Last night was my first game back at the Bridgestone Arena for the 2010-2011 season. I was on a cruise during the first 3 home games. It felt good to be back, but the game sure was a snore. The good things to come out of it: the Preds have at least a point in every game this season. I'm pretty impressed.
I was on a pretty big high last night after seeing Shea skate out as captain. I am still so proud of him. Last night, he proved why he got that letter. Suter went down after just 1 shift after getting hit knee on knee. Shea ended up with almost 30 minutes of ice time and did a good job of keeping Iginla in check. This morning we heard that Suter may be back next Thursday. The team put him on IR, so that means Sulzer will get a chance to play a few games. You never want to see anyone get hurt, but I'm glad Sulzer will get to play. I feel like he got cheated out of a spot when he was injured last year. Franson is in the spot that I feel like Sulzer should be in. I'm a known Franson hater anyway, much to my friend Ciara's dismay, but I can't wait to see what Sulzer can do.
Pekka's first game back could have only gone better if we had won. He stopped everything, and looked like he hadn't missed any time at all. From what I heard, Lindback held his own while Pekka was out. I was nervous about our goal tending before the season, but now I feel pretty confident. I'm loving what I've seen of this team (which isn't a lot, but I have this feeling), and I can't wait to see how the rest of the season plays out. This could be a great year for us. I feel like I can see a lot of change in players I questioned last season. I'm attributing it to the Arnott trade. Him being gone is having an enormously positive ripple effect through the team. Dumont is putting forth effort, and Sully is a man possessed. I've even seen improvement in Klein's game. Arnott was a cancer. He was lazy, and I feel like that carried through the rest of the team. Weber is going to be a positive influence, leading by example. I couldn't have picked a better person I'd want leading by example than him. I am so excited for this season.
Thursday the Penguins are in town. I may or may not have borrowed Jenn's Winter Classic Crosby shirt (I totally did borrow it and will probably wear it). I've turned into a Crosby fan. I don't know how this happened. Still want my Preds to win, but preskate will probably have me on the other side, scoping out Sid the Kid. :)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
This requires Ben & Jerry's
It's been since April since I've posted, but today I feel like I need to write something.
Classes started today, but seeing as how I only have class on Tuesday & Thursday, I'm laying in bed.
I decided to make today my official Paul Pity Party day.
I bought good junk food yesterday & don't plan to get dressed until I have to work tonight.
I've got The Lake House & The Replacements ready to watch because Keanu Reeves totally looks like PK.
Still can't wrap my mind around the fact that Kariya won't be playing this season.
And the fact that no one knew about his concussion symptoms, and he obviously played through some of them, makes me so sad for him. He loves the game; you can tell. I want him to have his name on the Cup.
I can barely remember the last game I saw him play in. I know it was against my beloved Predators, but other than that, it's all fuzzy. I remember a game back in November when he scored on Shea, and made him look foolish. Holy conflicted feelings on that one! It was amazing. It's going to be odd not being a traitor for him for a couple games next season, but his health is important.
So Paul, I pray you have a speedy recovery and come back next year better than ever.
Classes started today, but seeing as how I only have class on Tuesday & Thursday, I'm laying in bed.
I decided to make today my official Paul Pity Party day.
I bought good junk food yesterday & don't plan to get dressed until I have to work tonight.
I've got The Lake House & The Replacements ready to watch because Keanu Reeves totally looks like PK.
Still can't wrap my mind around the fact that Kariya won't be playing this season.
And the fact that no one knew about his concussion symptoms, and he obviously played through some of them, makes me so sad for him. He loves the game; you can tell. I want him to have his name on the Cup.
I can barely remember the last game I saw him play in. I know it was against my beloved Predators, but other than that, it's all fuzzy. I remember a game back in November when he scored on Shea, and made him look foolish. Holy conflicted feelings on that one! It was amazing. It's going to be odd not being a traitor for him for a couple games next season, but his health is important.
So Paul, I pray you have a speedy recovery and come back next year better than ever.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
An explanation
They blocked Blogger at work, hence my lack of posting. The whole reason I started blogging was so I could pass the time at work. I just don't have a lot of time outside of work to blog. Guess I'll have to find a way to fit it in. But I just wanted to let my readers know that I am still alive, just like the Preds in the playoff race. 3 points and we clinch. Gonna be an interesting 2 weeks.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Paging the Nashville Predators
It doesn't seem like that long ago when Preds fans everywhere were riding the high of the 7 game winning streak we had going. Remember how much fun that was? Things are definitely different now, for both the fans and the team.
I have no idea where that team went. The team we've been watching since the Olympic break is barely hanging on to 7th place in the West. Teams behind and in front of us are playing a lot better than we are, and with some consistency.
If we fall out of playoff contention and I have to hear the injury excuse again, I'm going to lose my mind. Weber is missing his second game tonight. Grebeshkov is missing his first game of what will be a 1-2 week injury after taking a shot to the groin. According to the Canadian papers, he had to have emergency surgery on one of his testicles after the game Sunday. Ouch! Get better soon new guy! None of our forwards are injured (knock on wood), so there are no excuses for us not scoring goals. Weber isn't the offensive powerhouse like he was last year. His numbers are nothing to scoff at, but the scoring needs to come from the guys making millions to do it. I'm looking at you Arnott, Dumont, Sully, etc.
Speaking of those three, I was thoroughly disappointed to see that line reunited after the Olympic break. All they do is make each other lazy. Rumors are that Wilson was seeing top line time at practice, with Dumont demoted to the fourth line. While the Atlanta game has started, I'm stuck at work and can't confirm what things are looking like. These young guys have their chance to prove why they belong up here. Personally, I think Wilson should never be sent back down. He is the total package, and I think he'll only get better. O'Reilly I couldn't care less about. I'm not impressed, and would have liked to see him gone before Jones, but such is life.
With about a month left in the regular season, this team needs to access their upper level. We all know it's there. We know how they can play when they're on, and they need to be on for every single game left this season. Win out and we're in. All we can do is win our games. The scoreboard watching helps nothing. If they go out on the ice and play 60 minutes, they'll have no reason to be checking the scores around the league.
I have no idea where that team went. The team we've been watching since the Olympic break is barely hanging on to 7th place in the West. Teams behind and in front of us are playing a lot better than we are, and with some consistency.
If we fall out of playoff contention and I have to hear the injury excuse again, I'm going to lose my mind. Weber is missing his second game tonight. Grebeshkov is missing his first game of what will be a 1-2 week injury after taking a shot to the groin. According to the Canadian papers, he had to have emergency surgery on one of his testicles after the game Sunday. Ouch! Get better soon new guy! None of our forwards are injured (knock on wood), so there are no excuses for us not scoring goals. Weber isn't the offensive powerhouse like he was last year. His numbers are nothing to scoff at, but the scoring needs to come from the guys making millions to do it. I'm looking at you Arnott, Dumont, Sully, etc.
Speaking of those three, I was thoroughly disappointed to see that line reunited after the Olympic break. All they do is make each other lazy. Rumors are that Wilson was seeing top line time at practice, with Dumont demoted to the fourth line. While the Atlanta game has started, I'm stuck at work and can't confirm what things are looking like. These young guys have their chance to prove why they belong up here. Personally, I think Wilson should never be sent back down. He is the total package, and I think he'll only get better. O'Reilly I couldn't care less about. I'm not impressed, and would have liked to see him gone before Jones, but such is life.
With about a month left in the regular season, this team needs to access their upper level. We all know it's there. We know how they can play when they're on, and they need to be on for every single game left this season. Win out and we're in. All we can do is win our games. The scoreboard watching helps nothing. If they go out on the ice and play 60 minutes, they'll have no reason to be checking the scores around the league.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
About that...
So the Olympics are about a day away from over and I have posted nothing. I'm awesome.
