303 NYC

Readership,

What a SO win the other day, eh?  Sadly, my sister didn't have Center Ice at her apartment while Steph and I packed out bags to head back to Nashville...and The Blind Pig (the great bar I tweeted about during the Islanders game) had a Rangers game on half of the TVs and the Olympics on the others...so...no dice getting it changed over to the game.  All I could do was refresh my Twitter app (EchoFon currently) and marvel at how well Cal O'Reilly is playing his game these past four games.

At the airport, I ran into a handful of Nashvillians that flew up to be a part of this New England trip and almost felt like I was in a club box...until I realized Sommet Center doesn't have the delicious smell of Auntie Anne's Pretzels...which is something they should look into: real food.

The City of New York can be a great place, depending on where you are.  I don't feel at all unsafe in Manhattan - it's been vastly cleaned up since the 90's and, though I haven't been past the 100+blocks, the first 99 are fine by me.  Brooklyn...they're working on it.  Time, money and only having a day or so to hang out with my sister (who lives there), kept us from hitting up the Islanders game in the historic Nassau Coliseum, an arena that "Pred Ed" likens to Municipal Auditorium.  No wonder they're going through hell trying to build a new one (I was invited to an event at Municipal a few years ago - not having been since 1996, and man - they need to do something to that place).

[Photo on right: Steph with "303NYC" in MSG].

Madison Square Gardens, or MSG for short, is a classic arena to be sure, but it is incredibly over-rated with a lay-out that would make Jackson Pollock's eyes cross.  After traveling up 4 sets of escalators and up one elevator and walking through a few corridors since our tower (C of A,B,C,D) was blocked off, we ended up being at the equivalent of the 200 level back home.  If that didn't knock our understanding of physics for a loop, the railing you see in the picture there blocks the view of anyone sitting who isn't taller than 6'3" (basing this on the fact that I'm 5'11" and had to peak my head up a handful of inches to see the ice entirely).  This was my 2nd time to MSG, Steph's 1st, and we both agreed: No sir, we don't like it.

Note that the "303NYC" sign could only work if we were in NYC.  We knew we'd have to crop it a bit once we got to the Garden State (such an overrated movie) - if we didn't get tossed out for wearing Preds gear to a Devils game, we'd definitely get tossed out for associating Newark with NYC!  With that in mind, we walked around for a bit and took a few pictures.  We were already in the lower half of what's considered "Midtown", so we figured we'd start from the bottom and work our way to the top.  [Pictured left: J.K. holding "303NYC" in front of the famed Hook&Ladder firehouse used in the movie Ghostbusters].

Making our way back up town, we hit up the NHL Store (Powered by Reebok [which is why no Olympic jerseys where to be found]).  The last time I had been to the NHL store was in 2007.  At that time, they had one home Preds jersey and nothing more.  Thankfully, this time they made up for it.  Original Six teams aside, the Preds merch was nearly equal to any of the other 23 teams. Preds merch adorned the mannequins in the window, along with one mannequin featuring a Devils shirt (since we were playing them the next day) - more Preds featured in NY than Devils - the enemy of my enemy is a friend indeed! [Right: J.K. with "303NYC" at the NHL Store]

[Left: Steph with newly cropped "303" sign in front of The Prudential Center; Below: Steph holding "303" with Joel Ward...kinda.]

The next day had us shifting all around NY and NJ on the PATH train, a much cleaner, but less obvious subway/train to use vs. the MTA (color coded maps, but no train is color coded - they use Track numbers and Abbreviations not made clear on said color coded maps; strange to a newcomer).  Once we had that down, we made our way through the busy Newark-Penn Station and saw The Prudential Center a few blocks in the distance.  As stated in the last post, this arena is nothing short of beautiful inside and out.  This is exactly what Sommet should strive to be: more local displays (high school hockey teams along the lobby hallways), more locally designed merch, special to the pro-shop, unavailable anywhere else, and most of all...better food.

