Looking for some hockey related fun this weekend? The Nashville Predators are sponsoring a “Winter Wonderland… inside the rehearsal hall at Bridgestone Arena. There is plenty of games, food, fun and Olympics on the big screen. The event is free, season ticket holders get their first drink free and there are ticket giveaways every hour. The event started last night and will run tonight and tomorrow from 6p-10p and next Thursday – Saturday from 6p-10p.
Part of the Winter Wonderland festivities are hockey watch parties at Tavern ’96 at the Nissan SoBro entrance. SlapShot Radio is sponsoring Saturday morning’s party, doors open at 6am, puck drop around 6:40. There is a special breakfast menu and plenty of libations to help cheer on Team USA as they take on Alexander Radulov and Team Russia. We have some awesome door prizes to give away just for showing up including… • A Nashville Predators Gold Jersey signed by the entire team. • A gift certificate from Dr. Jane Bacon for an in-office whitening session valued at $500! • Gift certificates from the Wine Shoppe at Green Hills
Come on out to have some fun and cheer on ‘Merica… It’s not exactly 1980… but Russia – USA always stirs passions on both sides of the pond and the reality is… Nothing would please Vladimir Putin and Russia more than beating Team USA on its’ own soil.
The USA men’s hockey team has won gold twice in the Olympics, 1960 and 1980. They have captured silver in 1920, ’24, ’32, ’52, ’56, ’72, ’02 and ’10. America’s lone bronze in hockey came in ’36. Russia/CIS/Soviet Union has won gold in 1956, ’64, ’68, ’72, ’76, ’84, ’88, ’92. They won silver in ’80 and ’98, bronze in ’60, and ’02. The Russian/CIS/Soviet juggernaught went 10 straight Olympics with a medal between 1956 and 1992… eight of them gold. The only country to wrest the gold from their clutches during that time… the USA.
Russian Olympic domination has faded a bit since their last gold 22 years ago. The Soviet Union is no more and NHL players participating in the Olympics have leveled the ice significantly. Russia has been absent from the medal stand for the last two Olympics and Canada has reasserted herself in Olympic play winning two of the last three golds. Russia, desperate to show well in front of their home fans, has a ton of pressure on them, and judging from their performance in the last two Olympics, they may not be able to handle it. Sixth place in Vancouver stung the Russians, and they are out to reclaim what they perceive as their rightful place at the top of international hockey.
These two teams haven’t met since 2006 and this is the first time they have met in Russia. Join us to enjoy the showdown… tomorrow morning at Tavern 96 at the Nissan SoBro entrance of Bridgestone Arena… look for the SlapShot Radio banner.
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Random Olympic Notes
- It is just me or should the Russians chill out a bit. After sealing a gold medal in the team competition, Russian skater Evgeni Plushenko suffered a back injury prior to his individual short program and could not go. The withering publicity inside Russia including politicians screaming for limits to be put on Olympic participation and ungracious comments from a lot of the Russian media … well… it just ain’t right… talk about a bad case of …what have you done for me lately……
- After a rocky start, The US Olympic team is putting on a push in the medal count, tying Norway at the top of the leaderboard with 13 medals, 4 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze. The Netherlands and Russia are third with 12, Germany and Canada are tied for fifth with 10.
- Detroit Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg has a herniated disk and is out for the rest of the Games. This is the third major injury to hit the Swedish hockey team, without Johan Franzen, Henrik Sedin and now Zetterberg, Sweden’s path to a medal got a lot tougher.
- Despite the injuries, Sweden is 2-0 in round robin play and looking good to get through to the medal round.
- Finland may be a dark horse, scoring 14 goals in two games while posting a 2-0 record so far. Teemu Selanne became the oldest player to score at an Olympics when he potted Finland’s first goal yesterday against Austria. It was Selanne’s 21st goal in Olympic competition and marks the sixth Winter Olympics he has participated in.
- Jonathan Quick is expected in net for Team USA tomorrow.
- Shea Weber is off to a great start for Team Canada. He got them on track in their first game, a howitzer to get the scoring started yesterday. He scored the second one of today’s game against Austria. Jeff Carter with a natural hattie also for Team Canada. Canada is 2-0 after their 6-0 win.
- I like bobsled… luge is cool… but skelton, well… skeleton is insane…
- Interesting Tweet from Montreal reporter Eric Engels… IN the NHL era, no Olympic team has gone undefeated to win gold.
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SlapShot Radio, Join Pete Weber and I as we chat with hockey’s best, every Wednesday night at 7pm on 102.5 the Game and the SlapShot Radio Network.
We are proud to announce the latest member of the SlapShot Radio sponsorship family, The Wine Shoppe at Green Hills… a great place to get your adult beverages and the owners are HUGE Pred fans.
SlapShot Radio is also brought to you by Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry (615-872-7762), Nolensville Collision Repair Center and Burger Republic, check their excellent menu out at their website, Defend Quality… Burger Republic.
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