Predators media thread - Page 2

PredDave · 12-03-2006, 11:36 AM

John Glennon's Blog on the Predators

http://support.tennessean.com/blogs/?cat=3

PredDave · 12-04-2006, 12:23 PM

Paul McCann's latest blog...

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=3984

PredDave · 12-04-2006, 12:26 PM

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=p...ticleid=284209

Building the bond between fathers and sons

This is an article about the recent Predators' father-son roadtrip...

PredDave · 12-11-2006, 08:57 AM

Trotz works to keep home fires burning
Doesn't want Preds relaxed after road trip

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612110358/1028

The Predators have played just 10 of their first 29 games at home.

But that will change over the next few weeks, as the Predators will be at home for their next three games and for 11 of their next 15.

So why is Predators Coach Barry Trotz sounding a warning alarm?

He's afraid his team might fall prey to everyone's natural tendency when arriving home after a long journey: relaxing.

PredDave · 12-12-2006, 03:27 PM

Preds may get 'big guns' back tonight
Sullivan, Legwand likely; Arnott will decide later today

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612120365/1028

Like a virus running through a kindergarten classroom, it seems just about every NHL team is eventually stricken by the injury bug.

The Predators had their bout last week.

Luckily for the Predators, it seems this strain has run its course.

Sullivan and Legwand practiced Monday, and Coach Barry Trotz said both are likely to play tonight when the Predators face the Edmonton Oilers at Gaylord Entertainment Center.

Arnott practiced Monday for the first time since undergoing knee surgery Nov. 22 and will be re-evaluated after today's morning skate. It will be Arnott's call as to whether he plays tonight, Trotz said.

PredDave · 12-12-2006, 03:29 PM

Goaltenders galore

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612120371/1028

Nashville currently has four goaltenders — Vokoun, Rinne, Chris Mason and Mike Leighton — in town.

"Mitch is having a little goalie camp right now," Trotz said. "He is in his glory."

Mason, who has been the No. 1 goalie in Vokoun's absense, said he is feeling good physically after four consecutive road starts.

He may have gotten a game off if Leighton hadn't come down with the flu.

Not that he was complaining.

"If they tell me to play every game I will be more than happy to do it," Mason said.

PredDave · 12-12-2006, 03:30 PM

Vasicek surging

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612120371/1028

Center Josef Vasicek collected Nashville's lone score against San Jose on Saturday, continuing his recent surge.

In his first 12 games with the Predators he had just one point (a goal). In the last six he has five points (one goal, four assists).

Trotz said Vasicek is improving because he's in the lineup more regularly. Beginning in October he missed eight games with a hip flexor. In November he missed another two with back spasms.

"He is finally getting some momentum," Trotz said. "Trusting himself, really, believing in himself again."

PredDave · 12-13-2006, 12:58 PM

Paul McCann's latest blog:

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=4212

PredDave · 12-14-2006, 12:11 PM

http://www.insidehockey.com/columns/260

Article featuring A.Radulov on www.InsideHockey.com

PredDave · 12-15-2006, 08:07 AM

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=261214027

Sullivan rebounds with hat trick as Preds blank Senators

Steve Sullivan's injured groin didn't slow him down. The rest it forced him to take might've even helped.

Sullivan had a natural hat trick in the second period, and Scott Hartnell added two goals to lead the Nashville Predators to a 6-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

"They were quicker, they did everything at high speed and we couldn't handle it," Ottawa Coach Bryan Murray said. "We got attached to the guy with the puck all the time, and they made cross-seam passes, and backdoor tip-ins."

It was Sullivan's sixth NHL hat trick and his third with the Predators. He scored the three goals in a span of 5:56, the quickest for any player in Nashville history. Sullivan showed no effects of a groin strain sustained a week earlier at Los Angeles that forced him to miss Nashville's previous two games.

"I just wanted to go out and get my legs underneath me," Sullivan said. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't hurt the hockey team."

