With the Predators ahead 5-0 and 17:05 left in the final period, Colin Wilson dropped the gloves in a rare fight with Atlanta's Ben Maxwell who had laid a hit on him seconds before. It was Colin's second NHL fight and he fared much better than when he was pummeled by Roman Polak last year on April 1.
Here is what it looked like...
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Showing posts with label nashville predators atlanta thrashers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nashville predators atlanta thrashers. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Predators Seeking Home Ice in the First Round and Wednesday Wrap-Up
The Predators victory last night left them in good position to capture home ice advantage if they can win their final two games against division rivals Columbus and St. Louis.
It will not be an easy task to beat Columbus in the home finale on Friday. The Predators have beaten the Jackets 16 straight times at the Bridgestone Arena and Columbus would love to end the streak at a time when it hurts the most.
Likewise, going into St. Louis against the Blues will not be an easy task. The two teams are bitter rivals and this is basically the Blues "postseason" game.
Phoenix and Los Angeles are the Predators two primary opponents in the chase for fourth place. Both are a point behind and have a game in hand. Phoenix plays at Los Angeles tonight so one of the two will jump the Preds in tonight's action. A three point game would be the worst scenario.
After that, neither team has an easy task. The Kings have a home and away with Anaheim, while the Coyotes have the same set up with the red-hot San Jose Sharks.
On paper, the Predators are in good shape if they can win the two games that they should. Barry Trotz was asked about what the Preds would do over the next couple of days.
"We got to work on some things and correct some things so that will be paramount. Anybody who is nicked up right now obviously we are going to let them heal a little bit. Then we'll go after those two games. Whatever happens, we'll either be in or we won't."
The Predators will start their preparations today at 11 a.m. when they practice at the Bridgestone Arena.
Predators-Thrashers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night with postgame video.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
Jim Diamond points out that the Predators finally escaped the dreaded three goal lead with a win.
David Boclair has his story at The City Paper with a focus on strong goaltending.
From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton, Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Fang Finger Fever, Fang Faction, and Hockey Night in Nashville.
Dirk Hoag found an interesting mistaken identity from the game on NHL Overtime.
For the Thrasher side of the game, check out The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blueland Blog, the Ice Man, Bird Watchers Anonymous, Thrashing the Blues, As the Birds Thrash, Thrasher Backer, and Blueland Chronicle.
Audio from the Predators comes from Mike Fisher, Sergei Kostitsyn, and Jordin Tootoo. From Atlanta, we hear from Coach Craig Ramsay, Nik Antropov, and Mark Stuart.
Programming Note...
Today at Noon Central, Ryan Porth of RLD Hockey Radio has lined up Nick Cotsonika of Yahoo Sports as this weeks special guest. We will cover a wide range of topics. If you have questions for Nick email or Tweet either of us and we will try to work them in. Join us here for the live show or listen on podcast once it is completed.
In Pred Nation...
Jerred Smithson will be on NHL Live today at 12:20 Central.
Dirk Hoag crunches the numbers on how valuable faceoff success would be to a Predator's playoff run.
Jeremy from Section 303 makes the case for Barry Trotz to receive a nomination for the jack Adams Award.
After putting Pekka Rinne in the top three for the Vezina, they come back placing Shea Weber in a slot as the Norris finalist. All this Preds love from Canada is hard to believe.
Rebecca Dobrinski has a book review of a children's book about Jordin Tootoo.
The Milwaukee Admirals need a point in tonight's game with Grand Rapids to secure a Western Division crown.
Preds prospect Mark Santorelli is now on Twitter at @Santo1188. He has protected Tweets which seems to defeat the purpose.
Around the NHL...
This moring's water cooler conversation will include Raffi Tores's shot to the head of Jordan Eberle.
After a huge win over Boston on Monday, it was revealed that the Ranger's Ryan Callahan suffered a broken ankle and will miss the remainder of the season and playoffs. This is a severe blow to the Rangers chances to go deep in the post-season.
RLD Hockey has what I assume is the last version of The Stretch Run. Ryan also has the latest Jack Adams outlook in what is a wide open race.
Last year's Stanley Cup finalist goaltender Michael Leighton is on re-entry waivers.
Pat Hickey lashes out at Garth Snow over the Chris Botta ban by the Islanders. A side not given before comes from Dennis Bernstein at the end of this Fourth Period post.
The road to a new arena in Edmonton appears to be a bumpy road as Daryl Katz is acting in a bizarre manner on the proposed ticket tax financing.
From the man who brought us 100 Ranger Greats comes the top ten Ranger prospects.
So after Mark Cuban put out his post on the media that rankled a bunch of folks, he Tweeted this @mcuban: Its so easy to dogfood the media. Someone who actually read my blog and thought it through ! Congrats ! Here is the article he links that says it's all about money. I guess Cuban could have mentioned that in his original post as opposed to making comments about different types of media.
Odds and Ends...
Being a famous unwed teen pays $262,000 so it appears from Bristol Palin's tax records.
Space X announced a new generation of heavy lift rockets that will send objects into space at a price previously thought to be impossible.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
It will not be an easy task to beat Columbus in the home finale on Friday. The Predators have beaten the Jackets 16 straight times at the Bridgestone Arena and Columbus would love to end the streak at a time when it hurts the most.
Likewise, going into St. Louis against the Blues will not be an easy task. The two teams are bitter rivals and this is basically the Blues "postseason" game.
Phoenix and Los Angeles are the Predators two primary opponents in the chase for fourth place. Both are a point behind and have a game in hand. Phoenix plays at Los Angeles tonight so one of the two will jump the Preds in tonight's action. A three point game would be the worst scenario.
After that, neither team has an easy task. The Kings have a home and away with Anaheim, while the Coyotes have the same set up with the red-hot San Jose Sharks.
On paper, the Predators are in good shape if they can win the two games that they should. Barry Trotz was asked about what the Preds would do over the next couple of days.
"We got to work on some things and correct some things so that will be paramount. Anybody who is nicked up right now obviously we are going to let them heal a little bit. Then we'll go after those two games. Whatever happens, we'll either be in or we won't."
The Predators will start their preparations today at 11 a.m. when they practice at the Bridgestone Arena.
Predators-Thrashers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night with postgame video.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
Jim Diamond points out that the Predators finally escaped the dreaded three goal lead with a win.
David Boclair has his story at The City Paper with a focus on strong goaltending.
From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton, Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Fang Finger Fever, Fang Faction, and Hockey Night in Nashville.
Dirk Hoag found an interesting mistaken identity from the game on NHL Overtime.
For the Thrasher side of the game, check out The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blueland Blog, the Ice Man, Bird Watchers Anonymous, Thrashing the Blues, As the Birds Thrash, Thrasher Backer, and Blueland Chronicle.
Audio from the Predators comes from Mike Fisher, Sergei Kostitsyn, and Jordin Tootoo. From Atlanta, we hear from Coach Craig Ramsay, Nik Antropov, and Mark Stuart.
Programming Note...
Today at Noon Central, Ryan Porth of RLD Hockey Radio has lined up Nick Cotsonika of Yahoo Sports as this weeks special guest. We will cover a wide range of topics. If you have questions for Nick email or Tweet either of us and we will try to work them in. Join us here for the live show or listen on podcast once it is completed.
In Pred Nation...
Jerred Smithson will be on NHL Live today at 12:20 Central.
Dirk Hoag crunches the numbers on how valuable faceoff success would be to a Predator's playoff run.
Jeremy from Section 303 makes the case for Barry Trotz to receive a nomination for the jack Adams Award.
After putting Pekka Rinne in the top three for the Vezina, they come back placing Shea Weber in a slot as the Norris finalist. All this Preds love from Canada is hard to believe.
Rebecca Dobrinski has a book review of a children's book about Jordin Tootoo.
The Milwaukee Admirals need a point in tonight's game with Grand Rapids to secure a Western Division crown.
Preds prospect Mark Santorelli is now on Twitter at @Santo1188. He has protected Tweets which seems to defeat the purpose.
