From all of the pictures I have seen, he has a habit of sticking his tongue out.

Never bad to sign a handsome player, right? Although Craig Smith agreed to return to the University of Wisconsin about two weeks ago, it seems he has changed his mind and will join with the Nashville Predators after all. Smith was a little hesitant after visiting Nashville during the Predators annual Development Camp, but former teammates like Blake Geoffrion may have helped sway his decision. Here is a press released by Wisconsin:

“With two years of collegiate eligibility remaining for the Wisconsin Badgers, forward Craig Smith will become a professional hockey player. The Madison, Wis., native is a 2009 fourth-round pick (98th overall) of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, the team of former Badgers Ryan Suter and Blake Geoffrion.”

Although he would be returning to the University of Wisconsin as a Junior, Craig Smith is definitely a formidable hockey player for his age and even represented Team USA at the World Championship in Slovakia.

It is strange for the Predators to pull a player straight from the college level to NHL level without first making a pit-stop for a few seasons in Milwaukee, but the Predators and fans who have followed this prospect know of his potential, along with others such as Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi. However, if the Predators feel he is worthy of NHL ice time, then let’s give the boy a chance, shall we?

Ryan Suter (20) and Blake Geoffrion (5) show off the new home jersey!

Wether you were in the crowd last night or missed the action, the 3rd Annual Skate of the Union proved itself successful as hundreds of hockey-hungry Preds fans showed up to see the unveiling of the new home jersey. However, the revealing of the new home jersey wasn’t the only thing Predators fans were looking forward to…

• Fans stood in a line, which seemed to wrap completely around the entire building, for a chance meet Blake Geoffrion, Ryan Suter, Stu Grimson, Wade Belak and Scott Walker and have them sign merchandise.
• A used equipment sale was held for season ticket holders and the general public. Game-used/worn items, such as gloves, sticks and pads were snatched up by the handfuls by the fans.
• The new “simplified” logo made its debut on t-shirts, car decals, flags, banners, hats, etc. all available now for purchase in the Predators Pro Shop.
• Along with the new stuff, the Preds had a “sidewalk sale” to ship out the old merchandise, including $5 Dumont and Sullivan jersey t-shirts, “Duck Hunt” Predators vs. Ducks t-shirts and other playoff tees.
• The locker room was open for tour between 4pm – 6pm, allowing Preds fans an up-close view of where the players getting ready before taking the ice.
• The kids weren’t left out, either: A Predator-shaped inflatable slide, mini hockey rinks and a slap shot game were there to entertain even the youngest of fans.

BEHOLD THE GOLD - Sounds kind of scary, but the jerseys aren't half bad in person!

Look at those faces! We let SOB go because...?

Although some fans thought Poile might announce at the Skate of the Union tonight that he’d made a mistake about Shane O’Brien and would be re-signing him, the dream was cut short when it was announced that O’Brien had signed with the Colorado Avalanche. TSN has reported that SOB has signed a one year deal, but no word on the paycheck just yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do!

Even though Shane was only with the Preds for a year, he definitely left a lasting impression on all fans, wether for the best or worst. Personally, O’Brien was one of my breakout favorites. Yes, even when he was irritating all of us during the playoffs against the Ducks, he still wasn’t afraid to get in an opponent’s face and crosscheck them when they needed it.

Shane O’Brien will be sorely missed and I (personally) think it was a complete loss for us to let him go. He could be a hassle some days, but his tough and rough attitude reminded me of a younger Tootoo. We here at Lady Preds completely understand Poile’s decision and, even if we aren’t happy about it, he is the GM for a reason and knows what he has in mind, with or without SOB.

Good luck in Colorado, Shane! You will always be welcomed in Nashville. Just don’t be a Hamhuis and talk crap about us after you leave. If you do, well… you know what will happen!

This banner showed up on the "Batman" building yesterday afternoon. Is the new jersey hiding behind it?

Wait- What? Yes, you read the headline right; the new home jerseys for the Predators will be revealed at 8 PM tomorrow night on the AT&T Building (affectionately known as the Batman building) during the Predators annual Skate of the Union downtown.