The main thing that needs to be noted is that it's Canada vs. USA for the gold medal tomorrow afternoon. It was someone's bright idea to start the game at 2:15 central, when I'm stuck at work. Lame. So it looks like I'll be missing all but the 3rd period. I'll DVR it in case anything awesome happens. If nothing else, it should be one heck of a rematch. Hopefully with a different outcome than the first time when Team USA took it to Canada and won 5-3. Either way it turns out, 2 Preds are coming home with medals, and that's pretty awesome.
We'll see how this game goes, but I'm not sure anything can top the Canada vs. Russia game. Watching Weber, Neidermayer, et al dominate Ovie and company made me grin from ear to ear.
3 days until the Preds are back on home ice. It's been too long. Definitely looking forward to getting back to the arena.
The main thing that needs to be noted is that it's Canada vs. USA for the gold medal tomorrow afternoon. It was someone's bright idea to start the game at 2:15 central, when I'm stuck at work. Lame. So it looks like I'll be missing all but the 3rd period. I'll DVR it in case anything awesome happens. If nothing else, it should be one heck of a rematch. Hopefully with a different outcome than the first time when Team USA took it to Canada and won 5-3. Either way it turns out, 2 Preds are coming home with medals, and that's pretty awesome.
We'll see how this game goes, but I'm not sure anything can top the Canada vs. Russia game. Watching Weber, Neidermayer, et al dominate Ovie and company made me grin from ear to ear.
3 days until the Preds are back on home ice. It's been too long. Definitely looking forward to getting back to the arena.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
New England & Olympics
Despite working for what seems like the past 4 weeks, I have had no time to sit here and work and blog. So depressing. But today, I have a spare few moments to post some thoughts.
The Predators are in up in New England making fools out of themselves. Starting with a loss to the Islanders. Yes, the Islanders. Because Erat took a dumb penalty in the last minute of the game. We did beat the Rangers, who were Gaborik-less, so I'm not insanely impressed. Ellis played lights out in that game though, so mad props to him. Last night we fell apart in the third period to hand the Devils a 5-2 victory. I didn't see the whole game, but man did Suter and Weber look weak in the third. Hopefully that play doesn't continue into the Olympics. I want Shea to bring home that gold medal, and he won't be if he plays defense like that. Rinne (and some blown coverage) also provided Kovalchuk with his first goal as a Devil, which apparently is a hat trick in New Jersey...weird. Hats were on the ice, and I was thoroughly confused. Jacob and I both agreed that Ellis should have started after his solid performance against the Rangers. Guess we'll see what Trotz throws out there against the Pens on Sunday. Not looking forward to that game, but I'll be at work, so if it's a massacre at least I'll avoid it. Goc may return Sunday, while Smithson is questionable. Wilson is showing fire, and I am so glad he got called up. I really love this kid and hope they keep him around.
The Olympics started last night amid tragedy. A Georgian luge athlete died during a practice run yesterday morning. NBC showed the video of the crash several times (which I thought was pretty distasteful). Needless to say, it was hard to watch. I couldn't help but bawl my eyes out. That poor kid was only 21 and he died trying to live his dream. Thoughts and prayers are with his family as they try to deal with this horrible accident.
I haven't seen the whole ceremony yet, so I can't comment on that. I did go through the broadcast schedule to find the events I wanted to watch. Hockey, figure skating, and speed skating are all going to be filling up my DVR for the next 2 weeks.
The Preds aren't back on home ice until March 2nd. It seems like a long time, but the break is doing me some good. Catching up with school stuff and staying focused is never a bad thing. It's good to have a break from the thing you love every now and then. It's especially good with the way they've been playing. It's not worth the stress, and some of the enjoyment has been taken out of it. So I'm trying to bring everything back into perspective. Hopefully this break will allow me to do that.
Maybe I'll do some Olympic blogging....
Although from the looks of it, I've sucked at even keeping up with my Predators blogging.
Sorry to all my loyal readers. :P
The Predators are in up in New England making fools out of themselves. Starting with a loss to the Islanders. Yes, the Islanders. Because Erat took a dumb penalty in the last minute of the game. We did beat the Rangers, who were Gaborik-less, so I'm not insanely impressed. Ellis played lights out in that game though, so mad props to him. Last night we fell apart in the third period to hand the Devils a 5-2 victory. I didn't see the whole game, but man did Suter and Weber look weak in the third. Hopefully that play doesn't continue into the Olympics. I want Shea to bring home that gold medal, and he won't be if he plays defense like that. Rinne (and some blown coverage) also provided Kovalchuk with his first goal as a Devil, which apparently is a hat trick in New Jersey...weird. Hats were on the ice, and I was thoroughly confused. Jacob and I both agreed that Ellis should have started after his solid performance against the Rangers. Guess we'll see what Trotz throws out there against the Pens on Sunday. Not looking forward to that game, but I'll be at work, so if it's a massacre at least I'll avoid it. Goc may return Sunday, while Smithson is questionable. Wilson is showing fire, and I am so glad he got called up. I really love this kid and hope they keep him around.
The Olympics started last night amid tragedy. A Georgian luge athlete died during a practice run yesterday morning. NBC showed the video of the crash several times (which I thought was pretty distasteful). Needless to say, it was hard to watch. I couldn't help but bawl my eyes out. That poor kid was only 21 and he died trying to live his dream. Thoughts and prayers are with his family as they try to deal with this horrible accident.
I haven't seen the whole ceremony yet, so I can't comment on that. I did go through the broadcast schedule to find the events I wanted to watch. Hockey, figure skating, and speed skating are all going to be filling up my DVR for the next 2 weeks.
The Preds aren't back on home ice until March 2nd. It seems like a long time, but the break is doing me some good. Catching up with school stuff and staying focused is never a bad thing. It's good to have a break from the thing you love every now and then. It's especially good with the way they've been playing. It's not worth the stress, and some of the enjoyment has been taken out of it. So I'm trying to bring everything back into perspective. Hopefully this break will allow me to do that.
Maybe I'll do some Olympic blogging....
Although from the looks of it, I've sucked at even keeping up with my Predators blogging.
Sorry to all my loyal readers. :P
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Back to back fail
Phoenix game Thursday night = lame
Colorado game last night = more lame
Yes, I know the sky is not falling. It was two games, two losses, and we are not out of the playoff race or anything like that. However, as a fan who lives and dies (in theory) by this sport, I am so beyond frustrated.
The Phoenix game was in our hands. We dominated the whole game, expect the third period. Play 60 minutes for Christ's sake! Former Pred Upshall scored a natural hat trick in the third period. Lame. Seriously. Two of our supposedly good defensive forwards were both -3 in this game: Ward and Smithson. Seriously, so not happy that Smitty is back. Klein and Hammer were full of fail again. Ellis wasn't terrible, despite the loss. Legwand has looked really good the past few games, even if it's not showing up on the scoreboard.
The Colorado game was just crap. The team was shorthanded 9 times. 9 freaking times! One particular penalty that was complete BS was the goalie interference on Hornqvist that resulted in a waived off goal. It would have been the game tying goal. Anderson was out of the crease and it looked like he initiated contact, so that's crap. Every goal scored last night was on special teams. Colorado scored twice on the power play, and Franson scored on the power play for us. Some more stuff that irritated me was the lack of urgency with the empty net. I feel like the last few times we've pulled the goalie, no one on the ice seems to be really pushing hard to get a goal. That kills me. Act like you care! Fight to keep possession of the puck!
Unlike the Phoenix game, it's hard to pick out players who did well last night. Pekka was pretty much the only decent one on the ice. I felt like every d-pairing sucked, and our forwards pissed me off to no end. Ward was out with a groin strain, but Dumont, despite the flu symptoms that kept him out of the game in Phoenix, was back in the lineup. Legwand had another pretty strong game. He's been really good on the forecheck lately. If only he would bury a few goals.
Belak had another pretty uneventful fight. What's his purpose again? Sully had a fight that I had to laugh through. The guy had like 6 inches on him. Hilarious. But the ref wouldn't let Weber pound some punk, so Sully had to take care of business.
I was angry at Arnott all game. He is the laziest piece of crap EVER. On one shift he was checked behind the net. He lay there whining, pretending to be hurt trying to get a call. Meanwhile, the play goes to the other end and Colorado gets a good scoring chance. We were basically shorthanded while Captain Douchetard took his sweet time getting up and back to the bench. His post game interview pushed me over the edge. He was talking about being happy they were going to have a couple days off before playing in Columbus. Said it would be nice to relax. Considering he takes more shifts off than anyone, he should be plenty relaxed. Don't make me get back on my "Rip That C Off Arnott's Chest" soapbox.
This 3 game skid has put the Preds in 6th place in the West. With us not playing until Tuesday, we could be on the outside looking in very shortly. Here's to hoping the ship is righted the next time the team takes the ice.
Colorado game last night = more lame
Yes, I know the sky is not falling. It was two games, two losses, and we are not out of the playoff race or anything like that. However, as a fan who lives and dies (in theory) by this sport, I am so beyond frustrated.
The Phoenix game was in our hands. We dominated the whole game, expect the third period. Play 60 minutes for Christ's sake! Former Pred Upshall scored a natural hat trick in the third period. Lame. Seriously. Two of our supposedly good defensive forwards were both -3 in this game: Ward and Smithson. Seriously, so not happy that Smitty is back. Klein and Hammer were full of fail again. Ellis wasn't terrible, despite the loss. Legwand has looked really good the past few games, even if it's not showing up on the scoreboard.
The Colorado game was just crap. The team was shorthanded 9 times. 9 freaking times! One particular penalty that was complete BS was the goalie interference on Hornqvist that resulted in a waived off goal. It would have been the game tying goal. Anderson was out of the crease and it looked like he initiated contact, so that's crap. Every goal scored last night was on special teams. Colorado scored twice on the power play, and Franson scored on the power play for us. Some more stuff that irritated me was the lack of urgency with the empty net. I feel like the last few times we've pulled the goalie, no one on the ice seems to be really pushing hard to get a goal. That kills me. Act like you care! Fight to keep possession of the puck!
Unlike the Phoenix game, it's hard to pick out players who did well last night. Pekka was pretty much the only decent one on the ice. I felt like every d-pairing sucked, and our forwards pissed me off to no end. Ward was out with a groin strain, but Dumont, despite the flu symptoms that kept him out of the game in Phoenix, was back in the lineup. Legwand had another pretty strong game. He's been really good on the forecheck lately. If only he would bury a few goals.
Belak had another pretty uneventful fight. What's his purpose again? Sully had a fight that I had to laugh through. The guy had like 6 inches on him. Hilarious. But the ref wouldn't let Weber pound some punk, so Sully had to take care of business.
I was angry at Arnott all game. He is the laziest piece of crap EVER. On one shift he was checked behind the net. He lay there whining, pretending to be hurt trying to get a call. Meanwhile, the play goes to the other end and Colorado gets a good scoring chance. We were basically shorthanded while Captain Douchetard took his sweet time getting up and back to the bench. His post game interview pushed me over the edge. He was talking about being happy they were going to have a couple days off before playing in Columbus. Said it would be nice to relax. Considering he takes more shifts off than anyone, he should be plenty relaxed. Don't make me get back on my "Rip That C Off Arnott's Chest" soapbox.
This 3 game skid has put the Preds in 6th place in the West. With us not playing until Tuesday, we could be on the outside looking in very shortly. Here's to hoping the ship is righted the next time the team takes the ice.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
More evidence....
...that Carey Price is a douche.
Now, I'm not the biggest Cam Janssen fan, but come on. I looked at the game summary on NHL.com this morning and saw that Price wasn't given a penalty, not for roughing, not for anything.
Now, watching the play, Janssen is going for the puck and Price is out of the crease. Explain to me how Janssen gets the roughing call when Price is the one trying to throw punches. I'm pretty sure Price drops his gloves, ummm hello?!
The Blues ended up on the short side with Janssen getting a minor for roughing and Conklin getting a minor for leaving the crease. Please hold while I laugh out loud. Leaving the crease, really? Because Price wasn't way out of the crease. Conklin didn't do anything. He didn't grab, or beat down any of the Canadiens even if he did skate towards the action. One of the Habs got a penalty for roughing, but it should have at least been 4 on 4 because Carey Price is a doucher.
Watching the highlights, he should have at least had 3 out of the 4 Blues goals. He let Kariya bank a shot in off of his own butt. Sorry, but that was awesome. And McDonald's OT winner was from how far out? Once again, Price proves that he's overrated.
I might watch this video a million times, simply because of what it's called. "Cam Janssen DRILLS Carey Price" How can that not make you smile?
Now, I'm not the biggest Cam Janssen fan, but come on. I looked at the game summary on NHL.com this morning and saw that Price wasn't given a penalty, not for roughing, not for anything.
Now, watching the play, Janssen is going for the puck and Price is out of the crease. Explain to me how Janssen gets the roughing call when Price is the one trying to throw punches. I'm pretty sure Price drops his gloves, ummm hello?!
The Blues ended up on the short side with Janssen getting a minor for roughing and Conklin getting a minor for leaving the crease. Please hold while I laugh out loud. Leaving the crease, really? Because Price wasn't way out of the crease. Conklin didn't do anything. He didn't grab, or beat down any of the Canadiens even if he did skate towards the action. One of the Habs got a penalty for roughing, but it should have at least been 4 on 4 because Carey Price is a doucher.
Watching the highlights, he should have at least had 3 out of the 4 Blues goals. He let Kariya bank a shot in off of his own butt. Sorry, but that was awesome. And McDonald's OT winner was from how far out? Once again, Price proves that he's overrated.
I might watch this video a million times, simply because of what it's called. "Cam Janssen DRILLS Carey Price" How can that not make you smile?
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
D-man fail
The Preds announced today that they extended "defenseman" Kevin Klein 3 years.
See what I did there?
That will keep him here through the 2012-2013 season. The terms are 3 years, $4.05 million total.
That sound you heard earlier in the day was me screaming obscenities.
I have been on the "split up Klein and Hamhuis" campaign all season. Separately, they aren't terrible, but put them together and I will almost assure you that a goal will be scored by the opposition. Case and point: both were a glaring -3 last night against Toronto. Another thing I took from this deal is that it all but assures Hamhuis will not be here next season. Whether he's gone at the deadline or the offseason, I doubt he is in Nashville come this fall. Now, I don't know what kind of money Hamhuis thinks he can get, or will get, but I would rather have him than Klein. However, I understand that Klein is the cheaper option. But until they find a good partner for him (NOT HAMHUIS) he will be in my doghouse. I'd still rather see Sulzer on the ice than Klein. Poile may also be setting himself to be able to keep both Suter and Weber in the future. Weber will be up after next season, and Suter the following season. The money they will save by potentially not signing Hamhuis will allow for what will likely be very nice raises for Suter and Weber.
Either way, Klein and Hamhuis still suck as a d-pairing, and last night's "game" just makes me angry.
Really glad they went back on the road. I don't have to pay to watch them on TV. So if they blow chunks, I don't get as upset.
The upcoming schedule looks like this:
In Phoenix on Thursday, where my BFF Sarah will be in attendance. Hope she gets to see a good one.
In Colorado on Friday.
These two games are also the annual Father's trip, so hopefully that will be some good motivation to play well.
Then we move back East with visits to Columbus and Detroit.
Time to rack up some points against teams below us in the standings.
See what I did there?
That will keep him here through the 2012-2013 season. The terms are 3 years, $4.05 million total.
That sound you heard earlier in the day was me screaming obscenities.