Around the NHL...
This moring's water cooler conversation will include Raffi Tores's shot to the head of Jordan Eberle.
After a huge win over Boston on Monday, it was revealed that the Ranger's Ryan Callahan suffered a broken ankle and will miss the remainder of the season and playoffs. This is a severe blow to the Rangers chances to go deep in the post-season.
RLD Hockey has what I assume is the last version of The Stretch Run. Ryan also has the latest Jack Adams outlook in what is a wide open race.
Last year's Stanley Cup finalist goaltender Michael Leighton is on re-entry waivers.
Pat Hickey lashes out at Garth Snow over the Chris Botta ban by the Islanders. A side not given before comes from Dennis Bernstein at the end of this Fourth Period post.
The road to a new arena in Edmonton appears to be a bumpy road as Daryl Katz is acting in a bizarre manner on the proposed ticket tax financing.
From the man who brought us 100 Ranger Greats comes the top ten Ranger prospects.
So after Mark Cuban put out his post on the media that rankled a bunch of folks, he Tweeted this @mcuban: Its so easy to dogfood the media. Someone who actually read my blog and thought it through ! Congrats ! Here is the article he links that says it's all about money. I guess Cuban could have mentioned that in his original post as opposed to making comments about different types of media.
Odds and Ends...
Being a famous unwed teen pays $262,000 so it appears from Bristol Palin's tax records.
Space X announced a new generation of heavy lift rockets that will send objects into space at a price previously thought to be impossible.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Predators Beat Thrashers 6-3 to Move In To Fourth Place
The Nashville Predators did what they were supposed to do on Tuesday night and beat the Atlanta Thrashers 6-3 to move into fourth place in the tightly bunched Western Conference.
Even with their lofty standing they still have not secured a playoff berth with five days left in the regular season. The Predators need one additional point or for the Dallas Stars to miss a point to clinch a playoff spot.
At this point, with two games remaining, the Predators sights are set on closing out the final two games of the season with wins over Columbus and St. Louis to secure a home ice advantage in the first round.
The Predators unusual offensive outburst was paced by two goals each from Sergei Kostitsyn and Jordin Tootoo. It was Tootoo' first multi-goal game and with an assist, his first three point game in his career. Mike Fisher and Matt Halischuk also added single goals.
Atlanta's offense was led by two goals from Blake Wheeler and a single goal from Nik Antropov.
Pekka Rinne played a much better game in net that the final score would indicate. All three Atlanta goals came in the third period when the Thrashers poured on 19 of their 36 shots.
Barry Trotz downplayed the late goals, "Even the goals they got were... one was on Franny's feet and the guy snapped it out of his feet and the other was a centering pass that went off Peks and right to the guy."
Chris Mason started for Atlanta and left after the Preds fourth goal which was on their thirteenth shot. Ondrej Pavelec did slightly better in relief allowing two goals on eleven shots.
While the game was never in doubt, in light of the Predators recent third period letdowns, fans were somewhat uneasy as the Thrashers scored twice in the final 3:35 of play.
Mike Fisher discussed the third period let down, "Sometimes it hard when you are up 6-1 and kind of relax a little bit and some of the plays you are a little smarter. We've got to make sure we're staying on in and having good habits going forward."
Offensive hero Tootoo said, "We've got to smarten up a little bit. We've given up way too much. We've been playing nonchalant kind of hockey in the third period and that is going to bite our rear so we've got to play a lot better an help Pekka out defensively and play hard through 60 minutes."
On his offense Tootoo explained, "I feel great out there and it's great to contribute offensively and it great that we got two points."
Trotz commented on Tootoo's big night, "He gave us great energy and A-he was hard on the puck, and B- he was going real quick and had really good jump. He's got real good focus now and playing hard."
Trotz was not concerned about the late Thrasher goals, "I wasn't really concerned because I got away from match-ups and defenses parings. We were playing a lot of the kids trying to spread the ice time. We were up 6-1 and I was trying to make sure no one was over extended. We've been playing certain guys a lot and we were getting a lot of the kids into the line-up."
As far as finely clinching a playoff spot Trotz joked, "All I know is well know something, probably on Sunday. It's Tuesday so we don't have that far to go yet."
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Predators Hope to Clinch Playoff Spot with Win Tonight and Tuesday Tidbits
It is down to the final three games of the season for the Nashville Predators (42-26-11), starting with the visiting Atlanta Thrashers (33-33-12) at the Bridgestone Arena tonight at 7 p.m.
The Thrashers are one of three Eastern Conference teams that play a home and away series with the Predators. The teams previously met at Phillips Arena on December 6 when the Predators took a 2-0 lead only to fall 3-2 in overtime.
The Predators will have their work cut out for them playing a team with absolutely nothing to lose. The Preds have every thing to gain as a win tonight will clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven NHL seasons.
The Predators have their sights set on much bigger things than their match with the Thrashers but they cannot overlook tonight's game. It will be important for the Preds to strike early and often and not give Atlanta a sniff of an upset.
Atlanta is 5-5 in their last ten and lost on their last game at Boston 3-2. Chris Vivlamore surmises that ex-Pred Chris Mason (13-11-3, 3.26, .898) will start for Atlanta. Mason stopped all 47 shots that he faced in a 1-0 shutout of Philadelphia in his last start. He would like nothing more than to beat his old team and slow their playoff celebration.
Pekka Rinne (31-21-9, 2.13, .929) should get the start for the Predators who are 9-2-1 in their last segment of games. With the Kings collapse and the Bruins meltdown last night, the Preds moved within one goal of second place Boston in the Jennings Trophy race (fewest goals allowed) but are still eight behind Vancouver which seems out of reach at this point.
After tonight's game, the Preds will have two games left. The home finale will be Friday against Columbus who has lost 16 straight to the Preds at the Bridgestone Arena and the final game of the regular season will be in St. Louis on Saturday night.
Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton, Robby Stanley, Predatorial, Tennessean, and Predators.com.
For Thrasher previews, check out The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blueland Blog, the Ice Man, Bird Watchers Anonymous, Thrashing the Blues, As the Birds Thrash, Thrasher Backer, and Blueland Chronicle.
In Pred Nation...
Ryan Porth has a masterpiece on Pekka Rinne that he has been working on for a while to round up input from a lot of folks. Check it out.
Pekka Rinne makes the top three in The Hockey News' Vezina picks.
There is a good read by Jim Diamond on the Atlanta - David Poile - Geoffrion connection.
David Boclair points out that Nashville's new crop of "old-timers" has gotten younger.
Bryan Mullen talks with Steve Sullivan, Cal O'Reilly, and Jordin Tootoo who all practiced on Monday. He also looks at whether the Preds will change the lineup if they become available. The Preds are also still chasing the teams immediately in front of them in the standings.
Blake Geoffrion is proud of his family name and discusses it in an AP story at NHL.com.
In a huge upset, David Shoalts, who usually doesn't like anything from Nashville, picks Shea Weber as his Norris trophy pick (if he decides to vote).
Robby at HNIN wants to give a reminder of what happens when you don't finish games.
Fang Faction has an epistle on the Predator's problems finishing games.
Jas Faulkner has her thoughts on the team picture on Monday.
Hockey's Future has unveiled their 41-50, 31-40, and 21-30 prospect rankings. So far, Jon Blum checks in at 21, Ryan Ellis is at 31, and Taylor Beck is at 39.
Admirals Roundtable reports what has been suspected, that Taylor Beck and Michael Latta are headed to Milwaukee.
Around the NHL...
Only two games last night and both were big. The Rangers scored five in a row to beat Boston 5-3 with three goals in the final 3:48 proving Barry Trotz right that the three goal lead is the hardest to hold in the NHL. In the nightcap, San Jose dismantled Los Angeles 6-1 to clinch the Pacific Division crown.
The PHWA issued a strong statement yesterday condemning the NHL for not over-ruling the dismissal of Chris Botta by the Islanders early this season. Three chapters have decided not to participate in the NHL award voting as have many individual voters. PHWA President Kevin Allen offers perspective. Puck Daddy also adds good insight.