[Left: The Lil Goalie That Could've...But That's Not Part Of Rotation. Note to Trotz: this man provided us with the WINS.]

Thanks to Twitter, we got word that the "303" sign was featured on TV during the 1st intermission, so for the whole 3rd period, we held up the sign in the face of the Devils' onslaught against us.  If you have screenshots of the "303" (one section to the right of our bench on TV), lemme know at seepuckcity(at)gmail(dot)com.

Though the game ended up falling apart, that didn't deter us from having fun. NYC is full of unique stores, amazing restaurants (best falafel: Mamoun's; their hot sauce will kill the weak with flavor!), one helluva park and a never-ending cast of colorful characters.  It's a place we both could see ourselves moving to in the next year or so if the circumstances are right.  My one gripe...Manhattan isn't really a hockeytown.  Preds fans top them easy - too fair weather for my taste.  And MSG? It really is bad for you. I'm sure they'd rather watch Ice Dancing on NBC too!

'Til then!

Cheers.

 

Devils Solid As The Rock; Preds Implode In The 3rd - Lose 5-2.

Readership,

Just got back off of the PATH train to Manhattan, sent my iPhone pics to my comp for the blog (the better camera pics from the whole trip will be uploaded Sunday night or Monday afternoon - including a handful of 303 pics from around NYC as well as tonight's game at The Rock), and settling down with a tiny bag of Utz.

The Prudential Center is a rather amazing arena to say the least.  It's two blocks from the Newark-Penn Station, making it oh-so-accessible, and bright and spacious and rather inviting inside.  Every NJ high school hockey team seemed to be represented by their jerseys on the wall of the main lobby, Thomas Edison is currently represented along the walls as Jersey's "first celebrity", so there's good ol' local history being celebrated in the main lobby as well, and lastly...the food!!! Premium Nathan's hot dogs, fries, name-brand burgers, giant super-pretzels (where did those go?? I miss them so!), etc., adorn the eateries.  I got a large soda in a souvenir cup for $5.75 and of everything I just mentioned, that was the only thing over $5.  That's what I'd like to see in Sommet - more catering to the local community that supports it: the local breweries (Yazoo, Blackstone), local or even regional snack brands (Brim's, Bartlett, TN or Golden Flake, Birmingham, AL) in the eateries, high school jerseys from the GNASH league and hockey jerseys from MTSU and UT and whatever other colleges are attempting to finally include the sport into their program, have more information available regarding local city-league ice and in-line hockey teams, and perhaps even get local artists who happen to be hockey fans to help marketing create new fan-made campaigns.  Just sayin' - Prudential gives even award-winning arenas like our barn stiff competition (and blows Madison Sqaure Gardens to bits out-right) - we got free Devils hats to boot.  Funny thing is, the crowd was just as empty as MSG on a Wednesday night - looked 2/3rds full at best.

Thanks to StubHub, I was able to score seats that were maybe $20 more than what I had to pay for nosebleeds at MSG through TicketExchange...and ended up on the 2nd row from the ice.  Thank you, StubHub (an eBay company - no, they don't pay me to say that, I've just been an eBayer for ten years and they're great)!  The game began and continued not unlike the one in Manhattan:  our first two goals came from Cal O'Reilly and Jordan Tootoo while our goals against came from defensive breakdowns.  The first, strangely enough, came from our two North American Olympians, Weber and Suter.  Suter didn't stay with his man and Pekka came out just a bit too far.  The 2nd, I can't remember completely - I was too busy answering texts about folks catching SPC's very own Stephanie holding up the 303 sign we made for the trip on TV at the 1st intermission.  Once again, we see our boys tied with the opposition with the same score at the top of the 3rd - this time with the opposition with more SOG. Then Kovalchuk shot one from the high slow to begin the "3rd Period Implosion" with his first goal as a New Jersey Devil (which resulted in many of those free hats being tossed onto the ice).  Bad and/or questionable penalties taken (Stephane Auger was on the ice, so that's a given these days), and the usual... the D hanging Pekka out to dry.  

