With no end in sight for the lockout, more and more players are making the jump to Europe, and now you can add Craig Smith to the list.
The Predators’ rookie phenom announced that he will be joining Finland’s SM-Liiga while the NHL and NHLPA continue to duke it out.
Smith is the fourth Predator to head overseas, including Roman Josi, Pekka Rinne, and Patric Hörnqvist.
Although ESPN is notorious for ignoring all things hockey related (including acknowledging this current lockout), they turned some heads today by coming to an agreement with the Russian-based hockey league to air games on the sports giant’s online channel, ESPN3.
While it isn’t much, at least ESPN is taking the the initiative to draw NHL fans to their site, giving fans at least some chance of seeing their beloved players take to the ice – even if it’s half way around the world. And, believe it or not, this isn’t the first time KHL games have been aired on ESPN3. For the past two seasons, ESPN3 has aired a few games on their station, though thanks to the lockout, it has gained more attention now.
The first game to be shown on ESPN3 will be between Dynamo Moscow and AK Bars on Wednesday, with four more games to follow up until the 9th of this month. More games are set to be scheduled as the lockout continues.
Though almost the entire team is eligible to play in Europe, only a few have fully committed to a team during the lockout including:
– Pekka Rinne – Dinamo Minsk
– Roman Josi – SC Bern
– Patric Hörnqvist was set to return to his former team Djurgarden, but due to high taxes and insurance, Hörnqvist is seeking another route. Where to now? HC Red Ice, yet another Swiss league team.
Rumors are still swarming around as to what Martin Erat is up to, along with rumors that Sergei Kostitsyn wants to stay with the KHL, even after the lockout is settled. However, we have yet to come across anything that has stated he has even signed with a team. Maybe we missed it in the Russian-to-English translation.
Also, be prepared for the NHL to start announcing the cancelation of regular season games some time this week. Good news, however, if the NHL and NHLPA can come to an agreement before November, all 82 games will still be scheduled. Let’s hope for that.
Pekka Rinne, Patric Hornqvist, & Roman Josi have hit the trail to Europe.
With all of September’s preseason games cancelled and three already missed, the Predators (along with players across the league) are struggling with the decision of wether to wait out the NHL Lockout or head over seas to continue what they do best.
Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Alexander Semin have been vocal about their departure for the ‘Mother Land’, prompting fellow NHLers to consider the same decisions, wether they nestle in the KHL or not.
Rumors have been swirling around particular Preds, with Martin Erat supposedly returning to the Czech Republic and Sergei Kostitsyn possibly signing with a KHL team, but the only truth for Predators fans is this: Pekka Rinne has signed with a KHL team, Patric Hornqvist signs with Sweden, and Roman Josi (who actually made his announcement earlier in the week) returns to Switzerland.
Amidst rumors of him signing with the Finnish Elite League, Pekka was adamant about settling with a KHL team instead of one in his native Finland. Rinne will be goaltending for Dinamo Minsk out of Belarus during the duration of the lockout.
Patric Hornqvist naturally returned to Sweden, signing with Djurgården, a key team of Sweden’s Allsvenskan league. Preds’ first rounder Pontus Aberg is active on Djurgården’s roster, giving Hornqvist the opportunity to help the youngster prepare for (maybe one day) a shot in the National Hockey League.
Roman Josi was the first to announce his departure to Europe under the Predators roof, shipping back to S.C. Bern of Switzerland. Former Pred J.P. Dumont played for S.C. Bern last season, gaining eight goals in just 31 games. Josi is expected to hit the ice for S.C. Bern on September 29th.
With Pekka, Patric, and Roman packing up and heading overseas, it’s only a matter of time before the other members of the Nashville Predators inevitably agree to the same decision. As mentioned, SK74 and Martin Erat are already in negations with European teams, so only time will tell when they sign.
The NHL and NHLPA have scheduled a formal meeting on Friday to discuss options on the current lockout, hopefully coming to some sort of an agreement.
From the Knoxville Ice Bears to the Mississippi RiverKings, there is hockey if you know where to find it.
Welp, Day 1 of the NHL Lockout is coming to a close and, as you might have expected, the NHL and the NHLPA are nowhere near coming to an agreement. Fans across North America are teary-eyed and sort of lost, not exactly knowing what to do without a hockey season to look forward to. Where as prominent hockey communities like New York and all of Canada have other outlets to cling to other than the NHL, those of us in non-traditional markets are left twiddling our thumbs, wishing on stars every night for the big wigs to come to an agreement… or are we?
