He inked his first pro contract at his alma mater of Granbery Elementary School in Brentwood, becoming the first native-Tennessean to sign an NHL contract.

Geoffrion, Nashville’s second round pick in 2006, played in the National Championship game this past season with the Wisconsin Badgers and even tallied two goals in three playoff games with the Milwaukee Admirals before getting injured.

General Manager David Poile and the Preds were under some pressure to get Geoffrion signed as he was set to become a Restricted Free Agent in a couple months according to the rule that a college player must be signed by the team that drafted him by the August 15 following his senior year.

But, let’s be honest, the pressure was on Nashville more so because of how important he is to the franchise as far as depth is concerned. First of all, he’s a left wing and the Preds don’t have many of those. Secondly, along with Colin Wilson, Zach Budish and hopefully Cal O’Reilly (sorry, I still believe), Geoffrion is very much a part of the offensive future of the franchise. Throw in a couple blue chip prospect defensemen in Jon Blum, Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi and you’re looking at the heart and soul of the 2012-13 Nashville Predators.

You could read more about the signing at the Predators official website.

To finish things off, the guys chatted with Minnesota Wild Beat Writer Bruce Brothers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press about the State of Hockey (a/k/a the state of Minnesota), the loss of Marian Gaborik to free agency and the impact former Nashville Predator defenseman Greg Zanon has had on their hockey club.

section303.com encourage you to visit the Movember page on nashvillepredators.com and donate whatever you can to prostate cancer. Just pick whatever player you believe has the best ‘stache and donate.

As always, the podcast is available via iTunes for subscription. We would appreciate it if you would subscribe, rate and review.

CREDITS:
Music: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes), Salute Your Solution (The Raconteurs), Funky Child (The Lords of the Underground), Deliver Me (Robert Randolph & the Family Band), Run This Town (Jay-Z)

Staff: Kent Harris (voice over)

Cameo appearance by: Rachel from whatthepuckpreds.com

After a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Edmonton, followed by a 6-0 embarrassment in Dallas and then a 13-shot performance against Chicago this past Thursday, the struggling Predators go into the home of, arguably, the most talented team in the NHL. They’ll not only try to win, but a lot of fans would accept a loss given the game was competitive.

At this point, fans just need to see something worth rallying around. And a solid performance against a good team like Washington might be all it takes to regain the confidence.

As always, the podcast is available via iTunes for subscription. We would appreciate it if you would subscribe via iTunes and please feel free to rate and review while there.

The next 303:30 will be next week, Saturday, October 24, 2009 and our very special guest will be John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting. You don’t want to miss it.

CREDITS:
Music: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes), Salute Your Solution (The Raconteurs), Player’s Holiday (T.W.D.Y.), Shake Me Like a Monkey (Dave Matthews Band), Back to the Hotel (N2Deep), What’s the Difference? (Dr. Dre), Bang Bang (Dr. Dre)

Staff: Kent Harris (voice over)

It means they didn’t have to think about the embarrassing loss in Dallas too long.

Despite looking like a completely different hockey team than the past two games, the Predators fell to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Thursday night.

13,103 fans inside the Sommet Center witnessed a much better hockey club than the one they saw in the same building on Monday against Edmonton or the one they saw on TV on Wednesday when they “played” Dallas.

With the three goals relented against Chicago, the Predators have now allowed 15 goals in their last three games. And while there’s plenty of blame to go around, defensemen Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Klein seem to be the focal point of the collapse.

Of the 15 goals allowed, either Hamhuis or Klein have been on the ice for 10 of them. And both players have been on the ice together for seven.

For contrast, Francis Bouillon has only been on the ice for two of the 15 opposition’s goals this week and rookie Teemu Laakso has only been present for three.

The Predators really need to get it together. The defensive pairing of Hamhuis and Klein is standing out like a sore thumb, the coaching staff is scratching the few players that are hustling and leaving it all out there on every shift and the offense is sputtering.

Martin Erat became the first non-top liner to score for the Preds this season when he was credited with a goal during the second period. The puck actually went off Niklas Hjalmarsson‘s skate, went between the legs of Cristobal Huet and in the net. On a soccer score sheet it would read as an “own goal” so, for all intents and purposes, the top line of Jason Arnott, JP Dumont, Patric Hornqvist and Steve Sullivan are still the only forwards to score for Nashville.

