Section303.com‘s own Jeremy K. Gover, the Three Oakes Mafia from Preds On The Glass, and Ryan Porth from Red Light District Hockey will be avoiding a situation like “The Hangover” while covering the NHL Awards and NHL Entry Draft.  Lucky huh?  Never fear my friends, the Nashville Predators have a solution for those of us melting in Middle Tennessee this week.

PREDS TO HOST DRAFT PARTY IN COOL SPRINGS ON FRIDAY

Nashville, Tenn. (June 22, 2010) – The Nashville Predators will be hosting a Draft Party on Friday, June 25 at the Athletic Club Sports Bar and Grille at the Embassy Suites Nashville South – Cool Springs. The event is free to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. CT.

Join broadcasters Tom Callahan and Pete Weber, mascot GNASH, and the Predators Dancers as we catch a glimpse of the NHL stars of tomorrow. Enjoy giveaways and an opportunity to join fellow Predators fans to see who the team will select in the first round with the 18th overall pick.

The 2010 NHL Entry Draft will take place in Los Angeles at STAPLES Center. Be sure to follow nashvillepredators.com for the most comprehensive team draft coverage from L.A., including previews, scouting insights from Predators management, reaction from selected players and much more.

WHAT: Nashville Predators 2010 Draft Party

WHEN: Friday, June 25, 6 p.m. CT

WHERE: Embassy Suites Nashville South – Cool Springs, 820 Crescent Centre Drive, Franklin, TN 37067 (map it)

WHO: Broadcasters Tom Callahan and Pete Weber, mascot GNASH, and the Predators Dancers

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Easter Egg: Did anyone notice on the map link how Psychiatric Solutions, Inc is prominently displayed?  I think it’ll be needed if we draft another defenseman.

An apology to those who were expecting the 1.5 hour marathon recorded at O’Charley’s.. but technical difficulties prevented that audio from being usable.  In the spirit of serving something to our listeners, the guys patched together the segments and interviews ready for the draft party, including a quick thought on Ryan Ellis at the end.

Onto the podcast, interviews with Dee Karl, Damian Christodero, and Jordan Schroeder.

As always, the podcast is available via iTunes for subscription.

CREDITS:
Kent Harris (Voice Over)
Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, among other surprises.

A small chant of “Schroeder… Schroeder… Schroeder…” broke out in one corner of the bar. McCann had made it clear earlier in the night that he’d love to see Zack Kassian holding a Preds sweater on the stage.  Everyone in the house at least expected a scoring forward to be the pick as that’s the undisputed need right now.

On the stage we heard: “The Nashville Predators select, from the Memorial Cup Champion Windsor Spitfires, (defenseman) Ryan Ellis.”

At the draft partry we heard: “Oh no.”

Then we heard: “Oh my God!”

(We also heard some explitives but we won’t get into that.)

The Predators kept with their odd-numbered-year tradition of selecting a defenseman by picking Ryan Ellis. Dan Hamhuis in ’01, Ryan Suter in ’03, Ryan Parent in ’05, Jonathan Blum in ’07 and now Ellis in ’09.

Obviously not on purpose but pretty interesting, eh?

Whatever the reason for picking Ellis, and not Schreoder or Kassian, Predators fans will be happy to know that the scouting report on him is a puck-moving defenseman that, truth be told, the Preds don’t have right now. Plus, most scouts agree that Ellis has the hardest slapshot in this draft class so think of this power play scenario: Weber on one point, Ellis on the other.

Of course, Nashville has a hard enough time getting one of their guys to stand in front of the net so that wouldn’t help matters any. But that’s another discussion for another day.

Another noteable Preds draft pick was Edina High School right wing Zach Budish, a two-sport athlete that was forced to miss his entire senior season of hockey due to a torn ACL injury suffered during football season. A lot of scouts were still high on Budish coming into the draft; the Columbus Blue Jackets even having brought him in for an interview just a day before the draft to possibly take him with their 1st round pick. If Budish bounces back from the injury without a hitch, he very well could be the steal of the draft.

Ellis, Budish and the rest of the Predators draft picks will all get together July 6 at Centennial Sportsplex for rookie camp.

Other Nashville Predators selections (so far) are as follows:
#42 overall – Charles-Oliver Roussel, D, Shawinigan, QMJHL
#70 overall – Tyler Beck, LW, Guelph, OHL
#72 overall – Michael Latta, C, Guelph, OHL
#98 overall – Craig Smith, C, Waterloo, USHL
#102 overall – Mattias Ekholm, D, Mora, Swe Jr.
#110 overall – Nick Oliver, C, Roseau High, USHS
#132 overall – Gabriel Bourque, LW, Baie-Comeau, QMJHL
#148 overall – TRADED TO TAMPA
#192 overall – Cameron Reid, C, Westside, BCHL
#202 overall – TRADED TO ST. LOUIS

Just a quick reminder, Nashville Predators 2008 number 1 draft pick — and the lead candidate for the Hobey Baker Award — Colin Wilson can be seen on Saturday afternoon when his Boston University Terriers face off against the number 4-seeded Ohio State University. Puck drops in Manchester, New Hampshire at 4:00pm Central which conflicts with the new start time of the Predators/Kings game of 5:00pm.

Set those TiVo’s and FauxVo’s (DVR = fake-TiVo, thus the term FauxVo) for ESPN2 at 4:00pm so, once you get home from the Preds game, you can get a glimpse of Wilson before he’s invited to the big club come playoff time.

Just a quick reminder, Nashville Predators 2008 number 1 draft pick — and the lead candidate for the Hobey Baker Award — Colin Wilson can be seen on Saturday afternoon when his Boston University Terriers face off against the number 4-seeded Ohio State University. Puck drops in Manchester, New Hampshire at 4:00pm Central which conflicts with the new start time of the Predators/Kings game of 5:00pm.

Set those TiVo’s and FauxVo’s (DVR = fake-TiVo, thus the term FauxVo) for ESPN2 at 4:00pm so, once you get home from the Preds game, you can get a glimpse of Wilson before he’s invited to the big club come playoff time.