With Dan Ellis posting cryptic humor on Twitter regarding what could happen before today's pseudo-trade-deadline roster freeze that happened earlier today, and the way the team seems to play better in front of one goalie and not the other, it's difficult to pin-point what went wrong and where to actually point blame.  New Jersey is a defensive-minded team, much like the Preds, but it's a team that comes to give its all with each and every game, and to make sure they protect the brother in goal, whoever that may be, but when you have a stand-up class act such as this in net [see picture to the left]...it would make your mother curse your existence if you left him down.  How can we resolve our goalie situation once and for all - or at least give our Protectors of the Twine 60 minutes of confidence instead of...well...anything less?  This is something I hope Poile and his Shadow Cabinet will discuss during the Olympics break, perhaps talking some of those Canadian olympians to try out some sweet tea and gravy one weekend off, to realize that Nashville is a great place to raise kids or hook-up with country-pop starlets: something for every type of NHL player!

Lastly, the Devils fans were quite loyal, but once again, Preds fans proved to be some of the most die-hard.  I ran into Pred Ed, a few locals (Shaun/Shawn/Sean - whose father confessed that he was the only Predator fan from New Jersey, though two others passed by when he was telling us this...and we all got a picture together - which will be up next week), and a few other familiar faces from 501 Broadway whose names I don't personally know, but whose faces I could pick out in a line-up.  Even though we had a loss, we all had a great time at The Rock and we held up our 303 sign in the face of adversity.  If anyone got screen caps of the game and caught us holding up the sign around our goal area, send us a screenshot to seepuckcity(at)gmail(dot)com to be included in our SPC New York Takeover post. 

The main Devil's Den (their pro-shop that they have a handful of around the arena) had some rather amazing items to purchase, and what with my odd feeling of familiarity and even a bit of comradery due to the system we play and the whole possibility that they were close to becoming the Nashville Devils way back when, I picked up a shirt that I'm sure isn't available outside of the arena, a shirt that puts Rangers' fans in their place, a shirt with a style of humor likened to that of those in Section 303...enjoy the following: 

Let's hope these leaks are stopped up come Pittsburgh.  I'll most likely be watching the game once again at The Blind Pig before heading back home, to Hockeytown South, to Nashville.

Cheers!

A Tale Of Two Islands: Preds 1-0-1 in New York

Readership,

So ends Day 3 of the SeePuckCity Manhattan Getaway 2010 - perhaps this might begin an annual trip? I guess it depends on the Preds schedule.

We seemed to have brought the snow with us though - it began in Nashville the day we left and began here in the Big Apple in the wee hours of this morning, but this isn't about snow days.  It's about the Nashville Predators and how they act and react against easy and/or Eastern conference teams, and with two games after two nights, the team has shown me its Jekyll & Hyde in a span of 24 hours.

The Islanders game wasn't viewed live - I knew we'd be able to make 2 of these 3 games this week and when it came to Islanders or Devils, what with their new star forward, I had to pick the Devils.  Also, it's the Islanders, an easy win, right?  [insert eye-rolling here]

The Islanders, losing more than their share in a row (7), came out strong, making it an even game before notching one first.  The Preds responded as they normally do, scoring 2 within a minute and a half, and as they normally do, they quit playing with fire once ahead.  Mirroring the San Jose game, the Islanders caught back up, we'd score a goal to stay ahead...then make the worst move possible in the last minute or so...to allow the opposing team to tie the game aaaaand win.  Note, we did take it to OT unlike against San Jose...but again, this is the Islanders!!!  I've said it before and I'll say it again: we play crap against crap teams, which is funny because fans of the top teams think we're a crap team, yet we tend to play very well against them.  Perhaps the coaches should print out bogus standings to hand out to the team?  Regardless, Erat must have felt like a tool after that game (and by tool, I mean Hamhuis) - boarding once again in the last few moments to allow a 6-on-4.  *le sigh*  You all know how it happened...on to better things.

