A franchise first happened in Las Vegas last night. For the first time in team history, a Nashville Predator won a season ending award from the NHL as Steve Sullivan was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

An obviously emotional Sully thanked the franchise and his teammates, and gave quite a bit of love to the fans of Nashville who supported him along his long road of recovery. Sullivan joins a list of NHL legends as a Masterton winner, a list that includes Henri Richard, Mario Lemieux, Brad Park and Steve Yzerman.

I was seriously wondering if it would happen, you could certainly make a case for Richard Zednik, his dramatic injury and recovery garnered a lot of attention, however Sullivan’s perseverance in his recovery from his back injury over a two year period was ultimately recognized.

Steve Sullivan represents a lot of the best things about the Predator franchise. It was great to see him recognized.

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In a post-award conference call, Steve Sullivan clearly indicated that he wants to remain a Predator. He and his family have made Nashville their home and indicated that even if he signs with another team, the Sullivan’s will remain in Middle Tennessee and retire here.

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Break out the party streamers… today is “Make It Seven” day. The Vulture is planning a rally in Hamilton to pressure the NHL to give him the toy he so desperately wants.

So once again, the city of Hamilton gets used for a billionaires’ wants…

It was interesting to hear the gang on Sirius/XM’s Hockey This Morning talk about this event in rather disparaging terms. Describing it as “useless” and something that may have “no impact”… Another interesting observation from the morning show was their comment that Jim Balsillie is “wrapping himself in the Canadian flag.”

I disagree with their sentiments about the rally, anytime a city shows it wants a team and can bring out fans in numbers, it has to help their case.

Nashville set the bar for this kind of show of support when over 7,500 hockey fans in Tennessee came out for a rally in July of ’07. According to a story in today’s Hamilton Spectator, the expectation is for about 5,000 to attend the rally.

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The battle for the Phoenix Coyotes took another turn yesterday as Jim Balsillie has now placed another artificial deadline on his bid to acquire the team. Now it’s September 15th but… he’s pushing the NHL to decide on relocation (along with any fees or indemnification) by July 30th. Another attempt to get the team and move it for the upcoming season… gee… I thought that’s why he set the June 29 deadline.

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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating during Pred home games in season with information and explanations from the PA box.

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Join Brandon Felder and me for the fastest hour in radio… HockeyBuzz Radio... Wednesday night’s through July 1st. Start time is 6pm 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

Wednesday’s show will feature OHL Director of recruitment Joe Birch to give us the lowdown on the players that will be drafted, Eklund will be bringing us the hottest rumors leading up to UFA day and more… so tune in!

Don't forget to check out www.hockeybuzzradio.com for playoff schedules, playoff standings, updates, links to more hockey and Predators information along with our new weekly feature called “On the Mark” featuring opinions on all things hockey from hockey writer Mark McGee.

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