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Nobody Better Than the Canucks

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It’s one of those accomplishments worth shouting from the rooftops.

This past week, the Vancouver Canucks reached the 50-win plateau for the first time in their 40-year history. In the meantime, the Canucks backup goalie, Cory Schneider made 39 saves to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 to improve to 15-3-2 on the season as the Canucks extended their road winning streak to eight games. That winning streak reached nine with a 3-1 victory over Nashville and then, last night, back home at Rogers Centre, the Canucks beat L.A. 3-1 to win their fifth straight game and reach 113 points (52-18-9), the most in franchise history.

They also wrapped up the President’s Trophy.

The Canucks are the first Canadian-based team to win the Western Conference title since the current playoff format started. They have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, but it doesn’t look like that matters. After all, wiuth that win in Nashville, this is a team that has won nine straight on the road.

It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to call a Canadian-based team the best in the NHL, but you can’t help but do it now.

Meanwhile, it is now, officially, the final week of the regular season in the National Hockey League and only half the teams in the playoff hunt have been decided.

Five teams in the East have punched their tickets: Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay and three in the West: Vancouver, Detroit and San Jose.

In the East, Montreal, Buffalo, the Rangers, Carolina and Toronto are still fighting for the last three spots while in the West, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Nashville, Anaheim,. Chicago, Calgary and Dallas are in the race for the final five spots. It’s going to be a sensational final week.

 

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Ready to Call a Vancouver-Pittsburgh Stanley Cup Final

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs told us three things: (1) Henrik Sedin IS the most valuable player in the National Hockey League this season, (2) the Pittsburgh Penguins appear ready to defend their Stanley Cup crown and (3) nothing beats a great goaltender.

How ’bout that Jaroslav Halak? He made 53 saves in Game 6 and 41 saves in Game 7 as he led the Montreal Canadiens to the biggest upset of this playoff year. The Habs were down 3-1 in the series when Halak decided to win it himself, stopping 131 of the final 134 shots he faced to give the Canadiens a 4-3 series win over President’s Trophy champion Washington Capitals. So much for Alex Ovechkin in this year’s post-season.

It was the fourth time in eight years, the No. 8-seed had beaten the No. 1-seed in a first-round series, and it means we went 6-2 with our picks in the opening round.

Let’s take a look at the second round:

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

The Sharks looked good in round one against Colorado and appeared to get rid of the playoff jitters. The aging Wings, who just don’t play very well at home these days, looked great on the road against Phoenix. This will be a great series, but I think it’s the Sharks in a close one.

San Jose Sharks in seven

Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Vancouver Canucks (3)

The Canucks finished strong against L.A., scoring 17 goals in the final three games. The Hawks were lucky to get past Nashville. The Canucks gain some revenge from last year.

Vancouver Canucks in six

Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) versus Montreal Canadiens (8)

In a year of upsets, I don’t see one here. Sidney Crosby is on a mission and the tiny Canadiens will tire, Jaroslav Halak or not.

Pittsburgh Penguins in six

Boston Bruins (6) versus Philadelphia Flyers (7)

Tuukka Rask is a better goaltender than we think and Boston gets Marc Savard back. This one is still a toss up. The Flyers will win if Brian Boucher matches his first round heroics.

Boston Bruins is seven

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Things to Note… Kelly’s Charges Expunged, World Indigenous Games Coming to Winnipeg and What Does Marty Have?

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Cleaning out a tattered notebook…

1) On Monday, in a Pennsylvania court room, all those trumped up “assault” charges against former Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly will be formally expunged. The charges have already been dropped. Monday, officially, Kelly can say nothing ever happened.

The fact is, nothing happened in the first place, it just takes this kind of baloney to ruin someone’s life. What happened to Kelly is sad and sick and there are people in Winnipeg who should be ashamed of themselves.

2) I see that my friend, radio talk-show host Marty Gold at 92.9 KICK FM, has “an official document that was sent to Lyle Bauer reporting on the state of the Blue Bombers at the end of last season.” Apparently he acquired it from a Bomber board member.

Don’t know what it is and don’t know what he’s going to do with it, but whatever happens, it will make for very interesting radio.