Head Coach Barry Trotz opted for some interesting line combinations against Chicago. Dumont returned to the lineup so, in no surprise to anybody, the top line was reunited while Hornqvist was sent to the 2nd line, skating with David Legwand and Cal O’Reilly. Erat was moved down to the 3rd line in order to skate with Joel Ward and rookie Colin Wilson while Jerred Smithson centered the 4th line with Marcel Goc and Ryan Jones.

The workhorse Ben Guite and the tough guy Wade Belak were scratched.

Those four lines seem to be the strongest line combinations for the Predators in the young season. All lines had flashes of offense and, once again, Wilson and Ward showed that it’s only a matter of time before they put a few in the back of the net. That two-some is really clicking and developing some early chemistry.

So while Nashville extended their slide to four games, and only amassed 13 shots on goal, they showed a sense of heart and resiliency that fans haven’t seen in the previous two contests, which is a good sign considering they’re about to go play the fighting Ovechkin’s in Washington.

If they don’t have their act together against that team on Saturday, things could get real ugly, real fast and we’re bound to see another 6-0 or 6-1 debacle.

Or worse.

GAME NOTES:
* Registering a minus-2 against the Blackhawks, Hamhuis now has a team-low minus-7 rating.
* Both Hamhuis and Klein were on the ice for all three Chicago goals.
* Goaltender Pekka Rinne made 27 saves on 30 shots. It marked the first time a Predators goaltender has survived the first period since Monday against Edmonton.
* Ryan Suter collected his third assist of the season while Shea Weber earned his second.
* Dumont, in his first game back after recovering from what the team won’t call a concussion, logged 16:51 of ice time, registered one shot and seemed to be easing himself back to full strength.
* Goc led the Predators with three shots on goal. No other Nashville skater had more than one.
* In a relatively expected move, Mike Santorelli was reassigned to Milwaukee before the game and O’Reilly was recalled.
* This was the first time in what will be their long NHL careers that both O’Reilly brothers played on the same night. While Cal played his first game of the season in Nashville, his brother Ryan O’Reilly netted his first NHL goal in Montreal. It ended up being the game-winner for Colorado.
* The Predators will play their next five games on the road. The next home game is Thursday, October 29 against these same Chicago Blackhawks.
* The next 303:30 podcast will be available right here at section303.com this Saturday, October 17, just in time for your pre-game listening pleasure when the Predators travel to Washington to take on the Capitals.

Per the NHLPredsInsider Twitter feed, we’ve learned that Mike Santorelli has been reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals.  We’ve also learned from the same tweet, that Cal O’Reilly will be joining the Predators, fresh off a four-assist night for the Milwaukee Admirals.

…More to Come Later…..

Told you there was more.
Recently posted by NHLPredsInsider: Trotz: “J.P. Wants in tonight, so he’s in.” Dumont activated from IR.

Here’s the official word from Predators communications:

Nashville, Tenn. (October 15, 2009) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has recalled center Cal O’Reilly from Milwaukee (AHL), and reassigned forward Mike Santorelli to the Admirals. J.P. Dumont was also activated from Injured Reserve.

O’Reilly, 23 (9/30/86), amassed four assists in a 5-2 Admirals win over Peoria last night, and leads the American Hockey League in helpers with seven in three games. The Toronto, Ont., native registered five points (3g-2a) in 11 games with the Predators during the 2008-09 season, the first NHL action of his career.

Santorelli, 23 (12/14/85), suited up for each of the Predators first five games in 2009-10, posting no points while averaging 14:00 per game. A season ago, he Led Milwaukee in points (70) and goals (27) in addition to ranking second on the club in assists (43).

With the subtraction of role playing forwards like Vern Fiddler (Phoenix), Radek Bonk (KHL, but has since been released), Scott Nichol (San Jose) and Antti Philstrom (Sweden), Nashville was looking for some of the younger guys to step up and take their shot at an NHL roster spot. Veteran NHLers like Marcel Goc (San Jose), Ben Guite (Colorado), Peter Olvecky (Minnesota) and Ben Eaves (Finland) were all signed to two-way contracts but were meant to boost competition in training camp. Creative rookie center Cal O’Reilly had signed a two-way deal as well but was considered the lead candidate for the third line center position. And we haven’t even mentioned rookies Colin Wilson, Nick Spaling and Mike Santorelli yet.

