The Russian phantom Alexander Radulov is haunting us once more. The Salavat Yulaev superstar was on the NHL.COM box score for game one of the Florida Panthers doubleheader. Don't believe me? Checkout the proof here. He had 25 minutes of play and an uncharacteristic 4 penalty minutes. Even though the NHL box scorer watched him play for darn near half of the game he neglected to see the big lettering on the back of the jersey. And seeing as defenseman Scott Ford currently wears #47 (thanks to On the Forecheck for the pre-season roster), this is a big fat lie! Obviously an intentional one and an unprofessional slap in the face of the Nashville Predators organization. But it was good seeing ol' Radu back on the roster even if it was completely untrue... though official. One more year. One more year.

Craig Smith isn't one of those players that get much attention from prospects magazines and he flies under the radar in a lot of the Nashville Predators sites. But he was one of if not the best players on the U.S. World Championship team that was eliminated by the home favorite Czech Republic team 4-0 today in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Smith, a native of Madison WI, was drafted in the 4th round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators. In 2009-2010 he played alongside hometown Hobey Baker Trophy winner Blake Geoffrion in Wisconsin, notching 33 points in 41 games.

In the 2011 IIHF World Championship Smith notched 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) in 7 games on the line with Derek Stepan and Blake Wheeler. He had 2 goals and 1 assist on the power play. On Versus, after the U.S. loss, soon to be restricted free agent Zach Parise praised the young Center saying that this is very good news for the Nashville Predators. One can only hope that the success can eventually extend to the NHL level where he can meet back with linemate Geoffrion and get started where they left off.

Okay so this little rag called the Orange County Register has this quaint little less than 200 word piece entitled "Ducks to face Trashville Predators". It can be seen right here http://www.ocregister.com/sports/nashville-295788-ducks-chicago.html?cb=1302622606. The author Jeff Miller ( whose work email is jmiller@ocregister) looks like a smug bastard with his no undershirt chest hair and his misguided smile of a proud writer. The article (if you can call under 200 words an article) begins with glossing of Chicago and how it would be tough to make fun of Chicago. He continues to worship the city by referring to the ol' deep dish pizza and cold beer!

And then he goes and tells the world about Hee-Haw and its gratuitous cleavage. Granted I hated that (bleeping) show and it is a lie. But CLEAVAGE?! C'mon man! Your city (Anaheim/Greater Los Angeles) produces enough porn each year to not call cleavage gratuitous! That's the real trash! Anyways, he goes site cultural contributions by name dropping the character Lisa Turtle from Saved by the Bell, played by Nashville's own Lark Voorhies, who used to look like this.

via www.virginmedia.com

WE ARE NASHVILLE!

(I apologize for the crudity of this model...)

Eastern Conference

This conference is pretty much done. Nuff said. OTF fans are really looking at the...

Western Conference

          GP  W (*W)  L OTL PTS|VAN SAN DET PHX LAK NAS ANA CHI DAL CGY MIN STL CBJ COL EDM
P VAN (NW) 78 52 (48) 17   9 113|...------------------------PRESIDENTS TROPHY WINNER-----------------------
X SAN (C)  77 45 (40) 23    9  99|.......         10    5      5      3      5       4    ***    ***    ***   ***    ***    ***   ***
   DET (P)  77 44 (40) 23   10  98|...........              6     6      4      6       5     1     ***     ***   ***   ***    ***   ***
   PHX (P)  78 42 (37) 25  11  95|...............................           8                      5     ***     ***   ***   ***    ***   ***
   LAK (P)  77 44 (35) 27   6  94|...........               10....         9     10      9     6       1     ***    ***   ***    ***   ***
   NAS (C)  78 42 (36) 26  10  94|...........                                                       6      1       ***   ***   ***    ***   ***
   ANA (P)  77 44 (40) 28   5  93|...........                                9               10    6      2      ***    ***   ***    ***   ***
   CHI (C)  76 41 (36) 27   8  90|...........                                                        10     5        3      ***   ***    ***   ***
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 DAL (P) 76 38 (33) 27  11  87|.......................................                                       8        6       4     4   ***   ***
 CGY (NW)  78 38 (29) 29  11  87|...............................                                                    6       4     4   ***   ***
 MIN (NW) 75 35 (33) 32   8  78|...........................................                                                    9    8    ***   ***
 STL (C)  75 34 (30) 32   9  77|...............................................                                                                        
 CBJ (C)  75 33 (29) 31  11  77|...................................................                                                                  
-COL (NW) 75 28 (23) 39   8  64|.......................................................                                                            
-EDM (NW) 75 23 (21) 41  11  57|...........................................................                                                      

