Russians Clean Up at the NHL Awards Show

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass and the Columbia Daily Herald

Predator’s Steve Sullivan Wins Masterton Trophy

Steve Sullivan with his wife, Kristen on the Red Carpet

Steve Sullivan, of the Nashville Predators, won the Bill Masterton Trophy at the NHL Awards Ceremony that was held at the Pearl Theater in the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

The Masterton Trophy is given annually to the player that "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."

Sullivan quipped after receiving the award that “it’s not a trophy that you want to be in a position to win.” He was not being ungracious, but pointing out the adversity that he underwent to qualify for the nomination.

Sullivan missed two years of play due to a fragmented disc in his back that required two surgeries and many months of rehabilitation in order to make a return to the ice.

Sullivan claimed that the two years were a “roller coaster ride.” He said that “getting back and playing was the most important thing, and this (award) was icing on the cake. I’m an NHL player and that’s what I want to do so putting in the hard work wasn’t all that difficult.”

When asked if he every thought of quitting Sullivan said, “There was never a point where I thought of giving up. There was always some good days and I always thought that if I could string them together, then I would be back. I never really thought it was over.”

Sullivan explained that he knew that he was ready to play before his first game on January 10. ‘We had tested every situation and made sure that we weren’t putting me in a position to fail.”

Describing his return to the ice he said, “The ovation that they (Nashville fans) gave me in my first game back was one of the moments that I’ll never forget. It was a very emotional time and for them to thank me with a standing ovation was really neat and I really appreciate it.”

Before the telecast I was able to talk to Sullivan about where he would be playing next season. He claimed, “I really hope it’s in Nashville. My agent and David (Pred's GM Poile) are talking and I really hope we can find some middle ground and make it work.”

Sullivan plans on making Nashville his permanent home regardless of where he plays next year, “My family and I love it there and we’re always going to keep our house in Nashville and call it home.”

On Friday, Predator's GM David Poile met with the local media and sounded less optimistic about resigning Sullivan, indicating that he was going to continue negotiations but expected that Sullivan would go to the July 1 deadline and test the free agent waters.

Regardless of where Sullivan plays next season, he will always be considered in high regard by the Nashville fans and will hold claim to being the first Predator to win an NHL post-season award.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass and the Columbia Daily Herald

Final Vote Totals from the NHL Awards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Steve Sullivan Wins Masterton Trophy

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

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



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



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



Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Live from Vegas, the NHL Awards Show

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Predator World...

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

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

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

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

Around the NHL...

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

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

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

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

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

More later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

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

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

Back Woods Reporter Heads to Vegas and Mid-Week Updates

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Predators world...

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

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

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

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

Around the league...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More later... (Maybe)

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

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

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

NHL Salutes Top Players at Awards Show

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass and the Columbia Daily Herald

Phoenix: The Aftermath and Tuesday Updates

First off, I would like to thank our guests on Monday's POTG Radio, Travis Hair of Five for Howling and Matt Prielipp of DaBuzz Media. It was a fun show highlighted by the breaking news of the Coyotes staying in Phoenix.

Once again, the power of a worldwide network of people posting on Twitter was shown to be the fastest way to get any breaking news or story. It was really amazing to see the first tweet on the Tweetdeck and having Chris Wassel and several folks in our POTG Radio chat room posting links with additional information as the show progressed.

I know it is hard to explain to many of our Canadian readers that it was exciting for me to see the Coyotes staying in Phoenix. Over the last month or so, I've formed an odd kinship with several of the leaders in the Save The Coyotes group, primarily because they were where Predator fans were two summers ago. I was on the same emotional roller coaster that they have been on and could relate only as someone who has been there before.

I know that fans in Winnipeg, Quebec, Hartford and other places have been there too, but Nashville and Phoenix share the same adversary who used unconventional methods to obtain both franchises with out playing by the NHL "rules".

The judge was clear that Balsillie's fatal mistake was trying to set his own agenda and time table. Bankruptcy courts are very procedural and will not be pressured into moving quicker than the process takes.

I, personally am a big supporter of a second team in the GTA but I also am in the minority that I would like to see it through an open bid for an expansion franchise that would let the market place a price on the value.

I don't think the whole Phoenix-Balsillie battle is over as I expect the Make It Seven camp to continue to pursue the Coyotes through the more orderly bid process that will take place over the summer. As we saw in Nashville, the high bidder probably won't win if there are locals that will take care of the City of Glendale and the lease situation on the arena.

The reaction in the media has been varied. Dirk at On The Forecheck had a great analysis of the situation last night that was astounding in the depth of analysis. Dee, the Islanders, Seventh Woman, had the best human interest story on the ruling.

