Photo from AP/Joe Howell of Jordin Tootoo colliding with Buffalo's Ryan Miller.

Last night, the NHL decided to suspend Jordin Tootoo two games after his controversial collision with Buffalo’s goalie Ryan Miller Saturday night in Nashville. Although the decision was made last night, news was not released until a little after noon today.

NHL Vice President Brendan Shanahan claims Tootoo made  “eye contact” with Miller, thus making him an intended target. Eh, not so much, sir. It’s obvious to us we don’t think this is fair, but it could have been worse. Although we wanted to keep positive and believe the NHL would see the obvious incident, we knew Toots would get some kind of suspension. You can watch the video from V.P. Shanahan here.

The last time Tootoo ran into major trouble with the NHL was back in 2007 when threw a controversial punch at Dallas’s Stephane Robidas, which landed him a 5-game suspension. 2007 was four years ago and Toots has taken some extraordinary strides to better himself and his whole persona on and off the ice.

With this, Tootoo will still hold an Active spot on the roster so the Predators are going to feel a bit tight during the next two games. In order to free up room, the Preds would have to put someone injured on the IR, but with only a two game suspension, it might not be worth it (unless say, Francis Bouillon needs to go on the IR).

In case you missed the video the first time, here is the controversial hit on Miller on Saturday night:

The Predators take on the Phoenix Coyotes tonight at 7PM without Toots and will take off to Columbus on Thursday night. Although we aren’t happy about the suspension, like we said earlier, it could have been worse. Thankfully, only two games should not effect us too much, but you never can tell with the Preds.

GO PREDS.

Here are your four new conferences and the team placements.

The NHL has officially announced that the league will no longer be between the Eastern and Western Conferences. Instead, there are now four individual conferences, which was decided upon today by the Board of Governors. However, this may have been officially announced by the NHL, but it still isn’t official, so to say. Huh? It still has to pass with the NHLPA, but it’s pretty certain it will (we just can’t proclaim it set in stone until they agree).

What does this mean?

• Well, instead of just sticking to mainly playing rivals in the same conference, it is now setup to where every team will face each other at least twice a year. This means the Predators will face opponents such as Boston and Toronto on a regular basis.
• There will still be sixteen teams in the playoffs, but the first two rounds will be against conference members. Example, if the Predators make it to the playoffs, they will face anyone else in Conference: B who made it into the playoffs also for two rounds. Yes, that means no more playing the Ducks or Canucks until after the second round in the playoffs.
• Within the eight team conferences (Conference A and Conference B), teams will play five to six times on a rotating basis.
• Within the seven team conferences (Conference C and Conference D), teams will play six times, splitting home and away down the middle by three (three away games, three home games).

This all stemmed due to the Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg to become the Jets, thus throwing off the alignment of the league. Instead of decided who should move to the Eastern Conference (The Jets would have clearly been the Western choice), the Board of Governors simply assigned four new conferences. Here are the new conferences:

Conference A

Conference A consists of: Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes, L.A. Kings, and the Colorado Avalanche.

Conference B

Conference B consists of: Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Minnesota Wild.

Conference C

Conference C consists of: Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and the Boston Bruins.

Conference D

Conference D consists of: Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricane, and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Was it necessary for us to break it down like that with the pictures? Absolutely, because it never hurts to be clear as a bell when it comes to this kind of nonsense!
So there you go: the brand new, spanking NHL conferences. Will this change help the Predators or hurt them in the long run? Welp, we shall find out soon enough!

GO PREDS.

Craig Smith warming up during practice before the game.

After a crucial and much needed win Thursday night against Vancouver, the Predators headed home to welcome the Eastern Conference Buffalo Sabres. Maybe the high from shutting down the Canucks wore off, for the Predators, although quite dominate throughout the game, just couldn’t quite get enough pucks past goalie Ryan Miller in order to seal the game for at home. Although the Sabres are in the Eastern Conference, the Predators could not afford to see another loss so quickly, especially at home. Here are the highlights of Saturday’s game:

KEY POINTS:

