Despite a pretty busy NHL schedule, the focus of the hockey world was on Calgary last night, where the World Junior Championships reached the semifinal round, featuring a pair of old rivalries in down-to-the-wire games: Canada vs. Russia, and Sweden vs. Finland.
After the jump, besides reaction to those games, we have Nashville Predators prospect Austin Watson lighting up the scoreboard, the failure of a franchise sale for a division rival, and one ESPN writer who strongly believes that Shea Weber isn't long for Nashville...
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Hockey Night in Nashville: Players, fans enjoy open practice
Robby shares his notes on yesterday's practice at A-Game.
Hockey Night in Nashville: Q&A with Ryan Ellis
Three quick questions for the birthday boy.
What The Puck: The NHL in 366
Rachel gets back into the blogging groove with a daily hockey photo series.
Predators say they are looking for points, not revenge, against Dallas - Nashville Predators Examiner
Justice may be delayed, writes Jim Diamond.
NHL - John Buccigross looks back at his preseason picks and revises them - ESPN
Buccigross sticks by his bet that the Preds will trade Shea Weber by the deadline.
Wild Finishes, Emotional Surges, Flubs, Improbability, and Hat Tricks - Puck Worlds
Bruce touches on the main storylines at the World Juniors, including the rising star of Yevgeni Kuznetsov.
Canada’s furious rally falls short against Russia in world junior semis - The Globe and Mail
If you're not on Twitter, you missed a good portion of hockey fandom losing their minds as Canada stormed back from being down 6-1 all the way to the point of pressuring for the tying goal in the final seconds.
WJC2012: Watson’s seven-point effort is bittersweet - Buzzing The Net
After Team USA was shunted off to the relegation round, they blew out the Latvians behind Austin Watson's 3 goals and 4 assists.
Leafs Acquire Nicolas Deschamps for Caputi - Pension Plan Puppets
Toronto and Anaheim swap minor-leaguers.
NHL terminates Hulsizer's purchase agreement - STLToday.com
I guess you'll have to play the Blues on a sad trombone.
Morning Mashup: Grabbo or let him go? - Toronto Maple Leafs Hot Stove
Should the Maple Leafs move Mikhail Grabovski? He'd be a dynamic addition to just about any team.
Nicklas Backstrom elbowed to the head by Calgary’s Rene Bourque - Capitals Insider - The Washington Post
Yeah, this is clear as day. Rene Bourque should expect a call from Brendan Shanahan for deliberately throwing an elbow to the head of Washington's Nicklas Backstrom.
WHL: Portland’s Peters rescues drowning man, scores OT winner - Buzzing The Net
A nice night's work for this junior player.
Stars Drop 5-4 Decision to Detroit Red Wings - Defending Big D
Jamie Benn's brother Jordie scored in his NHL debut for Dallas, which comes to Bridgestone Arena tomorrow night.
Blues buckle down and beat Coyotes 4-1. - St. Louis Game Time
The businesslike Blues took care of home ice once again.
Recap: Capitals 3, Flames 1 - Japers' Rink
Alex Ovechkin now has five goals in the last three games, as the Capitals are picking up some steam.
Leafs Crank Bolts - Pension Plan Puppets
Forget the 7 goals, they're just happy the PK had a successful night for Toronto.
Islanders 4*, Hurricanes 3 (*SO): Near-Disaster Averted - Lighthouse Hockey
It took a late goal by Kyle Okposo to force OT before the Islanders took a shootout decision.
0 recs | 53 comments
Dirk you left out that the espn writer also believes that Suter will be signing a contract with the ducks this summer. So according to that guy we lose batman and robin. Now that is scary.
wrandsw - January 4, 2012 via mobile
Yeah, Buccigross certainly has no faith in Nashville…
dnorm4 - January 4, 2012 via mobile
I wonder if they even pay the hockey beat reporters at ESPN
They’re wrong about almost eveything prediction they write. If the Preds don’t/can’t resign Suter then he can pick his team at his price and that will be with a Cup contender. But clearly if DP can’t sign him by the trading deadline he’ll have to get some value and move him. The Ducks are a mess other than their top line and there’s no way Suter would sign on with a rebuilding team. I picked the Ducks in the bottom 3 before the season and it could be years before they’ll even be in the PO’s again. By that time Suter would be beat up and burnt out if he played for those losers. FA sucks sometimes.
