the last six seasons while being among the lowest salaried teams in the NHL.

Colorado's Joe Sacco finished third in the voting with 51 points. Detroit's Mike Babcock received the other two first place votes while finishing fourth with 38 points.

Other winners included Henrik Sedin winning the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP; Duncan Keith with the Norris as best defenseman; Ryan Miller won the Vezina for best goaltender: and Tyler Meyers captured the Calder as rookie of the year.

One of the more emotional awards was Jose Theodore winning the Masterton Trophy that is awarded annually to the NHL player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."

Theodore lost his new born baby last summer due to complications of premature birth. He received the Masterton the day after what would have been his child's first birthday. Winning the award was an emotional experience that was bittersweet under the circumstances.

"It's not an award growing up that you look at it and you aim for because a lot of times it means you had a sickness or a tragedy. So it's not something you look toward," Theodore explained. "But I always admired the people that won it, because I know they have to make comebacks and fight through a lot of adversity."

I also enjoyed seeing the Coyote's Shane Doan win the King Clancy Trophy that is given for leadership and humanitarian contribution. Of all the players around the league Doan appears to enjoy pre-game warm-ups more than any other player.

When asked about his pre-game fun, Doan responded that he enjoyed every minute on the ice and always can't wait unto the next game of practice to get to do it all over again. What a tribute to the game it is to be able to enjoy playing that much.

In summary, this year's awards show appeared to be more upbeat and fun for the audience in the theater and at home than in last year's first stop in Las Vegas.

We will be editing and posting a bunch of video over the next few weeks as we continue to travel on to the draft in Los Angeles and onward on our extended working vacation.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas NHL Awards Style

After three days of Internet blackout in the back woods of Utah, we returned to the Palms in Las Vegas last night. First thing we saw when we entered the hotel was Lord Stanley’s Cup and all the other trophies on display in the lobby.

All the Trophies

After leaving home on Saturday we were pleased to hear of the game changing trades that the Predators made with Philadelphia and New Jersey. The moves guaranteed that next year’s version of the Predators will have a new look with younger players moving into key roles on the team.

On arriving in Las Vegas, due to limited availability of a reasonable sized vehicle, we were forced to move into a larger, more Hunter S. Thompson-esque vehicle, and ended up with a baby blue Mercury Grand Marquis with rear-wheel drive.

This monster vehicle severely limited our ability to traverse the more desolate areas of the Utah outback and ended our 24-mile trek over dirt washboard seeking slot canyons abruptly when we came upon a huge sand pit.

Bryce Canyon

Our other near death Utah experience involved tent camping in sub-freezing weather with summer weight sleeping bags in the altitude at Bryce Canyon. When we finally escaped from the tent, we found a tree covered with ice where a sprinkler had showered it during the night that confirmed the reason for our all night shivering episode.

Last night after cleaning off the camping dirt, we hit up the In-N-Out Burger and then headed for a stroll on the Strip. We were surprised to run into our Hockey 54 friends Launy Schwartz and Dahlia Kurtz in the Casino at Caesars. Fisher and Jackson had never met them in person so they were thrilled to death.

Jackson, Fisher,Buddy, Joe Frazier, Dahlia, and Launy

Today, we expect to talk to Barry Trotz and several of the other Award nominees at a couple of media events this afternoon and should be able to post interviews later tonight.

This morning, it looks like we will be taking in Toy Story 3 which we are all looking forward to seeing.

More Later…

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Russians Clean Up at the NHL Awards Show

Alexander Ovechkin and the 2K Sports Girls in a Mob on the Red Carpet

The National Hockey League gambled on relocating their annual post-season awards show by moving it to Las Vegas and came a way with a winning production.

The event was held in the Pearl Theater at the Palms Hotel, which is considered to be one of the hippest resorts in Vegas.

From the Hollywood-styled red carpet, to when the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Evgeni Malkin and Max Talbot of the Pittsburgh Penguins brought the Stanley Cup into the theater, to the after party at the Rain nightclub, it was a star studded, well orchestrated event.

The big winners of the night were Russians and Boston Bruins.

Alexander Ovechkin took home both MVP awards, the Hart Trophy, voted by the hockey writers, and the Lester Pearson Trophy, given by the leagues players. He also won the Maurice Richard trophy for the most goals in the regular season. Ovechkin was pleased with the honors but said, “Personal stats are good, but the most important (thing) is the Stanley Cup.”

