Preds On The Glass

Chris Phillips is Sens' hero in Fisher's returns to Ottawa

2012-02-09T21:30:00.000-06:00

All the media was focused on Mike Fisher's return to Ottawa but Chris Phillips made his 1000th game a night of celebration by scoring two goals and leading Ottawa to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators to end the Senators seven game losing streak.

The game featured an odd juxtaposition of fan-ship with the visiting Fisher receiving the lion's share of the pregame hype instead of the alternate captain, Phillips who had labored through a 1000 games with the Sens after being drafted first overall in the 1996 NHL Entry draft.

In the end, it was Phillips' two goal,s along with two goals from Jason Spezza, that led to the Predators' demise and the Senators breaking their seven game losing streak while battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Nashville tried their best but never were able to prevail in a night in the frigid north against a rare opponent. They got goals from Gabriel Bourque, Patric Hornqvist, and Marty Erat but it was not enough.

Alex Auld was the game winner, stopping 24 of 27 Predator shots as Ottawa ralied around his rare start. Pekka Rinne lost his second game in a row with poor support from the rest of the squad as he stopped 25 of 29 Sens shots.

Make the jump for more detail and comments from the couch...

At the Puck Drop...

In Goal: Pekka Rinne (30-11-5, 2.38, .925) vs Alex Auld (1-3-2, 3.31, .882)

Scratches: Predators - Brandon Yip, Brian McGrattan, and Jack Hillen. Senators - Zenon Konopka and Matt Carkner.

First Period...

Both teams came out with plenty of speed and pressure right from the opening puck drop. The Sens struck first at 4:46 when Jason Spezza scored on a innocent looking play on a pass from the middle from Milan Michalek.

The Predators got their first chance on the power play at 13:14 when Nick Foligno was called for interference on Rinne. The Preds did not get any shots on the power play but the Sens picked up one short-handed.

Bourque scored his second NHL goal at 18:46 when he made a move on a broken play and put a puck past Auld from his left for his second NHL goal. Jordin Tootoo and Ryan Suter picked up assists on the play.

1st Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	6	X	0-0:00	9-5 64%
Senators	1	8	X	1-2:00	5-9 36%

Second Period...

The Predators had back to back penalties at the start of the middle stanza that put un-needed pressure on the defense. At 1:40, Sergei Kostitsyn was called for holding Daniel Alfredsson and at 3:38 Nick Spaling was whistled for tripping Filip Kuba. The Preds escaped the ordeal with a shot from the Sens as well as one from Kostitsyn short-handed.

Phillips began the celebration of his 1000th game when he joined the rush and cut across the middle of the slot to score his first goal of the season at 7:50 to put the Sens back in front 2-1.

Francis Bouillon was called for high-sticking Foligno 8:32 to put the Sens on the man-advantage. Ottawa had two shots on net in addition to a post shot by Sergei Gonchar.

Jim O'Brien was called for elbowing Mary Erat at 12:16 to put the Preds on the power play. The Predators quickly responded 24 seconds later when Hornqvist deflected a wrister from Ryan Suter to score his 16th goal and tie the game 2-2 at 12:40. Erat also picked up the secondary assist.

The Predators went back on the man advantage at 15:18 when Colin Greening tripped Kevin Klein at 15:18. The Preds got four shots but could not find the net on the power play.

Erat was called for hooking at 18:49 and it only took the Senators six seconds to score when Nick Spaling skated behind the Predators net off the faceoff and turned the puck over allowing Michalek to steal the puck and shuffle it to Spezza for his second goal of the game.

2nd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	12	39*	4-8:00	14-8 64%
Senators	2	11	48*	2-4:00	8-14 36%

* Two period Corsi total

Third Period...

The final stanza started off with both teams being cautious and looking for their best chance at a win without giving up much on defense.

At 13:35, Phillips jumped in on the rush on the power play and scored on a rebound to get his second goal of the game and the season and became the new mayor of Ottawa by giving the sens a 4-2 lead and a great shot at breaking their seven game losing streak.

The Preds were revived 14 seconds later when Brian Lee was called for interference. The pressure was short-lived when David Legwand was whistled for hooking Alfredsson to end the Preds' power play 23 seconds later.

The Predators may have received a long-term blow at 16:29 when Francis Bouillon was forced out of the game when he was nailed with a Spezza shot to an undetermined part of the body.

Nashville went back on the man-advantage at 17:19 when Kyle Turris was called for hooking Kostitsyn. At 18:31, the Preds took a time out after Zach Smith hit Shea Weber in the face with his stick with no penalty being called. The Preds got no shots on the power play effort.

In a desperation attempt with the goalie pulled, Erat scored a goal with 10.6 seconds left off a Weber shot rebound to pull withing a goal at 4-3 which was the final score.

3rd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	10	15	2-4:00	6-16 27%
Senators	1	9	19	2-4:00	16-6 73%

Final...

Final	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	3	27	54	6-12:00	29-29 50%
Senators	4	29	67	5-10:00	29-29 50%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Transcript from the 2013 Winter Classic Announcement

2012-02-09T12:21:00.001-06:00

Here is the transcript from the 2013 Winter Classic announcement from Comerica Park in Detroit.

Kathryn Tappan was the moderator and comments were made by Gary Bettman, Mike Ilitch, Christopher Ilitch, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Tom Anselmi, Donald Fehr, Ken Holland and Brian Burke.

Make the jump for the complete transcript from NHL Media Services...

2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Announcement Transcript

KATHRYN TAPPEN: I would thank you for being with us here today in downtown Detroit. We also welcome those of you watching on the NHL Network and NHL.com. It truly is an exciting day here in Detroit as the city will receive some very exciting news about an upcoming event that will forever change its landscape.

To celebrate the news, we have an impressive group of people to recognize here, including ownership executives from the NHL, NHLPA, member clubs, also alumni, city officials, network executives and corporate partners. We welcome all of you for being here today.

But first all the attention now focuses on the Commissioner of the National Hockey League, Gary Bettman. Commissioner, I welcome you up to the stage for today's announcement.

COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Thank you, Kathryn. Thank you, everyone. Welcome.
While the stands in magnificent Comerica Park are vacant today, it is exciting to imagine them as they will be during a very special celebration next winter, and that is they will be full. While the field in Comerica Park also is not in use today, except for some fencing that forms a familiar shape to us, it's exciting to imagine what this field will look like when an actual hockey rink stands out there in the not-so-distant future.

It is what brought us to Edmonton in 2003 and to Buffalo in 2008 and to five other cities since. It's to take a daring concept and turn it into reality, the reality of a National Hockey League regular-season game freed from the limits of an indoor arena and let loose under the open sky.

Let's have a brief look at some of the places imagination has taken us so far on this video.(Video Shown.)

COMMISSI ONER BETTMAN:So it's now obvious where imagination will take us next New Year's Day.
Let me now make it official. The National Hockey League is proud to announce the Detroit Red Wings will host the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. The Red Wings will face the Toronto Maple Leafs. These two original six rivals will take this event to a new record-setting level on Tuesday, January 1st, 2013.

Our fans love the Winter Classic. Our teams, our players love the Winter Classic. Our broadcasters, business partners love it. Perhaps, most importantly, our fans love it.

As soon as we announce one Winter Classic, the speculation begins as to where the next one will take place and who will be in it. This is just a fantastic event for our league, our teams, our players and our fans.

The Winter Classic and the activities around it have grown year after year. It was the vision of Mike and Marian Ilitch, both of whom are here today, that this Winter Classic should be the biggest one ever because Detroit is Hockeytown and Michigan is a hotbed of hockey. Moreover, this is something that the Ilitches want to do for the fans and for this community.

Our Bridgestone Classic 2013 version will include more activities than ever, and Mike Ilitch will have the pleasure of telling you about the extra activities in a few moments.

Suffice it to say that here at Comerica Park, there will be alumni, college, OHL, AHL and youth games as well as open skating. We estimate that these events at Comerica Park will bring between 150,000 to 200,000 people to downtown Detroit. There will be more opportunities than ever before for people to welcome with the Winter Classic excitement and the Winter Classic experience.

We will also be using Detroit hotels for our guests and our New Year's Eve festivities will also be in Detroit. So the rink on the field at Comerica will be put to extensive use and our presence in Detroit will be unmistakable.

Since this outdoor matchup is so big, there is only one place where it could be played. So the 2013 Bridgestone Winter Classic will be played at the Big House on the campus at the University of Michigan, the largest stadium in North America. And even with 115,000 or more tickets available, we still won't have enough to satisfy the demand.

The first meeting of a team from Detroit and a team from Toronto took place on January 4th, 1927. The Toronto St.?@Patrick's defeated the Detroit Cougars 2-1 at a rink across the river at Windsor, Ontario. The Big House was under construction. It opened October 21st, 1927, with a capacity of 22,000, a capacity that has grown to 110,000 today, a capacity we expect to challenge and surpass when the Red Wings and the Maple Leafs resume their historic rivalry.

I want to thank Mike and Marian Ilitch, the organization, the City of Detroit for their willingness to host us, and I thank them in advance for everything that will be done to make this a success.

Thank you as well to Larry Tannenbaum, Tom Anselmi, Brian Burke, the Toronto Maple Leafs, thank you to Mayor Bing, thank you to Don Fehr and the NHL Players' Association, thank you to NBC, CBC, represented by Jeffrey Orridge today, and RDS, to Bridgestone, our title sponsor, Phil Pacsi, VP of marketing today, the Detroit Tigers organization, represented by president GM Dave Dombrowski, and to everyone who will have a hand in making this historic event taking the Winter Classic to incomparable heights.

We are very excited. We're looking forward to it, and we know it's going to be great.

It is my pleasure to now introduce a friend, one of the great owners in all of sports and somebody who I know believes very much in the City of Detroit and the state of Michigan, Mike Ilitch.

MIKE ILITCH: I'm all fired up. The man fired me up.

It's great to be here. This is getting to be quite the place for really big announcements. We're excited that Commissioner Bettman and the NHL has selected the Detroit Red Wings to host the 2013 Winter Classic. I'd also like to thank Dave Brandon, athletic director at the Big House, for allowing us to play there this year.
Glad our friends from Toronto came in. A whole bunch of people I haven't seen for years. Brian Burke, president Larry Tannenbaum, owner. When Larry and I get together, we sit down and we have a lot of business we're involved with, but we never, ever said one word about business, all we do is talk about hockey over and over and over.

We're really excited for the fans. This community deserves a great event like this. This is one of the greatest sports towns ever, and this celebration of the sport of hockey will provide a tremendous positive impact to our community.

We're committed to making this the best NHL Winter Classic ever, especially with the inaugural Hockeytown Winter Festival. We're proud to show the world why we love Hockeytown. I can promise you there will be something for everyone.

It really feels great to be here. This is the biggest crowd we've ever had here in this place. I'm all fired up. I want to get my skates, but I can't skate (smiling). Thank you.

CHRISTOPHER ILITCH: I'm Christopher Ilitch. As my father said, we are thrilled that the NHL has selected the Detroit Red Wings as the host club of the 2013 Winter Classic. Two of the original six clubs, two venues, two sheets of ice, a world-class event in Hockeytown.

What defines Hockeytown is the people. It's the City of Detroit and its suburbs, it's the entire state of Michigan and beyond. Hockeytown has no physical borders, but one common denominator: people with an undying passion for the sport of hockey. We are incredibly excited to host the 2013 Winter Classic in the Hockeytown Winter Festival this coming December.

With today's announcement, we are especially happy for the fans. This is a great sports town. The opportunity for the Detroit Red Wings to participate in what potentially will be the largest hockey game at the Michigan stadium in Ann Arbor is fantastic. The matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs is a great one. We have a long and historic rivalry.

The NHL and the Big House, it doesn't get any bigger than that. Our organization is committed to making this the best Winter Classic ever, especially with the addition of the inaugural Hockeytown Winter Festival. I can promise you, as my father mentioned, there will be something for everybody.

As many of you certainly know, Detroit has played host to a number of major sporting events in recent years: the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the 2006 World Series right here at Comerica Park with our Detroit Tigers, the Super Bowl XL right next door at Ford Field, the Ryder Cup at Oakland Country Club, the Final Four in 2009 and the Frozen Four in 2010.

Now we are ready to host the world in Hockeytown for the Winter Classic and the tremendous celebration of the great sport of hockey.

In addition to the NHL alumni showdown game here at Comerica Park which promises to feature some of the biggest names in the sport, we're pleased to announce that the 2012 Great Lakes Invitational will move from Joe Louis Arena to Comerica Park for the first-ever hockey games in this venue. Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Western Michigan, will play their games outdoors as part of this historic celebration of hockey.

We're also working with representatives of the American Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League to showcase some of their top teams here at Comerica Park, including a matchup between our two minor league affiliates, the Grand Rapids Griffins, and the Toronto Marlies, as well as games between the Plymouth Whalers versus the London Knights and the Saginaw Spirits taking on the Windsor Spitfires.

Plans also call for us to host boys and girls hockey games, celebrity games and much more. There will be opportunities for companies to use the ice for private events during the festival and for the general public to enjoy open skating and other opportunities for hockey fans and families.

Details on all of these events will be finalized in the weeks and months ahead and information will be starting today at a special website, 2013WinterClassic.com.

Suffice to say we will have something for everyone. We've had conversations with the organization of the Winter Blast here in Detroit and others in the community. We're going to deliver an unbelievable family-friendly, fun-filled series of events here in downtown Detroit this coming December.

Speaking of Detroit, I would like to acknowledge several dignitaries from Detroit that are here today. Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown, City Council members JoAnn Watson, Brenda Jones, Andre Spivey and James Tate.

Now I would like to invite a special guest in our audience to say a few words. Ladies and gentlemen, the mayor of the City of Detroit, Major Dave Bing.

MAYOR BING: Thank you so much very much, Chris. This is a great day in the City of Detroit. It's hard for me to believe that this is going to happen. As I look back retrospectively in terms of what the Ilitch family means for Detroit, their love, their compassion, their devotion to this city is unmatched. I'm just happy that they are part of this community with their vision and leadership and with the risks they take. We are all the beneficiaries of that.

As a former athlete playing downtown in this city, I know what it's like. I know how great our fans are. And now hockey is surpassing any sport that we have in the City of Detroit. This is Hockeytown. Once again, I want to thank Gary Bettman and the NHL. I want to once again take my hat off to the Ilitch family and the organization.

The position that I'm in today, it's been very difficult for me to get up and have a smile on my face. But today, because of your commitment, you warm my heart. You make me smile. You know the things you're doing for Detroit is something that we are all very, very appreciative of. So thank you so very much. Look forward to it. This administration will do everything we can to make this first class. Thank you so very much.

CHRISTOPHER ILITCH: Thank you, Mayor Bing. We look forward to working with you and your team and other business and community leaders to really spotlight Detroit and the state of Michigan.

The bottom line, this is a great event for this city, this region, this state. This community knows how to host these events. So we thank the NHL for selecting us as the host club and the host city. I say sharpen your skates because December 2012 is just around the corner. Downtown Detroit, Southeastern Michigan will be the center of the hockey university. It great for our fans, it's great for our community, and really what better place than Hockeytown. Thank you.

KATHRYN TAPPEN: Thank you to the Ilitch family and Mayor Bing.

Now on behalf of the Toronto Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, I'd like to introduce you to the executive vice president and chief operating officer Tom Anselmi.

TOM ANSELMI: Thanks. It's a pleasure to be here on behalf of Larry, Dale, Brian, our ownership group, our management team. I can't tell you how excited we are this day has finally I arrived.

I remember Gary mentioned that very cold day back in Edmonton back in 2003 when this idea was first born and we all witnessed it coming to fruition. Now it's become one of the highlights of the hockey calendar. For the Leafs, the Red Wings to be part of it, 120,000 Leafs and Red Wings fans, an amazing event.

Hockeytown, two of the hockey clubs in the world who have created some of the greatest hockey in history, some of the great names in the game, Teeter, Clarkie, Dougie, Ted, Stevie Y, the Big M, and of course Mr. Hockey himself. There are close to 150 players that have played for our teams. Our own Red Kelly is here, the great Red Kelly. Eight Stanley Cups. Bob McGill is here with Leafs TV, and today with us the one and only chief, our former captain George Armstrong who knows this rivalry very well.

This rivalry actually goes back, as Gary mentioned, to the start of the league. It evolved through the great championships of the '40s and the '60s. Both teams battled it out in the old North Division six or eight times a year. The Leafs and Red Wings have played each other 644 times. The Leafs have won 276 of them, the Red Wings have won 275. We'll see what happens early next year. This could be the ultimate rubber match of all time.

On behalf of our whole organization, Brian, his players, coaching staff, I'll tell you what, we are thrilled to be part of this. I want to thank Gary, Bill, John, the folks at the NHL for inviting, Mr.?@and?@Mrs.?@Ilitch, Chris, Kenny Holland, the whole Detroit organization.

We recognize what this means to the community of Detroit, the impact it's going to have on the people of Michigan. I'm confident that our organization, your organization, and the NHL, we're going to make this the best Winter Classic ever.

You know what, it's going to be a helluva lot of fun. This is going to be a fun, fun event. We can't wait to get started. Thank you for having it and let's get at it.

KATHRYN TAPPEN: Since it is Hockeytown, we would be remiss not to mention some of the all time Detroit Red Wings greats in attendance here this afternoon. Alex Delvecchio, Kris Draper, Ted Lindsay, and of course the current coach of the Detroit Red Wings Mike Babcock.

Now on behalf of the NHL Players' Association, it is my pleasure to introduce the executive director, Mr. Don Fehr.

DON FEHR: Thanks, very much. It's a pleasure for me to be here. I remember the first time I was in this beautiful facility, the baseball All-Star Game that was mentioned. It's amazing for me to see what a wonderful fan-friendly place it is. Now having been at a couple of these events in baseball stadiums, this is going to be a remarkable place for these events to take place. Great for the city.

Having been at a game or two at the Big House when I was at college in a different university that didn't win very often, it's going to be a spectacular event.

One of the things that really matters to the players is that when they can take memories away of something which is unique, which is different, which is spectacular, that not everyone gets to participate in, it stays with them for a very long time.

On behalf of them, this looks like something that they will remember, their families will remember and the fans will remember for a very long time.

I want to thank the people who have made the prior comments up here before, in particular the Commissioner, the Ilitches, and the Mayor, and say I look forward to seeing you in January.

KATHRYN TAPPEN: I'm joined now by Red Wings general manager Ken Holland and Toronto Maple Leafs Brian Burke.

Ken, you participated in this in 2009 in Chicago. You finally have the opportunity to host it yourself. How much are you looking forward to hosting it.

KEN HOLLAND: I remember in 2009 when the game was over, I went through the locker room, and I remember going to a few of the players. I remember having a conversation with Niklas Knonwall saying, I'd love to do this again next year. Our players had an unbelievable experience. It's gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. I know our city is thrilled and the organization is thrilled to host this.

KATHRYN TAPPEN: Brian, this is the first time a Canadian team will be involved in this event.

BRIAN BURKE: It Hockeytown versus the Center of the Hockey Universe (laughter). It's humbly put.
We're really excited about this. Two passionate fan bases. I can guarantee you're going to see a lot of blue in the Big House on January 1st. Our fans would respond to this as the league would want them to. We'll turn out great numbers.

Obviously it a great rivalry. We haven't kept up our end of it the last few years, but we're on our way back.

KATHRYN TAPPEN: This will be the biggest venue this event has ever been hosted in, over 115,000 fans in attendance. What do you think that atmosphere will be like for your players?

KEN HOLLAND: I think it's going to be incredible. Obviously lots of Leaf fans, we're going to try to hold back the tickets to get more Red Wing fans here.

That's one of the great things about the game. When we were in Chicago, we got to play in one. There were Hawk jerseys, Red Wing jerseys and fans. The rivalry that the Red Wings and the Leafs have had go back to 1925 or '26. Tremendous emotion, tremendous passion.

BRIAN BURKE: Having been involved in a couple of Winter Classics, having played with Team USA in the 76,000 seat venue at an indoor soccer stadium in Germany a couple years back, this is going to be exciting. We're thrilled to be asked to be part of it. The Ilitch family has done so much for the city, this is a fitting thing to have here.

KATHRYN TAPPEN: How did the process come about for you in particular in trying to lobby to get the Toronto Maple Leafs for this event?

BRIAN BURKE: The league asked me if I thought I could sell 40,000 tickets. I said give me 48 hours. They asked for 70,000 tickets. I said I need 72 hours.

We have wonderful fans that have been loyal through some lean years. This will be exciting for us.

KATHRYN TAPPEN: You mentioned the rivalry over the years. This is an original six matchup between the U.S. and Canada.

