POTG Podcast with Michael Langlois and Tuesday Tidbits

Last night on POTG Radio we had a great mid-summer doldrums show. Michael Langlois, who runs the web site Vintage Leaf Memories, was with us and we covered a wide range of topics.

Michael has been a fan of the Leafs since the late fifties and shared his perspective on the changes in hockey over the last fifty years. Surprisingly, we also discussed Lane Kiffin and the bridges he has burned in his career.

Michael is also a communications adviser and we discussed coaching for individuals in how to deal with the media. Another area that Michael is involved is training couches and youth workers on how to communicate with players and parents in youth sports and activities.

If you have never checked out Vintage Leaf Memories you should spend some time at the site and read story after story about hockey from earlier times and how it relates to the headlines of today.

Please give us a listen with the following player or download the podcast at iTunes.

Listen to internet radio with PredsOnTheGlass on Blog Talk Radio

Programming Note...

I will be a co-host tonight on Ryan Porth's Red Light District Radio. Guests are scheduled to be USA Today's Kevin Allen and Canada's next great sportscaster, Launy "The" Schwartz of Hockey 54.

In Pred Nation...

Big news for the Predators was yesterday's signing of Ryan Parent to a two-year deal.

Mason Raymond avoided arbitration and resigned with Vancouver and it appears to be close to what Patrick Hornqvist may want. Forechecker compares the two players.

Bryan Mullen has a note that the Predator rookies will travel to Florida on September 15 and 16 to play the Panther rookies in a couple of games. There are a few more details at the Panther's site.

The Predators will kick off a new ROI Program for local business leaders at a breakfast at the Patron Platinum Club on August 4. You need to sign up by Friday if you are interested.

From @Sullivan26: Proud to announce The Lever/Sullivan Charity Tournament raised $60,000 for KidSport Timmins. Thank you to all who attended the special day.

Predlines wonders what happened to the real Jordin Tootoo. Amanda also questions what the Parent signing means for Jon Blum.

Coach Chuck Weber is leaving the Cincinnati Cyclones for an AHL job in Rochester.

Rachel at What The Puck speculates that Fulton Reed in the Mighty Ducks movies may have been the original Shea Weber.

Winging it in Motown dives into Tennessee's "Jock Tax" and the burden it places on visiting players.

Kovi's Korner...

As expected, the NHLPA did file a grievance toward the NHL for ruling that the Kovalchuk contract was an attempt to circumvent the salary cap. Bill Daly responded with an appropriate statement.

Launy at Hockey54 fires up the web cam for a little Kovalchuk Kontract Kontroversy.

Kingscast continuation of "Waiting for Kovalchuk" is now available. More great stuff.

From @DarrenDreger: It will be interesting to see if the league calls the LA Kings to testify in the Kovalchuk case. Not sure, but I'm told it's a possibility. Perhaps, comparing term. Nothing is off limits in this hearing.

More this morning from @DarrenDreger: Decision on Kovalchuk is expected to be made as early as next week. Process of choosing arbitrator started last night and will cont today.

Around the NHL...

After a few rumors over the weekend of the Coyotes/Ice Edge deal falling through, Rebekah Sanders has more detail on the issues at hand. It appears that Ice Edges has not met stated deadlines in the deal. This is not good news for Phoenix fans who have been jerked around since last summer.

News of today's big off-season media event from @NHLschuylerb: Event at Heinz Field for 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. In Pitt preparing.... Expecting Mario, Sid, Talbot, Cooke, Dupuis, Knuble, Steckel among others. First look at new WC logo & retro Caps and Pens logo. Starts at Noon ET. Live on NHL Network, NHL.com, penguins web site, Caps web site, Sirius XM sat. radio & 1250 ESPN Radio in Pitt.

Derek Zona looks at the mess created by Sheldon Souray's contract in Edmonton.

Boston is well over the cap with having Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin signed. Matt Reitz looks at their situation. Wheeler's arbitration hearing is set for later today.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have hired Tod Leiweke as their new CEO. He will also have ownership interest.

Blueshirt Banter takes a look at the NHL deal with Versus and a potential return to ESPN.

The Carolina Hurricanes released the logo for the 2011 All-Star game that will be held at the RBC next January 20.

Mirtle updated his top 100 UFA list. There's still plenty of average players to choose from.

A web site dedicated to the upcoming KHL-NHL exhibition games is now up.

Adrian Dater writes what sounds like a eulogy to the past year covering a wide range of topics at All Things Avs.

Intent to Blow investigated the Sami Salo injury and it appears that it wasn't "floor hockey" but a dispute over video games with the Sedin brothers. We found a video of the skirmish (or at least what it may have looked like)

Odds and Ends...

We don't talk about the Tennessee Titans much but the best news out of their camp in years is them suing Lane Kiffin and USC. Few people have burned bridges and stirred up venom better than Kiffin when he left the University of Tennessee so it was good to hear of a little more trouble going his way.

Dilbert creator Scott Adams has some ideas on how to be an active listener.

Have you ever heard of Olga, the traveling bra? There is a website as well as a travel blog for the piece of undergarment. This is really different.

According to this survey, fans of the NHL and MLB feel more connected through social media. Who knew?

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

POTG Radio Tonight with Michael Langlois and Monday Updates

Tonight on POTG Radio we are finally going to have the show that we have been looking forward to for some time. We will have communications pro, Michael Langlois, who runs the web site Vintage Leaf Memories among many other duties.

Michael and I are the same age, but he has been a die-hard Leaf's fan since he was old enough to know what was going on in the late fifties. Many interesting stories are recounted at his site.

He was a broadcaster in the seventies and eighties but moved on to start his own company in 1989 as a communications adviser to many sports entities and individuals as well.

Tonight's show should be interesting as we will try to understand many of the issues in hockey today with a long look back at history to see how we got to where we are today.



In Pred Land...

The "Weekes for Backup Campaign" got the attention of Craig Custance at The Sporting News who has a post about it on Saturday.

Happy Birthday to Dirk at OnTheForcheck who turned five yesterday. Forechecker got the discussion started for the weekend asking if there was a moment in Preds history that caused fans to give up on the team.

Jim Diamond caught up with one of the newest Predators, Matt Halischuk, at the recent development camp. He and Nick Spalling were on the same line together in juniors.

NHL.com has an extensive look at the growth of hockey in Nashville and the Preds drafting a hometown player.

Predsblog takes an look at what the Preds are getting from David Legwand. He is also up to goal number four for Patric Hornqvist and has serious questions about Ryan Parent's abilities.

Chris Rydburg compares Alexander Radulov to a Cheating Ex-Girlfriend at Pro Sports Blogging.

Rachel at What The Puck watched The Mighty Ducks last night in week one of her summer hockey movie watch.

SeePuckCity has started a new site called GoalieAGoGo to follow his pursuit to become a goalie.

There is a new book coming out about Jordin Tootoo written by Melanie Florence. Amazon lists the availability date as August 23.

Preds UFA Hugh Jessiman was picked up by the Blackhawks where he will attempt to take the monkey off his back as the only 2003 first rounder not to play in the NHL.

Kovi's Korner...

It appears that the NHLPA will file a grievance against the NHL today before the 5 p.m. deadline. The process of finding an arbitrator and setting a date will not be a quick one I am afraid.

Dave Gutzman wonders if Kovalchuk could become the next Radulov.

The National Post has more on the NHL's weak case on the Kovi contract.

Matt Reitz gives Gary Bettman a break this week for challenging the Kovalchuk contract.

Around the NHL...

Wife, Dahlia, tells all on The Schwartz. Interesting stuff that makes him the best candidate to be the next Canadian sportscaster. #DraftTheSchwartz. Launy also got the attention of the local newspaper in Thornhill who did a nice piece on him.

Patrick Hoffman looks at the tough summer it has been for goalies looking for a job, especially Marty Turco and Jose Theodore.

Popular Islanders broadcaster Billy Jaffee, who also is a regular on NHL Live, did not have his contract renewed with MSG. Chris Botta is at a loss as to why.

Adrian Dater picks his top ten centers.

Maple Leaf Gardens certainly has a new look with a grocery store under the third floor rink.

Adam Proteau misses the Tweets of Paul Bissonnette as much as anyone it appears.

Intent to Blow's weekly wrap has a very LA look to it with kudos to Kingscast and View From My Seats.

ESPN Outside the Lines looks at the dangers of arena/stadium food. This got a lot of discussion over the weekend. The Islanders got a clean slate while the Caps appear to be one of the worst.

Odds and Ends...

The Huffington Post looks at America's passion for ice cream.

A study has been done to determine the mood of the nation at any given time by a massive effort to analyze the aggregate content of Tweets. The article also has a "mood map" that shows changing moods by states.

The author of 1000 blog posts over four years gives ten tips to other bloggers.

ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer takes a hard look at "The Decision" fiasco at the ESPN site.

After a couple of Tweets with Su Ring, I found this web site with information about the Electric Cowboy Festival that was held here in our hometown of Columbia, Tennessee. It is interesting that with all the big name acts that it only drew about 10,000 for the three day festival. Now, Bonaroo draws 100,000 just 75 miles away.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass