Monday, March 1, 2010

Canada Wins Gold, Weekend Wrap-Up and POTG Radio Tonight

Sunday's game was a heart-breaker for US fans when Canada's third goal entered the net in overtime but by now, Americans should leave behind the pain and be proud of the silver medal that we received. Hopefully, we will see a gold and a silver in person at the Predators game on Tuesday night.

While US fans would have loved gold, we have to find celebration in our hearts for all of our Canadian friends who won the gold medal on their home rink in front of a heavily partisanship Canadian crowd.

Had the US won, it would have been a big win for the States, but it would have been an even bigger devastating loss for Canada

Overall, the USA's 37 total medals at the games was a new Winter Games record which should be a point of national pride. Canada's 14 gold medals is also a point of pride for them as they finished third in the overall count.

Canada may have taken home the gold medal but the big winner on Sunday was the game of hockey. With probably the largest TV hockey audience ever, NBC got their dream match up and one of the best final games they could ever ask for. To top it off, their poster boy, Sidney Crosby, had the game winning goal.

Another big winner on the international stage were the Nashville Predators. For years folks have ignored the Preds and wondered how they were always in the playoff chase. With Weber's net busting exploits and Suter being the key defenseman on Team USA, more people will understand what we have going in Nashville. Hopefully, a few more locals will want to come out and watch them play.

One final comment on the game. I have never been able to admit that Sidney Crosby is the best hockey player in the world but I will go on record with it now. Even though he didn't have the best tournament he came through when it counted on the biggest stage in the world.

POTG Radio Tonight...

Everyone else is talking trade deadline so we are going to do something a little different with tonight's show. We will have three totally different kinds of guests in a fast paced show.

First up, we will have Steve Silver the President of Sani Sport who has developed technology to keep hockey players healthy.

Then we will have Sheri from PekkaRinne.com who has put together a great site featuring everything you would ever need to know about Pekka himself.

Finally, we will have our good friend Launy Schwartz from Hockey54 to get a Canadian view on Canada's big win and what it means for the country.

Thanks to Section 303...

Big thanks to Section 303 for hosting their Gold Medal Viewing party at Bleachers in Franklin. With about 100 folks attending, it was as big as the Pred Tweetup on the opening night of last year's playoffs. Jeremy and Codey did a great job preparing and gave a ton of stuff away. Jackson and I look good together in our matching Team USA scarfs.

One of the postgame highlights was a mention of the viewing party in Nashville right before the medals were handed out. Here's a link to a clip of the mention. The hockey world is going to eventually recognize some of the "non-traditional" market traditions that have caught on to make Nashville a burgeoning hockey market.

In Pred Nation...

With the roster freeze ending at midnight Eastern last night and the trade deadline on Wednesday, John Glennon talks about what the Preds might do. He also has his blog about the final two Preds at the Olympics.

Bryan Mullen reports that four of the Pred Olympians were back at practice on Sunday.

Jim Diamond has his weekly prospect round-up. and also takes a look at Dave Gunnarsson's artwork.

Chris Burton looks at the stretch drive at On The Forecheck.

The official story and pictures from the Preds Gala are up at the Pred's site. These are fairly tame compared to last year. Most of the guys look a little too "normal" in the outfits. Nashville must be rubbing off on them.

Mark Dekanich got his third shut out as the Admirals rolled over Peoria 4-0. Short Shifts has the story.

Olympic Notes...

Ryan from the RedLightDistrict, who I sat with for the game, has the game story. Jake Duhaime has another one.

Other Nashville blog posts include, See Puck City, Forechecker, Preds Fanantic, and What the Puck.

BC Local News has a "local" story on Shea Weber's gold.

Dirk has the final stats for the six Predators in the Olympics at On The Forecheck.

Puck Report has the medal breakdown by teams. The Ducks had the most with 7 and San Jose had the most gold with four.

Around the NHL...

Mirtle looks at the top ten sellers and buyers at the trade deadline.

Odds and Ends...

My favorite surfer, Kelly Slater, has made a 3D IMAX surf film that will be called "Ultimate Wave Tahiti". Here is a trailer. Slater lists Beyond Blazing Boards, Storm Riders, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High as some of his favorite movies.

My favorite movie of all time is Goodfellas. Here is a feature that shows where all the cast members are today and what they are doing.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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