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Time for the final home preseason game and second to last before we get the regular season going. Tonight, the Nashville Predators welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to town. While I doubt we will see the energy of Saturday night’s crowd, there are a few important things to look for as the team attempts to whittle the roster down to the 23 players that will start the season in gold. Here are a few player storylines for tonight.
Austin Watson - You are getting the vibe around training camp that Watson is getting close to a decision point. He has had a decent camp, but not a great one thus far. It looks like a real step up in performance is needed here or he may need to look for a fresh start with a new organization as he is an RFA at the end of this season.
Anthony Bitetto - Widely regarded as the odd man out with the signings of Matt Carle and Yannick Weber over the summer, Bitetto has had an outstanding camp, performing well in practice and game situations and has made a definitive bid for a roster spot.
Vladislav Kamenev - The 20 year old Russian has really had an eye-opening camp as he appears to have accelerated his development and may grab one of the final 23 come opening night.
Pekka Rinne – After an uneven season, it has been the very popular meme among the high and mighty blogger set that Pekka Rinne is not a very good goaltender. That he is washed up, over the hill and a reason why the Predators may not make the playoffs… seriously… I’ve read those very words. We should see him between the pipes tonight and frankly, none of the questions surrounding the big Finn will be answered tonight, but Rinne was outstanding for long stretches last season, stats that are covered by a couple of stretches of not stealing games for Nashville. It is my belief that he will feed off this and I expect him to rebound nicely.
I liken this time in the preseason with the third NFL preseason game, we should get a real look at what this team may look like come next Friday. Game time is 7pm in Smashville, coverage on 102.5 the Game with the Voice of the Predators Pete Weber.
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Random Notes
- Countdown to hockey… 1 day to the season premiere of SlapShot Radio… 10 days to Predators season opener.
- Congratulations to the University of Alabama Huntsville on their 2-0 start after a series sweep over Ferris State. This is the Charger’s first 2-0 start in 15 years. Ferris State was ranked 20th in the USCHO preseason poll prior to the weekend. UAH takes on UConn in Connecticut this weekend… their home opener is Friday 10/21 at the Von Braun Center.
- Jimmy Vesey got welcomed to the NHL last night with a really nasty hit from Flyers tough guy Radko Gudas. The dirtiness of the hit seems to be dependent on the color glasses you are looking through.
- Dan Boyle is expected to announce his retirement tomorrow after 17 NHL seasons.
- The Las Vegas NHL team has named their first president, Kenny Bubolz who spent the last 13 years running business operations in Cleveland for the Cavs and the AHL Lake Erie Monsters.
- Nine games on the preseason schedule tonight, Toronto @ Ottawa at 8:30pm on NHL Network. (all times central)
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SSR’s season nine premier is tomorrow night on 102.5 the Game. SlapShot Radio is the longest running hockey show in the mid-south and Pete Weber and I can’t wait to get it started again. We will be previewing the 2016/17 season and introducing a new player to the SSR team. Steve Wrigley, former sideline reporter for the Predators and current fill-in sports guy over at channel 5 joins us on a regular basis as our permanent guest host! And of course… it wouldn’t be a season premier without our favorite guest, Jeff Marek from Hockey Night in Canada.
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
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Advertisers… reach out to me for preseason specials in order to access our activated listener base via email 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
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