3) Had a nice chat with Premier Greg Selinger at the Volunteer Manitoba Awards Dinner at the Convention Centre on Tuesday night. A very enthusaistic Premier said, “The 2012 World Indigenous Games, the first ever World Indigenous Games, are coming to Winnipeg. We got ‘em and they’ll look good in that new stadium if we can get it finished.”

According to the Premier, Sport Minister Eric Robinson is presently at the United Nations with WIN president Dr. Willie Littlechild putting the final details together for these first World Indigenous Games. Good for Winnipeg.

4) Giuseppe Denatale’s CFC 5 will be held June 4 at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. The very popular Joe Doerksen is the headliner.

Dwight Sutherland from Peguis is also on the card. Should be a great night.

5) There are people in Winnipeg who love the Chicago Blackhawks because of the presence of Jonathan Toews, but the Nashville Predators are really Winnipeg’s team.

With Jordin Tootoo, who spends much of his off-season in the ‘Peg, along with Colin Wilson and Dustin Boyd, Barry Trotz’s Preds have the biggest group of Manitobans in the NHL. Of course, if Wilson continues to play as well as he did against the Red Wings on Tuesday night, he just might single-handedly lead the Preds into the second round.

6)Went to the launch for Jerrad Peters’ new book, We Call it Soccer, at the Round table on Wednesday night. Fun book written  by a great guy, Peters is the editor of ChristianWeek Magazine.

Published by Studio Publications (Full disclosure: Glen Tinley’s company published three of my books: Home Run, The Winnipeg Jets and In Search of Friends) the book is available at Chapters for only $12.95.

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Our Picks for the Opening Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

You have to love the way the 2010 National Hockey League season turned out. The New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers went to the shootout on the final day to determine the last playoff spot in the East, the Phoenix Coyotes proved that Wayne Gretzky couldn’t coach a dog in from a snowstorm with a pork chop and Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos and Alexander Ovechkin went down to the wire to determine a Rocket Richard Trophy winner (or two).

If the playoffs are half as good as the season that just ended (and you know they will be), they’ll be as good as hockey gets.

Let’s take a look at the first round:

Western Conference

San Jose Sharks (1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (8)

The Sharks never play well in the post-season, but this is a different Sharks team. Colorado was lucky to make the playoffs.

San Jose Sharks in four

Chicago Blackhawks (2) vs. Nashville  Predators (7)

The Hawks are the better team but Barry Trotz is the best coach in hockey. This will be closer than people think because the Hawks goaltending is horrible.

Chicago Blackhawks in seven

Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. Los Angeles Kings (6)

If Roberto Luongo is better than he was last year (remember when he got bombed in Chicago in Game 6?), Vancouver will romp.

The Kings had a great year, but Vancouver is a Cp contender.

Vancouver Canucks in six

Phoenix Coyotes (4) vs. Detroit Red Wings (5)

The Wings are healthy again. Enough said.

Detroit Red Wings in five

Eastern Conference

Washington Capitals (1) versus Montreal Canadiens (8)

The Capitals are simply better. Jaroslav Halak could steal one or two in Montreal.

Washington Capitals in six

New Jersey Devils (2) verus Philadelphia Flyers (7)

Philadelphia owns the Devils. The Flyers were 5-1 in six games against New Jersey. The Devils are a better team with better goaltending, but Philly matches up well against these guys.

New Jersey Devils in seven

Buffalo Sabres (3) versus Boston Bruins (6)

Our first round upset. Neither team has enough scoring, but Ryan Miller won’t be as good in April as he was in February.

Boston Bruins in seven

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) versus Ottawa Senators (5)

Should be a good series, but the Penguins are Stanley Cup champions until the day they aren’t. Pittsburgh has too much offence and a good goaltender.

Pittsburgh Penguins in five

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After a Week on the Road, Some Thoughts and Observations

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

TAMPA, Fla. — We’ve been out watching hockey, baseball and golf for a week.

Here are some things we’ve heard and a whole lot of things we’ve seen.

1) Sure, just about everyone you talk to in the NHL these days believes Phoenix Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett will easily win the Jack Adams Coach of the Year Award. But could it be that Tippett is merely the illustration we’ve been given to show that Wayne Gretzky was a horrible coach? Could it be that Tippett is a good coach (there are plenty of good coaches) who just happened to inherit a very good hockey team that got plenty of help at the trade deadline?

