Thursday afternoon notes: Come on down for Petey's Preds Party

So, will I see you at tonight's Petey's Preds Party at Bridgestone Arena? The festivities begin at 5:30, and the proceeds go to the Predators Foundation and Peterson for Parkinson's.

After a summer like this, we could all use a laugh.

For now, follow after the jump for a whirlwind of updates, previews, roundtable discussions... you name it, and the hockey bloggers were on it today!

Reality Check - achicksperspective
This is a wonderfully written, personal view into how the Lokomotiv plane crash affected Karlis Skrastins'  family. An absolute must-read.

Nashville Predators News

Darkest Day in the History of Our Sport - Milwaukee Admirals
Aaron Sims gathers a number of tributes to fallen Admiral Robert Dietrich, who spent two full seasons on defense for Milwaukee.

The View from 111: Predators Pre-Season Preview Blogger Roundtable
Mark corralled 9 of us local hacks to chime in on the Preds' prospects for this season. Am I the sourpuss of the bunch?

20 Bold Predictions for the 2011-2012 Nashville Predators | The Predatorial
This one's got more happy endings than ... [insert your own joke here].

Paul McCann - A loss for words - Raising funds and awareness
Paul's ready for the big party at Bridgestone tonight.

Panthers, Lightning, Predators set for rookie tourney - NHL.com
Hopefully we won't see any unregulated goonery like last year, when Linus Klasen took a blind-side head shot at the hands of a Florida scrub.

The Off-Season You’ll Always Remember, but Want to Forget | The Predatorial
"Summer sucks, drop the puck" never meant so much.

Smashville 24/7: 2011-12 Preview: Sergei Kostitsyn
Whether SK74 can follow up last season's act is a critical question surrounding this team.

In light of Wade Belak's death, should hockey enforcers become a thing of the past? No. - Nashville Scene
J.R. takes a run at the editorializing which has used tragedy as a rallying point, regardless of whether the facts actually supported the arguments made.

Around the NHL

KHL chief vows to rebuild Russian team decimated by plane disaster - The Globe and Mail
It's good to see the other Russian teams and players chipping in to help Lokomotiv.

Sleektooned Blog Logos 3: Now it's a Trilogy! - Battle of California
I hereby nominate Earl Sleek for a MacArthur Fellowship. He needs to do this stuff full-time.

C’mon Milan Lucic, don’t be that guy - Puck Daddy
What, the Stanley Cup doesn't come with a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card?

Top 20 Best-Selling Hockey Equipment for August 2011 | Hockey Gear HQ - reviews & deals on hockey equipment and apparel
For those of you who need to freshen up your hockey equipment, we've got our monthly look at which skates, sticks, helmets & gloves are flying off the shelves