Other Pred beat folks that had the "been there, done that" view on the story include Mark at The View From 111, Paul McCann, and John Glennon.

Local coverage and reaction from Phoenix can be found at SaveTheCoyotes, Fanster, Sports Arizona, and of course, Five For Howling.

The Canadian view can be found at The Star, the Globe and Mail, National Post, and MakeItSeven.

The raw document of the ruling can be found here.

Bill Daly's statement on behalf of the NHL is here.

On the Predators Beat...

Big news today that Martin Gelinas was named the director of player development for the Predators. This is a great choice as he was almost like an extra on-ice coach when he was with the Preds two years ago. His guidance really helped Jordin Tootoo become more of an offensive player, working long after practice to help Toots become more of a scoring threat. I never really understood why the Preds did not bring him back last year when they needed offensive help so desperately. Mark, Brandon, Rachel and Dirk share my enthusiasm for the hiring.

Forechecker has a good roundup of stories today here.

Rachel at What the Puck has a new story that covers several topics.

Around the NHL...

Matt at The View From My Seats has started a feature of taking the top eleven teams in the draft and has lined up a local writer from each team to give insight into each teams strengths, weaknesses, needs and what is expected on draft day. POTG contribution to the project will be posted on the actual draft day, June 26.

For those who care, Sean Avery was on Jimmy Fallon's show Monday night.

More later... (hopefully including my picks for the NHL Awards show)

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Coyotes to Stay Put In Phoenix

During tonight's edition of POTG Radio the news broke live on the show that Jim Balsillie had been denied in his quest to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton, Ontario.

It was the most exciting moment in the history of POTG Radio to actually be able to break a huge story as the first bits of information appeared on the Tweetdeck and then multiplied like rabbits with all the major news services getting on board with more details.

The most comprehensive story as of this writing is one by TSN and can be found here.

To add to the excitement, we had Travis Hair of Five for Howling and Matt Prielipp of DaBuzz Media, on with us as the news filtered out. Both Travis an Matt's careers are heavily tied to the Coyotes staying in Phoenix, so to hear the joy in their voice was really exciting.

We will have more details on the breaking story later but would like to congratulate the Phoenix fans, the NHL, and Commissioner Gary Bettman for their victory in this round of the battle to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Back in the Saddle with POTG Radio Tonight

I am back from vacation (physically at least) and ready for an exciting week. I am leaving Wednesday for Las Vegas and the NHL Awards show and festivities on Thursday. Posts and updates and will continue to be limited and sporadic until things settle down again next week.



Tonight's PredsOnTheGlass radio should be an interesting show. As we have done in the past with other guests that mixed new media and hockey, our first guest will be Matt Prielipp of DaBuzz Media. I first became aware of Matt when he was tweeting to the @predfans group during one of the Predators visits to Phoenix last Winter when he was Pete and Terry's engineer on a game broadcast. Matt is a man of many talents from New Media guru to radio engineer. I've been wanting to talk to him for quite a while so I'm looking forward to the conversation..

By show time tonight, I can't imagine that we won't have a ruling from the courts on the Phoenix situations so we plan to have Travis Hair of Five for Howling for news and analysis of whatever is announced today.

There's also been a lot of weird news items over the last few days that we may discuss including Dany Heatly wanting out of Ottawa, Chris Pronger to the Kings (?), and the upcoming free agent market and whether it will be a frenzy or more reasonable come July first. We may also take a look at the NHL Awards show that I will attend on Thursday.

Please plan on listening since we always seem to have information you don't find elsewhere in the main stream media.

In Predator News...

John Glennon has a couple of stories today. One story has several interesting points including Jason Arnott calling on the team veterans to produce more offense and Greg DeVris acknowledging that he probably won't be back. The second story, is a bit of a tear jerker for Vern Fiddler fans. Vern has fallen in love with Music City and plans on remaining here regardless of where he signs the next contract.

Mark at The View from 111 has a really good look at what Hamilton would look like as an NHL city. As usual, he has a great analysis of the social and economic nature of the Hamilton area.

Paul McCann wraps up the finals in a post this morning.

Ryan at the Red Light District starts his off season team by team analysis and has the Predators in the first group. He also has plenty of information on next week's draft and free agent offerings.

From several days ago on the Preds site, I just saw this story about Cal O'Reilly's younger brother Ryan who will be drafted nest week.

Around the hockey world...

Belated congratulations to the Hershey Bears for their Calder Cup Championship as they beat Manitoba 4-1 on Friday night. This is their second championship in the last four years.

One of my favorites, Mick Kern, from XM Home Ice 204 was on The Program on BTR for two hours of conversation Sunday night. It is a great listen covering a wide range of topics.