There. We just did.

All of these players were fighting for roughly five open roster spots on head coach Barry Trotz’s club. Well today, we found out just who made the cut.

O’Reilly had a rough start and never really showed much until the final week of camp, which was too little too late. He cleared waivers and was sent down to Milwaukee. Trotz has said that he will have another chance to earn a call-up though. Frankly, if he can find his game again, he’s too valuable of a player to spend the entire year in the AHL.

As for Santorelli, he didn’t disapoint after being approached with the idea of moving to wing alongside David Legwand and Martin Erat. He ended up scoring five points in five games during the pre-season and made the coaching staff look like genius’s with their impromptu request.

Last years bust became this years homerun when Patric Hornqvist ended up leading the Preds in pre-season scoring. The much-maligned Swede who hadn’t scored a goal on NHL ice since last October netted two in the regular season tune-up sessions, both against as close to NHL rosters as possible: vs. Carolina on September 26 and at Columbus a day later. While he was basically handed the first line wing position last season, he outright earned his spot this year.

Of the veteran centers that had a realistic opportunity to start the 09-10 season in Nashville, only Goc and Guite stuck. Goc had an overly impressive camp and showed that he has plenty of offensive upside for a guy who will man the bottom of the roster throughout the season. Guite, a true role player in every sense of the word, earned a spot with his second NHL team thanks to his determination and work ethic. If anyone’s hard work could be coined “the Predator way,” Guite is that guy.

The defense had quite a battle of their own coming into camp after watching Greg Zanon and Ville Koistinen sign elsewhere. Former third round pick Cody Franson didn’t make the cut despite leading all Milwaukee blueliners in scoring last year. He was the odds-on favorite for one of the two open spots but a nose injury ate into his ice time with the team and, ultimately, the inactivity gave him a one-way ticket back to the Preds’ AHL affiliate.

Predators fans might remember Alexander Sulzer from last year. Unless, of course, they blinked. The 6’1″ German only saw three and a half periods worth of NHL action last year due to a shoulder injury. He may have been signed to a one-way deal over the summer but he never really stood out in training camp and finished with an even rating despite starting the pre-season a plus-4 in the first two games.

Teemu Laakso, considered by most to be third in the three-horse race for one of the two open spots, ended up being the lead horse. Laakso will most likely be paired with free agent signee, Francis Bouillon.

“The Cube,” as he’s affectionately known, missed the last half of the season last year due to an abdominal injury. He did manage to play one game for Montreal in the playoffs last year but, for all intents and purposes, he’s been out since February. He certainly came back with a bang though. Not known as a goal scorer, Bouillon netted the game-winner against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the final pre-season game of 2009. He also finished that game with a plus-2 rating. Not bad for missing most of training camp, eh?

Veterans Jason Arnott, JP Dumont, Steve Sullivan, Legwand and Erat will be counted on to lead the way up front, with guys like Goc, Santorelli, Hornqvist and Ryan Jones chipping in. Future Preds Wilson and O’Reilly will get their chance at the NHL level as well, it just might take them a little longer than most thought.

The blueline is anchored by Norris Trophy candidate Shea Weber along with Ryan Suter, Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Klein. Bouillon and Laakso will most likely fill out the bottom defensive pairing, despite the coaching staff on record saying Bouillon and Klein will rotate as the fourth defenseman as needed.

So, in summary: Today, officially, O’Reilly cleared waivers, Franson was sent down and Joel Ward and Wilson were both placed on injured reserve, putting the Nashville Predators roster at 21 as follows (in alphabetical order):

FORWARDS: Arnott, Wade Belak, Dumont, Erat, Goc, Guite, Hornqvist, Jones, Legwand, Santorelli, Jerred Smithson, Sullivan and Jordin Tootoo.

DEFENSEMEN: Bouillon, Hamhuis, Klein, Laakso, Suter and Weber.

GOALTENDERS: Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne.

By the way, it’s anyone’s guess what forward lines three and four will look like. Just sayin’.

