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Thanksgiving Weekend Recap · Predators Official Podcast

0:02
Parson left side to. The middle What a move by Philip
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Forsberg, one of the best from Scoresberg.
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It's the podcast that loves the hockey team you love.
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Sorrow stops. Him with the blocker.
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This is The Predator's official podcast with Cara Hammer and Max
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hers for. The empty net and hits it on
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about. Five and one O 6 three.
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The game at nashvillepredators.com.
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It is December and it is the Predators official podcast here
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on your radio home for Prez Hockey, ESPN.
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One O 2 five and one O 6 three. The game.
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My name is Max Hers from Predators Radio, joined as
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always by Kara Hammer from Predators TV.
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Hello Hammer. Can you believe it is December
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2nd? That's pretty nuts to me.
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I'm not quite mentally prepared that it's December, especially
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when I was like pulling out the advent calendar and I'm like, Oh
1:00
my gosh, time's just flying by. It was Thanksgiving and then
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bam, I woke up and it's December 1st now.
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December 2nd as we're recording this.
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Yeah, you're not too far away from missing days on the advent
1:10
calendar if you're just pulling it out now, which is insane to
1:13
think about. It's only because I have toddler
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Christmas pyjamas. You know, you got to do the
1:19
whole thing if you don't know about this, but you have to have
1:22
the matching family set and you only have 25 days to wear them,
1:25
so you really have to execute it.
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So you have to start on December 1st all.
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Right. These are things that I will
1:31
learn in parenthood I guess, but sounds like you and Remy have it
1:34
down. We've we've got it, yeah.
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I'm sure Remy is adorable for Christmas.
1:39
So far, Predators have had an interesting week.
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How about OO and three since the last Podcast episode 3 Overtime
1:48
losses, 2 at home, one in Minnesota, all by the same final
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score of three to two. It's been frustrating,
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especially for Predators fans in all of these games, too.
2:00
Max, I felt like they had a chance to win.
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I know that when I was talking with Gus Nyquist going into the
2:06
first game, he said, hey, we need points whether they come at
2:09
home or on the road. And although they were able to
2:12
pick up three points, it just feels frustrating that they
2:14
weren't able to walk away with the full 6 during the last three
2:18
games. Yeah, they had chances
2:20
throughout each game. They had chances in overtime in
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all three of the games. Let's go back through them real
2:26
quick, starting with Thanksgiving Eve last Wednesday
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on home ice against the Flyers. This may have been the toughest
2:32
1 to take of the three, and we'll go chronologically, but it
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started with two fun Preds debuts. 2 defensemen called up
2:39
that morning. Nick Blankenberg, formerly of
2:42
the Blue Jackets, makes his Predators debut playing on the
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second pair with Brady Shea, and Adam Willsby makes his NHL debut
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playing on the third pair with Luke Shen.
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Great to see those guys get going in gold.
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They played in all three games this week.
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Kara. I think all three of them have
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shown really well and have gotten better game by game too.
3:01
Have had a big impact. I think the biggest thing that
3:04
stood out to me, Max, about the guys coming in was just how
3:09
sound defensively they were able to play.
3:11
You know, not a lot of talk about them after the game.
3:13
High praise from Bruno on their skill set, but also adding them
3:17
into the line up. I think we saw kind of an up in
3:19
the blue line play. Romanosi got the scoring
3:22
started, a little bit of shuffling with the D pairs and
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he was skating with Alexander Carrier.
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But both of those guys obviously coming in with veterans, one
3:30
skating with Shen, one skating with Shen, and they seem to pair
3:33
well. Yeah, I I think both guys had
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really strong weeks and there's a reason they've stuck in there.
3:39
Nick Blankenberg and Adam Willsby making their Preds
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debuts over the last week. Roman Yossi got the scoring
3:45
started. Predators had a 21 lead after
3:47
one. This game really stung in a lot
3:50
of ways. Kara felt like the Predators
3:51
should have gotten at least two goals in the second period.
