all things hockey

Well, for those living under a rock, the Nashville Predators secured their 4th consecutive playoff appearance last week. We drew the same opponent we had during our first shot in the 03-04 season, the Detroit Dead Things Red Wings.

The Preds will be the 8th seed against the first seeded Wings which, for the uninitiated, means we will start this series on the road. The NHL just released the schedule for the playoffs last night, and the Preds/Wings series is as follows:

2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL
SERIES E        TIME (Central) #1 Detroit vs. #8 Nashville  Network
Thur, April 10  6:00 pm        Nashville at Detroit         VERSUS
Sat, April 12   1:00 pm        Nashville at Detroit         NBC
Mon, April 14   TBD (6pm?)     Detroit at Nashville         VERSUS
Wed, April 16   TBD (8pm?)     Detroit at Nashville         VERSUS
Fri, April 18   6:30 pm        Nashville at Detroit         VERSUS
Sun, April 20   2:00 pm        Detroit at Nashville         NBC
Tues, April 22  TBD            Nashville at Detroit

(UPDATE: Confirmed- Game 3 starts at 6:30, game 4 starts at 8:00pm)

I already have my playoff tickets, and for anyone who'd like to try to grab the (very) few that are left for games 3 or 4, direct message me on Twitter (pwnicholson) or call my Grand Central number (615-823-1734) and i will gladly hook you up with a referral to my rep (Tiffany Vanek - 770-2338) and let you buy off my account (i get referral credit - thank you new ownership!)

Anyway...

First game is of course this Thurs night. Haven't decided yet where i'll be watching it, but rest assured i will.

Game 2 (in Detroit) is going to be on NBC! Which means, that Paul and Christy get to actually watch it at home!! (We don't have cable...season tickets instead)

If you'd like to join us in East Nashville (and watch the game in HD on a 100" projector screen), just drop me a line via email, phone (615-823-1734), or Twitter (pwnicholson) for directions. Party will start shortly before the game at 1:00pm of course.

For games 3 and 4 here in Nashville - they haven't set times yet, but for the game will be on Versus and the only other game on Versus that night is scheduled for 9:00pm central, which means i think we'll get an early start - probably a 6:30pm or maybe even 6:00pm start time. Game 4 on the 16th is the reverse situation. It is on Versus again and the only other game on Versus that night starts at 6:00pm central, so we may have a late one - guessing an 8:00-8:30 start time.

I'm seriously considering getting in my "i'll be in late" request to work for the 17th now :-)

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In related news, the end of the regular season means the end of Fantasy Hockey. Final Standings ended thusly:

1. Fab Forechecker (Dirk Hoag)
2. Ice Holes (Paul McCann)
3. Rebel Mandos (Kevin Peters)
4. Preds (Paul Nicholson - me!)
5. Novice -- Fresh Meat (Kevin Hicks)
6. Disastros (David Calrson)
7. PuckNtheMouth (Brandon Felder)
   
8. Old School Blues (Gary Nicholson)
9. Nashville Starcats (Christy Nicholson)
10. Predheads (Ryan Cassell)

Not too bad all things considered. The championship bracket was everything i though it'd be, with Paul McCann (hockey blogger and PA announcer for the Predators) up against Forechecker (hockey blogger and statistician extraordinare). They actually tied 5-5-1 in the championship "game" and had to go to the tiebreaker (team goals) which Forechecker won handily (23-9). Also worth noting is Kevin's (Mandos) nice recovery from last year, where he finished 7th out of 8th in an admittedly much weaker field - this year he pounded me in the 3rd/4th place game in the final week.

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Lastly, for all those truly obsessed with hockey, make sure to watch the NHL Draft Lottery tonight. This isn't the actual draft of course, just the lottery to determine where the picks lineup. Good news for the Preds is that thanks to the Tomas Vokoun trade from last summer, we own Florida's first and second round picks, and they finished with the 9th worst record in the league. This translates in draft to mean that the Predators will have somewhere between the 5th and 10th overall pick in the draft. Show is available on Versus and online at NHL.com. Starts at 7:00pm central.