Monday afternoon notes: NHL ready for the stretch drive

by Dirk Hoag on Jan 30, 2012 5:16 PM EST in Nashville Predators News

What's wrong with this picture? The answer is at the bottom of the article...

With the All Star Game finally receding in the rear-view mirror, it's time for NHL teams and fans to focus on the road ahead - just four weeks remain until the NHL Trade Deadline on February 27, followed by the playoffs just six weeks after that. While we wait for the trade winds to really start blowing, however, Carolina has spoiled some of the fun by locking up one of the top defensemen who might have been available...

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Nashville Predators News

Ryan Suter negotiations aren't all about the money – USATODAY.com
Kevin Allen shares his insight after talking with Suter over the weekend. It's pretty much the same take we've seen elsewhere (he wants to see if Poile can assemble a real contender, money isn't the issue).

Source: Suter trade unlikely - Philly.com
An anonymous Eastern Conference GM seems to be planting a seed for July 1: "The consensus among us is that Nashville will be hanging onto him, even if they know the odds are not in their favor of re-signing him," one Eastern Conference GM told the Daily News on condition of anonymity. "If he does decide to trade him, [David] Poile has the market cornered. There are very few defensemen of Suter’s caliber in the league and Nashville has two of them. "You have to wonder whether the Predators can continue to trade away their top players for prospects because they can’t afford to pay them."

Paul McCann - The Key to the Central Division... Columbus? and Suter Reaction...
Paul assesses each of the division contenders, and takes a very optimistic (in my view) take on the whole Suter imbroglio from the weekend.

Actions, Not Words with Suter | Hockey Independent
David's ready to start quoting Elvis I think.

The AHL All Star (Chris Mueller) Classic | Admirals Roundtable
Chris Mueller will represent the Admirals tonight in Atlantic City.

20 Questions with Mark Van Guilder - JSOnline
It turns out that Mark DOES like gladiator movies...

Be careful down there - JSOnline
Bummer, man - "Rookie Michael Latta is one of the Admirals who will be in the Bahamas during the all-star break, but it won’t be as much fun with a broken arm."

Around the Wide Wide World of Hockey

Tim Gleason Signs Four-Year, $16 Million Extension With Carolina Hurricanes - Canes Country
Well, here's one big name you can take off the trade market. Bryan Allen, Joni Pitkanen, and Jaroslav Spacek might be up for grabs, however among the Carolina blueliners.

GMs starting to size market as trade deadline nears - NHL.com
Fresh off their pseudo trade-freeze during the All-Star weekend, it's time for GM's to start swapping.

Update on The Clarence Fund - St. Louis Game Time
Awesome stuff here by SB Nation's Blues blog to support one of their won who is facing a tough battle with cancer.

Montreal Gazette edits column claiming Tim Thomas snubbed White House ‘because Obama is black’ | Puck Daddy
Yikes... what's it going to take for some of these mainstream newspapers to adopt some professional editorial standards? They look like a bunch of hacks writing in their underwear from their mother's basement or something.

NHL All-Star Weekend Proves That A Superstar's Not Necessary - Puck Drunk Love
You know, it did turn out to be a pretty entertaining event, even without Crosby & Ovechkin.

History Lessons: The Point of the All-Star Game - Backhand Shelf
A very, very interesting suggestion here.

The first ever (and hopefully only) NHL Royal Rumble (Part 1) - PensBurgh
This would certainly be a different way to approach All-Star weekend.

NHL Scheduling Sets - View from the Corners - Rotoworld.com
Gus builds off my NHL Super Schedule to take a real deep dive on which teams have the toughest remaining schedules.

Blackhawks ready for Central Division battle to the end - Inside the Blackhawks
Chicago's in the unlikely position of chasing the Preds right now, but they're a major threat still, especially once they get Patrick Sharp back.

Fantasy Hockey: Drew Doughty returning to form and why you should buy low on Tuomo Ruutu | Puck Daddy
Colin Wilson is listed as a potential steal for you fantasy hockey managers out there.

The Numbers Game: Crunch Time Approaches for the Calgary Flames | The Hockey Writers
If the Flames are going to make a push for a playoff spot, they'll have to fight their way through a pretty tough set of opponents to do it.

PHOTO ANSWER: Check out the hockey stick Ryan's holding - I think it's Shea Weber's (a right-handed Easton S19).

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Comments

Suter

Kevin Allen’s take via USA Today is about as accurate as anything I’ve seen or read on the Suter situation. Let’s hope he and DP come to some kind of agreement either way soon. His timing sucks as this team is only 3 points from the top of the Western Conference.
Maybe his teammates owe Suter a smack down since they’ve won 18 of 23. His distraction comment makes no sense period. Ryan, which one of us should sit since we’re not good enough to win the whole thing? A bit of a whiner eh?

by virgil trucks on Jan 30, 2012 6:03 PM EST reply actions

I don’t agree. Allen says, “He said Saturday he wouldn’t sign by the trade deadline but THERE WAS STILL A CHANCE he would resign with the Predators”. Suter did NOT say that. the phrase capitalized indicates that he is close to signing somewhere else, but just maybe he will still sign with Nashville. He said nothing even close to that.