When asked how he would celebrate, in an understated fashion, he said, “Go to the pool and have a couple of beers.” Ovechkin also pointed out that “Six awards was a big day for our country.”

Pavel Datsyuk, of the Detroit Red Wings was up for four awards and came home with two, the Lady Byng for “gentlemanly play” and the Selke, for best defense by an offensive player. Prior to the telecast, it was pointed out that four nominations were rare and he was asked if he wanted all four. He responded, “I want all of them, ten if I could.”

Evgeni Malkin was the third Russian to pick up an award by wining the Art Ross Trophy for most points in the regular season. He finished second to Ovechkin in both MVP awards.

Boston’s Tim Thomas picked up the Vezina Trophy for the NHL top goalie, and shared the Jennings trophy with Manny Fernandez for the best goaltending tandem.

Thomas was very emotional on the podium as he accepted the award. He said he had not allowed himself to think about winning pointing out that, “The goalies on the trophy are so good that it’s hard to put yourself on that level.”

Zdeno Chara, also from Boston, won the Norris Trophy for the top defenseman. Chara was surprised with the award beating out six time winner, Nicklas Lidstrom and said “Nik is such an icon that every time I’m around him I get nervous.”

Finally, Boston Coach Claude Julien won the Jack Adams, coach of the year honors by a large margin as he led the team to the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Other winners included Steve Mason (Calder Trophy) as the Rookie of the Year and, Steve Sullivan (Masterton).

The event will return to Las Vegas for the next two years, and based on the glitz and swagger of this year’s show it will definitely grow in popularity among hockey fans worldwide.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass and the Columbia Daily Herald

Final Vote Totals from the NHL Awards

Several folks have requested the full voting totals from the NHL Awards that were handed out on Thursday night in Las Vegas. The following is reprinted from the NHL Media Release.

2008-2009 Hart Trophy Voting
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Alex Ovechkin, WSH 1264 (115-14-2-2-0)
2. Evgeni Malkin, PIT 787 (12-71-27-9-8)
3. Pavel Datsyuk, DET 404 (4-14-38-19-19)
4. Steve Mason, CBJ 266 (0-13-21-18-16)
5. Zach Parise, N.J. 257 (0-5-20-31-29)
6. Sidney Crosby, PIT 103 (0-3-5-13-18)
7. Tim Thomas, BOS 100 (0-3-9-7-13)
8. Zdeno Chara, BOS 79 (2-3-2-8-4)
9. Joe Thornton, S.J. 27 (0-2-1-2-2)
10. Roberto Luongo, VAN 19 (0-2-0-1-2)
11. Jeff Carter, PHI 19 (0-1-0-2-6)
12. Jarome Iginla, CGY 19 (0-0-2-2-3)
13. Mike Green, WSH 13 (0-0-2-1-0)
14. Rick Nash, CBJ 13 (0-0-1-2-2)
15. Ryan Getzlaf, ANA 11 (0-0-1-2-0)
16. Evgeni Nabokov, S.J. 8 (0-0-1-1-0)
17. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 7 (0-1-0-0-0)
18. Patrick Marleau, S.J. 7 (0-0-0-2-1)
Cam Ward, CAR 7 (0-0-0-2-1)
20. Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY 6 (0-0-0-2-0)
21. Henrik Zetterberg, DET 6 (0-0-0-1-3)
22. Chris Mason, STL 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
Eric Staal, CAR 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
24. Dan Boyle, S.J. 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Marian Hossa, DET 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
26. Mike Richards, PHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Marc Savard, BOS 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

2008-2009 Norris Trophy Voting
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Zdeno Chara, BOS 1034 (68-36-18-4-0)
2. Mike Green, WSH 982 (50-53-19-4-4)
3. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 733 (14-34-58-19-8)
4. Shea Weber, NSH 186 (0-4-11-25-28)
5. Dan Boyle, S.J. 173 (0-2-4-38-25)
6. Duncan Keith, CHI 95 (0-2-4-14-19)
7. Andrei Markov, MTL 95 (0-1-9-10-13)
8. Mark Streit, NYI 29 (0-0-1-5-9)
9. Brian Rafalski, DET 27 (1-0-0-4-5)
10. Scott Niedermayer, ANA 27 (0-0-3-2-6)
11. Dennis Wideman, BOS 24 (0-0-2-3-5)
12. Dion Phaneuf, CGY 17 (0-0-2-2-1)
13. Sheldon Souray, EDM 16 (0-1-1-1-1)
14. Jay Bouwmeester, FLA 9 (0-0-1-0-4)
15. Kimmo Timonen, PHI 8 (0-0-0-1-5)
16. Brian Campbell, CHI 3 (0-0-0-1-0)

