1/30/10 - Atlanta at Nashville: W 3-4

LIKES:

Scoring from the secondary players like Joel Ward and Jerred Smithson. Coach Trotz just recently said that he needed to see more of this. Leave it to players like Ward and Smithson to step up make things happen, even when they were not on the same line for most of the night.

Getting a goal in the first period and not with just 20 or so seconds left before the first intermission. I was getting really tired of having nothing to cheer about until the second (or sometimes, third) period.

Scoring from players that should be scoring like Martin Erat and yes, you're seeing this correctly, Jason Arnott. Both not only brought their A-game last night, but they also managed to score quick goals without a lot of set up. After Arnott scored the eventual game winner just seven seconds into the third period, he re-established himself as Mr. Clutch in my book.

Kevin Klein had a decent night last night. For once, I found myself pleasantly surprised at his decision making (for the most part). Based on his games here recently, me being pleasantly surprised at anything he does is a welcome change of pace.

A win. At home. Even in the midst of a crowd peppered with more Thrashers fans than I have ever seen in one place.

DISLIKES:

Special teams. Why are they having such a hard time scoring on the power play? They couldn't even manage to score with a five-on-three. This needs to get corrected ASAP.

The line combinations were all over the place last night. But I probably shouldn't be too upset over it because whatever it was seemed to work out well. I still say JP Dumont and Jason Arnott need to be paired together again. Both of their games drop off considerably when they are working with different linemates other than each other.

AMAZINGNESS:

These boys made my night. On the front, they spelled out "RYAN" and on the back they spelled out "I [heart] 28". When we asked them why Ryan Jones, their answer was "because we had four tickets and his name only has four letters". The best part? Ryan Jones got a good look at them before a face off in the third period and the look of bewilderment on his face was priceless. Props to boys for going hardcore with the body paint for no other reason than to do it. I love sports fans.


The next three games are the last chances to savor some hockey in Nashville before another road trip and the Olympic break. It is also a chance for the Predators to find their groove for winning on home ice again and dig themselves out of the little hole they got themselves into over the past five games. Let's go, boys. You've got some work to do.

1/29/10 - Nashville at Detroit: L 2-4

I had a bunch of things typed up to say about this game but I deleted them all. I'm left shaking my head and speechless. My disappointment has grown with each passing loss. I'm having flashbacks to October and that is not okay. Not okay at all.

However, as upsetting as this game has been, I still find myself excited for the game tomorrow. I don't know if it is just because it's been almost two weeks since the last time I was at the Sommet or if it's the optimist in me who believes that another winning streak is right around the corner. Either way, regardless of "The Situation", I will cheer on my boys tomorrow night, win or lose.

I just pray they give me something more to talk about.

Your Morning Jed: Hockey Fights Cancer

This Saturday's home game is a Hockey Fights Cancer game. 25% of ticket sales will go to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. If you don't already have tickets, I would definitely encourage you to come out and experience hockey at its finest. And hey, you can feel good about your purchase too because part of what you spend will be put towards good use in the fight against childhood cancer.

Tickets are available by calling (615) 770-PUCK, logging on to Ticketmaster, or clicking the Predators logo to your right.

Happy Wednesday you guys!

Live Blog - Nashville at Columbus: L 2-3

Your Morning Jed: Whose Hockey Player Is It Anyway?

From Crackle: Whose Line is it Anyway - Sound Effects - Ice Hock...

A little humor to start your week.

(This video does NOT contain "mature" situations though. I just couldn't find a YouTube clip of this anywhere. Sorry about that.)

Happy Monday you guys!

1/22/10 - Nashville at Colorado: L 1-2

UGH...

The phrase "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" is more than applicable for this game.

I'm also sad that the Father's Trip went 0-2 this year.

That is all. I can't bring myself to go back and relive it in my head. The first time through was bad enough.

1/21/10 - Nashville at Phoenix: L 2-4

The sky is not falling. The world is not coming to an end. Last night was not the Predators fall from grace. Nor was it their only chance at making the playoffs.

It was one game. One game in which there was a player who had an amazing night. Said player just happened to have the opposing team's jersey on, that's all. Every once in a while, there is going to be a night like that. Every once in a while, there is going to be a player who shines far brighter than the rest. Last night just so happened to be Phoenix's night. No amount of posturing is going to change that. The only thing to do now is move forward. Knowing this team, that is exactly what they will do.

This was also the first of four meetings between the Coyotes and the Predators this season. The tide can be changed over the course of the next three meetings. Am I saying that it will be easy? Absolutely not. But it will, like most every Predators season prior, be an exhilarating roller coaster ride to the finish line.

So please don't read too much into this loss, as so many were want to do last night. Remember it was just one game. ONE. GAME.