Cory Perry, Jerome Iginla, and Jhonas Enroth were the three stars of the week last week in the NHL.
Adrian Dater would like to see Joe Sacco return next season. Dater also has an all encompassing round-up at Versus where he back tracks on his harsh words from last week on the Phoenix situation.
In an odd rant yesterday, Mavs owner Mark Cuban takes on the "paid" internet reporters.
Big programing changes are in store at NHL Home Ice on XM as of April 13. NHL Live is moving to NHL Network and NHL.com exclusively and in the 3:00 to 5:00 PM CDT time slot. In the 11:00 to 1:00 slot, former Maple Leaf GM Gord Stellick will begin a two hour show daily. The Power Play from Wayne Gretzky's will be radio only going forward.
One of my favorite post season awards shows is back. From @XMHomeIce: Hey Folks the 6th Annual Espo Awards are back. Tune in Mon Apr 11th at 4pm Eastern @XMHomeIce @SiriusXMSports for all the coverage
Yesterday's Dreger Report indicated that the Islanders would not release Evgeni Nabokov to play in the World Championships.
From @stevelepore: VERSUS to air a special called "Hockey Across America" on Tuesday (today) after Devils-Pens. Hosted by the well-to-do @liam_mchugh
Somewhat rare these days is for an athlete to talk openly about his faith. That is probably what has made James Reimer stand out from the crowd.
Sports Business Journal has a feature piece on ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen and the sports channel's humble beginnings.
Icethetics has playoff logos from around the NHL including an interesting one for the Panthers.
Odds and Ends...
The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, where the NHL Awards will be held for the third consecutive year, was named the number one hotel in sin city by Klout who noted "Our celebrity following and hipster clientele have turned the Palms Casino Resort into one of Las Vegas’ most infamous destinations."
A new app called Creepy can find you anywhere.
For fans of the movie "Into The Wild" the is a new book and video coming out later this Spring called "Back to the Wild" that has more detail about the real story. The family and Wayne Westerberg headed back to the bus last month and here is a clip from the trip.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
The Thrashers are one of three Eastern Conference teams that play a home and away series with the Predators. The teams previously met at Phillips Arena on December 6 when the Predators took a 2-0 lead only to fall 3-2 in overtime.
The Predators will have their work cut out for them playing a team with absolutely nothing to lose. The Preds have every thing to gain as a win tonight will clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven NHL seasons.
The Predators have their sights set on much bigger things than their match with the Thrashers but they cannot overlook tonight's game. It will be important for the Preds to strike early and often and not give Atlanta a sniff of an upset.
Atlanta is 5-5 in their last ten and lost on their last game at Boston 3-2. Chris Vivlamore surmises that ex-Pred Chris Mason (13-11-3, 3.26, .898) will start for Atlanta. Mason stopped all 47 shots that he faced in a 1-0 shutout of Philadelphia in his last start. He would like nothing more than to beat his old team and slow their playoff celebration.
Pekka Rinne (31-21-9, 2.13, .929) should get the start for the Predators who are 9-2-1 in their last segment of games. With the Kings collapse and the Bruins meltdown last night, the Preds moved within one goal of second place Boston in the Jennings Trophy race (fewest goals allowed) but are still eight behind Vancouver which seems out of reach at this point.
After tonight's game, the Preds will have two games left. The home finale will be Friday against Columbus who has lost 16 straight to the Preds at the Bridgestone Arena and the final game of the regular season will be in St. Louis on Saturday night.
Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton, Robby Stanley, Predatorial, Tennessean, and Predators.com.
For Thrasher previews, check out The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blueland Blog, the Ice Man, Bird Watchers Anonymous, Thrashing the Blues, As the Birds Thrash, Thrasher Backer, and Blueland Chronicle.
In Pred Nation...
Ryan Porth has a masterpiece on Pekka Rinne that he has been working on for a while to round up input from a lot of folks. Check it out.
Pekka Rinne makes the top three in The Hockey News' Vezina picks.
There is a good read by Jim Diamond on the Atlanta - David Poile - Geoffrion connection.
David Boclair points out that Nashville's new crop of "old-timers" has gotten younger.
Bryan Mullen talks with Steve Sullivan, Cal O'Reilly, and Jordin Tootoo who all practiced on Monday. He also looks at whether the Preds will change the lineup if they become available. The Preds are also still chasing the teams immediately in front of them in the standings.
Blake Geoffrion is proud of his family name and discusses it in an AP story at NHL.com.
In a huge upset, David Shoalts, who usually doesn't like anything from Nashville, picks Shea Weber as his Norris trophy pick (if he decides to vote).
Robby at HNIN wants to give a reminder of what happens when you don't finish games.
Fang Faction has an epistle on the Predator's problems finishing games.
Jas Faulkner has her thoughts on the team picture on Monday.
Hockey's Future has unveiled their 41-50, 31-40, and 21-30 prospect rankings. So far, Jon Blum checks in at 21, Ryan Ellis is at 31, and Taylor Beck is at 39.
Admirals Roundtable reports what has been suspected, that Taylor Beck and Michael Latta are headed to Milwaukee.
Around the NHL...
Only two games last night and both were big. The Rangers scored five in a row to beat Boston 5-3 with three goals in the final 3:48 proving Barry Trotz right that the three goal lead is the hardest to hold in the NHL. In the nightcap, San Jose dismantled Los Angeles 6-1 to clinch the Pacific Division crown.
The PHWA issued a strong statement yesterday condemning the NHL for not over-ruling the dismissal of Chris Botta by the Islanders early this season. Three chapters have decided not to participate in the NHL award voting as have many individual voters. PHWA President Kevin Allen offers perspective. Puck Daddy also adds good insight.
Cory Perry, Jerome Iginla, and Jhonas Enroth were the three stars of the week last week in the NHL.
Adrian Dater would like to see Joe Sacco return next season. Dater also has an all encompassing round-up at Versus where he back tracks on his harsh words from last week on the Phoenix situation.
In an odd rant yesterday, Mavs owner Mark Cuban takes on the "paid" internet reporters.
Big programing changes are in store at NHL Home Ice on XM as of April 13. NHL Live is moving to NHL Network and NHL.com exclusively and in the 3:00 to 5:00 PM CDT time slot. In the 11:00 to 1:00 slot, former Maple Leaf GM Gord Stellick will begin a two hour show daily. The Power Play from Wayne Gretzky's will be radio only going forward.
One of my favorite post season awards shows is back. From @XMHomeIce: Hey Folks the 6th Annual Espo Awards are back. Tune in Mon Apr 11th at 4pm Eastern @XMHomeIce @SiriusXMSports for all the coverage
Yesterday's Dreger Report indicated that the Islanders would not release Evgeni Nabokov to play in the World Championships.
From @stevelepore: VERSUS to air a special called "Hockey Across America" on Tuesday (today) after Devils-Pens. Hosted by the well-to-do @liam_mchugh
Somewhat rare these days is for an athlete to talk openly about his faith. That is probably what has made James Reimer stand out from the crowd.
Sports Business Journal has a feature piece on ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen and the sports channel's humble beginnings.
Icethetics has playoff logos from around the NHL including an interesting one for the Panthers.
Odds and Ends...
The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, where the NHL Awards will be held for the third consecutive year, was named the number one hotel in sin city by Klout who noted "Our celebrity following and hipster clientele have turned the Palms Casino Resort into one of Las Vegas’ most infamous destinations."
A new app called Creepy can find you anywhere.
For fans of the movie "Into The Wild" the is a new book and video coming out later this Spring called "Back to the Wild" that has more detail about the real story. The family and Wayne Westerberg headed back to the bus last month and here is a clip from the trip.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Predators Stay in the Middle of The West and Tuesday Thoughts
Wins and losses in the NHL come in many shapes and sizes and have varying effects on players and fans. Last night's loss by the Predators was one of those that did not sit well with anyone that follows the team. A loss on a bad play and a blooded up captain can have that effect.