Sullivan completed his hat trick by converting a cross-ice pass in the left circle from J.P. Dumont, tucking his shot just inside the left post. Dumont assisted on all three of Sullivan's goals.

PredDave · 12-15-2006, 08:09 AM

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612150430/1028

Hats off, naturally
Sullivan's three in row lead rout

The only thing the Predators failed to do on Thursday night was kick an extra point. Everything else worked to perfection.

Almost completely healthy at forward for the first time in weeks, the Predators put on a dazzling display of offense on Thursday, dismantling Ottawa 6-0 in front of 12,718 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

They scored all six goals in the first 32 minutes, knocking Senators goalie Ray Emery out of the contest with a series of slick back-door passes that made for relatively simple scores.

"I thought that for the most part, we skated well, worked hard, moved the puck effectively and were dangerous,'' Predators Coach Barry Trotz said. "When you do that, you can blow some games open.''

Steve Sullivan, returning from a groin strain that had kept him out two games, led the Predators with a natural hat trick — three consecutive goals — that brought caps to the ice.

He set a franchise record by scoring the three goals within a span of 5:56 in the second period, capping his evening by knocking home J.P. Dumont's third straight assist.

"I wasn't feeling anything special (beforehand),'' Sullivan said. "I just wanted to go out there and get my legs back underneath me. I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything to hurt the hockey team.''

PredDave · 12-15-2006, 08:10 AM

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612150426/1028

Dumont, Kariya men behind the goals
Set up Hartnell, Sullivan heroics

Scott Hartnell's two goals got the Predators off to a great start against Ottawa.

Steve Sullivan's three goals finished the Senators off.

But it was the efforts of two players who didn't score at all that proved just as critical in the Predators' 6-0 spanking of Ottawa on Thursday.

J.P. Dumont and Paul Kariya both contributed three assists against the Senators, setting their teammates up for shots that — in several instances — were hard to miss.

Kariya's first assist was a sweet little backhand dish across the crease, a pass that Hartnell merely had to tap behind goalie Ray Emery to put the Predators ahead 1-0.

Six minutes later, Kariya found Hartnell standing by the crease once more, dropping a pinpoint pass on his stick that Hartnell simply redirected behind Emery.

"Paul Kariya could be top five all-time for passing and vision,'' Sullivan said. "He's a special player that way. I don't think Hartsy has had to lift his stick (his) last five goals.''

Hartnell, who leads the team with 13 goals, got a chuckle out of that line.

"It has been a while since I had to shoot one in,'' he said. "Paul made a great pass and there was an open net, so I just had to redirect it.''

Dumont's vision and ability to deceive was as impressive.

He had everyone on the ice thinking he was about to launch a shot from the face-off circle with just over 14 minutes left in the second period, before choosing to fire a cross-ice pass instead.

Sullivan was wide open and knocked the puck behind Emery before the netminder could react.

"He's known as a goal-scorer, but he really knows how to find people out there,'' Sullivan said of Dumont, who tied a career high with the three assists.

PredDave · 12-15-2006, 05:49 PM

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=p...ticleid=285331

Mason making the most of opportunity

Nashville’s Chris Mason knows his time in the spotlight could soon be coming to an end.

The Predators' backup goalie was thrust into a starring role last month when star goalie Tomas Vokoun tore a ligament in his thumb. Mason has taken the opportunity and run with it, winning six of 10 starts since Vokoun suffered his injury, gaining at least a point in seven of the outings as the Predators maintained their hold on first place in the Central Division.

”I feel pretty good,” Mason says. “This year, I got to play a little more frequently even when Tomas was healthy. That always helps, because you get a little bit of a rhythm, so you're not going every two or three weeks. I still get that nervousness a little bit when I start, but it's not as bad as it was previous years. I feel pretty good right now and the guys are helping me out.”

Mason has come to grips with life as a backup, a role he has inhabited off and on since joining the organization at its inception back in 1998-89. It is not a role he desires, but it is one that he has vowed to handle as best he can, at least until his own opportunity comes along.

