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It’s Game Night in Nashville as the Predators begin the 21 game rush to the playoffs with a tilt against the Edmonton Oilers as the rechristened Bridgestone Arena. It is the first game of 17 in March for the Preds with 10 of them at home and a chance to solidify their playoff spot in the friendly confines.
The Predators began the post-Olympic push by jumping into the trade pool, closing a deal with tonight’s opponent late yesterday. The acquisition of Denis Grebeshkov adds another puck moving defenseman with NHL experience. Grebeshkov was a first round pick in the 2002 Entry Draft and is in his third full NHL season. He was also part of the Russian Olympic team for the Vancouver Olympics along with participating in the last two World Championships.
The Oilers are sellers right now and there could be more changes in their roster before game time tonight. I believe there is more to come from the Predators before the trade window closes tomorrow afternoon as well.
Turning our attention to the ice, tonight’s game is an important one for the Predators. They need to get off on the right foot and re-establish Smashville as a tough place to play. This is the last game of the year against Edmonton, the Predators lead the season series 2-1 and have dominated the Oilers since the 2006-07 season, going 13-2-0 in their last 15 clashes.
Edmonton is in the Western Conference basement, has the worst record in the NHL and has the worst road record in the league as well. That being said… this is a team playing for pride and shouldn’t roll over easily… Faceoff at 7pm, coverage on 104.5 the Zone and FSTennessee.
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Acquiring a defenseman yesterday amped up the speculation about Dan Hamhuis across the blogosphere… I would expect the Predators to leave Cody Franson on IR a little longer to accommodate Grebeshkov’s addition to the team. While the move doesn’t conclusively mean Hamhuis is gone, it certainly makes it easier to make a deal should the right one come along.
The right one could be a former one if what TSN.ca’s Darren Draeger is reporting comes to pass… Draeger says that the Flyers and Preds are talking and that the Predators want Ryan Parent back. Parent went to Philly in the Forsberg deal. Now, that info could be impacted by the Grebeshkov acquisition as I can’t see the Preds adding another d-man… but stranger things have happened.
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The Tennessean’s John Glennon is reporting that the Arnott/Sullivan/Dumont line has been reunited in practice and should get the chance to play together tonight.
Glennon also reports that Pekka Rinne will be in goal tonight.
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I find it interesting that a lot of the sites that have dogged HockeyBuzz mercilessly for reporting rumors are now jumping into the rumor business around trade deadline, because after all, it sure seems to drive traffic… I’m just sayin’…
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It’s the return of…
Where We Stand…
A daily look at where the Predator’s stand in the playoff race… Coming into tonight’s play, the Predators stand 2nd in the Central division and 7th in the Western Conference. Nashville is…
- 5 points behind 6th place Colorado with one game in hand.
- 7 points behind 5th place LA.
- 8 points behind 4th place Phoenix with two games in hand.
In the chase group… Nashville leads…
- 8th place Detroit by 1 point and has one game in hand.
- 9th place Calgary by 2 points and has one game in hand.
- 10th place Dallas by 3 points.
- 11th place Anaheim by 4 points and has one game in hand.
Tonight’s Impact Games
According to SportsClubStats.com, the Predators have a 69.8% chance of making the playoffs coming into tonight's action.
St. Louis @ Phoenix – A Coyotes win in regulation actually slightly improves the Predators playoff chances. An overtime or shootout game, no matter what the outcome, will slightly reduce the Preds chances.
Los Angeles @ Dallas – A Kings win in regulation improves the Preds playoff chances.
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Our first HockeyBuzz Radio road trip is in high gear with over 50 denizens of Pred Nation joining us so far. We will be going to St. Louis to see the Preds and Blues on March 21st.
We have a ticket deal available and we are planning on meeting up for a pre-game feast at a pizza place near the Scottrade Center. If you have never had St. Louis style pizza, you are in for a treat as we meet up at Imo’s Pizza a couple blocks away from the arena.
Puck drop is at 5pm. Lower bowl tickets are $42, upper bowl tickets are $24. We have been working with a specific Blues ticket rep, so… in order to get the deal call Jason Penning at (314) 622-2578. Mention that you are with the HockeyBuzz Radio Road Trip and he’ll take care of your ticket needs.
It’s a perfect day trip, the early face off means you can get home on the same day if you want… C’mon, take a quick trip and support the Preds!!! This game is a free food night promotion as well, so no one should go hungry. For more information go to HockeyBuzz Radio's website or to our HBR Facebook group.
Wed - HBR hits the road to Dave and Buster’s at Opry Mills for our trade deadline spectacular! The 2pm trade deadline will have passed and most of the deals will be known by the time we hit the air at 6pm. Jeff Marek from Hockey Night in Canada radio will join us to discuss winners and losers on the deadline. Members of the LA Kings broadcast group may join us at Dave and Busters to preview the Thursday night Preds/Kings showdown. We will also talk to Norm Page from USA Hockey, he’ll talk a little about sled hockey at the upcoming Paralympic Games. It’s all this week on HockeyBuzz Radio. Don’t forget to hang around after HockeyBuzz Radio for Greg Pogue and the WNSR Hockey Hour. It’s two full hours of hockey talk, only on Nashville’s SportsRadio 560 WNSR.
Wed 3/10 - We’ll talk about the Preds critical west coast swing and see how the trades are working.
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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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