Let me start this one off with a rousing Happy Birthday to a good friend and co-host of SlapShot Radio, Pete “The Professor” Weber. Many happy returns my friend!

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The Nashville Predators finish their three games in four days roadie tonight in Columbus. While it the end of the roadie, it is the beginning of an interesting four game stretch of divisional games focused on two teams. The Preds play at Columbus tonight and host the Jackets on Monday, and play the Blackhawks on Saturday and travel to Chicago on Tuesday for their last game before the All-Star break. By any stretch, four divisional games in a six day time frame is a critical string of games and a serious opportunity for the Predators to make a move inside the Central before the All-Star break.

Columbus continues to struggle, they remain at the bottom of the conference, 21 points out of a playoff spot. This season is done for the Jackets, but that doesn’t make them a less dangerous team. The Blue Jackets are a decimated group and their Injured Reserve list reads like a who’s who in hockey. RJ Umberger, Jeff Carter, Mark Letestu, James Wisniewski, Radek Martinek and Kristian Huselius are all injured. That being said, Rick Nash has begun to heat up for the Jackets with 5 points (4g,1a) in his last five games and Steve Mason is improving, but Curtis Sanford still seems to be the go-to guy for Columbus. That’s a big problem for this team as Sanford is playing like a goaltender serious about getting and keeping a number one slot. So… what does the team do with Steve Mason… or for that matter, Mark Dekanich?

Interim coach Todd Richards is trying to bring some calm to this maelstrom in Jackets land… an almost impossible task for a team that has so underwhelmed given the lofty expectations at the start of this season. It may be time to tear it all down and start again for Columbus.

Nashville is coming off a 3-0 loss to the Rangers at MSG. A game in which the bounces went against the Predators, but observers at the game also noted that the team’s compete level didn’t seem to be that high. The injury list for the Preds is short, Jerred Smithson and Ryan Suter are both listed as doubtful, Suter has been quoted as saying he isn’t playing tonight.

Count on one thing tonight... a one goal game no matter which way it goes... Game time is 6pm on FoxSports Tennessee and 102.5 the Game.

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Random Notes

- The Predators remain 6th in the Western Conference, four points behind St. Louis, five points behind Detroit and six points behind conference leading Chicago. The team is five points ahead of 9th place Minnesota.

- Quite a bit of time spent at NHL Q yesterday yielded a lot of press for the Preds.

- Josh Cooper has a nice column in today’s Tennessean documenting his interview with Gary Bettman and Bill Daly.

- Part of Cooper’s interview with Bettman unearths that the NHL is seriously considering Nashville for an All-Star game. It will be about a year before a decision is made, after the new Music City Center is complete.

- Bettman was talking with the Anaheim media yesterday and updated on the Phoenix situation. Basically there was no update, except that everyone appears frustrated.

- Michael Farber has a nice piece in this week’s SI about goaltender’s featuring Pekka Rinne.

- Minnesota continues its fall from grace… they stand 9th in the conference as I write this.

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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

We had one of our best SlapShot Radio’s ever last night and the podcast is now posted. We talked about the issue of fighting in the NHL with Adam Proteau of the Hockey News, he is the author of “Fighting the Good Fight” a new book about the subject. We also got the other side as well with Stu Grimson and we talked early trade deadline with Eklund. All this on the SlapShot Radio podcast built by RiverBirch Homes.

Click here to listen or download any of our previous shows.

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