Jen and I went to Preds Young Player Development Camp yesterday. This is a time when the Predators work with their players who aren't playing on the NHL level yet and assess the areas that they would like to see them improve.
Players that we looked at in particular are as follows. Zach Budish, the 6'3" 223# forward that the Predators signed in the second round a couple of years ago, has recovered from his second knee injury. The first occuring while playing football in high school and the second being a moped accident while at college.
Mattias Ekholm, 6'4" defenseman from Sweden, looks like a very promising prospect who may get some playing time with the Predators this coming season.
Jen like the playful exhuberance of a defenseman named Anthony Bitetto. It will be difficult for him to make the Preds roster as there are numerous Preds ahead of him namely Ekholm, Roman Josi, Teemu Laakso, and Ryan Ellis.
There are a few prospects who were invited to the camp but not yet signed by the Preds. Two we noted because of their names. Scott Valentine is a big forward who I don't expect to make it because he was slow and gassed after some of the exercises. Another was Joel Champagne. I heard someone say that you can't celebrate the Cup without Champagne. Jen, of course, wants his sweater.
Two trades have taken place in the last 36 hours involving the Preds. The first was Andreas Thurreson from the Preds for Brodie Dupont from the Rangers. This was basically a decent substitution player from the Preds for a physical up-and-coming 4th liner from the Rangers.
The second trade comes with a little more questioning from Preds fans. Preds sending Matthew Lombardi and defenseman Cody Franson to Toronto for d-man Brett Lebda and physical prospect Robert Slaney. This seems like a big negative for the Predators because the Preds are losing a second line d-man with a lot of scoring ability and a top six forward while only recieving a so-so veteran d-man and an unheralded prospect. What the Preds are really gaining is cap space since Lombardi missed most of last year due to a concussion so the they can sign Shea Weber and make some more acquisitions.
Preds fans are just hoping that all of this is in GM David Poile's magical plan that he creates each year that has the "experts" counting the Preds out and yet they still somehow make the playoffs.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Last week of June, 2011
I took no notes this week since I wasn't planning on doing a blog but here goes.
The Predators have had a busy week. A lot of controversy started when the NHLPA claimed that the Preds didn't tender their restricted free agents in time by the Monday 5:00 EDT deadline. The point of contention is over the definition of "tender" and when does it actually occur.
The Predators are also conducting a player development camp for their prospects who are coming up in their system. This includes those drafted last weekend.
The Titans are not doing much as the lock out still continues.
On the Titans front, I did hear an interview on 104.5 the Zone of Jake Locker, the Titan's number 1 draft pick this year. I am impressed and I look forward to seeing him on the field one day.
104.5 the Zone also covered a commitment day of 3 high school football players out at D1 Sportplex. One of them is the #2 ranked RB in his class by Rivals.com. All three are commiting to Vanderbilt University. New coach, James Franklin, is creating a lot of buzz. It seems as though he may be to Vandy football what Bruce Pearl was to University of Tennessee basketball a few years back. Let's just hope that this doesn't end like that one did, for Vandy's sake.
These are all that I could come up with off the top of my head. I am going to watch the Preds player development camp this morning so I will try to give a report. Till next time.
The Predators have had a busy week. A lot of controversy started when the NHLPA claimed that the Preds didn't tender their restricted free agents in time by the Monday 5:00 EDT deadline. The point of contention is over the definition of "tender" and when does it actually occur.
The Predators are also conducting a player development camp for their prospects who are coming up in their system. This includes those drafted last weekend.
The Titans are not doing much as the lock out still continues.
On the Titans front, I did hear an interview on 104.5 the Zone of Jake Locker, the Titan's number 1 draft pick this year. I am impressed and I look forward to seeing him on the field one day.
104.5 the Zone also covered a commitment day of 3 high school football players out at D1 Sportplex. One of them is the #2 ranked RB in his class by Rivals.com. All three are commiting to Vanderbilt University. New coach, James Franklin, is creating a lot of buzz. It seems as though he may be to Vandy football what Bruce Pearl was to University of Tennessee basketball a few years back. Let's just hope that this doesn't end like that one did, for Vandy's sake.
These are all that I could come up with off the top of my head. I am going to watch the Preds player development camp this morning so I will try to give a report. Till next time.
Something New
A friend has recently suggested that I create a blog about things happening in sports in and related to Nashville. I am a sports junkie and a lot of my friends come to me for information because I stayed plugged into the Nashville sports scene by listening to sports talk radio (8 hours a day at my day job), reading all the internet sites and blogs, and attending various sporting events and functions. My blog is not going to be the most in depth coverage but rather a synopsis of what has happened the past week. Keep reading my posts and we will see how this goes.
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