The Hockey Barn has a NHL Awards story about a Russian brawl for the Hart trophy that sounds like it would be more suited if the three were in the NBA.

Longtime veteran defenseman Derian Hatcher is officially retired and has moved to the Flyers front office.

More later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

Heres something interesting from NHL.com, a list of the best picks at each position 1-30.

The Pittsburgh Penguins - 2009 Stanley Cup Champions

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins and their fans for winning the 2009 Stanley Cup Championship. What a great playoff season this was for the NHL and fans of hockey everywhere.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Chillin' Out on Vacation

We have reached the point in our trip where there will be very limited updates over the next several days. We are at an all day surf contest today, will be at Disney World Friday and on the move over the weekend. Hopefully the weather and technology will hold so that we can see what would probably be our last chance to see the Space Shuttle launch on Saturday at sunrise.

I will be back home by Monday and will be ready for our weekly POTG Radio show. After the Awards, the Draft and Free Agent day we will probably start having guests from a couple of different teams each week to start previewing each team for next season. As they say, it's always hockey season. It's either the pre-season, regular season, playoff-season or off-season.

In the meantime I will direct you to Forechecker for Predators news, Five for Howling for Coyote news, and the Red Light District and The Program for everything else. We will return as time allows.

By the way, I'm picking the Wings to win on Friday.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Cup Finals and PHX Situation Continue

Yesterday's big day in hockey came and went and very little was resolved. Pittsburgh held firm on home ice ans will force a game seven in Detroit on Friday. While it appeared the Balsillie camp lost ground in the hearing in Phoenix, a ruling was not made. In the AHL, Manitoba forced the Hershey Bears back to the Western front for game six. Brent Sutter left the Devils but no word on where he is going other than "closer to home". Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa to points unknown.

On to Game Seven...

For the first time in this playoff season, I actually predicted the winner and score when I tweeted "2-1 Pittsburgh in a thriller" yesterday afternoon. I was happy to see the series extended but I am now in a quandary because we will be out of pocket Friday night and will have to scramble to get to a television in order to see the cup raise.

The one thing I do feel certain about is that the Wings will complete my series prediction by winning in game seven. Jackson picked Pittsburgh in seven so we will have one correct prediction at POTG regardless of who wins.

On the Predator Front...

John Glennon has a story at the Tennessean about Alexander Radulov and Pred free agents that are on the fence for next year. Jason Arnot seemed to have softened his hard line on Rad's return, possibly because it would make Steve Sullivan's to the Preds more likely. The story also indicates that Zannon, Fiddler and Ward are not close in their numbers to what the Preds are willing to pay. Ward is really the primary surprise in that group.

The Milwaukee version of the Examiner takes a look at what next year's Admirals might look like. There is little new revealed but it does point to the fact that Drew MacIntyre will probably be headed to another organization to have a better shot at the NHL as a backup next year.

We offer Hockey Buzz's Preds writer Brandon Felder prayers as he heads out for an interview with an NHL team at points unknown. Check out HockeyBuzzRadio tonight for more clues and possibly an answer to the game we have been playing "Where's Brandon?" Pete Weber joins this week as co-host.

Dirk has a full slate of information at OnTheForecheck this morning. My bet is that he also was the winner in the above mentioned "Where's Brandon?" contest. I wonder if Brandon will get a couple of tickets to game seven if the Forechecker is correct.

Hearing in Phoenix...

After reading what seemed like a couple of hundred tweets during the hearing yesterday, it became obvious that Judge Redfield Baum is a very patient man. From what I could tell PSE's attorney was on his last nerve for most of the day.

It appears that Gary Bettman/the NHL was in the lead at the end of the day since the judge did acknowledge that relocation fees would be in order if the team were to move to Hamilton. The rumored amount of a fee would be in the $100-150 million range which would bring the total cost of a Hamilton franchise to $312-362 million which is in the ballpark of the estimated $300-400 million figure that Bill Walker of Make It Seven told me was "speculative" last week.

The Judge has suggested that al sides mediate the relocation fee which could cause the Balsille group to walk away from their offer.

Here are more stories from The Hamilton Spectator, The Toronto Star, and the National Post. The Arizona Republic continued with it's less than marginal coverage with this piece. They have provided some of the worst reporting imaginable on an issue critical to the taxpayers of Glendale. Heather at Save the Coyotes has a piece representing the fan's interest.

Here are the transcripts of the NHL's Bill Daly's post hearing presser.