• Anders Lindback took top spot as starting goalie Saturday over Pekka Rinne, blocking 11 of 14 shots taken by the Sabres.
• Sergei Kostitsyn was on the injury list again, with Chris Mueller being called up from Milwaukee as a replacement. Coach Trotz was interviewed by The Tennessean’s Josh Cooper concerning SK74’s injury and he was quoted as saying, “Don’t know and don’t care right now. I just care about tonight.” Uh oh, Sergei… looks like Trotzy’s starting to get annoyed by your lack of performance lately. Again, we’re hoping SK74 takes this time to collect his thoughts. Brian McGrattan was the only scratch for the night.
• The Sabres took the lead first at 10:00 in the first with a goal from Luke Adam. About seven and a half minutes later at 17:27, Zack Kassian added another goal for the Sabres, putting the Predators down by two all the way into the third period.
• Although neither the Preds nor the Sabres scored during the second period, it wasn’t exactly the quietest period. In fact, it has caused quite an amount of controversy. Jordin Tootoo slammed into goalie Ryan Miller, causing a dog pile brawl on the ice, which included everyone except poor Lindback. The issue with this is the fact this was Miller’s first game back from a concussion and it was clear he thought Toots crashed into him on purpose. On review of the video, it looks as if he is pushed into the goal, but there’s no telling. However, it is clear Tootoo did not mean to do it on purpose. From the video, you can tell it is Buffalo’s announcers since they are quite angry by the scene. For Buffalo fans reading this, Tootoo is not the same vicious player as he used to be. After taking time away from the league to seek rehab, he has taken into consideration his actions from his past and he is looking to better himself. To us, he was never a bad person to begin with, but we are proud of the person he is and who he is becoming. He is a huge community leader, buying $3,000 worth of toys for the Salvation Army. He’s not a bad guy, people and he did not take Ryan Miller out purposefully because he is vindictive. Heck, we don’t even play Buffalo enough to get a vendetta on them! Say what you will, but we back Toots; not because he’s a player on our team, but because he is just not the terrible, asshole everyone makes him out to be. Here’s the video and a photo of the incident:

Well hey there, Ryan! Just wanted to wish you a nice welcome back from your concussion!

• Furthermore, Jordin Tootoo is facing a disciplinary hearing today (Monday afternoon) via phone and is expected to be suspended for the incident, which is, in all seriousness, ridiculous. Tootoo’s collision was completely unintentional and even Miller has admitted that he did not think Tootoo meant to do it on purpose. However, a possible suspension is due to one reason and one reason only: It’s Jordin Tootoo. Had this same thing occurred between say, Martin Erat and Ryan Miller, suspension would not have even been brought up. But because Tootoo has a history of playing rough, the NHL thinks, although he has clearly changed from his past ways, that Tootoo probably did it on purpose, with or without proven evidence that he did not. Take the Mike Fisher/Francois Beauchemin hit: Like Miller, this was Fisher’s first game back from the IR (not for concussion, but for shoulder surgery) and Beauchemin sent Fisher flying, hitting him directly in the shoulder. Was Beauchemin suspended? No. Did Beauchemin even face a disciplinary hearing? Nope. It truly is a matter of the fact it’s Jordin Tootoo. Call us conspiracy theorists and whatnot, but we all know it’s true. Here’s the video of Anaheim’s Beauchemin’s hit on Mike Fisher:

• Craig Smith got the first goal of the night for the Predators at 4:54 in the third with assistance by David Legwand and Colin Wilson. However, the Sabres slipped another passed Lindback, sending the score 3-1.
• David Legwand gave the crowd some hope by scoring the Predators last goal of the night at 18:25. He was assisted by Roman Josi and Jon Blum, but unfortunately, time ran out before the Predators could tie it up.
• The Predators out shot the Sabres 34 to 14, but Ryan Miller was on his game and the Predators just couldn’t quite get enough passed him. The Sabres also spent more time in the penalty box, giving the Predators plenty of PP time, but they just couldn’t get the scoring groove in time. Here are your Preds that spent some time in the penalty box:

1. Mike Fisher – 12:51 1st Period – Tripping
2. Jerred Smithson – 5:34 2nd Period – Hooking
3. Jordin Tootoo – 15:54 2nd Period – Charging (5 minutes)
4. Jordin Tootoo – 15:54 2nd Period – Game Misconduct (10 minutes)
5. Patric Hornqvist – 11:19 3rd Period – Slashing

The Predators continue at home Tuesday night against the Phoenix Coyotes at 7PM. We will update you on any news of the Jordin Tootoo possibly suspension hearing.

GO PREDS.

Mike Fisher took Vancouver by storm tonight. Pent-up aggression, perhaps?