3:56
Felt like they should have come out of that period with a multi
3:58
goal lead. They had the puck a ton, had
4:01
some looks, had some posts going up against the Flyers third
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string goalie Alexi Kolasov, who I don't think look very good
4:08
really at any point in that game, and they just let the
4:11
Flyers hang around and they got burned at the last possible
4:14
moment. Flyers tied the game with 11
4:16
seconds left and then won it in three on three overtime.
4:19
That one hurt. Those are some of the most
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bitter hockey games to cover. Obviously we've been on the
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other side of it. There's so much elation when
4:28
you're on the other side of it. Max.
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I can literally go back to to the time that Mikail Gremlin
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scored with 0.1 seconds left in the game and just how great it
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felt. But when you're standing in the
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tunnel ready to go out, like I'm ready to go out to do the first
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star interview with Yossi and they give up the the go ahead
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goal to tie the game and then losing overtime.
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I mean they just sting. And it definitely kind of a
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bitter taste in your mouth going into Thanksgiving, I think for a
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lot of the fans in the building, too.
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Yeah, crowd was great. It was a fun game.
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Other than the final 11 seconds in overtime on Wednesday night,
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Preds lose to the Flyers in overtime three to two.
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They would also lose three to two in overtime on home ice on
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Black Friday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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Roman Yossi stayed hot. He had both Preds goals in this
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game, his 22nd career multi goal game.
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Game was tied after two got to overtime tide.
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Philip Forsberg called for high sticking in the first minute of
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OT and then Braden Point scores A4.
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Three power play goal to win it for Tampa.
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Another one that hurt for different reasons but same
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outcome. I felt for Steven Stamkos in
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that game. Obviously, both times he took on
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Tampa Bay, both times they go to overtime and both times they
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lose it just you you go into that one and like you want to
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win it for Stammer, right? Hal Gill was talking about that
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before the broadcast started, that this is the night the team
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needs to come together and win for Steve and Stamkos.
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You were hoping that the guys would would come out and be on
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fire, right? Playing playing for for him, but
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another just frustrating loss. And Point and Kucherov had
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nothing doing until that overtime power play the entire
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game. Kucherov actually missed the
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entire second period with an injury and then missed the next
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game but came back to finish the game.
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And other than that, Preds contained them Andrew Brunette
6:20
thought. And that first goal against I
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mean that was the season right there.
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How many bounces went against them on the short handed 2 on O
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like 5 just. And it just wasn't going their
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way. Yeah, they are not earning their
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breaks to be sure, but boy are the Preds getting no ounces of
6:38
any kind right now. And that goal epitomize that for
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sure. The guy who took a puck in the
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nose in the period before we're in the bubble leads a short
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handed 2 on O, doesn't even get a shot, and it still goes in.
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So that's been the season so far.
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Speaking of which, Zach LaRue wore his bubble for one game
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after getting cross checked in the face by Timo Meyer just
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Wednesday and was already out of it on Friday, so hopefully his
7:03
bottom lip is OK. But yeah, so he got through that
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bubble pretty quick, but lots of bubbles coming on and off around
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here. And then Saturday, another
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bubble boy got his first NHL goal in Minnesota.
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The 21 year old from Talliachi, Russia.
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Fedor Svechkov gets on the board and opens his NHL account.
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Here's how it sounded on Preds radio.
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Yossi into the offensive zone. Final 30 seconds of the first
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Evangelista Dispvechkov Hey scores.
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First NHL goal for Fedor Svetchkov.
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What a league, the Predators answer.
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It's 1. One with 20 seconds left in the
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first. Just a beautiful goal for your
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first in the National. Little one knee down, one timer
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from Svetch. I that was a pretty 1.
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He had a nice celebration, obviously.
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That's probably got to be pretty sweet for you to to call that
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one. Yeah, I think that is the 4th
8:02
first NHL goal I've called Jordan Gross, Luke Evangelista,
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and then this year Zach LaRue and now Fedor Svechkov.
8:12
And that was actually the first of the four that did not happen
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in Vancouver, which is very random.
8:18
That is a very random stat. I'm proud of you for knowing
8:21
that. Yeah, very, very random so.