We received an interesting email this morning that included this announcement from Make It Seven, "We want to keep the momentum going and give Canadians an opportunity to demonstrate their desire for a seventh team, so I am excited to announce that we have chosen June 19th as Make It Seven Day in Canada. This will be a day for Canadians to show their support in a variety of ways. Our corporate partners will be celebrating Make It Seven Day with us and you will be hearing more about that in the days to come." I didn't realize that big Jim he had the power to declare a "day". I seriously doubt that Balsillie realizes that day is already taken and is celebrated as "Juneteenth" which is a day set aside to commemorate Emancipation day and the end of slavery in the United States.

Around the Hockey World...

The the AHL playoffs, Manitoba extened the series and caused the teams to head back to the home of the Moose for game six on Friday night with a 3-2 win.

Ray Emory has agreed to a one-year contract with the Flyers.

Blueshirt Banter has an interesting article about the strength of different divisions in the NHL. To no one within the division, the Central was the toughest and appears set to continue in that direction for a few years to come.

At Inside Hockey, where we contribute, Jake Duhaime takes a look at how Twitter helped him follow all of yesterdays events simultaneously. Unfortunately, I spent most of my day atthe beach also glued to my Tweetdeck.

Another day, another mock draft, this one from Long Island.

Finally, here is an interesting post from View From My Seats on Gary Bettman with an in depth look that you don't see often past the normal cat calls that are mostly thrown at him.

More later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Potential Cup Raise and PHX Hearing Makes for Big Day in the NHL

Today may be a momentous day for the NHL. While attention should be focused on game six of the Stanley Cup Finals and the potential cup raise, the hearing in the desert will provide ample distraction as a pre-game warm-up.

We would like to thank our guests from last night's POTG Radio. Since we are in Florida with unstable internet, Chris Wassel of The Program did a great job of running the board and co-hosting the show from California.

Travis Hair of Five for Howling was our guest for the second half of the show had great insight into today's hearing. It was probably one of the better half hours of coverage on the whole situation since the Phoenix media has fallen down on the job and refuses to has tough questions on behalf of the City of Glendale and the local Coyote fans. Click the button below and listen for yourself.



Game Six...

After another night's sleep, I still will be picking Pittsburgh as my Twtpool pick this morning. I do think that this Pittsburgh team has improved since last year, especially with the outstanding play of Geno Malkin. He has contributed consistently throughout the playoffs and did not disappear in the finals as he seemed to do last season.

I do think Detroit will win on Friday if they don't close it out tonight. I think the Conn Smythe will be a tough choice between Henrik Zetterberg and Chris Osgood. Both have been difference makers through all four series. Zetterberg has been a shut down player, taking on Nash, Kane, Getzlaf, and Crosby and limiting their chances in each series. Additionally, he has been the leader for the Wings in point production and has picked up the slack for the injured Pavel Datsyuk. Osgood has been surprisingly steady and leads all goalies with a 2.00 GAA through the playoffs.

Mirtle has a good story on numbers and how few NHLers actually get their name on the cup.

Hearing in the Desert...

The hearing in Phoenix over the potential relocation of the Coyotes gets underway this morning. Briefs were due by last Friday, so this should only be oral arguments over the submitted material which could lead to a ruling from the bench. After all the circus type antics of the past hearings, I can't imagine that someone won't muddy the water that will prevent an immediate ruling. Judge Redfield T. Baum wants to keep the case moving forward and realizes that there will be an appeal no matter what happens so I think we will know something soon if not today.

We've heard plenty from the Canadian media (and almost zero from the Arizona press) but Eklund reposts some Coyote fan stories that was put together by Heather McWhorter, The Yotes Diva, that gives the side of the story that has been totally missing in the main stream media.

To add a little humor to the clamor for the second team in the GTA, the National Post came up with this story.

Just in time for the hearing, Make It 7 comes up with a theme song/video that includes a Nashville slam and repeated use of a small child flipping the bird. I guess that's about par for the course.

Here's a link to a live blog from the hearing. Several folks will also be tweeting the hearings which can give you a wide range of opinions. Check out @TheYotesDiva @OdinMercer @kmcgran @kash2112

In Predator Nation...

Jim Diamond comes up with a fairly obscure story about the air quality at the Predator's practice facility at the Centennial Rink. When you are paying athletes, which are your only asset, $45 million a year, this may be something the Preds may want to have cleared up prior to next year's season.

John Glennon and the Tennessean take a look at the potential $2500 per game tax on NHL and NBA players. I did not realize until now that Preds players would have to pay $7500 a year. They are also taxed when they play in other arenas in some states. They also have a story about the re-signing of Triston Grant. You can tell its the off season when that makes a headline.

Forechecker works the word "abacus" into his headline for today's post. That's something you don't see everyday, but he does have several interesting items to check out.

Around the Hockey World...

