Tuesday's news: Getting right back to business

by Dirk Hoag on Nov 23, 2010 9:57 AM EST in Nashville Predators News

There's little time to ruminate over last night's loss to Columbus, as the Nashville Predators get right back to work with three more games between now and Saturday. So follow after the jump as some Preds bloggers take home a big honor, Craig Leipold runs into an ownership issue in Minnesota, and one analysis says the Preds may have a good reason behind their underwhelming record so far...

The St. Louis Blues come to Bridgestone Arena tomorrow, followed by Sean Avery & the New York Rangers on Saturday. Take advantage of the OtF discount to save money on Nashville Predators tickets for these, or any other home game.

Nashville Predators News

For game recaps from last night, head over to What the Puck (where Rachel conducted a live blog), Preds On The Glass, Predlines, Nashville Predators Examiner, and from the other side of the rivalry, The Cannon.

Strength of Schedule at the quarter pole - Bird Watchers Anonymous
By one measure, the Preds have played the toughest schedule in the league so far.

The 303:30 wins Best Podcast at 2010 A.I.R. Awards… | Section 303
Congrats to the 303 crew for winning big at the local A.I.R. Awards.

Preds On The Glass: Is Columbus a Playoff Team, Game Wrap, and Tuesday Round-Up
Buddy's getting ready to jump on the Blue Jackets' bandwagon after their performance last night.

Injured Predator talks a little trash - Nashville Predators Examiner
Did you know that Ryan Suter's baby boy was born on the same day as David Legwand's son last year (and remember how that night turned out)?

Analyzing One Predators Power Play Vs Carolina | Hockey Independent
David breaks down one of the Preds' PP's in exhausting detail, but I think his expectations are a bit unreasonable. A good shot every 20 seconds? Not even the best PP in the league puts pucks on net at even half that rate.

What The Puck: Mo Money Monday: Week 3
Congrats to George for getting Rachel's weekly Movember nod.

Cal O’Reilly’s success no surprise to Scott Arniel - Nashville Predators Examiner
The Columbus head coach had to contend with Cal at the AHL level.

Postgame ponderings - Predators Insider
Josh Cooper asserts that Ryan Suter's absence isn't that big of a factor in the power play struggles, and I wholeheartedly agree. He played all 82 games last year, and it's not like they tore the league up.

Around the NHL

THN.com Blog: Ownership concern in Minnesota and a classy Pat Burns ceremony in Montreal
It sounds like one of Craig Leipold's minority partners is coming under SEC scrutiny.

Savard then and now, plus 30 thoughts - Elliotte Friedman
Elliotte's weekly column includes a few ideas I disagree with, such as allowing disciplinary decisions to be reconsidered once the extent of a resulting injury is known.

Shot blocking on the rise - The Globe and Mail
The trend just keeps going up, and up, and up...

Down Goes Brown: The Code: Hockey's unwritten rules revealed
So this is what goes through Wade Belak's mind when he's on the ice...

The League of Extraordinary Statisticians: The Franchise - Behind The Net
Who would the hockey nerds pick to start their team with?

Time for teams to consider moving in-demand UFAs - From The Rink
It's never to early to start coveting other teams' potential trade assets.

Brad Richards Trade Rumors and How They Are Useless In November [Updated] - Defending Big D
The fans in Dallas are having to put up with a lot of noise about potentially losing their offensive dynamo.

Did replay fail the LA Kings with 3 seconds left in Ottawa? - Puck Daddy
In breaking news, the NHL hasn't yet achieved perfection with its replay system.

Are the 2010-11 Oilers worse than last season? | The Hockey Writers
Rebuilding can be a messy business.

Get started on your holiday shopping at the OtF Store, where all prices now include free shipping. We've got the "Me So Hornqvist" and "Pass it to Shea..." t-shirts, and a whole lot more.

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Comments

Suter?

I’m not sure I have ever, at any time heard someone suggest that Suter’s absence is the reason for our horrible power play. The entire notion seems a bit silly. Rather, I think we need to bring in another coach who’s a power play specialist. Trotz and Horachek aren’t getting it done. Their power play concept is a joke. Pass around the perimeter until Shea Weber feels like he has an open shot seems to be our only plan. The Preds never position a guy at the low post and try to get the pass to him for an easy tip in. They make it way too easy for the opposition to defend.

by Predaceous on Nov 23, 2010 10:14 AM EST reply actions

Pass it around the perimeter??

Hell most of the time we can’t even get it inside the opponents zone!!

by ablairnash on Nov 23, 2010 10:22 AM EST up reply actions

No doubt!

I get really tired of seeing the dump and chase.

by Predaceous on Nov 23, 2010 10:32 AM EST up reply actions

I’m really tired of seeing the dump and chase myself – it’s almost like giving the PK a shot at clearing the puck even before the PP goes on the offense. Seems like the Pred’s have a strategy for PP, called Pass the Puck ….

by XVIII on Nov 23, 2010 10:37 AM EST up reply actions

If Suter is the problem then why...

Has our PP has been terrible since Kariya and Hartnell left? Even then it was just ok. This is the 4th year in a row that we have had an awful PP. The last four years, including this one, we have been 27th, 26th, 24th, and this year we are 29th. Our PP % is exactly 10% right now. 7 goals in 70 tries.

With a game like last nights it is what is seriously costing us points. Pekka let in a weak one, but besides that he was good. Our D was solid, but our PP was atrocious.

by 29thWard on Nov 23, 2010 10:35 AM EST up reply actions

Bad PP 4 years in a row ...

Isn’t doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results the definition of insanity ???

by XVIII on Nov 23, 2010 10:39 AM EST up reply actions

Yep...Einstein quote. And he was a pretty smart guy. : )

by LuvthePreds on Nov 23, 2010 11:28 AM EST up reply actions

Almost forgot this bit: 4 of our 7 PP goal were scored in the 1st 3 games of this season. We have only had 3 PP goals in the last 16 games.

by 29thWard on Nov 23, 2010 10:41 AM EST up reply actions

Several people have commented on this very site that Suter’s absence is the reason for the poor pp. It is, of course, utter nonsense.

3 for the last 57 on the pp. That includes at least one 5 on 3. They closed out the regular season last year 1 for 27 and followed that up in the playoffs with 1 for 27. Counting this season’s 7 for 70, that’s a combined 9 for the last 124. 7.2%. 28th in scoring, 29th on the pp. The goaltending and defense are not good enough to overcome a cupboard that bare on a nightly basis.

The Preds play 21 of their last 32 games at home. There’s gonna be a lot of empty seats if Trotz doesn’t begin to sacrifice some defense for a more potent offense. Besides, if they’re going to lose, I would rather see them lose 5-4 than 2-0.

by shoot the puck on Nov 23, 2010 3:32 PM EST up reply actions

Good Point!

by ablairnash on Nov 23, 2010 3:34 PM EST up reply actions

Honestly

I thought our PP looked great in the pre-season and the first few games of the regular season. We were moving and generating opportunities that were NOT on the perimeter. I am not sure why, but we’ve completely abandoned the moving and passing scheme we had at the beginning and fallen into old habits. Maybe that’s because Suter (for a time) and Lombardi (forever it seems) went down… I’m not sure. But it definitely does suck now.

by dnorm4 on Nov 23, 2010 10:46 AM EST reply actions

I don't buy it

Pred’s have had Suter down for a few games. If he’s the “key” for PP excellence, then we should have had excellent PP for the past few years. But they haven’t. I want to know what happened to the intensity of play that they showed in Montreal. If Suter is the key player that motivates all the other members of the Pred’s, then maybe he ought to be wearing the C on his jersey.

by XVIII on Nov 23, 2010 11:16 AM EST up reply actions

I think they follow Weber’s lead first, but Suter’s on-ice calming ability is 2nd to none.

by Chris Burton on Nov 23, 2010 11:49 AM EST up reply actions

I made that statement

SImply to say that if Suter is absent and the whole team falls apart – maybe we better lock him and Weber up on new contracts or contract extensions sooner rather than later. I’m wondering if Suter and Weber don’t have Wonder Twin powers. Seems as when they are both on the ice, things go fairly well (not speaking about the PP here) but if Suter is gone, the intensity isn’t quite there. I just hope the coaching staff can figure a way to ignite the PP as well as the 5 on 5. The season opener as well as the Montreal game, that was some of the best hockey I’ve seen from the Pred’s this year. I wonder why they haven’t brought in a consultant or someone regarding the PP. I think it’s obvious that what they’ve already done isn’t getting the job done.

by XVIII on Nov 23, 2010 1:04 PM EST up reply actions