Vancouver clinches the Conference's best record in Thursdays crazy match.

Speaking of the Red Wings, the Preds still have a 2% 3% chance of taking the Division from them! And if we beat Vancouver the Red Wings Saturday it goes up. It would be nice to get all 8 remaining points for a total of 102. Detroit has some tough ones after Saturday (@Carolina, vs Minnesota, vs Chicago and @ Chicago). If you recall, the Red Wings overtook the division from us late in the 06-07 season. It's revenge time! LOL

I'm callin' it... St. Louis is done. (So much for Halak being the God goaltender.)

If Chicago wins and Minnesota can only manage a point they are out.

Dallas still have an okay shot with everybody healthy and the most games remaining for the regular season. They have 2 home games and 6 away. Half are cupcakes.

Calgary has probably got to win out to get in the playoffs as most the teams ahead of them have at least a game at hand. Update: They lost the first of those games so it looks next to impossible now.

Per Zorak

Hockey cards are an awesome hobby if you have extra income to do with as you please. Nashville Predators cards have had a pretty good recent history and are a more affordable and have more value than the average team. Some of the notables have been Alexander Radulov, Shea Weber, and Patric Hornqvist. Recently an Alexander Radulov The Cup rookie card was sold on eBay for nearly $200.00 despite the fact that he plays in the Kontinental Hockey League. The price had to do with the fact that the card includes attributes such as a game used jersey patch, an autograph and is limited to only 99 in the world. One can find the Shea Weber variety for around $50-70 usually and is limited to 249. Other players with The Cup patch auto rookies who play for the Predators are Patric Hornqvist, Ryan Suter, Cody Franson, Cal O'Reilly, and Colin Wilson. 

Another popular series is SPx in which some rookies are autographed and have game used jersey swatches. Those can be bought on eBay for around $7-20. You can find players such as Radulov, Weber, Suter, Wilson, Hornqvist and new to this years set Lindback. Blake Geoffrion and Jonathon Blum haven't and won't play enough games to grant them rookie cards. Shea Weber played enough in 05-06 to get a late issued rookie card but they instead waited until the 06-07 season to release them. As a fan I like to try to get all our players rookie cards and the more there are of one player the more fun and challenging. And these players (Blum and Geoffrion) are marquee players for a rookie set. Both are 1st rounders and very high prospects for our team. I would like these two to get their own hockey cards as soon as possible but it looks like we will have to wait until next season for that.

The future looks bright for Nashville Predators card collectors!

Paul McCann is on hockeybuzz live talking about the possibility of J.P. Dumont getting traded. He states that Buffalo is a possibility. Jason Arnott keeps getting pushed around as a possible name as does Clarke Macarthur. Andrei Kostitsyn is another name that keeps getting talked about.

Chris Campoli to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2nd round pick and Ryan Potulny.

Andrei Kostitsyn would make the most sense to me for J.P. Dumont and possibly somebody else or a later round pick. J.P. Dumont as a Canadian would be something that a lot of people including myself have foreseen. As for the Clarke Macartur deal, what has been rumored is him for Ryan Ellis and J.P. Dumont (which is ridiculous and I can't/don't believe Poile would offer this).

