Hamilton Predators sell 7,200 seasons tickets

TSN.ca is reporting that Ticketmaster yesterday accepted deposits for close to 7,200 seasons tickets beginning at 10:00 AM yesterday morning. In contrast the Nashville Predators reportedly have a seasons ticket base of 8,500 and have dipped as low as 6,532 seasons tickets during the 2003-04 season.

The ticket sales include almost 60 $5,000 deposits for corporate boxes, 4,700 $1,000 deposits for lower bowl seats and almost 2,500 $500 deposits for upper bowl seats. By my calculations that means the Hamilton Predators have already gathered $6.25 Million in seasons tickets revenue and these are just deposits.

In my humble opinion both the city of Nashville and the NHL can say goodbye to the Predators franchise in Tennessee. The NHL cannot simply ignore this obvious demonstration of interest in a hockey franchise in Southern Ontario.

Mr. Balsillie has put the NHL in check, with mate coming in two moves.

In an intersting side note TSN.ca is also reporting that Buffalo is not 'at this time' opposed to a team in Hamilton. Is this Balsillie's next move? Or just a feint. It will be interesting to see if the Sabres become involved in Balsillie's pitch to the NHL in the near future.

Mighty Ducks headed to Disney Land

Despite the fact that Daniel Alfredsson stepped up to the plate in game 5 for the Ottawa Senators it wasn't enough as the Anaheim Ducks rolled overtop of the Sens last night to win their first Stanley Cup.

Last Nights Recap:

Ottawa Senators 2 (1) at Anaheim Ducks 6 (4) : The no longer Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are now mighty again. They completely dominated the Ottawa Senators from the first drop of the puck last night and only Daniel Alfredsson seemed to show up for the Sens in game 5. The game of hockey breaks down into some fairly basic pieces, scoring, checking, defense and goal tending. Ottawa was beaten in all 4 areas in this series. J.S. Giguere downright outplayed Ray Emery (as expected) and the defensive core of Anaheim completely outclassed the Senators blue line corps. Wade Redden in particular was ineffective in the final round. Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne and the rest of the scoring forwards for Anaheim soundly out performed the Senators scoring lines and except for standout Daniel Alfredsson the vaunted scoring touch that Ottawa displayed all season long disappeared against Anaheim. That is a strong testament to the power of the Ducks checking line. Travis Moen, Rob Niedermayer and Sammy Pahlsson completely dominated Ottawa's top line by both holding them off the score sheet and directly outscoring them.

2007 NHL Playoffs Video Highlights

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Video Highlights - June 6th

Work has been insane as of late, we had a bunch of layoffs and I have been busy trying to survive that and then pick up the slack from all the workers we no longer have. Good thing that tonight will be the last game in the NHL for a few months.

Last Game Recap:

Anaheim Ducks 3 (3) at Ottawa Senators 2 (1) : The Senators came out in the first period in a dominating fashion and pretty much carried the play for the entire period. With Chris Pronger out of the Ducks lineup it looked like Ottawa was poised to even up the series with a first period flurry. Apparently J.S. Giguere didn't get the memo and he ensured that the Senators got very little for their superior effort. Ottawa managed to squeak a goal in with only 3 seconds left in the first but came out in the second as a completely different team. The second period was all Anaheim as they pushed the Sens all over the ice prompting Daniel Alfredsson to take a cheap shot at Scott Niedermayer at the end of the second period. The fact that Ottawa was tied after a lackluster effort was a surprise, the end result of the game was not. Ray Emery was shaky behind an almost completely absent defense and the Ducks took a stranglehold on the series with the win.

2007 NHL Playoffs Video Highlights




Tonights Game :

The Anaheim Ducks get their shot at the Stanley Cup tonight at home and with Chris Pronger back in the lineup you have to think that Ottawa is heading to the golf course. Ottawa's top line will certainly show up tonight in an effort to make a series out of it but I can't see them getting any more chances than they had in game 4. Andy McDonald has been a force in the Stanley Cup Final and he will continue that tonight with another stellar effort as the Anaheim Ducks take the Cup in convincing fashion with a 5-3 win.

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Video Highlights - May 31st

Got it right last night, although I didn't foresee the weak offensive effort that the Senators turned in. Perk up Ottawa fans, Saturday night at the Corel Centre will be a different story.

Last Nights Game:

Ottawa Senators 0 (0) at Anaheim Ducks 1 (2) : Samuel Pahlsson scored the game winner at 14:16 of the third period after a neutral zone turnover by Dany Heatley. Pahlsson sent a quick wrist shot through the legs of a seemingly lost Joe Corvo to ring off the post and in behind Ray Emery. For the most part the Senators played a better game last night but couldn't seem to generate much in the way of offense. They were outshot by the Ducks 31-16 and outside of their top line didn't couldn't generate much in the way of chances. They were stimmied on another 5-3 power play opportunity, this time in the second period. J.S. Giguere was huge in posting his second career shutout in the Stanley Cup finals, especially during the 5-3 man advantage and he gave his team what they needed in order to go up 2-0 in the series heading to Ottawa. Expect Ottawa to change things up a little for game 3 at home Saturday night.

From the NHL Highlight Machine

2007 NHL Playoffs Video Highlights

2007 NHL Playoffs Recap and Video Highlights - May 30th

Tonights Game :

Ottawa Senators (0) at Anaheim Ducks (1)

Look for the Ottawa Senators to come out tonight with a renewed sense of energy. They are disappointed in their performance in game 1 and are looking to prove something tonight. On the Anaheim side look for them to continue their physical play in an effort to throw Ottawa off of their game. It worked in game 1 as they kept Ottawa off the scoreboard in 5 on 5 situations. The downside of this game plan is that they will spend time in the penalty box. Ottawa went 2-6 in power play situations and will look to improve that tonight.

My prediction, Anaheim goes up 2-0 in the series tonight with another squeaker win.