2008-2009 Vezina Trophy Voting
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd)
1. Tim Thomas, BOS 127 (22-5-2)
2. Steve Mason, CBJ 33 (3-4-6)
3. Niklas Backstrom, MIN 31 (1-8-2)
4. Roberto Luongo, VAN 30 (2-5-5)
5. Evgeni Nabokov, S.J. 20 (1-4-3)
6. Henrik Lundqvist, NYR 14 (1-1-6)
7. Cam Ward, CAR 11 (0-2-5)
8. Miikka Kiprusoff, CGY 3 (0-1-0)
9. Tomas Vokoun, FLA 1 (0-0-1)

2008-2009 Jack Adams Award Voting
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd)
1. Claude Julien, BOS 224 (35-14-7)
2. Andy Murray, STL 135 (15-17-9)
3. Todd McLellan, S.J. 98 (9-14-11)
4. Ken Hitchcock, CBJ 69 (5-9-17)
5. Brent Sutter, N.J. 36 (3-6-3)
6. Mike Babcock, DET 20 (3-1-2)
7. Joel Quenneville, CHI 15 (1-2-4)
8. Paul Maurice, CAR 11 (0-3-2)
9. Alain Vigneault, VAN 10 (0-1-7)
10. Barry Trotz, NSH 8 (0-2-2)
11. Bruce Boudreau, WSH 6 (0-1-3)
12. Peter DeBoer, FLA 3 (0-1-0)
13. Dan Bylsma, PIT 2 (0-0-2)
14. Ron Wilson, TOR 2 (0-0-2)

2008-2009 Calder Trophy Voting
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Steve Mason, CBJ 1268 (121-6-2-2-0)
2. Bobby Ryan, ANA 829 (9-84-24-9-4)
3. Kris Versteeg, CHI 323 (1-8-26-35-22)
4. Pekka Rinne, NSH 319 (0-15-34-9-17)
5. Drew Doughty, L.A. 303 (0-14-22-26-17)
6. Blake Wheeler, BOS 157 (1-3-11-17-20)
7. Patrik Berglund, STL 128 (0-0-10-20-18)
8. T.J. Oshie, STL 30 (0-1-1-5-3)
9. Steven Stamkos, T.B. 22 (0-0-0-3-13)
10. Michael Frolik, FLA 12 (0-1-1-0-0)
11. Mikhail Grabovski, TOR 8 (0-0-0-2-2)
12. Zach Bogosian, ATL 7 (0-0-0-1-4)
13. Chris Butler, BUF 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
14. Matt Hunwick, BOS 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
15. Kyle Okposo, NYI 4 (0-0-0-0-4)
16. Jonathan Quick, L.A. 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
17. James Neal, DAL 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
Luke Schenn, TOR 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
19. Derick Brassard, CBJ 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Claude Giroux, PHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