Tonight was a different story.  They went from Long Island to Manhattan, from dry to covered in snow and slush - perhaps the snow brought the game with them? MSG had little to offer, sparse crowd (2/3rds full at best), drunk crowd ("Wettttt's goooo Raaanggguuuurzz!" Repeat x 30), and a crowd that loved to boo their own team if they didn't get the puck out of the zone.  The Preds came out and didn't really let up.  The goals came from Tootoo (though we, and many others, swore it was Klein) and Colin Wilson (always great to see a Bostonian give it to these New Yorkies) and the only gripe I had with this game, Capt'n Arnott seemed slow as all get out and once again, the discipline seemed to disappear when NYR had a 5-on-3 that earned their only goal of the night.  As the least penalized team in the league, I've been having a difficult time believing it as of late.  After Wilson's goal, however, we played that disciplined game and had very good chances of our own - the Rangers were hanging Lundqvist out to dry tonight and it obviously showed (especially based on what I heard from Rangers' "fans").  If they take what they did tonight and add just a bit more discipline (I know, I'm overusing the word like a hockey coach would), we have a good chance against New Jersey.  The Flyers did beat them tonight, however, so they will be pissed off and looking for an easy win (and that's where our boys step in and show them that the team from Nashville should never be considered a crap team).  As for Nashville fans, there were a handful of Preds jerseys in the crowd (at least 2 white aways, one personalized for our top player #27; 3 new thirds; 2 homes and me wearing the old "musthird" jersey)  - ran into a pair that sit in 302 and they informed me there were plenty of others that came up to catch these games to boot.  I also ran into the friendliest New Yorker / Ranger fan ever - gave us directions to MSG while we were trying to figure it out under Penn Station.  Apparently she loves country music, loves hockey, loves when we play the Rangers and wants to move to Nashville cos it feels like home to her, and she's from Brooklyn!  It was a breath of fresh air in this cold, stale and often impolite New York climate.

Two more games left on this New England tour: New Jersey and Pittsburgh.  Not the easiest teams to beat, but they've been showing weaknesses of their own as of late.  Let's try to exploit them before they can exploit ours!

Go Preds!

These photos were from my phone - left my camera cord back in Nashville.  There will be some sight-seeing 303 pics up next week!!! Just you wait!!! Here's a hint: Who you gonna call?

Cheers.

Needed A Bigger Boat: Preds Thrown To The Sharks 4-3

Readership,

What a see-saw doozy of a game.  The Sharks and the Preds were neck and neck through the first two periods, beginning the 3rd with the same number of shots on goal and same number of goals.

What brought us to that point?  2 goals notched in by none other than Mr. "Publicly Reported In Trotz's Doghouse" Himself, J.P. Dumont and a lovely break-out performance by Joel Ward.  Toss in a handful of fights between Belak and Shelley, thankfully no goals by ex-Predators and some bad PK let downs and you've got yourself a 3-3 in the 3rd hockey game.

What happened to keep us from winning? PK failures? A bit.  The waiving off of a few goal chances? Possibly so.  Nabokov making dangerous saves when called for? You betcha. The last two minutes tossing around the puck like a hot potato, making our top D look like...Hamhuis and Klein on a bad night? Well...that did happen, but there was tons of miscommunication on the ice when Pekka skated off for the extra attacker.  We generally matched up very well against the 2nd best team in the league, but the few mishaps that took place cost us the game.

It was one of those games that shows the strong points as well as the weak points which is a good thing to have before for back out on the road against some of the best in the East.  Sadly, the weaknesses were pointed out the clearest.

If you watch carefully during the Rangers game, you might catch a glimpse of two Preds logos in the upper corner deck.  If you watch the Devils game, you might catch a glimpse of two Preds logos very near the ice.  That's right - SPC is making a trip to NYC this week! There will be plenty of pictures and links to go around this coming weekend! 303 represent!!!

Cheers.

