The Wide World of Predators' Hockey: Preds' Fan Asen Hails from Bulgaria

The Nashville Predators have one of the most passionate local fan bases in the National Hockey League. Folks from other hockey markets that visit the Bridgestone Arena are are often amazed at the intensity of support. The TV time out standing ovation has become a tradition that is unparalleled around the league.

We often hear that folks in other markets know little about the Predators and that players do not get the recognition that they deserve. Pekka Rinne would be a leader for the Hart and Vezina Trophies and Shea Weber would be a Norris finalist if the Preds were located in a "traditional" market.

When looking at the analytics of page hits at POTG, I'm always amazed at their origins. The US, Canada, Japan, Russia, and Finland round out the top five which is not surprising but many other countries are also listed.

Today, I received a long Tweet from Asen Peshev a.k.a. @nature_one who is a huge Predator fan that hails from 5,375 miles away in Sofia, Bulgaria. Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, has over two million residents and is located on the Balkin peninsula in southeastern Europe.

Asen is a reader of POTG and explains how he became a fan of the Predators. "I started to watch hockey and NHL mostly since 2007. Really enjoy the game and there's something about the Predators that really liked it. The hard working team,their defense first style of play and great coach in Barry Trotz really stood in front of me."

He continues, "Also Shea Weber is a great player and got me involved even more to them. It's hard to watch live games even on ESPN player because of the time zone difference (8 hours) but trying to read and be supportive anyway I can."

He has the same frustration with media coverage as fans in Nashville, "The thing that really bothers me is that those guys don't get the respect they deserve and often are overlooked in media which I think is a huge mistake."

Maybe one day we'll all get to meet Asen as he says "(I) Really hope to see them live one day! And btw I am really proud with my hoodie :)"


Thanks for reading Asen and for your support of the Nashville Predators!

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Red Wings Holding Their Breath on Jimmy Howard Injury

The Detroit Red Wings are hoping for the best this morning on the injury to Jimmy Howard that occurred on a goal by Joffrey Lupul in their game against Toronto where Lupul fell on top of the goalie who was knocked down on the play.

The injury is more problematic because Chris Osgood may or may not be able to return from his groin injury that does not seem to be healing as expected. Craig Custance made the point last week that it was all on Howard and now his health is in question.

This morning, according to Jennifer Howard, neither Howard or Osgood are anywhere to be found at practice. Better news comes from Ansar Kahn who quotes Wings GM who claims that it is an "upper body injury" that is not significant and that he will be "day to day."

Holland also indicated that another goalie would be recalled to back up Joey MacDonald for Monday's game with Chicago.

The Wings have led the Central Division for most of the season and currently have a five point cushion over the Nashville Predators. The Predators are on a six game winning streak and host the Wings next Saturday at the Bridgestone Arena.

The Wings' most immediate issue is the battle for second in the Western Conference with San Jose. The Wings and the Sharks both have 97 points but Detroit has a game in hand.

Therefore, will all their eggs in Howard's basket for the post season, the Wings are caught between a rock and a hard place as they want to get Howard back as soon as possible to maintain their position in the standings but also want to see him healthy for what they hope will be a long postseason run.

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Kopitar Injury Hurts Kings Chances to Go Deep In Playoffs

The Los Angeles Kings chances for a long playoff run took another severe bolw on Saturday afternoon when their leading scorer, Anze Kopitar fell funny on his ankle and broke it during a relatively routine play.

Kopitar holds the Kings' record for consecutive games played with 330, will be out a minimum of six weeks which would allow a return about the time of the Conference finals. The Kings now appear to be a long shot to make it that deep in the playoffs since they also lost Justin Williams earlier this week for a similar length of time.

Kopitar was leading the Kings with 73 points (25 gols, 48 assists) in 75 games. Williams was the Kings' second leading scorer with 22 goals and 35 assists.

Here is the video of the injury if you dare to watch.



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Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Make Statement With 4-2 Win over Dallas

The Nashville Predators regained their focus and played a full sixty minute two-way game in route to a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night at the Bridgestone Arena in front of a a very loud 16,892 fans. It was the Predators sixth win in a row.

After slipping up on Thursday against Anaheim in the final period and almost squandering a 5-1 lead, Barry Trotz made it clear to the team that their play was unacceptable and appeared to regain their attention.

"It almost felt like for a bit that we had won the game against Anaheim but it left a bitter taste in your mouth and you don't want to finish a game like that. We talked about it and coach talked about it and I think we were much better prepared tonight," explained Pekka Rinne.

The Predators got two goals from both Mike Fisher and David Legwand while the Stars' offense came from Alex Goligoski and Brendan Morrow.

It was a relief for Fisher to get on the board as he had not scored a goal since February 27 and only has had three goals in his 20 games as a Predator. "It felt good to finally get a couple. It's been a tough slide here lately, but it's good to help out."

Rinne was solid in net stopping 28 of 30 Dallas shots. Kari Lehtonen suffered the loss giving up three goals on 31 shots faced.

Dallas got on the board first at 8:49 when Goligoski took a cross ice feed from Loui Eriksson and put it past Rinne for a power play goal. Sergei Kostitsyn high sticked Thomas Vincour to give the Stars the man advantage opportunity.

The Preds came back to tie the game 1-1 at 14:26 when Marty Erat passed the puck from behind the net and Lehtonen deflected it to Legwand in the slot. Legwand sent it back and forced it between the post and Lehtonen.

For the period the Preds out shot the stars 11-9 and led the Corsi 18-16. Faceoffs were 10-8 in favor of the Preds and Nashville out hit Dallas 12-3.

The Predators came out hard in the second period and at 2:33 Patrick Hornqvist passed to Fisher who buried the puck past Lehtonen from the left face off circle.

At 4:07, after a missed call where Shea Weber was tripped at the blue line, Dallas got a real fluky goal where a deflected puck floated in the air and landed on Rinne's head and fell behind him into the net. Morrow was credited with the goal.

Rinne explained, "I felt it hit the back of my mask and knew right away that it was in. Obviously, it was bad luck, but that's part of the game."

The Preds came back at 9:57 to go ahead 3-2 on Fisher's second goal of the evening. Fisher took a pass from Ryan Suter and skated across the crease and backhanded the puck into the net catching Lehtonen completely by surprise.

At 13:59 tensions flared as Shane O'Brien pushed Brenden Morrow who retaliated and plenty of shoving ensued and both were sent to the box with offsetting roughing calls.