I have been on the "split up Klein and Hamhuis" campaign all season. Separately, they aren't terrible, but put them together and I will almost assure you that a goal will be scored by the opposition. Case and point: both were a glaring -3 last night against Toronto. Another thing I took from this deal is that it all but assures Hamhuis will not be here next season. Whether he's gone at the deadline or the offseason, I doubt he is in Nashville come this fall. Now, I don't know what kind of money Hamhuis thinks he can get, or will get, but I would rather have him than Klein. However, I understand that Klein is the cheaper option. But until they find a good partner for him (NOT HAMHUIS) he will be in my doghouse. I'd still rather see Sulzer on the ice than Klein. Poile may also be setting himself to be able to keep both Suter and Weber in the future. Weber will be up after next season, and Suter the following season. The money they will save by potentially not signing Hamhuis will allow for what will likely be very nice raises for Suter and Weber.
Either way, Klein and Hamhuis still suck as a d-pairing, and last night's "game" just makes me angry.
Really glad they went back on the road. I don't have to pay to watch them on TV. So if they blow chunks, I don't get as upset.
The upcoming schedule looks like this:
In Phoenix on Thursday, where my BFF Sarah will be in attendance. Hope she gets to see a good one.
In Colorado on Friday.
These two games are also the annual Father's trip, so hopefully that will be some good motivation to play well.
Then we move back East with visits to Columbus and Detroit.
Time to rack up some points against teams below us in the standings.
I guess we have to talk about it
Leafs 4 Preds 3
And once again, the score does not tell the story. The Predators played maybe 10 minutes of the game last night. Unfortunately for us, the Leafs played more.
It started out bad. When you're down to the Leafs 0-3 nine minutes in, you've got problems. After the second goal, I was screaming for Pekka's head. Every goal was soft. Every single one. Finally after the third goal, Ellis made his grand entrance. Granted, the defense didn't help Pekka out much, but he should have had at least 2 of those goals. One (maybe the first goal) was simply because he wasn't hugging the post. Basic stuff here folks.
Thankfully, Ellis came in and played amazingly. He had the best save of the season on Stempniak (who I love and wish still played for the Blues, or for us). Find it on a highlight reel somewhere. I'm at work and the internet hates me today, so I can't provide a link.
Goc scored the first Preds goal in the second period by doing what the team had failed to do all game: go after rebounds. We were having trouble getting shots through, so Goc's was a big goal. The team made their short appearance in the third, and the crowd rewarded them. After we had tied it at 3, there was another epic standing ovation TV timeout. I'm not sure the team deserved it, but the few shift before that certainly showed some life and gave the crowd reason to cheer. The building was rocking, and we all but willed the team to score. Unfortunately due to some more Klein and Hamhuis fail (see rant below), Kessel walked in and scored the game winner with about 5 minutes to go.
As for the last minute or so, I have never seen a team play with so little urgency as the Preds did last night. Once Ellis finally made it to the bench, the team just seemed so slow, with no one really fighting to tie it up. Definitely disappointing.
Arnott and Smithson were back last night. Arnott definitely showed some rust. As for Smithson, Thuresson should have that spot over him. I would much rather a rookie get the experience. I am praying that the front office let's Smithson walk this summer. I can't handle much more of this. In other news, Tootoo should be back in Phoenix on Thursday, but Spaling will not be sent down. Thank God.
I made the comment several times last night that I'd rather be blown out than have the team come back only to lose late in the game. At least in a blowout, you don't get your hopes up. I definitely thought we had a chance once we tied it up. Just goes to show, playing 60 full minutes of hockey really does make a difference. The effort exerted last night is inexcusable. Losing to the Maple Leafs at home is inexcusable. Anyone else starting to think we're resembling the Blues and their home woes? Let's just hope we don't need the guys to start staying in hotels in Nashville. I expect a better effort when they're back on the 30th.
Sucks that it was such a crappy effort on the last game before a decent road trip, not to mention the good crowd, and the fact that it was Military Monday. The team sure did lay a couple of eggs for the military this year: Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto. I sense a trend. Meh, whatever.
Goc scored the first Preds goal in the second period by doing what the team had failed to do all game: go after rebounds. We were having trouble getting shots through, so Goc's was a big goal. The team made their short appearance in the third, and the crowd rewarded them. After we had tied it at 3, there was another epic standing ovation TV timeout. I'm not sure the team deserved it, but the few shift before that certainly showed some life and gave the crowd reason to cheer. The building was rocking, and we all but willed the team to score. Unfortunately due to some more Klein and Hamhuis fail (see rant below), Kessel walked in and scored the game winner with about 5 minutes to go.
As for the last minute or so, I have never seen a team play with so little urgency as the Preds did last night. Once Ellis finally made it to the bench, the team just seemed so slow, with no one really fighting to tie it up. Definitely disappointing.
Arnott and Smithson were back last night. Arnott definitely showed some rust. As for Smithson, Thuresson should have that spot over him. I would much rather a rookie get the experience. I am praying that the front office let's Smithson walk this summer. I can't handle much more of this. In other news, Tootoo should be back in Phoenix on Thursday, but Spaling will not be sent down. Thank God.
I made the comment several times last night that I'd rather be blown out than have the team come back only to lose late in the game. At least in a blowout, you don't get your hopes up. I definitely thought we had a chance once we tied it up. Just goes to show, playing 60 full minutes of hockey really does make a difference. The effort exerted last night is inexcusable. Losing to the Maple Leafs at home is inexcusable. Anyone else starting to think we're resembling the Blues and their home woes? Let's just hope we don't need the guys to start staying in hotels in Nashville. I expect a better effort when they're back on the 30th.
Sucks that it was such a crappy effort on the last game before a decent road trip, not to mention the good crowd, and the fact that it was Military Monday. The team sure did lay a couple of eggs for the military this year: Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto. I sense a trend. Meh, whatever.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Break out the brooms, Canada
The 6am alarm for work came way too early this morning. I was up until almost 11 watching the Preds vs Flames game.
Thankfully for Calgary, Kipper kept them in this one early on. The Preds came out on fire. Every line was generating really good scoring chances, and they were stonewalled by Kipper, who should also be called a douche simply because he told Finland he would only play in the Olympics if he was the starting goaltender.
But back to the game, the Flames came out much better in the second. They starting attacking the Preds and not giving them so much space. I thought the Preds did a good job of adjusting and were still getting good shots on goal and pressure around the net.
This one was a nail biter going into the third. I think everyone watching was just waiting for one of the teams to make a mistake. You could feel that whichever team scored first would win. Fortunately for myself and other Preds fans, it was Calgary who made a crucial mistake. Horny banged the puck home right in Kipper's 5 hole. Perfect example of what going to the net can do. We managed to hold them off for the last 5 or so minutes of the game. Dan Ellis even took a shot at the empty net; again, love this guy. His post game interview was entertaining, as usual. Was really happy for him to get the shutout, his first of the year and tenth of his career.
With that win, the Predators swept this Canadian road trip. For the season, we got 10 out 12 points out in Western Canada. That's success if I've ever seen it.
The team is looking really good now. My only concern is us getting guys back from injury. With the team gelled the way it is right now, is throwing Arnott, Tootoo, and Smithson back in the lineup going to mess with all of that? Personally, I am fine with the way the young guys are playing right now, and it would be a shame to see Spaling, or Thuresson get sent down in favor of Smithson. However, I do want Tootoo back in the lineup. Belak is not a good fighter, as evidenced by the whooping he got last night. At least Tootoo's fights have energy. Belak bores me and contributes nothing. Watching him try to forecheck last night just made me want to laugh. Even if he had stolen the puck, he wouldn't have known what to do with it.
The team made it back to Nashville last night, and there's not another game until Toronto is in town on Monday. I'm ready for some hockey. This Olympic break is creeping up on me, and I am none too thrilled about the prospect of a month between attending games.
Thankfully for Calgary, Kipper kept them in this one early on. The Preds came out on fire. Every line was generating really good scoring chances, and they were stonewalled by Kipper, who should also be called a douche simply because he told Finland he would only play in the Olympics if he was the starting goaltender.
