Skip to main content

Ho Ho Ho, Two in a Row

The Predators head into the holiday break having ended their five-game losing streak with back-to-back victories over Los Angeles and Columbus, so while nobody should be popping champagne over a 16-16-2 record, things are certainly more hopeful than they were a few days ago. It's good to see Jason Arnott popping in goals again, and Jordin Tootoo's cameo on the top line has been impressive. Saturday's game against the Kings may have been Tootoo's best of the season, and while he only tallied one assist, he made several good crisp passes to set up scoring chances and put a wicked shot through Kings goaltender Jason Labarbera's glove that dribbled just wide of the net.

When the action resumes next Thursday, we'll have to see whether this momentum can be maintained. Personally, I think this team needs a top-six forward desperately, and there's still no definitive sign that Steve Sullivan will be ready soon. By carrying eight defensemen on the active roster, both Kevin Klein and Ville Koistenen have been healthy scratches most nights, which certainly doesn't help them develop as NHL players. Simply put, there's an abundance of some assets and a paucity of others, and GM David Poile is caught in an awkward position. Ideally, a healthy Sully would allow Poile to address other concerns via trade, and I expect that as long as the team stays within shouting distance of the playoffs he won't make a significant move prior to a thumbs-up or down on Sullivan, or the trade deadline forces his hand.

My humblest apologies for a lack of updates lately, but our move into the new digs took longer than expected, and one casualty along the way was my computer desk, so the Forechecking Data Center has yet to rebuilt in our new home. Then to boot, I got hit with a double-wammy case of pink eye and a respiratory infection. I even missed Saturday night's game even though I had tickets, because I wouldn't have hardly been able to see the action anyway. I'm on the mend now, but of course the next couple days will be busy ones, so I hope to pick up with posts towards the end of the week.

Here's to hoping all of you have a happy, safe and healthy holiday season!

Popular posts from this blog

Cheer up, it's the holidays...

Why is it that various media outlets continue trying to put their own spin on the "what's wrong with the NHL" story? Our latest example comes from The Hockey News , in a piece by Jay Greenburg entitled, "Excitement Level On The Decline." Take the opening sentence: Attendance is down and yet still up from before the lockout, leaving it arguable whether buildings in New Jersey and Florida are half-full or half empty. It's no surprise that attendance is down from last season, particularly if you compare the first half of 2005-06 to the first half of this year. Coming out of the lockout, there were legions of fans starved to see the on-ice product, particularly in light of the massive rule changes. This year is more indicative of business as usual, so the fact that the league is above pre-lockout levels is a positive. Toss in the projection that overall revenues are increasing despite a 1% decrease in attendance, and I'd say that paying fans have come back

How I'm Trying To Make Money Sports Blogging

To kick off this series of articles general sports-blogging articles here at OTF Classic, I think it's best to start with a comment that Brad left here last week, after I shared my goals for 2012 , which include specific revenue targets: I considered diving into the world of internet marketing myself, but I felt that my friends would hate me for bugging them about stuff. I mean, it's pretty low-risk high-reward, so it's tempting. I wouldn't mind reading about tips on how to maximize impact of blogging in general to make it a legitimate income source. Trying to make money at sports blogging can be a very touchy subject - for the vast majority of us, this is an activity we pursue to both exercise our creativity and share our love of the game, whether it's hockey, football, badminton, whatever, with fellow fans. Mixing that personal conversation with a commercial message can turn people off, especially if it becomes too intrusive for the reader. It's not unrea

Celebrating a milestone month

I've been remiss in providing regular updates on my quest to turn this whole sports-blogging hobby into at least something of a significant side income, if not a career, but good news has a way of prompting action. That, and I've been heads-down busy working on a few different fronts to push things forward...