Now we are wondering: Is it going to be a normal sized jersey or are they going to make a giant one that can be seen from Hermitage? Stupid question to ask, but you never know with the Predators. It will be very interesting to see the unveiling of the new home jersey on the Batman building.

If you missed what exactly the Skate of the Union is, you can find a post about it on the ‘older posts’ link at the bottom of the page (it will be on the second page, don’t worry). In a nutshell, players will be signing autographs, used and signed equipment will be up for sale and so much more! The festivities start at 10 AM but continue until around 8:30 PM.

If you haven’t seen a photo of the new jerseys, here they are (WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)… not that you haven’t already seen them:

Yes, that yellow one is the home jersey - I personally like the white away jersey in bottom right.

SK74 wasn't joking when he said he wanted to stay in Nashville!

Many Preds fans awoke today to see the exciting and relieving news that David Poile and left wing Sergei Kostitsyn have come to a deal for a 1-Year, $2.5 million contract. Some would say this was an overpay for Sergei, but others would beg the differ. I am slightly on the fence about it, but he was one of the lowest paid NHL players this past season, so $2.5 M may not be anywhere near what Ward received from the Capitals (let’s remind you it was a whopping $12 M), but it is still a substantial hike for the twenty-four year old. I know I’d be happy with $2.5 Million!

So take a deep breath, Kostitsyn fans (especially you, overly hyped teenage swooner girl), Kostitsyn will be with us for another season until he is up for this same debacle next year. Let’s hope he doesn’t extremely well so Poile will sign him sooner. Maybe David Poile is a bit of a risk taker, a daredevil. He literally pushed this until the day of the hearings.

We are relieved he took the dive and signed back players like Halischuk, O’Reilly, Spaling and Kostitsyn (keeping the price of all of them under $5 million), but he sure did have us worried and wondering if he would actually do anything about this NHLPA hearing.

What do you think of the $2.5 million contract for SK74? Check out Ontheforecheck.com’s online survey and see what other Preds fans think about his new salary.

O'Reilly, Halischuk, Spaling and Mueller were all re-signed a day before the NHLPA hearing.

The Predators just announced the re-signing of four of the seven RFAs today in tomorrow’s NHLPA hearing. Preds fans are sighing with relief that David Poile offered these guys contracts before tomorrow’s hearing, which could have sent all of them in the Open Market as UFAs (unrestricted free agents).

• Cal O’Reilly – one-year contract for $1.05 Million
• Nick Spaling – two-year contract for $2.1 Million
• Matt Halischuk – two-year contract for $1.425 Million
• Chris Mueller – one-year contract; two-way deal – NHL level – $550,00 – AHL level – $65,000

Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm, Roman Josi & Teemu Laakso

Yesterday, Predators General Manger David Poile gave fans a scare when he didn’t call in for his appointed interview with 104.5 The Zone. Radio hosts Willy Daunic and George Plaster were at a loss until Poile, never one to miss an interview, called in a few minutes later. Preds fans were interested in hearing Poile’s side of the story as to why he has chosen to do what he has been. Instead, fans were surprised to hear David Poile say that the third defense for this coming season might be “all new kids. New to the NHL.”

What the what? If you are confused by this and don’t understand why Poile would do this, don’t be; there is a back story to this:

Two years ago, Poile announced at the Skate of the Union that he wanted to do the same as he stated yesterday, with a fresh lineup of “homegrown” (a player that started in either Nashville or Milwaukee) talent (at that time it was Weber, Klein, Hamhuis, Suter, Laakso and Franson). Do to an injury on Franson’s part, causing him to miss most of training camp, Poile’s dream was cut short and the new lineup never took shape. This would have been a first NHL history.

Jump back to this coming season and Poile has his chance to make his dream of a homegrown lineup come true. Who are these new guys most likely to make up Poile’s dream? That would be Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm, Roman Josi and Teemu Laakso. Now why are these guys so significant?

Teemu Laakso may have been the only guy of these four to see NHL action, but Ekholm has been tearing up the ice in Sweden, playing for their profession team. He scored 33 points in 55 games (and the Swedish profession league is the second best in the world, just behind the NHL) and is itching to take his talent over to the NHL. Ryan Ellis, who is one of the most decorated junior hockey players in history, is ready to take professional ice by storm. Roman Josi is a little less known compared to his counterparts, but his records from his previous teams are impressive.