For the second period Nashville out shot Dallas 11-9 and led the Corsi 19-16. The Preds also led on faceoffs 13-4 in the middle stanza.

The Predators played well in the final period. Ryan Suter took a questionable hooking call with two minutes left in the game that put Dallas on the power play and created tension in the closing moments of the game. The outcome of the game was still in doubt until Legwand nailed the empty netter with four seconds remaining.

Dallas out shot the Preds 12-10 in the final period as they were playing desperate hockey trying not to fall further out of the top eight than they already were.

Trotz was pleased with wins in back to back games against the two teams chasing them in the standings, "Arguably, these past two games have been the biggest games of the year. They've given us a little breathing room, but we've sill got to win some more games."

He emphasized that it was a team victory, "I give a lot of credit to everybody. They find ways to contribute. If it's not on the score sheet, they're blocking shots, being strong on the wall, giving you good energy shifts when the momentum's starting to swing."

With the victory, the Predators moved to 92 points and are only a point out of fourth place. They are also only five behind division leading Detroit who they play at home next Saturday night.

The Predators will take Sunday off and then prepare to face the President Cup leading Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday at the Bridgestone Arena.

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Did the Predators Learn From Thursday's Near Loss and Saturday Round-Up

I have a feeling that Thursday's melt down and near loss to Anaheim that was followed by the tongue-lashing from Barry Trotz may be just what the doctor ordered as the Nashville Predators (40-25-10) prepare to go against the Dallas Stars (38-25-10) tonight at the Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m.

The Preds have now won five in a row and are playing a desperate Dallas team in a game that the Stars simply have to win. They are on the outside looking in in ninth place with 86 points and travel to Phoenix, San Jose, LA, and Anaheim after tonight's game.

Dallas suffered a devastating overtime loss to Anaheim in their last game on Wednesday and their season hangs in the balance with no room for error.

Had the Predators played as they should have in the third period on Thursday against the Ducks and had an easy 5-1 win, there is no way that they would be as focused as they are now after getting called out by Trotz. If they aren't ready to hit the ice running tonight they never will be.

Trotz made it real clear what he expects, "That's the message. Manage the game, Do it right. Do it for 60 Minutes." I hope that is etched on the brain of all 20 Predators that dress tonight.

The Preds and Stars have met three times this season. On October 23, the Preds won 1-0 in Dallas when the team was still undefeated. On December 28 the Preds stunk up the Bridgestone Arena in a 4-2 loss, and the Predators let the Stars come from behind and lost 3-2 in Dallas on February 26.

Pekka Rinne (29-20-8, 2.10, .929) will be in goal for the Predators and Kari Lehtonen (30-20-10, 2.57, .915) will lead the Stars in net.

My bet is that he Predators will really clamp down on defense and will move away from some of the free-wheeling style on offense of the last few games. A 2-1, 1-0 or overtime game is probably the best guess heading into tonight's action.

The Predators will not play again until they face the President's trophy leading Vancouver Canuck at home on Tuesday so these two points tonight are criticize for the team to maintain their position in the top eight.

Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Marc Torrence, Predatorial, Paul McCann, The Tennessean, Patten Fuqua, and Predators.com.

The other side of the Star-Preds game previews can be found at The Dallas Morning News, ESPN Dallas, the Star-Telegram, The Dallas Stars Blog, and Defending Big D.

Note from @PredsNHL: Support the #Preds Foundation & Monroe Harding by bringing household supplies to tomorrow's game & get a discount tix offer to a future game

In Preds Nation...

Bryan Mullen says that Blake Geoffrion is gaining confidence and that he team's focus is now on finishing teams off.

Dirk Hoag takes the Preds to task for too much playing around at a crucial time.

Jeremy Gover asks "Can the Preds Catch the Wings?

Puck and Punk takes a look at a wide variety of Predators logo products.

Pro Hockey Talk named Ryan Suter's soccer-style goal on Pekka Rinne as the goal of the night on Thursday.

Barry Trotz spoke to Pierre LeBrun on Friday and he was still hot.

Mark Willoughby has his weekly "My View" and explains the difference between bonds and men.

It looks like Bloguin has a new Preds blog called Fang Faction. Welcome to the blogosphere!

The Milwaukee Admirals beat the Chicago Wolves 4-2 last night. They also note that Atte Engren will start tonight against Rockford.

Around the NHL...

James Mirtle has the list of man-games lost per team in the NHL this year. It is a really interesting study on a lot of levels.

Joe Sakic has taken a job with the Avalanche.

Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside face off over the Western Conference playoff race.

Ryan Porth has his latest edition of Trophy Tracker. There's a surprise in the mix for Vezina.

Justin Bourne looks at four teams that are better than their seeding should they make the playoffs. In a separate Tweet, he said the Predators would have been fifth on the list.

James Reimer has been a huge surprise in Toronto. Adrian Dater has a profile.

Is the best coaching yet to come for Ron Wilson in Toronto?

Steve Lapore is looking at bottom dwellers that are causing trouble for playoff teams down the stretch.

Patrick Hoffman gives credit to the college game at RLD.

After Glendale put up a Q and A, Goldwater responds with a dozen questions of their own. I can't imagine what it would have been like if the Predators current owners had not saved the team from Jim Balsillie. Preds fans should thank them every game when they see the local owners in the hall at games.

Interesting rating statistic on Thursday's Habs-Bruins showdown from @NHLschuylerb: Last night’s Bruins win over MTL is the highest rated regular season game in NESN's 27 year history covering the Bruins. Rating was 6.6

Odds and Ends...

After getting mixed messages late Thursday night, we see where Will Ferrell is not the permanent replacement on The Office.

Google Analytics is rolling out a new dashboard and other features.

Here is an interesting mix of online music.

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Here's the Latest Sidney Crosby Injury Update

I admit it. In the last year and a half I've become a Sidney Crosby fan. He is indeed the best all-round player in the game when he is healthy. It was great to read this about this morning's skate and see evidence that the kid hasn't lost it.



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Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Friday's Race for the Cup Sets the Stage for Pittsburgh Possibly Clinching A Spot Tonight

Here is Friday's updated version of Race for the Cup from NHL Media Services. The race in both conferences is starting to spread out a bit and every game is critical. Pittsburgh can clinch tonight with a couple of combinations of a win and a Carolina loss. Click on the images below for a larger, readable/printable copy and more detail on the Pen's possibilities.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Thursday's NHL Round-Up and Every Goal from Every Game (Video)

Last night's action provided plenty of excitement across the league and added a little more definition to the races in both conferences.