But back to the game, the Flames came out much better in the second. They starting attacking the Preds and not giving them so much space. I thought the Preds did a good job of adjusting and were still getting good shots on goal and pressure around the net.
This one was a nail biter going into the third. I think everyone watching was just waiting for one of the teams to make a mistake. You could feel that whichever team scored first would win. Fortunately for myself and other Preds fans, it was Calgary who made a crucial mistake. Horny banged the puck home right in Kipper's 5 hole. Perfect example of what going to the net can do. We managed to hold them off for the last 5 or so minutes of the game. Dan Ellis even took a shot at the empty net; again, love this guy. His post game interview was entertaining, as usual. Was really happy for him to get the shutout, his first of the year and tenth of his career.
With that win, the Predators swept this Canadian road trip. For the season, we got 10 out 12 points out in Western Canada. That's success if I've ever seen it.
The team is looking really good now. My only concern is us getting guys back from injury. With the team gelled the way it is right now, is throwing Arnott, Tootoo, and Smithson back in the lineup going to mess with all of that? Personally, I am fine with the way the young guys are playing right now, and it would be a shame to see Spaling, or Thuresson get sent down in favor of Smithson. However, I do want Tootoo back in the lineup. Belak is not a good fighter, as evidenced by the whooping he got last night. At least Tootoo's fights have energy. Belak bores me and contributes nothing. Watching him try to forecheck last night just made me want to laugh. Even if he had stolen the puck, he wouldn't have known what to do with it.
The team made it back to Nashville last night, and there's not another game until Toronto is in town on Monday. I'm ready for some hockey. This Olympic break is creeping up on me, and I am none too thrilled about the prospect of a month between attending games.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Let's talk about goalies
I got pretty bored at work today, so I read through a bunch of my old posts. One that caught my eye was a post I wrote back in July about free agency.
Quoting directly from the July 2nd post:
"Joining the Blues is Ty Conklin. Snort. Good luck with Howard Detroit; not sure that's gonna pan out too well."
I am prepared to eat my own words here. Howard is now pretty much Detroit's number 1 goaltender.
Comparing stats here:
Howard: Games started: 28, Wins: 17, GAA: 2.17, SV% .928
Osgood: Games started: 18, Wins: 7, GAA: 2.81, SV%: .897
It's clear that Osgood is not the same goalie he used to be. I still really like the guy, but his play this year has been less than impressive. Contrary to what I said, Detroit made a wise choice in putting their eggs in Howard's basket.
Conklin isn't doing bad in St. Louis, but Mason pretty much has a firm grip on the number one position out there.
The Preds, in my opinion, do not have a number one goalie at this point. We have pretty much been rotating between Ellis and Rinne, with Ellis back in net tonight against the Flames.
Stats for our goalies:
Rinne: Games started: 28, Wins: 18, GAA: 2.74, SV%: .907
Ellis: Games started: 19, Wins: 10, GAA: 2.71, SV%: .911
The numbers are pretty close for the two, save the fact that Ellis has a higher winning percentage. Both have about the same number of losses as well. The GAA is inflated due to a few bad blowouts sprinkled throughout the season so far. However, I think both goalies have played fairly well. Ellis has definitely improved on his glove save, likely from watching Rinne. Both need to improve a little on their rebounds, especially when Klein and Hamhuis are on the ice. *insert vomit face here* Both goalies playing well could be bad for the Preds come July. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. I would very much like for Poile & Co. to lock one or both up before the season is over. Potentially losing both come July 1st would be a nightmare scenario. But let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Quoting directly from the July 2nd post:
"Joining the Blues is Ty Conklin. Snort. Good luck with Howard Detroit; not sure that's gonna pan out too well."
I am prepared to eat my own words here. Howard is now pretty much Detroit's number 1 goaltender.
Comparing stats here:
Howard: Games started: 28, Wins: 17, GAA: 2.17, SV% .928
Osgood: Games started: 18, Wins: 7, GAA: 2.81, SV%: .897
It's clear that Osgood is not the same goalie he used to be. I still really like the guy, but his play this year has been less than impressive. Contrary to what I said, Detroit made a wise choice in putting their eggs in Howard's basket.
Conklin isn't doing bad in St. Louis, but Mason pretty much has a firm grip on the number one position out there.
The Preds, in my opinion, do not have a number one goalie at this point. We have pretty much been rotating between Ellis and Rinne, with Ellis back in net tonight against the Flames.
Stats for our goalies:
Rinne: Games started: 28, Wins: 18, GAA: 2.74, SV%: .907
Ellis: Games started: 19, Wins: 10, GAA: 2.71, SV%: .911
The numbers are pretty close for the two, save the fact that Ellis has a higher winning percentage. Both have about the same number of losses as well. The GAA is inflated due to a few bad blowouts sprinkled throughout the season so far. However, I think both goalies have played fairly well. Ellis has definitely improved on his glove save, likely from watching Rinne. Both need to improve a little on their rebounds, especially when Klein and Hamhuis are on the ice. *insert vomit face here* Both goalies playing well could be bad for the Preds come July. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. I would very much like for Poile & Co. to lock one or both up before the season is over. Potentially losing both come July 1st would be a nightmare scenario. But let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Oil Spill
Creative title, I know.
But they are worse than I expected this year. They are sitting in the bottom of the Western Conference, and on a two game slide.
I have no recap for the game last night.
I went out to The Front Page Deli with some friends for drinks.
The owner is a big Preds fan, but the game wasn't on when we got there.
Ciara's sister works there, so Ciara took it upon herself to call and tell our waiter to put the game on for me. She still has Clarksville connections and knows how to use them.
He came over with my drink and said "Some chick literally just called and asked me to put the game on for you."
The look on Colton's face was priceless. He was like "Wow, you have power."
It was hilarious!
Despite the game being on, we were pretty wrapped up in our conversations so I didn't watch much.
I saw the final, and of course was getting text updates throughout.
Sucks that Pekka lost his shutout. And apparently the second Oiler goal was all on Weber. But he got a goal, so I'll let it slide.
The boys made it to Calgary today and did some team building curling exercise. The winning team: O'Reilly, Rinne, Sullivan, and Weber.
Days like this I really love Twitter. It gives you that inside look at what the team is like off the ice. I don't know of any other sport like it.
Preds take on the Flames Friday night 8 pm central.
I'll be back Saturday with the recap from work.
But they are worse than I expected this year. They are sitting in the bottom of the Western Conference, and on a two game slide.
I have no recap for the game last night.
I went out to The Front Page Deli with some friends for drinks.
The owner is a big Preds fan, but the game wasn't on when we got there.
Ciara's sister works there, so Ciara took it upon herself to call and tell our waiter to put the game on for me. She still has Clarksville connections and knows how to use them.
He came over with my drink and said "Some chick literally just called and asked me to put the game on for you."
The look on Colton's face was priceless. He was like "Wow, you have power."
It was hilarious!
Despite the game being on, we were pretty wrapped up in our conversations so I didn't watch much.
I saw the final, and of course was getting text updates throughout.
Sucks that Pekka lost his shutout. And apparently the second Oiler goal was all on Weber. But he got a goal, so I'll let it slide.
The boys made it to Calgary today and did some team building curling exercise. The winning team: O'Reilly, Rinne, Sullivan, and Weber.
Days like this I really love Twitter. It gives you that inside look at what the team is like off the ice. I don't know of any other sport like it.
Preds take on the Flames Friday night 8 pm central.