If you missed it late last night Brad Boyes was traded to the Sabres for a second round pick. Well, now the other Brad as in defenseman Brad Winchester has been traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a third round pick so the blues are definitely one of the more active teams. They were, of course, involved in a shocking trade with the Colorado Avalanche acquiring (amazingly) Chris Stewart (who was having a career year) and Kevin Shattenkirk (who is among the d-men rookie leaders in seemingly all categories) for Erik Johnson (former 1st overall pick who has been hurt a lot and yet to reach potential) and Jay McClement.

Dustin Penner to the L.A. Kings for Colton Teubert (13th overall pick in 2008), 1st round pick and a conditional pick.

hockeybuzz has crashed...

(starbucks break)

Capitals pick up Jason Arnott and the Devils get David Steckel and a 2nd round pick. Reminds me of when they got Scott Walker.

So it is past the deadline now and there have been a few trades...

Chris Higgins to Vancouver for Evan Oberg and a 3rd round pick to Florida

Maxim Lapierre to Vancouver for Joel Perreault and (another) 3rd round pick to Anaheim Ducks.

So no movement for the Preds on this day. I say it's okay that we didn't move bodies. What say you?

So I am looking at the Versus (cough-cough) coverage of the 2011 All Star Game and scrolling on the bottom is the Versus scores and news. I was at work during the spectacle so I wanted to know how our Captain did. Here's how it reads:

WEBER (PHX) - 4 ASSISTS

When I saw this my heart skipped a beat and I thought, "well, maybe I just saw it wrong." But I didn't and its been scrolling the same poppycock for the last 2 hours or so and NO ONE HAS CORRECTED IT! The jackasses at Versus have gone TOO far this time. Its enough of an insult that Shea didn't get the free wheels for being best player. Who votes for that award anyhow, sheesh?! But anyways the broadcast flagship of the NHL shouldn't be making mistakes this large when we have only 1 player representing us and those 4 points were produced by a player from (PHX).

100 Players are on the ballot for the 2010 All Star Game. Among the Preds chosen were Ryan Suter, Shea Weber and Pekka Rinne. Not really surprising no Nashville forwards were chosen. But apparently the person putting together the list of names did not take into account ANY of the players breaking out this year namely goalies Michal Neuvirth and Sergei Bobrovski and forwards like Jeff Skinner or Chris Stewart. But even more notable were some of the players they added. For instance what is Jay Bouwmeester doing on the ballot. Yes I understand he has had big seasons in the past but where is his game nowadays? And one name is a real mystery.

Dan Hamhuis! I guess it's just because he was the "big splash" free agency pickup by a big market hockey team that paid him insane amounts of money for the next 5 years. The guy, who in the off-season took a cheap-shot on our fans at a Vancouver Fan Fest, has accumulated 1 assist and an empty net goal in 8 games this year. I guess they put these players on the ballot because they make money and they don't look at statistical stuff at all. Listen I understand why they put Iginla on there; it would be rude not too. But why not young guns like Tyler Ennis or Ville Leino they people who have actually had all-star worthy seasons thus far? Other snubs are Matt Duchene, Jordan Leopold, Patrick Sharp... Forget write-ins! I wanna see Cal O'Reilly on the ballot!

It's the truth and you all know it. Ryan Suter has been a vitally important piece of this team since 2005. He has been a key cog in the power play. <pause for a sigh>  He eats up the most minutes of any Predator with an average on ice time of around 3 min. Sure he isn't a scoring machine but what he doesn't do on offense he makes up for it on defense.

I don't know if you guys have been watching the horror lately but we are getting scored on pretty well. And no its not all the fault of Pekka or Anders. Its because we have unexperienced D-men going after much more experienced scoring threats. With Suter out the minutes have been upped for the people that usually don't get as much time on ice (Klein, Franson, O'Brien, Sulzer). Also the Predators power play isn't working. We were 4-21 when Suter was playing. Without him we are 2-34!

He represented our country in world class fashion last winter in the olympics. And had it not been for a broken play in overtime team U.S.A. might have shocked the world. Once again had it not been for the excellent play of Ryan Suter, on the top ten on Sports Illustrated's list for shut down D-men, they might not have won a medal.

