Legionnaire11

nobody could have seen an uglier game than me. my school is MTSU (Middle Tennessee State) who won 7-6 over Florida International (another highly prestigous school ) an opening drive touchdown. and then nothing. a missed extra point, two missed field goal attempts and the highlight of the game... a 79 yard punt. Total combined offense for both teams... 420 yards!!!!

Nice game for Vandy. I knew they couldn't win this one, but at least they didn't get totally smoked. Bennett dropped one in the endzone (though, probably out of bounds) and Vandy got a lot of help from michigan's sloppy play. If Bennett had scored again, and Michigan didn't tack on that 7 at the end, it would have been a dream come true 20-14. Oh well, Vandy has to be feeling confident going into Alabama!!! Good game today. Good luck to Michigan this season, I actually do like the wolverines, it's only the Wings that I can't stand. My high school was the wolverines, blue and white though, but we played the victors for our fight song!

reading more at ek's site. it sounds like maybe he really doesn't expect anything to happen. but still... e4? you can't just throw that out there and then say "but, it could turn out that nothing happens".

I hope that he ends up with the Wings. If he sucks, better for me. If he's good, better for entertainment's sake. e4 is as high as you can go without being confirmed. This is the kind of rumor that makes or breaks Eklund. e1, e2 doesn't mean crap but people rip him for that stuff. e4 is really sticking his neck out, so I wouldn't be surprised if this really happens. The wings reportedly offered Dumont more money than the preds, so i'm sure they can come up with an attractive package for Carter.

Don't think I've mentioned it yet. Along with being an a-hole Preds fan!! i'm also a huge Vanderbilt fan!!!!! Though, there isn't much to discuss when it comes to Michigan-Vandy. Just go easy on them please!

wouldn't that be the same as a defensive penalty? The game couldn't end on that play, the kicking team would get (I think) 15 yards from where the ball went out of bounds and then the recieving team would have one free play with 0:00 on the clock for a hail mary.

If this happens, at least Boston can be sure that Shanahan won't be a playoff dissapointment with them...

Most in the reporting business tend to be way off more than they are on. But newspaper, television and other news reporting sites like TSN have certain standards like two sources, and they don't report anything until it's official. Whereas Eklund reports everything that comes down the pipe. I bet that if TSN reported every rumor that they ever got, people would call them the biggest joke in sports media.

Eklund isn't always wrong, he's certainly much more informed than most people who like to predict signings/trades. As far as his track record with the Predators. He reported Kariya the day before it happened when no one had even dreamed up the possiblity that he was on our wish list. At the time all the talk was Eric Lindros because the Preds had lots of wingers and needed a big center. Next day... Paul Kariya signs with Nashville. Don't tell me you heard about it before it happened either, because you didn't. Eklund did. And this season. He's been saying that Arnott was headed to Nashville for the past 2-3 weeks when everyone else was saying that Arnott wasn't going to be an option for us, poile was going to play the wait and see game. Then, sunday rolls around and Arnott is a Predator. I keep on top of most trade rumors, and especially when it comes to the Preds and no one had those before Eklund. I don't buy most of what he reports, but that doesn't mean that he's a complete joke like most of you on these boards would like to believe.

Thats how officiating goes when Shaq is involved. he is just such a different kind of beast that it's hard to fit him into the rules and still be fair to both sides. Even without the calls, Shaq has looked great out there, better than he has in many years, and when Shaq is on his game, there is nothing that anyone can do to stop him. that said, the Pistons have to hit their free throws no matter how many or how few they get. It looks like the heat are having more fun than the Pistons and the Pistons are just too tight right now to play their game.

Reported by many media outlets, Jeb Bush has been contacted about his interest in becoming the next commissioner of the national football league. Bush hasn't gone into details, but said he was contacted and he will consider his options once his term as governor of Florida is over. Thought?

David Legwand put in a vote for Hatcher

digging up an old Thread. But now with his 18 homers, Albert Pujols is the most exciting guy in baseball. he's on pace for 86 homers right now, of course that won't happen, but he's gonna make it interesting this season.

ducks are up 1-0

first post in here, I generally stick to general discussion

I don't feel bad for delmore... he can score pp goals from the point, and not much else. Philly let him go because he's a terrible defenseman, Nashville let him go because he's a terrible defenseman, Detroit let him go because he's a terrible defenseman and columbus sent him down because? He's a terrible defenseman. His offensive upside isn't enough to outweigh his completely horrible defenseive play. Trotz tried to get Delmore to move up and play LW, but delmore refused. bad attitude to go with bad defense = never succeeding in the NHL.

