9/17/09 - Atlanta at Nashville: W 0-5

We're already getting Frosties and the season hasn't even started yet...

So I realize I have issues with recapping a pre-season game.

Here's just a few thoughts I had tonight. I'll leave the more thorough observations for the later pre-season games, when there's a better established roster. It's just too difficult with all these young ones everywhere.

Observations:

Slightly disappointed to not see more of the veteran guys on the ice tonight. I get that the young guys need their one game or so before they send them down to Milwaukee but I really wanted to see more of our regulars in action.

I never had a doubt in my mind that the Sullivan-Arnott-Dumont line would be great. It was good to see them clicking from the get go, even amongst a sea of little hockey babies.

I forgot how much I love fights during the pre-season. They are always so much more gritty than during regular season. Also, Cody Franson's bloody face made me throw up a little in my mouth. Sitting close to the bench is not always fun for that reason alone.

Colin Wilson, Patric Hornqvist and Teemu Laasko were standouts for me tonight. I particularly liked the fair-haired pairing of Wilson and Hornqvist. They seemed to click. And my nickname of "Twins" might have to be taken away from Suter and Weber and given over to those two because man, I'm having an increasingly hard time telling them apart.

While Dan Ellis didn't face many shots during his half of the game, he still looked great out there. I've been loving his play during training camp so far as well and we all know how much I love Elly in general.

LOVED the Saved By The Bell clip after the Franson-Kulda fight. Boy, did that bring back memories of Saturday mornings gone by.

Oh, and the "Stomp, Stomp, Clap" audience participation crap during the third period was more like "Stomp, Stomp, FAIL". Dear In-Game Crew, please don't pull that one out again, okay? Thanks.

Pre-season shootouts are the only shootouts that don't result in giving me an ulcer and/or cause me to want to throw up. Besides, Cody Franson's bloody face filled my vomit quota for the night anyway. I knew all of our guys were going to miss their shots so maybe that helped a little with the nerves this time around.

Hockey Night in Nashville makes my heart happy. It felt good to be back in the arena; I always feel so at home there. I can't wait to do it all over again. The Predators (hopefully a different line up, please?) take on the Columbus Bluejackets Saturday night at the Sommet. The puck drops at 7:00pm.

Ahhh, welcome back, hockey season. Oh, how I've missed you.