At the end of every season, I take a look at the predictions and comments that I make throughout the year. Some things I nail… some things I completely missed… and some things I look at and say “What the heck was I thinking???

As we progress toward the draft, UFA day and a new season… I’d like to say thanks to each and every reader who has clicked on and read my ramblings…

- You keep me challenged by letting me know when I screw up.

- You keep me honest by challenging my opinion and letting me know, in no uncertain terms, how you feel about it.

- You make me better by the feedback you supply… it’s not always easy to read, but know that I appreciate the passion and dedication of hockey fans.

I know that my opinions sometimes piss you off, especially when it comes to a certain Blackberry boss… however, each of you needs to know that I appreciate each and every one of you that has read my blog over the past year.

Now… on to the annual “Holding Myself Accountable” post…

My pre-season predictions


Washington – The surprise team of last year now has a target on its’ back … this team could run away with the Southeast.
Nailed this one…

Tampa Bay – This team has improved and may contend for a playoff spot after last year’s debacle.
Wow… how wrong was I here?

Florida – This team has got to break through eventually…Excellent goaltending, solid D will help this team stay in the hunt. If they stay healthy and can score by committee… they may even sneak into the playoffs.
I wasn’t too far off here

Carolina – Big question marks at D prevent me from putting this team higher… if the blueline questions have a positive answer, this team will make the playoffs. If not… well, things could get ugly. Cam Ward looks to have regained the form that helped the ‘Canes win the Cup two seasons ago. They have enough scoring… I see the ‘Canes as one of those teams that could finish at any position in this division… but I think they land in forth, becoming the first team to miss the playoffs three consecutive years after winning the Cup.
Gee, all they did was get to the conference finals… I gotta lay off the booze before I write these things…

Atlanta – How can a team that looked so good going into the playoffs 17 months ago fall so quickly?... Struggling with an identity, I don’t see this team anywhere but the bottom of the division, and potentially with the most chances in next year’s lottery.
Nailed this one as well

Montreal – The Habs are back and a strong Cup contender. No real losses from last year’s team that did well until 20 year old netminder Carey Price crumbled in the playoffs. Tough spot for the talented kid. This is just a solid all-around team that will make noise come May. Will contend for top seed in the East.
I was right here for about half the season… then the fall happened... what a mess in Montreal... I really wonder if Price has been completely ruined by the weight of expectations here

Boston – A young team that should improve on last years 94 points. No losses that leap off the page at you, although losing character guys like Glen Murray and Glen Metropolit reduces the amount of leadership in the room. Solid, if unspectacular goaltending serves this group well.
I was right on the prediction, wrong on the goaltending and the leadership factor as well… this is a team on the rise

Buffalo – Ryan Miller’s surprise signing of an extension with the Sabres sent a clear message to the market and the team. The Sabers didn’t lose much in the offseason, the addition of Craig Rivet and Matt Ellis were solid pickups. This team has slipped, but coach Lindy Ruff gets more out of his talent than almost any other coach in the league… they will battle for one of the bottom two playoff spots.
and just missed by two points...

Toronto – The only reason I don’t have the Leafs at the bottom of the division is Ottawa’s impending implosion... The blueline is serviceable, if they can get some scoring by committee there may be something to cheer about in the ACC. Playoffs are a real stretch, but this could be an interesting year in Leaf land.
When will Toronto figure out its’ issues?

Ottawa – This is the year of the crash, and no bailout bill is coming for these Senators. This team fell apart in the second half of last season, and really didn’t do much in the offseason to address their gaping holes on the second line and rather large question marks between the pipes. This team will go as far as the Heatley / Spezza / Alfredsson line will take them…
Bang on here…

Pittsburgh Penguins – Losing Hossa, Malone, Conklin, Laraque won’t slow this team down as the addition of Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Matt Cooke should help ease the loss. This team will contend for the top seed in the East.
Pretty good here, but did not see the kind of trouble they would have...

Philadelphia Flyers – Finally solid in goal, the Flyers are poised to make a move this year. Paul Holmgren has done an outstanding job of quickly rebuilding a decimated farm system that has this team chock full of young talent. Will contend for the division.
and they did, but they faded as the playoffs approached and so much for being solid in goal...

New Jersey – This team should make the playoffs, mostly because of the play of Martin Brodeur. Zack Parise showed he could score consistently last season and adding Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik back into the fold won’t hurt as well. I don’t see this team making a deep run, unless Brodeur regains his post-season magic… if he does… they could cause serious trouble.
Never saw them as a number one seed... It took a miracle to knock ‘em out of the playoffs and who saw Scott Clemmenson keeping this team going like he did?

New York Islanders – Stellar goaltending… and not much else on the island this year. Rick DiPietro’s injury last season showed how critical he is to the Islander’s fortunes. No real movement to improve on a team that fell out of the playoff race quicker than a hot knife through butter last season. Top add is the ageless Doug Weight.
Nothing more to add here.

New York Rangers – Like the Devils and Islanders, this team will only go as far as goaltender Henrik Lundqvist can take them… Imagine if this team had a really good blueline.
Another lost year for the Rangers… barely making the playoffs but Lunqvist couldn't take 'em further without help...