Lately we are used to success. The Preds have really been spoiling us with playoff appearance after playoff appearance. The game breaker is Ryan Suter. He's the difference in our 1 goal victories. He brings strength, toughness, and leadership to a team that is in desperate need of his help. And some of us are starting to recognize just how much he means to this franchise.

Linus Klasen, if you haven't heard, is off to a hot start. He is on top of the AHL leader board with 6 goals in as many games. He has 4 points in his last 2. 5 of his 8 points have been scored on the power play. Although it is still early in the season you have to be feeling pretty good about a prospect that is freshly plucked from Sweden and debuts with these type of results right off the bat. Props to the scouts and David Poile for finding this kid!

UPDATE: Linas was named AHL player of the week and OCT. 29th was called up to the Nashville Predators.

Game Log:

MIL VS ABB - W 6-2 (2 goals)

MIL @ PEO - L 3-2

MIL VS CHI - L 3-2 (2 goals)

MIL @ CHI - L 3-2

MIL @ GR - W 3-2 (1 goal, 1 assist)

MIL VS ABB - W 3-1 (1 goal, 1 assist)

MIL @CHI - L 3-4 (1 goal, 1 assist)

I think most Predators fans know the Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville's minor league affiliate) are loaded this year. Many players we sent down could be in the NHL right now like Halischuck, Blum, Laakso, Josi, Mueller, Spalling and Thuresson. Last season they lost in the first round of the AHL Playoffs but this year could be the year they break through to supremecy.

Last night the Milwaukee Admirals defeated the Abbotsford Heat (Calgary Flames affiliate) 6-2. Although it didn't look too good out of the gate as the Admirals quickly were down 2-0 they turned on the afterburners and scored 6 unanswered goals including 2 power play and a shorthanded. Both of the power play goals were sunk by newcomer Linus Klasen who had promised 2 power play goals from his line prior to the game.

The shorthanded goal was scored by Matt Halischuk you might remember Matt as the man we picked up in the Arnott trade. He also scored an even strength goal and assist to get the first star of the game. Nick Spaling scored a goal and added an assist, while Andreas Thuresson and Teemu Laakso chipped in with 2 assists each. Mark Van Guilder scored the game winner with the assist going to Ryan Thang and Kelsey Wilson.

Mark Dekanich who might have to be called up soon, due to Pekka Rinne's injury, settled down in the 2nd and 3rd periods stopping all 15 shots thrown at him. 

Fantasy Hockey is quite addicting and is a great way to learn about the various talented players in the league. As Dirk Hoag had posted a couple of days back On the Forecheck has an official league on Yahoo!. As of this minute there are 9 teams but many have responded and might still be interested in joining. With that being said, it might get too crowded by the time the draft happens either Monday (OCT. 4TH) or Tuesday (OCT. 5) Wednesday (OCT. 6) evening. If you are interested contact Mr. Hoag's email and if you have already done so, check your email messages for the OTF league invite.

The league has been expanded into 16 teams. So those of you who were turned away should check your emails for an invite. I hope a bunch of you reading this get involved the more people involved the more it will feel great when I beat each and every one of you!

I'm not joking.

DON'T FORGET! DRAFT IS TODAY WEDNESDAY OCT. 6TH AT 6:30! BE THERE OR BE SHUNNED!

So I just found out that 102.9 The Buzz (Nashville) will be the new place to turn to for Preds games this season. I wasn't at all surprised because The Zone was doing less and less Preds coverage (and George Plaster has generally been an "downer" towards the team in the recent days - not talking about the George of the past where he spearheaded the 2007 rally) and I think it has something to do with the switch to ESPN. If it were still a Fox Sports Radio station I would think that they would have kept the team on air. It might be a good thing for the future of the franchise because new listeners will tune in and could turn into additional ticket sales from people who might not have been interested initially. Same bat broadcasters - different bat station.

Thoughts?