Mason has stunned his critics to earn a NHL paycheck and he has emerged as a more-than-capable backup for Vokoun, a workhorse who has carried Nashville from its expansion-team struggles to its current place among the Western Conference elite. Yet, Mason also knows that his body of work in that role during the past three seasons – a 25-14-4 record, five shutouts and .918 save percentage in 60 games – suggests he could be ready for bigger and better things.

PredDave · 12-18-2006, 09:20 AM

Extra work for Preds
Get second straight OT win vs. Blues

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612180350/1028

It's becoming a theme against the Blues: the Predators trail early, but they still go home happy.

For the third time this season Nashville rallied against Central Division rival St. Louis, collecting a 2-1 overtime win and extending its win streak against the Blues to 11 games — a streak that dates back to April 3, 2004.

The Blues, meanwhile, suffered this season's 11th consecutive loss, and its fourth under new Coach Andy Murray.

Predators defenseman Kimmo Timonen scored the game-winner, sending a shot from the point that sailed past the stick-side of St. Louis goaltender Manny Legace during an overtime power play.

Timonen had attempted two other shots on the man advantage in the extra period, but each had been snagged out of the air by Legace.

"It's four-on-three so someone is going to have a good shot or a good chance to score," Timonen said.

It was the second overtime in the last two days between the two squads. The Predators won 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday in Nashville.

PredDave · 12-18-2006, 09:29 AM

Power play vs. Blues falling short
Preds at 8 percent with an extra man

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....4prFnNSCHZE%3D

The Predators power play this season has been a bit fickle. Against St. Louis it has been less than fair.

Nashville has converted on just 2-of-23 (8.7 percent) man-advantage opportunities in three games this season against the Blues.

In Sunday night's 2-1 win, the Predators had more than 21 minutes of unsuccessful power play before Kimmo Timonen converted the game winner in a 4-on-3 overtime advantage.

"I don't think we were actually doing a bad job. We were moving around, but the goalie played well," Timonen said. "You are going to have those games once in awhile nothing goes in."

12-03-2006, 11:36 AM	#16 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	John Glennon's Blog on the Predators http://support.tennessean.com/blogs/?cat=3

12-04-2006, 12:23 PM	#17 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	Paul McCann's latest blog... http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=3984

12-04-2006, 12:26 PM	#18 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=p...ticleid=284209 Building the bond between fathers and sons This is an article about the recent Predators' father-son roadtrip...

12-11-2006, 08:57 AM	#19 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	Trotz works to keep home fires burning Doesn't want Preds relaxed after road trip http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612110358/1028 The Predators have played just 10 of their first 29 games at home. But that will change over the next few weeks, as the Predators will be at home for their next three games and for 11 of their next 15. So why is Predators Coach Barry Trotz sounding a warning alarm? He's afraid his team might fall prey to everyone's natural tendency when arriving home after a long journey: relaxing.

12-12-2006, 03:27 PM	#20 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	Preds may get 'big guns' back tonight Sullivan, Legwand likely; Arnott will decide later today http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612120365/1028 Like a virus running through a kindergarten classroom, it seems just about every NHL team is eventually stricken by the injury bug. The Predators had their bout last week. Luckily for the Predators, it seems this strain has run its course. Sullivan and Legwand practiced Monday, and Coach Barry Trotz said both are likely to play tonight when the Predators face the Edmonton Oilers at Gaylord Entertainment Center. Arnott practiced Monday for the first time since undergoing knee surgery Nov. 22 and will be re-evaluated after today's morning skate. It will be Arnott's call as to whether he plays tonight, Trotz said.

12-12-2006, 03:29 PM	#21 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	Goaltenders galore http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612120371/1028 Nashville currently has four goaltenders — Vokoun, Rinne, Chris Mason and Mike Leighton — in town. "Mitch is having a little goalie camp right now," Trotz said. "He is in his glory." Mason, who has been the No. 1 goalie in Vokoun's absense, said he is feeling good physically after four consecutive road starts. He may have gotten a game off if Leighton hadn't come down with the flu. Not that he was complaining. "If they tell me to play every game I will be more than happy to do it," Mason said.