Calgary – Any team with Mikka Kiprosoff has a chance in any game they play. Predictions for this team have been all over the map… I see them as the class of the Northwest.
on target here for the most part… but another playoff flameout

Edmonton – The sexy pick in the Northwest, I think they will be better, I don’t know if the season ending run they went on is a matter of putting it together at the right time, or playing loose without the pressure of an intense playoff race… Playoffs should be a reasonable assumption.
wrong, wrong, wrong… serious work needed here even though they contended until the last few weeks.

Colorado – A team that hasn’t really moved to improve in the offseason. Peter Budaj in net is a solid if unspectacular goaltender. Lots of losses in the offseason including steady Andrew Burnette, good blueliner Jeff Finger and of course, the continuing will he or won’t he saga of Peter Forsberg. This looks to be one of the teams that don’t make the playoffs that made it last year.
This was an easy one…

Minnesota – The Wild waved buh-bye to Brian Rolston, Mark Parrish and Pavol Demitra, Mark Parrish and a host of others. Added Andrew Burnette (continuing to bounce around in the Northwest) Antti Miettinen, Owen Nolan and Marek Zidlicky. Not enough… it could be a tough year in St. Paul.
...and it was, but missing the playoffs led to changes at coach and GM.

Vancouver – After last season’s disappointing last place finish in the division, the Canucks offloaded Brendan Morrison, Markus Naslund, Trevor Linden and Lukas Krajicek. They added Pavol Demitra, Steve Bernier, Jason Krog and Kyle Wellwood. Roberto Luongo will keep them in a lot of games but this team looks to be going in the wrong direction.
Wrong about the regular season, adding Sundin made a difference, but the end result was the same, playoff frustration.

Dallas – Their WCF run last season was no fluke. Marty Turco removed the playoff monkey from his back with authority. The right balance of scoring and goaltending harken well for the Stars… and the addition of Sean Avery will give Western conference fans a new target for abuse. A solid second seed come playoff time.
OK, everyone knew that Avery was disruptive… but no one saw him bringing this talented team down so far so fast, new GM, new coach, new direction after this season to forget.

Anaheim – Anaheim has been in cap trouble after winning the Cup, they are still a big, nasty, talented team. Not as many big names and a shorter bench with excellent netminding in JS Gigerre. Still a playoff team that can make noise but will have difficulty against a very tough Pacific.
True… and they also went on a decent playoff run with a new goaltender.

San Jose – Can a new coach come in and rebuild the confidence of this terminally underachieving team? That is the question. They have excellent goaltending, a stellar top line, good size, a mean streak, and a monkey on their back the size of King Kong. They’ve had some losses, and the soap opera surrounding captain Patrick Marleau doesn’t help. I won’t say they won’t make the playoffs, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Another stellar regular season (was very wrong here) … another early round flameout and changes promised

Phoenix – A team on the rise in a tough division. The addition of Ilya Bryzgalov mid-season last year made a huge difference to the Coyotes. Quite a few players were shown the door at the end of the season and the replacements should help this team be even better, especially the addition of Olli Jokinen, adding a much needed scoring treat. Put them in the Central or Northwest and they are a playoff team… the Pacific may be too tough to break through in.
Tough division was true… but they did not show they were on the rise... the truth needs to be told, a new direction is necessary with this team, and may not happen given the bankruptcy mayhem in the desert.

Los Angeles – Young on the blueline, very questionable in goal, and not much past Anze Kopitar’s top line… A couple of serviceable adds in the offseason in Matt Greene and Jarret Stoll, but nowhere near replacing the losses. It’s going to be a looooong season for Kings fans.
And it was… but hope is there in LA-LA land...

Detroit – And the rich just get richer. The Red Wings are better now then when they won the Cup at the end of last season. The only losses? Dominic Hasek and Dallas Drake. Hasek, who got chased in the playoffs last year, retired. The number one belongs to Chris Osgood, backed up by Ty Conklin. Drake was replaced by this little know player named Marian Hossa… at a discount no less. This team will run away with the President’s Trophy and should cruise to a second straight Cup.
The only thing I missed was the cup… and Marian Hossa's strange unraveling in the playoffs.

Nashville –Last season almost every hockey writer, blogger and publication picked the Preds to finish out of the playoffs. And so it is again this year… A new number one goaltender in Dan Ellis… the arrival of Swedish super-prospect Patric Hornqvist, the surprising camp of Ryan Jones and Joel Ward give Pred Nation reason to hope. Health is a key for this team, if the blueline stays healthy, especially Shea Weber, there will be increased offensive production from the D. Scoring by committee will need to continue to be the order of the day for this team to maintain its’ playoff streak. The not-so-secret weapon is Coach Barry Trotz who has shown to be an expert at driving teams to be more than the sum of their parts… despite popular opinion, this team will be in the mix.
Wrong about their position in the division (last) however this team only missed the playoffs by a hair… Hornqvist disappointed, Word exceeded expectations and Ellis gave up the #1 to Rinne. Trotz did his usual good job creating something out of nothing.