This past Saturday night, the Nashville Predators locked up a playoff berth with a brilliant 4-3 win over the Red Wings in Detroit. Tippet is worthy, but Barry Trotz is the best coach in hockey. Nashville — with a lineup of no-names, has-beens, never-weres and Shea Weber — is now 46-29-6 and will play either Vancouver or San Jose in the opening round of the playoffs.

For a guy who has never won a major coaching award and only coached our national team on one occasion, he’s the most outstanding coach that nobody really knows. And this year, frankly, he’s the Coach of the Year.

2) Watched Tiger in the opening round of the Masters on Thursday. What an incredible performance. Say what you will, Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer in history.

Considering that after all the crap he went through — some of it of his own making, most of it the media’s making (he didn’t do anything that hundreds who have gone before him didn’t do) — Woods went out and shot a first round 68 at the Masters. It was his finest opening ever at the Masters. The first time he ever had two eagles in the same round. It doesn’t matter what happens the rest of the way. Nobody plays the game better than Tiger Woods. Period.

And golf is better off now that it has him back.

3) See the Bombers lost $1.2 million in 2009. See the Winnipeg mainstream media wants to blame Mike Kelly for it.

Talk about a one trick pony. The Winnipeg mainstream media either hasn’t got the cojones or the intelligence to point the finger at the people responsible. Wonder how long this will last? In 2016, when the Bombers go 4-14, it won’t matter who’s coaching, it will be Mike Kelly’s fault. Nice deal for Paul LaPolice, though. If he goes 0-18 as head coach this season, the local media will blame Mike Kelly.

If  the coach is the guy who single-handedly lost $1.2 million, why wasn’t he fired a helluva lot sooner? In fact, why wasn’t the guy who hired him fired? And why weren’t the people who hired the guy who hired Mike Kelly all fired? When a football organization loses $1.2 million, the responsibility lands a lot higher up than the head coach. The local media in Winnipeg did a lot more to help the Bombers lose $1.2 million than Mike Kelly did. When you keep telling people to stop buying tickets, a lot of them will eventually stop buying tickets.

By the way, I see that the CFL sent $150,000 less than it did a year earlier to each of its eight teams. That means the CFL raised $1.2 million less in corporate sponsorships in 2009 than it did in 2010. How did that happen? How did the CFL lose $150,000 per team in revenue when the league’s popularity has never, ever been greater.

Wonder where Tom Wright went?

4) The Stanley Cup playoffs start next week. After this past week in Tampa, I can’t wait. Too bad Steven Stamkos doesn’t play in a city where people actually care about hockey.

Speaking of which, my people in Phoenix tell me that the chances of the league still owning the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday night after Glendale city council votes on that sweetheart rental deal for Jerry Reinsdorf at jobing.com Arena, is better than 50-50.

Winnipeg might not be dead yet.

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The Playoffs Are Coming. It’s Manitoba’s Best Year Ever.

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

This was a big week around the National Hockey League.

Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks clinched a playoff berth, Travis Zajac continued to have the best year of his career as he leads the New Jersey Devils into the post-season and Barry Trotz, the head coach of the Nashville Predators, keeps the Preds winning even though they don’t have enough personnel or enough star personnel to be as good as they are.

Some notes from a week in the hockey trenches observing the brilliance of the Manitoba kids in the NHL…

1) This is as good a time as any to praise the Finnish Flash, Teemu Selanne. Last Sunday night, Selanne scored his 600th career goal to become only the 18th player in history to reach the 600-goal plateau.

Congratulations to a great guy, a guy who scored his first 147 with the Winnipeg Jets.

2) When he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg-born Alexander Steen appeared to be spinning his wheels, going nowhere fast. Now, as a member of the St. Louis, Steen is having a career year.

Through 60 games, Steen has 21 goals and 21 assists and is a plus-five on a minus team. He’s the Blues third leading scorer and is tied for the team lead in goals even though he’s played 10 and 11 fewer games than the two players ahead of him.

After struggling in Toronto and often being a healthy scratch, he has become a big time offensive player in St. Louis. At 26, he is developing into one of the two or three best players on the Blues.

3) If there was one player who could have played on Canada’s Olympic team and didn’t, it was Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos. Now, as the season winds down and Tampa misses the playoffs, Stamkos, who was a great friend of 92-CITI-FM and the old Cosmo Show, has a chance to show how good he really is.

Heading into the weekend, Stamkos was tied with Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin for the NHL goal-scoring lead with 45. Could Steven Stamkos win the Rocket Richard Trophy? You bet he could.

4) The Calgary Flames, and the red-hot Nigel Dawes of Winnipeg, have an uphill battle to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, but we will know by this coming Sunday whether the Flames have what it takes to reach the post-season.

The Flames started a five-games-in-seven-days stretch with a 4-3 loss at Minnesota on Sunday. They beat the Anaheim Ducks in Calgary on Tuesday night, but lost a big game to the Islanders, 3-2, on Thursday night. They play at Boston on Saturday and at Washington on Sunday and if they don’t win both of them, they’ll be pretty much done.

5) Manitoba’s top young players have had rock solid seasons in 2009-2010.

Winnipeg-born Duncan Keith, a Chicago Blackhawks defenseman, has 13 goals and 52 assists for 65 points, 31st overall in the NHL and second among defensemen. He’s also a plus-18.

New Jersey rightwinger/centre Travis Zajac has 23 goals and 38 assists for 61 points, 34th in scoring in the NHL. He’s also a plus-16.

Winnipeg-born Patrick Sharp (plus-22) of the Blackhawks has 22 goals and 39 assists and is also 34th in NHL scoring.

Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews, the captain of the Blackhawks, has 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points and is a plus-20. He’s 43rd in scoring.

Winkler’s Dustin Penner has 27 goals and 28 assists and is a plus-5 on a very minus Edmonton Oilers team.

Meanwhile, Alexander Steen of Winnipeg and Eric Fehr of Winkler each have 21 goals while Nigel Dawes of Winnipeg has 13.

This might be Manitoba’s best year ever in the NHL.

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Things to Consider With Three Weeks to Go.

Posted on March 19, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

ST. PAUL, Minn. — While the general managers and the league’s other tall foreheads try to come to terms with illegal checks to the head (sorry, boys, but the rulebook is full of rules that would get headshots out of the game), the rest of the NHL is just playing hockey.

So with about three weeks to play before the Stanley Cup playoffs are upon us, let’s take a look at the league from a Winnipeg perspective:

1) Although he says he has not completely made up his mind, it appears that after 18 seasons, former Winnipeg Jets captain Keith Tkachuk is nearing the end of his brilliant career.

Saying his future in St. Louis is now, Tkachuk wouldn’t admit whether or not he was retiring at the end of the season, but he did say, “I often think about this being the end.” No doubt, the Hall of Fame awaits.

2) Remember when the San Jose Sharks had a very comfortable 12-point lead in the Pacific Division? Well, not anymore. That’s because the Phoenix Coyotes have won seven straight and have moved to within three points (at the beginning of the weekend) of the heavily favored and quite talented division leaders.

The 44-22-5 Coyotes have all but assured themselves of a spot in the post-season for the first time since 2002. Now, however, they are closing in on home ice advantage in the West. This should be a great finish.

3) By now, it has to be official. There is no better coach in the NHL than Dauphin’s Barry Trotz (OK, maybe Dave Tippett in Phoenix, but nobody else). Trotz, the only coach the Nashville Predators have ever had, has the no-name, star-less Predators in seventh place five points ahead up on eight-place Detroit (at the start of the weekend).

That shouldn’t happen. The Preds just don’t have the personnel. But Trotz has made them a playoff contender – they beat L.A. on the road this week and have won four straight — and that says more about his brilliance than anything else.

4) Calling it “a retaliatory hit to the head,” the National Hockey League suspended Anaheim Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski for eight games without pay for that terrible hit to the face and head of Brent Seabrook on Wednesday night.

Wisniewski definitely gave Seabrook a cheap shot, but an eight-game suspension after giving Alexander Ovechkin only two? The NHL justice department is completely nonsensical.

5) The Montreal Canadiens have looked very good at times this season. They’ve had two four-game winning streaks. But not until the Olympic break, have the Habs put together so many outstanding games in succession. In fact, with six straight wins heading into the weekend, Montreal has moved into the playoff driver’s seat in the East.

After Tuesday night’s game, a 3-1 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, the Habs moved past Philly and into sixth place in the Eastern Conference (later in the week they fell back into seventh). The Bruins are eighth with 74 points, four points back, while ninth-place Atlanta and the Rangers are seven points back. With only 12 to play, the red-hot Habs are in control of their own playoff destiny.

6) Perhaps no one has noticed, but Winnipeg’s Travis Zajac is having a season to remember. Zajac, the 24-year-old rightwinger out of the University of North Dakota has moved into the Top 35 in NHL scoring with 21 goals and 38 assists.

Perhaps more importantly, the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, is a terrific plus-14. By the time the next Olympics roll around, he’ll be one of the best players in the game, if he isn’t already.

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What Happens If….?

Posted on December 28, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

The decade of the 2000s or “The Aughts,” as they’ve been called, come to an end in about four days.

With that end, comes more questions than answers.

In fact, here are five questions, all starting with What Happens If….?

A brave new world awaits, old media panics, new media has a field day and if there is one thing we know, it’s this: Sports will change dramatically in the decade of the “Tens.”

So what happens if…

1) The Canadian Olympic Team doesn’t “win the podium” in Vancouver this February? With all the national, television-generated pre-Olympic hype, how badly will the traditional media treat our athletes if they don’t win every medal in every event. “I Believe,” it will get ugly.

2) The NHL’s non-traditional markets keep taking a beating? Tickets are now virtually free, the teams aren’t winning, there is limited interest, newspapers have stopped covering many of the teams on the road, Versus isn’t ESPN and there are often more empty seats than seats with butts in them. The NHL will look differently in five years if Bush’s recession doesn’t end.

3) The NHL’s non-traditional markets keep taking a beating? Will the NHL return to Winnipeg?

4) The CFL doesn’t get some new stadiums soon? Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg is a dump, Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton is worse, Ottawa doesn’t have a stadium, Toronto doesn’t have a place to play and the east coast still doesn’t have a suitable stadium for CFL expansion. The biggest problem in the CFL is not fan-support or media-support, it’s government support. And without new stadiums, the league could be on its last legs.

5) The Indianapolis Colts never get it back? After having the gall to actually charge people money for that debacle on Sunday afternoon, Colts chicken-livered head coach Jim Caldwell (coaching scared is the worst thing a coach can ever do) doesn’t deserve to win another game. If you look around the NFL, buildings are seldom full anymore. I’ve been in Jacksonville and Tampa this season when there have been 25,000-30,000 empty seats. The NFL can claim record numbers of sellouts if it likes (I think “tickets distributed” is the term), but only the best teams truly sell out anymore. Indy was a team that sold out, but if I was a fan, I would be a lot more hesitant about buying tickets in the future. When coaches throw games in order to rest the stars — because they are afraid of injury — the premise of professional football goes out the window. What happened Sunday in Indianapolis was unprofessional. In a recession that appears as if it’s going to last for decades not months, that kind of unprofessional approach to the game could come back and bite a franchise in the ass.

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It’s Week 15 in the NFL and it’s Already Crazy.

Posted on December 20, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It was quite a Saturday night in the NFL.

After three quarters, the Dallas Cowboys held a 24-3 lead over the unbeaten New Orleans Saints, but when you’re trying to get to 14-0, there is usually no give-up in you.

So the Saints put up 14 unanswered in the fourth quarter and were driving for the tying touchdown when the Cowboys brilliant outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware stripped Drew Brees of the football, ending the Saints dream of 16-0.

It was a pretty good football game other than the NFL Network’s coverage of it. Technically, the telecast was weak (the Superdome P.A. announcer was louder than NFL Network play-by-play man Bob Papa) and the commentating was just annoying. In fact, it was another night of football with the mute button on.

It’s great that every NFL game is on television. It’s unfortunate that there aren’t enough quality broadcasters to go around. Matt Millen? Simply grating. Like fingernails on a chalkboard. Why doesn’t the NFL just showcase the home radio crews. I’ll guarantee most of them are easier to listen to than the alleged “national” broadcasters.

More thoughts from a wild and woolly week:

1) On the afternoon that Lyle Bauer announced his resignation as CEO of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, CJOB radio’s Geoff Currier made the most insightful comment of the day.

“If you look at the record, the most successful Blue Bombers coach during the Lyle Bauer Era was Dave Ritchie,” Currier said. “And Dave Ritchie was the only coach Lyle didn’t hire.”

It’s true. Bauer inherited Ritchie and never much liked him. Bauer did hire Jim Daley, Doug Berry and Mike Kelly, all, in the end failures. Although Kelly has left the Bombers with the best team they’ve had since 2000.

2) CBS Sports is promoting its 2010 PGA Tour golf coverage without using any images of Tiger Woods. Wow! Can’t wait for that showdown in the final round of the FedEx-Accenture-Buick-Ford-Disney Invitational Open World Golf Classic between Jerry Kelly and Zach Johnson.

Thrilling? No, sleep inducing. Pass the remote.

3) Although Mike Babcock has done a terrific job as head coach of the beaten-to-a-pulp Detroit Red Wings this season, there is very little doubt that the coach of the year in the NHL right now, is Nashville Predators boss, Barry Trotz.

Trotz, who came out of Dauphin, Man., to start his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Manitoba, has made the no-name Predators one of the top teams in the NHL this season, In fact, after Saturday night’s 5-3 win over Calgary, the Preds are now 22-11-3, tied with power-house Chicago for first in the Central Division.

While Babcock, who will do a tremendous job as head coach of Canada’s 2010 Olympic team, has kept Detroit in the playoff hunt despite the fact the Wings are currently without top line players’ Dan Cleary, Johan Franzen, Valterri Flippula, Niklas Kronwall, Jason Williams, Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm, and now Henrik Zetterberg, what Trotz has done is nothing short of remarkable.

He’s taken a low-budget team of has-beens, never-weres and not-likelys and turned them into one of only six NHL teams with at least 22 wins. He is a brilliant coach and the man Winnipeg would need if the NHL ever returned.

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Preds in Trouble. That Makes Five Admissions. Time to Give an NHL Franchise to Winnipeg.

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

TAMPA — It’s one thing to be in trouble. It’s another thing to admit it.

In the National Hockey League, there are more admissions every day.

The New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers and the Phoenix Coyotes have all admitted that they are having financial problems in their markets. The Tampa Bay Lightning have admitted ownership troubles and the Dallas Stars will likely have to be sold because of the recession’s effects on owner Tom Hicks’ fortune. Hockey is in trouble in many U.S. markets and. of course, Winnipeg sits patiently and waits for the NHL to decide its own future.

This week, members of Nashville’s Metro Sports Authority admitted they were worried about the future of the Preds at Nashville’s Sommet Centre.

“We are sort of hostage to somebody that comes along and makes a better deal in terms of another city,” Sports Authority member Steve North told Nate Rau of the Tennessean.

The source of the worry began when it was revealed that Preds majority owner David Freeman has a personal $3.5 million tax lien against him.

According to Rau, the lien against Freeman was the latest development in a series of financial bombshells. Last month the team filed suit against the Sommet Group to terminate the naming rights agreement at the downtown arena. Six weeks ago, CIT Group, which lent the local ownership group $85 million, filed for bankruptcy protection. And, of course, there is William (Bootsie) Del Biaggio , a minority owner, who filed for bankruptcy after he was jailed for fraud. His 27 percent stake in the franchise is now tied up in bankruptcy court.

Meanwhile, if the Predators show a $20 million cumulative loss (beginning in 2007) and if attendance falls below an average of 14,000 paid per game, the owners can exercise an opt-out clause from their lease beginning on May 1, 2010. That would allow the team to leave Nashville.

So now, with Phoenix, Columbus, Nashville and Atlanta officially in trouble, there is a good chance Winnipeg will be in line for an existing team soon.

In fact, the sooner it happens, the better off the NHL will be.

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