8:24
But yeah, it happened in Minnesota on Saturday night in
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what would be another three to two overtime loss for the
8:30
Predators against the Minnesota Wild.
8:32
This was a pretty good performance from the Preds.
8:34
I felt like they played well enough to win this game.
8:36
They got a power play goal. They did well enough on special
8:40
teams, but but it wasn't enough as the Wild wanted in overtime.
8:45
And again, as they did in all three of these overtime games in
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the past week, the Preds had a chance before they gave the
8:51
chance up. Philip Forsberg LED A2 on one.
8:54
Don't think he got the shot he wanted there.
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I think he missed the goal entirely trying to beat Philip
8:59
Gustafson in OT. Yeah, I think the biggest thing
9:04
that stood out to me, Max, is, is the big guns just aren't
9:08
aren't getting the goals right. That if we could maybe put our
9:11
finger on one thing, it might be that.
9:13
But then you see Roman Yosi start to heat up.
9:15
So you kind of think, all right, Yos is riding this five game
9:18
point streak and maybe they could just rally behind the
9:21
captain and the guys can get something going, especially as
9:24
they head out on this Canada road trip again.
9:27
Yeah, Roman Yossi, five goals and three assists in his last
9:30
five games. That five game point streak.
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Phillip Forsberg, though just one goal in his last 10 games.
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Ryan O'Reilly did snap his 13 game goalless drought, but
9:39
Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marshiso have not gotten on the
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board. Be it at the power play or even
9:44
strength recently. So you're right.
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And they haven't had multiple guys clicking at once at any
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point this season. And we are now 25 games into the
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season. The Predators are 712 and 6.
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Almost as many overtime losses as wins.
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And all six overtime losses were three to two final scores.
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That doesn't really mean anything, but it's just crazy to
10:07
think about after three in a row. 332 overtime losses in a
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row on Thanksgiving weekend in four days.
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It is crazy to think about, but can I also can I give a little
10:19
shout out to to to the new guys that have come in?
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Obviously we saw Fedor scores first NHL goal.
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We've talked about Zach LaRue, how well he's playing.
10:27
I ran into Mark Del Gaizo's family at the airport and we've
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talked about this before. Do you know how I recognize
10:33
them, Max? Because his brother looks
10:37
exactly like Mark Del Gaizo. And I, I stopped the family.
10:42
Obviously I had, I had spoken with his mom and dad before on
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the broadcast when Mark was making his NHL debut.
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And I said hello and his mom said to me, how about the young
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guys? They were brought in to bring
10:53
the energy and, and they're bringing the energy and they
10:57
were loving it. So I wanted to just give a
10:59
special hello and hi to that old guys, old family, obviously just
11:02
great people. They were in Nashville all week
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supporting Mark. And it's always good when the
11:07
family's around. I believe you had a strong Del
11:10
Gaizo pun to come out of that interaction with.
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Please share with the group. They were del Flaizos.
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They were getting on the airplane in the sky though.
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It's too easy, too easy right there, running into the Nalgazo
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family at the airport talking about the new guys.
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Blankenberg and Willsby both had big defensive moments in the
11:30
game on Saturday against the Wild.
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Blankenberg came out of nowhere to catch up with Marco Rossi,
11:35
who ain't no slouch foot speed wise, to completely extinguish a
11:39
breakaway without a shot. I am unable to find the skating
11:44
speed for Blankenberg on this play.
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It for some reason didn't register in the top bursts of
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that game in NHL Edge, which I find very surprising.
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But whatever happened, however many miles an hour he hit, he
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stopped a breakaway, plain and simple, from way behind.
12:00
Way behind for Nick Blankenberg, who's 5 foot 9, and he can move.
12:04
He can move. He's an undersized NHL
12:06
defenseman. I loved what he said, Caro, the
12:08
morning before his first game as a Pred, in response to a
12:11
question by Brooks Bratton in pregame interviews, he says that
12:16
Blankenberg plays every game. Quote with a chip on my shoulder
12:20
and a smile on my face. That's how you play hockey right
12:23
there. That's how he's coming.