With that said however, let us all hope for a win tonight. I would hate to see the boys lose twice (and in some cases, three times) in front of their fathers.

Smashville Express

Totally digging this video:



Once you're finished watching, go check out a new blog by the Predators Executive Vice President of Marketing/Communications and Chief Marketing Officer Derek Perez: From The Front Row

1/18/10 - Toronto at Nashville: L 4-3

Yes, you're reading that correctly. The Predators LOST to the Maple Leafs. The MAPLE LEAFS. A team whose record is far worse than theirs. A team they were more than capable of dominating. And yet...I had kind of had a feeling things weren't going to go so well. The Predators way has shown time and time again that instead of owning a team they appear to be far better than, they fall to that team's level of play. Such was the case with Toronto, I'm afraid.

The night was wrought with bad decisions from the start. Coach Trotz chose Pekka Rinne over Dan Ellis, sticking with his current pattern of them playing every other game. However, in seasons past, if a goaltender posted a shutout the game before, they were rewarded with another start the following game. Apparently (and thanks to Brandon Felder for asking the question to clear things up), the shutout rule no longer exists. I get sticking to what works, a style of coaching that Trotz swears by, but...Pekka had (what I would consider) a horrible practice on Sunday. Everything that could go in, did go in. That just carried over into the game. And I'm left to wonder what the outcome of the game could have been if Ellis had started.

An equally disappointing decision by the coaching staff was the continued pairing of Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Klein. They have yet to find a good rhythm together on the ice and that's not going to cut it over halfway through the season. It's not as if Trotz isn't aware of their sub-par performance. He and Coach Peterson have called them out in the past and yet it seems as though neither one has worked to find a better fit for the pair. Hamhuis and Klein are good defensemen individually but you wouldn't know that when they take to the ice together. Something needs to change here.

The team on the ice at the Sommet was not the team on the ice in Calgary. Friday night, the Predators played a full 60 minutes of hockey against a team jockeying for a similar place in the standings. Last night, the Predators only mustered a full team effort for about 10 of 60 minutes, against a team just struggling to find themselves at .500. Yes, they found a way to mount a comeback and level the score at 3 a side, but they somehow found a way to let the game slip past them once again. I have seen this happen more often than I care to remember during a home game.

Reading quotes from a lot of players throughout the course of the season so far, they have emphasized the importance of winning games on the road. They have said it is easier to focus on hockey when they're away from the distractions of home. They have said travelling creates more of a team atmosphere, which translates to their performance on the ice. They have even been pleasantly surprised to find better success away from Nashville this season. So what's the deal when it comes to playing at home? It's called home ice advantage for a reason. Thanks to Brandon Felder (again), Jerred Smithson had this to say about the Sommet struggles post-game:

Felder - "Do you guys talk about the slow starts a lot, especially considering March is going to be really critical with all those home games."

Smithson - "Yea, oh yea. We talk about it every night. I wish I had an answer for you but I don't know why we come out that way. We get behind three goals and teams are too good to spot them two or three goals right off the bat. We gotta do something like ASAP, next home game we got to be better. You want to win your home games and be .500 on the road. Our home record isn't where we want it to be."

At least they're aware there is an issue.


After a tease of a game (in every possible sense of the word), the Predators hit the road again Wednesday morning, this time with their fathers in tow for the annual Father's Trip. Travelling to Phoenix to visit the Coyotes for the first time this season, I am curious to see how they perform. Phoenix has outperformed everyone's expectations this season and coupled with all of their financial turmoil, one could call them Nashville Predators West. This match up should be an interesting one, to say the least. Puck drops at 8:00pm CST, televised locally on FS TN (channel 28 for Comcast customers).

Oh, happy day!

This made my day...every word of it.

Injured players close to returning

Looking forward to seeing how things flesh out when the team finally gets some of their key players back in the lineup.

After the past couple of weeks I've had, this has brightened my mood significantly.

Happy Friday, everyone!

1/12/10 - Nashville at Edmonton: W 5-3

Observations from my couch:

So Erat gets to stay Erat instead of the alternate pronunciation of "Air-ot"? Thank goodness. I don't know if I could have ever gotten used to the "correct" pronunciation.

As is the case from the United Center, Rexall Place seems dimly lit at all times. I kept waiting for my TV to brighten up as I watched.

Two quick goals is not exactly how I expected this game to get started. Not that I'm complaining...because I'm definitely not.

I thought this the last time we played the Oilers but I really don't like their third jerseys. It makes me think we're playing the Islanders every time.

Every goal scored in the first period was a ninth goal on the season for each goal scorer. Way to go Shea Weber, Marcel Goc and JP Dumont. Although, I honestly expected JP to be a little farther along in the goal scoring category than he is...