If you missed this game well, you may have just missed the game of the year (if not the century) for the Predators. This game rattled every possible emotion the human body has and then some we didn’t even know we had. Throughout this game, the Predators were up 3-1, down 3-5, tied it 5-5, then won 6-5! With this many ups and downs, you can imagine how many Predators fans will be going to the doctor tomorrow to get their blood pressure checked. All four goalies (both Vancouver’s and Nashville’s) got ice time. For all of this to have happened within regulation is absolutely nuts. Our fingers are still a little giddy from the adrenaline, so this may be updated later with facts and stats we passed while in our state of euphoria. Here’s the highlights from tonight’s win in Vancouver:

KEY POINTS:

• Sergei Kostitsyn was benched tonight, along with Blake Geoffrion and Francis Bouillon. SK74 sat out with an upper-body injury he suffered from during Tuesday’s game against Calgary. It was for the best that Kostitsyn sat out, injury or not. It seems SK74 has been suffering from what we’d like to call the “Kostitsyn Syndrome” where he basically just bails at the last second and avoids shooting all together. What’s up with that, Serge? Giving Kostitsyn a little “me” time will hopefully get his mind straight and get his thoughts collected before returning to the ice.
• Say so long to Teemu Laakso, for he has been placed on waivers. After suffering an injury that placed him on the IR, the Predators felt it necessary to part ways with the young defenseman. If you look at Yahoo! Sports, it’ll tell you Teemu has been injured since December 31st… 1969. Yea, you read that correctly. He was actually injured back on November 8th against the LA Kings. But hey, 2011/1969… pretty close, right? We thank you for the laugh, Yahoo! Sports and we know it was just a glitch error, but we still laugh.

Yea, considering Laakso was born in 1987... not plausible.

•  David Legwand struck first on a power play at 5:44 in the first, with assists from both Colin Wilson and Craig Smith. This is Leggy’s sixth goal of the season and we expect more that aren’t just empty-netters.
• Mike Fisher took no time after Leggy’s goal and sent the Preds up 2-0 over the Canucks with a backhand shot at 8:16 in the first with assists from Martin Erat and Shea Weber.
• Vancouver’s Cody Hodgson snuck one passed Pekka, putting the Canucks on the board. However, Shea Weber released his signature slap shot, sending the Predators up 3-1. Weber scored at 19:50 in the first on the PP, with assists from Colin Wilson and Craig Smith again. This is Weber’s 5th goal of the season and he and the boys chased goalie Cory Schneider out of the net, bringing the much loved Roberto Luongo into the second period.
• The 2nd period started out a little more than rough for the Preds, with Vancouver scoring four-straight goals, sending Pekka running for the bench. With goals from the likes of Alex Burrows, Daniel Sedin, Aaron Volpatti, and Jannik Hansen, this sent the Canucks up 5-3 over the Predators.
• Once Anders Lindback hit the net, things started turning around for the Preds, with goals from Jordin Tootoo at 16:09 (assisted by Matt Halischuk and Nick Spaling) and Colin Wilson at 17:30 on the PP (assisted by David Legwand and Craig Smith). At the end of the second, the Predators managed to tie the game up 5-5.
• For the majority of the third period, the Canucks pressured the you-know-what out of Lindback and the Nashville zone, almost seeming as if they were on a permanent power play. But at 18:44, Mike Fisher sealed the game winning goal with help from Martin Erat and Ryan Suter. The Predators scooted passed the Canucks, 6-5.
• The Canucks attempted 81 (read that again) shots, but only 37 counted whereas the Predators only had 20 shots at goal. As we all know, you can shoot all day at the goal, but it’s the one’s that make it into the goal that count in the long run.
• The Predators found themselves in the one place they should never go when facing the Canucks: the penalty box. The Canucks have the leading average of goals on power plays, so taking careless penalties could have hurt the Preds way more than it did tonight. Here are your offenders:

1. Craig Smith – 3:34 1st Period – Hooking
2. Shea Weber – 8:41 1st Period – Holding (Cody Hodgson scored)
3. Martin Erat – 14:45 1st Period – Hi-Sticking
4. Jerred Smithson – 2:47 2nd Period – Slashing (Daniel Sedin scored)

• Along with the penalties, the Green Men of Vancouver were very excited to see Nashville again and brought a little surprise to torture the guys in the box with. Sadly for the Green Men, the naked cutout of Ryan Kesler did not effect us too badly, but it may have scarred us for life.

Shea Weber is not amused by naked Kesler...

Like we said earlier, this was the most exciting, thrilling game thus far of the season and the Predators, although physically tired towards the end, stuck it out and fought back against the Vancouver Canucks. This could be a huge turnaround for the Preds, who are now 12-9-4 in the season. This is team we like -no love- to see play out on both the road and at home.

The Predators are headed back home to take on the Eastern Conference Buffalo Sabres Saturday night at the Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops shortly after 7PM CT and sadly, you can’t get this one on TV (::cough:: 102.5 THE GAME ::cough::).

WHAT A WIN. GO PREDS.