Tuesday afternoon notes: Former Predator Marek Zidlicky Speaks Out

Former Nashville Predators defenseman Marek Zidlicky could both delight and frustrate fans during his time with the Preds, and that kind of roller-coaster characterization appears to have caught up with him in Minnesota, as well. Our afternoon hockey notes get rolling today with Zidlicky venting his frustration over several recent scratches...

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Nashville Predators News

Smashville 24/7: Know the Enemy: Smithson previews road trip
Smitty talks up the challenge this week.

Red Light District Hockey: Bold predictions for second half
I'm gonna say Ryan is going to be wrong on one of these quite quickly: "Whether Poile makes a big or small splash, he will improve the Predators’ lineup this month." It's January 31st, and David Poile only has a few hours left...

Around the Wide Wide World of Hockey

Unhappy Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky: "I can't be quiet" | StarTribune.com
The former Pred is ready for a ticket out of town, and spoke candidly with Mike Russo earlier today about his frustrations with his coach.

Is Jeff Carter’s unhappiness in Columbus scaring off trade partners? | Puck Daddy
Do ya think? Remember, he has a no-trade clause which kicks in next season, so whoever ends up with him had better be confident that it will work out. Do we have the next Alexei Yashin in the making?

Claude Giroux and Evgeni Malkin – A Study of MVP Candidate Contrasts " The Hockey Guys
Will the MVP battle come down to a race between a Penguin and a Flyer?

Agents of Change: Ritch Responds - The Press
Player agent Ritch Winter perhaps goes a bit overboard responding to a blog post at the Vancouver Sun, but there's a lot of extra meat on these bones, about the nature of sports reporting. This, for me, is pure gold - "Write objectively about management in a critical way and you will be cut off. The bias of the beat reporter is everywhere. And it’s important for fans to see through that. The local columnist less so because he is not on the team beat, but if you don’t realize all this, you are going to waste a lot of time around the water cooler talking management perspectives that have no real basis in fact. And it’s not every sports’ reporter’s fault. They are biased like the rest of us." When access to players and management is your prime selling point, you have to preserve that relationship above all else.

Journalism and the ethics of hockey blogging - Backhand Shelf
Daniel Wagner, in turns, walks through the issues of journalistic standards and how they apply (or don't apply) to bloggers of various forms.

Islanders To Play Preseason Game in Brooklyn; Ironic Glasses Optional - Lighthouse Hockey
Verrrrrrry interesting...

Joel Ward struggling to find his scoring touch - Capitals Insider - The Washington Post
Obviously Washington Capitals head coach Dale Hunter doesn't know Ward's secret offensive activation command word.

Down Goes Brown: Great moments in all-star weekend history
"1994 - After over a decade of mass confusion caused by impossibly obscure terms like "Wales" and "Campbell" the league switches to an East vs. West format that finally allows hockey to explode in popularity, according to Gary Bettman's imagination."

How has Brendan Shanahan performed as the NHL’s chief disciplinary? | Puck Daddy
I give him pretty high marks.

Flyers tell Zac Rinaldo to hit less: Is that happening, and is it a good thing? - Broad Street Hockey
Maybe they're angry at him for hitting Ryan Suter?

Jay's Gems or Feaster's Follies: A Look at 13 Months as Flames GM | The Hockey Writers

Since taking over as GM, Feaster has slowly but surely made changes in Calgary. But have they gone deep enough?

Apple Valley Man Arrested for DUI on Zamboni - Hockey Wilderness
Presented without comment.

So everyone agrees that real-time stats are pretty useless, right? - Backhand Shelf
Say it again with me - Hits, Giveaways & Takeaways are completely worthless stats. The NHL is wasting their money recording them right now, and if they want to continue, they should at least establish standards from rink to rink.

Stat-Mining: 10 fun stats from the 2011-2012 season - Backhand Shelf
A collection of oddball numbers.

The Whiteboard: what’s your responsibility on a lost d-zone faceoff? - Backhand Shelf
No, not "chicken with head cut off" isn't it.

Red Light " Injury questions clouding NHL
Are injury rates in the NHL perhaps tied to team-specific factors? Stu Hackel looks at a number of possible explanations.