2008-2009 Lady Byng Trophy Voting
Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Pavel Datsyuk, DET 933 (64-35-4-7-7)
2. Martin St. Louis, T.B. 662 (30-22-36-7-7)
3. Zach Parise, N.J. 521 (15-30-23-14-4)
4. Patrick Marleau, S.J. 203 (1-10-12-17-12)
5. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET 116 (4-3-3-12-4)
6. Daniel Alfredsson, OTT 113 (2-3-5-12-11)
7. Jarome Iginla, CGY 90 (3-4-2-6-4)
8. Brian Rafalski, DET 74 (2-3-3-2-12)
9. Phil Kessel, BOS 49 (0-3-3-3-4)
10. Ray Whitney, CAR 47 (2-0-2-4-5)
11. Martin Havlat, CHI 47 (1-1-3-3-6)
12. Brian Campbell, CHI 42 (1-2-2-2-2)
13. Louie Eriksson, DAL 41 (0-1-2-7-3)
14. Teemu Selanne, ANA 32 (0-2-3-1-0)
15. Jason Pominville, BUF 29 (0-0-2-4-7)
16. Brad Boyes, STL 25 (1-2-0-0-1)
17. Brad Richards, DAL 25 (0-1-3-0-3)
18. Daniel Sedin, VAN 24 (0-0-1-5-4)
19. Todd White, ATL 22 (1-1-0-1-2)
20. David Krejci, BOS 21 (0-0-2-3-2)
21. Mike Knuble, PHI 20 (2-0-0-0-0)
22. Simon Gagne, PHI 19 (0-2-0-1-2)
23. Milan Hejduk, COL 17 (0-1-1-1-2)
24. Henrik Zetterberg, DET 17 (0-1-0-3-1)
25. Kyle Wellwood, VAN 15 (0-0-3-0-0)
26. Shane Doan, PHX 14 (1-0-0-1-1)
27. Jiri Hudler, DET 12 (0-0-1-2-1)
28. Ian Laperriere, COL 10 (1-0-0-0-0)
Ryan Miller, BUF 10 (1-0-0-0-0)
Martin Skoula, MIN 10 (1-0-0-0-0)
31. Travis Zajac, N.J. 10 (0-1-0-1-0)
32. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH 10 (0-0-2-0-0)
33. Joe Thornton, S.J. 8 (0-1-0-0-1)
34. Slava Kozlov, ATL 8 (0-0-1-1-0)
35. Patrice Bergeron, BOS 7 (0-1-0-0-0)
Rod Brind'Amour, CAR 7 (0-1-0-0-0)
Sidney Crosby, PIT 7 (0-1-0-0-0)
Henrik Sedin, VAN 7 (0-1-0-0-0)
39. Andrew Brunette, MIN 7 (0-0-1-0-2)
J.P. Dumont, NSH 7 (0-0-1-0-2)
Niklas Hagman, TOR 7 (0-0-1-0-2)
42. P.J. Axelsson, BOS 6 (0-0-1-0-1)
Stephen Weiss, FLA 6 (0-0-1-0-1)
44. Craig Conroy, CGY 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Pavol Demitra, VAN 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Chris Drury, NYR 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Roberto Luongo, VAN 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Mark Recchi, BOS 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Rob Scuderi, PIT 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Devin Setoguchi, S.J. 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Eric Staal, CAR 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
52. Patrik Elias, N.J. 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
Anze Kopitar, L.A. 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
Thomas Vanek, BUF 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
55. Patrik Berglund, STL 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Dustin Boyd, CGY 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Marian Hossa, DET 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Patrick Kane, CHI 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Vincent Lecavalier, T.B. 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Henrik Lundquist, NYR 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Jay Pandolfo, N.J. 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Richard Zednik, FLA 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Saku Koivu, MTL 2 (0-0-0-0-2)
64. Dustin Brown, L.A. 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Mike Cammalleri, CGY 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Sergei Fedorov, WSH 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Viktor Kozlov, WSH 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Andrew Ladd, CHI 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Michael Ryder, BOS 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Cory Stillman, FLA 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Steve Sullivan, NSH 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