The Preds led for most of the game and gave up a late goal to send it to overtime and then did not play to the whistle in the final shift of the game which led to an easy goal for Zach Bogosian and a big win for the red hot Atlanta Thrashers.
In hindsight, the reality of last night's game is that the Predators should be very happy that they survived long enough to get to overtime and were able to capture a loser point to add to their total in a very tightly bunched Western Conference.
The Predators were out-played in the faceoff circle the entire game and did little to control the pace and flow of the game. If not for some key saves by Anders Lindback and a few lucky breaks along the way, the Predators would have gone home with nothing.
So the Predators wake up in Detroit this morning and are at 30 points in the middle of a pack of 10 teams that have between 32 and 29 points. The way the season is going there are going to be plenty of ups and downs for everyone.
Any point or two that a team gets is crucial and the Preds should be happy with the one that got and focus on tomorrows game with the Wings and avoid the complete no-show that they had on their last visit to Joe Louis Arena. You can't find points in the rear-view mirror so they need to focus forward and take home two from Detroit.
Preds-Thrashers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column and postgame ponderings.
From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton (with advances stats), Hockey Night in Nashville, and Fang Finger Fever files his report from the arena first hand.
For the happy side of the game story, check out The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blueland Blog, the Ice Man, Bird Watchers Anonymous, Thrashing the Blues, As the Birds Thrash, Thrasher Backer, and Blueland Chronicle.
In Pred Nation...
Jim Diamond is working hard to come up with a name for the new line of Marty Erat, Sergei Kostisyn, and Marcel Goc. The sad news is that by the time they get a name, Barry Trotz will split them up. I'm still a fan of the old vowel line from the early years of the franchise, not so much the players, but the term.
Josh Cooper had the latest on ex-Pred and good guy, Chris Mason before last nights game.
Sam at Preds Blog has some disturbing news about Kevin Klein. He also has a two-part interview with local boy R.A Dickey at AmazinAvenue.
Jas Faulkner has her weekly Greetings from Smashville at The Hockey Writers.
The Ottawa Citizen has a Wicked Delivery of Force in a story about Shea Weber.
Around the NHL...
The Penguins chalked up their tenth win in a row last night as Sidney picked up a couple of more points.
Bill Guerin is officially calling it quits after a long fruitful career.
Another recent retiree, Joe Sakic is attending the Board of Governors meetings with the Avalanche entourage in order to learn the business.
For the first time, there appears to be solid evidence that the Coyotes may have a legitimate buyer that could closed on the team before the end of the year. Matthew Hulsizer met with the NHL BOG yesterday with Gary Bettman leading him around. Here is an interview from AZ Vibe and another story from Chris Johnson.
Sidney Crosby, Ryan Miller and Taylor Hall were named the NHL's three stars of the week yesterday.
Another great Thirty Thoughts from Elliotte Friedman with a thought about motivating players.
Bryan Trottier stands ready to help the Islanders so he says in this interview from Chris Botta.
Fred Poulin has the breakdown of Selke Trophy contenders. There's never a Predator in sight.
Adrian Dater reports that Matt "Duchy" Duchene is now on Twitter. He was at 418 lat night when I added him. I'd say he's pushing 1000 by today.
TSN's latest poll on who is the best NHL player is no real surprise with Sidney Crosby having his best year. What is surprising is that Alexander Ovechkin only rings up about 4% and is a distant third. It is hard to believe how much his stock has fallen. Is it too late to put the Lightning and Stamkos in this year's Winter Classic?
Houses of the Hockey takes a "Where are they now?" look at last year's SCF goaltenders.
The NBC Winter Classic commercial is out. I hope that this violent rain storm is not a precursor to the actual New Years day weather in Pittsburgh. That is my greatest fear in attending this year's Classic.
Odds and Ends...
Google is taking on Amazon in the E-Book market. This will probably get bloody but could lower prices for consumers.
Local Comic producer and Nashville Roller Girl poster maker, Eric Powell has gone mainstream with "An Irish Wake" at USA Today.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Preds led for most of the game and gave up a late goal to send it to overtime and then did not play to the whistle in the final shift of the game which led to an easy goal for Zach Bogosian and a big win for the red hot Atlanta Thrashers.
In hindsight, the reality of last night's game is that the Predators should be very happy that they survived long enough to get to overtime and were able to capture a loser point to add to their total in a very tightly bunched Western Conference.
The Predators were out-played in the faceoff circle the entire game and did little to control the pace and flow of the game. If not for some key saves by Anders Lindback and a few lucky breaks along the way, the Predators would have gone home with nothing.
So the Predators wake up in Detroit this morning and are at 30 points in the middle of a pack of 10 teams that have between 32 and 29 points. The way the season is going there are going to be plenty of ups and downs for everyone.
Any point or two that a team gets is crucial and the Preds should be happy with the one that got and focus on tomorrows game with the Wings and avoid the complete no-show that they had on their last visit to Joe Louis Arena. You can't find points in the rear-view mirror so they need to focus forward and take home two from Detroit.
Preds-Thrashers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column and postgame ponderings.
From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton (with advances stats), Hockey Night in Nashville, and Fang Finger Fever files his report from the arena first hand.
For the happy side of the game story, check out The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blueland Blog, the Ice Man, Bird Watchers Anonymous, Thrashing the Blues, As the Birds Thrash, Thrasher Backer, and Blueland Chronicle.
In Pred Nation...
Jim Diamond is working hard to come up with a name for the new line of Marty Erat, Sergei Kostisyn, and Marcel Goc. The sad news is that by the time they get a name, Barry Trotz will split them up. I'm still a fan of the old vowel line from the early years of the franchise, not so much the players, but the term.
Josh Cooper had the latest on ex-Pred and good guy, Chris Mason before last nights game.
Sam at Preds Blog has some disturbing news about Kevin Klein. He also has a two-part interview with local boy R.A Dickey at AmazinAvenue.
Jas Faulkner has her weekly Greetings from Smashville at The Hockey Writers.
The Ottawa Citizen has a Wicked Delivery of Force in a story about Shea Weber.
Around the NHL...
The Penguins chalked up their tenth win in a row last night as Sidney picked up a couple of more points.
Bill Guerin is officially calling it quits after a long fruitful career.
Another recent retiree, Joe Sakic is attending the Board of Governors meetings with the Avalanche entourage in order to learn the business.
For the first time, there appears to be solid evidence that the Coyotes may have a legitimate buyer that could closed on the team before the end of the year. Matthew Hulsizer met with the NHL BOG yesterday with Gary Bettman leading him around. Here is an interview from AZ Vibe and another story from Chris Johnson.
Sidney Crosby, Ryan Miller and Taylor Hall were named the NHL's three stars of the week yesterday.
Another great Thirty Thoughts from Elliotte Friedman with a thought about motivating players.
Bryan Trottier stands ready to help the Islanders so he says in this interview from Chris Botta.
Fred Poulin has the breakdown of Selke Trophy contenders. There's never a Predator in sight.
Adrian Dater reports that Matt "Duchy" Duchene is now on Twitter. He was at 418 lat night when I added him. I'd say he's pushing 1000 by today.
TSN's latest poll on who is the best NHL player is no real surprise with Sidney Crosby having his best year. What is surprising is that Alexander Ovechkin only rings up about 4% and is a distant third. It is hard to believe how much his stock has fallen. Is it too late to put the Lightning and Stamkos in this year's Winter Classic?
Houses of the Hockey takes a "Where are they now?" look at last year's SCF goaltenders.
The NBC Winter Classic commercial is out. I hope that this violent rain storm is not a precursor to the actual New Years day weather in Pittsburgh. That is my greatest fear in attending this year's Classic.
Odds and Ends...
Google is taking on Amazon in the E-Book market. This will probably get bloody but could lower prices for consumers.
