Thursday's news: Poile's productive penny-pinching

In this morning's hockey new we have a big star returning to the city he decided to leave, an annual review of the financial state of the NHL's 30 teams, and more evidence to suggest that Nashville Predators GM David Poile is one of the best in the biz...

Radio Note: Tonight Wade Belak hosts the player show on 104.5 The Zone from 6:00-7:00 tonight, with guest Kevin Klein.

Continue 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.

Nashville Predators

For recaps of last night's win at Columbus, check our Preds On The Glass, The View From 111, Hockey Night in Nashville, Predlines, and from the other side of the ledger, The Cannon and Dark Blue Jacket. 

Stephen Yeargin " Brandi
One local hockey fan shares his remembrance of Brandi Burton, the young girl who got to drop the first puck between Shea Weber & Sidney Crosby on Hockey Fights Cancer Night last month, then passed away on Sunday.

Preds On The Glass: Predators' Roller-Coaster Ride on the Upswing and Thursday Thoughts
Buddy offers up the hope that the Preds have come through a rough patch pretty well, but the road ahead will still be a bumpy one.

Home Sweet Home; Admirals Defeat Moose 6-3 | Admirals Roundtable
The Admirals got it done in their first home game for quite a while.

Nashville Predators in the Community - Nashville Predators.com
The Preds are going to be out and about today, with appearances at an elementary school, a library, and more.

Saturday's home game against Carolina will not be on local TV, so use the OtF discount to save $8-24 each on your Nashville Predators tickets. Remember, Preds tickets can make a great holiday gift, so you can also look through the schedule, and buy tickets for any other home game!

Around the NHL

The NHL's best GMs for the buck - Yahoo! Sports
Guess who's #1... you shouldn't be surprised.

The Business Of Hockey, 2010 - Forbes
Forbes comes out with their annual (and incredibly suspect) list of NHL team valuations, with the Preds ranked 27th, same as last year. The picture they show on the Preds' page shows Phoenix instead, and they refer to David Freeman as the former CEO of the team instead of the chairman, so who knows how much fact-checking was really put into this.

Jackets Say They're Not For Sale (Puck-Rakers Blog)
Forbes also included a throwaway comment that Columbus was on the market, but the team denies that vigorously.

Bouchard's return gives Richards hope - TwinCities.com
Congratulations to Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who played his first NHL game in over a year after suffering a concussion.

If you can't stand the Heatley - The Globe and Mail
Tonight a big star returns to the city he left behind after making a big Decision, as Dany Heatley leads the Sharks into Ottawa.

Hotlanta Hero: Examining Dustin Byfuglien’s Flying Start for the Thrashers | The Hockey Writers
The former Blackhawks is lighting it up for Atlanta, which hosts the Preds on Monday.

Are The Carolina Hurricanes "Rebuilding" And Are They Doing It Right? - Canes Country
Take a sneak peek at the Preds' opponents on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.

McKenzie: Bad blood results in ban for Isles beat writer
Bob McKenzie holds up the New York Islanders for public ridicule over their treatment of Chris Botta.

Some words on Pegula - Die By The Blade
One Sabres fan feels pretty good about potential new ownership.

A Brief Look at Fighting & NHL Attendance - Behind The Net
Do teams which fight more pack in the crowds?

Odds-Based Luck Data Expansion - Behind The Net
In a followup to an analysis done on last year's results, once you dig through the numbers it might appear that the Preds have been consistently underrated by the oddsmakers.

Greatest Hockey Legends.com: Who's Better? Pavel Datsyuk vs. Sergei Fedorov
Joe Pelletier opens up an interesting debate. I'll just say that Fedorov in his prime was the best all-around player I've ever seen live (never got to see Gretzky).

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