The Snow Melted - So Did the Avalanche: Preds Win 5-3

Readership,

Now THAT is the game we've been wanting to see!  The top line coming alive multiple times and sending a sold-out audience home with Frostys in their pockets (figuratively speaking; that would rather suck if you had a Frosty in your pocket - unless you were wearing your Cooler-pants).

Ward brings his luck to the game as well, making it 19-0 when he tallies a point in a game this season.

As for the Capt'n...a handful of folks gave him a bit too much credit in the form of hats, as two goals ended up being tipped in my Mr. Fantastic himself, Patric Hornqvist.

I didn't get to see it first-hand, as I was at work this evening (though that will soon change next week as I will have my days shifts back soon and I will be at every game from there on out!), but I did hear that Goc had a great defensive-minded game and that even Hamhuis and Klein were, dare I say, clicking?  And apparently Jones had some smooth moves that were sadly blocked. He's getting better each week, I think.

This was an important game indeed - hell, any remaining game is an important game indeed at this rate!  It's not "panic time" yet, but these games leading up to this last little break in the season will be watched closely to say the least.  The Preds will head up New England way next week aaaand Steph and I will be following them!  We'll be representing 303 in Madison Square Gardens and now that Kovy has made his way up to New Jersey, I feel if I had to pick between an Islander game and a Devils game, the Devils game has won out! We'll do our damnedest to make it there - and there will be pics...unless one of those Yankee bastards mugs us on the way out for wearing our Preds gear (truth be told, I don't think they'd even understand we were rooting for the other team anyway - I wore my Preds jersey to a Rangers/Ducks game and I overheard a guy asking his friend if I was wearing a Kings jersey...yeh).

See ya Saturday!  We might need a bigger boat, but Weber can nail the oxygen tank from the blue line.

Cheers.

[Editor's note: I nearly forgot.  While I was driving home, listening to the 1st star of the game (Hornqvist) interview...Patric said something that made me smile and hope the other guys were listening.  He said, to paraphrase, "I know I've got to be in front of the net every night." This is the guy who knows where to be, how to be, who won't quit, who will do anything for the emblem on his chest and this is why we will need to pay him Ward-money if not more...especially if he passes that 30 goal mark.]

Coyotes Bring The Snooze To Sommet: Win After 7 OT SO Rounds 1-0

Readership,

If this is what Phoenix fans get from their home team, no wonder porn-star enhanced game promotions have popped up on craigslist this past week.  If I move up to the NYC area, is this kind of game what I should expect from being a Devils fan (cos there's no way in hell I can justify being an Islanders fan and being a Rangers fan requires you to hate your team while wearing their colors)?

This game was a snoozer to say the rest.  Hell...the shoot-out is supposed to make the game exciting, but after 10 rounds, I was getting impatient instead of getting into it. Though...really...Weber? Why not Smithson? Or if you really wanted to play a defenseman, Bouillon?

Regardless, the Preds got a point and that's fine by me.  What isn't fine is that the Phoenix is still rising in the standings while we linger around 7th.  I really hope this isn't the 1st matchup come playoff time.  I'm not afraid of losing against them, cos we proved tonight that we can be just as stubborn - I'm afraid of having to pay again to watch more games like tonight's.

Cheers.

Preds Ice Thrashers 4-3

Readership,

For those of you who braved the weather to get to Sommet tonight, you earned yourself a helluva game!

The pre-game included a corner of Atlanta Kovalchuk, I mean, Thrashers fans, making more noise than the PA down by the ice as Preds fans slowly (and carefully) made their way to the arena.  Once the game began, the Bluelanders made their way to the opposite side of the arena, two levels underneath our sacred 303,  and continued to challenge the crowd.  The crowd didn't disappoint, however, with NHL.com showing the attendance ended up at 16,646 (though there were prolly 3000 or so that didn't make it through the snow).  Preds fans are die hard, what else can I say?  I'll give credit to the ATL fans and their 4 giant tour buses and marching band mentality - you trudged through the snow too...but it was all for naught.

The Preds jumped to an early lead with Ward notching one 4 minutes into the 1st.  Smithson wristshot  one from his knees at the midway point of the 1st to make it 2-0.  Then Bryan Little decided to step up and be the thorn in the Preds' side for the remainder of the game, scoring on the powerplay.  The 2nd saw Martin Erat answer back, but that was all she wrote for the Preds in the 2nd.  Turnover after turnover, a minute and a half long 5-on-3 wasted, then Chris Thorburn gets the shorthanded goal.  That momentum was kept alive by Little again just a few minutes later to make the 2nd a 3-3 tie.  Poor defense and turnovers cost us the 2nd period and nearly the game...so thank Pekka for making the 2nd not as bad as it could've been.

Something happened during that intermission.  I wonder if Trotz informed Jason Arnott that he'd chose the new captain next week with a Ouija board, because the first 7 seconds of the 3rd saw Capt'n Arny breakaway and score, marking his 13th of this season.  I hope to see THAT captain from here on out, and if I don't, I might bring Trotz a Ouija board, or at least a dart board with all of the players names on it to try out.  After that, it was a game of keep away, while trying to take chances every now and again.

"Dogboy" Jones will shoot the puck when he's near the net - that is awesome - give him more minutes.  If Klein doesn't turn it over, he will shoot on net because he knows he's not good with the puck thus he gets rid of it as soon as possible.  Franson will shoot the puck or try to make a smart pass (though half the time, his target isn't paying attention).  I don't even need to explain what Hornqvist does cos you already know he does what is called of him.  Sullivan needs to learn to shoot.  Cal O'Reilly needs to learn how to shoot.  Both had chances to bury it and both hesitated or threw it away in attempts to pass it for someone else to shoot.

But hey - the boys played another hard game well (the 2nd of a back-to-back) and this time came out on top.  This game wasn't plagued with penalties (unlike Detroit), though the few called on Arny in the 3rd were rather bogus - the PK finally woke up in the 3rd, so hopefully they'll stay awake - and Pekka made amazing saves when the D broke down.  Whatever - keep on keeping on and keep yourselves in that Top 8!

As far as those Thrashers fans go...Preds goals might be dirty, but at least our city is cleaner!


Cheers.

When It Snows, It Fails: Red Wings Defeat Preds 4-2

Readership,

Haven't posted in two games.  The last game would've been the same ol', same ol' from this end: play a full game, blah blah blah.  This game against Detroit, however...we could've won.  We just didn't.

Detroit, coming off a recent losing streak and playing against the only divisional rival in the way of their playoff spot, came to play.  Jimmy Howard has been hot and our boys just didn't know what to do.  With all 48 shots on this fella, I nicknamed him (in anger, mind you) "Howard the #uck".

Where was "Snow Storm" tonight?  Well, the snow storm was going on at home instead of on the road, and the rest of the blame could possibly be due to CONTINUING TO PAIR "HAMLOOSE" AND "DE-KLEIN" TOGETHER!!! Trotz...stop.  Really.  You're changing up rules you used to follow, so for the love of the hockey gods, quit trusting ANY of your instincts and separate those two now. No, really, NOW.

I'm on a nickname streak tonight, don'tcha think?  How's about "Cody FransomebodyhelpmeIcan'tdoitalone"? Or "Patric HornsomebodyhelpmeIcan'tdoitalone"? Or even "Francis BouillatthisrateyoumightaswellcallMEcaptain"?

5 games lost, gone; points ka-put.  What do you think is going to happen tomorrow against Atlanta? That is, if you go.  It's snowing.  People here can't breathe properly if stuff falls from the sky.

Cheers.

