The Unforgiven: Nashville Game Preview and Open Thread

 Unforgiven: The Return of Sergei

Tonight on RDS and the mystery TSN secondary feed, noted troublemaker Sergei "Little Tits" Kostitsyn returns to the scene of his (alleged) crimes against team unity to face stone-cold killer Carey Price and a showdown with his long-lost-in-a-fog-but-better-now brother Andrei. Sergei left the wild frontiers of Montreal and headed to Music City to join big gun toting Shea Weber and learn some honky tonk but tonight he and the Predators come into the Molson's saloon looking for a fight after being blown away like tumbleweeds in Toranna last game. Saddle up!

Cast of characters:

The Stone-Cold Killer: TFS stats for the last four games: 4-0, 0.75 GAA, .979 SP, 2 SO. That sound you hear is the wind whistling through the Preds dressing room as they contemplate those numbers.

The Gunslingers: Big Tits and Cammy each have 3 points in their last 2 games. Captain Gio has 5 in his last 2. Pleks has 6 in his last 2 and is on pace for 94 points. These boys are shooting the lights out, I reckon. For the Preds, youngster Cal O'Reilly and old warhorses JP Dumont and Steve Sullivan are leading the way, although none are exactly dead-eye shooters at the moment.

The Sheriffs: The Preds win with defence, and their defence starts with big gun Sheriff Weber and his deputy Ryan Suter. Along with former Hab Frankie Bouillon, the Preds usually make life in their zone tougher than a night at the OK Corral on Wyatt Earp's worst day. Habs D makes second appearance without Russian Gun Andrei Markov. Can old saddle hands Roman and Jaro keep rustling forwards away from the net? Can the Lightning Kid PK avoid distractions from the Mike "Coward of the County" Richards interview? Will Josh Gorges be the unsung hero who gets to kiss the rancher's daughter in the end?

The Wounded: Russian Gun Andrei's six shooter is holstered indefinitely. Halpern's bell got rung off the saloon doors on Tuesday so he might be shakier than a farmhand on hooch. Nashville's Matt Lombardi got conked on the head by a flower pot off the brothel's second floor during a shootout last week so he's concussed.

The Drifter: Funny as hell but still menacing tough guy Wade Belak won't have much to do tonight so he'll drift around unless someone like Travis "Prairie Gumption" Moen stupidly decides to take him on.

The Angry Loner: Yeah, this is the part where we discuss that low-down dirty scoundrel Sergei "Little Tits" Kostitsyn. Word by way of the wagon trail is ol' Sergei is strugglin', with 3 points and a minus 4 in 12 games. He's also reputed to have had some run ins with boss Barry Trotz. What with the Habs playing so well and Sergei still letting his ten-cent head mess up his million dollar skill set, it looks like the Habs win that trade even if they only have tumbleweeds in the press box to show for it. However, keep an eye on that varmint tonight, because the return to the saloon he was run out of on a rail might motivate Little Tits to go guns a blazin'.

The Pony Express: Get yer news on those dirty low down dawgs from Nashville via On the Forecheck.

The Posse: Final word goes to the posse, which has something to say to anyone disappointed this post isn't an epic Tits versus Tits fest. For entertainment purposes after the game, rustle up a posse for yourself!   

Got anything else to say, cuss, or croon about?  Put it in the Grand Ole Opry of comments.

Nashville! Uh, uh, uh... I've got nothing. Game preview and open thread

After the hype that was the Bruins game, Nashville seems like a bit of a let down. So let me tell you a story. I had a friend back in law school who could be quite the party girl. She tells me that there's this band in town called Nashville Pussy, and she knows one of them, she's going to the show, and I should go with her. I think I had plans, or I was just scared of a band called Nashville Pussy, so I didn't go. Next thing I know my phone is ringing at 5 in the morning. My friend called, she was hanging out with the band and they were all drinking and doing coke all night. And the bass player (the one on the left up there) was hitting on her. I've been a Nashville Pussy fan ever since. Decent punk, metal-ish rock, and they can turn a swear word into a lyric better than anyone. With hits like Go Motherfucker Go, High as Hell, and Keep on Fuckin', it's like they speak to me. Anyway, on with the preview, in handy bullet point form:

• 730 PM at the Phone Booth;
• Habs coming off the B's loss, but still on a 5-0-1 streak at home;
• Nashville has won 3 of their last 4, including over Chicago and the Pens, and are actually 7-2-1 against the Eastern Conference this year;
• This is the teams' only meeting this season;
  
• The only Preds blog I know, Pred Joe, seems to have stopped updating. Anyone know any others? UPDATE - lap dance to Nashville reader GT for pointing us to On the Forecheck;
  
• Big Tits has a five game point streak;
• Keep your eye out for Shea Weber if he plays (leading all NHL D in goals), JP Dumont and Martin Erat for the Preds. Pekka Rinne is their hot goalie;
• Koivu has suffered a setback in his recovery and won't be back tonight as planned. Kovy is apparently sick now and may not play. Gregory Stewart has been called up to maybe fill in. BGL has back problems, not his groin as was previously reported. Carey Price may be dead;
• Will Marc Denis ever play?
• Jason Arnott probably won't play for the Preds;
• For your post-game adult entertainment, enjoy these photos of Nashville Pussy.

Please help us out with some reason to care about Nashville in the comments

Hamilton Not Dead Yet? (in the hockey sense)

Ahh Hamilton. You may not be the home of Steely McBeam, but those steel mills (well, OK, Blackberrys) are lining your pockets. You want a hockey team, you beg for it. You'd sell your soul for it, if you had a soul. But when the Preds were sold to a local Nashville group, it looked like the dream was dead.

Fear not, Hamilton! The Kansas City Star is reporting that the sale has hit a snag. There are some money and local politics issues; you know, the usual. The Star says this may be good news for KC, but of course it may be just as good for Hamilton.

Paging Balls-silly!!!

Keep Enjoying The Nashville Skyline, NHL

Well, the Balls-Silly saga (at least this round) is officially over. TSN (via the AP) is reporting that Nashville Preds' owner Craig Leipold has signed a letter of intent to sell the team to a group who will keep it in Nashville. For a reported $180 mill.

So Balls-Silly offers $220 mill, and the team is sold for $180 mill. I'm no mathematician, but I think 180 is less than 220. This can only mean one thing - lawsuit! The Four Lawyers of the Apocalypse, aka the FHF, are salivating.

Cheer up Hamilton! I am sure the Panthers, the Thrashers, maybe the Hurricans and the Coyotes will all be available for sale, er..., available for Bettman to screw you and block your bid to purchase those teams very soon.