Skip to main content

Leggy Boozes It, Preds Lose It

So I took my daughter to see the Predators tangle with the Dallas Stars tonight, with the Preds taking a 6-3 beating and basically coming unglued in the 2nd & 3rd periods. In particular, I was going to come home and rip on David Legwand, who seems to vanish as soon as he crosses center ice with the puck; often it seemed like he'd carry it into the offensive zone, and then just look for a safe path to the boards rather than actually drive to the net and create a scoring chance.

He's gone scoreless in 9 of the last 11 games now, and until tonight, hadn't taken more than 2 shots in a game since February 2nd against Phoenix. For a guy who just received a hefty contract extension, the team needs more on-ice leadership from their #2 center.

But now I see where perhaps he might have been a bit distracted; news broke tonight that Legwand was arrested on a DUI while leaving downtown Nashville last weekend.

This ain't gonna be good, folks. From the Newschannel 5 report;
According to a state arrest warrant obtained by NewsChannel 5, the 27-year-old Nashville Predator was going 51 in a 35 mile an hour zone last Friday night.

His eyes were bloodshot and watery, and his speech was slurred. Legwand was stopped by the police just south of downtown, on 8th Avenue South, near South Street.

There, according to the report, Legwand was unsteady on his feet during a field sobriety test and swayed back and forth. Legwand refused a breathalyzer test, and told the officer, according to the report, "I don't want to take it and register a .09 or something."
Well, at least now Leggy has a chance to make an All-Star team this year:



The NHL's All-Star DUI Team


Coincidentally, my daughter (who turns 6 next month) asked me to explain the "Booze It & Lose It" messages displayed on the Megatron during the game, so we had a lengthy discussion on what alcohol is, and how it's a terrible thing to drive after having some. Especially with the Predators beaming that message throughout the arena several times a game, it'll be interesting to see whether this charge ends up with Legwand losing his driver's license (among other things, of course).


Combine this episode with the loss of Martin Gelinas for an extended period with an ACL injury, and you have to believe the level of the Predators' clubhouse morale is taking a nosedive. Perhaps the best thing working in Legwand's favor is that the team is heading out on the road for the next several games, getting him away from what should be some (justifiably) difficult coverage by the local media.

With Nashville stuck in a wide-open dogfight for playoff position, they don't have time to tailspin for a week or two because a key player has such a major off-ice distraction. The other thing to watch will be how the team disciplines Legwand for this. The Tennessee Titans have been heavily criticized for their kid-glove approach to Pacman Jones, the cornerback who's earned massive Frequent Flyer Miles in police booking stations throughout the Southeast. How the Predators react to this situation will be closely scrutinized...

And here's one question to be answered; Barry Trotz mentioned having a meeting with Legwand earlier this week regarding his offensive production. Did Trotz know about the arrest, and/or did Legwand tell him during the meeting? If Legwand kept his coach, and his team, in the dark about this, that's a horrible mistake on his part.

Labels:

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
Read more

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
Read more

Social Media, Internet Marketing, and Real, Paying Customers - it really works!

Applying the basic tenets of internet marketing (SEO best practices and social media network building) have helped me grow the readership and engagement over at On The Forecheck tremendously in recent years, but lately I've been wondering if those same techniques could be applied to small- or medium-sized local businesses, to help them drive real, tangible business results. I'm talking about not just drawing idle hockey fans looking to a blog so they can muse over line combinations, but helping businesses connect with potential customers in ways that otherwise wouldn't occur. Recently, I was able to help make just such a thing happen, and it shows just how great the opportunities are for small, local businesses which may not have the resources or skills available to extend their brand effectively on the internet.
Read more