Many would believe the South is a non-traditional hockey market and, in all fairness, it truly is. Baseball and college football rule this area, with hockey clinging like icicles in certain parts of the region. With Atlanta losing yet another NHL expansion team to Canada, it’s hard to believe hockey could survive somewhere like Georgia, Alabama, or even Mississippi, yet it thrives if you know just where to look.
For those who believe the South cannot withhold and establish a thriving hockey franchise, I give you the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).
Yes, the South has its own professional league.
If you’re a devoted hockey follower, you have probably heard of the SPHL, but for all the newcomers that have never dealt with a NHL Lockout before, there is still hockey to be found! Teams in the SPHL include:
– The Huntsville Havoc – Huntsville, Alabama
– The Knoxville Ice Bears – Knoxville, Tennessee
– The Augusta RiverHawks – Augusta, Georgia
– The Columbus Cottonmouths – Columbus, Georgia
– The Mississippi RiverKings – Southaven, Mississippi (Memphis)
– The Fayetteville FireAntz – Fayetteville, North Carolina
– The Mississippi Surge – Biloxi, Mississippi
– The Louisiana Ice Gators – LaFayette, LA
– The Pensacola Ice Flyers – Pensacola, Florida
Although there have been many franchises that have folded over the years, from the teams listed, hockey has managed to thrive in the South, even before the Nashville Predators arrived in the Music City. For Predators fans, the Knoxville Ice Bears, the Mississippi RiverKings, and the Huntsville Havoc would be the nearest teams to visit, with the Havoc being the closest (2 hours). Although it isn’t exactly the boys we are used to cheering for, you could end up finding your own Pekka Rinne or Shea Weber in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Let’s also not forget our college teams also have a love for hockey. Wether it’s an actual team or just a club, you’d be surprised who has a hockey setup on campus. Here’s a list of a few colleges with hockey outlets:
– Vanderbilt Commodores – Nashville, TN
– The Tennessee Ice VOLS – Knoxville, TN
– The Ole Miss Ice Rebels – Oxford, MS
– Georgia Tech – Atlanta, GA
– Memphis Tigers Hockey – Memphis, TN
– The Alabama Frozen Tide – Tuscaloosa, AL
– Florida Gators Hockey – Gainesville, FL
– The UGA Ice Dogs – Athens, GA
Who knew the SEC was prominent in sports other than football, baseball, and basketball? Now, that’s just a handful of colleges with hockey clubs and/or teams; we can’t list them all. Your best bet to see if your college (or one near by) has a hockey club or team is to check out your college’s website.
If the SPHL and the college teams just don’t do it for you, there are always the AHL and ECHL teams across the country, all affiliates with the NHL teams. As you know, the Milwaukee Admirals are the farm team to the Predators, but Wisconsin’s a good distance away from Nashville, Tennessee. The closest AHL team to Music City would be the Charlotte Checkers out of Charlotte, North Carolina. If you have a soft side for the Carolina Hurricanes, this would be the AHL team for you. For all of the AHL teams across the country and their NHL affiliates, just visit the AHL site here.
As for ECHL, the closest to the Nashville area are the Greenville Road Warriors of Greenville, South Carolina and the Gwinnett Gladiators of Duluth, Georgia. The Road Warriors are the ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the Gladiators are the Phoenix Coyotes affiliate.
As you can tell, there’s still hockey to be found, even if the NHL and NHLPA can’t come to a logical agreement. And, may we add, the hockey to be found is not limited to this list alone. So plan a day trip, road trip, or whatever to support these minor league and college teams. Heck, even if the NHL Lockout comes to an end, it’s still a great idea to support these smaller, lesser known teams. Truthfully, they are the teams that keep hockey alive in the South.
What hockey team will you be supporting during the lockout?
Whatever he’s thinking about, it isn’t the fans.
You are probably wondering why we haven’t covered the current Collective Bargaining Agreement that haunts the future of the 2012-13 NHL season. Welp, we figured you were hearing enough from everyone else, but also because we just didn’t want to discuss it. Bad juju, really.
Well, after trying to ignore the potential lockout like a five-year-old (if you close your eyes and cover your ears, it’s not real, right?), we finally hiked up our big girl undies and weighed the pending situation at hand.
As of Friday, the NHLPA and the NHL have come to no conclusion, with no intentions of meeting again before the CBA expires on the 15th. The meeting lasted a whopping 90 minutes. That gives these two knot-heads twelve days to agree to disagree or say bye-bye to the 2012-13 season (that, or it’ll be delayed).
