Hank

LOL! They're averaging around 12,000 PAID attendance. It's been reported that there is anywhere between 1000 and 3000 comped tickets given out to each game. Those don't count as paid attendance. There's no way in hell they will get 14,000 averaged over the next 38 games. Team selling+Bad Team+Nobody in Nashville cares about the Preds = Kansas City or Hamilton. I should also note that from the Preds games I've watched through the center ice package, there might be no more than 8,000 actual people in the building. Looks like that rally they held this summer really fired up the hockey faithful!

Will that job involve him keeping his head up? No, but he was still a bust. He was great for a very short time and I think his PPG is still in the top 10. But if you weigh the expectations he carried to what he actually accomplished he was a bust. Scouts and GM's felt he had the ability to win multiple Cups, Conn Smyth Art Ross and Hart trophies. He won 1 of the 4. And only once. Lindros's greatest asset turned out to be his biggest downfall - his size. I remember watching him in junior and because of his size and speed, teams would back up and let him do whatever he wanted. He could literally skate an entire game staring at his laces without any repercussions. He couldn't do that in the NHL and it's why his head is a mush mellon now. I wish him luck in the PA. He was a treat to watch for about 5-6 years.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I heard something this morning that will prove whether the local business group really wants to keep the team in Nashville. I thought I heard it reported that the city is willing to restructure the current lease agreement ,that will be heavily in favour of the new ownership, but if they do this the lease will be extended for more years without any clauses in it. So essentially, no matter how poorly the Preds do or how horribly they draw, you will never be able to move the team from Nashville. If this is all true, then Freeman will have to put his money where his mouth is. He's been stating this whole time that he's doing this to save the Preds from ever going anywhere else. This new sweet lease agreement gives him everything he's asking for and will make certain the Preds never leave town. If he doesn't jump on this, then he's a hypocrite and my suspicions will be correct that he only wants to move the team out to KC for his gangster buddy.

Nobody ever has to worry about Holland, Nill, Bowman or anyone competent leaving their posts to work for the Leafs. Hiring Holland or Nill would be a smart move by the Leafs. And if there's anything that we're sure of, it's that the Leafs do not make smart hockey decisions. The fact that they gave an EXTENTION to JFJ last year tells you that they have no clue. I'm confident that JFJ will sign a 45 year extention at $4M a year in the coming days. He'll then promptly trade Sundin and Kaberle for Yashin and Huskins. And then when they get the 1st overall pick, he'll trade John Tavares for Steve Downie. Soon there will be a statue erected of JFJ outside the ACC for all to praise. Long live the Leafs awesome decision makers!!! You're giving them too much credit.

I heard on the radio today that Cheli is tickled pink about Paul Kelly getting the job and he made a point to say that it reminded him of when Goodenow was appointed. He said the circumstances that surrounded Bob's hiring are almost identical to what's going on now. This scares me greatly. It's been well documented that when Goodenow came into office the Union became extremely militant resulting in 3 work stoppages in 13 years. I can almost guarentee you that the union will reopen the CBA after next season and there will be another stoppage. If Kelly is anything like Goodenow he won't care about the game, the fans or the league. He'll only care about the players and getting them as much money as possible. The reason why I think there could be a strike is that the PA knows that the league and the owners can't afford another work stoppage. They'll try to use that as leverage. If the owners don't bend, we'll be right back to where we were 3 years ago. But if there is a strike, I hope the league uses scabs. And then they can push certain rules into the game that the PA would have been dead set against - rules like smaller goalie gear. As much as I respect Chelios I think he's exactly what's wrong with unions and the issues that have plagued the relationship between the NHL and the PA.

I'd say the Preds are all but gone: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...015/1002/SPORTS I've been reading some of the posts over at the Nashville Message boards and things don't look good: http://boards.nashvillepredators.com/index...?showtopic=7202 And now that the teams lost 6 games in a row and to some of the poorer teams, I don't see that attendance getting any better. This whole scenario wreaks of "Major League". Everyone that's lining up to buy this team wants to move it. The 'local' group that includes a heavy hitter from LA wants the team in KC who offer a very sweet lease deal while Ballsillie wants the team in Hamilton. I'd prefer the team goes to Hamilton because the league needs stability and we all know the team will thrive there. KC would be nice, as a Wings fan, because it would help us move East when expansion hits. In any event, I don't see the Preds averaging more than 12,000 paid attendance the rest of the year. Stick a fork in them, they're done.

I like Flip but I don't think he's ready to be the #2 centre. Wings need to get a winger so they can separate Z and Dats to give us more depth and balance.

I agree. Besides, there would be a revolt if the Leafs dealt Sundin before they dished off McCabe, Kubina or Gill.

Are you kidding me???? Homer Simpson couldn't beat Grigs in those categories!

Grigs is lazy and he sucks.

They can have him. Sure, I'd love it if we nabbed him but he's so brittle these days. He was an absolute bust for the Preds and I'm sure there's a good chance he'll be injured again or a non-factor.

This photo is SO unrealistic. Everyone knows that Grigs wears #21 and I don't see Forsberg having any right to take it away from him. I'd go for that too. Amen brother! I love Lucic! I would give up half our prospects for one of his kind.