Local Comic producer and Nashville Roller Girl poster maker, Eric Powell has gone mainstream with "An Irish Wake" at USA Today.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Thursday, September 30, 2010
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
-------------------------
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
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Game Recap: Preds Beat Thrashers 2-1 in Much Needed Win
The Nashville Predators went on the road with seventh place in the West on the line and came away with a 2-1 victory over Atlanta in Phillips Arena on Tuesday night.
Colin Wilson scored the eventual game winning goal late in the first period and Dan Ellis was outstanding in net to help the Predators break their two game losing streak. Ryan Suter scored the Preds first goal early in the game.
The victory gave the Predators 77 points and a two point lead over Calgary, who moved into eighth, after upsetting Detroit 4-2 at Joe Louis Arena,
Scoring Recap...
The Predators got on the board early at 4:48 in the first period when Ryan Suter wristed a shot from behind the right face off circle into the net for a power play goal as the Preds continued their recent success with the man advantage. Colby Armstrong had been called for interference at 4:18 to set up the power play opportunity.
Colin Wilson gave the Predators a 2-0 lead with an unassisted goal at 18:38 when Mark Popovic fumbled the puck on the break out in the slot directly in front of the Thrasher net. Wilson was there to pick it up and put it past a startled Johan Hedberg.
The Preds played well in the first period, outshooting the Thrashers 12-7, while they were up 19-11 in the Corsi numbers. The Preds were one for two on the power play and were not charged with any penalties in the opening period.
The second period started with a swift about face when Nik Antropov redirected a wide shot by Johnny Oduya into the net past Dan Ellis for the score 29 seconds into the period to close the margin to 2-1.
The Predators got a scare late in the second period when a Thrasher goal was waived off because Chris Thorburn man-handled Dan Ellis in the crease as he knocked the puck through Ellis' five hole.
The Preds started slow in the second period but finished with a much stronger effort. They were out shot by the Thrashers 9-8 and were edged 19-18 in the Corsi.
The Predators were playing with fire in the third period as they committed multiple penalties by Bouillon and Klein to give the Thrashers several scoring chances. At one point during the Klein Penalty, Antropov lured Dan Ellis out of the crease to defend the back of the goal.
Atlanta threw everything they could at the net down the stretch and Dan Ellis held firm stopping all 15 Thrasher third period shots. The Predators out shot Atlanta 32-31 on the evening but trailed in the Corsi 56-55.
Storylines From The Game
Predator's New Top Line Got It Done..
Barry Trotz completely revamped his lines at practice on Monday and he pulled the right combination out of his hat with the line of Jason Arnott, Marty Erat and Colin Wilson. That group, along with Ryan Suter, were responsible for all of the Predator scoring during the game.
Ellis Stands Out In Goal...
Dan Ellis had an outstanding game after sitting out for over three weeks, dating back to before the Olympic break. Ellis stopped 30 of 31 Thrasher shots including a constant barrage in the closing minutes. Ellis was clearly the game's first star and made David Poile look like a genuis for holding on to Dan for the playoff run.
Trotz Finally Gets 400th Win...
After very frustrating games in Detroit on Friday and at home against the Canucks on Sunday, Barry Trotz finally corralled his 400th career win as the Predators coach. Barry becomes just the seventh coach in NHL history to win 400 games with one team and is second only to Buffalo's Lindy Ruff in the longest tenure among coaches.
Up Next...
The Preds left after the game and headed west to San Jose where they will play the Sharks on Thursday night. From there, they will head to the Southland to play the Ducks on Friday and then finish the road trip on Sunday against the Kings.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Colin Wilson scored the eventual game winning goal late in the first period and Dan Ellis was outstanding in net to help the Predators break their two game losing streak. Ryan Suter scored the Preds first goal early in the game.
The victory gave the Predators 77 points and a two point lead over Calgary, who moved into eighth, after upsetting Detroit 4-2 at Joe Louis Arena,
Scoring Recap...
The Predators got on the board early at 4:48 in the first period when Ryan Suter wristed a shot from behind the right face off circle into the net for a power play goal as the Preds continued their recent success with the man advantage. Colby Armstrong had been called for interference at 4:18 to set up the power play opportunity.
Colin Wilson gave the Predators a 2-0 lead with an unassisted goal at 18:38 when Mark Popovic fumbled the puck on the break out in the slot directly in front of the Thrasher net. Wilson was there to pick it up and put it past a startled Johan Hedberg.
The Preds played well in the first period, outshooting the Thrashers 12-7, while they were up 19-11 in the Corsi numbers. The Preds were one for two on the power play and were not charged with any penalties in the opening period.
The second period started with a swift about face when Nik Antropov redirected a wide shot by Johnny Oduya into the net past Dan Ellis for the score 29 seconds into the period to close the margin to 2-1.
The Predators got a scare late in the second period when a Thrasher goal was waived off because Chris Thorburn man-handled Dan Ellis in the crease as he knocked the puck through Ellis' five hole.
The Preds started slow in the second period but finished with a much stronger effort. They were out shot by the Thrashers 9-8 and were edged 19-18 in the Corsi.
The Predators were playing with fire in the third period as they committed multiple penalties by Bouillon and Klein to give the Thrashers several scoring chances. At one point during the Klein Penalty, Antropov lured Dan Ellis out of the crease to defend the back of the goal.
Atlanta threw everything they could at the net down the stretch and Dan Ellis held firm stopping all 15 Thrasher third period shots. The Predators out shot Atlanta 32-31 on the evening but trailed in the Corsi 56-55.
Storylines From The Game
Predator's New Top Line Got It Done..
Barry Trotz completely revamped his lines at practice on Monday and he pulled the right combination out of his hat with the line of Jason Arnott, Marty Erat and Colin Wilson. That group, along with Ryan Suter, were responsible for all of the Predator scoring during the game.
Ellis Stands Out In Goal...
Dan Ellis had an outstanding game after sitting out for over three weeks, dating back to before the Olympic break. Ellis stopped 30 of 31 Thrasher shots including a constant barrage in the closing minutes. Ellis was clearly the game's first star and made David Poile look like a genuis for holding on to Dan for the playoff run.
Trotz Finally Gets 400th Win...
After very frustrating games in Detroit on Friday and at home against the Canucks on Sunday, Barry Trotz finally corralled his 400th career win as the Predators coach. Barry becomes just the seventh coach in NHL history to win 400 games with one team and is second only to Buffalo's Lindy Ruff in the longest tenure among coaches.
Up Next...
The Preds left after the game and headed west to San Jose where they will play the Sharks on Thursday night. From there, they will head to the Southland to play the Ducks on Friday and then finish the road trip on Sunday against the Kings.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Game Recap: Preds Win 4-3 Over Thrashers
The Nashville Predators ended their five game losing streak by defeating the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 at the Sommet Center in Nashville on Saturday night. With the win, the Predators have 63 points and remain in seventh place in the Western Conference.
Jason Arnott had the game winning goal off the opening face off in the third period. Joel Ward and Marty Erat each had a goal and an assist. Jerred Smithson had the other Predator goal.
Pekka Rinne got the win in net for the Preds as he stopped 23 of 26 Thrasher shots that included several big saves at critical times.
Atlanta was led by Bryan Little who had two goals and Chris Thiorburg who had the other Thrasher goal. Johan Hedberg took the loss as he stopped 27 of 31 Predator shots.
In spite of the inclement weather, the crowd was fairly lively. A contingent of over 400 Atlanta Thrasher fans in the Sommet Center added to the hearty Predator fans that braved the elements to make it downtown on an evening where the streets were as slick as the ice at the rink.
The Predators started the game with plenty of energy and struck early when Joel Ward scored on a backhand flipping the puck over the shoulder of Johan Hedberg at 3:59 to give the Preds an early 1-0 lead.
The Predators continued to apply the pressure and it paid off when Jerred Smithson put the puck past Hedberg at 9:27 to give the Preds a rare (of late) 2-0 lead.