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t seem worried about a potential lockout, claiming that, because the league survived the last lockout (2004-05 season), it will be just fine if another one occurs. Fans and the media, however, beg the differ.
The strength of hockey will not be effected in certain places such as Los Angeles, Boston, Detroit, and all of Canada, but for non-traditional markets, the event of a lockout could be disastrous. The Columbus Blue Jackets are walking a very, very thin wire and, after losing Rick Nash to the New York Rangers, a lockout could be the scissors that cut their lifeline. Hosting the All-Star Game won’t help much if there isn’t one, and it sure won’t bring an already waning fan base back on board, either.
The Phoenix Coyotes, still floating on Cloud 9 after making it to the third round of the playoffs, will soon find their cloud bursting into flames if the lockout does indeed occur. What fan base they generated during the playoffs will enviably die off due to lack of a season, sending the Coyotes back into the limbo that is “What Canadian city will be getting an NHL team”. Now, not to bash the Coyotes, as they do have a committed, loyal fan base, but I am talking about those who jumped on the bandwagon and/or those Arizonians who were introduced to hockey during that time.
Though we do not want to discuss it, Nashville will be effected as well. The Predators have nestled themselves into Music City just fine, and the team managed to survive the 2004-05 season without fail. However, although the fan base is strong and loyal fans have began to emerge, Nashville is still a non-traditional market and, enviably, will be damaged by a potential lockout. The Predators bring fans from across the South, from Alabama to Arkansas (most notable Preds fans from Arkansas? The Duggar Family from 19 Kids and Counting) and, without a season, but in a lockout situation, those fans will revert back into college football drones.
No matter if the team is settled in a non-tradition market or in a thriving, hockey-centered community, every city with an NHL team will be affected negatively. Wether it be monetarily, numerically, physically, whatever- Bettman can easily shrug off the fact he will lose no more than chump-change and a few “bandwagoners” if a lockout occurs. The fans, however, lose out in every aspect of the situation. Cities that don’t even have teams will be affected.
“Once we get past Sept. 15, I think the dynamic changes,” Commissioner Bettman stated. “The damage to the business changes the dynamic of the negotiation. So, from our standpoint, we’re hoping to make a deal by Sept. 15. That’s how we’ve positioned the offers we’ve made. And I’m hopeful that it can still be done. There is enough time if there is a willingness to negotiate.”
As stated above, the NHL and NHLPA have not set another meeting to discuss the CBA any further, leaving the 15th of September looming over every fans’ head.
Here’s to hoping the NHL and the NHLPA get their butts in gear and finish these CBA talks before the 15th. Even if the season is pushed back, we’d rather see that than an entire lockout. Though it looks like neither side is going to back down, something’s got to give soon. For the fans sake.
Come on! You know you love us!
Okay, okay – We don’t want to nag you wonderful, gorgeous (handsome, if you’re a guy), generous readers, but at this moment, we’re going to.
Do you love us? Please, take a moment to leave our site and visit the Nashville Scene’s Best of Nashville website to vote for us as ‘Best Sports Blog’! We know you have tons of other choices out there; some more accurate than ours, post faster at odd hours of the night, and have their credentials. Well, we do work for a living and do this solely because we are dedicated and diehard hockey fans, but we determined to give you the must up-to-date information on the Nashville Predators (and hockey in general) as it is presented. We also take pride in making sure we get the facts before blowing up the blogging world (okay, okay – we’ve been wrong before – we’re human, too!).
Any who, enough of our begging and pleading. You can vote for us here –
Don’t forget to write-in ‘Lady Preds’ as your choice!
Even if you don’t vote, we appreciate all our dedicate followers and readers. Again, we’re just hockey fans, plan and simple. We make no money from this blog, no sponsors. Just our love for hockey and the fact we just can’t get enough of it is what drives us to maintain this blog.
So again, beautiful, charming, loving readers – vote for us?
How can you say no to these faces?
Chris Parker picked up one award for the Nashville Predators
The Tennessean released its winners of the 2012 Toast of Music City today, revealing that Nashvillians are quite fond of hockey in the South and the Nashville Predators.
The Taste of Music City bundles different local businesses, personalities, and restaurants into a city-wide (heck, nation-wide) online voting, separating into like categories, such as Best Restaurant, Best Wedding Venue, Best Hair Salon, etc. The Predators landed in the top three of three different categories: Best Place to Take the Kids, Best Blog, and Best Local Pro Athlete.
– The Predators came out on top under the Best Place to Take the Kids category, overshadowing the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere and the Adventure Science Center.