Jeremy and Codey also catch up with the voice of the Milwaukee Admirals Aaron Sims.

As always, the podcast is available via iTunes for subscription. We would appreciate it if you would subscribe via iTunes and please feel free to rate and review while there.

CREDITS:
Music: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes), Salute Your Solution (The Raconteurs), Funky Child (Lords of the Underground), All My Rowdy Friends (Hank Williams, Jr.), Hey Girl (The Billy Goats), Party Hard (Andrew WK), Poker Face (Lady Gaga)

Staff: Kent Harris (voice over)

* Before the team took the ice, Wade Belak and Joel Ward did a light skate to stretch their groins with Strength & Conditioning Coach David Good. Colin Wilson was held out of the light skate.

* Francis Bouillon skated with the team today.

* The jersey color breakdown was as follows today:
WHITE – Jason Arnott, JP Dumont and Steve Sullivan
GREY – David Legwand, Martin Erat and Mike Santorelli
YELLOW – Ryan Jones, Patric Hornqvist and Marcel Goc
POWDER BLUE – Ben Guite, Jerred Smithson, Peter Olvecky and Nick Spaling
RED – Cal O’Reilly, Triston Grant and Jordin Tootoo
PREDS BLUE – all defensemen and goalies

* Cody Franson was back on the ice today. It was good to see him out there at least being able to try and earn a roster spot. It’s got to be tough when you’re in the running for one of the open spots and you get hurt early in camp and are forced to watch from the sidelines. (EDITORS NOTE: He may have been on the ice on Wednesday but section303.com wasn’t there to cover it so this is the first time we’ve seen him practice since the nose injury)

* Bouillon showed off his wrist shot today, tucking it under the crossbar several times.

* In succession, Bouillon, Santorelli and Alexander Sulzer all scored glove side on Dan Ellis during breakaway drills.

* Defenseman Nolan Yonkman really put his best foot forward on what is probably his final day of Predators camp. Solid breakout pass to Legwand early in the day, a hard wrist shot that barely missed and then an aggressive play on Tootoo during the 3-on-2′s. It was basically an unnecessary way to play defense at that moment but it just strengthened the case that he left everything out there today.

* Erat scored a soft goal by squeaking it under Ellis’ left pad as he went down. Ellis would love to have that one back.

* Teemu Laakso took a slapshot from above the face-off circles and it went over Ellis’ glove side shoulder. Not a good day for him today.

* During 1-on-1′s, Arnott broke in and waved off Dan Hamhuis as if to say “let me try something here.” Hammer peeled off, letting Arnott have a clear shot at the net. He deked Ellis and then lifted a backhand – from an impossible angle, mind you – but it glanced off the crossbar and out. Everyone laughed when the captain threw his head back as if to say “you’ve gotta be kidding me!”

* Franson, in one of his first great plays of camp, cleared a bouncing puck off the goal line behind Ellis to save a goal.

* What a sensational goal by O’Reilly during 2-on-0′s. Truly his first play that could be deemed “amazing” of this training camp.

* Ellis made a pretty routine glove save but then fell onto the ice and held his glove straight up in the air in a faux-celebration of a big stop. Almost as if to admit he’s had a bad day.

* Hornqvist, the most snake-bit of all the young Predators, had a gorgeous goal. He broke in on Ellis, deked like he was going left, Ellis bit, and it was only as the puck slid over the goal line that you realized he never stickhandled. As he deked left, the puck stayed the course and just slid in untouched.

* The final drill of the day was the “2-on-2+1.” A drill that puts the goals on each side of the offensive zone (against the boards), stick one player who’s only allowed to pass the puck in each corner and then have two players play against another two players, until the whistle blows which signifies four different players rotate in. During that drill, Grant scored the first goal on a pretty wrist shot he roofed against Ellis.

* Later in the drill, Sullivan (who was one of the passers in the corners) fed Santorelli who was all alone in the goalmouth. When he tried to one-time it, his stick broke in half and Sullivan immediately flexed.

* Grant scored again in the 2-on-2+1′s but it was waved off by Trotz because Tootoo was laying in the goal.