At 13:50, Atlanta came close to getting a goal when Pekka Rinne made a big save that ended a delayed penalty against Francis Bouillon and put the Thrashers on the power play. Seven seconds into the man advantage Bryan Little put the puck past Pekka Rinne to pull the Thrashers within a goal at 2-1.
At the end of the first period both teams had ten shots with the Thrashers leading in Corsi numbers 17-15. It was one of the few times lately that the Predators had led at the end of the first period.
The Predators went on their first power play of the game early in the second period at 2:39 when Boris Valabik was called for interference on Ryan Jones. At 3:15, Chris Thorburn was called for tripping Steve Sullivan giving the Preds 1:24 of two-man advantage. The Preds were unable to get a shot on goal 5 on 3. The Preds got two shots in the remaining man-advantage time but failed to score.
The Predators dodged a bullet at 6:55 when the whistle was blown due to coincidental roughing minors that were issued to Steve Sullivan and Jim Slater. Meanwhile, play continued and the puck ended up in Predator net but was waived off by the officials.
The Preds regained their two goal lead at 11:12 when Martin Erat shot the puck as he skated into the high slot, received a pass from Joel Ward, and put it past Hedberg to make it 3-1.
Shortly after the Preds goal, at 11:59, Tobias Enstrom was called for holding Steve Sullivan. After a sloppy give-away by Steve Sullivan at the blue line, Marty Reasoner took the puck to the Pred's net and the puck was blocked by Pekka Rinne. Unfortunately, Rinne turned his back to the net giving Chris Thorburn an easy shot into the open net for a short-handed goal to make it a 3-2 game.
The Thrashers tied the game 3-3 at 15:02 when the Preds turned the puck over again and Ilya Kovalchuk shot the puck and it was blocked by Rinne but the rebound was picked up and buried in the net by Bryan Little. Pekka Rinne was obviously disgusted with the Pred defenders for not clearing the rebound when they clearly had an opportunity to do so.
In spite of the Atlanta 2-1 edge in goals for the period, Nashville out shot the Thrashers 11-6 in the second period. The Preds led the Corsi numbers 21-10. The Preds only had three shots in 4:35 of man advantage time in the period and allowed the short-handed goal.
Seven seconds after the after the puck drop to start the third period, Jason Arnott put the Predators back into the lead 4-3. Arnott's goal was a new record for the quickest third period goal, breaking the old 13 second record held by Adam Hall.
Ryan Suter possibly saved an Atlanta goal in front of the Pred's net when he hooked Max Afinogenov at 1:18 to put the Thrashers on the power play. The Thrashers did not get a shot on goal on their man advantage.
Jason Arnott was sent to the penalty box at 8:54 for holding Jim Slater to put Atlanta on their third power play of the evening. Again, the Preds held Atlanta to no shots.
On a horrible call by the officials, Jason Arnott and Boris Valabik were called for coincidental minors at 11:47 when Arnott was slew-footed by Valabik and amazingly the officials did not see what the replay showed. Valabik was called for tripping and Arnott was for interference.
Atlanta called a time out at 1:42 and pulled Hedberg. Play was intense through the end of the game but the Predators held on and the game ended in a scuffle in front of the Predator net.
The Predators and the Thrashers each had ten shots in the third period. The Preds out shot Atlanta 31-26 and led in the Corsi numbers 52-44.
Storylines From The Game
A Win, Finally!...
The win was in no way a thing of beauty as many of the issues that led to the five game losing streak were still apparent in Saturday's game. Turnovers, sloppy defensive play, and special teams troubles did not magically disappear.
In the post game interview, Barry Trotz admitted that it wasn't pretty or one of their best games but indicated that it may have been their best game at overcoming adversity.
The Predators had played on Friday in Detroit and had travel issues getting home. Atlanta had been in Nashville since Friday and were much better rested.
The Preds lost focus for a while during the second period and things appeared to be spiraling out of control once again but they were able to regain focus and comeback for the win.
Will Pekka Get Two Starts in a Row?...
Pekka Rinne played a fairly solid game stopping 23 of 26 Thrasher shots but received limited support, at times by the Predator defense. On the game tying goal, the Hamhuis-Klein pairing stood watching instead of clearing the puck after the initial rebound. On several other occasions Rinne was hung out to dry and made the save.
If the Predators are to make the playoffs, one of the two goalies will have to get hot enough to carry the load. Pekka Rinne has been thought to be the one that would be the better choice but has failed in his last two attempts to play consecutive games when the recent goalie rotation was disrupted.
The Need to Play Atlanta More Often...
Atlanta had a contingent of over 400 spirited fans that made the trip to Nashville to take in the game and the Nashville nightlife. The boisterous nature of the visiting fans added a lot to the atmosphere in the Sommet Center.
In a rarity, the Preds will pay a return trip to Atlanta this year on March ninth since the Thrashers were designated as one of the wild card teams from the east. It is a real shame that the Preds and Thrashers do not play more often and allow the rivalry to develop in to a regional battle that both teams and their fans would enjoy.
Up Next...
The Predators have three more games on the current homestand playing Phoenix on Tuesday, Colorado on Thursday and San Jose next Saturday. They will then hit the road for four final games before the Olympic break.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Jason Arnott had the game winning goal off the opening face off in the third period. Joel Ward and Marty Erat each had a goal and an assist. Jerred Smithson had the other Predator goal.
Pekka Rinne got the win in net for the Preds as he stopped 23 of 26 Thrasher shots that included several big saves at critical times.
Atlanta was led by Bryan Little who had two goals and Chris Thiorburg who had the other Thrasher goal. Johan Hedberg took the loss as he stopped 27 of 31 Predator shots.
In spite of the inclement weather, the crowd was fairly lively. A contingent of over 400 Atlanta Thrasher fans in the Sommet Center added to the hearty Predator fans that braved the elements to make it downtown on an evening where the streets were as slick as the ice at the rink.
The Predators started the game with plenty of energy and struck early when Joel Ward scored on a backhand flipping the puck over the shoulder of Johan Hedberg at 3:59 to give the Preds an early 1-0 lead.
The Predators continued to apply the pressure and it paid off when Jerred Smithson put the puck past Hedberg at 9:27 to give the Preds a rare (of late) 2-0 lead.
At 13:50, Atlanta came close to getting a goal when Pekka Rinne made a big save that ended a delayed penalty against Francis Bouillon and put the Thrashers on the power play. Seven seconds into the man advantage Bryan Little put the puck past Pekka Rinne to pull the Thrashers within a goal at 2-1.
At the end of the first period both teams had ten shots with the Thrashers leading in Corsi numbers 17-15. It was one of the few times lately that the Predators had led at the end of the first period.
The Predators went on their first power play of the game early in the second period at 2:39 when Boris Valabik was called for interference on Ryan Jones. At 3:15, Chris Thorburn was called for tripping Steve Sullivan giving the Preds 1:24 of two-man advantage. The Preds were unable to get a shot on goal 5 on 3. The Preds got two shots in the remaining man-advantage time but failed to score.
The Predators dodged a bullet at 6:55 when the whistle was blown due to coincidental roughing minors that were issued to Steve Sullivan and Jim Slater. Meanwhile, play continued and the puck ended up in Predator net but was waived off by the officials.
The Preds regained their two goal lead at 11:12 when Martin Erat shot the puck as he skated into the high slot, received a pass from Joel Ward, and put it past Hedberg to make it 3-1.
Shortly after the Preds goal, at 11:59, Tobias Enstrom was called for holding Steve Sullivan. After a sloppy give-away by Steve Sullivan at the blue line, Marty Reasoner took the puck to the Pred's net and the puck was blocked by Pekka Rinne. Unfortunately, Rinne turned his back to the net giving Chris Thorburn an easy shot into the open net for a short-handed goal to make it a 3-2 game.
The Thrashers tied the game 3-3 at 15:02 when the Preds turned the puck over again and Ilya Kovalchuk shot the puck and it was blocked by Rinne but the rebound was picked up and buried in the net by Bryan Little. Pekka Rinne was obviously disgusted with the Pred defenders for not clearing the rebound when they clearly had an opportunity to do so.