I doubt that Holland had a trade for Witt. Poile said yesterday that he's been working on Witt since the draft. When if came down to it, it was either one of our top prospects or the first round pick. Poile sent the pick, and I think thats the better deal. Either way, I don't think any other teams were as close to Witt as people believed, Washington was just playing that card to get more out of Poile and it worked.

"The time I stopped a Mathieu Schneider Slap Shot" - Tomas Vokoun

never said we would have the same record with any other starter. just that we would still be a winning team. I believe I said we wouldn't be battling at the top of the conference, but that we would be a playoff team. I also never claimed that the Preds would win the cup. one of my first posts on these boards said that I think they are a second round team. conference finals if we get the right pieces at the trade deadline. and I also never said that Rinne would win a playoff series. But, too many people are saying that the only reason the Predators win is because of Vokoun. or they say "just because you have a good goalie, doesn't make you a good team". Well, my argument to that is that we still win when we don't have Vokoun in net. So, obviously the Predators are a good team.

Actually They are 6-3-1 when Mason/Finley/Rinne are starting. So I don't understand all the talk about how much of a drop off the Preds would suffer if they had to rely on the backups. And my argument was that if you take any other starter in the league and put them on the Predators INSTEAD of Vokoun, they would still be a playoff team. How can you really argue that? I also didn't say they were better than the Wings. I do believe that the Wings are the better team. Another case of someone lumping all Preds fans into the same group. And lastly, if this is the luckiest the Predators will be all season... I'LL TAKE IT!!! because that means that we've won all those other games on pure talent. ...So yes, my point stands. The Predators really are that good.

Some thoughts following last night's game: 1. Predator Trolls, please stay off opponents message boards. Other Preds fans, welcome. 2. Manny played a good game, two mistakes by a goalie shouldn't decide a game, the wings offense was just not good. 3. Manny/Ozzie haters, Consider that there is a salary cap in the NHL now. If you aquire a true #1 goalie, it will come at a higher cost than a 4th liner or prospects. To bring in a Luongo or Nabakov will require a skilled player or two in return. 4. Vokoun haters. Face it, the guy is just that good. You can continue to say "lucky" all you want but I doubt the Wings would use that word. 5. Preds haters in general. Face it, the Predators are just that good. You can continue to say "they're crap without Vokoun" but I doubt the rest of the league would say that. Plug any starting goalie into the Preds in place of Vokoun and they are still a playoff team, maybe not best in the west, but playoffs. 6. Officials sucked once again... 8 in the first, 8 in the second, 1 in the third... you can't be serious? Bogus calls on both teams, missed calls on both teams. NHL officiating is a Travesty, a Sham and a Mockery... it's a Traveshamockery!!! 7. I said it before the first meeting of the season, the Wings need a faster defense that can pass the puck better. Both Nashville goals were on breakaways, the D had no chance to catch up to Sullivan or Kariya. Conversely, the Wings had no breakaways, they had a lot of 3-2's but were consistently beaten to the puck by the Preds D. 8. These two games were intense. I can only imagine the level of anticipation on April 18th if it comes down to deciding the Conference/Home Ice in that game. 9. The division is of course, no where near decided, and the Predators might not claim sole posession of first at all this season... but with games against Minnesota and Columbus, while Detroit is facing Vancouver and Dallas, there is a good chance for the Preds to make the pass this weekend. Take Care!!

Something interesting to watch tonight. I think it quietly made a huge difference in the game last night. That is the battles in front of the net between Holmstrom and Markov. I know at first glance you will say that there is no contest here. But last night, Markov did a remarkable job of staying on Holmstrom and getting Vokoun a few extra inches of sight lines.

Some thoughts on last night’s game: 1. I wish the Predators had won by two goals, it doesn’t feel like a win. And I can’t even imagine how it feels to a wings fan. But those were the rules agreed upon by both teams and the league, so you can’t really complain one way or the other about it. 2. 17 penalties is a lot. The officiating in the NHL is a joke, the stuff the call and the stuff they let go is just disgusting. 3. Vokoun played out of his mind last night. But the Predators are not worthless without Vokoun as many would suggest. I believe Chris Mason also has a winning record and we won when our 4th goalie Pekka Rinne was in net as well. 4. On the subject of goalies, the last 3 or 4 wings games that I’ve watched, they only allowed 15-20 shots on goal. Almost every interview I’ve ever heard with a top goaltender over the past 10 years has included some time where the goalie will say that he prefers to face a lot of shots, and that he plays better when he faces more shots. As strange as it sounds, maybe it would help the wing’s goalies if they actually allowed a few more shots per game, or at least a more steady dose of shots rather than dominating the offensive zone for 5 minutes and the goalie goes to sleep. 5. No way the outcome is close to the same tonight. Wings win big time… 6-3.