KEN HOLLAND: Whenever Toronto plays in Joe Louis Arena, it's like a playoff arena. Unfortunately we only get them once every two years. There's always a couple leaf fans that find ways to get tickets. There's great emotion, great passion in the building.

You start thinking about 10 and 20 times that amount for both fans, it's going to be an incredible atmosphere.

THE MODERATOR: What has the reaction been so far from the players from both teams knowing they're going to play in this event?

BRIAN BURKE: Our guys are very excited about it. It's like Don Fehr said a moment ago, you have to take post cards away from it, to remember where you were that day vividly, take post cards away from that. This is the only kind of event that will provide that kind of memory for the players when we played in the Big House and beat Detroit (smiling).

KEN HOLLAND: I'm not going to be so bold (laughter).

KATHRYN TAPPEN: Thank you.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

It's Official, Wings and Leafs in 2013 Winter Classic (Release)

2012-02-09T10:27:00.002-06:00

It was made official that the Detroit Red Wings would host the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2013 Winter Classic when Gary Bettman made the announcement from the podium this morning at Comerrica Park. Activities will be split between Comerica and Michigan University's gigantic "Big House" stadium.

Make the jump for the full release with all the details from NHL Media Services...

2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® Broadcast Live On NBC in U.S., CBC & RDS In Canada

NEW YORK (February 9, 2012) – The Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium on the University of Michigan campus in the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® on Tuesday, Jan. 1, the National Hockey League announced today. Nicknamed “The Big House,” the stadium is the largest in North America. It is anticipated that the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® could set an all-time world attendance record for a hockey game. The game will be broadcast live on NBC in the U.S. and on CBC and RDS in Canada.

"The Red Wings' tradition of excellence, Detroit's passion for hockey and the glorious history of the Maple Leafs create a Winter Classic scenario for the ages," Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "The meeting of these two 'Original Six' rivals, at this iconic venue, will lift this Winter Classic to incomparable heights. The demand to be there will be so great that this event could only be held at 'The Big House.'"

In concert with the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®, beginning in mid-December Comerica Park in downtown Detroit will be home to a celebration of hockey titled the Hockeytown Winter Festival™. The main attraction of the festival will be an ice rink built on the Comerica Park field where a special game between notable Red Wings and Maple Leafs alumni – the NHL Alumni Showdown – will be played.

The outdoor rink at Comerica Park will feature games between teams representing every level of hockey and opportunities for open skating for the public. Over a quarter of a million fans are expected to watch youth games, high school hockey games, sled hockey games, AHL games, OHL games and more. The Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the Red Wings, will play the Toronto Marlies, the AHL affiliate of the Maple Leafs, on the Comerica Park rink. For the first time in its history, the Great Lakes Invitational will be played outdoors as Michigan Tech, the University of Michigan, Michigan State and Western Michigan University will be part of the Hockeytown Winter Festival. Also, the ballpark will host two OHL matchups: the Windsor Spitfires vs. Saginaw Spirit and the Plymouth Whalers vs. London Knights.

“Mike and Marian Ilitch are deeply committed to their beloved Detroit. That commitment has never wavered,” Commissioner Bettman added. “The Hockeytown Winter Festival is just the latest example of their passion for their city and for hockey.”

The 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® continues the tradition the NHL® has established of hosting a regular-season game outdoors at the onset of the new year to celebrate the origin and traditions of hockey. This season in Philadelphia, both the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® between the Flyers and New York Rangers and the alumni game two days prior attracted sellout crowds. More than 100,000 fans visited Spectator Plaza, the official outdoor hockey festival adjacent to the ballpark.

Further details on the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®, including the official event logo, ticketing information and uniform design for each team, will be released in the coming months. Fans can visit www.NHL.com/winterclassic and www.Detroitredwings.com/2013winterclassic for the latest news.
Two members of the NHL’s “Original Six®,” the Red Wings and Maple Leafs are longtime rivals, having first played against each other on Jan. 4, 1927 as the Toronto St. Patricks defeated the Detroit Cougars 2-1 in a game near Detroit. Just over a month later, the Toronto team was re-named the Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs captured a 4-3 victory on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 in the only regular-season meeting of the teams this season, marking the 644th regular-season contest between the franchises. As of today, each is the second most-common regular-season opponent for the other. The Maple Leafs have faced only the Montreal Canadiens more often; the Red Wings only the Chicago Blackhawks.

Not only is the Detroit-Toronto hockey rivalry a storied one, it is a competitive one. All-time during the regular season, Detroit (275-273-93-3) has captured 646 points against Toronto, holding an advantage by the slimmest of margins over Toronto’s 645 versus Detroit (276-275-93-0).

More than just a regular-season phenomenon, the rivalry remains as profound and closely contested in the Stanley Cup® Playoffs. The 117 playoff games between the franchises is the second most in NHL history (Boston vs. Montreal=170). The Red Wings have won 59 of those games to the Maple Leafs’ 58, outscoring Toronto 321-311. However, the Maple Leafs hold the edge in terms of playoff series victories, 12-11.

The 2011-12 versions of the teams feature some of the top talent in the NHL. The Red Wings are led by captain Nicklas Lidstrom, the seven-time and defending Norris Trophy winner who also is an 11-time NHL All-Star. Lidstrom, along with Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Tomas Holmstrom, Jimmy Howard and more, have the Red Wings fighting for top spot in the Western Conference once again.

“We are honored to host the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® and bring the Hockeytown Winter Festival to our fans,” said Red Wings Owner Michael Ilitch. “This is one of the greatest sports towns ever and to be able to host this celebration of the sport of hockey will provide a tremendous positive economic impact to our community. We are proud to show the world why we love Hockeytown!”

The Maple Leafs were well represented at the recent 2012 NHL All-Star weekend with three players in Ottawa. Captain Dion Phaneuf and the high-scoring tandem of Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel were recognized for their outstanding seasons.

“The Toronto Maple Leafs and our fans are extremely thrilled to be a part of the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic,” said Brian Burke, Maple Leafs President and General Manager. “The rich hockey heritage of these two Original Six hockey clubs will make for an extremely memorable event played in front of the NHL’s largest crowd ever. The atmosphere and pageantry will be an outstanding spectacle for our sport.”

“For the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings, having this opportunity to play hockey outdoors at ‘The Big House’ in front of a passionate and potentially record-setting crowd will be a unique experience that they will always remember,” said NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr. “The Leafs and Red Wings Players are looking forward to what should be a great day for everyone involved.”

Michigan Stadium re-claimed the title of the largest stadium in the U.S. after the completion of seating renovations in 2010 increased its official capacity to 109,901. The historic home of Wolverine football easily becomes the largest venue to host the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®.

“We are excited to provide the NHL with use of our beautiful Michigan Stadium for the NHL Winter Classic,” said Dave Brandon, the Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics. “This will be a way for hockey fans around the globe to experience Michigan Stadium and the University of Michigan. This event will have a significant positive economic impact on the Ann Arbor community and the State of Michigan.”

The five previous editions of the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® comprise five of the top six most watched regular-season NHL games in the U.S. in the past 37 years. The 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® in Pittsburgh on NBC Sports aired in primetime and was the most-watched NHL regular season game in the U.S. in 36 years with an average of 4.5 million viewers. The event also drew the largest audience on CBC for any of the U.S.-based outdoor NHL games.

“It’s more than appropriate that the NHL’s biggest regular-season event is now moving to North America’s biggest venue,” said Jon Miller, president programming, NBC Sports & NBC Sports Network. “If any venue can grow the spectacle of the NHL Winter Classic, it’s The Big House. We continue to be extraordinarily proud of our contribution in creating and growing this tremendous event with our partners at the NHL.”

"Canadians have come to expect the best hockey coverage from CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and we’re proud to once again be the host broadcaster of the NHL Winter Classic in 2013, when the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Detroit Red Wings,” said Jeffrey Orridge, Executive Director, CBC Sports Properties. “This game has quickly become appointment viewing for hockey fans across country and even more so this season with an Original Six matchup featuring one of Canada’s most storied franchises, live from Michigan Stadium. We have no doubt that this will be one of the most anticipated and exciting NHL Winter Classic games yet."

Sirius XM Satellite Radio will provide radio coverage. NHL.com will provide extensive digital video coverage and NHL Network™ will once again provide hours of coverage live from Hockeytown in the days leading up to and after the game.

The Bridgestone brand, the Official Tire of the NHL® and the NHLPA, returns for the fifth consecutive year as title sponsor of the event.

"The Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic has become a New Year’s Day tradition and truly a Performance Moment in the sports world — it is the same Passion for Performance that the Bridgestone brand instills in its products every day,” said Phil Pacsi, Vice President, Customer Marketing & Training, U.S. & Canada Consumer Tire Sales, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, (BATO). “Watching two of the NHL’s most storied rivals square off at the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® at the Big House is an event not to be missed, and will be talked about for years to come. We are excited and proud to be part of this New Year's tradition.”

The first-ever NHL regular-season game contested outdoors was played in 2003 when the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium. Since 2008, the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® has been contested every year on or just after New Year’s Day. The first contest featured the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium. In 2009, the Blackhawks hosted the Red Wings at Wrigley Field. In 2010, the Boston Bruins hosted the Flyers at Fenway Park. In 2011, the Penguins hosted the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field. In 2012, the Flyers hosted the Rangers at Citizens Bank Park. In February 2011, the Calgary Flames hosted the Canadiens in the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™ at McMahon Stadium.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Hope to Start New Win Streak in Ottawa

2012-02-08T22:27:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Predators (32-17-5) have put together several formidable win streaks in the last two months but have gone 1-1-1 in the last three games after Tuesday's 4-3 shoot-out loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The Preds hope to set their ship in the right direction against the Ottawa Senators (27-22-7) at Scotiabank Place on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. (FS-TN).

The talk at the rink will be about the return of Mike Fisher to Ottawa where he was dearly embraced by the community and the fans. His return is a day short of the one year mark of the trade that sent him to Music City where he was reunited with country star wife, Carrie Underwood.

The real story is the Predators playing the front end of a crucial two-game road trip that will also send them to the home of the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins on Saturday. The Predators are the NHL's hottest team going 14-3-1 in their last 18 games and have a goalie that is on fire in Pekka Rinne, who is undefeated in regulation in his last 12 starts, going 11-0-1.

The Senators were the darlings of the Eastern Conference earlier in the season but have lost seven in a row and have dropped to eight place in the Eastern Conference and are in danger of falling out of a playoff position with a loss to the Predators.

This is only the Predators' eight trip to Ottawa in franchise history and the Predators are 3-4-0 in spite of winning their last two games. Their last game at Scotiabank Place was on October 22, 2009 when the Predators were mired in an early season six-game losing streak and pulled out a 6-5 overtime win in a wild game where the teams exchanged leads until Shea Weber won it in sudden death.

While the Predators have balanced scoring, with a league leading nine players in double digits in goals, Nashville's top line of Fisher, Martin Erat and Sergei Kostitsyn have been on unstoppable during the Predators recent successful run.

Fisher (9g-8a) and Erat (4g-13a) have each had 17 points in the last 18 games. Kostitsyn has 15 points (9g-6a) in his last 16 games and has scored nine times on his last 22 shots and leads the league in shooting percentage (25.0%).

Rinne appears to be making a strong bid for the Vezina Trophy (best goalie) with an incredible second-half run, going 20-2-1 since December 8. Rinne is 14-1-1 with a 1.79 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage since Dec. 28.

The Predators currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference with 69 points, five behind Detroit who beat Edmonton 4-2 on Wednesday night.

The Predators will leave and travel to Boston immediately after the contest.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

NHL to announce site of 2013 Winter Classic on Thursday

2012-02-08T12:41:00.001-06:00

According to an official NHL release, a major announcement will be made on Thursday at two Detroit area locations.

The festivities will get underway at the Tiger Club at Comerica Park, in Detroit at 10:30 EST and will be televised live across North America by NHL Network and streamed live on NHL.com.

The group will then caravan by bus to Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor for more information at 1:15 EST.

Speculation is widespread that the Winter Classic events will be held at both venues with the primary game being held at Michigan's "Big House" on Tuesday, January 1, 2013 where attendance in excess of the stadium's 109,901 is anticipated, breaking the all-time record for folks at a hockey game.

The Detroit Red Wings are expected to host the Toronto Maple Leafs in a traditional "original six" match-up.

Other events, including the Alumni Game, an AHL game, college games, and numerous other events will be held in Downtown Detroit at Comerica Park.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Morning After Round-Up: Canucks 4, Predators 3 (SO)

2012-02-08T09:44:00.000-06:00

After all the dust settled from the fierce competition at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday night the Predators and Pekka Rinne had seen their winning streaks broken by the 4-3 shoot-out lost to Vancouver.

No one appeared discouraged and all appeared to take the loss of a point for what it was, a great team effort marred by losing a man on man skills competition at the end of play.

The Predators continued to do many of the same things that had done well in their winning efforts. They had strong play by all four lines, a good defensive effort, and outstanding goaltending.

They showed great character by snapping back from an early two-goal deficit but never seemed to be able to slip in the fourth goal in regulation or in overtime, despite numerous scoring chances. Roberto Luongo can be credited for much of that failure.

Even with the point, the Predators slipped to fifth place behind the St. Louis Blues, who beat Ottawa. The team did gain ground on Detroit and are three back in the Division and Conference with 69 points.

The Predators now face a pair of crucial games against Eastern Conference foes playing at Ottawa on Thursday and at Boston in a matinee on Saturday. A pair of wins on the road would greatly help their cause as they continue to pursue the Western Conference lead.

Here is our game story from last night and Barry Trotz's postgame presser. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Josh Cooper: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes - Postgame Ponderings
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Doug Brumley (Preds.com)
John Manasso (NHL.com)

Digital Media...

Jim Diamond (The Examiner)
Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7) Game Story - One More Thing - Decibels
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303) LeftGovers
Sam Page (On The Forecheck)
Paul McCann (HockeyBuzz)
Fang Faction

Vancouver Media...

Canucks.com

The Province
Vancouver Sun
FaceOff
Nucks Misconduct
Pucked In The Head
Pass It To Bulis
Canucks Hockey Blog
Canucks Corner
The Canuck Way
Canucks FanZone
Love Our Canucks
Head to the Net
Canucks and Beyond
Canucks Army
Play Me That Ballard
Benched Whale
3:10 to Overtime

Audio from the Predators comes from....

Patric Hornqvist
Pekka Rinne
Mike Fisher
Colin Wilson

Here is Pete Weber on Hockey This Morning discussing the game and the Western Conference.

From the Canucks, we hear from...

Kevin Bieksa
Byron Bitz
Alexander Edler
Ryan Kesler
Roberto Luongo
Alain Vigneault

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Henrik Sedin
2. Colin Wilson
3. Byron Bitz

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Barn-Burner Ends in 4-3 Shootout Loss for Predators

2012-02-08T00:25:00.000-06:00

Tuesday night's game at the Bridgestone Arena between the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators produced 65 minutes of the most intense hockey action seen this year in Smashville.

It was a real shame that it had to be decided in a six-round skills competition with the Canucks taking the extra point in the standings when Alexander Edler sealed the win with his game winner.

The newest Predator on the roster, Brandon Yip, played what may have been his best game yet as a Predator since coming over from Colorado on waivers on January 19. He did not show up on the scorecard but played with inspiration and passion at both ends of the ice, previously unseen in a Preds uniform.

There was a good explanation according to Yip, "I like the rivalry. I'm from Vancouver so it's always a game that I get up for. I'm also trying to get a little more overall consistency in my game."

"I was a die-hard Canucks fan growing up but that quickly changed once I was on the opposition. It's always cool when you play your hometown and all your buddies and your family are watching so it makes it a little more exciting. Vancouver is a good team and they had a good playoff with Nashville last year to make a good rivalry."

Yip was playing on a gritty line, mostly with Jerred Smithson and Nick Spaling. "We were trying to get pucks out and put them deep. Unfortunately we didn't get as much offense as we would have liked but we did a good job in our own zone and that's what we needed in the third."

Yip was disappointed in the loss but understands the game of hockey. "I thought we showed good character after the first period being down and fought hard to the end. We just came up a little short in the shootout and like Trotz said, 'Anything can happen in the shootout'. I thought we played well in the second and third periods."

Barry Trotz was realistic about the loss of a point. "It was one of our better efforts in terms of our games against top opponents when we did not get two points. Both teams played well enough that it was probably fitting that it would go to a shootout where anything can happen."

"I'm disappointed that we didn't get two points, but at the same time we were down 3-1 against a really good team so to get a point, you have to be a little bit satisfied. I'm not jumping for joy but it was a good point."

Then Trotz got down to brass tacks, "You never know what point will make the difference between being in the playoffs or in a different place in the standing so we'll take the point and head to Ottawa."

The Predators will practice at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday before packing up and leaving for Ottawa where they will face the struggling Senators on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Barry Trotz Speaks after Nashville's 4-3 Loss to Vancouver

2012-02-08T00:13:00.002-06:00

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Vancouver Returns to Music City With Much On the Line

2012-02-07T09:12:00.000-06:00

Tonight's game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Nashville Predators is one that Predator fans have had marked on their calendar since the schedule was released last summer. It marks the Nucks first visit to the Bridgestone Arena since they clinched their second round series with the Predators in a 2-1 win in game six on May 9. 2011.

Even the most optimistic member of the Predator faithful probably did not project that the Predators could move to 70 points with a win and have the second best record in the Western Conference and the third best in the NHL.

Probably even more surprising is that Vancouver and Nashville would also be neck and neck in the battle for the best power play in the league with the Canuck converting 22.3% of the time and the Predators at 22.2%.

There will be plenty of individual battles but none will be bigger than match between two of the NHL's best netminders. The Preds' Pekka Rinne (30-11-4, 2.37, .925) has won eleven games in a row and has won 20 of his last 22 decisions. Roberto Luongo (21-10-5, 2.39, .920) should be in net to the Canucks and is 5-2-3 in his last ten games but is always capable of rising to the occasion in big match-ups.

Vancouver has more firepower in their lineup, being led by Henrik (11g, 44a) and Daniel Sedin (22g, 30a) and are averaging 3.14 goals per game. The Predators are tied for 12th at 2,76 goals per game but have averaged 3.12 in their last 17 games when they have gone 14-3-0.

It won't get any easier after tonight's game for the Predators. They will play the surprising Senators in Ottawa on Thursday, then play the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins on Saturday, before returning to the Bridgestone to take on the Blackhawks next Tuesday.

For other Predators previews check out Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Robby Stanley, and Predators.com.

The NHL Game Notes can be found here.

For a Vancouver perspective go to any of the following fine sites...

Canucks.com

The Morning After Round-Up and Perspective: Predators 3, Blues 1

2012-02-05T12:50:00.000-06:00

After a loss in Philadelphia on Thursday night, it was imperative that the Nashville Predators return to Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night and regain their swagger.

The opponent was the St. Louis Blues who began the game a point ahead in the standings with two games in hand. The Blues came out firing but the Predators held tough. By the time Mike Fisher made it 2-0 Preds, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Preds would win another game at home based on their recent record of 13-2 in their last 15 games at Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators were anything but dominant earlier this season as they started the year 4-5-3 on home ice. At the end of November, their 11-9-4 record showed little signs of things to come.

The turnaround had roots in a December 1 win in Vancouver when the team went down early and roared back to a 6-5 win. Unfortunately, they came home and laid a couple of eggs in losses to Buffalo and Phoenix that they would love to have back.

The season turned in the next game on December 8 in Columbus when the Predators played poorly but salvaged a win over the Jackets with two goals in the last 1:36 to force overtime and then grabbing the second point on a Colin Wilson goal in OT.

Including that game, the Predators have gone 20-6-0 and the difference maker has been Pekka Rinne who has won 20 of 22 decisions during the run.

The most unbelievable statistic is that the Preds are 12-2-2 against the Central Division which boasts four of the top eight teams in the entire NHL.

At the end of play on Saturday night, the Predators were sitting at 68 points, four behind Central Division leading Detroit and one behind Tuesday's opponent, Vancouver. Nashville has the fourth best record in the NHL and have the momentum to challenge the Wings for tops in the division of they continue on their current pace.

The Predators are at the high water mark in franchise history with their sights set on going even higher.

Here is our game story from last night and Barry Trotz's postgame presser. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Mike Organ: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Doug Brumley (Preds.com)
John Manasso (NHL.com)

Digital Media...

Jim Diamond (The Examiner)
Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7) Game Story - Decibel Readings -One More Thing
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303) Game Story - LeftGovers
Patten Fuqua (Puck Scene)
Paul McCann (HockeyBuzz)
Sam Page (On The Forecheck)
Kris Martel (Predatorial)
Laura Hutchings (Lady Preds)
Fang Finger

St. Louis Media...