TSCinSFO - January 4, 2012
If i was Suter
I would call my buddy Parise and say let’s go somewhere together, and my only stipulation would be that I want to be in the winter classic in the next three years.
The Stanley cup final would take care of itself because a team that adds suter and parise is an automatic serious contender.
wrandsw - January 4, 2012 via mobile
Likely team for that to happen: Minnesota. They are buddies, Parise wants to go home with his woman and Suter’s from ’sconny. And Minnesota is still a playoff team right now.
DonBorvio - January 4, 2012
Think Minnesota is 1 and detroit is 1A.
wrandsw - January 4, 2012 via mobile
This is a very real possibility. Will be great having them in our division then. :/
Grizzledbear - January 4, 2012 via mobile
Don’t be surprised if he ends up at the highest bidder – even if it’s the Ducks. Very very very very very very few players will pass up an extra $100,000 to play for a playoff contender or in a system more suitable to their style of play. See the 2 Alberts as prime examples: Haynesworth and Pujols.
Griz-ATL - January 4, 2012
Add a zero to that number and I might believe that statement but BB and FB salaries super inflated
But all things considered the Cup contender teams with cap room will get Suter before a non contender if we can’t resign Suter. If we can’t sign him in the next 4/5 weeks, DP will have to trade him. That’s why I wish we would’ve locked Suter down before that too long and too rich contract I hated that we got with Peks.
TSCinSFO - January 4, 2012
WJC
…And, oh yeah, Finland played Sweden.
Aittokallio made 55 saves and still took the blame for the loss square onto his own shoulders. Mikael Granlund, Teemu Pulkinnen, and Joel Armia were outstanding. Miikka Salomaki buzzed the net whenever he was out there, but couldn’t put anything in.
They wanted the gold to take home for another naked fountain hockey party and now they play Canada for the bronze. They deserved better, but that’s hockey, I guess.
CAustin - January 4, 2012
So Salomaki is a perfect fit here then, LOL! :D
Grizzledbear - January 4, 2012 via mobile
He has done pretty well over the whole tournament (15th in points, iirc) but I was a lot less impressed with him than with Pulkkinen and Joel Armia. Or the Granlunds. Pulkkinen’s a Detroit prospect, btw. So there’s that to look forward to. I seriously covet that kid.
CAustin - January 4, 2012
I actually thought Salomaki looked good in the game against USA, didn’t see much else of him in the tournament though.
Grizzledbear - January 4, 2012 via mobile
Salomaki has done fine most of the time.
but I really like Pulkkinen.
CAustin - January 5, 2012
Buccigross knows hockey
i am not sure weber and suter want to play in nashville anymore….these contracts are dragging on way to long and poile hasnt done enough to prove that we are a serious cup contender nor has ownership done enough to ptove that the money is there…
smoke and mirrors, but the writing on the wall is becoming clear. we may be a drastically different club after the trade deadline because every passing day without a contract extension is like another nail in the proverbial "big 3 " coffin.
jeffery101y - January 4, 2012
To be blunt we really dont know anything about the contracts other then they have not signed. Everything else after that is either word of mouth or speculation for the sake of speculation. Right now Weber is not a big deal because we can still lock him up in the off season (RFA!!!!) Suter’s agent has come out and said that they are still working on a contract but has never gone one side or the other saying if things are going well or not. Both players have openly said that they are not worrying about their contracts but rather focusing on hockey. Now take that for what its worth but clearly both of them are playing hard and at least on the ice have shown that they are all about the team.
The question I am surprised no one has brought up yet is with both Weber and Suter having played in the Nashville system for so long how will their style be affected if they went someplace else where they dont play like Nashville. How will their stats and more importantly how will they adjust to playing a totally different style of hockey then what they have been used to. Now thats not to say they wont adjust because I know that no matter where they go they will adjust and tailor their game to make them play the best they can for whatever team they are on, after all its that drive that has made them as great as they are now
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
See my post above. It won’t matter. At that point, each one be in a multi-year contract worth $7-$8.5M per year. I hate to be too cynical, but it will be about the money. And only the money. We fans like to think there is loyalty to a team, city, the fans, a coach, playing with certain players, etc. But if they can get $7.6M vs. $7.5M per year, they’re gone.
Griz-ATL - January 4, 2012
I agree that in this day and age there is no long team loyalty and if there is its more then likely going to be your grinder type guys every team has to have them. We know both can play on any team with anyone (see 2010 Olympics and 2014 Olympics im sure will be much of the same).
My question there was how would them change to fit the new team and would it change how they are viewed in terms of who is the better one.
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
I hate to pee in your Cheerios
but the longer these contract situations draw out, the less likely both are to resign with the club. Bucci is first and foremost a hockey guy. I am of the opinion that if there aren’t contracts in place for either/or we’re best served by shipping them BOTH out of town. Bucci seems to agree. So lets speculate for a moment on where they may land:
Weber to the Flyers makes a lot of sense as they have young forward talent to send back our way. Schenn, Coutourier, Timonen, and a first sounds about right.
Suter to the Ducks makes sense as well, as we can get Bobby Ryan, Visnovsky, and a first in return.
Shawn Kehoe - January 4, 2012
if your scenario ends up coming true that'd be pretty sweet.
JBoogie22 - January 4, 2012
Suter said on 102.5 this morning
That his family loves Nashville and that he loves Nashville and wants to get it done. He also said that talks had slowed because of all the minutes he’s logging because of weber and because of the holidays.
What I have to wonder is if he really wants to be in weber’s shadow anymore. I’m beginning to think it will have as much to do with whether or not weber signs with Nashville but not in the way most believe. I have to think Suter wants to be the number one guy wherever he is…let’s face it, he deserves that recognition. But as long as weber is here he will continue to be the
best kept defensive secret that never gets the recognition he deservesin the NHL. We know who’s batman and who’s robin, but 99% of the hockey world don’t…and that sucks ass for a player with the skills that Suter makes look so easy night after night.Remember when Suter was out? We lost alot of games because we sucked defensively…what’s our record since Weber’s been out? Something to think about for sure.
TitanPredBearFan - January 4, 2012 via mobile
Maybe he’s busy playing mind tricks with Weber to convince him to go to New Jersey. ;)
DonBorvio - January 4, 2012
See i missed this interview this morning. I know someone had said they were putting the contract talks on hold for the holidays which is fine no sense making a hectic time more so with contract talks. Him and Weber together though after Weber comes back will be interesting because Suter has really stepped up and showed his leadership ability more. We all know he is a leader but we usually saw Weber doing it on the ice now Suter is doing it because he has to but with both on the ice it will be an interesting dynamic to see who leads and who waits to supplement that. Though Trotz could split them up (blasphemy I know but hear me out) Suter with Josi has been a great line for us and Weber with someone like Ellis would be an interesting pairing. Weber brings the force both in size of his hits and the power of his shot while Ellis has that playmaking ability that Suter has and the vision not to mention a really good shot too. Those two lines would be interesting to see how they would work out. (NHL 12 dosnt really do it justice sadly)
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
I agree split them up but
I believe ellis is headed straight back to Milwaukee when weber is good to go. For one very big reason and that is contract status. Suter and weber eat up 1:30+ of PP time in any given 2 min advantage so why waste a year of his deal for 25+ seconds of PP and 10 minutes a night of toi.
Personally I hope that his contract year is saved so he is worth more in a trade package as I would rather keep blum and Josi than ellis if we are fortunate enough to get suter locked up.
Sk74, ellis, smith, erat and a 1st for bobby Ryan, selanne, beauchemin and the ducks 1st in 2013. This do able because selanne and beauchemin are ufa’s after the season and you go all in one year prior to trading weber this summer and keeping suter, rinne, and Ryan long term. With Wilson, Fisher, horny, and smith as comp pieces.
wrandsw - January 4, 2012 via mobile
Trotz said as much this morning
That Ellis would be going back down and it was a business decision, not because Ellis didn’t belong at the NHL level. But he also said some current defensemen better start worrying about their jobs cause the youngsters have more than proven their worth.
TitanPredBearFan - January 4, 2012 via mobile
DANGER JACK HILLEN DANGER
DonBorvio - January 4, 2012
If they need to split
All the talk this morning was about Parise. Why not Weber or Suter for Parise? It would prove to the one staying that the Preds are serious. Though, that long term contract on the other end might be a harder sell than Nashville.
Catwoman - January 5, 2012
Trotz
Said this morning on 102.5 that “if there is a chance to bury Fistric then the guys will bury him. We won’t pull a Slapshot move with a puck in the corner and five guys piling on, but a message will be sent. Too many guys in our locker room think too much of Webby to let it go.”
He was much more candid and didnt spout the usual PR speak. I say good on Trotz and the rest of the guys…cheap shots need to be addressed everytime and that’s something that this team tends to forget about too often.
TitanPredBearFan - January 4, 2012 via mobile
I heard that and was like “HELL YES!” Now Trotz is not going to send anyone after him intentionally but I am sure he has told the guys to be smart about it but if you get the chance to take it be sure you do. He also said that if the guys do hit him he wants to make sure they follow through on the hit.
What to expect: A Train Wreck! Is it just me or does anyone else feel more edgy for this game and think that we may see another highlight Jordin hit maybe not to Fistric but to someone from Dallas? Either way I am glad I got tickets already and in 107 i know it will be fun.
Dirk any word on how many tickets are left? yesterday there was about 2000 I am hoping for a packed house for this game. Also they will be in our division/conference/whatever they want to call it next year so this could be the start of a very heated rivalry too. (Man am i dreading the playoff push next season will all these good teams but boy will it ever make for some great hockey games)
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
Over/under on PIMS on this one?
I’m going with 70.
DonBorvio - January 4, 2012
damn you scuba steve! beat me too it
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
70 might be high for this one im putting it more at 45 with 15 of it being McGrattan and then the other 30 being everyone else
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
maybe we'll see...
Robidas try to sneak up on Tootoo again while he’s pummeling Fistric’s face into ground beef.
Shawn Kehoe - January 4, 2012
This rivalry has been heated since Modano took an overhand swing with his stick on Tootoo.
cisar - January 4, 2012
If I were Fistric
I would develop a bad case of the flu before Thursday night.
Melissa Vanderpool Wallace - January 4, 2012
the Kleinflu?
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
I did consider the Kleinfluenza
but this would be more like the I don’t want to get my bottom kicked repeatedly flu.
Melissa Vanderpool Wallace - January 4, 2012
humm tough to put an alibi together for that one. the Kleinflu would be a bit easier just say he had dinner with Klein or something
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
Wow! Interesting, because that’s polar opposite from what we heard yesterday after practice. Yesterday it was, “we’re just focused on the two points, blah blah blah, conference standings, blah blah blah…”
Marc Torrence - January 4, 2012
It all depends on which portion of what he said you want to listen to. Trotz also said he doubts anyone would go out of their way to do anything, but if someone has a chance to put a body on him, they’d probably follow through a little more. If anyone “gets” Fistric, I’m guessing it would be Tootoo, just as he dropped the gloves with Dorsett the first time Nashville played Columbus after Marty got clocked in the season opener.
Dirk Hoag - January 4, 2012
Over/Under
1) Number of seconds McGrattan plays tomorrow?
2) Number of shifts he takes?
3) Number of games supsended?
1) 56sec
2) 2 shifts
3) 5 games
discuss
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
Ways to get revenge on Fistric
Let’s hear your ideas. Most creative/funny answers will be read on the OtF podcast tonight.
Marc Torrence - January 4, 2012
Trotz needs to call up Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken, Ogie Ogilthorpe, Andre “Poodle” Lussier, Gilmore Tuttle, and Clarence “Screaming Buffalo” Swamptown.
Stormyt - January 4, 2012
The refs wonder as they skate around the rink..
what those multicolored small sticky things that are over the ice when Fistric is out on a shift. Then they hear…“Take that Mr. Meanie Bad Guy that hurt Mr. Captain Webby…that outta teach you!” Then the refs tell Mr. Coach Barry and Lindback gets sent to timeout.
TitanPredBearFan - January 4, 2012
Sh*t in his gloves.
JBoogie22 - January 4, 2012
I’d feel more compassion for Team Canada’s loss at the WJC, but they seem to revel in USA’s failures at the tournamnet. So hahahahahahaha to them! :D
Grizzledbear - January 4, 2012 via mobile
I’m cheering for the Finns tomorrow. You are welcome to join me.
CAustin - January 4, 2012
Of course! Lets hope they can Finnish what they started :P
Stormyt - January 4, 2012
Voita Suomi! (or something like that)
CAustin - January 4, 2012
Hey, watch your tongue! :p
Definately, Go Finland Go!
Grizzledbear - January 4, 2012 via mobile
Looks like anaheim is having a firesale there from the last tweets i have seen. tomorrows news and notes should be good! Will be interesting to see what the rest of the hockey world thinks of it as well. Wonder what we could get for Hillen and a 1st rounder
Shadow23 - January 4, 2012
Maybe the other teams 1st rounder. ;D
Grizzledbear - January 5, 2012 via mobile
Haha, pretty much this.
DonBorvio - January 5, 2012
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