Preds Receive A Jobbing(.com) From The Coyotes: Lose 4-2

Readership,

I was at work during the 1st and the Nil-Nil score made me think we were playing at the same pace...until I found out we outshot them 14-4 (or something similar) once I got to the car stereo.  I got home to listen (cos the video feed on justin.tv kept glitching) to the 2nd and the usual suspects (Horny and Erat) took us up to 2-1 by the end of the 2nd.  As we've done in the past, once we get ahead, we lose steam...and ex-Pred Scottie Upshall used his magic (hair) to earn himself a hat-trick, keeping us down 4-2 for the rest of the game.

Shit.

I normally don't curse here at SPC, but to lose so much steam in the most important part of the game...that's infuriating.  Tomorrow, however, we face Colorado - yet another foe in the playoff race.  We can't let up.  We can't only partly show up.  This is a team game and the whole team should show up and play until they can play no more.  Yes, this was our first of our series against Phoenix, but that's no excuse.  We should not have let this 3rd period play take place - especially when I deleted Upshall from my fantasy team once he was day-to-day not too long ago.  That bastard!

Go Preds!

Cheers.

Phil Of The Future Past: Kessel Finally Helps Maple Leafs Out Over Preds 4-3

Readership,

Well would ya look at that?  Maybe it was Kessel's dream to boot-scoot at the Wild Horse once Poile made the move to bring him to Nashville...and he didn't pull that trigger...and tonight was payback. Or maybe we didn't play a full 60-minute game against one of the worst teams in the league and we lost fair and square.  The "hot" Canadian teams, piece of cake [editor's note: due to hosting a multi-birthday party last Friday, I didn't get to fully pay attention or blog about the Calgary game - I'll I'm saying is...give Ellis the respect he deserves for shutting them out and keep on saving up for your customized Hornqvist jersey] - we'll bring it, but the Toronto "Make Beliefs" (as my co-worker called them today when a fella walked by in that distinct blue jersey)? It's like "Casey At Bat" with our boys sometimes, and tonight was one of those times.

I know it's only fair to hang Pekka out to dry like our D did to Ellis last year, but now's not the time or the place (save it for the off-season, Klein, Hammer - those "-3"s don't look too good on your daily report cards, fellas).  Franson, on the other hand, had a goal and an assist, so once again the newbies are handling their own rather well.  Dogboy (Jones) notched another one and Goc earned his double-digit in goals for the year - players that are "doing it right" and do as much as they can with the minutes they get.

Not that you can really fault him, but isn't it strange that whenever Capt'n Arny comes back from an injury, we generally lose that first game back?  Thursday is an important road game against a team who wasn't even easy to beat when they were awful, the Phoenix Coyotes -  let's hope we can at least keep getting those road wins instead of doing our best Blues impersonation at our own barn.

Cheers.

Road Rage Part II: Burning Oil(ers) - Winning 5-3

Readership,

Weber then Goc in less than 30 seconds? Yes please! Can we have some more?

JP Dumont waking up and realizing he's not only good for assists, but for scoring, notched one on the board - nearly two if it weren't for the fact he hit it in a bit too high.

Hornqvist continuing on his mission to make us forget about the typical "top line" and love him instead scored a goal (another tip of the hat to Goc for an assist on that goal and vice versa).

"Dogboy", Ryan Jones, tipping another feed from Dumont to complete that night of scoring - yes please! More more more!!!

The 2nd game in Canada, the 2nd of a back-to-back - this time with only one penalty late in the 3rd (as opposed to last night's debacle) and we came out strong, firing all cylinders, and scorching the Oilers - making them seem lifeless in contrast.  Good.  We've been doing road games well this season.  Let's keep up the great work, let's keep chasing the No.1 goalies out of the net, and let's keep scoring from every angle and position.

That's Preds hockey after all.

Cheers.

Dealing With Road Rage: Preds Take It Out On Canucks 3-2

Readership,

What a game, what a game!

It's raced right out from the get-go with the Preds scoring in the first few minutes shorthanded thanks tow Ward, then Burrows followed.  Jones (or as we call him around here at SPC, "Dogboy" - see last year's Pedigree calendar picture...and be thoroughly freaked out) scored the second, though due to some odd calls tonight, on a PowerPlay, Burrows followed.  More calls on both sides, calling everything, I'm sure the refs even called St. Paul (bad pun a brewin'), and Shea Weber scored the 3rd and final goal the Preds would need to stay ahead.