Blues.com
Post-Dispatch
BlueNote Zone
Frozen Notes
Belleville Sports
In the Slot
Bleedin' Blue
Andy Strickland
St. Louis Game Time

Audio from the Predators comes from....

Rinne (part 1)
Rinne (part 2)
Marty Erat

From St. Louis, we hear from...

Coach Ken Hitchcock
Kris Russel
Jamie Langenbrunner
Chris Porter

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Pekka Rinne
2. Marty Erat
3. Jaroslav Halak

Here is the video of the Brian McGrattan - Ryan Reaves fight from last night...

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators' Sixteenth Sellout Crowd Lifts Team to 3-1 Win over St. Louis

2012-02-05T00:27:00.000-06:00

The Nashville Predators returned to their winning ways with a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night in front of another capacity crowd.

The game was the sixteenth sellout of the season which ties last year's regular season total and the Predators still have fourteen additional home dates remaining. It is a foregone conclusion that they will easily surpass the franchise record of twenty capacity crowds that was set in the inaugural season of 1998-99.

It was the Predators 13th win in their last 15 home contests and the crowd was one of the more appreciated of the year from the players standpoint after a tough loss in Philadelphia on Thursday.

Brian McGrattan had high praise for the crowd's intensity. "It was huge. On the bench, I said to Hally that that was one of the best crowds that I've ever played in front of."

"I've played in two Canadian cities and that crowd tonight blows them out of the water. It's huge to have a loud crowd behind you when you are pushing for a win and we definitely had it tonight."

McGrattan later tweeted "best fans I have seen in 10 years of pro hockey at tonight's game! #predsfansrock"

The game got off to a quick start with plenty of energy on both sides. Marty Erat launched a hard slap shot from the point during the Predators' initial power play at 6:59 that gave the team a lead that was never relinquished.

Fan favorite, Jordin Tootoo explained the crowd's role in the Predators' quick start. "The first five minutes of the game was key for us to make sure we were mentally and physically into the game. We have great fans who bring a lot of energy and we feed off of that."

"Our fans are rowdy and they bring that kind of energy. When we make big plays, big saves, or score goals, our fans are involved and we notice it on the bench and it gets us fired up."

Mike Fisher sent the crowd to another volume level (as indicated by Ryan Porth's decibel meter) at 12:30 in the opening period to put the home team up 2-0. The lead lasted into the final period when the Blues' Chris Porter closed the gap to 2-1 with a goal at 4:01.

Pekka Rinne, who picked up his eleventh straight win was unbelievable, stopping 42 of 43 Blues' shots. None were bigger than the three stops that he made coming out of the TV time-out with 8:59 remaining in the game when the Smashville crowd had stood and cheered spontaneously for the entire interuption and had every player's adrenalin pumping.

Rinne described the feeling after the stoppage. "Any time the fans get that loud it's a huge boost for us. You get chills and it's a nice feeling and we really appreciate that. It is one of the greatest feelings ever."

Sergei Kostitsyn's empty-netter with 23 seconds left in the game finalized the score at 3-1.

The crowd was such a huge part of the game that coach Barry Trotz had several comments. "Tonight it felt different. You knew it was a playoff-type and the crowd was going at it. The Blues fans were trying to raise the noise and our fans drowned them out."

"At the last time out, you couldn't hear yourself think. We almost got caught on a couple of line changes because it was so loud. I was getting hoarse and the players couldn't hear who was up. I'll have to get used to it or go to voice classes."

Finally, the greatest praise of the Bridgestone faithful came from the Blues Head Coach, Ken Hitchcock. "You’re not going to beat Nashville in Nashville on Saturday night. This is like the Coliseum in Rome coming into this place on Saturday night."

The Predators will take Sunday off and return to practice on Monday to prepare for Tuesday's home contest with the Vancouver Canucks who will make their first visit to Nashville since last year's second round playoff series.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Barry Trotz (and His Son) Speak after Predators 3-1 Win over St. Louis

2012-02-04T23:13:00.001-06:00

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Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Tom Callahan Guests on This Week's Smashville on the Glass (Podcast)

2012-02-03T16:55:00.001-06:00

Our special guest on this week's episode of Smashville on the Glass Radio is Predators' radio guy, Tom Callahan. We discussed all the current goings on with the team and get Tom's somewhat surprising prediction on what David Poile will do heading into the trade deadline.

You can listen in the player below or go to Blog Talk Radio or iTunes to download...

Listen to internet radio with SmashvilleOnTheGlass on Blog Talk Radio

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Morning After Round-Up: Flyers 4, Predators 1

2012-02-03T09:44:00.000-06:00

It was inevitable that the Predators five game winning streak would not continue onward for the remainder of the season but it was disappointing that the team did not provide more offensive support for goalie Anders Lindback who played well enough to win had the Preds been able to mount more of a offensive challenge.

Lindback has played much better than his record indicates this season. He has only received four goals total from his teammates in his last four starts and he has been playing a few of the tougher teams in the Eastern Conference. He has had only one start at home this season.

The standout player of last night was Wayne Simmonds who was all over the ice the entire evening and scored two goals and amassed ten shots on goal. How the Philadelphia media voted Matt Read as the game's first star is hard to understand. Simmonds provided one of the more dominant on-ice presences that we have seen this season.

The Predators will have their work cut out for them in their next two games at home with the St. Louis Blues at the Bridgestone on Saturday and Vancouver making their first trip to Nashville on Tuesday. The Preds are currently a point ahead of the Blues and a point behind the Canucks so it will be critical for the team to be at their best in both contests.

Here is our game story from last night with our comments from the couch. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Josh Cooper: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes - Postgame Ponderings
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Doug Brumley (Preds.com)
NHL.com

Digital Media...

Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7)
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Dirk Hoag (On The Forecheck)
Paul McCann (HockeyBuzz)
Kris Martel (Predatorial)
Laura Hutchings (Lady Preds)
Fang Finger
Fang Faction

Philadelphia Media...

Flyers.com
Russ Cohen
Broad Street Hockey
Philly.com
Philly Burbs
Courrier Post
CSN Philly

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Matt Read
2. Wayne Simmonds
3. Brayden Schenn

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Flyers, Simmonds Resist Predator Comeback in 4-1 Victory

2012-02-02T20:55:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Predators lost to Wayne Simmonds and the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Simmonds, who has become a nemesis of the Predators, was clearly the hero of the game for the Flyers, scoring two goals and logging an amazing ten shots for the game. Matt Read picked up a goal and Claude Giroux scored his 19th goal of the year on an empty-netter.

Ryan Suter had the lone goal for the Predators.

Ilya Bryzgalov had better luck against the Predators than his prior game in Nashville as he stopped 26 of 27 Nashville shots. Anders Lindback allowed three goals on 27 Flyer shots in the loss.

The Flyers and Predators both had 66 points after the game but Philadelphia had played two less games.

The Predators returned home after the game and will play St. Louis at home on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Make the jump for more detail and comments from the couch...

At the Puck Drop...

Goalies: Anders Lindback (2-5-0, 2.65, .898) and Ilya Bryzgalov (18-10-5, 2.93, .896)

Scratches: Jack Hillen, Brandon Yip, and Brian McGrattan for the Predators. Erik Gustafsson, Jody Shelley, and Danny Briere for the Flyers.

First Period...

The Predators were outshooting the Flyers 7-3 at the first TV timeout at 7:29 in a very fast paced start to the game..

Jaromir Jagr was called for hooking David Legwand at 9:03 to pur the Preds on the game's first power play. At 10:21, Shea Weber fired a shot high that Craig Smith deflected into the net but it was waived off for being played with a high stick which was clearly the proper call. The Preds were credited with one shot on the man advantage.

The Flyers were first on the board at 15:41 when Simmonds made an acrobatic move to spin and put the puck into the net to put Philadelphia ahead 1-0.

Legwand drew his second hooking penalty of the game at 16:38 when Matt Carle got his stick around him. The Predators had two shots but no goals on the man advantage.

The Predators played well in the opening period but missed out on their power play opportunities in a period with only a few stoppages as indicated by only 15 faceoffs.

1st Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	12	23	0-0:00	9-6 60%
Flyers	1	6	13	2-4:00	6-9 40%

Second Period...

There was plenty of back and forth action in the first half of the period and the Flyers got away with a blatant tripping call and no make-up ensued.

The Predators situation deteriorated rapidly at when they were called for too many men on the ice at 9:56. Twenty-six seconds later, Ryan Suter was called for delay of game giving the Flyers 1:34 of five on three play. The Flyers took a time out after several scoring chances that ended with Lindback giving Scott Hartnell a shove.

As the man-advantage wore down, with four seconds left at 12:18, there were multiple scrums which resulted in a round of penalties for both squads. Legwand and Frankie Bouillon each received roughing penalties and Jakub Voracek was called for roughing and Hartnell received roughing and slashing calls.

At 14:32, Kevin Klein turned the puck over to Read who drove for the net and scored to give the Flyers the 2-0 lead. It was a goal that Lindback would have liked to have seen again.

The Predators went back on the man advantage at 15:18 when Andreas Lilja was called for roughing. The Preds did not manage a shot during their fourth power play.

2nd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	4	11	4-8:00	7-9 44%
Flyers	0	11	22	4-8:00	9-7 56%

Third Period...

Sergei Kostitsyn had a great scoring chance at :48 that could have made it a much more competitive game.

The Predators finally broke through when Craig Smith picked up a bobble from Matt Halischuk and sent it to Suter who put it into the net from the backside of the net to cut the Flyers lead to 2-1.

At 11:18, the save of the game was made by Lindback on a point blank shot from Simmonds to keep the game close.

The Predator comeback was hindered at 14:44 when Jerred Smithson was called for interference on Lilja. It didn't take long for Pred-killer Simmonds to do another spin-o-rama from point blank range to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead.

Lindback was pulled with a couple of minutes left and Giroux put the icing on the cake for the Flyers with an empty netter at 18:55.

3rd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	11	21	1-2:00	14-7 67%
Flyers	2	11	22	0-0:00	7-14 33%

Final...

Final	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	27	55	0-0:00	29-22 57%
Flyers	4	28	57	2-4:00	22-29 43%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Nashville Predators at the Philadelphia Flyers: Pre-Game Primer

2012-02-02T07:25:00.001-06:00

TV-Radio...

6:00 CST - TV: Fox Sports TN, TCN Philadelphia. Preds Radio Network (102.5-FM The Game)

Stage Setter...

The Nashville Predators are the hottest team in the NHL, going 13-2 in the last 15 games, and they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers in their second meeting of the season. The two teams feature the most balanced scoring in the league, with each having nine ten-goal scorers.

Make the jump for everything else...

Western Conference Standings...
Team GP Pts
1. * Detroit 51 69
2. * Vancouver 50 66
3. * San Jose   48 62
4. Nashville   51 66
5. St. Louis 49 65
6. Chicago 51 65
7. Los Angeles 51 50
8. Minnesota 50 55

9. Dallas 49 54
10. Colorado 52 54
11. Calgary   51 52
12. Phoenix   51 52

Prior Meetings...

The two teams faced off in Nashville on January 14 and the Predators took home a solid 4-2 win after getting off to a fast start and never slowing down. Nashville is 6-6-(3)-0 all time against the Flyers and 3-4-1 at the Wells Fargo Center.

Last Time Out...

Nashville beat the Wild in Minnesota 5-4 in an amazing four-goal third period comeback on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia lost 2-1 in a shoot-out to Winnipeg at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday..

Top Scorers (G-A-Pts)...

Nashville - M. Erat (11-25-36), S. Weber (10-25-35), D. Legwand (13-18-31), M. Fisher (14-16-30), C.Smith (11-19-30), C. Wilson (10-18-28), R. Suter (5-23-28) S. Kostitsyn (12-15-27) and P. Hornqvist (15-9-24).

Philadelphia - C. Giroux (18-37-55), S. Hartnell (25-19-44), J. Jagr (12-23-35), M. Read (15-16-31), K. Timonen (2-29-31),  D. Briere (13-17-30), J. Voracek (8-20-28), W. Simmonds (13-14-27), and M. Carle (4-22-26).

In Goal (W-L-O, GAA, save %)...

Nashville - P. Rinne (29-11-4, 2.40, .924) and A. Lindback (Starter) (2-5-0, 2.65, .898)

Philadelphia - S. Bobrovsky (11-4-1, 2.42,.919) and I. Bryzgalov (Starter) (18-10-5, 2.93,.896)

Other Comparisons...

Teams	Predators	Flyers
Record	31-16-4 (66)	29-14-6 (64)
Last 10	9-1-0	5-3-2
Home Record	16-7-3	11-7-4
Road Record	15-9-1	18-7-2
Power Play (rank)	22.4 (2)	20.7 (4)
Penalty Kill (rank)	82.6 (14)	82.6 (15)
Goals For (rank)	2.78 (11)	3.31 (2)
Goals Allowed (rank)	2.55 (10)	2.86 (21)
Shots For (rank)	27.5 (26)	32.4 (5)
Shots Allowed (rank)	30.9 (21)	29.0 (8)
Penalty Mins (rank)	9.5 (5)	15.4 (29)
Faceoff % (rank)	49.2 (22)	47.8 (27)

Injuries...

Nashville - Jerred Smithson (lower body) and Francis Bouillon (lower body)

Philadelphia - Zac Rinaldo (upper body), Chris Pronger (concussion), Blair Betts (lower body), Daniel Briere (concussion), James Van Riemsdyk (concussion), and F Ian LaPerriere (concussion)

Notes...

The Preds have comeback from a 2 or 3 goal deficits 7 times this season
Nashville was 11-2-0 in January which was the best in the NHL for the month
The Preds are 11-2-2 against the Central which is the best record in the NHL in a division
The Predators are 6-1-0 in their last seven road games
Nashville is 25-2-2 when scoring more than two goals.
Rinne is (2-1-0, 2.92, .917) in his career against the Flyers.
The Predators are 12-0-1 when Nick Spaling scores as he did last time against the Flyers.

Other Predator Previews...

Predators.com
The Tennessean
Ryan Porth
Amanda DiPaolo
Robby Stanley
Dirk Hoag
Paul McCann
Predatorial
Fang Finger

Philadelphia Media...

Flyers.com
Russ Cohen
Broad Street Hockey
Philly.com
Philly Burbs
Courrier Post
CSN Philly

Game Notes from NHL Media Services

A Look Ahead for the Preds...

Tonight @ Philadelphia 6 p.m.
Saturday St Louis 7 p.m.
Tuesday Vancouver 7 p.m.
Feb. 9 @ Ottawa 6:30 p.m.
Feb 11 @ Boston Noon

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Rinne Named NHL Third Star for January

2012-02-01T15:47:00.000-06:00

Two days after being named the NHL second star of the week for last week, Pekka Rinne was named the NHL third star for the month of January 2012 for his 11-1 record, leading the Predators to an outstanding month where they ended the month with the third highest point total in the league.

Make the jump for the details from the NHL...

TAVARES, MALKIN AND RINNE NAMED NHL 'THREE STARS' FOR JANUARY

NEW YORK (February 1, 2012) -- New York Islanders center John Tavares , Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin and Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne have been named the NHL 'Three Stars' for the month of January.

FIRST STAR -- JOHN TAVARES, C, NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Tavares led the NHL in assists (13) and points (22) and shared the League lead in plus-minus (+11) last month. Tavares recorded points in 12 of 13 games, including six multiple-point performances and four game-winning goals. He also made his first career appearance in the NHL All-Star Game. The 21-year-old Mississauga, Ontario native recorded a 12-game point streak from Dec. 29 to Jan. 21, posting 21 points (8-13--21).
It is the longest point streak by an NHL player this season. The first overall choice in the 2009 NHL Draft leads the Islanders in scoring with 53 points (22 goals, 31 assists) in 49 games. He is fourth among NHL scorers, tied for third in the NHL with six game-winning goals, and ranks fourth overall with 184 shots on goal.

SECOND STAR -- EVGENI MALKIN, C, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Malkin notched 16 points, featuring a League-leading 12 goals, as the Penguins finished January on an eight-game winning streak. Malkin tallied points in nine of 12 games, highlighted by a three-goal, five-point, +3 effort in a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning Jan. 15. He has tallied 14 points (10 goals, four assists) during the Penguins’ winning streak, including three game-winning goals (Jan. 13 vs. Florida, Jan. 15 at Tampa Bay and Jan. 22 in overtime vs. Washington) and two shootout-deciding tallies (Jan. 20 vs. Montreal and Jan. 31 vs. Toronto). The second overall selection in 2004 leads the NHL in scoring with 59 points (27 goals, 32
assists) in 43 games and is converting at 75% (six-for-eight) in the shootout, second to New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk (89%, eight-for-nine).

THIRD STAR -- PEKKA RINNE, G, NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Rinne went 11-1-0 with a 1.92 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and one shutout, helping the Predators record the second 11-win month in franchise history and move within three points of first place in the NHL overall standings. Rinne closed the month with victories in 10 consecutive starts, allowing two goals or fewer nine times. His streak included 35+ saves in consecutive wins over Philadelphia (4-2, 36 saves, Jan. 14), New York Islanders (3-1, 36 saves, Jan. 16) and Columbus (3-0, 38 saves, Jan. 19). Rinne has posted a 19-2-0 mark in his past 21 appearances to improve to 29-11-4 on the season – the second-highest victory total in the League behind Detroit's Jimmy Howard (31). He also ranks second among NHL goaltenders in saves (1,269), shots faced (1,374) and games (46).

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Morning After Round-Up: Predators 5, Wild 4

2012-02-01T07:27:00.000-06:00

The Nashville Predators continued to prove that there was something "special" (in Barry Trotz's words) about this years team as they notched their seventh comeback win of the season from two or three goals down as they scored three goals, including two by Mike Fisher, in the last 3:21 of play.

It was the Predators fifth win in a row and they are 15-2 in their last 17 games. Nashville finished January with an 11-2 record and are 19-5 since the stunning comeback win in Columbus on December 8.

Pekka Rinne picked up his ten victory in a row and is 20-2 in his last 22 decisions.

The win left the Predators with 66 points and three behind Detroit, for the Western Conference and Central Division lead. The Preds had pulled within a point of Detroit before the Wings finished off Calgary 3-1 in a late game.

Nashville now has the third highest point total in the NHL with only the Wings (69) and Rangers (67) having more and Boston (66) having the same number.

The Preds are on pace for 106 points and are 12 points ahead of ninth place Colorado. They would be assured of a playoff berth if they averaged a point a game for the final 31 games of the season.

The Predators face a tough February schedule, playing a who's who of playoff contenders, starting with a trip to Philadelphia on Thursday to face the Flyers at 6 p.m.

Here is our game story from last night with our comments from the couch. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Josh Cooper: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes - Postgame Ponderings
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Doug Brumley (Preds.com)
NHL.com

Digital Media...

Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7)
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303)
Dirk Hoag (On The Forecheck)
Kris Martel (Predatorial)
Laura Hutchings (Lady Preds)
Fang Finger

Minnesota Media...

Wild.com
Minnesota Star Tribune
Pioneer Press
View From the Lighthouse
Hockey Wilderness
Glen Andresen
Wild post-game Notes

Audio from the Predators comes from....

102.5 The Game - Tom Callahan's Highlight Reel

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Dany Heatley
2. Mike Fisher
3. Cal Clutterbuck

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Stun Wild in 5-4 Miracle Victory

2012-01-31T22:08:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Predators struck with their most unbelievable comeback victory of the year with a 5-4 win where the Preds came back from two three-goal deficits including finding the net three times in the last 3:21 of the game.

The Preds scored four times in the final period with two goals from Mike Fisher, including the game-tying goal and the game winner, and single goals from Patric Hornqvist and Brandon Yip. Matt Halischuk had the other Predator goal in the second period when the team was down 3-1.

Pekka Rinne did not have his best game but held firm when it counted stopping 21 of 25 Wild shots to pick up his tenth win in a row. Josh Harding was the hard luck loser for the Wild, giving up five goals on 30 shots.

Dany Heatley had two goals in the losing effort and Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Brodziak added single goals in what appeared to be an easy win for the Wild.

The victory moved the Predators to 66 points and fourth place in the Western Conference, a point behind Detroit, who was playing at Calgary.

Make the jump for more details and a few comments from the couch...

At The Puck Drop...

Pekka Rinne (28-11-4, 2.36, .925) was in goal for the Predators while Josh Harding (9-6-3, 2.42, .925) was between the pipes for Minnesota.