The biggest disappointment for folks sitting on the couch had to be the Bruins trouncing the Habs 7-0 in their first rematch after the Chara-Pacoioretty incident. The fact that Chara got the first star was salt in the wound for Habs fans. It will be a great series if these two teams meet in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia 2-1 in a shoot out when Chris Kunitz scored in the fourth round. Sergei Bobrovsky got first star kudos for playing his best game in a while.

Ottawa, who has been playing better lately, stunned the Rangers at MSG 2-1 in a shoot out so the loser point was some consolation for the Rangers who now have a seven point lead over ninth place Carolina.

Toronto kept their faint playoff hopes alive with a 4-3 win in Colorado. The biggest thing against the Leafs is that they have played two more games than the folks around them in the standings.

In the West, both the Kings and Sharks got points as the Kings won 4-3 in a shootout. It was Dustin Brown's night as he scored two goals and then the game decider in the shoot out.

The Predators blew away Jonas Hiller and then had to hang on at the end in a 5-4 regulation win over Anaheim that went a long way in cementing the Preds playoff hopes. Sergei Kostitsyn, Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne all had two goal nights (as did Ryan Suter in a bad way).

Phoenix shut out Columbus 3-0 in the only other game with playoff implications.

In other games, Atlanta beat the Islanders 2-1 and St. Louis shut out the hapless Oilers 4-0.

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Ryan Suter's Hackey Sack Goal Against Nashville? (Video)

As the game between the Ducks and Predators wound down on Thursday night, Nashville's Ryan Suter scored the Ducks fourth goal with 26 seconds left in the game with an odd kicking motion. The goal was credited to Corey Perry who had two goals in the contest.



Barry Trotz commented on the play after the game, "I wished he would have used his hand, either catch it or do it... (hand motion). When the game is like that (head shake)... It was a hell of a kick though!"

Trotz also cleared up what happened on Teemu Selanne's second five on three goal at 15:14 in the third period. "It actually went off Sutes. He stuck his arm out and it hit his glove and he redirected it so Sutes got two goals today."

This morning, after the fact, Suter's two goals are all fun and games but during the heat of the moment, they produced a very tense final 26 seconds of the game that the Predators won 5-4.

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Predators' Two Points Look Better This Morning and Friday Findings

In the heat of the moment last night, Predators' Coach Barry Trotz unleashed a tongue-lashing on his team like I have never heard after a win. He was clearly not a happy man.

You owe it to yourself to check out the video where he stated talking without even waiting for a question before he bit his tongue and asked for a question where he then proceeded to continue on with his rant.

As frustrating as it was for Trotz and the fans, there were clearly highlights and the overall result could not have been better.

Most importantly, the Preds got two points and won their fifth game in a row and are now 7-1 sine they returned home for their final 12 of 15 at home stretch to finish the season. The consensus was that id they won 10 of 15 that they would be in the playoffs.

With the good push here in the last two weeks, the Preds now have a legitimate shot at fourth or fifth in the west is they win the games that they should win.

In spite of what the score sheet said, Pekka Rinne had another outstanding game. Trotz also touched on the disservice done to him at the end of the game. "We exposed one of the top goaltenders to have to make some real acrobatic saves when he probably didn’t have to."

Ryan Suter had the occasion to be in the odd position of basically scoring two goals for the opposition in the third period. The final goal, in which Suter soccer-kicked the puck off the crossbar and into the Preds net was the goal of the night on NHL on the fly.

The Predators Jennings Trophy chances took a hit as they fell to third, behind Boston who benefited from a huge 7-0 win over Montreal.

So what should you take away from all the disgust and ill will after the game? Probably not a lot. It wasn't pretty but the Preds got the two point regulation win that they needed and ended the night in sixth place just behind LA who was also at 90 points. They are five points behind Division leader Detroit and have a much easier schedule for the rest of the way.

The positive thing is that the team got a game that taught them how bad it felt to lose without suffering the consequences in the standings. If they can win against Dallas on Saturday, then their playoff berth is looking good, barring a loss to a team that is not in contention.

Preds-Ducks Round-Up...

Here is our game story from last night with post game video that is a must see.

Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, postgame ponderings, and a special bonus post of all the good stuff from Barry Trotz's lively post game pressor.

Jim Diamond discusses Barry Trotz's post game rant in spite of a win.

David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.

From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Marc Torrence, Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Fang Finger Fever, and Hockey Night in Nashville.

For the OC side of the game see J.P. Hoonstra, The Battle of California, the OC Register, Anaheim Calling, and the LA Times.

Audio clips from the Predators come from Sergei Kostitsyn, Pekka Rinne, Jordin Tootoo, and Shane O'Brien.

From Anaheim comes clips from Coach Randy Carlyle, Dan Ellis, and Ryan Getzlaf.

In Preds Nation...

J. R. Lind has a nice feature at the Nashville Scene on Blake Geoffrion.

Section 303 looks at three top Pred prospects that finished in the top ten in scoring in the OHL.

The Ottawa Citizen has a piece on former Senators in their new homes and takes a dim view of Mike Fisher's contributions in Nashville. I disagree with their assessment.

Around the NHL...

Donald Fehr spoke with Mark Spector in an exclusive interview about concussions and the upcoming CBA negotiations. It is interesting that Dennis Bernstein told us on RLD Hockey Radio on Wednesday that Matthew Schneider will be the point man on dealing with operational issues like concussions in the upcoming dealings with the NHL.

The City of Glendale put out an FAQ about the bonds related to the sale of the bonds to finace their portion of the sale of the Coyotes to Matthew Hulsizer.

It is still unclear if Mike Green will be able to return this year for the Caps. In New Jersey, Lou Lamoriello says Zach Parise will return before the season is over.

Stu Hackel looks at the Western Conference injury situation at SI.

NHL researchers found out that Teemu Selanne's fourth game-tying goal in the last three minutes of a game in the same season is a first.

It appears that parents of a group of kids were horrified at an AHL game in Portland, Maine when fights broke out. Maybe a little homework on what happens at a hockey game would have been in order.

Odds and Ends...

Thanks to AJ for sending me this link to a video of Hunter S. Thompson interviewing Keith Richards in 1993.