12:25
Are we going to have to do the what it, what it?
12:27
What was Mesa's line? I told you this, Alexander
12:30
Carrier, I mean, he, he smiles more than anybody on the team,
12:34
on the Predator's roster. I think we said smiles per game
12:37
that like, that's, that's Car Z. But I don't know.
12:40
Is Blankenberg gonna gonna top this number?
12:43
It's an interesting analytic to follow, and Willsby had a shift
12:46
that was nearly 4 minutes long trapped in the defensive zone
12:50
against the Wild on Saturday night.
12:52
Long change, second period. He survived it.
12:56
So young guys stepping up. La Rue is now played in 20
12:59
straight games consecutively since making his debut,
13:02
continues to make a big impact. Fedor Svetchkov's first NHL
13:06
goal, Blankenberg and Willsby on the back end.
13:09
And we also have another new early 20s Pred to introduce to
13:12
you. That's new backup goalie Eustus
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Ananen, 24 years old, acquired from the Colorado Avalanche.
13:18
This week we'll tell you about the new Juice, the second Juice
13:22
Juice Junior and brainstorm some ways to distinguish these two
13:27
Finnish Juice goalies. Coming up next, she's Kara
13:30
Hammer from Fred CV. I'm Max Hurst from Fred's radio.
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Predators hit the road for three more games this week after a
13:36
couple of off days at home in Smashville.
13:39
Wednesday night at 6:30 in Toronto against the Maple Leafs,
13:42
Thursday night at six in Montreal against the Canadiens
13:45
and then Saturday night at six against the Senators in Ottawa.
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You're listening to the Predators official podcast.
13:51
You're on your radio home for Fred's hockey, ESPN.
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One O 2 five and one O 6 three the game.
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Welcome back to the Predators official Podcast here on ESPN
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102.5 and 106.3. The Game Smashville just got a
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little bit juicier. My name is Max Hurst from Preds
14:24
radio. Along with Kara Hammer from
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Preds TV. The Predators have a new backup
14:28
goalie. They made a trade on Saturday
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morning, swapping backup goalies with division rival Colorado,
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sending Scott Wedgwood to the Avalanche in exchange for 24
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year old Finnish backup Eustus Anunnan, who has played in 29
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NHL games over the last Four Seasons.
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It is the Predators new backup goalie.
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Preds also got a sixth round pick in the trade, Maxers and
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Kara Hammer. With you Hammer, things just got
14:56
even juicier than they already were in the Preds net.
15:00
Max, I always appreciate your role in music.
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I feel like you do an amazing job.
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But just now we didn't come in with Juicy by Notorious BIG and
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I feel like we dropped the ball. It's OK.
15:12
Well, we'll get on our music department about that.
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Just picture Al Gil back there spinning records if you need
15:18
somebody to blame. It's exciting though. 2 finished
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goaltenders, How long we went? Three months without 2 finished
15:26
goaltenders and his ALDI and Juice Junior is now here.
15:30
Yeah, I'm a big fan of Juice Junior.
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I'm going to run this by Eustis later this week to see if he
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likes it. But in Colorado, he was Juice
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and you actually took a little bit of offense care out to the
15:41
fact that the ABS were trying to make Juice happen, whereas we
15:45
know there's only one juice. But now that he's on the right
15:49
side of things, there can be two juices.
15:52
You're right, Max. I did question how there were
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two juices on two NHL rosters, but now both guys are on one
15:59
team in our building. So I'm I'm here for it.
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Juice and juice. Junior JJ, Is that what we'll
16:04
call him? Hey, we'll, we'll ask Eustace
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what he thinks. First of all, this is how you
16:09
pronounce his name in his own words, so we can make sure
16:12
everybody gets it right. Eustus Anunnen.
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So Eustus Anunnen in the full Finnish, Eustace Anunnen in the
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English kind of translation there.
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But he's also from the same hometown as Pecorina, and he had
16:25
never met UC Soros before, who's five years older than him, but
16:29
he had met Pekka a couple times, and he loves him.
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Here's Eustace Anunnen. Well, I think he were like the
16:35
best, best finished goal in the in the NHL that that time when I
16:38
were growing up and got to start to understand something about,
16:41
about hockey. So it were like unreal to
16:44
follow, follow his car and I got to skate a couple of times with
16:46
him in the in the summers. Like we got to kind of switch
16:49
like when he like stopped, stopped playing.
16:52
I kind of that's when I came, came over here.
16:54
So it was a great great to see him, see him on the ice some
16:59
sometimes and I skate with him. This is right back in the
17:02
family. Kara couldn't go too long
17:04
without another fin and that here in Smashville.
17:07
You know the craziest thing about that, listening just to
17:10
the audio, he sounds very similar to Soros that I wasn't
17:14
sure who was actually speaking. Do you did you pick up on that a
17:18
little bit while listening? He almost to me sounds like UC
17:22
Soros with Pekka Rene's like depth of voice, like a lower
17:27
voice of UC Soros is speaking. He's like a a mixture.
17:32
I'm interested. I hope some fans tweet in about
17:34
this because that's exactly right.
17:36
You, I think you penned it exactly right.
17:39
A little bit of heck and a little bit of juice put into
17:41
one. His size is more in common with
17:44
the Renee tree than the Soros tree.
17:46
He's 6 foot four, 210 lbs. He's still just 24 years old.
17:51
He'll turn 25 later on this season.
17:53
Former third round pick of the ABS, A goalie with a lot of
17:56
upside who has NHL experience but has not firmly established
17:59
himself as an NHL goalie. But he will be the Predators
18:02
backup going forward and with a back-to-back coming up the next
18:05
two games. Kara, we might see Ananin as
18:08
soon as Wednesday or Thursday in Toronto or Montreal for his
18:11
Preds debut. Wearing #29 First Pred's goalie
18:15
to wear #29 since Tomas Vokun and just the 4th Pred ever to
18:21
wear in uniform #29. All right.
18:23
And it was This was a straight swap for Scott Whitewitch.
18:28
Predators got a sixth round pick as well, which is a good
18:31
positive to have going forward. But yeah, a rare backup goalie
18:36
for backup goalie trade. Only 5 appearances as a Pred for
18:40
Scott Wedgwood. Pretty short lived, but the ABS
18:42
wanted him. They've got problems in goal and
18:45
sounds like they want to give Wedgwood a shot to be their
18:47
starter. And we enjoy getting to know
18:48
Scott Wedgwood and I think if nothing else, we will see him in
18:52
the future as a commentator. He wants to be an NHL
18:55
commentator when he retires. I think he'll be very good at
18:58
it. He's got a great sense of humor,
19:00
and he told the media in Colorado upon arrival how he
19:06
found out that he was being traded from the Preds after the
19:10
Predators played their home game on Friday.
19:12
Went to Minnesota right after, and he was attempting to go to
19:17
sleep. Here's Scott Wedgwood, the now
19:19
former Pred. Such a kind of funny.
19:21
I was sleeping in the hotel in Minnesota.
19:23
We got there after the game last night and heard a couple little
19:26
whistle rings and couldn't figure out where it was coming
19:28
from. I looked like a tourist in my
19:29
room kind of trying to figure it out, open the peephole.
19:31
And Barry Trotz was stated right there and kind of OK, what did I
19:35
do wrong kind of thing. And you came in and we had a
19:37
nice conversation. So, you know, he's a gentleman,
19:39
takes care of his guys and stuff.
19:40
So conversation with him obviously let me know what was
19:42
going on and then go ahead. Coach Vander Clark came up, talk
19:45
to him and then kind of the agency and that kind of stuff to
19:48
the traditional trade things. And wife was sleeping, so tried
19:51
to wake her up but couldn't get the luck of the draw there.
19:54
And then, you know, try to get back to sleep and get some rest
19:56
before today. That must have felt like a
19:58
dream. Barry Trotz is ringing the
20:01
doorbell of my hotel room. I've been traded.
20:04
Is this real? You know, I I think what I love
20:08
about this is it it's kind of crazy.
20:10
But if you go back to Terry Chris playing days, he very much
20:14
would have said that the hotel phone would have just been
20:16
ringing. You're traded.
20:17
So it's nice though, that Barry Trotz came in and told him in
20:21
person and then was able to have a a conversation with goalie
20:24
coach Ben Banner clock. And obviously, you know, a class
20:28
organization and we wish him all the best out in Colorado.
20:31
Yeah, short lived tenure for Scott Wedgwood, Eustace on and
20:34
then seems like a long term project for the Predators in a
20:37
potential long term backup to UC Sorrows.
20:39
He's got NHL experience. They think he has a lot of tools
20:42
they can work with. And we will see if he gets in
20:45
for his Preds debut later this week.
20:47
Kara We also celebrated a Smashville staple today.
20:51
Predators locker room attendant and absolute NHL legend.
20:55
The literal most popular man in hockey, Craig Partner Baugh and
20:59
his twin brother Paul turned 60. Which first of all is incredible
21:05
because neither of them looks anywhere near 60.
21:08
There was a big party at Bridgestone Arena today with
21:10
Predators staff and the entire Preds team joining.
21:13
Some big name Preds alumni were in the house as well.
21:16
Mike Fisher was there. Ryan Ellis was there.
21:18
Marty E Rat was there. Plus of course the local staples
21:22
who we see all the time. How?
21:24
Gill? Brent Peterson?
21:25
JP DuMont, big big party in Smashville.
21:29
Lots of folks from the Nashville Sounds and other local sports
21:31
teams were partners, worked as well.
21:34
And there were a couple big highlights.
21:35
Kara, first up, a video, an absolute who's who of the hockey
21:39
world with everybody sending in their happy birthdays to
21:42
partner. It was 15 minutes long in total.
21:45
That was how many people sent it in.
21:47
It started with Matthias at home.
21:49
It ended with Jumbo Joe Thornton.
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And the crazy part about this is partner is just as loved by the
21:55
villains of the NHL from being the visiting locker room
21:58
attendant as he is by the guys who everybody knows and loves.
22:02
Like everybody loves Jumbo Joe Thornton.
22:05
But how about Todd Bertuzzi and Milan Lucic chiming in?
22:09
Like those are not the warm and fuzzy guys, right?
22:12
No, but but that just sums up partner.
22:15
We've talked about this before on the podcast, but this is what
22:17
he means. I mean, Shay Weber talked about
22:20
him during his Hockey Hall of Fame speech.
22:22
This is partner. We've talked about the hugs he
22:25
gives. We talked about how warm and
22:26
welcoming he is to everybody. I mean, a huge birthday shout
22:31
out to partner. And I'm have to guess, Max, that
22:33
there was some Chinese food there, right?
22:35
Because that, that that's partner to a tee.
22:37
There was Chinese food and Strawberry Shortcake, the
22:39
perfect partner meal. And everybody who sent in a
22:43
video, everybody said everybody identified themselves by what
22:48
partner calls them, which Todd Bertuzzi had.
22:50
The best one was Bert, Todd Tuzi, which I think it's just
22:54
absolutely perfect. And everybody, everybody said
22:58
hope you have a great big birthday meal.
23:00
Hope Pete takes you to PF Chang's or Tanner's, you know,
23:03
said hope you get some Donuts today, buddy.
23:05
Everybody had a different food item.
23:07
I think 10 people mentioned PF Chang's.
23:10
So we did have Chinese food and Strawberry Shortcake for the big
23:13
group of probably 200, 100 people that were assembled
23:16
there, including all the Preds players.
23:18
And then they were presented with gifts.
23:20
Partner and his twin brother from Pete Rogers on behalf of
23:24
the team and others in the NHL. They both got custom armchairs.
23:28
Partner is a Saint Louis Cardinals fan, Paul is a Chicago
23:31
Cubs fan. So they had their logos on them.
23:34
And partner got some gear from the Cardinals equipment staff,
23:37
including a signed Lance Lynn jersey, who is his favorite
23:41
player. So some really cool stuff.
23:44
And the LA Kings also just sent a present.
23:47
They sent a big, comfortable looking rolly chair that has
23:51
partner's face on the back of the chair.
23:56
And it's a big caricature of partner.
23:58
It has his name plate on it and it says under his picture, if
24:02
this ain't your face, it ain't your space.
24:08
That's great. Happy birthday to partner.
24:10
Yeah, it was awesome. Awesome to be a part of it.
24:13
I was honored to be invited and you got to feel the love.
24:17
So even even everybody around the NHL loves partner.
24:23
It was a real who's who in that video, including some early days
24:27
Preds going back to Mike Dunham and Blair action, them guys like
24:30
that. It was all Preds, everybody
24:33
around the league, videos and equipment rooms, NHL legends
24:37
Clark Lee, Casey Alexander from Belmont basketball was in it.
24:42
It was a who's who and it was an ultimate day for partner.
24:45
So happy 60th birthday to partner and his brother Paul
24:49
Baugh. Happy birthday, twins 60.
24:52
Unreal. They do not look 60.
24:55
We'll take a break, come back. We have some Preds prospects and
24:58
a Predators athletic training staff member who will be
25:01
representing their countries are working to do so over the next
25:04
few months. We'll tell you about that coming
25:06
up next year on the Predators official podcast.
25:31
Welcome back to the Predators official Podcast here on ESPN
25:35
102.5 and 106.3 of the game. My name is Max Hers from
25:39
Predators Radio along with Kara Hammer from Predators TV.
25:44
Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving.
25:47
Crazy that Thanksgiving was what, only five days ago was.
25:50
We record here on Monday, October 2nd.
25:53
October. It's December.
25:54
I'm all messed up. Kara what?
25:55
What day is it? What time is it?
25:57
The moral of the story? I have no idea where I am or who
26:01
I am or what I am, I guess. Well, it's December 2nd, but if
26:05
I know you, Max, you're already counting down to the Four
26:08
Nations face off because we've talked about how excited we are
26:12
for this to be happening in the month of February.
26:15
Yeah, that'll be this February. Finland, Sweden, USA and Canada,
26:18
NHL players from those four countries facing off in a mini
26:23
round Robin tournament than a single elimination 14 playoff in
26:27
Montreal and Boston during the Olympic break in February.
26:31
The NHL will take two weeks off. The Masters will be out this
26:35
week. They'll be announced on
26:36
Wednesday. We already know that UC Soros
26:39
and Philip Forsberg will be representing their countries.
26:41
They were a part of the initial roster releases for Sweden and
26:45
Finland. We'll find out the full teams on
26:47
Wednesday. And we found out this past week
26:50
that Predators head athletic trainer Kevin Morley will be
26:53
part of the athletic training staff for Team USA this
26:56
February. Yay.
26:58
Go Kevin Morley. He's the best.
27:00
Really excited. Yeah, he's great.
27:03
He's great. He's obviously new to Nashville
27:05
now. What has he been maybe 3, three
27:08
seasons, Four Seasons? But this is exciting for Kevin
27:14
Morley. He's he's just one of the best
27:16
people around. And he will be part of Team USA.
27:19
Proud American. He'll be there in February.
27:22
The World Juniors are coming up, as always.
27:24
They are between Christmas and through New Year's and the
27:27
Predators have had six prospects named to preliminary World
27:32
Junior Camp rosters. Now those camps will make cuts,
27:35
so these guys are not on the final rosters yet, but we found
27:39
out today. Team US as camp will include
27:42
Predators 2024 second round pick Teddy Steaga, who is playing at
27:46
Boston College. Predators 2023 draft pick Joey
27:50
Willis, who won the Memorial Cup with the Saginaw Spirit in the
27:53
OHL this spring and had a five goal game in the O this season.
27:59
He's a rising star to be sure, as a prospect and as a Team USA
28:03
member. So Congrats to those two guys.
28:05
Teddy Stiga and Joey Willis will be playing for Team USA.
28:09
No relation to Nashville SC goalie Joe Willis by the way.
28:13
This is Joey, not Joe. And then the Predators have
28:16
three big name prospects going to Team Canada 2023 first round
28:20
picks, both of them Tanner Mullen Dyke and Matt Wood.
28:24
Mullen Dyke made it deep into Predators training camp, now
28:27
back in the dub playing for the Saskatoon Blades.
28:29
Matthew Wood transferred from Yukon to Minnesota for his
28:32
junior year of college this year and is performing well there.
28:35
Plus Andrew Gibson, who the Predators acquired this summer
28:38
in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings.
28:40
Defenseman from the Sioux Greyhounds who we talked about
28:43
during training camp and had a good showing in his first summer
28:46
as a Preds prospect. Gibson Wood and Mullen Dyke will
28:49
be going with Team Canada for World Junior camp and also
28:52
goalie Yaka Meloda, who was in camp this summer and was taken
28:56
by the Preds in this year's draft, will be with Team Czech
28:58
Republic for their preliminary camp playing in North America
29:02
with the Cape Breton Eagles in the queue.
29:06
Are are you a World Juniors guy, Max?
29:08
Do you, do you take the time to watch?
29:09
Because I know a lot of the NHL players spend a lot of their
29:12
time watching World Juniors. It's a big deal.
29:15
I always watch on Christmas. Always watch on Christmas.
29:19
I wish the NHL could almost take a break for it because I've
29:22
never had a chance to attend any events like that in person.
29:25
And that to me is what brings me closest to something like that.
29:29
So I almost wish there were a way it could be in the summer
29:31
where it could have kind of it's own spotlight outside of the NHL
29:34
calendar. But the tradition of Christmas
29:36
in New Year's is too good to give up.
29:38
Yeah. Well, we're, we're excited.
29:41
We'll, we'll definitely be rooting for for our prospects.
29:44
Yeah, it'll be fun to watch. We'll take a break.
29:46
Come back with our interview of the week here on the Predators
29:49
Official podcast on ESPN. One O 2 five and one O 6 three
29:52
the game. Welcome back to the Predators
30:10
official podcast here on ESPN. One O 2 five and one O 6 three
30:15
The game little rush for you as the Predators jet up to Toronto
30:19
for their next game Wednesday night against the Maple Leafs.
30:23
A Wednesday night hockey on national TV in Canada 630
30:27
Nashville. Time for puck drop.
30:29
We'll have it for you on Preds radio and Preds TV.
30:32
As always, I'm Max hers. She's carrot, hammer, hammer.
30:35
You ready for our interview of the week with the venerable Pete
30:39
Weber and. Andrew, I'm waiting for.
30:42
It So that's you and I talk baseball a lot.
30:44
That's like being a closer in the major leagues and forgetting
30:47
your last outing. That's exactly it.
30:50
You know, that's a sketch kind of moment, which probably a lot
30:53
of people don't know what that is, but I think you do.
30:56
Yes, I do. I matter of fact I think I
30:58
invented the Etch A sketch just. Good stuff as always from Pete
31:02
Weber keeping it light on Fred's radio.
31:05
Oh my gosh, hey, I know I didn't etch the sketches.
31:08
I definitely had one. Yeah, I don't know who he's
31:11
calling out there. Maybe it's US 30 somethings, but
31:15
I had an Etch of Sketch. I had plenty of Etch of
31:17
Sketches. I, I feel like it's still a
31:19
thing. I don't know we I might have to
31:22
do a little digging on this one. Yeah.
31:24
No, it absolutely is. All right, we'll leave you on
31:27
that note. Go do some research, everybody.
31:29
We'll be back with an episode on Friday, midway through this
31:31
Predators road trip. Three games in four days in the
31:34
Canadian Eastern Conference teams, Maple Leafs on Wednesday,
31:38
Canadians on Thursday and Senators on Saturday.
31:41
Freds are back home next Tuesday, December 10th.
31:44
Take on the play. She's Gary Hammer from Freds TV.
31:47
I'm Max Sears from Freds Radio. Thanks for listening to the
31:50
Predators official.