12-12-2006, 03:30 PM	#22 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	Vasicek surging http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612120371/1028 Center Josef Vasicek collected Nashville's lone score against San Jose on Saturday, continuing his recent surge. In his first 12 games with the Predators he had just one point (a goal). In the last six he has five points (one goal, four assists). Trotz said Vasicek is improving because he's in the lineup more regularly. Beginning in October he missed eight games with a hip flexor. In November he missed another two with back spasms. "He is finally getting some momentum," Trotz said. "Trusting himself, really, believing in himself again."

12-13-2006, 12:58 PM	#23 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	Paul McCann's latest blog: http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=4212

12-14-2006, 12:11 PM	#24 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	http://www.insidehockey.com/columns/260 Article featuring A.Radulov on www.InsideHockey.com

12-15-2006, 08:07 AM	#25 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=261214027 Sullivan rebounds with hat trick as Preds blank Senators Steve Sullivan's injured groin didn't slow him down. The rest it forced him to take might've even helped. Sullivan had a natural hat trick in the second period, and Scott Hartnell added two goals to lead the Nashville Predators to a 6-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. "They were quicker, they did everything at high speed and we couldn't handle it," Ottawa Coach Bryan Murray said. "We got attached to the guy with the puck all the time, and they made cross-seam passes, and backdoor tip-ins." It was Sullivan's sixth NHL hat trick and his third with the Predators. He scored the three goals in a span of 5:56, the quickest for any player in Nashville history. Sullivan showed no effects of a groin strain sustained a week earlier at Los Angeles that forced him to miss Nashville's previous two games. "I just wanted to go out and get my legs underneath me," Sullivan said. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't hurt the hockey team." Sullivan completed his hat trick by converting a cross-ice pass in the left circle from J.P. Dumont, tucking his shot just inside the left post. Dumont assisted on all three of Sullivan's goals.

12-15-2006, 08:09 AM	#26 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612150430/1028 Hats off, naturally Sullivan's three in row lead rout The only thing the Predators failed to do on Thursday night was kick an extra point. Everything else worked to perfection. Almost completely healthy at forward for the first time in weeks, the Predators put on a dazzling display of offense on Thursday, dismantling Ottawa 6-0 in front of 12,718 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. They scored all six goals in the first 32 minutes, knocking Senators goalie Ray Emery out of the contest with a series of slick back-door passes that made for relatively simple scores. "I thought that for the most part, we skated well, worked hard, moved the puck effectively and were dangerous,'' Predators Coach Barry Trotz said. "When you do that, you can blow some games open.'' Steve Sullivan, returning from a groin strain that had kept him out two games, led the Predators with a natural hat trick — three consecutive goals — that brought caps to the ice. He set a franchise record by scoring the three goals within a span of 5:56 in the second period, capping his evening by knocking home J.P. Dumont's third straight assist. "I wasn't feeling anything special (beforehand),'' Sullivan said. "I just wanted to go out there and get my legs back underneath me. I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything to hurt the hockey team.''

