Preds, Hockey, and some random musings on both:

Well thanks for making me feel so welcome, Mike. Chris tells me he's known you for decades, so you must be a pretty cool guy. I am, indeed, a huge Preds fan, and will take this, my second post, to address the Preds and hockey in general. So, here, in random order, are my thoughts:
1. Mark Eaton and Martin Erat were the two most-improved players last year, and have the most upside of maybe any player on the team. I went to almost 25 games last year, including all three playoff games, and Eaton and Erat will be the future superstars of the team. Eaton plays solid defense, with passing skills similar to Kimmo's, and that dude is always in the right place--contrasting that would be He Who Shall Not Be Named, or Andy Delmore, who seemed to singlehandedly cost a goal in every game through bad positioning or overly offensive play (I still cringe thinking about that Edmonton game two years ago where we needed a win to stay in it, and Delmore just lets Mike Comrie glide right around him with no one left back....Comrie scores and our playoff hopes are over...ugh). My feelings on Erat are best summed up by one play. Last year, during one of the home playoff games (I believe game 4, but I'm not positive) he found himself behind the net with the puck and no less than three Red Wings closing in on him. And for the next several seconds he played catch with himself by using the back of the net. The phrase, "That guy could stick-handle in a phone booth" comes to mind. He lost the puck finally in going around for a shot, but the proof of his hands was already laid bare. He's also the fastest guy on the team. I remember Horachek (now a Preds assistant, but the head coach for the Admirals two years ago when Erat spent almost the whole year in the minors) saying "It's really just not fair to the other teams for us to have Erat out there. He's so much faster than anyone I've ever seen and just skates circles around opposing players." I've seen that Erat speed up close and let me tell you, he's faster than Legwand, faster than Sully, and even faster than A.J. (who is not likely to remain a Pred....sigh). Remember, both these guys are way young, early to mid twenties, and are only going to improve.
2. There will be a lockout...and it might last longer than January, thus killing our team's chance of survival. And the reason it'll happen is spite. You're right about hockey players loving the game, and you'd think the NHLPA would learn from the recent dilemas baseball suffered when the players looked greedy. However, there's something extra here...something I can only call spite. These guys want money, to be sure, but they also don't want to be told what to do by the owners. Read their quotes and you will see that there is spite. There is distrust, there is anger, there is emotion that is not just talk. They have to know the league is in trouble, but they've taken so much crap from the owners for years that they're just tired of it....fed up. They are aiming to prove a point, not work out a deal...and that's what scares me. If we can come out of this thing with Nashville still having the Preds...then we'll be dominate for years to come, as we are best positioned of all the teams to take advantage of a salary cap or luxury tax. Keeping my fingers crossed.
3. Having Vokoun signed for three years makes me giddy as a schoolboy with a brand new Trapper Keeper. He's the backbone, and quite the stud. The fact that he's a diagnosed Obsessive Compulsive is why I think he's such a workhorse. He never lets anyone take blame for him, and often takes it for others. He wants to play every game. I heard Trotz on the radio talking about how giving a game of rest to Vokoun actually makes him practice twice as hard and twice as long, so that a day of rest is actually like working him harder....which is why Trotz just plays him most of the time. Gotta love a guy like that. He's the anti-Dunham, without a phantom groin pull in sight.
4. Loved your game 6 recap! It brought back so many memories. I wish I'd been blogging then, and I might have written my own thoughts...but there's always next year!