UPDATE - I'm keeping yesterday's post up for Monday with a few updates and additions...

- Radek Bonk looks to be back in the lineup tomorrow night. A much needed return for a team thin at center.

- Tomorrow night's showdown with Anaheim is turning into a pretty hot ticket... the game is approaching sellout status...

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Not much to talk about hockey-wise as the Predators get a rare late-season break.

After a couple of days off, the Predators get back to practice today. News in today’s sports section is not good as Jason Arnott is not making the kind of progress the team hoped for.

According to an article in the Tennessean he has begun work on the stationary bike but not much more. Here’s hoping that Jason gets back soon… 13 points in 20 games is still a challenge…

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One of the best TV guys in the market is NewsChannel 5’s Eric Yutzy… many of us remember the story he did on Chase Donnell. If you haven’t seen it… here’s the link, and make sure you have a tissue before watching it…


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uQF5f5w36o


I never met Chase… but as a dad, his story has touched me…

Eric is keeping his story going and trying to memorialize Chase. Eric has been honored with a nomination for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Man of the Year. It's a 10 week fund raising campaign (started March 19, runs through May 28), and Eric’s campaign is being run in Chase's memory.


Eric wants this brave little boy to be honored so his incredible story of selflessness will live forever. To do this he needs to raise at least $50,000. That figure gives naming rights to a research grant, which will be titled with Chase's name.


This is where he needs your help. Eric is asking for donations to this cause. Your gift is 100% tax deductible. All the money goes to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and 75 cents of every dollar goes straight to cancer research. With these tough times, it can be difficult to find a way to support great causes like this, but every little bit helps. Donating is real simple, www.ericyutzy.com


You can find Eric on facebook, or email him at [email protected] for more information.

You can also help out by getting your car washed... The organization is hosting a car wash at the Donut Den in Green Hills on Saturday, April 4, from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. All proceeds go to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Eric posted this on the Predators message board…

“Hockey fans are among the most passionate, and compassionate, in all of sports. Chase was one of you, and he deserves some of the spotlight that he tried to deflect so courageously. Please pass this message, and this story, on to everyone you know. Post it in every board you know of. Lets make this a big deal for a little guy who absolutely earned it.”

Eric… count on my help. Pred Nation??? What do you say?

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I’ve tried to leave this alone… I just can’t…

Let me start off by stating that I come from a newspaper family. Not the journalistic side, not the business side, but the work side… my grandfather was a pressman… the head pressman for a newspaper that is no longer in existence… he had newsprint on his hands and ink in his blood. He passed his love of newspapers on to me. I enjoy going through a newspaper from front page to back. I miss having to wash my hands after reading one to get the ink off my fingers… so it pains me some to write this.

The Tennessean has spent the last few days printing incomplete, poorly sourced stories regarding the Predators. I had my rant, it’s OK… I’ve moved on… until looking at today’s front page of the Issues section… that’s the Tennessean’s opinion and commentary section.

I have now seen the definition of irony. There are two pieces that fill the majority of the page and a subsequent page inside…

One is a long infomercial stating that newspapers aren’t dying and are in fact growing… with the proviso that as long as a city is a one paper town. That’s right… as long is the paper is a monopoly, it’s doing just fine. The number of issues I have with this column are too numerous to mention, I will say one thing… when you continue to ignore the needs of significant sections of the market, hubris is your worst enemy.

The second is even more fascinating and, in some respects, astounding. It’s another opinion piece, written by a columnist for Parade Magazine, complaining about incomplete and inaccurate reporting on the viability of newspapers! He further harps on the problem that once that inaccuracy gets in the press, it keeps getting repeated.

Wow… Pred Nation is looking at that and saying… “Join the club, we know how you feel…”

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b>The “Where We Stand” Update

The Predators stand 8th in the Western Conference at 77 points They are one point ahead of Minnesota and Anaheim, two points ahead of St. Louis and three points ahead of Dallas.

The Predators are…

- Two points behind Edmonton.

- Five points behind 6th place Columbus, the Preds have two remaining games against the Jackets (3/31 @ CBJ, 4/4).

Tonight’s Impact Games

- none

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Join Brandon Felder and me for the fastest hour in radio… HockeyBuzz Radio, tonight at 6:00 on SportsRadio 560 WNSR, you can listen online at www.wnsr.com or you can download the podcast of the show at www.hockeybuzzradio.com

On tonight's HBR, we’ll talk to St. Louis Blues blogger Andy Strickland to discuss the run the Blues are on, we also get an update on the NCAA Hockey tournament with Julie Robenhymer. We’ll do our review/preview of the week in Predator hockey and we’ll take your calls at 844-5600. That’s all on tonight's HockeyBuzz Radio…


Also... don't forget to check out www.hockeybuzzradio.com for updates, links to more hockey and Predator information. We also have a section called "Our House" chock full of pictures from recent games... some on the ice, but mostly of the fans... Be on the lookout for the HBR photographer and webmaster Denise McCann at Predator home games, smile pretty! And you too could be on hockeybuzzradio.com.