One of the more popular discussions among hockey's big wigs and fans is whether or not the NHL should realign the teams into different conferences and divisions. In the 1992-1993 season there were 24 teams and 4 divisions. The Prince of Whales Conference included the Adams and Patrick divisions. The Clarence Campbell Conference had the Norris and Smythe divisions. Then in the 93-94 season they changed it into different names and decided to go by geographical proximity. Another reason was that newly appointed Commisioner Gary Betman thought that because there would be confusion about the division names for the fans of the expansion teams (Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Florida Panthers) and the relocated team (Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars). The Prince of Whales Conference became the Eastern Conference and the Clarence Campbell Conference became the Western Conference. The Atlantic, Northeast, Central and Pacific were now the names of the divisions.

The last time this was done was when the Nashville Predators came into the league back in the 1998-1999 season making 4 divisions 6. Now there were 28 teams which equaled out so that there were 14 teams per conference. Not until the 2000-2001 season, when the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild came into existence, would every division have 5 teams each. So that has been the way it's been since. When you look at the geographical distribution of teams across North America you would say, "The map is lopsided! Most of the teams are on the eastern side." It's true, 19 of the 30 teams in the NHL would be considered in the east. Most glaringly would have to be Columbus which is 162 miles from Pittsburgh and Detroit which is 206 miles to Toronto and 220 miles to Buffalo.

If the teams were to be realigned geographically it would do no good to call it the Eastern/Western Conference, especially if they were to expand. Say, the NHL decides to add two new teams (say the Winnipeg Jets return and the Saskatoon Bears). So now you have 4 Canadian Teams in the East and 4 in the West. So since there are 32 teams the logical next step would be divvying up the remaining teams into 6 more divisions. If you look at where the Predators are located you would expect us link up with Florida, Tampa Bay and Atlanta. Which would be very interesting as these teams hardly ever make the playoffs and the fact that all these teams #1 goalies are ex-Predators!

Here is my mock up of what the divisions might look like. Don't take this too seriously but don't laugh either! It took me a while to come up with these.

x conference

nashville
florida
tampa bay
atlanta

toronto
montreal
winnipeg
ottowa

washington
carolina
philadelphia
pittsburgh

detroit
chicago
columbus
buffalo

conference y

nyr
nyi
boston
new jersey

saskatoon
calgary
edmonton
vancouver

colorado
dallas
st. louis
minnesota

anaheim
los angeles
san jose
phoenix

Of course, there are number of ways you could mess with it but I think if the NHL expands to 32  8 divisions of four teams would be the initial thought (like the NFL). Another source they could borrow from is the MLB with the AL/NL concept with teams on the west and east coast in both "conferences" which would make travel a lot more expensive to be certain.  Nothing would have to change about the Stanley Cup Playoff system unless they (the NHL) wanted it too. With 16 teams per conference half of the teams make it in todays playoffs which would make for more tension around playoff birth time. A team would still stick to their division schedule except that they play only 3 teams 6 times a season. In conference but other divisional opponents (12 in total) would still be played 4 times a season. So 18 plus 48 is 66, so guess what that leaves us... 16! Every team in the NHL could play each of the other conference teams. It's just a thought but it could happen, right?

There are some in the hockey realm who believe the Preds will pick up Patrick O'Sullivan in the next few days. The interesting thing about O'Sullivan is that he's never been on a team with a winning record or made the playoffs or were anywhere near making the playoffs! In the only full season he has played he notched 53 points (LA, 07-08). He will make $2.95 m this year which isn't too bad for a player who is an offensive talent. If we do indeed get him (as I truly Do think we will). How would you slot him in? He is versitale as a Center/Left Winger and is utilized on the power play and penalty kill. Personally I am very excited for the prospect of seeing this guy in a Preds uni. This won't effect the Hornqvist signing as he is a RW.

Any ways I have this idea! We already have a Sullivan so if we get O'Sullivan they might hookup on a line or a 2 on 1 situation, right? So if they one of them gets a goal assisted by the other we could play the Police song "Sending Out an S.O.S."!