12-15-2006, 08:10 AM	#27 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612150426/1028 Dumont, Kariya men behind the goals Set up Hartnell, Sullivan heroics Scott Hartnell's two goals got the Predators off to a great start against Ottawa. Steve Sullivan's three goals finished the Senators off. But it was the efforts of two players who didn't score at all that proved just as critical in the Predators' 6-0 spanking of Ottawa on Thursday. J.P. Dumont and Paul Kariya both contributed three assists against the Senators, setting their teammates up for shots that — in several instances — were hard to miss. Kariya's first assist was a sweet little backhand dish across the crease, a pass that Hartnell merely had to tap behind goalie Ray Emery to put the Predators ahead 1-0. Six minutes later, Kariya found Hartnell standing by the crease once more, dropping a pinpoint pass on his stick that Hartnell simply redirected behind Emery. "Paul Kariya could be top five all-time for passing and vision,'' Sullivan said. "He's a special player that way. I don't think Hartsy has had to lift his stick (his) last five goals.'' Hartnell, who leads the team with 13 goals, got a chuckle out of that line. "It has been a while since I had to shoot one in,'' he said. "Paul made a great pass and there was an open net, so I just had to redirect it.'' Dumont's vision and ability to deceive was as impressive. He had everyone on the ice thinking he was about to launch a shot from the face-off circle with just over 14 minutes left in the second period, before choosing to fire a cross-ice pass instead. Sullivan was wide open and knocked the puck behind Emery before the netminder could react. "He's known as a goal-scorer, but he really knows how to find people out there,'' Sullivan said of Dumont, who tied a career high with the three assists.

12-15-2006, 05:49 PM	#28 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=p...ticleid=285331 Mason making the most of opportunity Nashville’s Chris Mason knows his time in the spotlight could soon be coming to an end. The Predators' backup goalie was thrust into a starring role last month when star goalie Tomas Vokoun tore a ligament in his thumb. Mason has taken the opportunity and run with it, winning six of 10 starts since Vokoun suffered his injury, gaining at least a point in seven of the outings as the Predators maintained their hold on first place in the Central Division. ”I feel pretty good,” Mason says. “This year, I got to play a little more frequently even when Tomas was healthy. That always helps, because you get a little bit of a rhythm, so you're not going every two or three weeks. I still get that nervousness a little bit when I start, but it's not as bad as it was previous years. I feel pretty good right now and the guys are helping me out.” Mason has come to grips with life as a backup, a role he has inhabited off and on since joining the organization at its inception back in 1998-89. It is not a role he desires, but it is one that he has vowed to handle as best he can, at least until his own opportunity comes along. Mason has stunned his critics to earn a NHL paycheck and he has emerged as a more-than-capable backup for Vokoun, a workhorse who has carried Nashville from its expansion-team struggles to its current place among the Western Conference elite. Yet, Mason also knows that his body of work in that role during the past three seasons – a 25-14-4 record, five shutouts and .918 save percentage in 60 games – suggests he could be ready for bigger and better things.

12-18-2006, 09:20 AM	#29 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	Extra work for Preds Get second straight OT win vs. Blues http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....612180350/1028 It's becoming a theme against the Blues: the Predators trail early, but they still go home happy. For the third time this season Nashville rallied against Central Division rival St. Louis, collecting a 2-1 overtime win and extending its win streak against the Blues to 11 games — a streak that dates back to April 3, 2004. The Blues, meanwhile, suffered this season's 11th consecutive loss, and its fourth under new Coach Andy Murray. Predators defenseman Kimmo Timonen scored the game-winner, sending a shot from the point that sailed past the stick-side of St. Louis goaltender Manny Legace during an overtime power play. Timonen had attempted two other shots on the man advantage in the extra period, but each had been snagged out of the air by Legace. "It's four-on-three so someone is going to have a good shot or a good chance to score," Timonen said. It was the second overtime in the last two days between the two squads. The Predators won 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday in Nashville.

12-18-2006, 09:29 AM	#30 (permalink)
PredDave Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 832	Power play vs. Blues falling short Preds at 8 percent with an extra man http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....4prFnNSCHZE%3D The Predators power play this season has been a bit fickle. Against St. Louis it has been less than fair. Nashville has converted on just 2-of-23 (8.7 percent) man-advantage opportunities in three games this season against the Blues. In Sunday night's 2-1 win, the Predators had more than 21 minutes of unsuccessful power play before Kimmo Timonen converted the game winner in a 4-on-3 overtime advantage. "I don't think we were actually doing a bad job. We were moving around, but the goalie played well," Timonen said. "You are going to have those games once in awhile nothing goes in."