I'll be back Saturday with the recap from work.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Burrows vs Auger (with some game recap)
I've read several blogs and articles about this mess with Burrows and the officials, and all I can say is that if it's true, the league really needs to nail Auger to the wall. The word is that Auger told Burrows that he made him look like a fool on the misconduct he called on Smithson on Dec. 8th in Nashville. Now, I watched this game online because I didn't have tickets, and I yelled a lot of mean things at Burrows. He very clearly lifts his head after the hit to make sure there will be a call. No doubt in my mind he milked it. The league rescinded the misconduct on Smithson after the game, but the ref still made the wrong call. But how was he supposed to know that Burrows is a fantastic actor? Acting or no, Auger is an idiot if he actually told Burrows he was going to get him back for it last night. Either way, Burrows did get it back last night. The phantom diving and interference calls were enough, but he got a misconduct at the end of the game for what I'm sure were not very appropriate things he said to Auger. All of this evidence is circumstantial. There is a video of Auger and Burrows talking before the puck drops, but everyone except Auger and Burrows is only speculating about what's actually being said.
As a Predators fan, I should hate Burrows because is throws , is a diving, acting SOB, and is an awesome player who scores against us. Unfortunately, as a woman who has pretty good eye sight, he's pretty good looking. He will always be hated when we play them, but you gotta get the guy props for what he's done after not being drafted. He's turned into quite the hockey player.
As for the game, it started out not quite the way we had hoped with Legwand getting the first weak call of the game. The green men were back next to the box, but the focus soon changed to Ward scoring on the grease monkey short-handed. The Preds looked solid in the first period. Ellis was playing well, as was most of the rest of the team. Hammer and Klein still suck paired together. Burrows' first goal of the game was all because Hamhuis just stopped paying attention and let Burrows get behind him, not even realizing he had the whole backdoor open to shoot at. The Preds second period was sloppy. We need to reiterate the "play 60 minutes" thing that we've been beating to death. Luckily, we came out of the second tied 2-2, with Burrows getting another goal on a good screen. Ellis had at least 4 guys right in the line of the shot from the point. More crap officiating came in the third. Bad calls on both sides, but one that blew the game was the tripping calling on Henrik Sedin that put the Preds on the 4 on 3 power play. Henrik had already gone to the box earlier for interference on Ellis. The ref called it interference because dry humping isn't a penalty in hockey. Imagine that.
The tweet from Ellis says it best: Hey henrik sedin...stop trying to ride me like a horse...I am not into guys
I love that guy. Really.
Weber blasts one by the grease monkey to give the Preds a 3-2 lead with about 5 minutes left. We hold on and walk out of GM Place the owners of 2 points and in a tie with the Coyotes for 5th in the West.
Terrible night for the officiating, but for once it resulted in a win for the Preds. Can't argue with that. But it will be curious as to how this thing with Burrows and Auger is handled.
As a Predators fan, I should hate Burrows because is throws , is a diving, acting SOB, and is an awesome player who scores against us. Unfortunately, as a woman who has pretty good eye sight, he's pretty good looking. He will always be hated when we play them, but you gotta get the guy props for what he's done after not being drafted. He's turned into quite the hockey player.
As for the game, it started out not quite the way we had hoped with Legwand getting the first weak call of the game. The green men were back next to the box, but the focus soon changed to Ward scoring on the grease monkey short-handed. The Preds looked solid in the first period. Ellis was playing well, as was most of the rest of the team. Hammer and Klein still suck paired together. Burrows' first goal of the game was all because Hamhuis just stopped paying attention and let Burrows get behind him, not even realizing he had the whole backdoor open to shoot at. The Preds second period was sloppy. We need to reiterate the "play 60 minutes" thing that we've been beating to death. Luckily, we came out of the second tied 2-2, with Burrows getting another goal on a good screen. Ellis had at least 4 guys right in the line of the shot from the point. More crap officiating came in the third. Bad calls on both sides, but one that blew the game was the tripping calling on Henrik Sedin that put the Preds on the 4 on 3 power play. Henrik had already gone to the box earlier for interference on Ellis. The ref called it interference because dry humping isn't a penalty in hockey. Imagine that.
The tweet from Ellis says it best: Hey henrik sedin...stop trying to ride me like a horse...I am not into guys
I love that guy. Really.
Weber blasts one by the grease monkey to give the Preds a 3-2 lead with about 5 minutes left. We hold on and walk out of GM Place the owners of 2 points and in a tie with the Coyotes for 5th in the West.
Terrible night for the officiating, but for once it resulted in a win for the Preds. Can't argue with that. But it will be curious as to how this thing with Burrows and Auger is handled.
Just not today
Tonight's game against Vancouver deserves a recap, but I am wiped.
It's way past my bedtime.
Again, I hate you west coast.
Tomorrow I will write, but tonight I have one thing to say:
Shea Bay Bay :)
And FSN, he scores the game winning goal, and you interview Hammer sucks trade him? Umm he did nothing to deserve an interview.
Recap after work, but before the bar and Edmonton game tomorrow night.
Promise
It's way past my bedtime.
Again, I hate you west coast.
Tomorrow I will write, but tonight I have one thing to say:
Shea Bay Bay :)
And FSN, he scores the game winning goal, and you interview Hammer sucks trade him? Umm he did nothing to deserve an interview.
Recap after work, but before the bar and Edmonton game tomorrow night.
Promise
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Overdue recap
Once again, I know I suck at blogging. I haven't read, nor have I posted since I got back from the trip last week. I need to post a recap, but I'm sure it won't be worth much since my thoughts are all but scattered at this point. But here goes nothing:
Have I mentioned how boring Illinois is? Until you get to Chicago, there is nothing to look at. Have I also mentioned how much I love Chicago? They have the Cubs, which ultimately is all that matters, but they also have the United Center, which I happen to love. That arena has so much energy, it's insane. From the anthem to the game ops, I walked out thoroughly impressed once again, not so much by the outcome of the game, but whatever. At least this game was better than the home Hawks game the night before, in which the Preds laid down and died in front of the first sellout of the season. We walked out of this one losing by 1 goal that came in the last 40 some odd seconds of the game. The game ended with a scrum because Seabrook, who is now also a douche, crosschecked Erat after the buzzer had blown. Horny and Weber came in to defend his honor, and then Marty started spouting off. The ref literally had to push and pull Erat over to the bench. Watching it again on DVR, Marty sure used some big boy words, and it was awesome. We had these drunk guys in front of us, who were actually pretty funny. My Hawks shirt did not go over too well at pre-skate. I was afraid Belak was going to charge through the glass and kill me! It was all but decided then, that the Blues jersey would not make an appearance in St. Louis.
Milwaukee was pretty fun. We got to see Sulzer, since the Preds had literally sent him down right after the Chicago game. He had a great comeback to the Admirals. It was an exciting game against the baby wings. We got a free cowbell and the Admirals won. I could not keep the Santorelli brothers straight for the life of me. Mike wears 18 when he's in Nashville, but wears 19 when he's there. And Mark wears 11. I gave up trying after about 2 periods. Me and Ciara both caught shirts. I gave mine to some kid, and Ciara gave me hers to give to Jenn. I got sicker than a dog the next morning. Needless to say, do not take all your pills on an empty stomach. Capri-sun and Malibu does not taste as good coming back up.
We went on to St. Louis the next day. The GPS took us through BFE and was totally gay because it was trying to avoid tolls. We did eventually make it to St. Louis. And then we felt like stalkers. We were in the same hotel as the team and rode the elevator with Legwand. I almost ran down Pekka and Andreas in the lobby. Both look great in suits by the way. Sully and Horny were spotted walking to Starbucks and in the lobby. So needless to say, pre-skate was quite interesting. Horny decided to be a douche and make faces and mess with us the whole time. Belak still wasn't over the Hawks shirt because I was still scared out of my mind. Kariya was out for this game because Buffalo douchers elbowed him in the head :( This was a nasty game. Both Klein and Marty went out in the first period. Jackman with a dirty knee on knee on Erat, with no call. Tkachuk crosschecked Klein in the back of his neck, again with no call. Dumont was high-sticked, but this actually resulted in a 4 minute penalty. The Preds had a lengthy 5 on 3, but only scored 1. This game was 4-1 in the third, and the Preds almost let it get away from them. The final ended up 4-3. There was an awesome Preds fan a section or two over from us. He had on an Ellis jersey and was a dancing fool the whole game. It was hilarious. We had Preds fans 2 rows in front of us. On the way out, we talked and I, being a little intoxicated, started a "Let's Go Predators" chant. Hindsight being what it is, that was not the best idea. Now knowing that the Blues had only won 6 home games this year, I feel really bad. They actually fired Andy Murray last week, much to my dismay. I like him, and it's not his fault the team has a whole lot of quit in them. The Westin in St. Louis is the best hotel ever. I got the best sleep of the trip there. Unfortunately, we were only there for one night.