In the AHL Finals, the Hershey Bears have a good chance to close out their series against the Manitoba Moose in Pennsylvania tonight. The past few years have been an amazing run for the franchise.

The other big news today is Brent Sutter steping down as head coach of the New Jersey Devils to potentially become head coach of his brother Daryl's Calgary Flames. Many were surprised when he left his hometown Red Deer team two years ago to coach the Devils. Few are surprised that he is leaving as it has been a topic throughout most of the past season. It will be interesting to see who Lou hires as a replacement.

Twitter friend @StephBags has a really good story posted on From the Blue Seats on hockey and Twitter that has a Nashville twist as always, as she talked with Preds fan @karpo about the Nashville Tweetup leading to her purchase of season tickets. Our friends at The Hockey Zen and @dani3boyz also get some pub.

Here's an item about the most annoying person in an ad during hockey games. The best commercials are on the Canadian broadcasts. My favorites are the couple loading their car from the second floor and the garage that is made up like a goal cage. I've been looking for links on YouTube and they aren't there.

Here's another mock draft, this time our friend, Eric Smith at Fire The Cannon in Columbus.

From @dani3boyz: Yesterday's interview of @specialhockey by @HTM_nhlhomeice on XM 204/Sirius 208.

More later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

Off Topic... The Tennessean has a story about Meat and Threes in Nashville. That may be an off term for some of our non-Southern readers but it's mainly down home types restaurants that specialized in some type of fatty meat and fat seasoned veggies. About 15 years ago, we set out on what we deemed the "Cardiac Arrest Tour" of meat and threes in Nashville. To qualify as a finalist three things were required. The waitress could not have a complete set of teeth (sorry that it was not PC but it was the rules), they had to serve sweet tea, and there had to be signed pictures of country music stars that had eaten there on the wall. I don't think we ever went anywhere that was not a finalist.

Funny name mix up story by Alanah about Mike Kennan vs Michael Keenan in Vancouver.

From Andy Strickland - Sutter isn't a slam dunk to Head To Calgary according to a member of the Sutter family. Here's the blog post.

Live from Surf Camp It's POTG Radio

Tonight's show will mark our second attempt at doing POTG Radio from a remote location. We are hoping to overcome past technical issues by enlisting Chris Wassel from The Program to co-host the show from his "studio" in California.



Tonight's show is still a work in progress as we are attempting to line up one of the pro surfers from the Club Zion Surf Camp as a guest on the show. This is Jackson and Fisher's fourth year to attend and it is an incredibly well run event with over 300 kids aged 12-19 in attendance.

Basically it is set up where the kids surf in the daytime and have a party at night with bands and giveaways (Jackson actually won a surfboard in his first time at camp). In the past, they have had surfers like C T Taylor, the Hobgood brothers, Rich Rudolph, and others as guest speakers at the night-time event.

In addition to talking about surfing, we will have Travis Hair from Five for Howling to give us the latest update from Phoenix on the eve of Tuesday's hearing. We will discuss whether the Wings will clinch in six or if the Pens can push it to seven as well as other things going on in the hockey world. It should be a different type show this week so tune in and see what happens.

Stanley Cup Finals...

I was really surprised at the ease in which the Detroit Red Wings blew past the Pittsburgh Penguins in game five on Saturday night. We have seen two completely different series within the SCF. To this point, both teams have appeared to be world beaters on their own home ice. As dominant as the Pens were at home in game four, the Wings were even more so at home in game five.

Sean Leahy at Puck Daddy had an article that gives a wide variety of opinion on game five. It is really difficult to gauge how Pittsburgh will respond on Tuesday when they return to the Mellon Arena and try to stave off elimination. Based on their turnaround between games two and three, I think that they will have a good chance to push the series back to Detroit for a game seven. My early pick for game six is Pittsburgh, but that could change after another night's sleep.

Puck Daddy himself, has an article about the potential of Malkin being the Conn Smythe winner regardless of the outcome of the series. I tend to agree at this point that Malkin has been the dominant force in the playoffs through four rounds. From the Wings, I would say that Chris Osgood would be the number one candidate, simply from a standpoint of exceeding expectations and having the best numbers in goal overall. Franzen and Zetterberg would also be considered as they are third and fourth in points behind Malkin and Crosby.

Stay Classy offers the flip side to the above picking "Zetterberg, by a mile". It's a good arguement.

In the Predators World...

Forechecker did much better at blogging while traveling over the weekend than I did. He has several interesting posts including one about Jordin Tootoo going ice fishing.

Hockey's Future takes a look back at the 2004 draft class of the Predators which yielded Pekka Rinne and Alexander Radulov. The general goal in each draft is for a team is to yield two solid NHLers. Had Rads not bailed on the Preds then this would have been a great two player draft for the team. Milwaukee star, Mike Santorelli is also in that draft class but has not mastered the two way style of play required by Barry Trotz and the Preds to make the move to the NHL.

