The roads are clear, the snow is melting and it’s time for a hockey game. The Predators and Coyotes mix it up tonight in a battle for Western Conference playoff positioning. Since last these teams met, the Coyotes have gone on a nice little run, going 4-1 in their last five and opening up a bit of a cushion in the west. Phoenix stands fourth in the conference with 71 points, the Predators stand 7th with 63 points. The Predators do have two games in hand over the Desert Dogs coming into tonight's showdown.

The injury lists for these teams are fairly short. The Predators are reporting that Wade Belak is doubtful for tonight’s game with a foot injury, the ‘Yotes report Kurt Sauer and former Pred Scottie Upshall are out for tonight’s game. Pred Nation needs no reminder that Upshall almost single handedly beat Nashville in their last game, posting a hat trick in a single period (first time that has ever happened to the Preds) in the Coyotes 4-2 win a week and a half ago.

Pekka Rinne is making his second consecutive start tonight for the Preds, expect Russian Olympian Ilya Bryzgalov in net for Phoenix.

The Predators snapped their losing streak on Saturday, frankly, they picked a good time to have one as most of the other teams they are competing against didn’t take full advantage of it. The team needs to squeeze every point out of this homestand against the ‘Yotes tonight, the Av’s on Thursday and the Sharks on Saturday before heading off to New York to close off the pre-Olympic portion of the schedule.

Faceoff is at 7:08pm at Sommet Center, coverage is on radio, 104.5 the Zone. There are tickets available and it is a Daily’s Super Tuesday with good ticket deals and $2 concessions.

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Tuesday Notes

- No results from the big trade from Calgary’s perspective… they may have had a new look, but the results were the same as they dropped a 3-0 decision to the Flyers last night. After the game they finally announced the trade with the Rangers, sending Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to Broadway, getting back Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins. Desperate times…

- The Sporting News Today has their new power poll posted… the Preds dropped one slot to 12th.

- Nice piece in today’s Tennessean on Colin Wilson by John Glennon, here’s the link.

- Former Predator goalie Tomas Vokoun is shaking things up in Florida and is starting to gain some talk for Vezina.

- Yesterday was February 1st… 2/1/10 will go down as the day the Edmonton Oliers won their first game of the calendar year, cooling off Carolina 4-2.

- On Saturday, Feb. 6 vs. the San Jose Sharks, the Nashville Predators and Ronald McDonald House will be collecting household supplies and encourage all fans to donate. All donations will benefit Ronald McDonald House, whose mission is to "keep families close" by providing essential resources and a "home away from home" for families of critically ill children receiving inpatient or outpatient medical care at Nashville area hospitals. Suggested donation items include: aluminum foil, Comet cleanser, Lysol kitchen cleaner, Lysol spray, gallon size Ziplock storage bags, trash bags (any size), laundry detergent, 8 oz. Styrofoam cups, non-dairy creamer packets, cooking oil, small boxes of cereal, snack foods, cans of soup and grocery store gift cards.

- Congratulations to Dan and Katie Ellis on the arrival of their daughter Kayleigh who was born yesterday. Now Dan can fill in the name on the back of his helmet on the pink bear.

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COMING UP ON HOCKEYBUZZ RADIO…

For the most updated guest information go to HockeyBuzz Radio's website. You can check out our podcasts atHockeyBuzz Radio’s podcast page.


Wed 2/3 - This week, HockeyBuzz Radio will be on the road at Dave and Buster’s as a part of the WNSR Hockey Block, the SportsRadio 560 Hockey Hour (featuring players from a certain hockey team) will follow HBR at 7pm from Dave and Buster’s at Opry Mills. Our guests include Jeff Marek, host of Hockey Night in Canada Radio and Chris King from the New York Islanders Radio Network. HockeyBuzz Radio.com.

Wed 2/10 - No show due to early start of Preds/Rangers game.

Wed 2/17 - We’ll have HockeyBuzz Radio’s Olympic Hockey Preview.

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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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