Stanley Cup Playoff Series Preview: Predators Vs. Coyotes

April 27, 2012 By 1 Comment

phoenix-coyotes-ice-girls

I continue my analysis of the 2nd round Stanley Cup playoff series by analyzing the playoff series between the Nashville Predators and the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Phoenix Coyotes won their opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks in six games, Game 6 of which was the only game which didn’t go into overtime.  The Predators dispatched of the great Detroit Red Wings in five games, Game 4 of which was only game which was decided by more than one goal and all games of which were decided in regulation.

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Fighting in the NHL playoffs on the rise

April 17, 2012 By 1 Comment

Flyers and Penguins

I don’t know too much about the NHL and hardly pay attention to it all season, even the playoffs.

This year is different though. [Read more...]

Tryin’ for Ryan. Can the Predators Sign Suter?

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

ryan-suter

Ryan Suter made headlines at a media event at the NHL All Star game by saying that he did not believe that he would sign with the Nashville Predators before the February 27th trade deadline.

That sound you just heard was Predators GM David Poile cracking open a bottle of Maalox.

Suter creates a problem for Poile with this stance because he is an unrestricted free agent July 1, and the risk by not trading him is that the Predators could see one of their All Star defensemen walk away for nothing in return. Suter said,

“I don’t see it being a benefit by hurrying up and trying to get something done. I’m a Nashville Predator until July 1. I will focus on making my team better.”

“I’m a Nashville Predator until July 1.”

Sounds ominous doesn’t it?

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2011-2012 NHL General Manager Rankings

January 15, 2012 By 7 Comments

nhl teams

In comprising a ranking of the Top 10 National Hockey League (NHL) General Manager’s (GM’s), I assessed the GM’s by a series of factors:  Overall performance – cumulative and trending; drafting and development; trades and acquisitions; capology – the ability to efficiently manage their respective salary cap; variable factors – ownership, organizational legacy, the situation they’ve inherited.

So, this list is not linearly-related to the team’s current record or whether they recently won the Stanley Cup as so many rankings of this type tend to do.

With that, here are the rankings of NHL GM’s:

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NHL’s New Radical Realignment: 4 Conferences Replace 6 Divisions

December 6, 2011 By 1 Comment

nhl-franchise-map

Everyone is talking about the era of the super-conferences in college football, but it has now officially happened in hockey first.

The Atlanta Thrashers becoming the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 prompted the NHL to make some realignment changes. And instead of just tweaking the Southeast Division, cuz you can’t have Winnipeg, especially with their lovely nighttime midseason temperatures in the Southeast, Gary Bettman wen complete overhaul.

Here’s what we had in our plan back in May

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NHL Central Division Week in Review

November 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

While the NHL season is still young, the NHL Central Division is starting to show some separation between the playoff-contending teams and those slated for next June’s NHL Entry Draft lottery.

With that, here is a summary of the NHL Central Division for the first four weeks of the season (in order of the current Central Division standings):

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Predators Sign Pekka Rinne to 7 Year $49 Million Deal

November 3, 2011 By 1 Comment

The Nashville Predators announced today that they had signed goaltender Pekka Rinne to a 7 year, $49 million dollar contract extension. Here is the press release from the Predators:

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has signed goaltender Pekka Rinne to a seven-year, $49 million contract – the largest in franchise history.

“Today’s signing is further evidence of our ownership’s commitment to keeping our core intact,” Poile said. “This is the first step of a process designed to retain our key players and leaders. Pekka has grown with our franchise, just recently established our franchise record for career shutouts and is now recognized as one of the game’s elite players. We’re thrilled to know that he will be backstopping our franchise for several years to come.”

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NHL Central Division Week in Review

October 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

patrick kane shirtless

As the Columbus Blue Jackets are positioning themselves in 242 days for either top amateur prospects Nail Kabulov or Filip Forsberg in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, and as I primarily cover the Blue Jackets, I am left with little to write about in a positive manner.

Therefore, as part of a continuing series, here is a summary of the NHL Central Division for the first two weeks of the season (in order of the current Central Division standings):

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Will the Predators Receive a Kick Start From Trotz’s Call Out?

October 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This past week, Nashville Predators Head Coach Barry Trotz very publicly called out one of his players for his poor play. Rookie defenseman Mattias Ekholm was singled out after his play in the Vancouver game, a 5-1 loss by the Predators. Trotz called the play of Ekholm “horrible, absolutely horrible.”

Trotz went on to refer to his younger players as needing to either step up their game against the best players in the League or “go get a dog” if they couldn’t man up and elevate their level of play.

The next contest saw the Predators break a 4 game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Effective?

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2011-12 NHL Northwest Division Rankings and Fantansy Projections

October 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

nhl logo

 

The 2011-12 NHL season is already under way, and the action on the ice is already heating up.  After a summer filled with lots of on and off ice movement, but also  much  tragedy, the hockey world looks towards a new quest toward Lord Stanley’s Cup.  How do the teams in each division compare to one another?  Who will be the big fantasy players this season?  We take a division by division look at the 2011-12 NHL season.   Let’s take a look at the Northwest Division after the jump.

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NHL Western Conference Predictions/Previews

October 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This is the third year Ed Cmar has offered predictions as to how the Western Conference will sort out. But unlike how he assessed the predicted outcomes in prior seasons by determining who would be in (the playoffs), who would be out of playoff consideration and who would be on the fringe, he’s modified my predictions by where I believe each team will place, overall.

While this changed method is subject to more error, when it comes to the NHL and its playoffs, your seeding/position doesn’t matter.

With that, here are my predictions (in ascending order, from 1st to 15th):

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