Predators Update, March 31 2009

As the Predators prepare to do battle with in Columbus tonight, here's the scoop from around the MSM and blogosphere regarding the team:

• David Boclair at the Nashville City Paper talks about the injury situation, and yesterday's recall of Mike Santorelli from Milwaukee to help shore up the forward lines. Between him, Cal O'Reilly, Ryan Jones and Patric Hornqvist, is an all-Admiral line a possibility to at least leverage some common experience?
  
• Puck Prospectus has an interview with 2008 1st-round draft pick Colin Wilson, whose Boston University Terriers are still in the thick of the NCAA Tournament (hat tip to The View From 111 for noting this).
• Mark from The View From 111 also gives thanks to the broadcasting crew for the team, in a well-written note of appreciation that might otherwise get overlooked amidst the intensity of this playoff hunt.
• Also over at Puck Prospectus, Timo Seppa works with something similar to my NHL Penalty Plus/Minus rankings, and faces something I've talked often about, the fact that defensemen tend to have negative values and forwards positive ones simply by the nature of their duties. For some reason, he feels compelled to "adjust" the values to reflect this disparity, giving all forwards a -4 and all defensemen a +6 to compensate for this difference. The whole exercise seems rather bizarre to me. Simply present the data, along with the commentary to set it in perspective, and let it be!
• The Preds enlisted a special stick boy before the March 24 home game against Anaheim; Trace Kimler, a local 13 year-old who is battling cancer and is a huge Predators fan. NewsChannel5.com has all the details about how the team helped make a dream of his come true.
• John Glennon at the Tennessean points out how Nashville's injury troubles are eerily similar to playoff runs of years past. It also sounds like Ryan Jones might be available for Friday's game. Jason Arnott is skating on his own, but as always with concussions, his timetable is uncertain.
• Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch writes about the anxiety gripping the Blue Jackets fan base as they prepare for the team's first-ever playoffs (found via Kukla's). Just imagine how they'll be if the Preds top Columbus tonight and take over 6th place...