2008-2009 Frank Selke Trophy Voting
Pts. 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th
1. Pavel Datsyuk, DET 945 (55-48-8-5-4)
2. Mike Richards, PHI 942 (61-42-6-2-2)
3. Ryan Kesler, VAN 290 (1-9-33-14-10)
4. Henrik Zetterberg, DET 154 (3-3-8-17-12)
5. Mikko Koivu, MIN 154 (1-3-13-17-7)
6. David Krejci, BOS 109 (2-5-5-8-5)
7. Travis Zajac, N.J. 89 (0-3-10-5-3)
8. Zach Parise, N.J. 80 (2-2-9-0-1)
9. Patrick Marleau, S.J. 64 (0-1-5-7-11)
10. Jamie Langenbrunner, N.J. 58 (1-1-3-6-8)
11. Alex Burrows, VAN 35 (1-0-4-1-2)
12. Craig Conroy, CGY 33 (0-2-1-2-8)
13. Marian Hossa, DET 33 (0-0-3-6-0)
14. Andrew Ladd, CHI 30 (1-2-0-2-0)
15. Simon Gagne, PHI 26 (0-3-1-0-0)
16. Rod Brind'Amour, CAR 23 (1-1-1-0-1)
17. Jonathan Toews, CHI 22 (1-1-0-1-2)
18. Jeff Carter, PHI 22 (0-1-1-2-4)
19. Manny Malhotra, CBJ 21 (0-0-3-0-6)
20. Joe Pavelski, S.J. 17 (0-0-3-0-2)
21. P.J. Axelsson, BOS 17 (0-0-1-3-3)
22. Marc Savard, BOS 12 (1-0-0-0-2)
23. Ryan Getzlaf, ANA 12 (0-1-1-0-0)
24. Johan Franzen, DET 11 (0-1-0-1-1)
John Madden, N.J. 11 (0-1-0-1-1)
Blake Wheeler, BOS 11 (0-1-0-1-1)
27. Maxim Lapierre, MTL 11 (0-0-1-2-0)
28. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH 10 (1-0-0-0-0)
Antti Miettinen, MIN 10 (1-0-0-0-0)
30. Joe Thornton, SJS 10 (0-0-2-0-0)
31. Jay McClement, STL 10 (0-0-1-1-2)
32. Jordan Staal, PIT 10 (0-0-1-0-5)
33. Chris Drury, NYR 9 (0-1-0-0-2)
34. Blair Betts, NYR 8 (0-0-0-2-2)
35. Jarome Iginla, CGY 7 (0-1-0-0-0)
36. Rick Nash, CBJ 7 (0-0-0-2-1)
Alexander Semin, WSH 7 (0-0-0-2-1)
38. Daniel Alfredsson, OTT 6 (0-0-1-0-1)
Kris Draper, DET 6 (0-0-1-0-1)
40. Patrik Elias, N.J. 6 (0-0-0-2-0)
41. David Legwand, NSH 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Derek Roy, BUF 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Martin St. Louis, T.B. 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
Eric Staal, CAR 5 (0-0-1-0-0)
45. Samuel Pahlsson, CHI 5 (0-0-0-1-2)
46. Brian Gionta, N.J. 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
Martin Havlat, CHI 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
Shawn Horcoff, EDM 4 (0-0-0-1-1)
49. Evgeni Malkin, PIT 4 (0-0-0-0-4)
50. Loui Eriksson, DAL 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Mike Grier, S.J. 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Jere Lehtinen, DAL 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Antti Miettinen, MIN 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Travis Moen, S.J. 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Dominic Moore, BUF 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Alex Ovechkin, WSH 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Jason Pominville, BUF 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Marty Reasoner, ATL 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Daniel Sedin, VAN 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Patrick Sharp, CHI 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
David Steckel, WSH 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
Joel Ward, NSH 3 (0-0-0-1-0)
63. Rene Bourque, CGY 3 (0-0-0-0-3)
64. Eric Belanger, MIN 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Ryan Callahan, NYR 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Michal Handzus, L.A. 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Ian Laperriere, COL 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
R.J. Umberger, CBJ 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Stephen Weiss, FLA 1 (0-0-0-0-1)
Stephane Yelle, BOS 1 (0-0-0-0-1)

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Steve Sullivan Wins Masterton Trophy

Steve Sullivan was very emotional and extremely excited after being the Masterton Trophy at the NHL Awards show at the Pearl Theater at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

I had the opportunity to speak with Sully before and after the award. The initial interview follows and Steve was positive about a return to the Predators.



Here is the video from the Predators site of Steve's acceptance speech.



After Sully received the Masterton Award,I was able to speak with him to get his reaction. The interview follows.



Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Live from Vegas, the NHL Awards Show

We made it to Las Vegas last night and immediately made a pit stop at the In-N-Out Burger before we got to the Palms. The hotel is very nice and the accommodations are good but I am used to a little more air conditioning than is prevalent here.

After getting squared away this morning, I finally settled in to the media room which appears to be set up for about 75 folks covering the event. They already have Versus piped in on three large TVs that unfortunately has wall to wall hunting and fishing (and infomercials) on for the rest of the day.

I was able to confirm my position on the red carpet this afternoon so that should be interesting. Being from Nashville, you would think that I wouldn't be that excited about it since we have so many red carpets with country music singers and all, but with the best hockey players in the world it has a more interesting twist. Also, country stars don't walk in with the cup as Evgeni Malkin and Max Talbot are expected to do.