We hit the road to Columbus, after finding out Weber had made Team Canada for the Olympics. This girl was very happy. Go Canada!
After what seemed like the longest car ride ever, because we left so late, we made it. Kelly and Ciara decided to go walk around and explore, but I needed some quiet time. So I stayed in the room. They came back awhile later and said that they had found the arena district and had probably seen Ryan Jones out drinking. We decided to hit the arena district for a drink or two. Having never been there, I really like the layout they have in Columbus. The arena was nice, and the area around it was pretty cool too. We went to some sports bar and caught part of the Sharks game on the big screen. John Glennon and another writer for the Preds were there too. Some guy came over and chatted us up for awhile. Kelly got trashed and we had to leave. That night was not particularly fun, and my buzz quickly wore off. When we finally got Kelly in bed, Ciara and I stayed up till about 4:30 just talking. Forgot how much I had missed that girl. We slept in the next day, but did go explore and find a Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. It was our chill day, with nothing to do until dinner and the game. We went and met Aubrey for dinner, which was an experience. The place wasn't at all what I expected, but they had yummy drinks :) We had some fun with the paper cover on the table. That's why you carry pens in your purses ladies. I would have loved to see the face of whoever cleaned off our table. We finished dinner a little early and had to stand in the cold for a little while before the doors opened. We saw some Nashville folks we recognized, and promptly avoided them. Some people you just don't want to be associated with. We made it down to pre-skate, which was filled with familiar faces. Seems a lot of people from Nashville made the trip for New Years. We mocked some of them, just because they deserved it. Aubrey discovered just how big of a person Shea Weber is. Hopefully she didn't drool too much over her new second team.
-Aubrey, it was a pleasure to finally meet you, and I hope you can make it to Nashville one of these days. :)
As for the game, we had pretty good seats, but it was a bit of a snore. The Preds looked sloppy, and Ellis got caught over-committing on the Jackets only goal of the game. It was 1-0 well into the third period. Eh yo Andreas beat Garon and tied it with about 6 minutes left (if my memory serves). If Steve Mason the douche had been playing, I'm sure the Preds would have been dominating. Garon was on his game and really kept the Blue Jackets in it. As has been the case between these two teams this year, this one went to overtime. Unlike the previous 2 games, the shootout was not needed. David Legwand took about 28 seconds to score on a very similar play to the one Andreas scored on. Both goals were completely because of Joel Ward and his work behind the net. Props to him. Nice to see the boys so happy after this one because it easily could have gone the other way. As good as Chicago and St. Louis are with their in game production, I was disappointed with Columbus. As much as a lot of Preds fans hate Krazy Kyle and the organ, it is a million times worse there. And they played that God awful tic tic boom song a million times, and not the good tic tic boom like I had thought. All in all, the arena was really nice, and the fans were not as bad as I had expected, but we were around mostly families, so I'm sure that played into it.
We were smart enough to go back to the hotel and change out of jerseys before heading out to celebrate New Years. Unfortunately, the team was on a plane back to Nashville and didn't get to celebrate properly. But we're pretty sure we saw some drunk Blue Jackets players. We celebrated the new year in this Irish pub across from the arena. It was a good time. We watched the end of the USA vs. Canada world junior game, which was exciting. Ran into Ryan from Nashville and had a chat. I probably had a little too much to drink, but it was one heck of a New Years. I had a blast and can't wait to go back to Columbus.
The drive home always seems so long. And me not bring able to drive the whole trip about killed me. I had a sprained ligament in my neck (as diagnosed at the ER the day we got back), and was in a ton of pain the entire trip. I could hardly turn my neck to one side. Other than that, the trip was a big success. The Preds got 4 out of 6 points, and I had a blast. I can't wait to be out of college and have a big girl job so I can take plane trips instead of car trips though. That was a lot of driving, and even with my Blackberry, I got bored.
It was nice to meet a fellow blogger, and hopefully the game pushed her closer to being a full on Preds fan :P
There have been 4 home games since we got back. We beat the Ducks last Saturday, lost to Calgary on Tuesday, beat Carolina on Thursday, and lost to the Ducks last night.
Last Saturday is a blur because I was on some pretty good drugs, but I had a DD to and from the game. lol
I worked Tuesday and it wasn't televised, so I have no comments.
Thursday was funny. There was a "snow storm." Bread and milk were scarce. As were the 15,000 odd fans at the game. No way that many people showed up, but those were the tickets sold. If we had lost to Carolina, that would have been embarrassing. We managed to win, and I managed not to die with all the idiot drivers on the perfectly clear roads back up to Clarksville.
Last night sucked. The game was boring, the team showed no effort, and we lost. The score 2-3 is deceiving. It was 3-0 going into the third. Horny was trying to do it all himself. Marty, on his first game back after douchy Jackman took his knee out, looked good, but not great. Our defense was bad. Weber and Suter were bad. It's awful when the pairing of Franson and Sulzer were the best. Bouillon was out with flu like symptoms. Arnott and Ward were both out as well. But that is no excuse. No one was trying, and Anaheim had Getzlaf and Selanne back in the lineup. No one even tried to stop them. Horny and Erat walked away with goals, but I was disappointed with the effort. It was a sellout crowd and the team laid an egg, just like the Chicago game. These third jerseys are just bad news, but again, no excuses. This team has to do better in front of these good crowds. If last night had been my first game, I would not have been impressed.
The team left for another Canada swing this morning. Hopefully the success on the road will continue. They come home On the 18th to play the Maple Leafs, but I'll reserve judgement until after that game. Back to back on Monday and Tuesday. Keep your focus Preds.
At least with the team on the road, Ellis and his tweeting and driving self isn't a danger to Nashvillians :P
If you're curious, follow him on Twitter @dellis39
His tweets are quite entertaining.
Ok, this is hella long and I am so not going back through to proofread, so I apologize for any bad grammar or spelling. But hey, this just wasted 2 hours of my 2 and a half hours at work. Score!
Have I mentioned how boring Illinois is? Until you get to Chicago, there is nothing to look at. Have I also mentioned how much I love Chicago? They have the Cubs, which ultimately is all that matters, but they also have the United Center, which I happen to love. That arena has so much energy, it's insane. From the anthem to the game ops, I walked out thoroughly impressed once again, not so much by the outcome of the game, but whatever. At least this game was better than the home Hawks game the night before, in which the Preds laid down and died in front of the first sellout of the season. We walked out of this one losing by 1 goal that came in the last 40 some odd seconds of the game. The game ended with a scrum because Seabrook, who is now also a douche, crosschecked Erat after the buzzer had blown. Horny and Weber came in to defend his honor, and then Marty started spouting off. The ref literally had to push and pull Erat over to the bench. Watching it again on DVR, Marty sure used some big boy words, and it was awesome. We had these drunk guys in front of us, who were actually pretty funny. My Hawks shirt did not go over too well at pre-skate. I was afraid Belak was going to charge through the glass and kill me! It was all but decided then, that the Blues jersey would not make an appearance in St. Louis.