We played from the get go, 1st period - that's what we've been missing for awhile.  We've got Ward back, giving us that first goal, and as the stats will show, we're now 17-0 when he tallies a point.  Hornqvist had more help than usual in the down and dirty areas where he normally excels.  Ellis didn't allow the rebounds he normally gets called out for allowing (though, in his defense, it's normally cos the defense isn't doing their job).  And the determination to get the puck back to Weber as quick as possible regardless of how many attempts it takes...always a plus...as long as our boys stay out of the way.  Good show, fellas!

Now the negatives, though I'm sure you all know what I'm about to say...if you frequent this site...which, if you do frequent this site, post a comment (they are always more than welcome!): SEPARATE HAMHUIS AND KLEIN! Hammer might as well be inflatable clown mallet when he's paired with that beady-eyed excuse for a defensemen.  The first goal, Hammer's fault. And most bad passes and turnovers can just be pointed in #8's direction, cos if he wasn't actually at fault, he will be in the next game - trust me.

Other than that, I can't say much else.  I went back to work today, but thankfully these late Canadian games come on right as I get out...so...yay.

'Til tomorrow.

Cheers.

Duck...Duck...Lose!: Ducks Fly Over Preds 3-2

Readership,

Another Saturday sell-out at the Sommet! 17,113 in attendance, braving a chilly 18 degree climate and even colder wind chill.  The folks came out in droves despite the temperature, and sadly, we were the only ones that seemed to have the "get-up and go" while our boys down on the ice...did not.  Well...there are a few obvious exceptions.

By now, you know that I, like any coach or book of hockey cliches, stress the importance of playing a full 60-minute game.  I keep saying it, the play-by-play guys keep saying, I'm damn sure the coaching staff keeps saying it, but apparently it's easier said than done.  Neither team did much in the 1st period with those lovely single-digit shot counts on both sides. The Ducks came alive in the 2nd, leaving us down 3-0.  As what is becoming the usual in our games, especially our losses, the only boy who came to play was Patric Hornqvist, putting us on the board 3-1.  Then the fella that also had a point/goal streak until he was injured, returned to the game - yes, Erat was back to his old tricks making the game within reach with 3 minutes left. With 6-on-5 and a minute and a half left, we sadly couldn't tie it up, thus the Ducks got revenge on the Predators for last Saturday's game.

What went wrong, aside from the general "not playing a full 60"? Well...there was immense trouble trying to get the puck past the neutral zone, too much time spent lollygagging in front of Rinne with little to no help, and too much time spent looking for a pass instead of looking for a shot when we did make it into the Ducks' zone.  Hamhuis and Klein NEED TO BE SPLIT UP.  They began sucking as a team since the beginning of the season and when Trotz initially split them up, it was good.  Was it Hamhuis and Franson, Klein and Bouillon for awhile there? That worked...then Trotz put them back together.  No...no...no. 

No.

No, really. No.

On top of that, there were a handful of turn-overs (natch) and with more and more Admirals testing the Nashville waters out (during a time when most of the water is currently frozen in pipes), the lack of chemistry - that whole "getting to know you" period - is showing.

Road trips seem to smooth these things out, so hopefully Ward will recover quick, Arnott recovers from whatever injury he's sustaining (perhaps a bruised ego? a swollen pride gland?), Toots and Smithers tandem back in before the Father/Son trip to give the team their "random goals from all places" spark they do oh-so kind of well. 

Congrats again to the fans and complete strangers who came to some of their first hockey games tonight.  We hope you enjoyed it, and also realize there are 82 games a season and if you witness a loss, that doesn't mean the team sucks (unlike in football).  It means you should come out and witness a win, feel the energy in the building, and keep coming back for more.

Cheers.