All-Star Weekend is in the books… the skills competition this year was kinda “meh… … The “Save Streak… add was kinda nice, the Hardest Shot was kinda bland… All-in-all… it seems like the NHL has kinda pushed the fun out of this event. I want to see a little more personality…
The 3-on-3 was fine, it’s still much better than what the game used to be. But now, everyone is returning to their clubs and getting ready for the dash to come.
Attention now turns to the upcoming February 26th trade dealine, who are the buyers and who are the sellers… and who just aren’t sure what they are doing yet?
The sellers right now are pretty easy to spot… Buffalo and Ottawa in the East, Vancouver and Arizona in the West. The Canucks are sitting 13 points out of the Wild Card and fading fast… Arizona … well… they’re young.
Ones who should be in selling mode but aren’t ready to admit a lost season… Montreal completely oversold their team this season, even with a fully healthy Carey Price… the Pacioretty rumors will get louder. Also… Edmonton in the West… a bitterly disappointing season so far for the Oilers has them 10 points out of the Wild Card with five teams to leap frog to get there… don’t see that happening. Add the Florida Panthers to this list as well.
On the borderline of sell mode – Detroit, Carolina – The Red Wings are 10 points out and fading, the Hurricanes are only 4 points out, but their last ten have seen their playoff chances take a serious hit, they gotta turn it around quick or it’s selling season in Raleigh.
Too close to call – Both New York teams and Chicago. While all are within reasonable striking distance of the playoffs, the Rangers and Isles are just a point out of the wild card and the Blackhawks are four points out, the seasons just have not developed the way these teams expected. All could go on a run and get to the playoffs, all could also go cold and be back with the sellers with a bad patch. There is quite a bit of salary to consider offloading as well with the Rangers and Blackhawks.
On the borderline of buying – Colorado, LA, Minnesota, Anaheim in the West, New Jersey and Philly in the East. These teams are in playoff position or tied in points for playoff position… however, their GM’s will be looking hard at the direction they take over the next few weeks to see if they move solidly into the “buy… camp or slip into “sell… mode.
It’s pretty clear that the top three teams in each division will be in “buy… mode in February. Keep a close eye on the Metropolitan Division, all eight teams are still in the hunt… which makes the buy/sell decision doubly hard for a GM.
And what about Vegas? How does GM George McFee handle his impending UFA’s? How will a new market react if he sticks to his original “stock up for trade deadline… plan from the summer? This one bears close watching.
When the puck drops tomorrow night for a 12 game schedule, the race for the playoffs is on… the Predators host Chicago tomorrow night for the first of three consecutive at Bridgestone Arena, two of them on NBCSN, tomorrow night and Thursday against LA.
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“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) – None, league resumes play tomorrow night.
Playoff Odds Courtesy SportsClubStats.com - The Predators playoff chances are now at 99% after yesterday’s play.
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
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Random Notes
- PK Subban sure can put on a show… after his breakaway goal, he chose Whodini’s classic “The Freaks Come Out at Night… but 50 cent’s “In Da Club… played…
- Pekka Rinne was just doing Pekka things all weekend, saving 13 consecutive shots in the “Save Streak… competition to take second and simply stoning Connor McDavid yesterday on an acrobatic, spinning, behind the back save. Rinne passed a shutout on to Connor Hellebuyck.
- While the league partied at All-Star Weekend, the Nashville Predators front office staff headed to Houston to help rebuild a home destroyed by the flooding in Houston.
- Eeli Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit team split a home and home with Dinamo Riga, Tolvanen posted an assist on Steve Moses’ game winner yesterday, his first point in quite a few games. He now has 17 goals and 17 assists in 47 KHL games. Jokerit has two more games before the KHL’s Olympic Break, 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.
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------------------------------------- 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.
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