On the Forecheck
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Doing it right, down on the farm
by Forechecker on 01/06/09 at 04:48 PM ET
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News comes today that three of the Nashville Predators prospects, centers Cal O’Reilly and Mike Santorelli, and defenseman Cody Franson, have been named to the 2009 AHL All Star Classic taking place later this month in Worcester, MA.
Given today’s recall of Ryan Jones to Nashville, some fans wonder if and when some of these other bright young players might get a shot at the NHL level. But today’s pre-game article at the Tennessean concludes with this note:
On Monday, Trotz said he would consider recalling two rookies, but he chose to keep the other candidate – center Mike Santorelli – on AHL level, saying he was not in need of another centerman quite yet.
Considering how the pivots are doing outside of Jason Arnott, I think it’s safe to say that many locals disagree with the coach’s assertion…
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PTS/G | +/- | SOG | SOG/G | SPCT |
| Jason Arnott | 35 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 0.69 | 4 | 107 | 3.06 | 14 |
| Radek Bonk | 36 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0.31 | -8 | 50 | 1.39 | 4 |
| Vernon Fiddler | 34 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 0.26 | -5 | 55 | 1.62 | 10.9 |
| David Legwand | 38 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 0.45 | -8 | 79 | 2.08 | 7.6 |
| Scott Nichol | 27 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0.33 | 2 | 26 | 0.96 | 11.5 |
| Rich Peverley | 26 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0.35 | -4 | 41 | 1.58 | 4.9 |
| Jerred Smithson | 38 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.16 | -4 | 27 | 0.71 | 7.4 |
Bottom line, these guys aren’t getting the job done, and Scott Nichol’s absence due to injury isn’t the main reason!
The performance of these Milwaukee Admirals only underscores what may be the most insightful criticism of Barry Trotz’s handling of the Predators in recent weeks, from the official Nashville message board (with a nod to those really annoying Ticketmaster commercials):
Yeah, I see us lose games all the time.
You got your perps and we’re the victims and sometimes I gotta say, “you know what? These season tickets are no good!”
Boo Hoo, now we’re not going to win another game and whatnot.
“Hey, Noneck”, I say, “you want a guarantee? Then go to Milwaukee Admirals dot com to find and send players to win a game.
It’s tough love, but it’s your job, do it for crying out loud.
Kudos to Chuck_Blaine for the wisdom & chuckles…
Filed in: Nashville Predators | On the Forecheck | Permalink
Tags: cal+o'reilly, cody+franson, mike+santorelli,
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About On the Forecheck
Dirk Hoag is the Forechecker, churner of NHL stats and analysis. Having started over 10 years ago writing for websites like In the Crease and e-Sports, Dirk launched On The Forecheck in 2005 to cover the Nashville Predators as well as apply statistical analysis to NHL hockey.
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