Pekka Rinne stealing some glove hand moves from Dan Ellis tonight. He was snatching pucks out of mid-air with Mr. Miyagi chopstick-like reflexes. Nice one, Pekka-san.

Every time I heard Pete or Terry say "Deslauriers", I thought they were about to say "DeLorean". Apparently, I was in an 80's movie state of mind this evening.

Patric Hornqvist continues to blow it up on the ice...and somewhere in Spring Hill, Jeremy (from Cellblock 303) is crying over losing faith in him too quickly. And somewhere else in this world, the person who bought his Hornqvist jersey off of eBay is shedding tears of joy over their purchase.

As has typically been the case, when the game seems to already be in hand going into the third period, the boys tend to play close to the chest. Tonight's game was no different. Edmonton grabbed a goal and then the Predators were able to change the momentum a bit, leading to the waived off high-stick goal.

And just as I was thinking they would go an entire game without one penalty, Patric Hornqvist takes a penalty, thus leading to the Oilers second goal of the night. Right before that second goal, it seemed as though some sort of alarm was going off in Rexall Place. Edmonton's answer to the laser pointer incident in Vancouver, perhaps?

Leave it to Ryan Jones, the other resident stay-at-the-net guy, to put the boys up by 3 with that sweet, sweet backhand. Good timing on that goal too. He was patient and waited for the perfect opportunity to get Dubnyk out of position.

Ugh, that rash of penalties with less than two minutes left in the third totally killed the good mojo created by the Jones goal. Too Many Men on the Ice is still one of the most idiotic penalties a team can take. Stupid, stupid, stupid.


I think I'd like this win better if they didn't play so sloppy in the third though I'm pretty sure they were tired from playing two games within 24 hours of one another. It's still a win and two points in the standings so I really shouldn't complain too much...

On to Calgary in the morning; Friday night should be entertaining.

Really?!?! An Open Letter to Alex Burrows

Really, Alex Burrows? Really?! You're going to whine over some calls against you because you think Stephane Auger had it out for you?! Really?!

Guess what? Just like it's your job to play hockey night after night, it's Auger's job to call things like he sees them. And yes, the calls might not always go your way but really?! Really?!

Jerred Smithson didn't whine incessantly about the five minute major he received for "boarding" you in the December 8th game. A penalty which you BLATANTLY played up in order to have Stephane Auger call it in the first place. And he certainly didn't say much about the game misconduct he received that was later rescinded. And you know why? Because IT'S A GAME AND HE LET IT GO.

And when you threw that really questionable hit on JP Dumont last year, you got away scott free. Call me crazy but that was quite fortuitous for you, sir. There are a lot of Predators fans (and Predators players, for that matter) that are still a little sensitive about that incident.

Now I understand that the NHL has decided to delve a little deeper into your claims so it is quite possible you could be telling the truth or some version thereof. But next time you roll into the Sommet Center, March 7th at 2:00pm (but who's counting, really?), you might want to be a little less worried about the refs targeting you and slightly more concerned about playing the game, without all the dramatics.

****Yes, I know it's definitely possible that Stephane Auger could be in error here but I still think Alex Burrows was a little bit over the top with the way he went about bringing this to the league's attention. Sean Avery would be proud.****

This has been REALLY?!?! with Rachel

1/11/10 - Nashville at Vancouver: W 3-2

Late night game, late night tidbits:

What a way to start the game...Joel Ward comes back with a vengeance, scoring a goal with just over two minutes in the first period, short handed AND on a breakaway. I had to blink a few times because I wasn't sure if I was seeing that correctly. Thank you, Joely.

So Erat's last name should really be pronounced "Air-ot"? I am not going to be able to remember that. And why wait so long to tell somebody they've been saying it wrong all these years?

Okay, either I was really sleepy and things weren't exactly processing correctly or I was watching a super speedy version of this game. The first period seemed to be on fast forward.

Nice pressure by the line of Sullivan-Goc-Hornqvist right before the end of the first period. Really like what I saw from that line. Drawing a penalty and then we score on the power play. Nice job. Niiiiice.

That "roughing" penalty on Dan Ellis was pure CRAP. I mean, seriously refs? Seriously?! Horrible call that resulted in Vancouver scoring the equalizer early in the second. I'm still shaking my head over that one.

Ryan Suter made some amazing defensive plays tonight. He was all over the place and pretty much always exactly where we needed someone to be. I wonder if that alternate captain for the 2010 USA Olympic team had anything to do with his seemingly stepped up play...

Speaking of some good plays, Dan Hamhuis was on it tonight as well. Definitely impressed with his game for once. And what a ring off the post late in the second.