With tomorrow starting the NHLPA’s hearing against the RFA/UFA situation, it will be interesting to see what Poile does about this “dream” of his and if it will become reality.

Left: Kyle Wilson of the Blue Jackets, Right: Zack Stortini of the Oilers, kicking butt.

Hooray! David Poile signed two new forwards! Let’s welcome Kyle Wilson from the Columbus Blue Jackets and Zack Stortini of the Edmonton Oilers. However, are these two worth it for the Preds?

Zack Stortini has been playing with the Edmonton Oilers since he was drafted by in 2003, but this past season he found himself demoted to the minors. In the words of Scooby Doo, “Rut roh…” Okay, that doesn’t mean he’s absolutely terrible, but it does send some fans into panic mode. It’s apparent we aren’t going to score a “Ryan Kesler” or “Martin St. Louis”, but let’s not count Stortini out just yet. Although he will probably be sent to the Admirals for a while, there’s no doubt he will be called up. Let’s wait until the season starts.

Now on to Kyle Wilson:
Another player to spend most of his time in the minors, Kyle Wilson was drafted by the Minnesota Wild back in 2004, but was sent to the Capitals (where he played in two games) and then off to where we found him at the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wilson mainly stayed with the Springfield Falcons (the Blue Jackets’ minor league affiliate), but he did some impressive playing while called up to Columbus (let’s just say 11 points in only 32 games. That’s pretty good, indeed). We are thinking he will probably start out in Milwaukee like Stortini, but he might dawn a Preds jersey more often than not.

So will these two help the Predators or just help Milwaukee? We are hoping for the first option, but we can only wait and see when the season starts in the fall. Let’s hope Poile picked some diamonds in the rough!

Cody Franson and Matthew Lombardi are off to Toronto... so who did we get?

Okay, I’m a little behind about addressing this news, but I was busy enjoying my freedom yesterday and my power decided to go out today until about 20 minutes ago so do bare with me in being late.

As you may have read from other blogs, Matthew Lombardi and Cody Franson have been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Brett Lebda and a minor leaguer by the name of Robert Slaney. Sadly, it seems Toronto fans are jumping for joy and laughing at the Predators for taking Lebda, which makes Preds fans worry even more. That, and Slaney has never seen ice time on an NHL level, leaving some to wonder why we traded two NHLers for a laughable defenseman and a minor leaguer?

Many believe this trade is leading to something huge under Poile’s belt. Let’s hope that is the truth considering Franson did pretty well this past season and well, Lombardi is a different story. We are sad to see Cody Franson go and, although we didn’t see him but during two games, we’ll miss Lombardi and what he could have done for the team.

Good luck with the Maple Leafs, boys. Let’s hope our two new members will be just what we need to go after the Cup next year.

Well, we knew he'd be getting a bigger salary, so does this surprise anyone?

A list of twenty-three restricted free agents has been released by the NHLPA who have chosen to file for salary arbitration, with our own Sergei Kostitsyn on that list. So what does this mean for SK74 and his future with the Preds?

Well, it won’t affect the whole Predators RFA deal, but if the Predators were to win the hearing on Friday, SK74 could choose wether to agree to a contract or continue with his appeal for arbitration. The only problem with this arbitration is the fact that, if Kostitsyn aims too high, the Predators may let SK74 go (which wouldn’t surprise me if they did with the way Poile has been trying to create an entire new team). If the NHLPA wins the hearing, this arbitration won’t even matter since he will then be open for anyone to snatch up. However, with this appeal for arbitration, our Sergei cannot receive offer sheets from other teams.

Are we surprised Kostitsyn filed for arbitration? Nope, not one bit. SK74 definitely deserves a pay raise and he definitely will get one, but our only concern is Poile and his recent motions. It would not surprise us if, even though Kostitsyn keeps saying he wants to stay with Nashville, Poile let’s him go, no matter how much SK74 asks for. In a nutshell, however, Sergei Kostitsyn is simply safeguarding his negotiation position.

Let’s hope David Poile wins this hearing Friday or gives SK74 the money he deserves. We don’t need to lose another key player.