Brandon Felder has Part 2 in his storys about the Preds at the free agent deadline. In this story, he takes a look at potential free agents that the Preds may be interested in to fill a few holes. Top of the is is forwards who can score.

Paul McCann checks in with a few thoughts on a Monday.

Bleacher Report has a look at the upcoming Predators draft. Take it with a grain of salt. Included in the story is a line that says, "Koistinen is a free agent this summer, and he will most likely be re-signed." Is there anyone with even a slight knowledge of the Preds that thinks that we will ever see Ville in a Preds uni again?

@jackmac reports on Twitter this AM "Anyone else hear Poile on 1045 this morning? Didn't sound 2 optimistic about Rads (not surprising) or J. Ward (more surprising)". Hopefully Poile was just having an upset tummy when discussing Ward. I think a Rads deal is over for this year, and maybe forever.

@brandon_felder reports the signing of Tristen Grant. "It's a 2-way deal that will pay Grant 500k at the NHL level and 60k at the AHL level. Also given 30k bonus. Likely to be AHL only"

Several Preds including Jason Arnott and J P Dumont will join in the City of Hope Celebrity Softball event. Hopefully no one receives any freak injuries.

Hearing in Phoenix...

Sunday night, Coyote owner Jerry Moyes went on local TV to give his side of the story prior to Tuesday's bankruptcy hearing. As you would expect, the video is a fairly self-serving attempt to influence opinion in advance of the court date. He is playing the Oprah card where ho is a victim in this whole situation. The TV reporter is very negative on the Coyotes as has been the Arizona Republic which has failed at reporting a very important local story.

Moyes lists too much competition from other sports and a bad lease requiring $15-20 million a year in concessions from the city of Glendale as the primary factors leading to the bankruptcy. He also indicates that he tried to put together a package to get 10-11 investors of $20 million each to keep the team afloat. In closing, he claims that his number one obligation is to the creditors and that the Balsillie plan is the only one that will make everyone whole.

The Toronto Star has a summary article that lays out the reasons why Balsillie has a chance to win at tomorrows hearing. They also concede that regardless of the outcome, there will be an appeal. There are also links to numerous league documents (including the league bylaws) and filings that have been released over the last few weeks.

Gary Bettman now claims that there are four local groups in line to buy the Coyotes including the owners of the Toronto Argonauts. The Globe and Mail seems to think their intent is to move the team to Toronto.

In one of the court filings, Jim Balsillie says that he regrets taking season ticket applications for the "Hamilton Predators" without league approval. Do you think the "Billion Dollar Boys" are going to have regrets about unveiling the "Toronto Legacy" without talking to the NHL first?

The Globe and Mail had an interesting take about how Make It Seven is making the other "Six" in Canada unfomfortable. The truth is that all professional leagues are nervous about what type of havoc Balsillie's actions can have on the anti trust exemption that pro sports has enjoyed over the years. They also have a story on a posible precedent for the Coyotees move being the Seattle Pilots move to Milwaukee in 1970.

The Spec has an article about the Maple Leafs view of Balsillie's attempt to bring hockey to Hamilton. They will not stand on the sidelines and be quiet if the court rules in Balsillie's favor.

Around the Hockey World...

In the AHL playoffs Hershey has taken a commanding lead over the Manitoba moose with a 3-0 shutout win in game three and a 2-1 win in game four. Hershey can try to wrap it in their last game on home ice on Tuesday night. If they lose, the series will shift back to Manitoba on Friday night.

This is an interesting panoramic view of the inside of the Oilers locker room from the Edmonton Journal with a note of how each player got his number. It appears to be dated a bit since several players are no longer there, but it is cool to look at.

Off topic... 50 years ago today, the Navy launched a rocket carrying mail. It was said at the time that "before man reaches the moon, mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to Britain, to India or Australia by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail." It is amazing to me that the postal service still exists today carrying paper mail to every house in the country on a daily basis.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

ESPN has a story about the potential sale and relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers. Although several groups appear interested, there are hurdles to overcome including an agreement with the NHL four years ago not to consider relocation for eight years.

More reports today that Ray Emery has agreed to a one year deal for $1.5 million. You can add him to the list of past suspects in goal in Philadelphia including, "Roman Cechmanek, Brian Boucher, Robert Esche, Jeff Hackett, Antero Niittymaki and, for the last 2 years, Marty Biron."

Here's a good pro-con listing of potential Conn Smythe winners from View From My Seats.