Scratches: Nashville - Brian McGrattan, Jerred Smithson, and Francis Bouillon. Minnesota - Mike Lundin, Marek Zidlicky, and Brad Staubitz.

First Period...

The Predators were slow out of the gate to start the game as is typical after a long break as they have been 3-6-1 after three day or more breaks over the last season and a half.. Patrick Hornqvist and David Legwand had good scoring chances early.

Heatley put the Wild ahead 1-0 at 8:04 on an assist from Nick Johnson.

Justin Falk put the Preds on the man advantage at 9:39 to give Nashville a chance to tie the game. Colin Wilson got the only shot on the man advantage.

Shea Weber was called for holding Kyle Brodziak at 12:15. Heatly scored his second goal on his second shot of the power play to put Minnesota up 2-0.

The Predators played a little better toward the end of the opening period and had the final five shots of the period in the closing three periods. Craig Smith had three shots to be the only multiple shot player in the period for Nashville.

1st Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	10	23	1-2:00	14-14 50%
Wild	2	11	18	1-2:00	14-14 50%

Second Period...

The Wild came out with renewed enthusiasm to start the second period and Clutterbuck put in an odd bouncing wrister from close to the net at 1:29 to put up a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead. Cullen picked up his second helper of the evening.

Jordin Tootoo and Clutterbuck hooked up with a slashing/roughing coincidental minor at 6:02 to generate two minutes of four on four play. The Wild outshot the Preds 2-1 during the resulting play.

At 9:33, Halischuk scored his twelfth goal of the year on a tip from Kevin Klein. Yip got his first point as a Predator with the secondary assist. As the period wore down, Nashville appeared to be playing with more enthusiasm.

2nd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	8	14	1-2:00	14-12 54%
Wild	1	7	19	1-2:00	12-14 46%

Third Period...

Any hopes that Nashville had of making a comeback was dealt a severe blow 16 seconds into the final period when Brodziak slipped the puck past Rinne to extend Minnesota's lead to three again at 4-1. Johnson picked up his second assist of the game and Heatley got his third point with a helper on the play.

The Predators scored a goal at 9:22 to pull within two at 4-2 when Yip put the puck over the line on a play that was never indicated as a goal until it was reviewed. Halischuk and Craig Smith picked up helpers.

Unbelievably, the Predators pulled within a goal at 4-3 at 16:39 when Hornqvist put the puck in the net with assists going to Kostitsyn and Weber.

Twenty-one seconds later, Fisher scored to tie the game at 4-4 with assists going to Colin Wilson and Marty Erat.

The miracle comeback was completed with 21 seconds remaining and time winding down when Fisher scored an unassisted goal to seal the Predators 5-4 victory.

3rd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	4	12	21	0-0:00	4-11 27%
Wild	1	7	13	0-0:00	11-4 73%

Final...

Final	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	5	30	58	2-4:00	32-37 46%
Wild	4	25	50	2-4:00	37-32 54%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Fifty Years of Nashville Hockey Documentary to Air on FS TN

2012-01-31T16:23:00.000-06:00

The recently completed documentary entitled "Gold Record: 50 Years of Hockey History in Music City" will debut on Fox Sports Tennessee next Tuesday, February 7, at 6 p.m. just prior to the Vancouver Canucks at Nashville game.

It is a great historical piece that brings to light the long history of hockey in Nashville and features many local folks that you know relating their experiences.

Make the Jump for details as well as future airing dates...

“NASHVILLE PREDATORS PRESENT: GOLD RECORD – 50 YEARS OF HOCKEY HISTORY IN MUSIC CITY” TO DEBUT TONIGHT ON FOX SPORTS TENNESSEE
- In-house documentary chronicles the history of hockey in Nashville -

Nashville, Tenn. (January 31, 2012) – Leading into Tuesday, Febuary 7, Nashville Predators game vs. the Vancouver Canucks, the Preds flagship TV station, FOX Sports Tennessee, will debut the one-hour documentary “Nashville Predators Present: Gold Record – 50 Years of Hockey History in Music City.”

This special takes a look back at the history of hockey in Nashville, beginning with the Dixie Flyers in 1962 all the way through to the present day Nashville Predators. The show features interviews with Dixie Flyers captain Ken “Red” Murphy, South Stars owner Larry Schmittou, Knights radio broadcaster Steve Carroll, current Predators Chairman Tom Cigarran and country legend and hockey aficionado Barbara Mandrell, among others. Fans will travel back in time to Municipal Auditorium, the original home of hockey in Nashville, by way of vintage footage and rare photos. This all encompassing look at hockey in Music City will air on Fox Sports Tennessee several times over the next 6-8 weeks.

“Gold Record truly highlights the history and passion Nashville has had for hockey of the last half century,” Nashville Predators Executive Vice President Chris Parker said. “It is a tribute to all the teams, players and fans who came before the Predators and laid the foundation for the support we have received over the last 15 years. We are sure that hockey fans and all sports fans in general will enjoy the program!”

The documentary was first shared as a Christmas gift to Season Ticketholders, Premium Suite Holders, Corporate Partners and staff. Tonight marks the first of several cable broadcasts (Comcast HD Channel: 1675, SD 28).

Upcoming Broadcast Schedule:
· TONIGHT, Tuesday, Feb. 7
o 6 p.m. CT (leading into Preds vs. VAN)
o 10 p.m. CT (following VAN post-game show)
· Thursday, Feb. 9
o 10 p.m. CT (following Preds Snapshot, which follows OTT post-game show)
· Saturday, Feb. 11
o 9 p.m. CT
· Tuesday, Feb. 14
o 10 p.m. CT (follows CHI post-game show)
· Sun day, Feb. 19
o 9 p.m. CT (follows DAL post-game show)
· Saturday, Feb. 25
o 11 a.m. CT
· March and April airdates TBD

The Nashville Predators take on the Minnesota Wild tonight (7 p.m., FSTN, 102.5 The Game) at the Xcel Energy Center in their first game back after the All-Star break. The team heads to Philadelphia on Thursday (6 p.m., FSTN, 102.5 The Game) to take on the Flyers before returning to Nashville to face off against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. To purchase tickets, visit nashvillepredators.com or call 615-770-PUCK (7825).

Saturday also marks the annual Nashville Predators Fangtastic 5k Run/Walk, presented by Adventureworks. The Run/Walk begins at 10 a.m. and features an all-new course that takes runners and walkers through downtown Nashville, beginning and ending at Bridgestone Arena. More information, registration, race updates and packet pickup information may be accessed through nashvillepredators.com/5Krunwalk.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Odds Update On Goalie Wins and Leading Goal Scorer in NHL

2012-01-30T19:26:00.002-06:00

A couple of the more interesting proposition bets on the board in at the Harvey's SportsBook in Lake Tahoe were for regular season goalie wins and the leading goal scorer (Rocket Richard Trophy Winner).

Here are the latest odds with he current numbers in parenthesis...

Goalie Wins

Jimmy Howard (30) 4/7
Pekka Rinne (28) 9/2
Marc Andre Fleury (26) 7/1
Field 8/1 (Includes Craig Anderson (25)
Henrik Lundqvist (22) 9/1
Miikka Kiprusoff (22) 10/1
Tim Thomas (20) 12/1
Jonathan Quick (21) 15/1
Roberto Luongo (20) 20/1
Antti Niemi (21) 20/1

Leading Goal Scorer

Steven Stamkos (32) 1/3
Phil Kessel (26) 9/2
Jonathan Toews (27) 2/1
Marion Gaborik (25) 8/1
Field 8/1 (Includes Neal (27), Hartnell (25), Vrbata (23), Michalek (23), Moulson (22), and many more)
Evgeni Malkin (26) 15/1
Corey Perry (22) 22/1
Thomas Vanek (19) 25/1
Daniel Sedin (21) 25/1
Alex Ovechkin (20) 28/1

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Bridgestone Arena Nominated for 2011 ACM Venue of the Year

2012-01-30T19:07:00.000-06:00

Nashville's Bridgestone Arena was nominated for the 2011 Academy of Country Music Venue of the Year. The awards continue to roll in for the folks at 501 Broadway. Make the jump for the full release from Bridgestone Arena and the Nashville Predators...

BRIDGESTONE ARENA NOMINATED FOR 2011 ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR
-Successful year sees Bridgestone Arena net second ACM nomination-

Nashville Tenn. (January 30, 2012) – Bridgestone Arena has been nominated for 2011 Venue of the Year at the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. Four other venues have been nominated for this honor, including the BOK Center (Tulsa, Okla.), First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (Chicago), Jiffy Lube Live (Bristow, Va.) and Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.). Bridgestone Arena took home Venue of the Year at the 45thAnnual ACM Awards for calendar year 2009.

“This nomination speaks volumes on Bridgestone Arena as a premier country music venue,” Bridgestone Arena Vice President of Booking David Kells said. “Though we offer a variety of entertainment, from Nashville Predators games, to the circus to rock shows, we haven’t forgotten Nashville’s music roots; this past year we hosted several successful country shows such as Brad Paisley, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, CMA Awards and the CMT Music Awards. We are proud of this nomination and hope to bring home a second ACM Venue of the Year Award.”

The 47th Academy of Country Music Awards is dedicated to honoring and showcasing the biggest names and emerging talent in the country music industry. The Venue of the Year Award is presented to an outstanding venue, selected by a panel of Blue Ribbon Judges. The venue must have bought or promoted at least five country concerts/dates during the prior calendar year of Dec. 1-Nov. 30 , be in good standing with all agents and help promote country ticket sales. The winner from the previous year is ineligible for a consecutive nomination in this category. The 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards broadcasts live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 7 p.m. CT on CBS. Industry awards, including the Venue of the Year Award, will be announced later in the year in Nashville.

Serving as the home for numerous national and international events, Bridgestone Arena has the distinction of being one of the busiest venues in the Unites States over the past decade and a half, hosting more than 18 million guests during that time and being named one of the Top 10 busiest venues in the country for the last two years by top industry publication, Pollstar. The NHL’s Nashville Predators have been the primary tenants of Bridgestone Arena since 1998 and boast one of the most unique game atmospheres in the NHL. The list of acts that have called Bridgestone Arena home is lengthy and includes the CMA Awards; the CMT Awards; Keith Urban’s “We’re All For the Hall” benefit concerts; NCAA, SEC and OVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments; and entertainers such as Garth Brooks, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Billy Joel, the Rolling Stones, Tim McGraw, KISS, Metallica and Lady Gaga. The arena is set to host the NCAA 2012 Men’s Basketball Tournament and 2014 Women’s Final Four.

To receive regular updates on upcoming events at Bridgestone Arena go to bridgestonearena.com. For more information on the Nashville Predators, game schedule and ticket availability, please visit nashvillepredators.com.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Pekka Rinne Named NHL Second Star of the Week

2012-01-30T16:29:00.001-06:00

Not unexpectedly, Pekka Rinne was named the NHL's second star of the week for last week as he extended his winning streak to nine games with two wins in two days before the All-Star break.

Make the jump for the full story from the NHL...

GRABOVSKI, RINNE AND ALFREDSSON NAMED NHL 'THREE STARS' OF THE WEEK

NEW YORK (January 30, 2012) -- Toronto Maple Leafs center Mikhail Grabovski, Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne and Ottawa Senators right wing Daniel Alfredsson and have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending Jan. 29.

FIRST STAR -- MIKHAIL GRABOVSKI, C, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Grabovski tallied a League-leading five points (one goal, four
assists) in two games during a shortened week prior to the All-Star break as the Maple Leafs (25-19-5) recorded back-to-back victories and drew even in points with the #7 Florida Panthers and #8 New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Grabovski recorded one assist in a 3-0 win over the New York Islanders Jan. 23 and tallied a season-high four points (one goal, three assists) in a 4-3 overtime win on Long Island Jan. 24 that gave Toronto a sweep of the home-and-home series. Playing in his fourth season with the Maple Leafs, Grabovski increased his season scoring total to 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) in 43 games.

SECOND STAR -- PEKKA RINNE, G, NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Rinne extended his winning streak to nine games by posting a 2-0-0 record, 1.00 goals-against average and .961 save percentage as the Predators (30-16-4) closed within three points of first place in the NHL overall standings at the All-Star break. Rinne made 25 saves in a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Jan. 23 and stopped 24 shots in a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks Jan. 24. Rinne improved his season record to 28-11-4 with a 2.36 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and four shutouts in 45 appearances. He has won each of his past nine starts, allowing two goals or fewer in every contest.

THIRD STAR -- DANIEL ALFREDSSON, RW, OTTAWA SENATORS

Alfredsson tallied goals in each of the Senators' two games leading into the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend and was a star attraction in front of a home crowd as Ottawa hosted the League's mid-season showcase. He tallied his team's lone goal in a 4-1 loss at Los Angeles Jan. 23 and notched the 406th goal of his NHL career in a 3-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes Jan. 24. Serving as captain of Team Alfredsson in the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game, the 39-year-old Gothenburg, Sweden native drew a standing ovation from the Scotiabank Place crowd with a pair of goals 1:31 apart in the second period that turned a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead over Team Zdeno Chara. Alfredsson also tallied an assist and recorded seven shots on goal, tied with Team Chara's Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks for the most among all players in the 12-9 loss to Team Chara.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Here's My Pick for Today's Game

2012-01-29T11:02:00.001-06:00

An All-Star Weekend Look Back: Stanley Cup Winner and NHL Awards

2012-01-28T15:21:00.001-06:00

On Thursday, we took a look at our preseason picks in the Eastern Conference and yesterday we looked at how we were faring in the Western Conference.

To wrap up the three part series, we will look at how we are faring with our playoff picks as well as our NHL Award winners.

Here's what we had to say in the East...

Eastern Conference...

Using the order of finish in my picks, here are the First Round match-ups.

Washington over Montreal
Pittsburgh over Buffalo
Boston over Tampa
New York Rangers over Philadelphia

Second Round

Washington over New York
Pittsburgh over Boston

Eastern Conference Finals

Pittsburgh over Washington (and NBC loves the match-up)

It does look like that we will have five of the eight eventual playoff teams and if Sidney Crosby makes it back and is healthy for the playoffs, I could see the Pens making it to the finals. Washington could make the finals but if I am making a pick today, I would have to go with Boston repeating as the finalist out of the East and I would project the Rangers as their opponent in the Eastern finals.

I think we can safely say that Montreal, Tampa Bay, and Buffalo will not be sniffing the top eight at the season's end.

In the Western Conference, we fared a bit better picking the top eight, with only Anaheim looking like that they are out of the picture...

Western Conference...

First Round

Vancouver over St. Louis
Los Angeles over Anaheim (great cross-town rivalry)
Nashville over Detroit (finally)
Chicago over San Jose

Second Round

Chicago over Vancouver
Los Angeles over Nashville (seven games - Kings win on home ice)

Western Conference Finals

Los Angeles over Chicago

For the second year in a row, I had high hopes for the Kings but unless they make a few serious plays at the trade deadline I don't see them going far in the playoffs.

At this point, I think the Western Conference winner will come out of the Central Division with any of the four that are playing well having a chance to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Here's what we had to say about the finals and the potential for this match-up looks pretty grim at this point. Again, at this point, I think whichever Central Division team makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals will be the team that lifts the Cup in 2012.

Stanley Cup Finals...

It will be a great match-up between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles with Pittsburgh having the home ice advantage by virtue of three points or less difference during the regular season.

Sidney Crosby will take the Conn Smythe when the Pens win it on home ice in game seven.

I'm feeling a little better about a few of my finalists in the NHL Award categories that I predicted.

NHL Awards...

Here are some guesses (not predictions) of the top three in each category and the projected winners.

Hart Trophy

Evgeni Malkin
Alex Ovechkin (winner)
Steven Stamkos

As always, with the Hart Trophy, a lot will depend on how a player's team finishes out the season. At this point, I don't see Ovechkin anywhere on the ballot as he has had a disappointing year and the Caps have been all over the map as a team.

If I were picking at this point, I would pick Malkin as the winner, and Claude Giroux and Marian Hossa as the other two finalists.

Norris Trophy

Duncan Keith
Niclas Lidstrom (winner in his swan song season)
Shea Weber

Unless Shea Weber falls flat on his face during the stretch run and the Predators collapse, I would say that the Norris is his to lose. I would bounce Keith out of the top three and add Erik Karlsson as the third finalist.

Vezina Trophy

Henrik Lundqvist
Ryan Miller
Pekka Rinne (winner)

It may have seemed like a homer pick with Rinne as the winner of the Vezina but I will stand by it at this time. He is known for strong finishes and he is two behind Jimmy Howard in wins at the break. Obviously, Ryan Miller will not be a finalist and I would remove him and place Howard as the third pick.

Calder Trophy

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Gabriel Landeskog (winner)
Adam Larsson

Nugent-Hopkins was the easy pick for the Calder for most of the season but an injury has made this a much wider field than originally thought. Other than Nugent-Hopkins, there are probably ten players that could make the top three. It will be interesting to see who rises to the top in the final part of the season.

Jack Adams Trophy

Dan Bylsma
John Tortorella
Barry Trotz (Winner - Finally)

If the Predators make a surge at the end of the season, Barry Trotz could indeed be in the top three and Tortorella and Bylsma are never bad picks. The race is still wide open and who makes the biggest move down the stretch should have plenty to do with who the top three will end up being.

Jennings Trophy (Included for all the Jennings Trophy Watch fans)

Nashville (winner)
Boston
Vancouver

This was a bit of a joke that I included the Jennings as we had fun with the "Jennings Watch" last season. This year, it looks like St. Louis and the Rangers could battle down to the wire as both have team GAA's under two at the All-Star break.

So there you have it. We have to be accountable for all our bad predictions in the preseason. We'll take a final look again, once the season is over.

More Later...

The Odds Finally Went Up on the Board in Lake Tahoe

2012-01-28T14:18:00.000-06:00

I will reveal my pick on Sunday before the game.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Updated Odds for the NHL Stanley Cup from Lake Tahoe

2012-01-27T11:57:00.002-06:00

This morning, we were somewhat surprised that the odds were yet to be posted for Sunday's NHL All-Star Game. The excuse given was they did not like the selection method for the teams.

In the meantime, here are the latest odds to win the 2012 Stanley Cup straight off the big boards at Harvey's Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe.

New York Rangers 4/1
Boston Bruins 5/1
Chicago Blackhawks 11/2
Vancouver Canucks 6/1
St. Louis Blues 6/1
San Jose Sharks 9/1
Detroit Red Wings 10/1
Washington Capitals 15/1
Pittsburgh Penguins 18/1
Philadelphis Flyers 18/1
Los Angeles Kings 20/1
Colorado Avalanche 25/1
Nashville Predators 28/1
New Jersey Devils 30/1
Ottawa Senators 30/1
Toronto Maple Leafs 35/1
Minnesota Wild 35/1
Florida Panthers 40/1
Calgary Flames 60/1
Dallas Stars 60/1
Phoenix Coyotes 70/1
Tampa Bay Lightning 75/1
Winnipeg Jets 75/1
Montreal Canadiens 75/1
Buffalo Sabres 75/1
Anaheim Ducks 100/1
Edmonton Oilers 200/1
New York Islanders 200/1
Carolina Hurricanes 275/1
Columbus Blue Jackets 500/1

Well have more later with some the odds on goalies to lead in wins, goal leaders, and hopefully, the line on Sunday's All-Star Game.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

An All-Star Weekend Look Back: Western Conference

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we looked back at our preseason predictions for the Eastern Conference and today we head to the Western Conference where we should have been able to do a better job due to familiarity with the Predators' opponents.

This has been an odd year in the West, where no one would have predicted that four of the top five records in the West and four of the top seven in the NHL at the break would come out of the Central Division. The potential was there but the reality is still hard to digest.

1.Detroit Red Wings (6) In spite of our lowly preseason predictions no one could doubt the Wings chances to win the Western Conference. The Wings' 20-2-1 record at home is phenomenal but will not be repeated down the stretch. It is still anyone's guess as to who will win the Central and the West.

2. Vancouver Canucks (1) As it turns out, the Nucks have little competition in the Northwest and the Wild are dropping like a rock. Unless Colorado makes a run, it is possible that Vancouver is the only playoff team out of the division.

3. San Jose Sharks (4) I expected great things out of the Kings that have not happened (yet) but also felt that the Sharks would push for the top spot in the Pacific Division. San Jose has the best road records in the league and could win the division if they improve their play on home ice, where they have excelled in the past.

4. St. Louis Blues (8) The Blues were not bad under Davis Payne but have been unbelievable under Ken Hitchcock. It is one of the biggest turn-rounds in the NHL in recent history. The team had all the pieces in place at the start of the year but Hitchcock has been masterful in making the team click.