In spite of the Atlanta 2-1 edge in goals for the period, Nashville out shot the Thrashers 11-6 in the second period. The Preds led the Corsi numbers 21-10. The Preds only had three shots in 4:35 of man advantage time in the period and allowed the short-handed goal.
Seven seconds after the after the puck drop to start the third period, Jason Arnott put the Predators back into the lead 4-3. Arnott's goal was a new record for the quickest third period goal, breaking the old 13 second record held by Adam Hall.
Ryan Suter possibly saved an Atlanta goal in front of the Pred's net when he hooked Max Afinogenov at 1:18 to put the Thrashers on the power play. The Thrashers did not get a shot on goal on their man advantage.
Jason Arnott was sent to the penalty box at 8:54 for holding Jim Slater to put Atlanta on their third power play of the evening. Again, the Preds held Atlanta to no shots.
On a horrible call by the officials, Jason Arnott and Boris Valabik were called for coincidental minors at 11:47 when Arnott was slew-footed by Valabik and amazingly the officials did not see what the replay showed. Valabik was called for tripping and Arnott was for interference.
Atlanta called a time out at 1:42 and pulled Hedberg. Play was intense through the end of the game but the Predators held on and the game ended in a scuffle in front of the Predator net.
The Predators and the Thrashers each had ten shots in the third period. The Preds out shot Atlanta 31-26 and led in the Corsi numbers 52-44.
Storylines From The Game
A Win, Finally!...
The win was in no way a thing of beauty as many of the issues that led to the five game losing streak were still apparent in Saturday's game. Turnovers, sloppy defensive play, and special teams troubles did not magically disappear.
In the post game interview, Barry Trotz admitted that it wasn't pretty or one of their best games but indicated that it may have been their best game at overcoming adversity.
The Predators had played on Friday in Detroit and had travel issues getting home. Atlanta had been in Nashville since Friday and were much better rested.
The Preds lost focus for a while during the second period and things appeared to be spiraling out of control once again but they were able to regain focus and comeback for the win.
Will Pekka Get Two Starts in a Row?...
Pekka Rinne played a fairly solid game stopping 23 of 26 Thrasher shots but received limited support, at times by the Predator defense. On the game tying goal, the Hamhuis-Klein pairing stood watching instead of clearing the puck after the initial rebound. On several other occasions Rinne was hung out to dry and made the save.
If the Predators are to make the playoffs, one of the two goalies will have to get hot enough to carry the load. Pekka Rinne has been thought to be the one that would be the better choice but has failed in his last two attempts to play consecutive games when the recent goalie rotation was disrupted.
The Need to Play Atlanta More Often...
Atlanta had a contingent of over 400 spirited fans that made the trip to Nashville to take in the game and the Nashville nightlife. The boisterous nature of the visiting fans added a lot to the atmosphere in the Sommet Center.
In a rarity, the Preds will pay a return trip to Atlanta this year on March ninth since the Thrashers were designated as one of the wild card teams from the east. It is a real shame that the Preds and Thrashers do not play more often and allow the rivalry to develop in to a regional battle that both teams and their fans would enjoy.
Up Next...
The Predators have three more games on the current homestand playing Phoenix on Tuesday, Colorado on Thursday and San Jose next Saturday. They will then hit the road for four final games before the Olympic break.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Game Preview: Preds Seek To End Losing Streak vs. Thrashers
After suffering through 4-2 loss last night against the Red Wings in Detroit, the Nashville Predators (29-21-3) return home to play the Atlanta Thrashers (24-21-8) at the iced over Sommet Center.
It seems fitting since it is Hockey Day in Canada and Hockey Weekend Across America that the non-traditional hockey market of Nashville would be converted to an open air ice rink with up to seven inches of snow and two inches of ice covering Middle Tennessee.
The Predators could tie their season high six game losing streak with a loss against the Thrashers. The Preds and their fans are hopeful that the streak will be broken and that they can return to the form that they showed when playing well earlier this year.
Tonight's game is a rare one against the Thrashers. However, as a wild card team from the Eastern Conference, the Preds will pay a return visit to Atlanta on March 9 and play the Birds at Phillips Arena. This is the twelfth all-time meeting between the two teams as Nashville holds a 5-4-2 advantage.
Pred fans will have the opportunity to see Russian super-star Ilya Kovalchuk who has 31 goals and 57 points so far this season. They will also get to see ex-Predator Rich Peverly who has found success after Atlanta picked him up on waivers. Peverly has 17 goals and 42 points this year.
Pekka Rinne (18-10-2, 2.81, .903) will start in net for the Predators while the red-hot Johan Hedberg (12-8-4, 2.48, .918) will start for Atlanta. This will be Hedberg's fourth straight start. In his last four games he has only allowed 1.5 goals per game and has stopped 116 of 122 shots.
Joel Ward will return to the ice after missing the last three games with an upper body injury. Andreas Thuresson, who was on an emergency recall, was returned to Milwaukee today. Marcel Goc remains sidelined for the Preds and Wade Belak is listed as doubtful.
Predators Keys To The Game
Avoid the Trap (Again)...
When you have lost five in a row it is difficult to label any game a trap but in looking at the schedule this one would have foot the bill. The Preds cannot have a let down from the intensity that they exhibited during the last two periods of the game against the Wings.
The "rivalry" between the Predators closest other NHL team has never been fully developed since the two teams went to separate conferences during the last era of expansion. It is ashamed that the two teams are not able to play six times a year like division rivals.
Take Back the Home Ice Advantage...
The Predators have not played well in front of the home crowd recently. Since December 26, the Preds are 2-4 at the Sommet Center. Before the recent losing streak, the Predators had a better road record than they did at home.
Predator fans have been supportive of the team and deserve to see a full sixty minutes of effort when they pay good money to come out and support the home team.
Desperate Effort Needed on Special Teams...
The Predators dismal special team play went further downhill in last night's game as they gave up two goals on four penalty kills officially and another goal three seconds after the power play expired. Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Klein were on the ice for the first three goals and did not play well on the PK.
The Power Play unit was much more aggressive, getting off twelve shots in four opportunities on the man advantage but still did not have anything to show for it.
If the special teams do not show a quick turnaround soon, the Predators hopes of a post season berth will appear smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Preds Lose to Thrashers and More
All the thoughts of an undefeated preseason came crashing to an end last night as the out manned Nashville Predators fell to the Atlanta Thrashers by a 5-4 score. The Thrashers were led in scoring with two goals by ex-Pred Josh Gratton who is known more for punching faces rather than pucks into nets.
Marty Erat led the Preds in scoring with two goals but still finished -2 on the night. Other goals came from Peter Olvecky and Mike Santorelli who is really making his case for the sixth forward position. David Legwand and Patric Hornqvist each had two assists. The Preds out shot Atlanta 37-21.
The stats sheet makes it appear that neither Pekka Rinne (5 of 8 shots stopped) or Dan Ellis (11 of 13) was very effective in goal.
On Defense, both Ryan Suter and Shea Weber were +3 while the young guys looked to take a beating with Laaks0 and Sulzer each going -3. Francis Bouillon needs to make a quick recovery or the Preds may need to give Chris Chelios a call before he signs with the AHL Chicago Wolves.
After four exhibition games, I am somewhat disturbed with what we are looking at on the blue line. Paul McCann suggested that Ryan Ellis might play a couple of games before heading back to Juniors even though he sat last night. I could see that as being a good thing. You never know. He could stick.
The Predators head to Fort Campbell today for team building exercises before playing the final two preseason games this weekend. After meeting the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Sommet Center, the Preds will travel to Columbus for a game Sunday afternoon to wrap up the pre-season.
I would expect several more cuts after today's outing as the Predators will try to use the last two games to get work for as many healthy regulars as possible. Expect Rinne and Ellis to each play a full game over the weekend.
In Pred Nation...
Jim Diamond used the stats sheet to try to get some ideas from last nights game. Here is his analysis. The Tennessean has the AP story. Here is the homer story from the AJC.
