Sunday, September 4, 2011

POTG Holiday Weekend Headlines, News, and Links

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend and will forgive me for being a day late on the holiday weekend post since we were mired in the depths of our major yard sale yesterday. I am happy to report that the clearing out of a ton of stuff was successful.

The Wade Belak Memorial Charity Drive is building momentum and is approaching the halfway point of the goal. Join in, everyone is doing it. It only costs $3.

We continue to offer up prayers for Wade Belak's family that will be at his private funeral in Nashville later today.

Make the jump for the rest of today's news and links...


Wade Belak Related News...

A big kink in the Wade Belak 'Suicide" news came from P.J. Stock at Puck Daddy who indicated that things may not be as initially appeared.

The CBC spoke with Wade Belak's mother as she was in Nashville helping to prepare for Sunday's funeral that will be a private affair. She also confirmed an earlier report that he had been treated for depression.

Dirk Hoag had the best link to the David Legwand led Predators full page ad in Saturday's Tennessean honoring their friend Wade Belak. This is truly what "The Predator Way" is all about. Thanks for doing this.

George Laraque pens an article at the Globe and Mail about what it is like to be an enforcer in the NHL.

Cam Janssen says that depression comes with the role of an NHL fighter.

Belak's ex-team mate Marty St. Louis was stunned by Belak's passing.

Georges Laraque and others talk to Kevin Allen and Erik Brady about the pressure of being an enforcer.

Stu Hackel takes a look at key questions that the NHL needs to be asking about recent tragedies.

John Lu discusses the contradictions of Wade Belak.

In Pred Nation...

One of my former haunts, Hockey Prime Time got Jim Diamond's assessments of this year's Nashville Predators.

Shea Weber was named the top fantasy D-Man and today Pekka Rinne is named the top goaltender at NHL.com. No pressure guys!

Smashville 24/7 previews the season of Colin Wilson. Ryan is optimistic for more consistency.

Taylor Aronson is previewed at On The Forecheck as is Josh Shalla.Neither of the two will get more than a cameo in camp this year.

Predatorial takes a look at the Preds' affinity for players from British Columbia.

A reminder to season ticket holders wanting to purchase additional tickets... The presale begins Monday 9/5 at 10 a.m. and will run through Friday, 9/9 at 5 p.m.

Around the NHL...

The Hockey News countdown is finally over, revealing all 30 picks in one place.

In spite of all of last year's high profile commercials for CCM last season, Alexander Ovechkin has signed with Nike in a long term deal.

Russian Machine Never Breaks has an interesting photo journey of Ovi's summer.

RLD's 30 in 30 is up to the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan also says the road to the Pacific Division crown goes through the Bay Area.

New guy, Harrison Mooney has 20 storylines for the first quarter of the NHL season at Puck Daddy.

L.A. Kings play by play guy Bob Miller has signed on for two more years.

Steven Stamkos opens up on his thoughts on NHL headshots.

The Winnipeg Free Press is now concerned that Dustin Byfuglien may have trouble at the border after his recent boating outing.

Earlier this week on RLD Hockey Radio, Elliotte Friedman said equipment was a big problem in concussions. Canadian Junior teams are switching to softer pads this year.

Manny Legacy has accepted a try out with the Vancouver Canucks. Ex=Pred, Steve Begin, has also been invited to Vancouver.

I'm sure big bucks were spent on the study to discover the cause of the Vancouver riots. Too many people, too much alcohol, and not enough security. Duh!

Here's a fun site to go to to try to identify your friends and neighbors.

Finally from @b_ryan9 First time I left Vegas without dry heaving this summer! #growingup. The Nashville crowd saw the lead up to one rough exit.

Odds and Ends...

When I was a kid, there was nothing more exciting than getting a TripTik from AAA before a family vacation. In spite of internet availability, AAA still makes them.

Space junk is out of control and the United States want's help from other countries in cleaning up their mess.

Fandango has a slide show of 58 movies opening between now and the end of the year. It is a lean lot of ones that appear interesting. I'll definitely see The Rum Diaries (10/28) and J. Edgar (11/9).

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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