5. Nashville Predators (3) Anything that I would say at this point would raise allegations of bias but I predicted that the Preds would win the division and I will stand by that. Pekka Rinne is hitting his (career) stride, going 18-2-0 in his last 20 decisions. The team has balanced scoring with nine players with ten or more goals. David Poile promised a better second half so the Western Conference title and the President's Trophy is not out of reach. Ryan Suter will stay with the team and more assets will be added before the trade deadline.

6. Chicago Blackhawks (5) The Hawks have a fantastic team and have rebounded from their Stanley Cup hangover season. They have all the pieces in place to go deep in the playoffs. They currently are experiencing the injury bug but will be back to full strength in the near future.

7. Los Angeles Kings (2) The Kings are my most disappointing team in the West for the second year in a row. I have been predicting greatness for this team that is yet to occur. They are only two points behind the Sharks and have played well on the road. I maintain that they will win the Pacific ang grab the third seed.

8. Minnesota Wild (12) The Wild were an early season sensation but are 3-6-1 in their last ten and are suffering from the injury bug. I maintain that my preseason slot is close to where they will end up. The next couple of weeks will determine if they are buyers or sellers at the deadline.

9. Colorado Avalanche (15) The Avs have exceeded expectations but are still a ways away from a playoff berth. They have plenty of young talent and will not finish last in the West as I predicted but will not make the playoffs. It will be interesting to see what they do at the deadline as far as acquiring additional talent to build for the future. I hope they send Shane O'Brien back to the Predators.

10. Dallas Stars (11) In spite of a great run early in the year, the Stars are headed for a position more in line with the talent that they have. In the long run, they are a team that should improve in the future but it will not be in the second half of this season.

11. Calgary Flames (9) Of all the teams currently on the outside looking in, the Flames may be the one team that makes a move late in the year for a playoff position. Playing in the Northwest, I would put them as the second team in if they can finish in front of Dallas and Phoenix. Much will depend on what moves they make at the deadline.

12. Phoenix Coyotes (10) I felt that the Yotes would miss the playoffs for the first time in three years and still do but for different reasons. The long-time ordeal of ownership in the desert may finally be starting to take it's toll on the players since it appears that they will be on the move to Seattle, Las Vegas, or who knows where. The fans in Phoenix are the real losers but credit Gary Bettman for doing everything possible to keep the team in Glendale.

13. Anaheim Ducks (7) The mystery team in the West has to be the Ducks. After finishing fourth last season, they finished flat on their face coming out of the gates and managed to pick up Bruce Boudreau as the new skipper after Randy Carlilse was fired. The team is finally playing well and should finish strong. They are 12 points out of a playoff spot so it would take an incredible run to get in but my bet is that they will come close but not make it in.

14. Edmonton Oilers (14) The Oil are where they we expected them to be in spite of a strong start and a good early run by Nikolai Khabibulin. They have plenty of young talent but appear destined for another high draft pick.

15. Columbus Blue Jackets (13) The BJ's have proven to be the doormat of the NHL and despite spending up to the cap in the offseason they have less to show for it than any of the other 29 teams. The Jacket fans are planning a rally on Saturday to protest and they should.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Weber and Suter to Face Each Other in 2012 NHL All-Star Game

2012-01-26T21:04:00.001-06:00

When the puck drops on Sunday's 2012 NHL All-Star Game, Nashville Predators Captain Shea Weber and Alternate Captain Ryan Suter will be on opposing teams for the first time in an official competition since the 2010 Winter Olympics Gold Medal game.

Weber and Suter were back to back picks on Thursday night at the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft. Shea Weber was taken in the eighth round by Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara countered with the next pick in the ninth round grabbing Suter.

Chara had the first pick in the draft and took Pavel Datsyuk while Alfredsson took his teammate and hometown favorite Erik Karlsson.

I am at the Harvey's Casino Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe and they have yet to post the odds on the game but if I was handicapping, I would say that Chara has a better squad but with Alfredson grabbing all of his hometown players, there will be a distinct home ice advantage for the Ottawans. I'm thinking that they will be a slight favorite.

Predator Craig Smith who will participate in the rookie skills competition on Saturday was chosen by Team Alfredsson.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

An All-Star Weekend Look Back: Eastern Conference

2012-01-26T09:42:00.000-06:00

Today we begin our annual All-Star Weekend look back at our preseason predictions to see how we have fared with our guesswork. We will start today with the Eastern Conference, then take on the Western Conference on Friday, and then look at our playoff and award prognostications on the weekend.

We will take the teams in order of the current standings at the break and put our prediction in parenthesis.

1. New York Rangers (5) In the preseason we said “This could be the year that the Rangers move from being a borderline playoff team to a contender.” The Rangers have remained healthy and have gotten a good array of scoring, with Marion Gaborik leading the pack with 25 goals. Martin Biron has been great as the backup to Henrik Lundqvist, allowing him to take a few more games off to conserve energy. The Rangers will have their work cut out for them to remain at the top of the Atlantic Division for the rest of the year.

2. Boston Bruins (3) The expectation was for the Bruins to repeat as Northeast Division Champs and at this point they appear to be well on their way to doing so. After a slow start, they have played as well as anyone in the NHL and should cruise to a top seed in the playoffs. Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask have actually played better than their record setting season last year.

3. Washington Capitals (1) I really expected that this would be the year for the Caps and could never have expected the turmoil that led to Bruce Boudreau's firing. The team appears to have righted their ship and should win the Southeast Division rather handily. It is unfortunate that Mike Green will probably not see much action for the as he was an important cog in their defense and would help them go further in the playoffs.

4. Philadelphia Flyers (4) Even without Chris Pronger, the Flyers have performed about as we expected. We had concerns about Ilya Bryzgalov “falling into the black hole” that seems to engulf netminders in Philadelphia and while he has not fallen completely in, he has danced around the edge. Sergei Bobrowski has been a lifesaver for the Flyers at times.

5. Pittsburgh Penguins (2) Sidney Crosby was a point and a half per game player when he played but unfortunately, he only made the lineup eight times. Evgeni Malkin is making a strong push for the Hart Trophy as he has been carrying the team on his back in recent weeks. James Neal was a great addition last season and is paying full dividends even without Crosby. The team should make the playoffs but their ability to go deep will rest on Crosby's return.

6. Ottawa Senators (15) “Little hope to escape the cellar in the East” was my preseason prediction for the Sens. They have had a great run but I'm still not convinced that they are a playoff team. Craig Anderson has been great as have their cast of “All-Star” performers. I doubt that the team will do as well down the stretch and put their chance for the postseason at 50-50.

7. Florida Panthers (14) The Cats are the other big surprise of the year and I will firmly predict that they will not make the playoffs unless they have a big injection of talent at the trade deadline. Kevin Dineen has performed miracles by bringing all the imported players together to make a team that performed well for a while but the smoke and mirrors that they have used so far will cease to work when the playoff push gets serious.

8. New Jersey Devils (9) The biggest challenge facing the Devils down the stretch will be their divisional opponents. However, like the Central Division in the West, I do expect the Atlantic to sneak four teams into the playoffs with the Devils bringing up the rear. Johan Hedberg has been a lifesaver, playing well enough to give Marty Brodeur a few games off to save himself for later in the year.

9. Toronto Maple Leafs (10) At this point, I predict that the Leafs will be the team to move into the top eight and bump out the Panthers or the Sens. They have been a marginally competitive team so far but I don't expect Brian Burke to be sitting on his hands at the deadline. I predict that Toronto will be one of the more active trade partners in the next five weeks for better or worse.

10. Winnipeg Jets (12) The Peggers have been great at home and have been one of the fun stories of the season but are horrible on the road, winning only seven games so far. As the season wears on, the travel will wear on them as well. It is too bad that the re-alignment has been delayed, returning them to Southeast Division purgatory for another year next season.

11. Tampa Bay Lightning (6) The Bolts have been one of the bigger disappointments of the year in the NHL. They have played well at home but have been miserable on the road. Their reliance on the aging Dwayne Roloson as the number one goalie caught up with them and Mathieu Garon is a quality backup but cannot lead them to the promised land this season. Picking up a goalie at the trade deadline will help the future but will be too little, too late, this season.

12. Montreal Canadiens (8) The Habs have had an unexpected fall from grace and it has truly been a team effort. I had predicted that they were the best of a group below the top seven in the East and I was way off base. Little has gone right for the team and the fans have turned on them. They will be sellers at the deadline and hopefully will be able to pick up a few assets for the future.

13. New York Islanders (13) The Isles are exactly where I predicted them to be but have made strides lately with Evgeni Nabokov in net. Despite being in a tough division, I think that they will finish higher than their current position at season's end.

14. Buffalo Sabres (7) I predicted that “Lindy Ruff may have his toughest test yet” before the year started and was not a believer in buying a team, but I had no idea that things could go this wrong. Ever since Milan Lucic nailed Ryan Miller the Sabres have been in a tailspin and I don't see a soft landing. They will be sellers at the deadline and Ruff will survive the fall and be back next year.

15. Carolina Hurricanes (11) The Canes have been worse than expected and after seeing them in person, I can honestly say that they are indeed not very good. Injuries have not helped their situation and hopefully they can pick up a few assets at the deadline.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Morning After Round-Up: Predators 3, Blackhawks 1

2012-01-25T13:47:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Predators were fortunate to catch the Chicago Blackhawks during a bit of a lull in the great run that they were on when they surged to the top of the Western Conference. Without Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp they are not nearly as daunting an opponent.

Conversely, the Predators may be playing the best hockey in franchise history. Certainly, Pekka Rinne's 18-2-0 run is unprecedented. Barry Trotz indicated that the All-Star break could not be coming at a better time. Despite the current momentum, he indicated that all were looking forward to the time off.

The primary complaint that pundits expressed in the preseason was that the Predators did not have enough scoring. Currently, only Vancouver, Detroit and Chicago have more goals per game than the Preds in the Western Conference.

The Predators have balanced scoring across all four lines and that has been a strength in that they have been able to frustrate opponents who have not been able to match defensive pairings effectively.

You have to go all the way down to #77 in the goals ranking to find the Preds top goal scorer in Patrick Hornqvist, but they are one of only two teams (Flyers are the other) that have nine players with ten or more goals.

It is hard to imagine that the Predators will continue at the same pace after the break as they have last six weeks but they are in perfect position to continue to move upward in the Western Conference standings.

Here is our game story from last night with the comments from the couch. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Josh Cooper: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes - Postgame Ponderings
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Diamond's Gem's (Preds.com)
NHL.com

Digital Media...

Jim Diamond (The Examiner)
Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7)
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303) Game Story - LeftGovers
Patten Fuqua (Puck Scene)
Sam Page (On The Forecheck)
Paul McCann (HockeyBuzz)
Kris Martel (Predatorial)
Laura Hutchings (Lady Preds)
Fang Finger

Chicago Media...

Hawks.com
Second City Hockey
The Sun Times
The Daily Herald
Chicago Tribune
CSN Chicago

Audio from the Predators comes from....

Postgame Radio from 102.5 featuring Patric Hornqvist and Brandon Yip.

From Chicago, we hear from...

Joel Quenneville
Duncan Keith
Patrick Kane

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Pekka Rinne
2. Dave Bolland
3. Mike Fisher

Here is the video of the Brandon Yip vs Steve Montador scuffle from last night...

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Move into Third in the Central with 3-1 Win over Hawks

2012-01-24T22:30:00.000-06:00

The Nashville Predators bent but did not break as the Chicago Blackhawks did everything they could to try to come back and beat the Nashville Predators with a big third period push at the United Center on Tuesday night.

Nashville survived the pressure and came away with a 3-1 win that moved them ahead of the Blackhawks into third place with 64 points in the highly contested Central Division. The Predators entered the All-Star break just three points behind division leading Detroit and a point behind the St. Louis Blues, who picked up a point earlier in the evening in a shoot-out loss to Pittsburgh.

Nashville got first period goals from Craig Smith and Mike Fisher and carried the 2-0 lead into the final period. Dave Bolland cut the lead in half at 7:20 in the third and the Hawks were like sharks smelling blood for the remainder of the contest.

Colin Wilson's empty net power play goal with 13 seconds remaining sealed the victory.

The real hero of the game was Pekka Rinne, who stopped 24 of 25 Hawk shots and withstood many other scoring chances. Corey Crawford was much better than he was last Saturday in Nashville as he stopped all but two of the Predators 26 shots.

Rinne extended his own team record of eight wins in a row and is now 18-2-0 in his last 20 decisions.

With the exception of All-Stars Ryan Suter, Shea Weber, and Craig Smith, the rest of the team will have some much needed time off before they regroup at Centennial Sportsplex next Monday to prepare for Tuesday's game in Minnesota.

Make the jump for more details and comments from the couch...

Puck Drop...

Goalies: Pekka Rinne (27-11-4, 2.39, .924) and Corey Crawford (18-11-4, 2.88, .902) started in net.

Scratches: Predators: Jerred Smithson (upper body), Francis Bouillon (upper body), and Brian McGrattan (healthy). Blackhawks: Sami Lepisto, John Scott, and Michael Frolik.

First Period...

The game started with plenty of skating and few stoppages. There was only one stoppage in the first 5:51 of the game.

Smith continued his road game magic with a swinging wrister that got past Crawford at 11:49 to give the Predators a 1-0 lead. Brandon Yip was screening and Matt Hallischuk got the lone assist. It was Smith's team-leading 18th road point (7g, 11a) in 23 games.

Fisher extended the Preds lead to 2-0 at 17:34. An assist goes to Patric Hornqvist for a perfect soccer kick to Fisher who was open in front of the net. It was Fisher's third goal in two nights and his sixth road point versus 22 at Bridgestone Arena.

1st Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	2	10	15	0-0:00	6-12 33%
Blackhawks	0	10	18	0-0:00	12-6 67%

Second Period...

Fisher was called for tripping Patrick Kane 1:17 in to the period. The Preds had a shorthanded shot and the Hawks had none. At 3:50 Marty Erat drew a slashing call from Niclas Hjalmarsson and Nashville got two shots and no goals.

At 6:09, Duncan Keith was called for interference on Hornqvist. There were no shots on the Preds' man-advantage.

The Blackhawks got their first shot of the period at 8:19 when Marcus Kruger put a shot on Rinne.

Brandon Yip and Steve Montador squared off in a bit of a scrap at 13:12 and were sent to the box for five minute fighting majors.

2nd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	10	17	2-7:00	7-13 35%
Blackhawks	0	7	18	2-7:00	13-7 65%

Third Period...

Fisher had a chance at his second goal at 4:21 when Erat sent the puck to him in the slot but Crawford made a great save.

Chicago had been putting consistent pressure on Nashville and got a break at 6:53 when Fisher flipped the puck over the ice at 6:53. Bolland wasted no time in converting the power play at 7:20 as Andrew Burnette did a good job of screening Rinne. Marion Hossa and Lick Leddy assisted on the power play goal. It was the first power play goal given up by the Preds in eight games.

The Hawks continued to pressure the Predators and Erat was called for high-sticking Hossa at 8:41. Officially, Chicago did not have a shot but the did have several scoring chances. Nashville really appeared to be showing the effects of the back to back games during the near consecutive penalty kills.

Things deteriorated further at 15:17 when Shea Weber elbowed Andrew Shaw to put Chicago back on the power play. The Predators got a short-handed shot and the Hawks were shotless.

At 17:59, Kostitsyn passed to Erat in the slot on a two on one rush and Erat appeared to hit the pipe and the crossbar on a miss.

Unbelievably, Chicago was called for too many men on the ice at 18:09 to put the Predators back on the man advantage. Wilson got the empty net power play goal with 13 seconds left to end the game at 3-1.

3rd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	6	10	3-6:00	9-13 41%
Blackhawks	1	8	27	1-2:00	13-9 59%

Final...

Final	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	3	26	42	5-13:00	22-38 37%
Blackhawks	1	25	63	4-11:00	38-22 63%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks: Pre-Game Primer

2012-01-24T14:35:00.001-06:00

TV-Radio...

7:30 p.m. CST TV: Fox Sports Tennessee. Preds Radio Network (102.5-FM The Game)

Stage Setter...

The Predators continue on their amazing run and make one last pit stop on the road in Chicago to play the Blackhawks before getting some deserved time off over the All-Star break. The Predators are 9-2-0 in January while Chicago has cooled slightly and are 5-4-2 for the month. With a regulation win, the Preds could move past the Hawks in the standings and into third place in the Central Division.

Make the jump for everything else...

Western Conference Standings...

Team GP Pts
1. * Detroit 49 67
2. * Vancouver 48 62
3. * San Jose 46 58
4. St Louis 48 64
5. Chicago 49 64
6. Nashville 49 62
7. Los Angeles 50 58
8. Colorado 50 54
9. Minnesota 48 53
10. Calgary 49 52
10. Dallas 47 50
11. Phoenix 49 50

Prior Meetings...

The Preds and Blackhawks have met twice this year and have three more meeting slated for the rest of the year. Chicago won 5-4 in overtime on Halloween at the United Center and the Predators won last Saturday at home 5-2 in one of the Preds better games in recent memory. The Predators are 15-22-2 playing in Chicago but has been more than competitive in recent years.

Last Time Out...

Nashville finished their season series with Columbus last night in a 4-1 win highlighted by two goals from Mike Fisher's and Pekka Rinne's 17th win in his last 19 decisions.

Chicago has been idle since last Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Predators in Nashville

Top Scorers (G-A-Pts)...

Nashville - M. Erat (11-24-35), S. Weber (10-24-34), D. Legwand (13-17-30), C.Smith (10-18-28), M. Fisher (11-16-27), R. Suter (5-22-27), S. Kostitsyn (12-14-26), and C. Wilson (9-17-26).

Chicago - M. Hossa (20-32-52), J. Toews (27-23-50), P. Kane (11-3-41), P. Sharp (20-20-40), V. Stalberg (14-15-29), D. Keith (3-24-27), D. Bolland (14-11-25), and N. Leddy (2-22-24).

In Goal (W-L-O, GAA, save %)...

Nashville - P. Rinne (possible start) (27-11-4, 2.39, .924) and A. Lindback (2-5-0, 2.50, .898)

Chicago - C. Crawford (Starter) (18-11-4, 2,88, .902) and R. Emery (11-3-2, 2.57, .907)

Other Comparisons...

Teams	Predators	Blackhawks
Record	29-16-4 (62)	29-14-6 (64)
Last 10	8-2-0	5-3-2
Home Record	16-7-3	19-5-4
Road Record	13-9-1	10-9-1
Power Play (rank)	22.3 (2)	18.8 (9)
Penalty Kill (rank)	83.3 (11)	78.3 (28)
Goals For (rank)	2.74 (12)	3.30 (3)
Goals Allowed (rank)	2.55 (9)	2.82 (17)
Shots For (rank)	27.5 (26)	32.0 (6)
Shots Allowed (rank)	31.1 (22)	29.2 (9)
Penalty Mins (rank)	9.6 (5)	10.4 (10)
Faceoff % (rank)	49.5 (20)	52.1 (3)

Injuries...

Nashville - Francis Bouillon (upper body).

Chicago. Dan Carcillo (knee), Patrick Sharp (upper body), and Jonathan Toews (upper body).

Notes...

Predators are 11-2-0 in the last 13 and have averaged 3.15 goals while allowing 1.76 in that span.
Three players have at least 11 points in the last 13 games; Mile Fisher (6g,6a), Marty Erat (3g, 9a), and Sergei Kostitsyn (7g, 4a).
Rinne is 17-2-0 in the last 19 decisions starting with a win in Columbus on December 8.
Nashville is 10-2-2 against the Central Division this season.
The Predator Penalty Kill has been perfect for seven games and 13 of last 15.
Nashville is 5-2-0 in the front end of back to back games and 2-4-0 on the back side. They will have four more this season after tonight.
Craig Smith leads the Preds in road points with 17 (6g, 11a) in 22 games.
The Predators are 23-2-2 when scoring more than two goals and 22-1-1 when the opponent gets two or less goals.
The Predators are 13-0-1 when Nick Spaling scores.
The Preds have comeback from a 2 or 3 goal deficits 6 times this season

Other Predator Previews...

Predators.com
The Tennessean
Ryan Porth
Amanda DiPaolo
Dirk Hoag
Paul McCann
Fang Finger
Predatorial

Chicago Media...

Hawks.com
Second City Hockey
The Sun Times
The Daily Herald
Chicago Tribune
CSN Chicago

Game Notes from NHL Media Services

A Look Ahead for the Preds...

