Thursday thoughts: Predators bloggers react to OT loss to Minnesota misfits

I guess it's only fitting that in this holiday season the Preds were done in last night by two renegades from the Land of Misfit Toys, Guillaume Latendresse (the French-Canadian traded out of Montreal) and Andrew Ebbett (waived twice already this season, by Anaheim and Chicago). For reaction from last night be sure to check out See Puck City, Preds On The Glass, What the Puck, and for the Minnesota perspective, go to Hockey Wilderness and Mike Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

After the jump, we've got the rest of your Predators and NHL news...

Predators News

Predators' top line piles up nine points - The Tennessean
John Glennon's post-game report includes some odd comments regarding Colin Wilson and his potential return to Nashville.

Video of the Night: Peter Olvecky Goal - Milwaukee Admirals
Jonathan Blum and Colin Wilson set up the Admirals' highlight of the night...

Balancing Act | Hockey Independent
David Singleton looks at how Nashville can succeed while adhering to an internal budget, rather than spending to the cap.

Around the NHL

Do Goalies Need to Face Shots in Order to Stop Shots? - Behind The Net
A nice piece of myth-busting by Hawerchuk.

Rangers Analysis: Grading the Blueshirts thus far - Blueshirt Banter
Joe hands out interim reports on the New York Rangers.... and one Predator?

Chris Pronger Commits Mutiny Against Mike Richards | PuckUpdate
Strange stuff coming out of Philadelphia, where Pronger spoke with the media about Mike Richards' leadership as the Flyers' captain.

A beginner's guide to the new stats - From The Rink
You'll want to bookmark this post for future reference, it has pointers to good definitions of some of the advanced hockey stats used here and elsewhere.

The Oilers need to blow up this team and trade for expiring contracts and draft picks - Cult of Hockey
David Staples thinks Edmonton needs to aggressively clean house and prepare to rebuild from scratch. It might be quite hard, however, to find takers for some of their players on long-term contracts like Nikolai Khabibulin.

Coming Down the Pipe!: Team Canada Camp: Hits and Misses
An excellent breakdown of the players invited to the selection camp for Canada's World Juniors team.

Jury of the Bloggers Debates: Should Keith Ballard Be Suspended? | Hockey Independent
Nick Giglia hosts a panel discussion that includes Buddy from Preds On The Glass, discussing whether Keith Ballard should have been punished for his inadvertent, but reckless, stick-swinging that injured Tomas Vokoun.

McKenzie: Updates on Gustavsson, Blackhawks' extensions - TSN
Bob McKenzie discusses Jonas Gustavsson's heart issues, and how the Blackhawks new contracts for Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith puts a squeeze on their salary cap position.

Here's why it's time to revisit the three-points-for-regulation-win system - ESPN
Pierre LeBrun looks at a favorite topic, with plenty of input from Preds GM David Poile.