Thursday, January 20, 2011

Road Warriors are Hanging In So Far.....

Happy New Year, Preds are 8-2 so far in 2011 after the win over the Avalanche tonight. With 7 of the 10 games being on the road, the Preds are setting themselves up for a great finish to a season backloaded with home games in February/March. Preds are sitting in 4th place in the western conference, but only 3 points ahead of the 9th place Minnesota Wild so a 2 or 3 game losing streak could mean a big drop in the standings.

Other developments as I see them:
* Colin Wilson is developing superstar #1. Watch his control of the puck in tight spaces. He can get his shot off in traffic and he has tremendous skills. He will be a 30-40 goal scorer before long.
* Pekka Rinne is developing superstar #2. Big, agile and a good controller of the puck. Combine him with a strong defensive core and you see why the Preds are #3 in the NHL in allowing the least amount of goals.
* Cody Franson is developing superstar #3. With what seems to be the wingspan/reach of Wilt Chamberlain, he is combing solid defense with an awesome wrist shot and now is the Preds 3rd best defenseman and improving every week.
* Joel Ward, Jared Smithson, David Legwand all playing some of the best hockey of their careers right now.
* With Nick Spalling, Chris Mueller, Matt Halischuk, Franson, Wilson and others the Preds have some solid young talent to anchor the team for years to come.

Got a question to leave you with? Where do you put Steve Sullivan, Jordan Tootoo, Cal O'Reilly, and Matthew Lombardi when they return? Preds are now that deep and playing that well right now.

You heard it here first- JP Dumont and Steve Sullivan could be dealt at the trade deadline. Experienced guys with quality offensive skills would have value to playoff teams needing to add offense. We have younger players ready to play and at cheaper salary numbers.

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