NHL.com has a lengthy analysis of the Predators team a week before league play opens. Here's a second post about specifics.
Mark Willoughby is checking out his new part-time gig at Hockey Independent with a discussion about the Jordin Tootoo- Tom Sestito fight last Saturday. Mark writes that it was a "staged" fight. Everyone who was aware of the circumstances knew Tootoo would be willingly lured into a fight. I was Tweeting about match-ups before the game.
I've got a post coming on the fight too with different issues to discuss. Rest assured, neither Mark nor I are "no fighting" type folks, but there are points that need to be dealt with in the physical part of the game.
Forechecker Dirk Hoag, Tom Callahan, Paul Nicholson and Derek Perez have been chosen to sit on a panel at Social Media Club Nashville on October 6 from 6 to 8 p.m.. This will be a conflict with the Predator's Meet the Team Party. Hopefully the Social Media Club will switch dates so that more can attend.
Forechecker was also a guest on Chris Wassel's The Program Podcast last night. Click here to hear our man Dirk in action.
Admirals Short Shifts has a complete summary from the Ads first day in camp yesterday. With so many of this year's eventual Admiral regulars still in Nashville, there are a lot of new faces in camp. Coach Lane Lambert comments on the battle for the second goalie slot between Chet Pickard and Jeremy Smith. There's good video coverage at the Ad's web site.
According to CSN Philly, the Flyers sent prospect Patrik Hersley to the Preds in exchange for "future considerations". The 6-3, 205 pound blue liner has played sparingly in North America the last two seasons, splitting time between the AHL and ECHL. Hersley was originally drafted in the fifth round, 139 overall, by the L. A. Kings. There is no apparent reason for the Pred's interest in the 23 year old Swedish native other than possibly organizational depth.
Dan Ellis makes the list of Top Ten Backup goalies at THN. That should not be a surprise to anyone.
The Montreal Gazette has more on Bouillon's potential return.
Around the NHL...
It was another crazy day in the Phoenix courtroom yesterday as Jim Ballsillie has basically dropped all his demands that the team move anytime before next June and appears to be making offers on the fly to do just about anything to win the courts favor. Judge Baum did not make any rulings on the proposed mediation and did not tip his hat on a time frame for any rulings.
David Shoalts from the Globe has his latest take on the Coyote's fiasco. The Toronto Star relied on the AP story.
Super Agent Alan Walsh thinks Ballsillie made big points @walsha: "Offering to keep team in Phx for 09-10, $25mil nonrefundable to Glendale + allow for search for local owner, he now makes compelling case".
Meanwhile as you can see from the poster, The Coyotes dropped the price of opening night tickets to $25 for the lower bowl and $15 elsewhere for the opening night game. If you act before 9:00 this morning you can beat the crowd.
Pierre LeBrun puts a cap on the Islander to Kansas City discussion with a post at ESPN.
Craig Custance has a store on veterans trying to make teams and has a Preds angle included.
Matt Reitz has more on the role of enforcers in the game.
Ryan at the RLD is down to a two team race for the cup. See who is left.
Olie Kolzig officially retired yesterday and the Washington Times talked to David Poile about him. Poile was the GM that officially made Olie a first round pick in 1989.
Hip Check Heaven has a Central Division preview and buries the Preds in the basement with some typical negative comments.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Marty Erat led the Preds in scoring with two goals but still finished -2 on the night. Other goals came from Peter Olvecky and Mike Santorelli who is really making his case for the sixth forward position. David Legwand and Patric Hornqvist each had two assists. The Preds out shot Atlanta 37-21.
The stats sheet makes it appear that neither Pekka Rinne (5 of 8 shots stopped) or Dan Ellis (11 of 13) was very effective in goal.
On Defense, both Ryan Suter and Shea Weber were +3 while the young guys looked to take a beating with Laaks0 and Sulzer each going -3. Francis Bouillon needs to make a quick recovery or the Preds may need to give Chris Chelios a call before he signs with the AHL Chicago Wolves.
After four exhibition games, I am somewhat disturbed with what we are looking at on the blue line. Paul McCann suggested that Ryan Ellis might play a couple of games before heading back to Juniors even though he sat last night. I could see that as being a good thing. You never know. He could stick.
The Predators head to Fort Campbell today for team building exercises before playing the final two preseason games this weekend. After meeting the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Sommet Center, the Preds will travel to Columbus for a game Sunday afternoon to wrap up the pre-season.
I would expect several more cuts after today's outing as the Predators will try to use the last two games to get work for as many healthy regulars as possible. Expect Rinne and Ellis to each play a full game over the weekend.
In Pred Nation...
Jim Diamond used the stats sheet to try to get some ideas from last nights game. Here is his analysis. The Tennessean has the AP story. Here is the homer story from the AJC.
NHL.com has a lengthy analysis of the Predators team a week before league play opens. Here's a second post about specifics.
Mark Willoughby is checking out his new part-time gig at Hockey Independent with a discussion about the Jordin Tootoo- Tom Sestito fight last Saturday. Mark writes that it was a "staged" fight. Everyone who was aware of the circumstances knew Tootoo would be willingly lured into a fight. I was Tweeting about match-ups before the game.
I've got a post coming on the fight too with different issues to discuss. Rest assured, neither Mark nor I are "no fighting" type folks, but there are points that need to be dealt with in the physical part of the game.
Forechecker Dirk Hoag, Tom Callahan, Paul Nicholson and Derek Perez have been chosen to sit on a panel at Social Media Club Nashville on October 6 from 6 to 8 p.m.. This will be a conflict with the Predator's Meet the Team Party. Hopefully the Social Media Club will switch dates so that more can attend.
Forechecker was also a guest on Chris Wassel's The Program Podcast last night. Click here to hear our man Dirk in action.
Admirals Short Shifts has a complete summary from the Ads first day in camp yesterday. With so many of this year's eventual Admiral regulars still in Nashville, there are a lot of new faces in camp. Coach Lane Lambert comments on the battle for the second goalie slot between Chet Pickard and Jeremy Smith. There's good video coverage at the Ad's web site.
According to CSN Philly, the Flyers sent prospect Patrik Hersley to the Preds in exchange for "future considerations". The 6-3, 205 pound blue liner has played sparingly in North America the last two seasons, splitting time between the AHL and ECHL. Hersley was originally drafted in the fifth round, 139 overall, by the L. A. Kings. There is no apparent reason for the Pred's interest in the 23 year old Swedish native other than possibly organizational depth.
Dan Ellis makes the list of Top Ten Backup goalies at THN. That should not be a surprise to anyone.
The Montreal Gazette has more on Bouillon's potential return.
Around the NHL...
It was another crazy day in the Phoenix courtroom yesterday as Jim Ballsillie has basically dropped all his demands that the team move anytime before next June and appears to be making offers on the fly to do just about anything to win the courts favor. Judge Baum did not make any rulings on the proposed mediation and did not tip his hat on a time frame for any rulings.David Shoalts from the Globe has his latest take on the Coyote's fiasco. The Toronto Star relied on the AP story.
Super Agent Alan Walsh thinks Ballsillie made big points @walsha: "Offering to keep team in Phx for 09-10, $25mil nonrefundable to Glendale + allow for search for local owner, he now makes compelling case".
Meanwhile as you can see from the poster, The Coyotes dropped the price of opening night tickets to $25 for the lower bowl and $15 elsewhere for the opening night game. If you act before 9:00 this morning you can beat the crowd.
Pierre LeBrun puts a cap on the Islander to Kansas City discussion with a post at ESPN.
Craig Custance has a store on veterans trying to make teams and has a Preds angle included.
Matt Reitz has more on the role of enforcers in the game.
Ryan at the RLD is down to a two team race for the cup. See who is left.
Olie Kolzig officially retired yesterday and the Washington Times talked to David Poile about him. Poile was the GM that officially made Olie a first round pick in 1989.
Hip Check Heaven has a Central Division preview and buries the Preds in the basement with some typical negative comments.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
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