Tonight @ Chicago Blackhawks 7:30 p.m.
1-25 to 1-30 All-Star Break
Tuesday (1-31) @ Minnesota 7 p.m.
Thursday (2-2) @ Philadelphia 6 p.m.
Saturday (2-4) St. Louis 7 p.m.(Bridgestone Arena)

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Morning After Round-Up: Nashville 4, Columbus 1

2012-01-24T10:56:00.000-06:00

Last night's Predators' game with Columbus ended the season series with the Blue Jackets with Nashville picking up 11 of a possible 12 points against their divisional rivals with the only blemish being an overtime loss where the 17 game home winning streak against the Jackets was snapped.

The Predators played well in the first and last period against Columbus with a loss of intensity in the middle period that was revived with 29 seconds left with Mike Fisher's second goal on the power play.

Matt Halischuk and Ryan Suter played well in their returns and Suter appeared to be at 100%. Pekka Rinne was outstanding as usual as he has now gone 17-2 in his last 19 starts.

The Predators just completed a critical stretch with 14 home games since December 10 and re-established home ice dominance with a 12-2 run after going 4-5-3 at home to star the season.

Nashville remains in the thick of the Central Division race but are still five points behind Detroit, who like the Preds, are 8-2-0 in their last ten games. As of this morning, four of the top seven records in the league are held by Central Division teams.

The Preds will have a chance to pull ahead of the Blackhawks with a win in Chicago tonight.

Here is our Goo-Goo game story from last night and Barry Trotz's postgame presser. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Mike Organ (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Diamond Gems (Preds.com)
John Manasso (NHL.com)

Digital Media...

Jim Diamond (The Examiner)
Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7) Game Story - One More Thing
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303) Game Story - LeftGovers
Patten Fuqua (Puck Scene)
Dirk Hoag (On The Forecheck)
Paul McCann (HockeyBuzz)
Kris Martel (Predatorial)
Fang Finger

Columbus Media...

Jackets.com
CBJ PressBox
Columbus Dispatch
The Dark Blue Jacket
The Cannon

Audio from the Predators comes from....

Mike Fisher
Matt Halischuk
Pekka Rinne

From Columbus, we hear from...

Coach Todd Richards
Rick Nash
Brett Lebda

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Mike Fisher
2. Pekka Rinne
3. Matt Halischuk

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Goo-Goo Game Winner by Mike Fisher Leads Predators to 4-1 Win

2012-01-24T01:03:00.001-06:00

For 25 home contests, fans in Smashville flocked, in record numbers, to Bridgestone Arena with the anticipation that the Nashville Predators would score in the last minute of the second period and that everyone in the building would receive a free Goo-Goo Cluster.

Twenty-five times, fans went home without the scrumptious treat that is made with "real milk chocolate, caramel, peanuts and marshmallow nougat."

All that changed on Monday night in the Predators 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mike Fisher picked up a rebound off of a Shea Weber slap shot and slipped it past goalie Steve Mason for a power play goal with 29 seconds remaining in the second period to reward the 14,310 folks in attendance with the long awaited Goo-Goo Goal.

The higher probability for the deed was set in motion with two minutes remaining in the period when Columbus was called for two many men on the ice giving the Predators the man advantage for the remainder of the period.

Anticipation was building as the clock ticked toward the one minute mark. Hearts stopped when Marty Erat banged a shot off the crossbar as the one minute mark was approaching. Many thought that the puck had crossed the red line and that the goal would come prematurely, before the magical 60 second mark.

Play stopped with 1:10 remaining and it became clear that Erat's shot was not a goal and that the power play would continue.

The game resumed and Fisher won the faceoff and the clock moved quickly into the Goo-Goo minute with the Predators keeping the pressure on the Jackets. The Predators moved the puck deftly around the Columbus zone. Finally, Ryan Suter sent the puck cross-ice to Weber who uncorked a blast that rebounded to Fisher who finished the much anticipated Goo-Goo Goal which turned out to be the game-winner.

Mike Fisher was humble about the accomplishment after the game. "It's a big honor." Fisher was not aware that it was the season's first Goo-Goo moment and explained, "If I had known, maybe I would have celebrated a little bit more."

Ryan Suter, who set the play in motion, was happy for the fans to receive the treats. "It's so exciting for the fans to get the Goo-Goo. It's exciting to be a part of it."

Patric Hornqvist almost accomplished the feat on January 7 against Carolina as was documented at the time. He was also excited about both of the fan's freebies from the game. "It's exciting for the fans to get the Frosties and the Goo-Goo's so hopefully we'll see more of the fan's coming back again."

Coach Barry Trotz had the final say on the momentous moment. "That's great. I love them. They're awesome. Everything you are not supposed to have all together in one."

"It's actually awesome. To me, the Goo-Goo Cluster is the Canadian (sic -American) version of the chocolate turtle and that's one of my favorites."

Everyone that was in attendance on Monday night left the Bridgestone Arena with a smile on their face and a coupon for a Goo-Goo in their pocket. The game will long be remembered as the first Goo-Goo Goal game in Nashville Predators' history.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Barry Trotz Speaks after Nashville's 4-1 Win over Columbus

2012-01-24T00:17:00.003-06:00

To be continued... More Goo-Goo goodness to come.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Columbus Blue Jackets an Nashville Predators: Pre-Game Primer

2012-01-23T10:31:00.001-06:00

Tonight's game between the Predators and the Blue Jackets is "Service Industry Night" anyone can get half price tickets by going here and use the offer code "service". For additional information, go here.

TV-Radio...

7:00 p.m. CST TV: Fox Sports Tennessee. Preds Radio Network (102.5-FM The Game)

Stage Setter...

For the second time in a week, the Predators are playing the Columbus Blue Jackets, this time in Music City. Were it not for the intensity of of the Western Conference race, this could be considered somewhat of a "trap" game but I do believe that Barry Trotz has the attention of the entire team that there will not be any evenings off for the rest of the season. Expect the Blue Jackets to make a valiant effort but the Predators depth should prevail in the end.

Make the jump for everything else...

Western Conference Standings...

Team GP Pts
1. * Detroit 48 65
2. * Vancouver 48 62
3. * San Jose 45 57
4. St Louis 47 64
5. Chicago 49 64
6. Nashville 48 60
7. Los Angeles 49 56
8. Colorado 50 54
9. Minnesota 48 53
10. Calgary 49 52
11. Dallas 47 50
12. Phoenix 49 50

Prior Meetings...

This is the season's final meeting between the Preds and Jackets and Nashville is 4-0-1. The Predators have dominated the series 48-14-(4)-2 and are 30-5-3 since the 2006-7 season. The Preds had a 17 game home win streak snapped in November and are hoping to have the second win in a new streak tonight. Here are the prior results:

Oct 7, 2011 in Columbus NSH, 3 - 2
Nov 19, 2011 in Nashville CBJ, 4 - 3
Dec 8, 2011 in Columbus NSH, 4 - 3
Dec 22, 2011 in Nashville NSH, 6 - 5
Jan. 19, 2011 in Columbus NSH 3 - 0

Last Time Out...

Nashville played a solid game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night and brought home a 5-2 victory at Bridgestone arena behind balanced scoring and another great effort by Pekka Rinne who is now 16-2-0 since December 8.

Columbus went into Detroit on Saturday night and made a valiant effort but came away with a 3-2 loss in a shoot out.

Top Scorers (G-A-Pts)...

Nashville - M. Erat (11-22-33), S. Weber (10-23-33), D. Legwand (13-17-30), C.Smith (10-17-27), S. Kostitsyn (12-14-26), C. Wilson (9-17-26), R. Suter (5-20-25) and M. Fisher (9-16-25)

Columbus - R. Nash (16-16-32) and V. Prospal (9-21-30)

In Goal (W-L-O, GAA, save %)...

Nashville - P. Rinne (Probable starter) (26-11-4, 2.43, .924) and A. Lindback (2-5-0, 2.50, .898)

Columbus - C. Sanford (8-10-4, 2.51, .914) and S. Mason (5-17-2, 3.40, .883)

Other Comparisons...

Teams	Predators	Jackets
Record	28-16-4 (60)	13-28-6 (32)
Last 10	8-2-0	3-6-1
Home Record	15-7-3	8-13-3
Road Record	13-9-1	5-15-3
Power Play (rank)	21.7 (2)	14.9 (21)
Penalty Kill (rank)	83.1 (12)	76.8 (29)
Goals For (rank)	2.71 (13)	2.32 (28)
Goals Allowed (rank)	2.58 (10)	3.19 (29)
Shots For (rank)	27.7 (26)	30.6 (12)
Shots Allowed (rank)	31.2 (22)	29.4 (11)
Penalty Mins (rank)	9.7 (5)	12.2 (19)
Faceoff % (rank)	49.5 (20)	51.9 (6)

Injuries...

Nashville - Ryan Suter (upper body) and Francis Bouillon (upper body).

Columbus - Radek Martinek (upper body), Kristian Huselius (lower body), James Wisniewski (ankle) Mark Letestu (hand), Jeff Carter (shoulder) Nikita Nikitin (knee), and R.J. Umberger (upper body).

Notes...

Preds are 10-2 in their last 12 averaging 3.08 goals and allowing 1.83.
The home team has won 20 of the last 26 meeting between the Jackets and Preds since 12-27-07.
Shea Weber has 39 points (8g, 21a) in 34 games vs. the Jackets, his highest against any team.
Jordin Tootoo has 100 PIMs against Columbus, the most of any player vs any sing team in franchise history
Sergei Kostitsyn has 11 points (7g, 4a) in his last 10 games.
Rinne is 16-2-0 starting with the win in Columbus on December 8.
Nashville is 9-2-2 against the Central Division this season.
The Preds have 60 points,the same number as last season theough 46 games. 11-12 (28-16-4), 10-11 (27-15-6).
The Predators reached 300 wins since the lockout to become the fifth team to do so. The others are Detroit (336), San Jose (321), Vancouver (307), and New Jersey (304).
The Predators are 22-2-2 when scoring more than two goals and 21-1-1 when the opponent gets two or less goals.
The Predators are 13-0-1 when Nick Spaling scores.
The Preds have comeback from a 2 or 3 goal deficits 6 times this season
The Preds are 0-25 during the Goo-Goo minute.

Other Predator Previews...

Predators.com
The Tennessean
Ryan Porth
Amanda DiPaolo
Robby Stanley
Dirk Hoag
Paul McCann
Fang Finger
Predatorial

Columbus Media...

Jackets.com
CBJ PressBox
Columbus Dispatch
The Dark Blue Jacket
The Cannon

Game Notes from NHL Media Services

A Look Ahead for the Preds...
Tonight Columbus Blue Jackets 7 p.m.
Tuesday (1-24) @ Chicago Blackhawks 7:30 p.m.
1-25 to 1-30 All-Star Break
1-31 @ Minnesota 7 p.m.
2-2 @ Philadelphia 6 p.m.
2-4 St. Louis 7 p.m.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Morning After Round-Up: Predators 5, Blackhawks 2

2012-01-22T13:09:00.001-06:00

Saturday night's 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks was a big win for the Predators who are trying to run with the pack in the unbelievable Central Division that is dominating the NHL this season. The fact that they improved their intra-division record to 9-2-2 is astounding.

The Blackhawks were at a distinct disadvantage coming into the game having played the night before and then running in to trouble getting out of Chicago after the game. However, the Predators did play a solid sixty minute game and held the Hawks to only two shots in the opening period.

The game was tied heading into the second period but an odd dump in goal by Kevin Klein at 5:15 in the middle stanza seemed to break the spirit of Hawks goalie Corey Crawford and he continued to look shaky until he was pulled after Sergei Kostitsyn's goal at 16:03 that extended the Preds lead to 4-1.

Pekka Rinne continued his stellar play and is now 16-2-0 since December 8.

The Predators have Sunday off and then complete their pre-All-Star game slate with Columbus at the Bridgestone on Monday and then a trip to play the Hawks again in Chicago on Tuesday.

Here is our game story from last night, Barry Trotz's postgame presser, and a video and comment from Kostitsyn on his highlight reel shot. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Josh Cooper: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes - Postgame Ponderings
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Paul Cook (Preds.com)
John Manasso (NHL.com)

Digital Media...

Jim Diamond (The Examiner)
Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7) Game Story - One More Thing
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303) Game Story - LeftGovers
Patten Fuqua (Puck Scene)
Dirk Hoag (On The Forecheck)
Paul McCann (HockeyBuzz)
Kris Martel (Predatorial)
Laura Hutchings (Lady Preds)
Fang Finger

Chicago Media...

Hawks.com
Second City Hockey
The Sun Times
The Daily Herald
Chicago Tribune

CSN Chicago

Audio from the Predators comes from....

Kevin Klein
Pekka Rinne
Patric Hornqvist

From Chicago, we hear from...

Corey Crawford
Marian Hossa
Coach Joel Quenneville

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Kevin Klein
2. Sergei Kostitsyn
3. Marian Hunter

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Sergei Kostitsyn Comments on His Highlight Reel Goal in Preds' Win

2012-01-22T00:08:00.001-06:00

The play of the game in Nashville's 5-2 win over Chicago came late in the second period when Mike Fisher sent a pass to Sergei Kostitsyn who drove in one on one against Blackhawks' goalie, Corey Crawford.

Kostitsyn showed great patience by waiting for Crawford to commit and then shooting at an almost open net from a sharp angle to put the Preds up 4-1. Crawford was replaced by Ray Emery after the goal.

Kostitsyn gave full credit to Preds' goalie coach Mich Korn. "Our goalie coach showed us video before the game so I kind of know what he's going to do, so I tried to do what other people that scored on him did."

Kostitsyn also had an assist on Craig Smith's power play goal in the opening period. He also connected on another goal earlier in the contest that was disallowed due to having been played with a high stick.

Kostitsyn has now scored seven goals on ten shots during the month of January and has 12 goals and 14 assists for the season.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass

Predators Take Advantage of Tired Blackhawks with Balanced Attack in 5-2 Win

2012-01-21T23:42:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 to improve their record against Central Division teams to 9-2-2 for the season.

Chicago was noticeably tired as they beat Florida 3-1 on Friday night and were delayed getting to Nashville due to the snowstorm that pummeled the Midwest.

There was a playoff-like atmosphere at Bridgestone Arena with a huge contingent of Chicago fans that were raucous before the game started with their traditional cheering during the national anthem .

Coach Barry Trotz appeared to enjoy the visitor's presence. "I don’t know if we came out with more intensity but the building was ramped up from the get go and that doesn’t hurt the home team. I know that. It means this is a good rivalry and Nashville is a great destination to come to."

The Predators had balanced scoring throughout the line up with five different goal scorers and six others contributing assists. The team also continued their success on the man-advantage going one for two on the power play.

Craig Smith got the scoring parade started at 17:19 in the opening period with a power play marker to tie the game 1-1. "We were moving the puck well and Ellis put the puck on net and I was fortunate to pick up the rebound. It's always good to score on the power play."

Smith claims that he was fully recovered from his illness earlier in the week that caused him to miss two game. " I was playing my game and felt good out there."

Trotz also commented on Smith's play at both ends of the ice and a change that is helping him cope with the transition from a college schedule to a full 82 game NHL schedule..

"I put him back at center and ramped his minutes backwards a bit. I think it has given him a little more freedom to not have to produce and without that pressure to have to produce he's producing more."

"He was getting on the forecheck. Anytime you are physical and fast on the forecheck you are going to create some turnovers and you get some quick support and you are going to get some offense out of it. He was using his assets and his assets are his speed and his quickness."

Pekka Rinne picked up his 25th win of the season, stopping 20 of 22 Chicago shots. Corey Crawford took the loss and gave up four goals on 17 shots before being replaced by Ray Emery with 3:57 left in the second period.

The Predators will have a return match with the Blackhawks in their building on Tuesday night. Smith did not feel there would be much carry-over from Saturday's victory. "It will be a totally different situation. They played last night and were tired. It will be different playing at their place."

The Predators will take Sunday off to rest and return to the ice at Bridgestone Arena on Monday against Columbus in their final home game before the break for next weekend's NHL All-Star game.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Barry Trotz Speaks After Nashville's 5-2 Win over Chicago

2012-01-21T23:30:00.002-06:00

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Adam Jahns Previews the Preds-Hawks Game on Smashville on the Glass Radio (Podcast)

2012-01-20T14:22:00.000-06:00

This week on Smashville on the Glass Radio we had Adam Jahns, Blackhawk's beat writer for the Chicago Sum-Time on as our special guest to give us all the information we need to know about the Hawks as we head into tomorrow's big game at Bridgestone Arena.

Adam talked about this year's team and how they have come back from last year's post Stanley Cup letdown to be of the top teams in the league once again this season. We talked about their new players and what we should expect to see tomorrow night.

We also had Amanda DiPaolo as our special co-host since Ryan Port was on assignment. Amanda and I discussed a wide variety of Predator related issue that you will find interesting.

Listen in the following player or go to Blog Talk Radio or iTunes to download...

Listen to internet radio with SmashvilleOnTheGlass on Blog Talk Radio

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Morning Alter Round-Up: Predators 3, Jackets 0

2012-01-20T07:27:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 at Nationwide Arena last night with a very workman-like effort from the opening puck drop until the clock wound down at the end of play.

Pekka Rinne was outstanding as he stopped all 38 Columbus shots. It was Rinne's fourth shut out of the season and the 24th of his career. He is 15-2-0 since December 8 when his run started in the tremendous comeback in Columbus.

When the Predators scored in the second period, they had gone in excess of six periods without a goal since Ryan Suter left Monday's game against the Islanders.

The Predators are scheduled for practice this morning at Centenial Sportsplex at 11 a.m. You may want to check Twitter for updates before you trek downtown as it seems like one that could become optional.

Here is our game story from last night and comments from the couch. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Josh Cooper: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes - Postgame Ponderings
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Jim Diamond (Preds.com)
NHL.com

Digital Media...

Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7)
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303)
Dirk Hoag (On The Forecheck)
Kris Martel (Predatorial)

Columbus Media...

Jackets.com
Columbus Dispatch
The Dark Blue Jacket
The Cannon

Audio from the Predators comes from....

Coach Barry Trotz
Mike Fisher
Marty Erat

From Columbus, we hear from...

Coach Todd Richards
Derick Brassard
Antoine Vermette
Ryan Johansen

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Pekka Rinne
2. Marty Erat
3. Antoine Vermette

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Rinne Holds Firm and Throws a 3-0 Shutout at The Blue Jackets

2012-01-19T21:05:00.000-06:00

Despite a 38 shot Columbus barrage, including 18 in the final period, Pekka Rinne stopped everything that came his way as he picked up his fourth shutout of the year as he led the Nashville Predators to a 3-0 victory at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.

Marty Erat and Mike Fisher scored second period goals that would have been plenty but as time was ticking down and the Preds were on the penalty kill, Shea Weber launched a shot 160 feet into the Jackets empty net to rub salt into the open Columbus wound.

Columbus played as well as they have in any of the games against the Predators this season and put pressure on Rinne and the Preds' defense all evening. Rinne made save after save all evening on plenty of Jacket scoring chances.

Steve Mason was the hard luck loser for the Jackets as there was little he could do with either of the two shots that found his net as he stopped 23 of 25 Nashville shots.

When the game ended, Nashville had 58 points and were still in sixth place but had pulled within four points of the Western Conference leading Blackhawks.

The Predators returned home immediately after the game and will play the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 p.m. on Saturday night.

Postgame Audio from the Columbus PR Department comes from Barry Trotz, Mike Fisher, and Marty Erat.

Make the jump for more detail and a few comments from the couch...

At the Puck Drop...

Goalies: Pekka Rinne (24-11-4, 2.50, .922) and Steve Mason (5-16-2, 3.46, .882) start in net.

Scratches: Nashville: Ryan Suter, Brandon Yip, and Brian McGrattan. Columbus: Grant Clitsome and Dane Byers.

Injuries: Nashville - Ryan Suter (upper body). Columbus - Radek Martinek (upper body), Kristian Huselius (lower body), James Wisniewski (ankle) Mark Letestu (hand), Jeff Carter (shoulder) and R.J. Umberger (upper body).

Coach Lane Lambert was not on the bench due to an emergency appendectomy earlier in the day.

First Period...

Both teams came out with determination and Columbus appeared to bring more pressure as the period progressed. It almost looked like the Predators were playing solid defense in a rope-a-dope strategy to let the Jacket's wear themselves down.

There was plenty of rough play with the Jackets out-hitting the Preds 18-11 for the period.

The only penalty came at 19:27 when Rick Nash was called for high-sticking David Legwand.

1st Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	7	11	0-0:00	7-11 39%
Blue Jackets	0	13	17	1-2:00	11-7 61%

Second Period...

The period started with 1:27 in carry-over power play time for the Predators. The Preds only got one shot on the man-advantage but it was an excellent scoring chance as the puck was fed to Craig Smith who was right in front of the net but Mason stopped the shot.