Will I really be getting Gingerbread on my Droid X next week? I guess we will see.

Google has stared its own online magazine called Think Quarterly which is about data and the impact on business.

Hard to believe but a destroyed highway was replaced in six days in Japan. We have a major road in Maury County that they haven't done anything to since the floods last May 1.

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Predators Survive Anaheim Push and Hang on for 5-4 Win

The Nashville Predators held on to survive a three goal, 18 shot barrage in the third period to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 in a sold out Bridgestone Arena.

Barry Trotz was as animated in the post game as he has ever been after a win. He was highly upset with the way the team almost let the game get away from them in the final few minutes of play when Anaheim had their goalie pulled.

"What I was more disappointed with, or more frustrated with, is that we had two and one half minutes to go, they pulled the goalie and we did a great job of getting pucks out, but then everybody was trying to to get Sergei hat trick."

"It's not the time of the year or the team that you want to do that against. They tried to feed him twice for the hat trick and it didn't work. They came back and countered and almost scored both times. That's what frustrated me. We've got to manage the game. The game was still in a little bit of doubt."

The way the game started, it appeared that it could have turned into a rout. The Predators got to Ducks' goalie Jonas Hiller 2:04 in the game when Patrick Hornqvist fired a shot at Hiller from behind the net that slipped into the blue ice where Sergei Kostitsyn shoved it into the net to give the Preds an early 1-0 lead.

The Preds then scored twice in 19 seconds starting at 11:18 to run Hiller out of the game after a brief return from his 16 game absence due to dizziness. Nick Spaling got the first goal and Kostitsyn tipped a shot from Patrick Hornqvist to make it 3-0 Predators. Ex-Pred Dan Ellis entered the game after the third goal.

The Predators seemed to stop playing defense after the third goal and Corey Perry scored at 16:01 to keep the game close at the end of the opening period.

The Predators went back ahead by three goals at 18:20 in the second period when Jordin Tootoo took a feed from Shane O'Brien to give the Preds a 4-1 lead after two periods.

Tootoo was pleased, "It's been a while since I scored a goal, so it's nice to get the monkey off my back."

The third period turned into a real roller-coaster for the Predators. The team would go on to commit five penalties that resulted in two Anaheim five on three goals. The Preds also got a short-handed goal from David Legwand at 9:29 that would eventually be the game winning goal.

Ten seconds after the Preds goal, Teemu Selanne would score the first of his two power play goals. He scored the second at 15:14 to pull Anaheim within two goals. Perry then scored his second goal of the game at 19:33 with the Duck's goalie pulled to bring the game to a tight one goal match in the closing seconds.

Trotz continued his verbal tongue-lashing on the Predators, "Ninety percent of the players watched the game last night when they came back and scored with five seconds to go. Lo and behold, 26 seconds to go in the game and we are hanging on to a 5-4 game. It was all stuff we did. It was taking penalties and not managing the puck. You can't let a team off the hook."

In summary, Trotz said, "I'm happy we got the two points, but I'm not happy how we mismanaged the third period."

At the end of the evening, the two points were important as the Predators moved to the 90 point mark which was good for sixth place with the same number of points as fifth place Los Angeles who have a game in hand.

The Predators will return to the ice Saturday in another critical game against the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Anaheim Wins Thriller, All the Goals, and NHL Round-Up

Wednesday Wrap-Up...

Last night's thriller in Dallas where Teemu Selanne scored the tying goal with 5.4 seconds left was the Predators worst posible outcome in the game between the team's next too opponents. By the time Cam Fowler scored the game winner in overtime to give the Ducks a 4-3 win, the damage of another three point game in the West had already been done.

Vancouver went into Detroit and stole a 2-1 win on the strength of two more goals from Hart Trophy candidate Daniel Sedin.

In another big game, Sana Jose moved within a point of Detroit, and the second seed in the West, in a 6-3 win over Calgary that will make it virtually impossible for the Flames to make the playoffs as they are down to six games remaining with a maximum of 97 points. Patrick Marleau and Torrey Mitchell each had a pair of goals.

Chicago had the equivalent of a "bye" game as Cory Crawford stopped all 23 Florida shots in a 4-0 win that was a real snoozer. They must not have missed Patrick Sharp in this one.

Tonight's Battles...

The highlight game in the west for me will be the Ducks coming in to Music City in a battle for seventh place in the West (7 p.m. all times Central). Both teams are on four game in streaks and it should be an all out war.

Two other games that will play heavily into the Western Conference standings have San Jose visiting the Kings at Staples Center (9:30) and the Blue Jackets playing in Phoenix (9:00).

In the East, two games stand out. Montreal will travel to Boston (6:00) in a game where Gary Bettman has warned both teams to keep it clean and Pittsburgh travels to Philadelphia (6:00) in the cross-state rivalry that is always a great game.

Ottawa travels to MSG in a game that the Rangers cannot afford to lose (6:00) and Toronto hopes to keep their playoff hopes alive in Colorado against the hapless Avalanche (8:00).

In games that have no playoff implications Atlanta travels to the Island (6:00) and Edmonton is in St. Louis (7:00) .

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Crunch Time in Nashville and Thursday Thoughts

The Nashville Predators play the Anaheim Ducks in the first of three home games that will go a long way in telling the tale of where the Preds will end up in the Western Conference playoff race. The Preds play Dallas on Saturday and Vancouver pays a visit on Tuesday.

After this three game stretch, the Predators will only have one game left with a playoff caliber team and that will be with Detroit who will return to Nashville a week from Saturday. Realistically, the Predators should win at least six of the final eight game which would give them another 100 point season and place them comfortably in the playoffs.

This is the last meeting of the year for the two teams. In the Preds opener in Nashville, on October 9, the Predators beat a hapless Ducks squad 4-1. In Anaheim, on November 7, the Predators suffered a horrible loss when they forgot to play the last two seconds of the game and lost 5-4. On January 5, the Preds scored two empty netters and Pekka Rinne stopped 40 shots in a 4-1 win at Anaheim.

Tonight's game has the making of an an all out war. Both teams enter tonight's game on a four game winning streaks with Anaheim beating Dallas 4-3 in overtime last night and the Preds cruising past Edmonton 3-1 on Tuesday. Nashville has 88 points and is in seventh place in the Western Conference and the Ducks are in eight, a point back and with a game in hand.