Chicago – The sexiest pick in the NHL… The Blackhawks spent like a drunken sailor in the offseason, bringing in Cristobal Huet and Brian Campbell. They said goodbye to a lot of role players. Is this the year that Martin Havlat stays healthy? It is a contract year after all which may bode well for them. This team is chock full of young talent, especially on the blueline. Everyone is picking them to make the playoffs… and they may… but this is a team that has had large expectations before… and not lived up to them. Let's say that when it comes to the Blackhawks, I'm from Missouri... show me.
And show me they did… what a season in the Windy City...

Columbus – The enigma in Columbus continues to befuddle. An excellent coach in Ken Hitchcock, a potentially great goaltender in Pascal LeClaire who can’t seem to stay healthy… a potential all-world player in Rick Nash, yet the Blue Jackets remain the only NHL team to have never made the playoffs. The top line is potent as Nash now has RJ Umberger and Kristian Huselius to play with and Raffi Torres may help some offensively, but there’s not much beyond there. The frustration continues in Columbus.
Making the playoffs sure proved me wrong… Columbus finally broke through.

St. Louis – After a good start to the season last year, the Blues fell apart. Manny Legace was overworked and it showed… a situation that may be alleviated with the addition of Chris Mason as backup. No huge losses… but no big gains either. A team that struggled to score at times last year didn’t add any threats. Not a recipe for success in the Central division… let alone the Western conference.
They got some young help, more than I saw and managed to sqeak into the playoffs... and folded quietly


I also looked at a few stories through the year…


On the firing of Denis Savard…

So... Savard gone... Joel Quinneville in... Quinneville, hired as a scout less than two months ago is a good coach that has done well wherever he has gone, but he has to wonder what kind of situation he is walking in to. I've heard from a few Blackhawk fans, some believe this was part of the plan.

What is the plan in Chicago?

This move can only be described as a panic move belying an organization that may not have a clear idea where it is going or how it will get there. Eklund used the phrase "too many chiefs..." in his blog on this subject. A very apt analogy for this episode.

How wrong I was… the hiring of Quinneville was the catalyst to a turnaround in Chi-town, leading to a conference finals appearance.


Going into the all-star break…

The difference I see is in the team’s resiliency. They just don’t seem to be able to bounce back like Pred Nation is used to seeing. They almost seem to be waiting for the bad break to come… the bad bounce… the unlucky happening… the untimely penalty.

Here’s the real bizarre news… after a horrendous stretch of play… 3-7-0 in their last ten games… 6-13-1 in their last 20 games… the team stands in 13th place and is only 6 points out of a playoff spot.

That’s right… only six points. Considering how bad this stretch has been, to be only six points out is astounding.

So, all is not lost… but things need to turn around quickly if this team expects to make its’ fifth straight playoffs. The Predators have nine days until their next game. Nine days to get their mojo back… Nine days before another western Canada trip that has disaster written all over it.

Nine days… and a season hangs in the balance.

And they got back into it… going on a late season run that almost propelled them into the playoffs… showing the resiliency and chemestry Pred Nation was used to seeing


From early February… Profit predicted

According to today’s Tennessean the franchise is poised to show a profit for the second consecutive year. Sure, the projected profit is small, but it is a profit.

That’s not a typo… a profit. Even with a $10 million increase in salary year over year… even with a recession in full swing for the entire 2008-2009 selling season.

Predicting a profit? Wow… I thought that hockey would never financially work in Nashville

…

So much for the traditionalist media predictions of doom and gloom in Nashville, I wonder how the Hockey News and its’ ilk will spin this one…

How did they spin it? Negatively of course... word continues to filter out that renewals are going well for next season. Pred Nation hopes that the corner is being turned.


From Mid-March…

I couldn’t resist tweaking our local newspaper after an interesting series of stories capped off with one defending itself…

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…”


Off-Topic…

I also like to add appreciations of personalities that pass, celebrities, rock stars, etc… especially those who influenced me… in previous season it's been Boston lead singer Brad Delp, or comedian Harvey Korman... this season, it was a legendary broadcaster.

It’s always a strange thing when a person that had an impact on you as a youth, dies. It seems to affect you almost like the passing of a family member.

Growing up in the Philadelphia area, I was profoundly influenced by the radio men of the time. Hearing Gene Hart and Don Earle on Flyer games… Bill Campbell on the Sixers… Merrill Reese on the Eagles… By Saam, Andy Musser, Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas calling Phillies games. All class announcers that have done an incredible job in one of the toughest media markets in the world.

Yesterday’s news of the death of Harry Kalas hit me hard. He was the voice of the Phillies… the constant that no matter where I went, what I did, I could always tune into a Phillies broadcast on summer nights and hear his rich baritone.

His voice, combined with Richie Ashburn’s was the soundtrack of many a late night with the clock radio on, trying to go to sleep… but not being able to because the Phils were on the west coast. The background to many a family picnic, my mother and grandmother telling us to turn that noise down. But my grandfather and I would just huddle closer to his transistor radio to hear what was going on… to hope for the turnaround or the comeback that wouldn’t happen. Being a Phillies fan in the late 60’s – early 70’s was not an easy thing, but Harry Kalas (after 1971) kept you interested.

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