It is a Game Night in Smashville as the Nashville Predators take on the Phoenix Coyotes in game four of their Western Conference Quarter Final series. The Phoenix Coyotes lead the best of seven 2 games to 1. The big story in Nashville is the question of who plays… will Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn return to the lineup?
There are cases to be made on both sides. Stanley Cup winning coach Terry Crisp was fairly blunt in his “Extra Crispy” segment on yesterday’s Sports Revolution show on 102.5 the Game. His take was that the players had served their suspensions and the team should move on from this controversy. Pred Nation doesn’t seem to be so forgiving… as of 7am this morning a poll on the Tennessean’s website is clear, 72% of those voting say “No” don’t play ‘em.
Now, I doubt seriously that anyone in the coach’s room are checking polls for their decision. A lot is riding on how these two players have taken this situation. Radulov has said and done the right things, Kositisyn has been quiet as his is norm and both started slowly, but eventually skated their butts off in yesterday’s practice, as part of a line with Craig Smith, who was also scratched from Wednesday’s game.
You wonder if the “humble” factor will work in the Predators favor when these two players return to the ice. Coach Trotz mentioned that in his post-practice comments. He also discussed another intriguing possibility, only inserting one of them in the lineup. Now that one I like…
To this observer there was a catalyst for Wednesday night’s victory, Jordin Tootoo. He brought a physical edge that made a difference, and seemed to inspire the entire team to play a more physical game that knocked the Coyotes off theirs. While Phoenix played a decent road game, some players did not seem to enjoy being hit… and they did not seem to be consistently willing to pay the price in the hard areas. For one game, Predator hockey was back. The challenge is now to bring it even better tonight. By now everyone knows that the Coyotes belong in this series and the way Nashville comes through to a potential Western Conference Final appearance is to build on and improve their effort began in Game Three.
It is an early game time tonight, puck drop is at 6:30pm CDT… if you weren’t in your seats early on Wednesday, you missed the new opening… make sure you are there tonight. Game coverage on NBC Sports Network, radio coverage with the Voice of the Predators Pete Weber and three time Stanley Cup winner Terry Crisp on the Predators Radio Network flagship 102.5 the Game. Willy Daunic and Tom Callahan will be rockin’ the pregame starting at 5:30pm. I will be hosting the Plaza Party beginning at 3:30… doors open at 4:30pm.
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Ron’s Diabetic Assist Dog Update
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Playoff Look
East
NYR vs. WSH – Rangers lead 2-1 – Next game is Saturday
PHI vs. NJD – Devils lead 2-1 – Next game is Sunday
West
STL vs. LAK – Kings lead 3-0 – Next game is Sunday
PHX vs. NSH – Coyotes lead 2-1 – Next game is tonight
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Random Notes…
- A quick check of Ticketmaster this morning shows less than 100 tickets remaining on the primary market… these will go fast and the line for the $10 lottery is already a long one...
- Hal Gill and Paul Gaustad took “maintenance” days yesterday.
- Barry Trotz made it a point to compliment Alexander Radulov for his professionalism in not “lobbying” for a return to the lineup.
- Two Predator prospects are playing in Worlds, Mattias Ekholm and Antti Pihlstrom will participate in the championships. The tournament begins today and will take place in Finland and Sweden.
- An object lesson in what not to do is being played out in the other Western Conference Semi Final series… St Louis has shown a lack of discipline that has killed their chances, highly unusual for a Ken Hitchcock coached team.
- Saying that St. Louis’ discipline is causing their issues does not in any way take away from the great job the Los Angeles Kings is doing in these playoffs. They have chosen a great time to coalesce as a team and play to their potential. LA will be a tough out no matter who comes through as their opponent.
- Is Brian Elliott lost his touch or just picking a bad time to have a bad patch… interesting how one of the best goaltending tandem in the league can go south with an injury and a tough stretch.
- Raffi Torres has appealed his 25 game suspension… this will be interesting to watch.
- Stop me if you heard this one before… It does appear that the Phoenix Coyotes sale could be complete as early as next week to former San Jose Sharks executive Greg Jamison. I really hope so… Coyote fans deserve better…
- And while I am on the subject… is it really fair to call out Phoenix hockey fans for not supporting a team that may or may not be there? As someone who has been there, it is very hard to invest money… and more importantly emotion into a team that you aren’t sure will be there next year… After the sale and some stability, then you can fairly judge the quality of the market in the Valley of the Sun. Until then, it would be like saying Winnipeg doesn’t deserve a team because they didn’t fill the building when their team was in jeopardy in the 90’s… look how that turned out!
- The New Jersey Devils won a big one last night in overtime. This series is turning into a playoff coming out party for Ilya Kovalchuk.
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