Even though I am at the center of the Awards Show activity, it is amazing how removed from the hockey world I feel, having been removed from the internet for about the last 24 hours. Things should pick up in a few hours when all the activities get rolling.

NHL.com has a blog going for the event that will catch everyone up on activities leading up to today's main event. They also have a good story on Alexander Ovechkin's first trip to Sin City. It sounds like he really likes it. Here are cool pictures from Wednesday's charity poker event where the tables look like a rink.

The Las Vegas Sun is also giving good coverage to the event here.

In the Predator World...

Plans are being finalized for next Friday's Draft Party Tweetup at O'Charlie's in Franklin. To respond to the TwtVite go here. Dani has Tweeted about the event so a listing will be forthcoming at the NHL Tweetup site where you can also agree to attend the TweetUp in Hamilton on MakeItSeven day. They have two attendees so far which is a third of the six fans that they allege are in Phoenix. Funny!

Forechecker has a whole slew of new posts today including a job posting for the Preds Zamboni driver, Make It Seven's email spam crusade, and a lot more at OnTheForecheck.

Mark at TheViewFrom111 gives Sully best wishes and lays a heavy burden on me as the sole provider of local coverage of the awards show. We'll do our best.

Paul McCann has his end of year review of his pre-season prognostications in an effort to hold himself accountable.

Around the NHL...

Time for a recount... The Hockey Barn awards are out and @dani3boyz did not win the Hockey Mom/Dad of the year. I'm sure the winner was deserving, but sad to see that Dani did not win.

Slapshot has a few alternative awards that we won't see tonight.

Chris Botta has an interview with agent Pat Brisson, who represents John Taveras and Matt Duchene. Brisson, admitting bias, predicts that that The Isles will take one of his clients first. I guess Hedman is the odd man out?

From @umassdilo NHL Communications head, Day Two of the #NHLDraft will be streamed live on NHL.com.

Tim Thomas, Kris Versteeg, George Maloof will guest on 'NHL Hour With Commissioner Gary Bettman' today on SIRIUS XM live from Vegas. I might try to slip in the back door and check it out.

More later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

I just had a talk with Gerry Helper from the Preds. He is a really nice guy. This is his first trip to Vegas. I made arrangements to talk to Sully this afternoon.

Far fetched rumor of the day... Tavares to Nashville

Back Woods Reporter Heads to Vegas and Mid-Week Updates

This will be a short post today for a couple of reasons. The off season appears to have kicked into full gear this morning as we appear to be in the 'tweener stage before things pick up with the Awards tomorrow, the draft next week, and free agency the week after that.

Secondly, this is a full day for me, putting in a full day at the office before flying to Las Vegas tonight for the awards show. I posted my prognostications for the disputed awards last night in a story for the Daily Herald that was limited to 500 words. I really have a problem trying to do anything in that amount of space.

I'm looking forward to the awards since I have not participated in an NHL big event as a member of the media before. All help will be appreciated so that I don't come off as being the hillbilly from the God-forsaken non-traditional market that the media elite would love to see.

Inside Hockey's Kevin Greenstein gave me salient advice yesterday in an email saying, "make sure to button up your overalls when you go out in the evenings. ;-)" It got me to wondering, how did he know I will be in overalls? Anyway, its a big deal so I'll wear shoes and everything.

XM204 is already on the scene represented by Jamie Shalley and Joe Thistle. They have some interviews posted from last nights video game shoot at Caesar's Palace with Alexander Ovechkin, Ryan Kesler, and Randy Hahn. Here's a story from the Las Vegas Sun on the event. Great series of pictures are here.

Sean Leahy found the following gem on YouTube that includes Ovie's "hot stick" that looks like it will be "in the game".

In the Predators world...

The big news yesterday, that we touched on, was the Predators hiring of Martin Gelinas for Head of Player development that has been lauded as a great choice from all over. Marty was on XM204 yesterday and sounded really enthusiastic about the opportunity. John Glennon checked in with this piece this morning.

David Poile comments on the Wild's choice of Todd Richard as their new coach at the City Paper. Richards was an assistant at Milwaukee for several years before his most recent position as an Assistant in San Jose.