* Also during the 2-on-2+1′s, Laakso and Legwand were fighting for a loose puck on the blueline and things got a little out of control. Laakso seemed to have Legwand in a headlock but when Legwand went to get away, his helmet got pushed off and Laakso ended up high-sticking him in the face. Despite going straight to the bench area where there was a trainer standing-by, he took it pretty well, skating out to his teammates in an effort to find out who he was tangled up with. Once he identified the culprit, he skated over and bear-hugged him from behind and talked some trash…  in a good way.

* This was O’Reilly’s best day of camp so far. It’s too bad it’s late in camp because what he showed today was that he’s gotten his game back on track. He was moving off the puck extremely well, had some nice shots – including that highlight goal earlier – and even got to show off his creativity a little. Something that had been severely lacking until this stage of camp.

* Trotz on O’Reilly: “Cal hasn’t had a good camp and if you talk to Cal, he knows that. The compete level wasn’t where it should be. Cal’s very talented, he’s got great vision and he’s going to get another chance to prove himself but it gets tough when you don’t get off to a good start and there’s not a lot of games and there’s guys really competing for jobs. I think coming out of the first part of camp, Cal’s behind a lot of guys because he’s compete level wasn’t where it should be. But, since we’ve had a talk, his compete level’s been very high, his attention to detail’s been very high and his ability is starting to show again.”

* Trotz on Goc: “He’s had a really good camp. I see him fitting in as one of our four centermen. Marcel’s been a really good player for us in the exhibition season. You can tell he’s played at this level. Pretty good draw guy, responsible and he has a little more offensive side when he’s been put in that role.”

DAY 12 STANDOUTS:

Cal O’Reilly and Francis Bouillon

DAY 12 DUDS:

Dan Ellis (but was in a good mood while having a rough day so that’s actually a good sign)

—-

PHOTO CREDITS: Jeremy K. Gover/section303.com

Topics this week include the reasons for the 2-way component of Cal O’Reilly’s new contract, JP Dumont’s projected totals this coming season, would Chris Chelios actually be a good fit in a Predators sweater and the laundry list of possibilities for Nashville’s 2^nd line.

Training camp starts tomorrow, Sunday, September 13 so please come out and welcome your Nashville Predators back to town.

As always, the podcast is available via iTunes for subscription. We would appreciate it if you would subscribe via iTunes and please feel free to rate and review while there.

CREDITS:
Music: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes), Salute Your Solution (The Raconteurs), Brass Monkey(Beastie Boys), Ball and Biscuit (The White Stripes), Funky Child (Lords of the Underground), Tangled Up in Blue (Bob Dylan), Still D.R.E. (Dr. Dre)

Staff: Kent Harris (voice over)

Too bad Pred fans will have to wait until 2010-11 to see him wearing an NHL sweater full-time.

On the heels of his 23rd birthday, O’Reilly inked a two-year deal with Nashville. The first year is a two-way deal, allowing him to be sent down to Milwaukee. The second year, however, is a one-way deal which will keep him with the big club the entire season.

The former 5th round pick will make $550,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 at the AHL level during the 2009-10 season. The NHL-exclusive year of the contract will pay him $575,000.

While a point-per-game scorer in the AHL, the Toronto native showed flashes of brilliance in just about every game he played in with the big club. He tallied three goals in his 11 NHL games despite not being known as a goal scorer. He also provided two helpers while up in Nashville and consistently showed off his creativity. O’Reilly is a huge part of the franchise’s future, it’s just hard to fit him in on a roster over-loaded at the center position.

Jason Arnott, David Legwand and Jerred Smithson have locks on the 1st, 2nd and 4th line center positions, respectively. With every passing moment, it seems like Colin Wilson will be slotted in as the #3 center and, short of moving to wing, that muscles O’Reilly right off the NHL depth chart. With Arnott and Smithson being in the last year of their contracts in 2010-11, it appears this move might force some decisions to be made next summer. Do they like Smithson enough to keep him off the waiver wire? Do they want to get something for Arnott before he becomes a UFA? Is Wilson everything they thought he’d be as an NHLer? All of these questions must be addressed when bringing O’Reilly into the fold full-time next year.

But for now, it appears Cal is destined to lead the Admirals in scoring once again.

Unless, of course, he plays so well in camp that they’re forced to pay him the half million this season.

—-

PHOTO CREDIT: Jay LaPrete/AP