Let Us Prey

Nashville Predators Feasting On NHL

At least in the early going they're feasting. They're one of only two unbeaten teams at 5-0 with a few of those wins coming on the road.

A lot of people (including me) picked the Pred's as their breakout team this year and so far they haven't disappointed. This young, hard skating, disciplined and cohesive team is really playing well together at the moment.

Rookie Predators defenseman Ryan Suter had a pair of assists, one on Sullivan's goal and one on Hartnell's. Winger Martin Erat also had an assist on Hartnell's goal. Erat has not scored goal this season.

"Marty hasn't scored and no one is asking me about that," Trotz said. "Everyone wanted to know about Leggy. Both of then are going to be fine. But both of them have to add some elements to their game. They have to do more puck chasing and cycle chasing and they have to crash the net more to get their chances. They have to have some more grit."

The team has been going so well that right winger Steve Sullivan was named the NHL's Offensive Player of the Week for the period ending October 16.

So watch out for this club and pray they don't prey on your team.

ODDS AND ENDS

Here's the Best and Worst of the NHL... so far in this young season.

BEST PART OF THE NEW NHL?

Young guns - So far the overall product the NHL has put on the ice gets my approval. The goals are up and the flow of the game is much steadier. But the best thing is that the young players are making their presence known. And I don't just mean Crosby and Ovechkin, but other players like Eric Staal, Jason Spezza, Henrik Zetterberg, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Jason Williams, all of whom have found success early on.

Hockey Violence to be Curbed......... in Europe.

The SIHA promised to intervene decisively against badly behaved fans and in cases where security regulations are breached. Banners or chants with offensive or racist content will no longer be tolerated.

Patrick Reber, spokesman for the SIHA, says clubs are no longer prepared to pay thousands of francs in fines for troublemakers throwing objects and setting off fireworks and smoke bombs in their stands.

Speaking of violence, back here in the states watch out for the Boogie man. He might be coming to a town near you soon.

Boogaard's assault on Brennan was premeditated; he stalked Brennan from the faceoff when the two were on the ice together for the first time. Boogaard was avenging a fight during the American Hockey League playoffs, when Brennan was with the Chicago Wolves.

Boogaard said Brennan gouged his eye so hard, it messed up his vision.

"It was good to get that one out of the way," Boogaard said. "I was looking forward to it all summer."

He finished with 10 penalty minutes in 4:24 of ice time.

Finally here's oddmanrush's Dave Bidini Hockey Foreign Legionnaire of the month*.

Lang began playing hockey at the age of five, and he has brought his passion for the game to Bulgaria. In the autumn of 2003, Lang was invited to play with CSKA Elite, an independent team no longer in operation. It was his experience with this team that sparked his interest in encouraging the further development of hockey in Bulgaria. While he had fun playing with CSKA Elite, the poor management of the team, broken promises to the players, and mismanagement of funds inspired Lang to try to improve the conditions for the players. It became his mission to both promote the sport and make a business out of it.

We here at Odd Man Rush applaud Angus Lang's efforts in helping grow the great sport of Hockey in Bulgaria... Godspeed.

*The award is named after the author of The Tropic of Hockey a great book about his adventures playing hockey around the world. I highly reccomend it.