Friday's Update Before Heading to the Beach

Editorial Note: At some point starting later today (Friday), there will be periods of no updates at POTG as Jackson, Fisher and I head out to Cocoa Beach for the annual Club Zion Surf Camp. It is an all day and night thing and is always a blast with surfing in the day and bands at night. I'm hoping to line up a top name, world class surfer or two for Monday's POTG Radio. I will post as I can, but will be at the mercy of poor internet service at the condo most likely. We will see what happens.

Thursday night's contest between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins was a real turning point in this series and insured that we will have a long series going six or seven games. As in Tuesday's game three, both teams played in spurts where each side appeared dominant at times. The Pens has more good streaks than the Wings as the score reflected.

Game four was an incredibly fun game to watch. The quick turnaround from Detroit leading 2-1 to the Pens going up by one was wild. The Wings seemed to be in control and I was anticipating a Saturday night cup raise. Within a couple of minutes, I was pondering what Russ Cohen said Monday night on POTG Radio, when he said that the Pens needed to win in six, which seemed impossible at the time but now could be a reality with a great game on Saturday. Kat Kealy also is looking forward to game six.

Going in to Saturday's game five at the Joe the momentum seems to have swung to the Pens. I do think the Pens will play better than they did in the first two games but I think the home ice last change will again play into the equation giving the Wings the advantage. I think there is a real good probability that home teams may win out. So my Twtpool pick will be Detroit in game five.

Puck Daddy has a Q and A with Malkin after game four. At this point, you really have to view Malkin as the dominant force in the Pens entire playoff run, quite a turnaround from last years disappearing act in the finals. Mirtle has some comparisons between Malkin this year and past greats.

In Pred Nation...

Forechecker is also on a brief vacation but gives us an update.

Hockey Buzz's Paul McCann is now on Twitter as @PredPAPaul. Paul has a new post today.

Around the hockey World...

I am continuing to my attempts to get Bill Walker or another representative to respond to a few more questions for the Ballsillie/Make It Seven (only if Jim is involved, I assume) camp, but they appear to have their hands full, fighting on a couple of fronts. Not only are they under the gun for next Tuesday's hearing in Phoenix, they now have the new "Billion Dollar Boys" (my personal name for the second group) to deal with. Here is the latest from the Star on the new group. We are eagerly awaiting today's presser at 11:00 Toronto time for more details.

The AHL playoffs continue Saturday night as the action moves to Hershey. The series is tied 1-1 after Manitoba's victory in game two. On Frozen Blog has a good story about their upcoming weekend road trip to Pensylvania.

Did anyone enjoy the CBC opening with the horrible music before game four? They had great video footage but the worst music selection in history. Also, why do they keep running the Don Cherry Dos Equis parody that didn't work either?

On his Versus interview Thursday night, Gary Bettman suggested that Long Islanders contact their local representatives to urge support for the Lighthouse Project. Here's an account of the situation as discussed on the NHL Hour. Mike Chen at Kukla's has an article on exactly what it is that Gary Bettman does. I'm sure we've all wondered about that.

Jim Kelly at SI has a long form article about the situation in Phoenix that is worh a read.

Jackson gives us this video on what he called the "worst fight ever". I'm not sure it even qualifies. I guess if dropping the gloves is a "fight" them maybe it does.

Anaheim dropped the Iowa Chops as their AHL affiliate a few weeks ago and things sound like they are really in disarray.

Finally, you have to see the following video to truly get the full effect. "Big Country" Shawn Lavigne of XM204 HomeIce's Hockey This Morning show is doing his "dance" when the Wings were up 2-0. He has definitely downsized recently.


More later at some point...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

Here's the word on the "Billion Dollar Boys" from today's press conference as it appeared in the Canadian Press, "The team would be known as the Toronto Legacy, and would play out of a proposed 30,000-seat arena built at Downsview Park, located in the north of the Greater Toronto Area."

Thursday Highlights and Game Four Notes

Tonight's game between The Wings and Pens is a tough one to call. After listening and reading to every opinion imaginable for over 36 hours, I have come to the conclusion that you can find an opinion that says just about anything.

Was game three an aberration or a turnaround for the Pens? Was it really the Wings "best game" even though they lost. Will Datsyuk return and play at full speed? Will Sidney score a goal? With Draper playing, who will sit and is it a good idea? The list of questions is endless.

I am going to go back to my original thought prior to game two, which was that the Pens would win one at home and that the Wings will clinch on Saturday night in Detroit. So there's my pick for the Twtpool for today and Saturday - Detroit.

Ryan at the RLD has his preview and sim game (soon) to preview tonight's game four.

In Nashville News...

