Thursday's notes: Predators recognized for supporting Nashville

by Dirk Hoag on May 13, 2010 10:30 AM EDT

This morning, the Nashville Predators are recognized for their outstanding charitable work, Montreal once again follows up a big hockey win with chaos in the streets, and Team USA's woeful World Championship performance continues its downward spiral...

Last Night In The Playoffs

Montreal 5, Pittsburgh 2: Les Habitants pulled off the Game 7 upset, closing down Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh for good with a convincing win over the Pens. Predictably, a large number of Montreal fans celebrated by rioting in the streets. Poor, poor Montreal Cop Car.

Philadelphia 2, Boston 1: We're going to be treated to another Game 7 (tomorrow night in Boston) as the Flyers have rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the series.

Predators News

Preds On The Glass: Relegation? What Happened? and Thursday Updates
Buddy's morning post takes a look at Team USA's spectacular flop at the World Championships. On the bright side, Predators prospect Roman Josi (playing for Switzerland) is tied for the tournament scoring lead among defensemen.

Smashville Sports Potpourri: Part of the Family
Shlimmy looks back at year one of being a Preds season ticket holder, and appears to be hooked now.

Preds Foundation Recognized With Corporate Philanthropy Award - predators.nhl.com
The Preds' charitable arm has been named by Nashville Business Journal as one of the top corporate philanthropists in the area.

Nashvile Predators trust their own talent for future success - The Tennessean
John Glennon highlights the limited roster options available to David Poile this summer, similar to what I wrote last week.

SLAM! Sports - 'It was just that close'
Jerred Smithson made it to the Memorial Cup Final back in 1999, and will be pulling for his Calgary Hitmen this season.

Around the NHL

Understanding This Incomprehensively Crafty Canadiens Team - Habs Eyes On The Prize
These are heady days in Montreal, as the fans are going along on a ridiculously improbable ride.

Questionnaire for Montreal believers - Behind The Net
Gabe's still not buying the Jaroslav Halak story.

Crosby And Ovechkin: So Long, Beloved Clarity - Hockey or Die
More fodder for the never-ending Sid vs. Ovie debates, as Jonathan Willis compares how each fared against Montreal during the playoffs.

Penguins Website: 'End To A Successful Season' - SB Nation
Travis picks on the Pittsburgh website for calling the Penguins' season "successful" despite last night's loss. Maybe it's too early to use that phrase, but I think the whole notion of "championship or bust" is a terrible way to live as a sports fan.

Ray Shero Learns The Hard Ward: Ray Whitney Is Better Than Alexei Ponikarovsky - Canes Country
SB Nation's Carolina blog second-guesses Pittsburgh for picking up Poni rather than "The Wizard" at the trade deadline.

Glendale follows one bad decision with another - The Globe and Mail
Who let Stephen Brunt near a keyboard, while he cried into his beer yesterday?

The case for Winnipeg - The Globe and Mail
Is Winnipeg a legitimate NHL market, or are they just being played like Hamilton has so many times in the past?

So how would you figure out Stars contracts? - The Dallas Morning News
Mike Heika reviews the players requiring new contracts in Dallas.

Surgery for Tampa Bay Lightning LW Stephane Veilleux rescheduled for Thursday | Lightning Strikes
The Lightning have an interesting response to agent Allan Walsh's assertion that they are improperly refusing to pay for Veilleux's shoulder surgery. Apparently there's suspicion that he may have developed the problem by playing tennis, not hockey.

Bloge Salming: The New NHL Dating Website
What better way could there be to match up players with new teams?

Link between hockey and rape studied - Straight.com
Are hockey players (and by extension, athletes in general) more prone to committing sexual assault? I'm certainly open to that argument, although some of the language in this article is over-the-top.

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Comments

Wouldn't have thought it possible

that a thoroughly Predcentric fan like me could take such joy in the way Les Habitants outworked the flashy but lethargic Penguins. Maybe its that PK Subban reminds me of Jordin Tootoo somehow. Anyway, in our Tennessee house, Nous Sommes Canadiens.

by Hockey Hillbilly on May 13, 2010 11:53 AM EDT reply actions

yeah, a weird feeling

I was cheering on The Habs last night too…. and that doesn’t happen everyday.

"Looks like Ellis used a pork chop to comb his hair after his haircut" (Tweet from Jordin Tootoo) Go Preds! (and Bruins)

by hockeydekefreak on May 13, 2010 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow, those crazy Habs fans...

…. can you Imagine the honky-tonks downtown getting looted after a big win? I can’t. Have you seen what the bouncers down there look like!? Maybe they should hire some of our bouncers from lower Broad to keep those crazies in line.

"Looks like Ellis used a pork chop to comb his hair after his haircut" (Tweet from Jordin Tootoo) Go Preds! (and Bruins)

by hockeydekefreak on May 13, 2010 12:07 PM EDT reply actions

but I think the whole notion of “championship or bust” is a terrible way to live as a sports fan.

I think it has to be championship or bust when you’re the defending champs. When you aren’t, I completely agree with you. But, for example, I’m a Phillies fan, and despite making it to the World Series last year, it was a complete disappointment despite winning an NL Pennant, blah blah blah. Defending champs lose the follow year = disappointment, at least in my eyes.

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by Travis Hughes on May 13, 2010 1:32 PM EDT reply actions

Within that limited criterion, I could probably go along with that to an extent, but the Pens did win their division and Sid had his first 50-goal season. Those are noteworthy achievements, and worth celebrating in the long run.

What I’m getting at is a widespread use of that thinking, beyond hockey. It usually comes out of debates around who is the greatest player, etc., which all too often start with Championships Won.

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on May 13, 2010 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually New Jersey won their division.

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by Kevin Sellathamby on May 13, 2010 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Whoops! I stand corrected, that’s right – Pittsburgh was the #4 seed, right?

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on May 13, 2010 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions

yep. Though it was a close race, Devils clinched on the 81st game of the season

by Kevin Sellathamby on May 14, 2010 8:59 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree Travis. If that was the way every sports fan lived, you’d have no Blue Jackets, Thrashers or Panthers fans because of the teams lack of success (or for a baseball analogy, no Royals or Pirates fans).

by Kevin Sellathamby on May 13, 2010 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions