It is a shame what passes for “journalism” these days. The puppet of unhappy members of city council and the Sports Authority is at it again. I don’t make it a habit to watch Channel 5 anymore, they haven’t done real news since Chris Clark left, and Phil Williams joined the staff. Now it’s all silly parsing of words and agenda pushing. I read the story that good ole Phil put up yesterday and he has blown the roof off… ummm… let me make sure I put this right… living up to a contract… and tries to make the Nashville Predators look bad while doing it with a misleading headline and very leading questions.

Sad really… what this former news leader has become… a tool of bitter bureaucrats and agenda driven outsiders. It is truly a shame to see how far they have fallen due to massive ego, large amounts of hubris and very little accountability.

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It’s Game Night in Smashville as the Nashville Predators welcome the Edmonton Oilers to town to close out what has been a highly successful home stand thus far. The Predators are coming off of a disappointing loss to Columbus, the Oilers dropped a 4-1 decision at Dallas last night. The Oilers will see a different team tonight then the one they beat on their home ice back on October 17th. The team’s performance at that time drew a tongue lashing from Jerred Smithson (good story from Josh Cooper on that in today’s Tennessean) and the on ice efforts have been much improved since that game.

The Oilers have lost five of their last six and cracks have started appearing in Edmonton’s blueline… mostly due to injury. They list Andy Sutton and Ryan Whitney as injured, former Pred Darcy Hordichuk is listed as questionable. The Preds only list Teemu Laakso on IR.

Tonight will be Smashville’s first live look at Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has 11 points in his last ten games, super soph Taylor Hall’s hat trick against Chicago on Saturday night, during the Oiler’s 9-2 blowout of the Blackhawks had tongues wagging across the league. Venerable goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin will be in net for the Oilers.

Game time is 7pm, tickets are available. Coverage is on 102.5 the Game, TV is center Ice only.

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Random Notes

- I didn’t realize that using the phrase “quarter pole” would draw the rain like it did… sheesh, lighten up Francis…

- The Predators are collecting hockey equipment tonight for the Sled Preds, a sled hockey team being led by a great guy named Troy Weise… if you want to get involved, let him know at his email – troyhweiser @live.com.

- The Milwaukee Admirals are off to a rip-roaring start, 10-4-0-1, big weekend coming up against Charlotte.

- Bad news for former Pred Matthew Lombardi, he was injured in the Toronto / Nashville game and is now reported to be needing surgery.

- Welcome back Sidney. What a performance last night, Sid the Kid certainly rose to the hype.

- Don’t look now, but Columbus has actually won two in a row.

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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!

Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the link.

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On the next SlapShot Radio, built by RiverBirch Homes

The Preds are playing on Thanksgiving Eve and SSR is taking the night off. We’ll be back on Wednesday December 7th.

Last week’s podcast is posted, we talked to Howard Berger to help break down the Toronto game, Paul Hamilton in Buffalo to get the reaction to the Lucic/Miller incident and talked to Edmonton play-by-play man Jack Michaels about the surprising Edmonton Oilers.

SlapShot Radio is built by RiverBirch Homes, 6pm Wednesdays on 102.5 the Game.

More past episodes are also posted on the SlapShot Radio website.

Click here to listen or download.

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