"I am you, you are me, and we are all together" Beatles

by amyinsparta on Jan 30, 2012 6:34 PM EST up reply actions

suter

We know he dosnt want a distraction and he clearly dosnt pay attention to what the media says. It took people blowing his phone up about the all star comments. But it seems to me that every other team and to single out philly in particular that they are doing more talking and to some extent tampering with the situation. What i mean by that is they are putting words in his mouth. Suter, since the beginning of the season, has said the same thing he wants to wait till the season is over and work out a deal then. So why is it everytime news comes out about this its from some other team?

I am almost expecting this to spiral so far out of control that he resigns with us just to give a huge finger to everyone else. But if he wants to play for a big market team its this kind of press that he will have to put up with and i dont see him as a guy that wants to nor do i think he can handle them.

by Shadow23 on Jan 30, 2012 6:10 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions

Single out Philly. 90% of the time it’s them.

by mrcaptain on Jan 30, 2012 6:57 PM EST up reply actions

Cant single out boston as i usually do cause i hate boston sports. But philly seems to be the ones pushing these right now

by Shadow23 on Jan 31, 2012 2:29 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions

From the USA Today article

The Predators are not a franchise that traditionally gone to the salary cap ceiling.

Have they completely stopped hiring copy editors over there?

World Wide Weber.
There is no tenderness or humanity in fanaticism.
~Joe Strummer

by cisar on Jan 30, 2012 7:09 PM EST reply actions

Here's another one.

If the Carolina Hurricanes are planning to trade potential unrestricted forward Tuomo Ruutu, for example, he seem like they would perfectly fill one of Nashville’s holes

Uh, what?

by ILovethe#6CannonFire on Jan 30, 2012 8:11 PM EST up reply actions

ladies....

by Herzausstein on Jan 30, 2012 8:54 PM EST up reply actions

Suter’s timing with this thing was TERRIBLE.. As has been stated the (doesn’t want this thing to be a distraction) comment is crazy.. Don’t want to be a distraction.. shut up.. I don’t imagine that the players, coaches, or management are very happy.. I don’t blame them.

by Weintraut on Jan 30, 2012 8:32 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Was reading Paul McCann's article.

And I would just like to say, “Be quiet, Kimmo.”

by TootooReigns on Jan 30, 2012 9:02 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions

Reading that USA Today article just reinforces my belief that Poile could have avoided this whole situation by adding a good forward this summer. What’s happened now was foreseeable from miles away.

Now Poile’s left having to fight for rental type players, which does nothing to help with the perception that we’ll be right back to being short a top 6 forward again next season. Suter knows what the deal is just like all of us do.

As for the Montreal Gazzette smear of Thomas, this is the way today’s media acts when they don’t like someone: float a story that demonizes that person and then retract it, knowing that many people will never see the retraction and assume the story was true. A disgusting lot much of the media are.

Defense keeps you in games........offense wins them!

by Grizzledbear on Jan 30, 2012 9:04 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Also, this Suter thing is confusing me...

Yes, what he is saying and everything is questionable, but we won’t know for sure until July 1. This will never happen, but I would just like to stop talking about the Suter thing, even though there are many different outcomes. The more uncertainty we have, the more it grows. I am confident that he won’t be traded however. We just have to chill and see what happens later. Enjoy what is happening now.

by TootooReigns on Jan 30, 2012 9:05 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions

Exactly....the speculation has gotten out of control

if we lose suter all i can say is …it’s been a hell of a run and we’ll miss him but the predators will survive. I just hope all this talk doesn’t distract from the team. I can somewhat understand his statement of not wanting talks to be a distraction…. it may be a distraction to us but with the talks not going on it frees him from the distraction allowing him to focus on the game. No matter how things go i’m glad we had suter for the time we did, he’s been a huge part of this teams success this year and that success flies in the face of just about every nhl speculator saying that the preds were going to be a failure.

by Herzausstein on Jan 30, 2012 9:12 PM EST up reply actions

I completely agree.

Hands go uuppp..... AND THEY STAY THERE!
-nashvillepredators-

by davisca on Jan 30, 2012 9:21 PM EST up reply actions

I like the NHL’s ranking of the boys

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=613987&navid=DL|NHL|home

60% of the time it works every time

by Creeping Death on Jan 30, 2012 11:38 PM EST reply actions

Speaking of rankings...

Have you guys seen this horsepoop? It’s ESPN’s John Buccigross ranking the top 100 players in the NHL this year. Apparently he’s a pretty knowledgeable guy, but these rankings are…. well, horsepoopy. To say the least. Pekka Rinne is the 93rd best player in the league?? BEHIND Chris Pronger? Oy.

Hands go uuppp..... AND THEY STAY THERE!
-nashvillepredators-

by davisca on Jan 31, 2012 12:22 AM EST up reply actions

Buccigross is one of the main reasons that I’m happy the NHL is no longer on ESPN. His “look how hip I am” act is a bore and, as this article demonstrates, his hockey knowledge is lacking.

Defense keeps you in games........offense wins them!

by Grizzledbear on Jan 31, 2012 12:26 AM EST via mobile up reply actions