The Preds announced several Draft Party locations. The Twitter crowd of @predfans members appear to be headed to the Franklin location along with Pred's announcer @PredPAPaul. Paul also has a new post today at HockeyBuzz.

In the "don't screw up in public" arena, long time sports writer for the Tennessean, Joe Biddle, is taking a beating for his attempt at hockey commentary. Unfortunately, this is the type of stuff that gives "non-traditional market" a bad name and in this case the truth hurts. Forchecker and Stars Scene give old Joe a good thrashing over it. I'm sure it was all in love and was effective since it has been corrected at the current location.

Around the league...

Something hockey related came out of Phoenix for a change as the CBC has this interview with Don Maloney that was pretty good and worth a listen. He covers a wide range of topics on what is going on outside of the courtroom in Phoenix.

The fallout from Monday's court ruling in Phoenix includes this article from the Globe and Mail that has a great quote from a legal expert “I think they’re losers, and I think his legal team is getting rich on Mr. Balsillie’s tab while fighting a losing battle.” Imagine a bunch of hired guns drawing out a case on appeal to get more money. Hard to believe isn't it ;). It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Our Hockey Zen friends, the Nadeau brothers, have a new video up on wine and hockey with Gary Vaynerchuk.

Mario Lemieux will be knighted today as he receives the National Order of Quebec.

Stay Classey compares the value of Dany Heatley to a bucket of pucks. You really wonder how someone making eight million a year can't get better advice than to go public with a trade demand as opposed to working with his employer to accomplish the same thing in a more orderly fashion.

TSN has a free agent tracker set up show who is available and to help follow the signings.

Eric Smith at BlueJacketsBuzz points us to a Steve Mason blog on his NHL Awards trip. Steve should pick up the Calder on Thursday night in my opinion.

Here's something interesting I saw after following a Sean Leahy link on Puck Daddy. It's a blog that follows the Stanley Cup as it travels with all the Pens players this summer.

More later... (Maybe)

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

New edition of one of my favorite podcasts is up. The One Percentile with Mick Kern and Eric Gage is all the way up to it's 12th episode. I got to spend a couple of hours with Mick on The Program on BTR Sunday night. He really will talk hockey all night. He's one of my favorites.

A programming note, Chris has moved the mid-week edition of The Program up to 8:00 Eastern starting tonight for the off season.

NHL Salutes Top Players at Awards Show

The National Hockey League with bring out their best for the NHL Awards show from the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas on Thursday, at 6:00 p.m. The show can be seen nationally on the Versus Network.

Steve Sullivan of the Nashville Predators is one of three players nominated for the Bill Masterton Trophy that goes to the player "who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey."

Detroit’s Chris Chelios and Florida’s Richard Zednik were also nominated.

Sullivan is the local favorite to receive the award after returning to play with the Predators in January after being out for 142 games over a two-year period due to a spinal injury that required two surgeries.

Sullivan played 43 games with the Predators and returned to pre-injury form scoring 11 goals and adding 21 assists. Sully’s return sparked the Predators to much improved play that pushed the team close to a playoff seeding.

The highlight of the telecast will be the announcement of the Hart Trophy that goes to the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. Washington Capitals left winger Alexander Ovechkin, the top goal scorer in the NHL, Conn Smythe Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk are the finalists.

Based on regular season play, I predict that Ovechkin will take home the goods, as he was the most dynamic player in the league again this year.

The Calder Trophy for rookie of the year held local interest as the Pred’s Pekka Rinne played well enough to challenge for a final three nomination but did not get it.

The choice will be between Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason, Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan and Chicago Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg. I feel that Mason will win as he single handily led Columbus into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

My choice for the Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie) is Boston’s Tim Thomas, who led The Bruins to the best record in the Eastern Conference.

The League’s best Defenseman will receive the Norris Trophy. I predict that this will be the year that Zdeno Chara gets the nod over seven-time winner Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit.

My pick for the Jack Adams Coach of the Year Award is Andy Murray of St Louis who led the Blues to the playoffs despite an injury depleted roster.

I project that Pavel Datsyuk, will win his fourth straight Lady Byng award which is given to the player that exhibits the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.

Finally, I feel that Datsyuk will also bring home the Selke Award that goes to the league’s best defensive forward.

I will be in attendance at the Awards show and will see first hand how my picks pan out. I will provide a full wrap up of the event when I return.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass and the Columbia Daily Herald