One more reminder… I’d like to say thank you to the many folks who donated to the gofundme for Michelle Alvarez. The fund is over $6000 as I write this… 60% of the goal. You guys are awesome… if you haven’t donated and can see your way clear… please click this link to the gofundme page. The hockey family is so incredibly kind and your donations will help lift a small burden off a family that has way too many to deal with… again… from the bottom of my heart… thank you!

----------------------------------

The second round schedule is out and the Blues and Predators get started Wednesday night at Scottrade Center. The complete schedule is as follows…

Wed. 4/26 – 7pm - @ St. Louis - NBCSN
Fri. 4/28 – 7pm - @ St. Louis - NBCSN
Sun. 4/30 – 2pm - @ Nashville - NBC
Tue. 5/2 – 8:30pm - @ Nashville - NBCSN
Fri. – 5/5 – TBD - @ St. Louis – TBD (If necessary)
Sun – 5/7 – TBD - @ Nashville – TBD (If necessary)
Tue – 5/9 – TBD - @ St. Louis – TBD (If necessary)

A couple of highlights… a potential for two nationally televised game on the mothership??? Wow… how unusual… and both games in Nashville??? Holy Schnikees!!! Also, another two day break in this series, this time between games 4 and 5, caused by concerts scheduled in both arenas. The Predators end up with a five day break in between rounds… giving the team two off days, then three days of practice before taking the short trip to St. Louis on Tuesday. Not bad, considering that five could’ve ballooned to as many as nine after the Preds sweep of Chicago.

A really upbeat practice yesterday that featured a bit of news as Colin Wilson practiced for the first time since missing the last two regular season games and all of the first round. Keep an eye on Twitter later this morning, we should get an indication of his readiness to return to the lineup if he is a full participant today.

This is the fourth time the Predators have made the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in their last five appearances. Nashville has dropped second series to San Jose last season, Arizona in 2012 and Vancouver in 2011.

I will be doing preview of all series tomorrow except for the Nashville series, that one comes Wednesday.

------------------------------------

There’s a special SlapShot Radio series preview show on Tuesday night at 7pm on 102.5 the Game… we will be breaking down Predators / Blues from every angle, talking with the radio voice of the Blues, Chris Kerber plus much, much more.

-------------------------------------

The gauntlet has been thrown down from my fellow blogger in St. Louis, Jason Millen. We will make a small wager on this series… losing team’s blogger makes a donation to the winning team’s blogger charity of choice…

Mine will be Best Buddies of Tennessee… a charity very familiar to fans of the fang… for those unfamiliar… let me show you a video…



-------------------------------------

Playoff Status – Round One

Eastern Conference

Washington vs. Toronto – WSH wins 4-2

Montreal vs. New York – NYR wins 4-2

Ottawa vs. Boston – OTT wins 4-2

Pittsburgh vs. Columbus – PIT wins 4-1

Western Conference

Chicago vs. Nashville – NSH wins 4-0

Anaheim vs. Calgary – ANA wins 4-0

Minnesota vs. St. Louis – STL wins 4-1

Edmonton vs. San Jose – EDM wins 4-2

Round Two

Eastern Conference

NYR vs OTT – Game one is Thursday in Ottawa

WSH vs PIT – Game one is Thursday in Washington

Western Conference

STL vs. NSH – Game one is Wednesday in St. Louis

ANA vs. EDM – Game one is Wednesday in Anaheim

--------------------------------------

Playoff Random Notes

- I was a little surprised at the scheduling of game three in Nashville, Chris Brown’s “The Party Tour” was scheduled in Bridgestone Arena for that date… I can only assume that the show has been rescheduled.

- 18 overtime games set a record for number of games needing extra time to decide in the first round… that record is even more remarkable since remarkable there were only 42 first round games. The previous record was set in a round where there were 47 games played.

- Hmmm… another star wants to return to the NHL after running from a contract in the NHL and going to Russia. Ilya Kovalchuk wants to come back. The 34 year old forward will draw interest.

- So, two of the five Canadian teams are left… not many people picked Ottawa and Edmonton to be the survivors.

- The whining from hockey pundits has already started… why are Pittsburgh and Washington playing in the second round… waaaaahhh… these same pundits were whining about the Pens and Blue Jackets in round one… gee… we missed a classic there! [sarcasm /off]

- What these yahoo’s are missing is that the travel is equalized between the conferences in this type of format in the first couple of rounds. The Western Conference actually doesn’t have an East/West series now until the conference finals.

- The NHL is dark until the second round gets going on Wednesday

------------------------------------

Tweets by @PredPAPaul


-------------------------------------

SSR’s season nine is on, our next show is Tuesday at 7pm on 102.5 the Game. SlapShot Radio is the longest running hockey show in the mid-south and Pete Weber and I bring you the best in hockey talk all season long.

SlapShot Radio has been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results. Our premier sponsors include day one sponsor Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762, Mark Lonsway at ReMax Fine Homes, call him for all your real estate needs at (615) 207-7799, and TurfMasters… check out their great service at TurfMasters.com.

Advertisers… reach out to me in order to access our activated listener base though great advertising deals available when you email me at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com

You can also keep up with all the goings on with SlapShot Radio by following the show on Twitter @SlapShotRadio1 … Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the link.

-------------------------------------

KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Predators Buzz, a one-stop feed for all things Predators-related on HockeyBuzz. Your subscription includes a free 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month thereafter. For more information, click here.

Join the Discussion: » 11 Comments » Post New Comment

» The time has come

» Whining through Game 3

» Playoff Picks

» Waiting for he playoffs

» A special night in Smashville