The Predators will go with Pekka Rinne in net once again who is 6-2-2 in his last ten starts. He will continue his quest of the Jennings, Vezina, and Hart Trophies in a tough match-up with the Ducks.

It is hard to say who will start for the Ducks in goal. Ray Emery was in net for the Ducks last night and probably will not start tonight. Jonas Hiller (26-16-3, 2.50, .925) has missed 16 games with dizziness but did dress as the backup last night may be the choice. Dan Ellis (19-9-7, 2.87, .893) is making his first trip to Nashville as a visitor and has been inconsistent with the Ducks since coming over from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.

Tonight is the final College Night of the year and a good crowd should be on hand. If you don't have tickets, do not delay because it should be another near-capacity crowd.

Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Hockey Night in Nashville, Pro Hockey Talk, Predatorial, Patten Fuqua, The Tennessean, and Predators.com.

For the Southland view check out J.P. Hoonstra, The Battle of California, the OC Register, Anaheim Calling, and the LA Times.

Programming Note...

Yesterday's RLD Hockey Radio, that was produced by Ryan Porth, was a great show. First, we had Kevin Allen from USA Today and we discussed the Matt Cooke suspension, the Coyotes dilemma, and the playoff playoff races. Then Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period discussed the tight Western Conference race. It was a fun show that is worth a listen at BTR or with the following player.

Listen to internet radio with Ryan Porth on Blog Talk Radio

In Pred Nation...

Amanda DiPaolo wrote the ultimate nomination of Pekka Rinne for post season hardware with quotes of support from other Predators.

Jeremy Gover has the story of the all the hats collected for Blake Geoffrion.

Josh Cooper says it's Playoffs or Bust for the Preds and has his notes column this morning.

USA Hockey named Paul Fenton the Associate GM of the 2011 U.S. Men's National Team and David Poile will be a part of the national team advisory group. Scott Gordon will be the coach.

David Boclair talks about the Predators' home cooking in spite of having a low home goal total.

Jim Diamond recounts the Dan Ellis snowstorm game from three years ago when Pekka Rinne was recalled to start for the Preds and was stalled by a storm. Fond memories indeed...

Paul McCann had Bill Clement and E J Hradek on Slapshot Radio Last night. The podcast is here.

Colin Wilson is getting his confidence back per his weekly blog.

Blake Geoffrion made the NHLPA's player of the week.

Our friend Michael Langlois has a post about "Boom Boom" Geoffrion and Blake at Vintage Leaf Memories. I love reading his stuff because he has lived through much of it.

Condolences to Colin Wilson and his family in the passing of his grandfather, Dr. Gerry Wilson on Tuesday. This is an interesting story what Wilson meant to the game of hockey.

Josh Cooper reports that Cal O'Reilly skated yesterday and that Steve Sullivan may return to the ice soon. So, Hockey Night in Nashville asks what do you do with him when he returns.

Josh also summed up the action last night with a late night post.

It's always good to see what a visitor thinks of a visit to Nashville. Andre Delsol, who is doing 30 cities in 29 days gives his report on Nashville. If you are sensitive, don't read it or work on your sense of humor.

Steve Lapore throws love to Pekka Rinne and Ryan Suter in his new feature at Versus.

For Admiral fans in Milwaukee, there are plenty of promotions lined up for Friday and Sunday's home games at the Bradley Center.

I was unaware that the Tennessee and Vandy hockey teams were going to play at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Bridgestone Arena in the inaugural I-40 faceoff classic.

Around the NHL...

Gary Bettman has warned the Habs and Bruins for no funny business surrounding tonight's game in Boston. Mark Recchi must not have gotten the memo as he indicated that the Habs may have embelished Max Pacioretty's injury as the lobbied for a suspension for Zdeno Chara.

With the remade Washington Capitals go further in the playoffs this year?

Burnside and LeBrun square off over whether the Lightning are done for the year.

Brian Kennedy had an interesting post about Ray Emery's return at the The Hockey Writers.

From @dchesnokov: #KHL will not play #NHL teams this year after disagreement over wage demand.

Adrian Dater leaves hockey for a couple of hours to tell a great story about reverting back to boyhood idol worship in interviewing Fred Lynn.

Episode 96 of Kingscast is up and about the Homeless.

What a story from A Day in the Life of a Hockey Wife. This is one to bookmark and read when you have time. It offers great insight into the tough side of hockey for families.

Want to go on a cruise with Drew Doughty, Wayne Simmonds, and Trevor Lewis? Go here to sign up.

Intent to Blow has news from Columbus on their cannon, one of Preds fan's favorite topics.

Odds and Ends...

Pensblog as a tornado video that you have to see. He credits Ryan Porth for the find.

If you are a rocket scientist, SpaceX is hiring.

Here's a beginners guide to the Motorola Xoom. I'm really wanting one now. There is also a rumor that Motorola will build their own phone OS.

It appears that Twitter was the main source of reporting on Elizabeth Taylor's death yesterday.

Here is a primer of Facebook's tools for blogs.

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Wednesday's Race for the Cup - Every Team's Remaining Schedule

Here is today's updated version of Race for the Cup from NHL Media Services. The season is winding down and every game is critical. Click on the images below for a larger, readable/printable copy.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Every Goal from Last Night and Scoreboard/Schedule Round-Up

Last Night's Action...

Every night is a big night in the NHL and last night was sweet for Caps fans as they clinched a playoff berth with a 5-4 shoot out win over Philadelphia.

It was not such a good night for Devils fans as they lost to Boston 4-1, all but ending their playoff hopes as they are now nine points behind eight place Buffalo who beat Montreal 2-0.

Chad LaRose had two goals as Carolina kept their playoff hopes alive, beating Ottawa 4-3. The Rangers won their fifth in a row blanking the Panthers 1-0 at MSG.

Toronto kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-0 road win over Minnesota.

The Lightning's slide continued, losing to the Islanders 5-2 for their ninth loss in eleven games.

It wasn't a big night in the West as the two playoff contenders in action beat teams that they should have with the Preds beating the Oilers 3-1 and Phoenix edging St. Louis 2-1.

In a fairly meaningless game, Colorado beat Columbus 5-4 in a shoot out.

Tonight's Games...

All four games tonight have huge playoff implications in the Western Conference. The injury depleted Wings will host Vancouver (6:30 CDT) and Calgary will try to hang on to hope playing at San Jose (9:00).

