Monday's notes: It's not far off now
by Dirk Hoag on Aug 15, 2011 7:47 AM EDT
in Nashville Predators News
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PrintWe're about halfway through, folks, this dreary month-long hockey wasteland called August. At least we had replays of the Ducks/Predators series to tide us over last week, and at least now, we know that training camp is only about a month away.
Hang in there, and cling to your morning hockey news!
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It sounds like the Blue Jackets held something similar to the Skate of the Union, but in a sports bar. Sounds pretty cool…
I would hope that it was a small, targeted audience rather than something like our Skate of the Union. If you have something like a Skate of the Union for your team and the expected attendance is so small that you can fit everyone in a sports bar then that’s pretty sad.
It's not a SotU equivalent at all, really...
CannonFest is more of a midsummer fan gathering/hangout thing that was organized by a few of our bloggers – it’s not a team “town hall meeting” like the SotU with the coach and GM and other such notables present. Those Jackets org guys mentioned at the start of the post were (IIRC) the only ones actually there – and I got the impression that the fact that there was going to be any “official” CBJ org representation there at all initially came as a bit of a surprise to the guys behind it.
That said, the Jackets org does seem to have taken notice, so who knows what’ll happen in the future?
That's good
I was really worried about the season ticket base support if that was an official team event.
Couldn't ya just FEEL it...
the Carrie Underwood-Mike Fisher joke building in that puck daddy article that is. lol But hey let’em joke…we got mike fisher!
by Christopher Seth Rhine on Aug 15, 2011 8:53 AM EDT reply actions
this tweet cracked me up
@SlavaMalamud
Alexander Radulov is on Twitter, @RADUL22. Don’t be fooled by the letters, it’s not English. It’s not even technically Russian. It’s A-Rad.
9 minutes ago
"I'm a firm believer that in life, if you're happy then happy things will happen for you."--Bernie Parent
Part Predator, part Lightning.
I dread the thought of Kevin Klein teaching others how to play D
Do we even have a projection of what the lineup is going to look like?
Willy-Leggy-Marty
Horny-Fish-Titties
Toots-Smitty-Spals
Hally-Bam Bam-??
Webby-Sutes
Klein-Blum
-
-
your second line
May sound ‘offensive’ to some. Either that, or a very strange menu item at a seafood restaurant.
by XVIII on Aug 15, 2011 10:08 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Seriously Someone needs a new nickname!
That combo just seems. . . unfortunate.
And if Wilson makes the first line I’ll eat my hat.
Also, injuries not withstanding O’Reilly and Bouillon have to fit in there somewhere.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 15, 2011 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Not to forget..
O’Reilly and possibly Bergfors.
by Justin Bradford on Aug 15, 2011 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions
Right
I forgot we had O’Reilly. I guess he could center Hally and Bam-Bam? Where would Bergfors fit in?
Here goes:
Hornqvist/Fisher/SK74
Wilson/Legwand/Erat
Bergfors/O’Reilly/Geoffrion
Tootoo/Spaling/Smithson
Weber/Suter
Klein/Hillen
Blum/Josi(Ellis later on)
Pekka
Anders the Giant
by HardCorePredFan316 on Aug 15, 2011 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions
So you've got Halischuk in the press box?
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 15, 2011 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions
I would expect to see Geoffrion starting the year with the Ads before I would expect to see Halischuk sitting.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 15, 2011 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions
Don't know about Hustlechuk, but
I seriously doubt Bam-Bam goes back to Milwaukee. The team’s been marketing that kid to Nashville fans all summer (Web page, SotU, Facebook page, articles, tweets). I suspect that decision was made at the end of last season. Geoffrion goes back like Blum goes back, which is to say only to visit his friends. Halischuk, however, could go either way, IMO.
"I'm a firm believer that in life, if you're happy then happy things will happen for you."--Bernie Parent
Part Predator, part Lightning.
Halischuk would have to clear waiver
to be sent to MIL. Geoffrion is still in his entry level 2 way contract. Be easier to send Geoffrion down than risk losing Halischuk.
by PredsfaninGA on Aug 15, 2011 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Huh.
