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Thursday Notes
- Another late third period collapse for the Preds last night, and Head Coach Barry Trotz was clearly not happy about it, calling out his team for a lack of effort. Trotz’s postgame quote says it all… “there were a lot of guys that didn't compete like they needed to tonight. We got what we deserved."
- Shea Weber wreaked more havoc last night with his slapper… scoring 12 seconds in, and hitting multiple players including Patric Hornqvist and Vern Fiddler. Hornqvist is now listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury. That could be a critical loss for the Preds heading into the playoffs, keep your fingers crossed Pred Nation.
- Speaking of former Pred Vern Fiddler, he became a daddy again yesterday, welcoming Bella Jacksyn Fiddler to the world at 8:05am yesterday morning. Bella came in at 7 lbs. and 19 inches long. Mom and Dad are doing fine, although Fidd’s butt has got to be smarting a bit after taking a Shea Weber slap shot off it last night.
- Lazy shift changes caused a few issues last night as well, including the first Coyote goal.
- The New York Rangers stayed alive last night with their win over the Maple Leafs.
- Congratulations and best wishes to Keith Tkachuk who announced his retirement last night. Tkachuk spent 19 seasons in the NHL, breaking in with the Winnipeg Jets, moving to Phoenix and except for a brief late season rental to Atlanta, spent the last nine seasons with the St. Louis Blues. His last home game is Friday, the last game of his NHL career will be at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night.
- In the “right on time” department… Jeff Carter looks to be returning to the Flyer lineup tomorrow night for the first game of the Flyers/Rangers back-to-back showdown. Carter broke his foot and has missed the last eight games.
- Preds first round 2009 draft pick Ryan Ellis’ Windsor Spitfires is advancing in the OHL playoffs after sweeping the Plymouth Whalers. Windsor is looking to repeat as OHL and Memorial Cup champs. Windsor also has Taylor Hall, one of the top rated prospects in this year’s draft.
- The Frozen Four gets it going today as the NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship will be decided over the weekend in Detroit’s Ford Field. Over 30,000 fans are expected to witness the crowning of a new college hockey champion. Game one features the Wisconsin Badgers (featuring Preds prospect and Hobey Baker finalist, Blake Geoffrion) against an RIT team that could be considered the “Butler” of the college hockey tournament. Puck drop at 4pm central. The other National Semi-Final features perennial power Boston College against Miami (Ohio) at 7:30pm. Miami has been knocked out of the tournament by teams from Boston for the last four years, three times by BC and last year by Boston University in the championship game.
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Where We Stand… A daily look at where the Predator’s stand in the playoff race…
The Predators stand 2nd in the Central division and 6th in the Western Conference with 98 points and one game to play. Nashville has clinched a playoff berth.
If the Preds finish 1-0-0 – they have a 25% chance of finishing 5th, a 55% chance of finishing 6th and a 21% chance of finishing 7th.
If the Preds finish 0-1-0 – they have a 1% chance of finishing 5th, a 20% chance of finishing 6th and a 79% chance of finishing 7th.
If the Preds finish 0-0-1 – they have a 7% chance of finishing 5th, a 38% chance of finishing 6th and a 55% chance of finishing 7th.
Overall playoff seeding chances for the Predators… 14% chance of 5th, 41% chance of finishing 6th, and a 45% chance of finishing 7th. The lowest possible seed to Nashville is 7th.
Nashville is…
- tied in points with 5th place Detroit, the Red Wings have a game in hand. The Predators own the primary tie-breaker with Detroit.
In the chase group, Nashville leads…
- 7th place Los Angeles by 1 point, the Kings have two games in hand.
The Preds have…
1 game left, St. Louis (Saturday – Home)
Tonight’s Impact Games Phoenix / Los Angeles - The Coyotes head to LA with nothing to play for. LA has three games over the last four days of the regular season. Vancouver / San Jose - Chicago took the top spot from San Jose last night with their 5th straight win, San Jose is trying to get on a roll heading into the playoffs. Time to root for the Sharks to help keep the Preds away from them in round one.
The Western Conference Playoff match-ups if the playoffs began today…
Chicago vs. Colorado
San Jose vs. Los Angeles
Vancouver vs. Nashville
Phoenix vs. Detroit
Using percentages from SportsClubStats.com… here is the most likely final standings in the West
1. Chicago – 66% chance of finishing first.
2. San Jose – 66% chance of finishing second.
3. Vancouver – locked into the three spot.
4. Phoenix – locked into the four spot.
5. Los Angeles – 61% chance of finishing fifth.
6. Detroit – 37% chance of finishing sixth, 35% chance of finishing seventh.
7. Nashville – 45% chance of finishing seventh, 41% chance of finishing sixth.
8. Colorado – 95% chance of finishing eighth.
Which of course leads to the nightmare scenario for Pred Nation… San Jose in the first round.
Podcast 4/7 – The podcast is posted. We talked with Dan Kamal from the Atlanta Thrashers, breaking down the crazy battle for the last three playoff spots in the east, and we previewed the NCAA Frozen Four with Fred Pletsch, the associate commissioner of the CCHA.
Wednesday 4/14 – Playoff preview edition of the show. 6pm Wednesday on SportsRadio 560 WNSR.
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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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Mark your calendars… The Predators are having an open house on Tuesday April 13h from 6pm to 8pm at Bridgestone Arena. This Open House will feature free pizza and drinks, locket room tours, inflatables, Gnash and the Predator Dancers and a special “Select-A’Seat.”
Available season ticket locations will be tagged so you can easily see available locations and try out the view before purchasing. Full and Half Season tickets will be on sale that night with a special gift with each season ticket purchased. Each full season ticket seat purchased receives a $100 gift certificate to the Predators Pro Shop, half season tickets get $50 per seat purchased. You can get your seat and your gear at the same time!
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