In a huge game, the Predators next two opponents will clash in Dallas (7:30) with Anaheim playing the front end of a back to back before coming to Nashville on Thursday.

The Hawks appear to get a breather as they host Florida (7:30) in the back end of the Panthers back to back.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheeGlass

The Goal That Almost Was and Wednesday Wrap-Up

The Predators took care of business last night disposing of the Oilers in a 3-1 match that was pleasantly uneventful for the 15,745 fans in attendance. It was a time to exhale and watch the team play without the tension of going down to the last second in a nail biter like so many recent games.

One play that appears nowhere on the scorecard that could have been awesome came in the final minutes with Edmonton having the goalie pulled. Pekka Rinne had the puck with a little room in front of the net and he tried to loft it over the Oiler defense toward the empty net at the far end of the ice.

Rinne was laughing as he explained the play, "I tried to go for it. Unfortunately, it hit the guys arm. I thought that I had pretty good wood on it but we will see. Maybe next time."

In the postgame, Barry Trotz said that he was thinking, "Get it over that guy and I hope you score kid." He said further, "He's been so good, that we gave him that privilege."

It just goes to show that in the midst of a heated Western Conference playoff race the team and the coach can find time to have a little fun on the ice and appreciate what each other have accomplished so far in this long 82 game season.

Predators-Oilers Round-Up...

Here is our game story from last night with post game video.

Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.

Jim Diamond has a story about a new hand signal used by referee Stephane Auger near the end of last night's game. He also has his game story.

David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.

From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton, Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Fang Finger Fever, and Hockey Night in Nashville.

From oil country comes the game stories from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.

Audio clips from the Predators come from Marty Erat, David Legwand, Patric Hornqvist, and Pekka Rinne. From Edmonton comes clips from Coach Tom Renney, Renney part 2, Devan Dubnyk, and Linus Omark.

Programming Note...

Today on RLD Hockey Radio, Ryan Porth has lined up a pair of quality guests. First up will be Kevin Allen from USA Today to touch on the Matt Cooke suspension and playoff races. He will be followed by Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period to discuss the tight Western Conference race. Join us for what promises to be a fun show at noon Central.

In Pred Nation...

Pekka Rinne is up to number 5 overall and second for goalies in the TSN player rankings.

Ryan Porth says the cure for the Predators injury bug is the play of the Preds' youngsters.

Josh Cooper has an update on Marcel Goc who may never play another game for the Preds since he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Tyler Davis looks at the contributions of the Predators' youthful players at NHL Hot Stove.

Here's an odd way to have a retirement announcement from @hnicradio: Wade Belak from the Predators confirms to @jeffmarek and @bjaffe on @hnicradio that he has retired. Loves Nashville & working for team

Jeremy Gover from Section 303 led the drive to collect hats to honor Blake Geoffrion.

Milwaukee beat Oklahoma City 4-3 in a shoot out last night at the Bradley Center.

For those who missed the Lifetime "Coming Home" show that featured the "goalie" at the Preds' game, here is the full episode on the internet.

Hockey on the Fly...

Last Night, Ryan Porth and I had the opportunity to meet Andre Delsol who is about a third of the way through visiting all 30 NHL Arenas in 29 days. You can follow his travels at his Hockey on the Fly site or on Twitter at @hockeyonthefly.

He is getting a good view of the whole league during the playoff race and Ryan and I were jealous. We'll hear more from Andre when the trip is over as he has agreed to join us on RLD Hockey Radio for an episode. We are looking forward to that.

Around the NHL...

Matt Cooke is claiming to be reformed. Hopefully he will remember what that means a month from now or next season.

RLD Hockey has the latest version of The Stretch Run. He also has the records since the All-Star break which is interesting.

Due to his new gig at Versus, Steve Lapore is scaling back at Puck The Media. Here is his first post at Versus where he looks at the spotlight on Matt Cooke's hit on national TV.

Ed Duhatschek analyzes whether visor use should be mandatory in light of the Manny Malhotra injury.

Bad news for the Kings as Justin Williams is out for the season with a dislocated shoulder.

The Goalie Guild has the latest update to their NHL Goalie Depth Charts which is an incredible undertaking. It ranks every goalkeeper in all 30 organizations.

From @AnaheimDucks: #NHLDucks goalie Jonas Hiller traveling with team on upcoming 3 game road trip. Hiller: "I'm feeling better every day." More to come later. Ducks will be here on Thursday night. Bet on seeing Dan Ellis or Ray Emery.

Rebekah Sanders takes a closer look at what the revised Matthew Hulsizer plan actually means to the City of Glendale and Why the Goldwater Institute is still opposing it.

HBO's 24/7 series that followed the Pens and Caps before and during the Winter Classic garnered three Emmy nominations.

The QMJHL announced the nominees for the post season awards and the most curious one is Kirill Kabanov's nomination for the Humanitarian Award. He is a great talent that has had numerous issues in his junior career so I don't get how that makes him a humanitarian. I's like to hear more.

Odds and Ends...

Happy Blog Birthday to our friend Dahlia Kurtz who's Always Write! site is one year old. She is an incredibly talented writer based in Toronto who covers a wide variety of topics.

For those wanting to jump on a tablet, the new larger Samsung Galaxy Tabs have been announced.

Here is something interesting from the New York Times. A higher grade home movie of Babe Ruth on a barnstorming tour in October 1927 has been found.

How valuable is Linkedin to finding a new job. This post says it is a must. It may be the most under-appreciated platform of all the social media tools.

Here's video proof of Bruce Springsteen teaming up with the Dropkick Murphys for a trio of songs.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Predators Grab Two Points from the Oilers

The Nashville Predators faced an embattled Edmonton Oilers team on Tuesday night at the Bridgestone Arena and came away with a workmanlike 3-1 win.

It was a game that the Preds could not afford to lose against the last place team in the NHL in order to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race. The Predators had only collected three points against the Oilers in three prior meetings so the outcome was not certain.

Barry Trotz noted, "Getting the first goal was a relief because we have had trouble with the Edmonton Oilers this year. We've had trouble with the Province of Alberta this year."

The Predators got goals from Marty Erat, Patric Hornqvist, and David Legwand while the Oilers only goal came from Jordan Eberle.