Nick Spaling was sent to the box at 7:32 for tripping Tomas Kubalik. The Preds held the Jackets shotless during the man advantage.

The Predators broke through with the first goal of the game at 11:08 when Sergei (a time to pass) Kostitsyn fed the puck to Erat who made the one-timer on a two on one break

At 11:33, Derek Dorsett was pushed into Rinne by Kevin Klein and was called for goalie interference. The Preds scored on the resulting power play at 13:11 when Erat fed a puck through the slot filled with traffic to an open Fisher who was hanging out on the right side of the net and stuck the puck past Mason. Josi had the secondary assist.

2nd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	2	10	17	1-2:00	8-12 40%
Blue Jackets	0	7	14	1-2:00	12-8 60%

Third Period...

The Blue Jackets came out firing on all cylinders in the final period testing the Preds defense and Rinne. In the first seven minutes, they out shot the Preds 10-1 and at 10:14 the margin was 17-2.

Frankie Bouillon was called for hooking Rick Nash at 3:53. The Jackets put intense pressure on the Preds and had four shots on the power play but the defense and Rinne held firm.

The save of the game may have been at 9:18 when Rinne stopped a shot from Derick Brassard while laying flat on his stomach to the right of the net.

With the clock ticking down an Rinne desperately holding on for a shut out, it got tougher at 18:43 when Kostitsyn was called for slashing Nikita Nikitin. However, the Jackets fate was sealed with 32 seconds left when Weber picked up the puck off a faceoff in the Preds zone and launched it from just outside the red line the length of the ice into the Columbus net to make it 3-0. The shot was another oddity in the bitter rivalry.

Rinne did hold on for his fourth shutout of the year and improved his record to 25-11-3. Rinne is now 15-2-0 since the last time the Preds played in Columbus on December 8.

3rd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	1	18	10	2-4:00	10-14 42%
Blue Jackets	0	8	33	0-0:00	14-58 35%

Final...

Final	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	3	25	38	3-6:00	25-37 40%
Blue Jackets	0	38	64	2-4:00	37-25-60%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Simplify Saturday $10 Ticket Policy

2012-01-19T16:41:00.000-06:00

If you haven't been to Bridgestone Arena lately, you may or may not know that almost every game is a sellout. The Predators have sold out nine of their last ten home contests and 14 of 24 for the season.

The game that did not sell out last Thursday against Colorado was a couple of hundred tickets shy on a night when schools had been called off and all the local media outlets were fear-mongering that folks should not leave their house. Under the circumstances, it was amazing that 16, 905 people were willing to risk life and limb to get their hockey fix.

Bridgestone Arena has been averaging 16,712 per game for a 97.7% of capacity rate, which was unimaginable before COO Sean Henry took control and made filling the building the job of every employee. The Preds are well on their way to breaking the records of 20 sell outs and an average of 16,600, with both marks being set in the first couple of years of the franchise.

With all that being said, the demand for the 100 special day of game tickets for $10 has exploded. After the jump, you will find a new plan being implemented by the team to provide a more equitable solution to the distribution of those tickets that does not require camping out or lining up at the crack of dawn...

INCREASING DEMAND TRIGGERS CHANGE IN POPULAR $10 TICKET SPECIAL
-Day of Game $10 tickets now determined by raffle for all Saturday games-

Nashville, Tenn. (January 19, 2012) – Due to overwhelming demand and growing ticket lines, the Nashville Predators have changed their existing Saturday policy for their wildly popular Day of Game $10 ticket special. Starting this Saturday at 9:30 a.m., Bridgestone Arena box office staff will hand out raffle tickets to anyone (age 12 and up) standing in line for the $10 ticket special.

Beginning at 9:45 a.m., 27 numbers will be drawn. The first 25 numbers chosen will have the opportunity to purchase up to four tickets for that evening’s game at $10 each. The 26th and 27th numbers drawn will only have the opportunity to purchase tickets if inventory is still available.

“We made this change due to the incredible demand for these tickets, as well as for the convenience of our highly passionate fan base,” Nashville Predators President and COO Sean Henry said. “In the past, we’ve had some of our most enthusiastic fans camp out overnight for the opportunity to purchase these tickets. With this new procedure in place for Saturday games, there is no need for fans to line up at the box office before 9 a.m. We are still holding back 100 upper level tickets for this special, as we always have. This change simply gives everyone who comes down a chance at the toughest ticket in town.”

The $10 ticket special is a program that has been a hit with fans since it began in 2009-10. This season, the Predators have provided more tickets at $10 than in recent history, selling 100 $10 tickets to every game when tickets went on sale for the season, in addition to the regular Day of Game $10 special. While this new policy is currently only in place for Saturday games, increasing demand for tickets, both in the regular season and the playoffs, may result in the policy affecting all Day of Game ticket sales.

The Predators look to finish up their current three-game road trip with a win against the division-rival Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at 6 p.m. (FS-TN, 102.5 The Game) before returning home on Saturday to take on the Chicago Blackhawks in a McDonald’s Family 4 Pack matchup (7 p.m., FS-TN, 102.5 The Game). With Saturday’s contest, the Predators look to attain their 15th sellout on the year, just one shy of the number hit in 2010-11. At this rate, the Predators are on pace to surpass the franchise record of 20 sellouts in a regular season, set in the team’s first year of existence (1998-1999). To purchase tickets, visit nashvillepredators.com or call 615-770-PUCK (7825)

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Nashville Predators at Columbus Blue Jackets: Pre-Game Primer

2012-01-19T13:29:00.001-06:00

TV-Radio...

6:00 p.m. CST TV: Fox Sports Tennessee. Preds Radio Network (102.5-FM The Game)

Stage Setter...

Anytime the Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets hook up, expect to see fireworks. Tonight's game will be no different in spite of the lop-sided look on paper. The Predators should not feel potential effect of a "trap" game as they are coming off a loss to the Rangers on Tuesday and Columbus is a special rivalry for them. On the flip side, the Blue Jackets do not dislike any team as much as the Predators. It should be an exciting game to say the least.

Make the jump for everything else...

Western Conference Standings...

Team GP Pts
1. * Chicago 47 62
2. * Vancouver 47 60
3. * San Jose 43 57
4. Detroit 46 61
5. St Louis 45 60
6. Nashville 46 56
7. Los Angeles 47 55
8. Colorado 48 52
9. Minnesota 46 51
10. Dallas 45 50
11. Phoenix 47 49
12. Calgary 47 48

Prior Meetings...

The Preds and Jackets have met four times this season and Nashville is 3-0-1. This is the last meeting in Columbus for the season. The Predators have dominated the series 47-14-(4)-2 and are 29-5-3 since the 2006-7 season. Here are the prior results:

Oct 7, 2011 in Columbus NSH, 3 - 2
Nov 19, 2011 in Nashville CBJ, 4 - 3
Dec 8, 2011 in Columbus NSH, 4 - 3
Dec 22, 2011 in Nashville NSH, 6 - 5

Last Time Out...

Nashville played as well as they could but without Ryan Suter, Jered Smithson, and Pekka Rinne in the line-up, they produced zero offense in a 3-0 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday night.

Columbus played one of their better games in an otherwise dismal season on Tuesday night when they scored four unanswered goals to cap a 4-2 win against Edmonton in Columbus.

Top Scorers (G-A-Pts)...

Nashville - S. Weber (9-23-32), M. Erat (10-20-30), D. Legwand (13-15-28), C.Smith (9-17-26), R. Suter (5-20-25) C. Wilson (8-16-24) S. Kostitsyn (11-12-23) and M. Fisher (8-15-23)

Columbus - R. Nash (16-16-32) and V. Prospal (9-21-30)

In Goal (W-L-O, GAA, save %)...

Nashville - P. Rinne (Probable starter) (24-11-4, 2.50, .922) and A. Lindback (2-5-0, 2.50, .898)

Columbus - C. Sanford (8-10-2, 2.54, .912) and S. Mason -Starter - (5-16-2, 3.46, .882)

Other Comparisons...

Teams	Predators	Jackets
Record	26-16-4 (54)	13-27-5 (31)
Last 10	8-2-0	4-5-1
Home Record	14-7-3	8-12-3
Road Record	12-9-1	5-15-2
Power Play (rank)	21.0 (3)	14.9 (23)
Penalty Kill (rank)	82.7 (13)	77.2 (29)
Goals For (rank)	2.65 (13)	2.38 (26)
Goals Allowed (rank)	2.65 (12)	3.22 (29)
Shots For (rank)	27.6 (25)	30.7 (12)
Shots Allowed (rank)	31.3 (23)	29.4 (11)
Penalty Mins (rank)	9.9 (5)	12.5 (22)
Faceoff % (rank)	49.6 (19)	51.7 (7)

Injuries...

Nashville - Jerred Smithson (lower body) activated off IR and Ryan Suter (upper body).

Columbus - Radek Martinek (upper body), Kristian Huselius (lower body), James Wisniewski (ankle) Mark Letestu (hand), Jeff Carter (shoulder) and R.J. Umberger (upper body).

Notes...

Rinne is 12-4-1, 2.67, .907 vs Columbus. Mason is 5-5-4, 2.34, .913 vs the Preds.
Nashville is 7-2-2 against the Central Division this season, including a 4-1-1 mark on the road.
Ryan Ellis has five points (2g-3a) with a +4 rating in his last six games.
The Preds have 56 points,the same number as last season theough 46 games. 11-12 (26-16-4), 10-11 (25-15-6).
The Predators are 17-2-3 when scoring first, sixth in the NHL
The Predators are 21-2-2 when scoring more than two goals.
The Predators are 13-0-1 when Nick Spaling scores. He set a career high for points in a season (7g-8a-15pts) on Saturday with his game winner.
Colin Wilson and Nick Spaling lead the team in GWG with three each.
The Preds have comeback from a 2 or 3 goal deficits 6 times this season
The Preds are 0-24 during the Goo-Goo minute and will have their nest chance on Saturday against the Blackhawks.

Other Predator Previews...

Predators.com
The Tennessean
PredsOnTheGlass
Ryan Porth
Amanda DiPaolo
Paul McCann
Fang Finger
Predatorial

Columbus Media...

Jackets.com

Columbus Dispatch
The Dark Blue Jacket
The Cannon

Game Notes from NHL Media Services

A Look Ahead for the Preds...

Tonight @Columbus 6 p.m.
Friday Practice @ Centennial 11 a.m.
Saturday Chicago Blackhawks 7 p.m.
Monday (1-23) Columbus Blue Jackets 7 p.m.
Tuesday (1-24) @ Chicago Blackhawks 7:30 p.m.
1-25 to 1-30 All-Star Break

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Pick Up Brandon Yip on Waivers

2012-01-19T11:34:00.003-06:00

In somewhat of a surprise move, the Nashville Predators claimed Brandon Yip off of the waiver wire this morning from the Colorado Avalanche. Yip has played little this season due to multiple trips to injured reserve but has been a quality player for the Avs over the last couple of years.

They also activated Jerred Smithson from injured reserve for tonight's game in Columbus.

Make s the jump for the full release from the Predators...

NASHVILLE PREDATORS CLAIM BRANDON YIP ON WAIVERS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 19, 2012) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club claimed forward Brandon Yip on waivers from the Colorado Avalanche and activated forward Jerred Smithson from injured reserve.

Yip, 26 (4/25/85), has 41 points (23g-18a) in 113 career NHL contests, all with Colorado, since the 2009-10 campaign. The Vancouver, B.C., native has been limited to 10 games in 2011-12 – going pointless – due to arm (missed 18 games from Oct. 8-Nov. 15) and groin (missed four games from Dec. 13-19) injuries. The 6-1, 195-pound right wing amassed 108 points (45g-63a) in 139 games with Boston University from 2005-09, helping the Terriers win the 2009 NCAA National Championship on a team that also included current Predator Colin Wilson.

Colorado’s seventh selection, 239th overall (eighth round), in the 2004 Entry Draft, Yip is on a one-way contract worth $750,000.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Return to the Scene of the Crime in Columbus

2012-01-19T04:30:00.000-06:00

On December 8, 2011 a criminal act took place in front of 13,852 people at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus but no charges were filed.

Toward the end of the hockey game being held there that night, the Blue Jackets looked assured of a rare victory over the visiting Nashville Predators. Columbus had led the entire game was leading 3-1 with under two minutes left in the contest.

The beginning of the crime started with 96 seconds left in the game when Patric Hornqvist put a shot past Curtis Sanford. With 13 seconds left on the clock, Sergei Kostitsyn, with the Predators on the power play, scored a marker to send the the game to overtime.

The crime was finished off 1:45 into overtime when Colin Wilson put a wrister into the net to steal the 4-3 win for the visiting Preds in one of the most dramatic changes of events in team history.

The game was another oddity in the long domination that Nashville has had over Columbus in their eleven season divisional rivalry. The Predators have dominated the series 47-14-(4)-2 and are 29-5-3 since the 2006-7 season.

The Predators had won an amazing 17 games in a row against the Blue Jackets at Bridgestone Arena when the streak came to a grinding halt on November 19 of this season when Columbus beat Nashville 4-3 in overtime.

Once again, tonight, Columbus is ripe for the picking when the Predators hit the ice as they have won eight of their last ten and 14 of their last 19 games. Their 3-0 loss to the best team in the NHL, the New York Rangers on Tuesday, was not a 'bad" loss for the team.

With Ryan Suter injured and Pekka Rinne taking the night off, it was like playing a top team with one hand tied behind their back. There is little reason to believe that the Predators should not pick up where they left off and start a new win streak in spite of the continuing absence of Suter.

Columbus has had nothing go their way this season. Entering the year, they had high hopes with free agent acquisitions Jeff Carter, James Wisniewski, and Vinny Prospal ready to bolster their line-up and hopefully send them to the playoffs. The downside of the signings is that they have almost no cap space remaining to shore up problems.

Before the season started Wisniewski was suspended for ten games and ex-Pred Mark Dekanich, who was set to back up Steve Mason in net, was injured and is yet to play his first game as a Jacket.

Most folks will point to Steve Mason as being the root of the problem in Columbus. In 2008-09 Mason led the team to the playoffs and won the Calder Trophy and went 33-20-7 with 10 shutouts. The Jackets extended his contract at almost $3 million a year through 2013 expecting more of the same.

What they have gotten is a not ready for NHL player who has hit rock bottom this season going 5-16-2, 3.46, .882. Curtis Sanford (8-10-3, 2.54, .912) has been the only thing that has kept the team from being even worse.

Columbus has the worst record in hockey with only 31 points, six less than the Anaheim Ducks. The team stuck with coach Scott Arneil until he was fired on January 9 and replaced with interim coach, Todd Richards. The team is 2-2 under Richards and can do nothing but improve on the season's dismal first half.

You really have to feel bad for the Columbus faithful who have waited for eleven seasons for things to get better to only find the worst team in franchise history with little hope indicate that things are better on the horizon.

Pekke Rinne (24-11-4, 2.50, .922) is expected to be back in net for tonight's 6:30 p.m. puck drop. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Tennessee and can be heard on the Predators Radio Network. The team will return to Nashville after the game to prepare for Saturday's match with the Chicago Blackhawks at Bridgestone Arena.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Chris Mueller Re-Assigned to Milwaukee

2012-01-19T00:05:00.000-06:00

It was not a surprise to anyone that Chris Mueller was sent back to Milwaukee on Wednesday by the Nashville Predators. He was a healthy scratch on Tuesday in the game against the New York Rangers and Craig Smith returned to the line-up from his illness.

Mueller is a highly valuable player to the Preds organization. He can play any forward position and can fit on any line if needed. He can be ready to jump in with the Predators with a moment's notice as he has done several times.

Barry Trotz indicated that he has full trust in Mueller and compared him to Vern Fiddler after last Saturday's game. Mueller will represent the Admirals at the AHL All-Star game later this month.

Make the jump for the full press release from the Predators...

NASHVILLE PREDATORS REASSIGN FORWARD CHRIS MUELLER TO MILWAUKEE

Nashville, Tenn. (January 18, 2012) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has reassigned forward Chris Mueller (KRIHS MEW-luhr) to Milwaukee (AHL).

Mueller, 25 (3/6/86), suited up for two games during his four-day recall, going pointless. He returns to Milwaukee where he leads the team in points (15g-11a-26pts) and goals, playing in 33 of the Admirals 36 games in 2011-12. The West Seneca, N.Y., native is slated to appear in the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic in Atlantic City, N.J., on Jan. 29-30.

The Predators look to finish up their current three-game road trip with a win against the division-rival Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow night at 6 p.m. (FS-TN, 102.5 The Game) before returning home on Saturday to take on the Chicago Blackhawks in a McDonald’s Family 4 Pack matchup (7 p.m., FS-TN, 102.5 The Game). With Saturday’s contest, the Predators look to attain their 15th sellout on the year, just one shy of the number hit in 2010-12. At this rate, the Predators are on pace to surpass the franchise record of 20 sellouts in a regular season, set in the team’s first year of existence (1998-1999).

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

POTG Has Gone Black to Protest SOPA

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-06:00

PredsOnTheGlass.com has joined many other web sites around the world for a 24 hour blackout on January 18, 2012 from 12:01 AM until Midnight CST. Here is more information on "The Web Going on Strike" which includes a place for you to join the protest.

This site has been "blocked" in protest of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) two bills which will allow the government censor the intenet. Find out more at americancensorship.org or the video below.

Update: Legislative Sponsors in Washington are Jumping Ship

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Rangers Stymie Predators in 3-0 Win

2012-01-17T21:45:00.000-06:00

The Nashville Predators headed into New York to play the Rangers, who have the best record in hockey, without two members of their "big three" and the result was somewhat predictable. The Predators five game winning streak was snapped in a 3-0 loss.

Henrik Lundqvist put on a perfect performance, stopping all 27 Predator shots. Dan Girardi, John Mitchell, and Ryan Callahan provided all the offense that was needed for the blue shirts.

Anders Linback was the hard luck loser, stopping 26 of 28 Ranger shots. Lindback performed admirably on the world biggest stage at Madison Square Gardens and was not responsible for the loss on a night when the Preds failed to put a puck in the net.

A major missing cog for the Predators was Ryan Suter, especially on the power play. The Predators were blanked on both of their two man-advantage attempts and only managed one shot. Shea Weber tried to make up for his partner's absence, firing five shots and making four hits but it was to no avail.

The Predators stayed in New York for the evening and planned to make the short flight to Columbus on Wednesday morning to prepare for Thursday night's match with the Blue Jackets.

Make the jump for more details from the game along with a few comments from the couch.

First Period...

Lindback started in net for the Predators while Lundqvist was between the pipes for the Rangers.

Scratches for the Predators were Ryan Suter and Chris Mueller.

With Suter out the defensive parings were generally Shea Weber-Frankie Bouillon, Kevin Klein-Roman Josi, and Jack Hillen-Ryan Ellis.

The Rangers got on the board early at 6:15 when Girardi was credited with a goal that was actually tipped into the net by Preds D-man, Jack Hillen.

At 17:09, the Predators had their best scoring chance of the period when Sergei Kostitsyn and Marty Erat worked diligently to try to get the puck past Lundqvist.

Both teams played well in the period and other than the miscue that led to the goal, were almost flawless.

1st Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	11	x	0-0:00	9-6 60%
Rangers	1	10	x	0-0:00	6-9 40%

Second Period...

The first penalty of the game came at 2:00 when Colin Wilson tripped Brad Richards. With twelve seconds left in the Preds penalty, John Mitchell was called for tripping Bouillon.

The Rangers did not get a shot on the man advantage but did get two short-handed shots when Weber and Josi played loose with the puck in front of Lindback who was lucky not to be scored upon. The Preds had one power play shot.

The Rangers made it 2-0 at 10:42 when Mitchel fired an unassisted shot from the left circle that eluded Lindback.

In one of the worst calls I've seen in a while, Erat was called for goalie interference when he was pushed in to Lundqvist at 18:24. Seventeen seconds later, it was far surpassed when Marian Gaborik was called for a double-minor high-sticking penalty when Kostitsyn hit Fisher in the face with his stick.

2nd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	8	37	2-4:00	10-10 50%
Rangers	1	12	38	4-6:00	10-10 50%

Third Period...

The period started with a 2:41 power play carry-over from the Gaborik penalty. The Predators were not credited with a shot on the man-advantage.

The Predators played desperate hockey for the whole period but never gained any traction.

With 50.9 seconds a goal was awarded to Callahan as Erat interfered with his drive to an empty netter. The official call was "hooking on a breakaway" and comes from an obscure rule that is rarely called. For those wanting to do their own analysis it is Rule 25.1.