Well, that complicates things. I guess I never really thought about him being around that much longer than Geoffrion. But then, Bam-Bam was a college guy, so maybe he entered later?
Well okay, thanks for the info.
"I'm a firm believer that in life, if you're happy then happy things will happen for you."--Bernie Parent
Part Predator, part Lightning.
Except Boomer can put the puck in the back of the net...
What happens on the ice...stays on the ice...
I REFUSE to believe that this is the roster that Poile thinks will be better than last year’s. There had BETTER be a trade.
I think a trade won't happen until well into the season
right now nobody’s selling what we need to be buying.
But unless their is a massive shift in team strategy, I don’t see what good finding a top forward is going to do. Trotz is defense 24/7, and he isn’t going to like a puck hog.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 15, 2011 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Well if they don't make one now....
… making one later would be to sell off players, rather than gain players. Abysmal scoring almost did this team in last season and with all the improvements in the West, I don’t see how they will make the playoffs trying to win every game 1-0, 2-1.
i'm not saying they don't need to
I just don’t see any available players that would be enough of an improvement over what we have that it would be worth giving up what another team would want for them. Yeah if we could trade Weber for Perry/Stamkos/Parise even stevens I’m all for it, but that ain’t gonna happen. OK maybe not Perry, he’s a pussy. . .
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 15, 2011 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Corey @#$% Perry puts on a Preds jersey only after I get the chance to shove a hockey stick into choice parts of his anatomy two or three, just for, you know, evenses. Then if he gets down on his knees and begs forgiveness, we can vote on it.
"I'm a firm believer that in life, if you're happy then happy things will happen for you."--Bernie Parent
Part Predator, part Lightning.
Gee
and i thought I didn’t like Perry.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 15, 2011 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions
I'd trade Weber for Perry right now
the greatest d-men alive are merely a dime a dozen when compared to 50 goal scorers. GM’s don’t trade players like Perry, which is why the Predators will never get an offensive player of the same stature as Weber in a trade.
The truth is neither libelous nor slanderous.
Reason and logic instead of hope and faith.
Pro athletes--it's not what they say, it's what they do.
General managers--it's not what they say, it's what they do.
by shoot the puck on Aug 15, 2011 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
See: Andrei Kostitsyn.
Hockeymetricians, they're ever so pious. Are they doing real science or confirming their bias?
Yes indeed! This may just be the lucky break we need to get a moderately priced top 6 winger beings he’s obviously not happy being in Montreal. What to give up to get him is the question now. They would likely want a forward in return that could play on a 3rd line and fill in on their top 6 when injuries arise. Soooo, I’d offer O’Reilly and 2012 2nd round pick, maybe Gabriel Bourque if they’re interested in him.
Can we get a deal?
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 15, 2011 6:22 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I'll get everyone
on the phone and see if we can work this out :)
Did Poile get a dedicated phone line yet? :D
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 15, 2011 6:53 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Nope, still hanging out in an 80’s Buick beside a pay phone waiting for his beeper to go off.
Gonna miss you Joel Ward...
Go Predmirals!
Does he know the phone company disconnected those pay phones? :D
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 15, 2011 7:47 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Not sure what it would cost, but I really like the idea of going after this guy. Not sure the Habs would take the gamble on Cal, even if you sweeten the deal a bit. But I would.
by el pucko on Aug 15, 2011 7:31 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
No thanks. I’m not particularly fond of the Kostitsyn we have (yes I know top scorer 50 points, blah, blah, blah) and I’m certain I don’t want another one.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 16, 2011 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions
As the saying goes, beggers can’t be chosers. We need scoring help and he has scoring ability.
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 11:12 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
He also has sleazy Russian stereotype, locker room cancer, major diva written all over him.
I just don’t feel that desperate.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 16, 2011 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions
When we are the worst team in the NHL in scoring....
… would you become desperate then?
Having teams full of scorers didn’t do much for the Ducks or the Canucks did it?
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 16, 2011 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Canucks got one game from winning it all....
…. and you’d complain?
Wow. You are tough.
This team is going NOWHERE without scoring.
since the Canucks made it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, I’m gonna hafta go with, “actually, scorers did a lot for them.”
"I'm a firm believer that in life, if you're happy then happy things will happen for you."--Bernie Parent
Part Predator, part Lightning.
Don't forget...
…. the Ducks were in 10th place when they went on their amazing finish… because of their goal scorers..
And The Ducks lost to us in the playoffs.
Honestly, I’m not saying we don’t need additional scoring help.I just don’t want to settle for the first semi-available guy that comes along.
I have serious reservations about A. Kostitsyn outside the rink and I fear that he might actually drag his brother down. So we would wind up with a net loss.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 16, 2011 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm not sure he wouldn't be a disaster.
But since we’ve rehabilitated others, including (knock on wood) Sergei, I’m more willing to give this experiment the benefit of the doubt than you may be. And at this point, he’d be about the 6th semi-available guy.
For me, it comes down to that fact that he’s more or less in our price range, and he’s a 20 goal/40 point guy, which is less than we really need but still an improvement. And there’s a possibility that the atmosphere here would be beneficial to him, so I’m okay with taking the risk.
"I'm a firm believer that in life, if you're happy then happy things will happen for you."--Bernie Parent
Part Predator, part Lightning.
They lost to us because one of their best scorers was suspended for two games and their top goaltender was out with vertigo. Let’s not kid ourselves.
No
they lost because we shut down their top line, withstood Teemu Selanne, and they had no defense or scoring depth past Selanne. Say what you want to about Hiller, but he never stopped us in the regular season either.
We shut down their top line? Who was that scoring all those goals against us in that series, their 4th line? Thankfully they didn’t have much secondary scoring on their team or we would have lost regardless of who was in goal for them.
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 5:48 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Ok
“Shut down” is a bit strong in a goal fest that was the first round. “Shut down” is what the Preds did to the Canucks top line (and they did to ours). “Kept in check” would be a better definition.
But the Ducks top line did only score one more goal than Selanne did… But then again he was on a record pace…
But their lack of depth and defense was their undoing.
Some guy named Kesler got around that “check” though……….and often. :/
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 6:12 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Wasn't
he on their second line? Like Selanne? Both were the bane of us!
That both those players were on 2nd lines tells you how badly we need to upgrade our offensive lines. :/
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 6:47 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
And Boston won the Stanley Cup
because they shut down ALL Vancouver’s lines. Yeah They had some awesome offensive performances but there were only 2 games in the series when they needed more than 2 goals to win because the Canucks only scored 7 goals in 7 games. Part of that was Tim Thomas and part of that was the guys standing between him and the puck.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 17, 2011 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions
The fact that the Canucks went to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals seems to be eluding some here.
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 17, 2011 11:23 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Doesn't elude me at all
It also doesn’t elude me that their fabulous scoring machine managed 7 goals in 7 games when it came up against Chara and Thomas (probably the only D-man Goalie combo in the NHL better than Weber/Rinne) so while scoring is awesome, I don’t want to see us make a foolish trade to get offense and screw up our D because it is highly unlikely that we would get the same quality in offense as we will give up in defense in a trade and our defense is an unknown quantity once you get past Suter/Weber right now.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 17, 2011 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions
the offense is an unknown quality as well
playing all these young-ins.
I would rather have a great forward-defenseman-goalie combo than 2 defenseman-goalie combo.
We can’t score. That is evident. Fix it.
Who says we have to trade a Dman for AK46? In fact, they’ll likely want an O’Reilly type player as part of the package going back to them, as their defense is pretty well set now.
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 17, 2011 7:11 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Let me reiterate
I am not opposed to trading for a scorer. I am, however, opposed to that scorer being AK. I just don’t believe the risks outweigh the benefits in this situation.
I am also well aware that unless we get a player with the abilities of both Sedin Brothers one scorer is not going to solve our offense problems. Yes one purely offensive minded player would be a start, but since it is only a start I would like to start with a guy that doesn’t bring so much baggage.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 18, 2011 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions
And what if that non-baggage ridden player never becomes available to us? Sure, I’d like someone with a better track record that AK46, but he’s available, no one else with his skill set that I know of is.
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 18, 2011 7:45 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
And we lost to Vancouver in the next round...
… two can play this game.
Because
we scored more shorthanded goals than power play goals! :)
Or.....
because the Nucks are better than we are. Just a thought. :)
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 5:50 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Nobody
doubts that! But “better teams” don’t always win.
Usually they do. I go with the odds on those matchups. :)
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 6:01 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
On the other hand
we played them way better than the Sharks did!
Sharks can’t swim in late April/early May. :D
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 6:13 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Of course they were better than us
They spent $12 million more than us. You can buy a lot of talent for $12 million.
And I still think Andrei Kostitsyn is a creep and I still hope we don’t sign him.
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 17, 2011 9:35 AM EDT up reply actions
3 or 4M can buy you some talent as well. Just saying.
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 17, 2011 11:24 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Which is exactly why we have the team we have and will continue to have the same type of team as long as we have our self-imposed cap at the midpoint.
The thing that Canucks, Ducks, Boston, etc all have is massive depth and one 3-4 million guy is not going to effectively combat a set like Ryan, Perry, Getzlaf, Selanne or Sedin, Sedin, Kesler.
So why should we get a guy that has “problem” written all over him to boot?
by Melissa Vanderpool Wallace on Aug 17, 2011 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Because that horrible guy with all these alleged problems can help us win and compete better against those big market teams. But hey, let’s do nothing instead, that approach always does wonders. :/
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 17, 2011 7:08 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
The head in the sand approach
Does that work with ANY problem? (Not just hockey problems)
The good part if we did get AK is that he’s only signed for this season and so is SK. If one or both of them become problem childs, you let them go and spend the money elsewhere. Seems like a low risk move to me and maybe the only move that becomes available to us as well.
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 5:58 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Okay
I am hiding under my desk to protect myself from the items that are about to be thrown at me but here goes. So I just wonder what it would take to get Radu back over here for this season? (*ducks and waits for shelling to begin. LOL)
I’m not sure, but I’m guessing a stealth team of elite mercenaries, some duct tape, and possibly chloroform would be required.
"I'm a firm believer that in life, if you're happy then happy things will happen for you."--Bernie Parent
Part Predator, part Lightning.
by CAustin on Aug 15, 2011 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
35 days till Preds at Florida Preseason game!
"I'm a firm believer that in life, if you're happy then happy things will happen for you."--Bernie Parent
Part Predator, part Lightning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG1wixpW8lQ
"Next time someone tells you Nashville’s not a hockey town, tell ‘em to come to Smashville and try some of the home cookin’." - TSN Broadcaster
by Go_Titans_Preds_USC on Aug 15, 2011 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Man, can my favorite teams stop making bad trades?
Bad enough with Poile’s salary dump (at least that had a purpose), my Minnesota Twins dumped Delmon Young to the Tigers for a crappy A-league pitcher and “player to be named later”. WHUT?
Hockeymetricians, they're ever so pious. Are they doing real science or confirming their bias?
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Tigers!!!!
Can I get a rec from Dirk Hoag?
by djzielin on Aug 15, 2011 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I'm a Mariners fan....
so I will eventually be disappointed…as if the 17 game losing streak wasn’t enough already.
Yeah, that’s rough. I’m also a Diamondbacks fan. Watching them beat the Yankees in 2001 was awesome, especially since many seemed to forget the Yankees suck because of 9/11.
Go Phillies!
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 15, 2011 6:54 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Anyone see the NHL soccer jerseys on Puck Daddy?
He posted something a week ago, and I know someone did NFL ones a while back. Here’s the Preds:
by DonBorvio on Aug 15, 2011 7:10 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Umm, ick?
On the other hand, we do have a pretty good GPG for soccer.
by el pucko on Aug 15, 2011 8:33 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Ooo
they finished them.
Here’s where someone did the same for the NFL.
http://imgur.com/a/I7b32
Another NHL player passes away.
Just saw on TSN that Rick Rypien of the Jets was found dead in his home. I know he had personal issues in the past year or two, have to think it played a part in this. Very sad.
Shadows only exist when something of substance appears first.......
by Grizzledbear on Aug 16, 2011 12:11 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I hated his uncle Mark...
His Washington Redskins team destroyed the best team in Detroit Lions history and the Lions haven’t won a playoff game since.
Of course, in the Super Bowl era, that year was the ONLY time they have ever won a playoff game.
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