Friday's notes: Is Barry Trotz going to be a Jack Adams finalist again?

even if he’s already made up his mind. Sure, it would be nice to let the Preds know of his intentions as a professional courtesy to the organization, but if he doesn’t want to uproot for 2-3 months to a place maybe not of his choosing, he may keep his cards close to the vest to stay here, where he supposedly enjoys living, and is competing for a playoff spot.

Poile’s comments (rather add, than subtract) indicates he would prefer to keep em and try to go far in the playoffs now, and hope that convinces Suter (and Weber) to stay long-term.
Risky business, but if it leads to a good run, and money is fair value, and they like it here,
it may lead to Best Case Scenario.

Worst case scenario, if they leave for nothing, it sets the franchise back, but they will live. Dallas had life after Richards, Ottawa had life after Chara, etc, and Kovalchuk and Hossa’s trades from Atlanta yielded little.

He needs to make a big statement other wise were going to lose both and rebuild again and again and again.Not the man’s style. It seems like the majority of fans are comfortable with long-term stability, even if it means perpetually semi-rebuilding and aiming for a lower tier playoff position instead of a conference title/home ice/Cup favorite status.

If the majority of fans are happy, and ownership is happy, Groundhog Day rebuilding may be the best course of action.

Coach of the Year: Trotz is coaching Nashville to right where they belong and usually end up; Hitchcock is coaching St. Louis to where they have never been, and from a horrible start, too.
Ottawa’s coach deserves consid, but everyone is predicting Ottawa will fall back to earth, while StL looks to be for real. Can’t win a shootout to save their lives against Rinne, but other than that, they are topnotch.

Turris!

It would have been nice, if Fisher had a few more goals, and Suter and Weber weren’t easy locks as picks, to make the All-Star game, the most popular ex-Sens (with Chara, and Hossa) would get a nice crowd response. Those guys always looked good on Ottawa ice…..

In any case, Fisher is going to get a heck of a response in a couple of weeks. Hopefully Ottawa and Nashville remain two of the hottest teams in hockey…..here’s hoping for a 3 point game!

In the same issue, there is another player poll question;
hardest hitter.
Chara, then Tootoo, then autres.

First time I think I saw Toots on one of those peer lists for something positive.

Good for him; fans and D who go back to play the puck after a dump in have known for years that he packs a WHOMP into finishing his checks. Remember one of my first lower bowl games, you can hear some Calgary players from the bench to, in so many words, keep your head up.