After taking Sunday off, Pekka Rinne was as sharp as ever in net. He only faced twenty shots and allowed a single goal. When asked about the day off Rinne said, "It was nice, probably mentally, not so much physically just to have a couple of days off, just relax, and watch Anders Lindback play.

Patric Hornqvist described the game well saying, "Maybe it wasn't the best game we played, but we'll take the two points and go forward here."

The Predators got off to a quick start with two goals early in the opening period. Erat got on the board first at 4:08 on a tic-tac-toe play from David Legwand and Joel Ward that went the across the crease twice before Erat buried it in the net.

Then at 7:40, after a Kurtis Foster tripping call, Hornqvist took a drop pass from Sergei Kostitsyn and nailed a power play goal from the left side of the net to put the Preds up 2-0.

The Preds out shot the Oilers 15-5 in the first period and led the Corsi 22-10 in play that was completely dominated by Nashville.

At 7:00 in the second period, a mini-scrum that broke out between Hornqvist and Chris Vandevelde near the benches at center ice. Because of the distraction, the Preds took advantage of the odd man situation around the Oiler net as Ryan Suter fed the puck to Legwand who backhanded the puck into the net from the right side of the slot.

Edmonton came back at 9:38 with a goal of their own from Eberle on the power play when he picked up a rebound off of a Andrew Colangelo shot and flipped it past Rinne to close the gap to 3-1.

The Oilers had a much better second period and kept the puck in the Predators end to a much greater extent. they out shot the Preds 7-5 and controlled the Corsi 18-10.

The third period was a bit better for the Predators as they out shot Edmonton 10-8 but the Oilers were aggressive as they led the Corsi 24-12.

The highlight of the third period was a huge save by Rinne on a shot by Tom Gilbert with 2:44 remaining in the game that led to another classic Nashville TV time out ovation.

The Predators ended the evening with 88 points which is good for sixth place in the Western Conference and the same number of points as fifth place Los Angeles who has a game in hand. The Preds are two points up on Chicago and three point ahead of Anaheim, Dallas, and Calgary.

The Predators' homestand continues with a game against Anaheim on Thursday, Dallas on Saturday, and Vancouver next Tuesday.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Pete Weber and Terry Crisp to Return for 2011-2012 Predators Season

Nashville fan favorites, Pete Weber and Terry Crisp have signed contract extensions that will insure their return for their 14th season together in 2011-12. Both Pete and Terry are well liked all around the league and are hot properties for interviews wherever their travels take them.

Weber also is a regular correspondent on NHL Home Ice on Sirus/XM Radio and appears regularly on Hockey This Morning with Mike Ross and other Home Ice shows.

Here is the full press release from the Nashville Predators...

Nashville Predators Announce Contract Extensions For Broadcasters Pete Weber & Terry Crisp

-Popular broadcast duo to return for a 14th season in 2011-12-

The Nashville Predators are proud to announce the return of their popular game announcers, play-by-play man Pete Weber and color analyst Terry Crisp, for the 2011-12 season – what will be their 14th season of calling Preds action.

The popular duo will be seen on FOX Sports Tennessee for 65 broadcasts next year. In addition to game telecasts, Weber and Crisp will continue to co-host Lexus Predators LIVE, an expended postgame-coverage program on FOX Sports Tennessee featuring highlights, analysis and postgame interviews. Weber and Crisp will also call the action for the team’s remaining non-televised games on 102.9 The Buzz, the flagship station of the team’s radio network. The duo was recently honored with a 2010 Midsouth Emmy for their coverage of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“Pete and Terry have been here since Day One, longer than anyone aside from some in our hockey operations department, and have been tremendous ambassadors for the Nashville Predators and hockey in general,” Nashville Predators Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Chris Parker said. “They have great chemistry together, are loved by Preds fans and respected around the League. We are fortunate to have people of this quality and talent representing our organization.”

“Pete and Terry each combine a strong work ethic with a passion for the game that comes across in what is both an informative and entertaining broadcast,” Nashville Predators Director of Broadcasting Bob Kohl said. “Their recent Emmy win is a reflection of the pride they share in their on-air product.”

“Voice of the Predators” Pete Weber is in his 13th season as the team’s primary play-by-play announcer. His insight into the team and the game of hockey is a regular feature in local sports talk radio and television, and he also consistently contributes to the Predators’ website and team publications.

Weber spent two seasons (1995-97) as the radio play-by-play announcer for the Buffalo Sabres, three seasons (1978-81) as the color analyst for the Los Angeles Kings and also served as host of "Hockey Night with the Buffalo Sabres" from 1990-93. Along with his 22 seasons of NHL experience, Weber has served as a play-by-play voice in baseball (Buffalo Bisons, 1983-95), basketball (Seattle SuperSonics, 1981-82) and football (University of Buffalo, 1992). He has called the hockey action for the University of Notre Dame (1974-76) and the University at Buffalo (1976-78) and was part of the Buffalo Bills' broadcast team during their four Super Bowl seasons (1990-93).

Weber was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. He was part of a winning Predators’ broadcast effort in winning a regional Emmy in 2003, and won another as co-host of the 2008 Mid-South Regional telecast.

Also in his 13th season with the Predators, Terry Crisp provides the color commentary on the club’s television and radio broadcasts and helps comprise one of the most well-known broadcast duos in the league. He regularly contributes insight to the Predators’ website and local sports talk radio and worked as a studio analyst for Canada's TSN during the 2000, 2002 and 2003 IIHF World Championships. Crisp served as a color analyst for FOX Sports during the 1998-99 season and during the 1998 and 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, and has served in a similar capacity for TSN in past years.

As a player, Crisp posted 201 points (67g-134a) in 536 games during his 11 seasons in the NHL as a player for the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers. He has won three Stanley Cup Championships, two as a player with the Flyers (1974 and 1975) and one as a coach with Calgary (1989), and he is one of only 14 people to have won the Cup as both player and head coach. The Parry Sound, Ont., native has a unique perspective on expansion teams: he was a player with the inaugural editions of the St. Louis Blues in 1967 and the New York Islanders in 1972.

Crisp was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning from the franchise's inception in 1992 through October 1997, coaching 391 games. He held the record for most games coached by an expansion franchise’s first coach until Nashville head coach Barry Trotz broke the mark in 2003. In the 2004 NHL Stanley Cup Finals, the Lightning defeated the Flames – the team he coached to the Cup in 1989. Crisp also served as the assistant coach of the silver medal-winning Canadian team at the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Predators Begin Vital Week with Edmonton and Tuesday Tidbits

The Nashville Predators (38-25-10) return home to Bridgestone Arena tonight to face Edmonton (23-39-10) in hopes of pulling even with the Oil in the season series.