3rd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	10	26	1-0:00	7-10 41%
Rangers	1	8	13	0-0:00	10-7 59%

Final...

Final	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	27	56	0-0:00	26-26 50%
Rangers	3	28	48	2-4:00	26-26 50%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Kenny Albert Previews Rangers-Preds Game on RLD Hockey Talk (Podcast)

2012-01-17T13:14:00.004-06:00

New York Rangers play by play guy, Kenny Albert was our guest on today's episode of RLD Hockey Talk and gave plenty of insight into tonight's Rangers and Predators game. He also divulged a little known fact that he and Barry Trotz were roommates when they were with the Baltimore SkipJacks in the early '90's.

It is a show you don't want to miss and can be heard in the player below or at BlogTalkRadio or iTunes...

Listen to internet radio with Ryan Porth on Blog Talk Radio

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Nashville Predators at the New York Rangers: Pre Game Primer

2012-01-17T12:49:00.001-06:00

TV-Radio...

6:30 p.m. CST TV: NBC Sports Network (no local TV). Preds Radio Network (102.5-FM The Game)

Stage Setter...

The Nashville Predators are playing as well as any team in the NHL, winning eight of their last nine games, and head into the biggest stage (Madison Square Gardens) in the nation's biggest city to play the original six, New York Rangers on national television. Both teams have excellent goaltending, good defense, score by committee and are well coached. You can't ask for a better match-up.

Make the jump for everything else...

Western Conference Standings...

Team GP Pts
1. * St Louis 45 60
2. * Vancouver 46 59
3. * San Jose 42 55
4. Chicago 46 60
5. Detroit 45 59
6. Nashville 45 56
7. Los Angeles 46 53
8. Minnesota 45 51
9. Colorado 47 50
10. Dallas 44 49
11. Phoenix 46 49
12. Calgary 46 47

Prior Meetings...

This is the only meeting of the season between the Preds and Rangers. Last season the Predators lost to the blue shirts 2-1 as Henrick Lundqvist beat Pekka Rinne in a classic goalie match where the Preds actually outplayed the Rangers. The Predators are 7-7 (1)-1 all-time against the Rangers and are 5-2-(1)-0 at MSG and have gotten points in their last six trips to play the Rangers dating back to Dec 23, 2000 when David Legwand made history with the first overtime penalty shot in NHL history.

Last Time Out...

Nashville avoided a trap yesterday on Long Island and scored three quick goals in the first period and held on for a 3-1 win against the Islanders.

The Rangers lost 4-1 at Montreal on Sunday with Henrik Lundqvist in net.

Top Scorers (G-A-Pts)...

Nashville - S. Weber (9-23-32), M. Erat (10-20-30), D. Legwand (13-15-28), C.Smith (9-17-26), R. Suter (5-20-25) C. Wilson (8-16-24) S. Kostitsyn (11-12-23) and M. Fisher (8-15-23)

Rangers - M. Gaborick (23-12-35), B. Richards (15-16-31), R. Callahan (14-17-31), D, Stepan (10-20-30), M. Del Zotto (5-18-23), A. Anismov (7-15-22), and B. Dubinsky (5-16-21).

In Goal (W-L-O, GAA, save %)...

Nashville - P. Rinne (24-11-4, 2.50, .922) and A. Lindback (2-4-0, 2.75, .893)

Rangers - H. Lundqvist (19-9-4, 1.95, .935) and M Biron (9-2-0, 1.88, .927)

Other Comparisons...

Teams	Predators	Rangers
Record	26-15-4 (54)	28-11-4(60)
Last 10	8-2-0	7-3-0
Home Record	14-7-3	13-4-2
Road Record	12-8-1	15-7-2
Power Play (rank)	21.4 (3)	14.5 (23)
Penalty Kill (rank)	82.5 (16)	86.5 (5)
Goals For (rank)	2.71 (12)	2.79 (11)
Goals Allowed (rank)	2.64 (12)	2.02 (3)
Shots For (rank)	27.6 (27)	28.0 (24)
Shots Allowed (rank)	31.3 (24)	29.3 (10)
Penalty Mins (rank)	10.1 (7)	9.7 (4)
Faceoff % (rank)	49.6 (19)	50.1 (13)

Injuries...

Nashville - Jerred Smithson (lower body), Craig Smith (illness), Ryan Suter (upper body).

Rangers - Michael Sauer (concussion), Steve Eminger (shoulder), Jeff Woywitka (foot), Brandon Dubinsky (shoulder) and Ruslan Fedotenko (back spasms)

Notes...

Nashville is 6-2-2 against the Eastern Conference this season.
The Predators are 17-2-3 when scoring first, sixth in the NHL
The Predators are 21-2-2 when scoring more than two goals.
The Predators are 13-0-1 when Nick Spaling scores. He set a career high for points in a season (7g-8a-15pts) on Saturday with his game winner.
Colin Wilson and Nick Spaling lead the team in GWG with three each.
Tonight's game is back end of the 6th of 11 back to back games this season. They are 4-2-0 record on the front end and 2-3-0 on the back end.
The Preds have comeback from a 2 or 3 goal deficits 6 times this season
The Preds have a .294 win % when trailing after two periods (5-12-0), Second only to Ottawa in the NHL
The Preds are 0-24 during the Goo-Goo minute and will have their nest chance on Saturday against the Blackhawks.

Other Predator Previews...

NHL.com
Predators.com
The Tennessean
Ryan Porth Preview - Pekka Rinne Audio Preview
Amanda DiPaolo
Dirk Hoag
Paul McCann
Fang Finger
Predatorial

Podcast Preview

Today's RLD Hockey Talk featured Kenny Albert, the voice of the Rangers and offers great insight into tonight's contest.

Big Apple Media...

Rangers.com
New York Post
News Day
North Jersey
BlueShirt Banter
SYNRangers Blog
Ranger's Report
Ranger Rants
Ranger's Review
Ranger's Tribute
BlueShirts Blog

Game Notes from NHL Media Services

A Look Ahead for the Preds...

Tonight @ NY Rangers 6:30 p.m.
Thursday @Columbus 6 p.m.
Saturday Chicago Blackhawks 7 p.m.
Monday (1-23) Columbus Blue Jackets 7 p.m.
Tuesday (1-24) @ Chicago Blackhawks
1-25 to 1-30 All-Star Break

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

The Morning After Round-Up: Predators 3, Islanders 1

2012-01-17T07:32:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Predators avoided the proverbial "trap" game on Long Island on Monday afternoon and jumped out to a 3-0 lead before most of the Islander faithful had a chance to get comfortable in their seats.

The only negatives to the game were Ryan Suter's re-aggravation to his lower body injury and Pekka Rinne losing a shutout with less than four minutes in the contest on a John Tavares goal.

Barry Trotz had great foresight in playing seven defensemen so even in spite of Suter leaving after the first period, none of the other D-men played more than Kevin Klein's 23:28. That should allow everyone to be fairly fresh for tonight's date with the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers.

Ryan Ellis continues to prove that he belongs in the NHL. He picked up an assist on Sergei Kostitsyn's goal and was +3 for the game. Kostitsyn now has six goals on eight shots and has added two assists in calender year 2012 which covers seven games, and he appears ready to produce as he did last season.

A key this year continues to be the balanced attack with the third and fourth lines contributing on par with the top six forwards. With plenty of scoring from Nick Spaling, Matt Halischuk, Jordin Tootoo and others, opponents can't focus on the top scoring lines or even Shea Wever and Suter.

The Predators will have a far bigger challenge this evening when the face the Rangers on NBC Sports Network (6:30 p.m. CST) and face a top team with a future Hall of Famer in goal. It is unclear if Rinne will return in net or if Trotz will play a hunch and go with Anders Lindback. We will have to wait and see how the cards fall.

Here is our game story from yesterday along with a few comments from the couch. Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...

Main Stream Media...

Josh Cooper: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes - Postgame Ponderings
Jim Diamond (Preds.com)
Dan Rosen NHL.com
AP

Digital Media...

Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7) Game Story - One More Thing
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303) Game Story - LeftGovers
Marc Torrence (On The Forecheck)
Laura Hutchings (Lady Preds)
Fang Finger

Long Island Media...

Islanders.com
Chris Botta
Lighthouse Hockey
Dee Karl
IslesBlogger
The Islanders Aggregator

Video from the Predators comes from....

Shea Weber

Three Stars of the Game...

1. David Legwand
2. Pekka Rinne
3. Sergei Kostitsyn

Highlights come from NHL.com....

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Pick Up 3-1 Win on Long Island to Pull within Four Points of Conference Lead

2012-01-16T14:55:00.001-06:00

The Nashville Predators beat the New York Islanders 3-1 in a special MLK holiday afternoon game at Veterans Coliseum on Long Island for their fifth win in a row.

The game was one that could only go badly for the Predators. The expectation against the lowly Isles was for a win, but a loss would have been disastrous as they try to keep pace in the tightly bunched Western Conference.

As the game ended, the Predators sat with 56 points and pulled within four points of the conference leading Chicago Blackhawks, who the Preds will play on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators hit the ice determined not to fall in a "trap" game situation. Barry Trotz had emphasized that he wanted a quick start and that's what he got.

The Predators received goals from Sergei Kostitsyn, Matt Halischuk, and David Legwand in the first 11:37 of play. In spite of improved play out of the Islanders in the second and third period, the Preds appeared headed for a shut out until John Tavares slipped one into the net with 3:58 left in the game.

Pekka Rinne picked up his 24th win of the season stopping 36 of 37 Islander shots. Rookie Kevin Poulin gave up three goals on 32 Nashville shots.

The Predators packed up and headed to downtown Manhattan where they will meet the New York Rangers at Madison Square Gardens at 6:30 p.m. CST in a nationally televised game on the NBC Sports Network.

Make the jump for more details from the game as well as a few comments from the couch...

First Period...

Rinne (23-11-4, 2.54, .920) started in net for the Predators while Poulin (0-1-0, 3.07, .897) was between the pipes for the Isles.

Craig Smith and Brian McGrattan were the scratches for the Predators. There was some concern prior to the game as to whether Ryan Suter would play due to an "upper body injury."

Jack Hillen was started as a seventh defensemen, which is rare for the Preds, but it did allow him to play against the team that did not re-sign him after last season.

The Preds got on the board quickly at 2:17 when Kostitsyn wristed a shot past past the rookie Poulin to give the Preds a quick 1-0 lead. Ryan Ellis got his second assist and fifth point in nine games.

Halischuk gave the Preds a 2-0 lead on an unassisted shot after a takeaway at 5:34 to put him at 10 goals on the season.

Matt Martin put the Preds on the man advantage at 8:01 when he boarded Hillen. The Preds got off one shot but did not score on their initial power play.

Legwand was credited with a tip in on a tic-tac-toe play at 11:37 to give the Predators a 3-0 lead and pretty much eliminate any thoughts of a "trap" game for the Preds. Marty Erat and Colin Wilson were credited with the assists.

As the period was winding down, Colin Wilson was called for elbowing John Tavares. The Isles got a shot on the power play but no goals.

1st Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	3	12	20	1-2:00	8-10 44%
Islanders	0	6	11	1-2:00	10-8 44%

Second Period...

The Islanders came out with new inspiration in the second period and were using their speed to fire shots from all parts of the ice. Pekka Rinne was busy, stopping 19 shots.

Gabriel Bourque was called for hooking Matt Moulson at 8:33 and Mike Fisher was called for high sticking Tavares 50 seconds later to give the Isles 1:10 of five on three advantage. The Isles got three shots on the five on four and one shot during the five on three but the Preds defense held firm.

With 10 seconds left, Shea Weber and Rinne combined to stop a shot from Kyle Okposo which could be considered a "combination save of the game."

Suter did not come back out for the second period due to the "upper body Injury" after playing 10 shifts and logging 7:04 in the first period. Weber was paired with Frankie Bouillon, Roman Josi, and Hillen at times during the middle stanza.

2nd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	10	15	2-4:00	11-7 61%
Islanders	0	19	30	0-0:00	7-11 39%

Third Period...

The Predators came out in the third period and played with determination to try to preserve the shut out for Rinne. The Preds did a good job of slowing down the Isles attack for most of the period.

One of the better aspects of the final period was the Predators controlling the face off circle, winning 13 of 19 draws.

The low point of the game came at 16:02 when Tavares put the puck into the net to break up Rinne's shut out bid and bring a little life to the Isles fans that remained in the building.

Jack Hillen picked up extra minutes against his old team with Suter out and finished the game with three hits, a shot, and 13:56 of play.

3rd Period	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	10	14	0-0:00	13-6 68%
Islanders	1	12	24	0-0:00	8-15 32%

Final...

Final	Goals	Shots	Corsi	PIMs	Faceoffs
Predators	0	10	51	0-0:00	32-23 58%
Islanders	0	8	65	2-4:00	23-32 42%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators 2011 Draftee Shalla Named OHL Player of the Week

2012-01-16T12:21:00.000-06:00

Josh Shalla, who was chosen in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators, was named the OHL Player of the week today.

Make the jump for the release from the OHL with all the details on Shalla's week...

Spirit’s Josh Shalla Named OHL Player of the Week

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Josh Shalla of the Saginaw Spirit is the OHL Player of the Week for the week ending January 15 after leading the league with eight points in three games scoring two goals with six assists and a plus-minus rating of plus-1.

Shalla led the Spirit to a 4-2 win over the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors on Sunday night scoring a goal and two assists as first star of the contest. Last night Shalla also reached a personal milestone against the Majors as his first period goal, his 21st of the season, was also goal number 100 as a member of the Spirit becoming just the second player to reach the mark since the franchise moved to Saginaw in 2002. His week also included a three-point night on Saturday with a goal and two assists despite a 5-4 shootout loss to the London Knights, and a two-assist game on Friday in a 5-4 loss to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Shalla, a 20-year-old from Whitby, ON, is playing in his fifth OHL season and third with the Spirit. Selected in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators, Shalla has 40 points in 28 games this season and his 100 goals as a Spirit trails only Ryan McDonough who scored 118 between 2005-08.

Also considered for the award this week was Shane Prince of the Ottawa 67’s who scored three goals and three assists for six points in two games. Defenceman Ryan Murphy of the Kitchener Rangers had five points in three games including a goal and four assists. In goal, Mark Visentin of the Niagara IceDogs went 2-0-0-0 with a goals-against-average 1.00 and save percentage of .958.

2011-12 OHL Players of the Week:
Jan. 9 – Jan. 15: Josh Shalla, Saginaw Spirit
Jan. 2 – Jan. 8: Tyler Toffoli, Ottawa 67’s
Dec. 26 – Jan. 1: Beau Schmitz, Plymouth Whalers
Dec. 12 – Dec. 18: Andrew Agozzino, Niagara IceDogs
Dec. 5 – Dec. 11: Philip Lane, Brampton Battalion
Nov. 28 – Dec. 4: Christian Thomas, Oshawa Generals
Nov. 21 – Nov. 27: Brendan Gaunce, Belleville Bulls
Nov. 14 – Nov. 20: Tanner Pearson, Barrie Colts
Nov. 7 – Nov. 13: Ryan Spooner, Kingston Frontenacs
Oct. 31 – Nov. 6: Matt Puempel, Peterborough Petes
Oct. 24 – Oct. 30: Shane Prince, Ottawa 67’s
Oct. 17 – Oct. 23: Brandon Saad, Saginaw Spirit
Oct. 10 – Oct. 16: Nail Yakupov, Sarnia Sting
Oct. 3 – Oct. 9: Greg McKegg, Erie Otters
Sept. 26 – Oct. 2: Seth Griffith, London Knights
Sept. 21 – Sept. 25: Tanner Pearson, Barrie Colts

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Nashville Predators at the New York Islanders: Pre Game Primer

2012-01-16T07:27:00.003-06:00

TV-Radio...

Noon CST - TV: Fox Sports TN, MSG Plus, and NHL Network in Canada. Preds Radio Network (102.5-FM The Game)

Stage Setter...

After surviving an ongoing dog fight in the Western Conference and winning 13 of their last 17 games, the Predators travel to New York to play the Islanders today and the Rangers tomorrow. With back to back games it would not be a complete surprise to see Anders Lindback in net this afternoon. No official announcements have been made.

Make the jump for everything else...

Western Conference Standings...

Team GP Pts
1. * Chicago 46 60
2. * Vancouver 46 59
3. * San Jose 42 55
4. St Louis 44 58
5. Detroit 44 57
6. Nashville 44 54
7. Los Angeles 46 53
8. Minnesota 45 51
9. Colorado 46 50
10. Dallas 42 49
11. Phoenix 45 47
12. Calgary 46 47

Prior Meetings...

This is the only meeting of the season between the Preds and Isles. Last season the Predators won the only meeting which was in Nashville on December 13 when the Predators won 5-0 with Lindback pitching the shutout. The Predators are 6-0-2 in the last eight games against the Isles who have not beaten the Preds in regulation since the captured a 5-2 win in Nashville on April 11, 2002.

Last Time Out...

Nashville played one of their best games of the season, beating Philadelphia in Smashville in front of a sold out Bridgestone Arena in a highly entertaining game.

The Islanders defeated Buffalo 4-2 in Nabokov's 300 th career win plaing in front of the home crowd.

Top Scorers (G-A-Pts)...

Nashville - S. Weber (9-23-32), M. Erat (10-19-29), D. Legwand (12-15-27), C.Smith (9-17-26), R. Suter (5-20-25) and C. Wilson (8-15-23)

Islanders - J. Tavares (15-27-42), M. Moulson (21-18-39), P. Parenteau (7-30-37) and M. Streit (2-19-21)

In Goal (W-L-O, GAA, save %)...

Nashville - P. Rinne (23-11-4, 2.54, .920) and A. Lindback (2-4-0, 2.75, .893)

Islanders - E. Nabokov (Probable Start) (7-11-0, 2.64, .909) and Kevin Poulin (0-1-0, 3.07, .897)

Other Comparisons...

Teams	Predators	Islanders
Record	25-15-4 (54)	16-20-6 (38)
Last 10	7-3-0	5-5-0
Home Record	14-7-3	10-10-3
Road Record	11-8-1	6-10-3
Power Play (rank)	21.6 (3)	19.3 (7)
Penalty Kill (rank)	82.1 (19)	83.2 (10)
Goals For (rank)	2.70 (13)	2.36 (27)
Goals Allowed (rank)	2.68 (12)	3.07 (26)
Shots For (rank)	27.5 (27)	30.0 (15)
Shots Allowed (rank)	31.2 (24)	29.9 (13)
Penalty Mins (rank)	10.1 (7)	9.7 (4)
Faceoff % (rank)	49.4 (19)	48.9 (25)

Injuries...

Nashville - Jerred Smithson (lower body), Craig Smith (illness).

Islanders - Rick DiPietro (Sports hernia/knee swelling), Mark Katic (Shoulder), Al Montoya (Concussion), Mike Mottau (Concussion), and Marty Reasoner (Broken Hand).

Notes...

The Predators are 20-2-2 when scoring more than two goals.
The Predators are 13-0-1 when Nick Spaling scores. He set a career high for points in a season (7g-8a-15pts) on Saturday with his game winner.
Colin Wilson and Nick Spaling lead the team in GWG with three each.
Todays game is the 6th of 11 back to back games this season. They are 3-2-0 record on the front end and 2-3-0 on the back end.
This is one of three matinees for the Preds this year. The Preds beat Calgary 2-0 on 1-1-12 and will play one in Boston on 2-11-12. They are 21-7-7 all time in day games.
The Preds have comeback from a 2 or 3 goal deficits 6 times this season
The Preds have a .294 win % when trailing after two periods (5-12-0), Second only to Ottawa in the NHL
The Preds are 0-24 during the Goo-Goo minute and will have their nest chance on Saturday against the Blackhawks.

Other Predator Previews...

Predators.com
PredsOnTheGlass
The Tennessean
Ryan Porth Preview - Pekka Rinne Audio Preview
Amanda DiPaolo
Robby Stanley
Dirk Hoag
Paul McCann
Fang Finger
Patten Fuqua
Predatorial

Long Island Media...

Islanders.com
Chris Botta
Lighthouse Hockey
Dee Karl
IslesBlogger
The Islanders Aggregator

Game Notes from NHL Media Services

A Look Ahead for the Preds...

Today @ NY Islanders (noon start)
Tuesday @ NY Rangers 6:30 p.m.
Thursday (1-19) @Columbus 6 p.m.
Saturday (1-21) Chicago Blackhawks 7 p.m.
Monday (1-23) Columbus Blue Jackets 7 p.m.
Tuesday (1-24) @ Chicago Blackhawks
1-25 to 1-30 All-Star Break

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass