Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Tuesday's Lunchtime Reading and POTG Podcast

Last night's POTG podcast was one of the better ones that we have had with broadcast legend Eli Gold as our special guest. Eli's new book Peanuts to the Pressbox is out nationwide this morning so he is in the middle of a whirl-wind media blitz getting the word out about the book and we were happy to help out.

In a twenty minute interview we covered a wide range of topics with Eli that hopefully will spark your interest in his book which is a great read. Alabama fans know Eli as the "Voice of the Crimson Tide" while NASCAR fans know his work with racing since 1976.

What you may not realize is that Eli Gold's roots were in hockey broadcasting with many minor league jobs, stops with the WHL's Birmingham Bulls, the St. Louis Blues and with the Nashville Predators two seasons ago. He revealed that his days with the Preds were favorites and has great memories of his time with Pete and Terry who he discusses in the book.

The last hour of the podcast consisted of a discussion of the Predators first couple of days in camp and features and extended 15 minute presser with Barry Trotz that covers a wide range of topics as camp begins.

There is also a series of short interviews with Sully, Pekka, Joel Ward, Kevin Klein, Nolan Yonkman, Ben Guite, Shea Weber, Jon Blum and Colin Wilson that should whet your appetite for Thursday night's first preseason game.

In Preds Nation...

The Predator's rookie team traveled to Atlanta last night for a game with the Thrasher rookies and got thumped 6-3. Colin Wilson, Nick Spalling and Taylor Beck scored for the Preds. While it seems like a bit of a one-sided affair, it needs to be kept in perspective. The Thrasher rookies played together all last week in Traverse City so this was their sixth or seventh game together as a team. Any other outcome would be a real surprise.

Here is more from Atlanta on the game, boxscore, a live blog and a video. All are done from the Thrashers point of view but that is the best there is. They meet again this morning at 10:00 before heading back home.

I really wish I was able to attend the Preds camp during the week but work prevails. Jeremy from Section303 and Rachel from What the Puck have had minute by minute Twitter updates at @cellblock303 and @whatthepuck and detailed daily accounts at their web sites. I will defer to them for camp updates for now.

John Glennon has also been doing a great job at camp with several stories including Barry Trotz expecting big things from Legwand and Erat, and today's notes column. He is also doing ongoing camp notes at Inside Predators. The best story out of camp on Monday was the early fisticuffs between Hugh Jessiman and Nolan Yonkman who are both listed at 6'6".

Matt from ViewFromMySeats has a humorous look at the Phil Kessel to the Predators rumor.

Jim Diamond from the Examiner has Five Questions (and answers) with Joel Ward.

I had a chance to talk to Holly Gunning of Hockey's Future at Preds camp on Sunday. She was traveling back to Atlanta after spending a week at the Traverse City Rookie games and stopped by the Pred's camp. I asked her who was the most impressive player in TC and without hesitating she declared the Hurricane's Zack Boychuk. While Holly was here she got with Preds prospect Charles-Oliver Roussell for an interview on his birthday.

The Predators announced their Promo Schedule for 2009-10 and everyone's favorites are back. There is even a new one for Tuesday games and a day of game special that must be a part of the national stimulus package.

Around the NHL...

The season's first exhibition game was held last night between the Islanders and Canucks. LightHouseHockey has an update. Many folks on Long Island are feeling rough this morning from staying up late and eating too many Oreo cookies.

By the time you read this the registration for the NHL Winter Classic "lottery" will be open. There's really no reason not to participate. If you are allowed to purchase tickets and can't go, someone else will be very happy to pay you a large amount of money to take your place. What have you got to lose?

Today is another red-letter day for Hockey gamers as NHL 10 has been released. That is all Jackson wants for his birthday so we will head out to Walmart tonight to pick up his copy. Sometimes it is a good thing to live in a small town in a "non-traditional" hockey market. Jackson adds @jacksonoakes: Getting @NHL10 today! If I were any place other than Tennessee, I might be worried about it being sold out.

Kevin Allen from USA Today has a rather bland look at the Central division.

In Phoenix, today is the deadline for final filings to be made of the offers that were given verbally last Friday in court. There is really no way to know where the judge is headed but I think the no sale option is in a slight lead over the NHL offer with Ballsillie's bid being in third place. The wild card is that from the beginning Judge Baum has been concerned that he did not want to set precedent as to the relocation issue and who can be an owner issue. It makes you wonder if that is the outcome he has been leaning toward, but not wanting to have to actually pull the trigger and do it.

Psycho Hockey Lady has her weekly Tuesday Top Ten that features a lot of weird hockey stuff that may be a must have for you. She also has a post from yesterday about her undercover trip to Switzerland for the 2009 World Championship. I got a Tweet from Katrina and she is now ready for her POTG Radio debut. Stay tuned for programming details. This will be one you do not want to miss.

One of my favorite Twitter follows is Chris Johnson from the Canadian Press. Chris was on his game last night with three humorous entries. RT @reporterchris: Robert Esche named top goaltender of the week in KHL. He turned down a chance to play for the #coyotes in favour of a return to Russia. RT @reporterchris: The #leafs have invited media to sample new hot dogs that will be served this season. Seriously. RT @reporterchris: My flight out of Phoenix is canceled, potentially keeping me from making it to #leafs hot dog tasting tomorrow.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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