– Pekka Rinne knocked off Chris Johnson, Frank Wycheck, and Cortland Finnegan (who tied Wycheck for 3rd) for Best Local Pro Athlete. We aren’t sure how Pekka feels, but seeing hockey knock off three NFL players is a good sign for hockey in Nashville.
– Although the last winner isn’t officially with the Predators, they still are the leading blog for Nashville Predators information. OntheForecheck.com nabbed third in overall Best Blog, with Holly Stokes of myravenblog.com and Styleblueprint.com rounding out the Top 2. With all the sports blogs bouncing around the Internet, it is refreshing to see a hockey blog round out the Top 3 blogs of Music City.
Although it was only three categories of many, the Predators came out on top sports-wise in the Nashville community. No other sports team, besides the three Titans that finished behind Pekka Rinne, made the list. So, as Predators fans, you can’t help but beam with pride knowing that, despite the lingering nag of being a non-traditional hockey market, hockey is alive and thriving in Music City.
For all the winners of the Toast of Music City presented by the Tennessean, click here!
Is Hannan the veteran d-man the Predators have been searching for?
A little before noon this morning, the Predators reached an agreement that hit the cap floor and gained the franchise yet another defenseman.
Nashville signed former Calgary Flame free agent, Scott Hannan to a one-year, $1 million contract, giving the team the veteran strength and experience it was looking for. Here’s the official statement from the Nashville Predators:
Hannan, 33 (1/23/79), has amassed 197 points (33g-164a) and 522 penalty minutes in 908 regular-season games and 15 points (1g-14a) and 89 penalty minutes in 82 playoff games with San Jose, Colorado, Washington and Calgary since the 1998-99 season. The 6-1, 225-pound blueliner enters the 2012-13 season having played more games than any NHL defenseman in the last 10 seasons (798). Hannan dressed for 75-or-more games for the 11th consecutive season (78), and averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons (20:21) with the Calgary Flames a season ago.
Hannan has bounced around to a few teams, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t worth keeping for the long run. Hannan has proved to be a reliable, well-versed d-man who will work well with both vets like Hal Gill and young guns like Roman Josi.
Will the Predators keep Hannan around for longer than a season? Time will tell, but we have a feeling, from the videos we have seen of the 33-year-old, the fans will latch on quickly. Although, he will have to find another number; we don’t think Brian McGrattan will give up 23 easily.
Brian McGrattan will be there. Will you?
After many began to wonder if the organization would be hosting the annual Skate of the Union event, the Predators finally announced the event to the relief of the fans.
So, wether you’ve been to every single on since the beginning or your a newcomer to the Town Hall scene, here’s the rundown of what to expect and who to see on Monday, August 20th:
4-5:30PM – Open skate at Bridgestone Arena
4:30-6PM – Select players will be on hand to take photos
5-6PM – Same select players will be on hand for autographs
6:15-6:45PM – Q&A with select players
6:45-7:45PM – Annual Town Hall Meeting with Tom Cigarran, Jeff Cogen, David Poile, Sean Henry, and Peter Horachek.
What players are expected to attend? Well, from the photo above, you can expect Brian McGrattan to attend, along with Kevin Klein, Jon Blum, Colin Wilson, Mike Fisher, Paul Gaustad, Hal Gill, Chris Mason, and Craig Smith.
Before you ask where Shea Weber is, he has a prior commitment to teach a hockey school and to attend NHLPA meetings. Completely understandable, as we do not want a lockout to occur.
If you are suffering from withdraws, here’s your chance to get your hockey fix until preseason; well, that’s unless the NHLPA and NHL cannot come to an agreement…
After the excitement of signing Shea Weber, all has been relatively quiet on the home front for the Nashville Predators. Well, or so we thought.
The Nashville City Paper released a story today that Adam Davis, better known to the Nashville community as Intern Adam of 107.5 The River, is suing the Nashville Predators for a incident that occured during a practice run for a on-ice promotion.
Per the statement Davis made to the newspaper, he suffered a broken ankle, was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center where doctors inserted screws into his ankles. Davis is suing due to the fact the Predators did not specify how dangerous the stunt was and that he did not sign a waiver.
If anyone has ever seen this “human hockey puck” stunt, you can tell just by looking at it something could go wrong; I mean, it is humans and ice, right? The chance of the Nashville Predators not having him sign a waiver is almost comical, but evidence will present itself in due time.
Once more information about the incident is released, we will update you with more information. Until then, here is the video of the accident in all its glory. Keep in mind, the Predators employees told Intern Adam to keep his feet tucked in…
Lady Preds 