I'm not really sure what Henrik Sedin was doing to Dan Ellis at the end of the second period and I'm not really sure I want to know...but let's just say it looked a little Brokeback Mountain to me. I'm also pretty sure it wasn't consensual.

Marcel Goc missed two prime scoring chances with wide open nets in front of him. Not too sure what's up with him here lately but something's off.

My goodness, the refs were just calling all kinds of crazy penalties tonight. Purely crap calls on both sides of the ice.

Shea Weber comes through with another cannon from the point. Man, do I love seeing that.


I'd have more to say but my eyelids are fighting with me. I liked what I saw tonight though. Good effort and not too much to complain about. Hoping the boys can pull it out again tomorrow night at Edmonton against the ailing Oilers.

1/9/10 - Anaheim at Nashville: L 3-2

I'm baaa-aaack!

Although, for some reason, I was just not feeling it today. I debated whether or not I was even going to go to tonight's game up until about 3 hours before. After witnessing the game that was played in the first 40 minutes, it became apparent that most of the team wasn't really feeling it tonight either.

With Cal O'Reilly in and Mike Santorelli back in Milwaukee, it reminds me how out of the loop I've been this week.

Also I totally forgot about the Ben Guite call up.....wow, so much changed within a week. I gotta get back in my groove. And Ben Guite? Really?! He's not doing anything for me at all.

Patric Hornqvist is not only the resident net crasher but he is way scrappy. I don't think I ever really realized that until I was watching him in the second period.

This game makes it very evident there are some real key players missing out there. Flat, flat, flat, flat, flat.

God forbid Coach Trotz ever pulls Pekka Rinne after 3 goals on 13 shots. If it were Dan Ellis is net with those numbers, I can guarantee you Pekka would be in for him in the blink of an eye. Double standard, anyone?

Who had an overall craptastic game? That honor belongs to Steve Sullivan. He was really off and didn't seem to have much chemistry with anyone out there. Ugh, I yelled at him a lot...and I hardly ever yell at him. I certainly hope this was just an off night due to Jason Arnott being out.

I'm ready for the injuries to be healed already. I need the Joel Wards, Jerred Smithsons and yes, even the Jordin Tootoos back in the lineup. There is too much randomness on this team right now.


The Predators head out for another Canadian road trip and face off against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. If those Canucks even look at JP Dumont funny, I'm going to have some strong words for them Tuesday morning.

Your Morning Jed: Un-bear-lievable?

I am not even sure I know what to say about this.Yes, this is real and no, I do not in any way condone animal cruelty, which I totally think this could be.

Also, this happened in Russia. Crazy Russians. You know how I feel about them.

(Try to have a) Happy Tuesday!

Ringing In 2010 With Wins

I had a lot of things I was going to say about the past two games but my internet connection foiled those plans. Instead, I will just throw out a few tidbits that managed to somehow stay fresh in my mind during this crazy weekend.

12/31/09 - Nashville at Columbus: W 2-1 OT

It shouldn't take us almost an entire sixty minutes to score ONE GOAL against Columbus. It just shouldn't. With that being said, congratulations to Andreas Thuresson for tallying his first NHL career goal. Now I can't be so critical of him being the filler for Jerred Smithson on that second line.

The loss of Martin Erat (even if only for a week) has already left its mark on our offense. Sometimes he can be that needed spark on the ice to get the puck moving. Thank goodness that knee-on-knee contact just resulted in a strain. It could have been so much worse.

01/02/10 - Anaheim at Nashville: W 1-3

It's weird how quickly a game can go when there are very minimal penalties called on either side. While Anaheim always plays a physical game, I was still surprised that they stayed disciplined enough to only take a couple of penalties.

I love a good Shea Weber shot from the point...especially when it results in a goal.

The look on David Legwand's face as he headed to the locker room after the third period was priceless. He was just as confused as the rest of us, wondering why the scoreboard didn't read 3-1 after his empty netter.

For once, I don't mind that Coach Trotz has reverted back to his "Dance of the Rotating Goalies". Both Elly and Peks are doing a great job in net right now.


Congratulations are in order for all Predators who got the call for their respective country's Olympic team: Martin Erat (Czech Republic), Marcel Goc (Germany), Patric Hornqvist (Sweden), Alexander Sulzer (Germany), Ryan Suter (US) and Shea Weber (Canada). There is another player who I could mention but I really don't want to go there because I might get all riled up and that's no way to start the new year so I'm just going to leave it alone. But don't think I don't know he's going, because I do. Anyway....I love the Olympics, whether it be the winter or summer games. With six players headed to Vancouver, our organization will be well represented. Come game time, however, I'm Team USA all the way.

With the holiday season over, my posting should return to normal now.

Happy New Year everyone!