Milwaukee was pretty fun. We got to see Sulzer, since the Preds had literally sent him down right after the Chicago game. He had a great comeback to the Admirals. It was an exciting game against the baby wings. We got a free cowbell and the Admirals won. I could not keep the Santorelli brothers straight for the life of me. Mike wears 18 when he's in Nashville, but wears 19 when he's there. And Mark wears 11. I gave up trying after about 2 periods. Me and Ciara both caught shirts. I gave mine to some kid, and Ciara gave me hers to give to Jenn. I got sicker than a dog the next morning. Needless to say, do not take all your pills on an empty stomach. Capri-sun and Malibu does not taste as good coming back up.
We went on to St. Louis the next day. The GPS took us through BFE and was totally gay because it was trying to avoid tolls. We did eventually make it to St. Louis. And then we felt like stalkers. We were in the same hotel as the team and rode the elevator with Legwand. I almost ran down Pekka and Andreas in the lobby. Both look great in suits by the way. Sully and Horny were spotted walking to Starbucks and in the lobby. So needless to say, pre-skate was quite interesting. Horny decided to be a douche and make faces and mess with us the whole time. Belak still wasn't over the Hawks shirt because I was still scared out of my mind. Kariya was out for this game because Buffalo douchers elbowed him in the head :( This was a nasty game. Both Klein and Marty went out in the first period. Jackman with a dirty knee on knee on Erat, with no call. Tkachuk crosschecked Klein in the back of his neck, again with no call. Dumont was high-sticked, but this actually resulted in a 4 minute penalty. The Preds had a lengthy 5 on 3, but only scored 1. This game was 4-1 in the third, and the Preds almost let it get away from them. The final ended up 4-3. There was an awesome Preds fan a section or two over from us. He had on an Ellis jersey and was a dancing fool the whole game. It was hilarious. We had Preds fans 2 rows in front of us. On the way out, we talked and I, being a little intoxicated, started a "Let's Go Predators" chant. Hindsight being what it is, that was not the best idea. Now knowing that the Blues had only won 6 home games this year, I feel really bad. They actually fired Andy Murray last week, much to my dismay. I like him, and it's not his fault the team has a whole lot of quit in them. The Westin in St. Louis is the best hotel ever. I got the best sleep of the trip there. Unfortunately, we were only there for one night.
We hit the road to Columbus, after finding out Weber had made Team Canada for the Olympics. This girl was very happy. Go Canada!
After what seemed like the longest car ride ever, because we left so late, we made it. Kelly and Ciara decided to go walk around and explore, but I needed some quiet time. So I stayed in the room. They came back awhile later and said that they had found the arena district and had probably seen Ryan Jones out drinking. We decided to hit the arena district for a drink or two. Having never been there, I really like the layout they have in Columbus. The arena was nice, and the area around it was pretty cool too. We went to some sports bar and caught part of the Sharks game on the big screen. John Glennon and another writer for the Preds were there too. Some guy came over and chatted us up for awhile. Kelly got trashed and we had to leave. That night was not particularly fun, and my buzz quickly wore off. When we finally got Kelly in bed, Ciara and I stayed up till about 4:30 just talking. Forgot how much I had missed that girl. We slept in the next day, but did go explore and find a Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. It was our chill day, with nothing to do until dinner and the game. We went and met Aubrey for dinner, which was an experience. The place wasn't at all what I expected, but they had yummy drinks :) We had some fun with the paper cover on the table. That's why you carry pens in your purses ladies. I would have loved to see the face of whoever cleaned off our table. We finished dinner a little early and had to stand in the cold for a little while before the doors opened. We saw some Nashville folks we recognized, and promptly avoided them. Some people you just don't want to be associated with. We made it down to pre-skate, which was filled with familiar faces. Seems a lot of people from Nashville made the trip for New Years. We mocked some of them, just because they deserved it. Aubrey discovered just how big of a person Shea Weber is. Hopefully she didn't drool too much over her new second team.
-Aubrey, it was a pleasure to finally meet you, and I hope you can make it to Nashville one of these days. :)
As for the game, we had pretty good seats, but it was a bit of a snore. The Preds looked sloppy, and Ellis got caught over-committing on the Jackets only goal of the game. It was 1-0 well into the third period. Eh yo Andreas beat Garon and tied it with about 6 minutes left (if my memory serves). If Steve Mason the douche had been playing, I'm sure the Preds would have been dominating. Garon was on his game and really kept the Blue Jackets in it. As has been the case between these two teams this year, this one went to overtime. Unlike the previous 2 games, the shootout was not needed. David Legwand took about 28 seconds to score on a very similar play to the one Andreas scored on. Both goals were completely because of Joel Ward and his work behind the net. Props to him. Nice to see the boys so happy after this one because it easily could have gone the other way. As good as Chicago and St. Louis are with their in game production, I was disappointed with Columbus. As much as a lot of Preds fans hate Krazy Kyle and the organ, it is a million times worse there. And they played that God awful tic tic boom song a million times, and not the good tic tic boom like I had thought. All in all, the arena was really nice, and the fans were not as bad as I had expected, but we were around mostly families, so I'm sure that played into it.
We were smart enough to go back to the hotel and change out of jerseys before heading out to celebrate New Years. Unfortunately, the team was on a plane back to Nashville and didn't get to celebrate properly. But we're pretty sure we saw some drunk Blue Jackets players. We celebrated the new year in this Irish pub across from the arena. It was a good time. We watched the end of the USA vs. Canada world junior game, which was exciting. Ran into Ryan from Nashville and had a chat. I probably had a little too much to drink, but it was one heck of a New Years. I had a blast and can't wait to go back to Columbus.
The drive home always seems so long. And me not bring able to drive the whole trip about killed me. I had a sprained ligament in my neck (as diagnosed at the ER the day we got back), and was in a ton of pain the entire trip. I could hardly turn my neck to one side. Other than that, the trip was a big success. The Preds got 4 out of 6 points, and I had a blast. I can't wait to be out of college and have a big girl job so I can take plane trips instead of car trips though. That was a lot of driving, and even with my Blackberry, I got bored.
It was nice to meet a fellow blogger, and hopefully the game pushed her closer to being a full on Preds fan :P
There have been 4 home games since we got back. We beat the Ducks last Saturday, lost to Calgary on Tuesday, beat Carolina on Thursday, and lost to the Ducks last night.
Last Saturday is a blur because I was on some pretty good drugs, but I had a DD to and from the game. lol
I worked Tuesday and it wasn't televised, so I have no comments.
Thursday was funny. There was a "snow storm." Bread and milk were scarce. As were the 15,000 odd fans at the game. No way that many people showed up, but those were the tickets sold. If we had lost to Carolina, that would have been embarrassing. We managed to win, and I managed not to die with all the idiot drivers on the perfectly clear roads back up to Clarksville.
Last night sucked. The game was boring, the team showed no effort, and we lost. The score 2-3 is deceiving. It was 3-0 going into the third. Horny was trying to do it all himself. Marty, on his first game back after douchy Jackman took his knee out, looked good, but not great. Our defense was bad. Weber and Suter were bad. It's awful when the pairing of Franson and Sulzer were the best. Bouillon was out with flu like symptoms. Arnott and Ward were both out as well. But that is no excuse. No one was trying, and Anaheim had Getzlaf and Selanne back in the lineup. No one even tried to stop them. Horny and Erat walked away with goals, but I was disappointed with the effort. It was a sellout crowd and the team laid an egg, just like the Chicago game. These third jerseys are just bad news, but again, no excuses. This team has to do better in front of these good crowds. If last night had been my first game, I would not have been impressed.
The team left for another Canada swing this morning. Hopefully the success on the road will continue. They come home On the 18th to play the Maple Leafs, but I'll reserve judgement until after that game. Back to back on Monday and Tuesday. Keep your focus Preds.
At least with the team on the road, Ellis and his tweeting and driving self isn't a danger to Nashvillians :P
If you're curious, follow him on Twitter @dellis39
His tweets are quite entertaining.
Ok, this is hella long and I am so not going back through to proofread, so I apologize for any bad grammar or spelling. But hey, this just wasted 2 hours of my 2 and a half hours at work. Score!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