Forechecker points to an article that came out on Wednesday where the Tennessee Legislature is wanting to shake down visiting pro athletes to the tune of $2500 each when they play in the state. Oddly enough it only applies to the Preds and Grizzlies and not the Titans. If we are going to do this, we might as well tax NASCAR drivers, PGA golfers, Bowlers, Ultimate fighters, and so on. The list is endless. Forechecker also has his Thursday morning round-up ready for reading.

An article on Predators.com has a short piece on a short haired, Ryan Jones. Ryan chopped off his locks for Pink Heart Funds, an outfit that makes wigs for kids and adults with cancer.

David Boclair has a story about former Preds Captain Tom Fitzgerald, who is a coach for Pittsburgh. The Captain was also on the Hockey Prospects Show on XM last weekend. It's always good to hear of a former Pred doing well. He had a son that played soccer with my boys at Crocket Park in Brentwood and he was just one of the parents on Saturday mornings.

POTG would like to thank the unknown person who nominated us in the "Best Blog" category of the Toast of Music City Awards. I had nominated Forchecker and then we got on the list too. So when you go to cast you vote, think hockey! Dirk and I each have a banner link on our sites for your convenience.

Here's another article from the Preds, highlighting Steve Sullivan's appearance at the NHL Pokerstars.net charity event being held in conjunction with the NHL Awards show.

Around the NHL...

From the National Post comes this latest volley between Bettman and the Balsillie camp over whether $212 Million is really $212 million. My new acquaintance at Make It Seven, Bill Walker, sets the record straight in the article and says it is indeed $212 million. Meanwhile Jim Balsillie submitted his letters of reference to the NHL.

I don't really want to comment on the rumor that Ray Emory may be headed to the Flyers so I'll let Chris at The Program do the honors with his "Insert Laugh Here" story.

More draft prospect info from John Jordan in Tampa who met with a few of the top guys while they toured Tampa.

Seventh woman talks about "Oz", Columbus and Lighthouse projects. I guess some folks think lower Broad in Nashville is a pre-made version of these utopia settings around arenas. I remember the lower Broad of my youth when it was filled with prostitutes, druggies etc. Some might say it hasn't changed but at leas the city has cleaned it up a lot to give it a more tourist friendly look.

There is another edition of "The One Percentile" podcast over at XM204 with Mick Kern and Erig Gage. I need to load it on to the IPod for our upcoming trip for those desolate hours in the car when XM204 is on weekend reruns.

I mentioned Tom Glavine's release by the Braves yesterday and I am really sorry that they did that. He had done well in his rehab stints and appeared ready for a start for the Braves. The Braves claim the $1 million bonus they would have paid Glavine if he made the roster did not play in to it. Quotes from the linked article indicate that Chipper Jones was not pleased with the decision either. After not resigning John Smotz, Chipper is the last link to the Braves' successes of the early '90s.

Happier Times: Ted Turner and Glavine from 10-28-95 (my 40th birthday). I was at this game when the Braves won the World Series against Cleveland.

From way out of left field comes this article about who will be the country music artist of the decade in 2019. (Don't ask how I found it) Anyway, in addition to some talk of 29 yr old Taylor Swift, there is a throwaway line about the ACM Awards getting pushed back for a night "because the Nashville Predators had just defeated the New York Rangers to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup." We can only dream (that there is still a team here?).

More later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Additions...

Rachel at WhatThePuck informs us of an HLOG "Ladies Night" live blog starting 15 minutes before game time tonight.

Good story about Chris Osgood and the Wings outlook on tonight's game from Puck Daddy.

Eric Smith pointed us to this entry from LightTheLamp which has more details about the Arena situation in Columbus.

This could really change the dynamics of Jim Ballsillie's efforts in Phoenix. According to the National Post, a new group with a billion dollars in it's war chest is planning a press conference for Friday that they would like to propose an NHL expansion franchise for the GTA that would start play beginning in 2012. Here is the official release for the presser.

Another release from Make It Seven with poling data and economic benefits for the proposed move for the Coyotes. Do you think this data would work for the billion dollar group from the above post.

From Denver, Joe Sacco to be Avs new coach. This will be confusing.

Tony La Russa has sued Twitter over a parody account saying the remarks were "derogatory and demeaning" and damaged La Russa's trademark rights. I guess baseball folks have less of a sense of humor than hockey guys.

Here's more detailed news from the Star on the Billion Dollar Boys wanting to put a second team in the GTA.

Here's Brian Metzer's pre-game Pens posting.

Mark at TheViewFrom111 announces an award given by hockeyfights.com that will warm the cockles of every Predators fan's heart. I feel privileged to have attended the award winning event. Here's a little reminder of the pounding Belak put on Brashear.

Jackson likes this past Wings locker room celebration video from last year.