The Nashville Predators resume their season riding an eight game point streak and well positioned to set themselves up for a potential division title and home ice for a few rounds in the playoffs. The visitor tonight? The basement-dwelling Chicago Blackhawks… and no… that’s not a typo. Chicago trails 6th place Minnesota by four points and frankly… they better get their butts in gear if they have any chance of making the playoffs.
Yes… I know they are only four points out of the last wild card slot, but there are four teams that Chicago needs to jump over in order to get there. With 53 points in 49 games, they need to go 22-11 to get a 75% chance of making the playoffs as a Wild Card… 44 points in 33 games. Not impossible… but awfully difficult, especially with your goaltender on the shelf for an undetermined amount of time. Corey Crawford is on IR battling an upper body injury and is not on the road with the Blackhawks.
Nashville may be welcoming an offensive injection back to the lineup… nothing confirmed as I write this, but Filip Forsberg has been practicing and for the first time, shed his non-contact jersey in yesterday’s session. Assuming everyone else stays healthy… tonight could be the first time this season the team has had a clear injured reserve list and a fully healthy roster.
And the rest of the league says “Yikes!”
The Predators have lost 100 man-games to injury… a big chunk of that came from Ryan Ellis, considering the injuries the team has dealt with, they are in great shape with a real opportunity to wrest control of the division and the conference… if they take advantage of it.
Blackhawk games are always fun, but this is the first time in almost ten years that Chicago isn’t dominating in the regular season. Funny how I don’t hear complaints from the Windy City’s nattering nabobs of negativity about ticket policies and jokes about Hicksville. All that being said… Chicago has a big mountain to climb, but this is a very proud franchise, one that will not go quietly, and the scary part is their struggle through adversity could certainly help them come April… if they are able to turn things around. And looking at this team right now… that could be a very big if.
Expect Pekka Rinne in net tonight for Nashville... For Chicago??? Flip a coin… either Jeff Glass or Anton Forsberg. It really doesn’t matter who is in net tonight, Nashville / Chicago games are always tight affairs. The first three games this season have all been decided by one goal and Chicago is trying to avoid a sub-.500 month of January and losing the season series to Nashville… the Preds are 2-0-1 against the Hawks for the season coming into tonight’s season series finale.
Tonight’s game is on NBCSN, Chris Cuthbert will be on the play-by-play and Brian Boucher will be between the benches on color. The Voice of the Predators Pete Weber will have the call on 102.5 the Game with Hal Gill on color.
------------------------------------
“Where We Stand” update… a daily tracking of where the Preds are in the standings and the games that impact them most, brought to you by Mark Lonsway - THE real estate professional for hockey fans!
Time to start the sprint as the teams come out of All-Star break, the Predators stand second in the Central Division with 65 points, one point behind Winnipeg (3 GIH) and two points ahead of St. Louis (4 GIH) … the Preds lead Dallas (3 GIH) by five points and Colorado (1 GIH) by eight points.
Impact games tonight (all times Central) – 6pm – MIN @ CBJ. 7pm – MTL @ STL, TBL @ WPG. 7:30pm LAK @ DAL. 9pm – COL @ VAN.
Playoff Odds Courtesy SportsClubStats.com - The Predators playoff chances are now at 99% as we begin the post All-Star game schedule.
The Playoff Point Line - I look at the point level needed for a 75%+ chance to make the playoffs… right now, it stands at 97.
Playoff odds and playoff point line courtesy of SportsClubStats.com
------------------------------------
Random Notes
- Assuming he plays, tonight with be Miikka Salomaki’s 100th NHL game.
- Keep an eye on Nick Bonino, he has been dominating in the faceoff dot and really looking good playing with Jarnkrok and Fiala.
- Curious what the lines look like tonight should Forsberg return, do we see the reuniting of the JoFA and FIST lines?
- The Predators have played the Blackhawks more than any other opponent in the regular season, tonight is the 109th meeting of these two teams.
- Eeli Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit team has two games remaining in their regular season. They are now on their Olympic break. Tolvanen now has 17 goals and 17 assists in 47 KHL games. Tolvanen will play for the Finnish Olympic Team. The league returns in late February for a few games before their regular season ends on March 1st.
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
SlapShot Radio’s tenth anniversary season is on. As the longest running hockey show in the region, SSR feeds hockey fans what they crave… intelligent, fun, entertaining talk about their favorite sport and we do it from the opening of training camp all the way through UFA day… the only local hockey show that does that.
We are on every Wednesday night at 7pm on the Predators flagship station, 102.5 the Game. Our co-hosts, Dan Keczmer and JP Dumont bring a true insiders perspective to the show. Dan Keczmer is in the co-host chair for our next show, which will be Saturday at 8am where we check in with Eklund on how the trade deadline market is shaping up.
We have been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results4 at a reasonable price. Just ask our sponsors… including 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. Also… The Crag… Nashville’s premiere location for indoor rock climbing. Newton Dominey and his awesome crew have a great location in Cool Springs and they have opened a new location in South Nashville at the corner of Old Hickory Blvd and Nolensville Rd. Check out their website at
ILoveRockClimbing.com If you’ve never done it before… you need to try, they specialize on helping first timers.
We are also happy to welcome our latest sponsor… Patrick Brown’s Farmer Insurance Agency in Mt. Juliet… I switched to them a few years back and their service has been incredible! Give Pat and his team a call at 615-288-2086.
Advertisers… reach out to me in order to access our activated listener base though great preseason advertising deals available for our tenth season 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.
If you are outside of the listening area, listen live online at
The Game website or check out the podcast about two hours after the show at
on SoundCloud.
-------------------------------------
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
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • 
Join the Discussion:
»