Great article. Thanks for posting this. I just wish the Wings could get an NCAA scout equivalent to Andersson.

He's in seclusion. Things escalated pretty quickly.

And it's gotta feel like a slap in the face for players like McGrath, Quincy, Ericson or Kindl who worked their asses off in the summer and showed the Wings brass a lot more than what Grigs has put up.

Finally, Grigs has returned to the Wings:

I really don't see his skills shining through on the NHL stage. He's basically been a non-factor in the AHL and he probably should be sent to the ECHL. I think it would be best if this experiment just died. I'm sure there are lots of players in the system that are thrilled that a fat, lazy, out-of-shape player leapfrogs them to the bigtime because he showed potential 4 years ago.

Couldn't agree more. There is absolutely no excuse for any pro athlete to show up out of shape. Grigs knows that he can dial it in the RSL and make a lot of money doing that. You can't do that in the NHL. If Crosby did nothing in the offseason I'm sure he'd be a 3rd line scrub. Grigs in his best shape is probably a good 3rd line forward.

Well I guess all they can do is give him a shot with the big club and see how it goes. But I have a feeling he'll be back in Russia in 2 weeks time.

Thanks for the report. Doesn't sound too good when he's the worst player on the ice. Hopefully it was only 1 game but the fact that he has 0 points in 5 games says a lot too.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I've told my Leaf fan buddies before that T.O. will never, ever win the Cup with McCabe and Tucker on their team. Both take an awful lot of stupid penalties and both love to run their mouths with the refs. Tucker is a P.O.S. in every sense of the word and the Leafs would be far better off to deal him ASAP. What the Leafs need to do is clean house from top to bottom. From RIchard Peddie to JFJ to Maurice to half their roster, they need to start fresh. This team will not make the playoffs for a 3rd season in a row with Peddie and JFJ being chiefly responsible. Both are horrible, horrible hockey men and should be serving me my french fries instead of running a storied NHL franchise like the Leafs.

I'm not saying the team has to be turned around but I do think that more than one piece needs to be added if the Wings want to play a style similar to the Ducks or Sharks. Lately I've heard from a lot of Wings fans that wish our team was more physical with a bang-and-crash style (I'm one of them). But in order for that to happen I think the Wings need at least two physical wingers with 20 goal potential and two physical dmen. Calling up Quincy and adding another physical dman would be the trick. But as is, the Wings have a very good team and should contend for the Cup again. I guess I'm just one of the minority that would gamble with our current core to build a more North American team that likes to rough up their opponents when things get out of hand.

First off Eklund makes things up out of thin air. The other day on XM204 he said that the Leafs were looking to deal Kaberle. This suggestion is beyond absurd. Kaberle is their best dman and he's a bargain at under $5M. If anyone is getting dealt from T.O. it's Kubina or McCabe (yes i know that McCabe has a NTC, but I seriously think McCabe would consider getting out of town due to his whipping boy status). Anyway, I don't think Montreal has any intention of getting rid of Latendresse anytime soon. Not only is he young, tough and talented but he's also French-Canadian. I highly, highly doubt the Habs have any interest of getting rid of a kid like that unless someone like Kronwall is coming back in return. The Habs would have to get someone of exceptional talent in return if they're going to tell their loyal french fan base that they just dealt a francophone for another European. Eklund is such a phony and none of his rumours (see - stuff he's read on sportsnet forums) are even close to being true of feasible. In the end, the Wings should have grabbed Malone from the Pens when he was in the doghouse and had one foot on the way out of Pittsburgh. Also, it's not going to take one hard-nosed North American, it's going to take 3 or 4 skilled gritty N.A.'s to turn this teams makeup around. It's the same reason why Bert never really got going. How do you change a Euro style with one gritty Canadian? It's going to take a handful.

Amen. That's when fighting can be used for good. In last nights Boston-Tampa game Roy and Thornton went at it. No punches landed and it ended with one grappling the other to the ice. After the tussle was done they both patted each other and went to the box. It really did nothing for the game as neither player had cheapshotted someone, nor was there any tom foolery occuring either. The two basically squared off to give the crowd a cheer and to show their coaches they're good for something. That type of fight is boring. What really made me laugh was that just before this fight occured, Bruins rookie Milan Lucic went at it with Nick Tarnasky. Both seemed to be pissed about something and both threw their hands with abandon. There was no strategy, just good 'ole knuckle chucking. It was a great fight and the fans and the players loved it. So when the Roy-Thornton fight broke out, the Bruins play-by-play guy says "Now we'll see how two experts do this. This should be better" (or something to that effect). Goon on Goon fights are almost always boring. It's because they're so good at it that there's rarely any clean punches landed. It's not like it was in the day when enforcers like Twist, Probert or McCrae genuinely disliked each other. Nowadays it seems that goons are best buddies and politely ask one another to dance. I would rather see 1 Lucic bout than 1000 fights with the leagues top goons. And speaking of Lucic, this kid is going to be special. He has a good skill set and he loves to throw them. Now I see why people in Boston are starting to call him Neely Jr. I would LOVE a kid like that in Detroit!

Nope, only the first goal would count and the clock would get reset after that goal. It would be like the other goal never happened.