The two teams have met three times this season with Edmonton holding a 2-1 advantage. On Jan 23, the Preds won 3-2 in a shoot out in Edmonton. On February 7, the Oilers embarrassed the Preds with a 4-0 shut out in Nashville. Most recently, on March 1, the Preds were shocked by the Oilers on the road in a 2-1 loss in the game where Blake Geoffrion scored his first NHL goal.

Hopefully the Predators will look at their past problems with Edmonton and treat this game as one of the more critical games of the season and avoid the trap game appearance that this contest has on paper. It would be easy to overlook the Oilers after the twin wins over Detroit and Buffalo over the weekend and Anaheim and Dallas coming to town later this week.

Pekka Rinne (27-20-8, 2.09, .930) will be well rested and ready to start the remaining games of the season if need be. He started 20 straight games before yielding to Anders Lindback on Sunday. Rinne is starting to receive good press about his Hart and Vezina chances now that he has closed the gap on Tim Thomas's (29-10-8, 2.08, .937) stellar statistics.

Thw Oilers enter the game on a six game losing streak and have won only twice since their last meeting with the Predators. They clearly have nothing to lose except the first pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in June which goes to the thirtieth ranked team in the league.

Ex-Pred Ryan Jones told the Edmonton Sun “It’s always fun to pee in someone’s sandbox. It’s great to go in and take points from teams that really need them." Hopefully that quote will find it's way to Nashville's dressing room wall.

It is unclear who will be in goal for the Oilers as they have been randomly swapping Nikolai Khabibulin (10-28-3, 3.32, .892) and Devan Dubnik (10-11-7, 2.83, .913) in recent games.

There are tickets still available and Coach Barry Trotz and the Predators have come to depend on their "seventh man" to provide energy in recent home games.

Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Hockey Night in Nashville, The Predatorial, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, Patten Fuqua and Predators.com.

From oil country comes previews from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.

In Pred Nation...

Ryan Porth found this site where Andre Delsol is doing 30 NHL cities in 29 days and tonight is Nashville's pit stop. If you see him, give him a good dose of Southern hospitality.

Josh Cooper discusses Blake Geoffrion's knack for scoring close to the net.

David Boclair analyzes the Predators' defense and ponders whether Shane O'Brien will return next season.

Jim Diamond looks at a pair of Predator prospects that are gearing up for the NCAA tourney that starts this weekend.

Here is an astounding statistic from Scott Cullen of TSN. Blake Geoffrion is now leading the NHL in goals per 60 minutes of play.

AJ at Pull My Fang Finger has a great perspective piece on Sunday's thrilling Predator win.

In an email to season ticket holders the Predators announce that Pete Weber and Terry Crisp would return for their 14th season of play by play action next year.

The Nashville Business Journal are running a Brand competition and in the first round the Predators and Bridgestone Arena are in a contest with the Titans and LP Field for most popular local team and venue. Go here to vote for the Preds and here to vote for the arena.

Robby at Hockey Night in Nashville looks at what a big week this is for the Predators.

Paul McCann steals one of Barry Trotz's favorite words to talk about the Preds' resiliency.

Chris Botta at the New York Times gives kudos to Blake Geoffrion and gets on the Pekka for Hart bandwagon.

Jas Faulkner has her weekly Greetings from Smashville at The Hockey Writers.

Voting is open for the top ten Preds plays of the year. Go here to cast a ballot.

Joe Yerdon awarded Anders Lindback Sunday's save of the night for his stop on Thomas Vanek.

Scott Burnside has more kudos for Blake Geoffrion at ESPN.

Bangin Panger has a jersey foul that is hard to imagine. It is a Predator road jersey with the Rangers Statue of Liberty on the front.

Around the NHL...

There were only two games in the NHL last night and both were three point contests. Pittsburgh went to Detroit and won 5-4 in a shootout in the early game and the Kings beat Calgary 2-1 also in a shootout.

The hammer dropped on Matt Cooke yesterday and Pens GM Ray Shero backed the suspension. Mario Lemieux has yet to comment.

ESPN had a list of all 20 suspensions from this season for hits to the head.

The Goldwater Institute was not impressed by Matthew Hulsizer's $75 million guarantee and responded with this press release that basically said the offer from Hulsizer made no sense and that the city was still exposed to massive future costs. Here is the Arizona Republic's take on the matter.

The NHL Three Stars of the Week were announced 1- Joe Pavelski, 2- Ray Emery, and 3-P.K. Subban. Was this a snub to Blake Geoffrion who's stats were as good as Subban's?

Ken Campbell looks at the hoops young Canadian players have to jump through to play in the USHL to prepare to go to a US college.

Just when Alexander Ovechkin started heating up, he is being given time off for "rest" to heal an undisclosed injury for 7 to 10 days.

Great news from @adater: Congrats to @stevelepore for being hired by Versus.com as hockey reporter

Sidney Crosby appears to be getting closer to a return as he skated again on Monday.

Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts is as newsy as always this week. It is a must read every week.

In a bit of a shocker, the Ottawa Senators signed Craig Anderson to a four year contract as part of their rebuild project. So it looks like either Colorado or Ottawa will be wrong on this one. Adrian Dater gives his knowledgeable opinion on the matter.

The Vancouver Canucks announced that Manny Malhotra will not return this season due to the horrible eye injury that he received from a deflected puck off of a stick last Wednesday.

Watch out for the Kings. Mayor's Manor has the story of two prospects who won the WHL and OHL scoring titles.

It's not too early to RSVP to the #NHL TweetUp for opening night of the playoffs at Foley's in Manhattan sponsored by The Program.

The Kraft Hockeyville competition is always a neat story where the NHL comes to a small town. Here are this year's final five.

An interesting blog that you may want to check out is A Day in the Life of a Hockey Wife. It is an eclectic mix of stuff that is a unique perspective.

Odds and Ends...

I've mad so many negative comments about "Pac Man" Jones over the years, I thought I would give equal time to a positive story from Yahoo that paints a picture of a reformed man. Read it and see if you believe it.

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the Tennessean has a quiz to test your knowledge.

The New York Times looks at how Google is transforming into a huge media company.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass