Well, David Poile is back with another of his sneaky depth signings. The Predators signed blueliner Jack Hillen to a two-way contract yesterday, adding a little experience to either the bottom pairing in Nashville or the top pairing in Milwaukee. The best part of this signing may be Hillen shot blocking, an area where the Preds have been lacking a bit since the departure of Greg Zanon a couple of seasons ago.

The scouting report on Hillen does show a decent offensive upside, but with a reluctance to shoot the puck. Speedy and a little undersized, the Minnesota native played in 64 games for New York last season, going -5 on a pretty bad Islander team. Maybe enough to give the kids like Roman Jossi and Ryan Ellis some competition come training camp.

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One of the stories that really touched me last year was Terry Crisp’s grandson playing sledge hockey in Canada, it was surprising to me that the Calgary area really was behind the curve when it came to this sport.

I couldn’t help but think that Nashville needed to do the same, to continue to grow the sport and augment the efforts of the Tennessee Sled Hockey Association. Now word comes that the Nashville Predators Foundation has committed to launch a youth sled hockey team, The Nashville Sled Preds. I got this information from a poster on HFBoards.com.

"The team is open for any disabled youth 20 years old or younger, volunteers are always welcome and needed.

The season gets started with a Sled Hockey Clinic on Saturday, August 27th from 1:30-3:30 at Centennial SportsPlex. Equipment, including sleds, sticks, pads, helmets, and jerseys will be provided free of charge.

There are also plans for an informal "Open Skate" Sunday, August 21st, 2-4 pm at A-Game Sports in Cool Springs. The "Open Skate" is an opportunity to work one-on-one in a sled, on-ice with the coach of the Sled Preds, Jeff Loyd. Because everyone is a different size and shape, this session will allows adjustment of the sleds to fit the particular player in advance of the clinic. As with the clinic, equipment will be provided for the "Open Skate". You may want to contact the group in advance if you know someone who plans to attend the "Open Skate".

If you have friends, family members, neighbors that may be interested, please pass along this information. And there is always one or two kids in every school with a disability that would love to play a team sport. Ask your kids. They probably have classmates who are potential players.

Programs like sled hockey are just another indicator that the sport has taken root here in Smashville."

Help them spread the word. The contact information for this great effort is available at hfboards.com in the Nashville Predators board.

I’m so excited to see this addition to the Nashville hockey family.

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Random Notes

- Ahhh… after a hot summer of waiting… finally the NHL Network gets to the Ducks/Preds series. Game one last night, game two tonight! Pete and Terry were on the call last night.

- Congratulation to Austin Watson, the Preds prospect made the cut at the USA Hockey evaluation camp and will represent the US in international competition during the rest of the camp.

- Today is the 23rd anniversary of the trade… in the immortal words of Don Cannoninthemorning “it sure does time when you are having a good fly.”

- Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle got a three year extension to his contract yesterday. Wasn’t he a coach that was supposed to be on the hot seat last year?

- Nice article on NHL.com on one-hit wonders, outlining what seven players who had breakout years last season need to do in order to not be what Terry Crisp calls a “morning glory.”

- I always love when NHL.com switches the top of the site from draft picks to the schedule… another sign that hockey season is right around the corner.

- 37 days till training camp opens.

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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for @PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game!

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