The Ice Sheet: Predatory Leading

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

I have to imagine life for a Nashville Predators fan can be correctly described as surreal at times. Coming within an inch of Jim Balsillie's ego from moving to Hamilton, and remaining in the relocation whispers of naysayers even as new ownership takes hold. The "here today, gone 22 games later" of Peter Forsberg. Those third jerseys (yikes). So when the team beats an opponent called the Hurricanes, and fans have to then remain in the arena while deadly tornadoes blow by Nashville, I suppose it's just in keeping with the Predatory weirdness.

But it even gets more surreal: This Nashville team, despite all the adversity, is four points away from the four seed in the Western Conference after its national television Versus victory over Carolina last night. And the three reasons why the Preds were finally able to put one past a red-hot Cam Ward in the 1-0 victory just happen to also be the best line in hockey right now: JP Dumont, Jason Arnott and Alexander Radulov.

(Coming Up Next: Last Night's Losers, The Leafs Hit Rock Bottom, Why The Southeast Division Doesn't Deserve a Playoff Spot, Devils Fans Dating Rangers Fans Are Fan-tastic, Tonight's Must-See Games and Pimping Out Ovechkin's Garage.)

The trio combined for the game-winner last night on a brilliant play started by an outlet pass by defenseman Ryan Suter. That sprung a 3-on-1 breakout that ended with Arnott making a cross-ice pass that Dumont buried behind Ward for the only goal of the game. That gives Dumont points in 21 of his last 24 games, and his linemates are the reason for that success.

Over on the HF Boards (more on them later), it took 96 posts on a thread debating the top line in hockey before the Dumont, Arnott and Radulov line was mentioned. It's understandable: They don't have the star power of Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson (when healthy) or Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom (when together), nor do they have the hockey snob backing of a Hab-tastic line like Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev. Hell, they don't even have a nickname as far as I can tell: The RAD Line, maybe? Meh, too 1989.

But what makes them, in my eyes, the best line in hockey is the back story. Here's Arnott, a 14-year veteran and former Stanley Cup champion captaining what is still a fairly young Predators team. Here's Dumont, a guy who went from a potential deadline sell-off to a four-year commitment in the last two months. Here's Radulov, starting to fulfill the promise some assumed he would never keep. Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson could show up in a Ray Emery state of mind and score four points; this Nashville line has no right to be this good ... yet here it is, leading the Predators into the postseason picture.

Last Night's Losers

• Boston allows Buffalo to continue to tease its fans with a postseason berth. I'd be more excited about the Sabres if it weren't for the fact that other teams in the Eastern Conference have more than two centers.
• Is it some kind of NHL scheduler's inside joke that the Kings and Rangers played on the anniversary of Sean Avery's trade to Broadway? The nearly Mr. Cuthbert scored, but the Rangers lost a bad one at home.
• Speaking of pains-in-the-ass, Steve Downie gets the game-winner in Atlanta for the Flyers.
• Teemu returns. Niedermayer scores. Giguere with the shutout. That sound you heard is the Western Conference crapping itself.
• The Blue Jackets lose Pascal Leclaire for at least the next two games with a neck injury, and then lose to Alex Ovechkin in OT. If you can find it, the video of referee Bill McCreary accidentally going Rodney Harrison on Caps defenseman Shaone Morrisonn to spring Rick Nash on a break is priceless.
• Leafs fans did a lot of cheering last night ... awful, self-loathing cheering for the Panthers as Florida won 8-0 in Toronto.
• Huge win by the Habs last night over Ottawa, as the division race continues to tighten.
• Thanks be to Hasek for keeping the Wings in this game for two periods before Detroit rallied in the third and beat the Wild in OT.
• Brendan Morrow showed surprising shootout skillz to beat the Canucks. I want to buy him a beer after this quote: "I'm a traditionalist, so I'm still not used to having a skills competition deciding a game. I'll admit it's exciting, but it's not my thing. But when I'm called upon, I feel comfortable doing it."
• Tampa Bay beats the Blues, as the Bolts have suddenly figured out that you're allowed to win on the road, too.
• Jesus, what were there 10,000 games last night? Fingers tired. Mueller hat trick. Iggy scores. Yotes lose to Flames. Clearly, Walter the Hockey-Loving Parrot has done his job. Go Flames Go!

Leafs Now Compost

I'll have more on the Leafs hitting rock-bottom over on Deadspin today, but I think this insane postgame rant penned by Rosie DiManno in The Toronto Star about covers it:

You can feel the team waving goodbye to the post-season, as feebly as they waved their sticks at Florida Panthers, so effortlessly did the opposition pound and pounce on grotesque errors of defensive-zone coverage en route to an 8-0 stomp.Good golly, these were the Pussy Panthers, only two points ahead of Toronto in the Eastern Conference standings to start the evening and just as presumptively out of the playoffs.

There are many candidates to pick from but this was the worst Maple Leafs effort in a train wreck of a season and a watershed occasion: you can stop believing now, for them what still did. What was going through coach Paul Maurice's mind, he was asked, as the club staggered to the merciful end? "Mostly, profanity."

So the attention on the Leafs will shift to off-the-ice, where Mats Sundin trade talk will begin to reach a fever pitch and rumblings about other organizational changes will stir. Is former Stars GM Doug Armstrong the answer for Toronto?

Devils and Rangers Supporters Are Fan-Tastic!



Getty Images says: NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: A New York Rangers fan and a New Jersey Devils fan goof around during an NHL game between their teams on February 1, 2008 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Alternative cutlines (assuming these two are dating, because it wouldn't be funny otherwise):

• A. They soon realized their Brodeur/Ritcher debate had gotten out of hand when one of them ended up with a fractured cranium.
• B. Surly, heartbroken and disgruntled, Elisha Cuthbert walks through the crowd pummeling any white male in a Rangers jersey.
• C. Even though he was in love with a Devils fan, it was at this point he was certain there would be no clutching, grabbing or holding the stick later in the evening.
• D. "Just do me this favor, baby ... not the beer. The face, fine ... but not the beer."

This Week's Glimpse Into the Maddeningly Awesome World of the HF Boards

You know, it's moments like this when I understand the angst Southeast Division fans have against the rest of the NHL. Mnorman1 of the HF Boards presents a topic titled, "Does the Southeast deserve a playoff spot?":

It's very possible that NYI or Buffalo finishes with a top 8 record but does not make the playoffs. Should the NHL change its rules so that the winner of an incompetent division does not make the playoffs, or should they keep it as is? I think they should guarantee the team a playoff spot, but that they aren't confined to the top 3.

I completely agree. They should also use a power sander to get all of those Carolina and Tampa Bay names off of the rest of the NHL's trophy. Congrats, Mnorman1 ... for this bit of genius, your Aitch Effy is IN THE MAIL!

Tonight's Games You Should Be Watching

• Stay away from Ovechkin, Downie. I'm serious.
• The Devils head to Buffalo, seeking to keep the Atlantic as muddled as it currently is.
• Chicago must continue to COMMIT TO THE INDIAN! in Edmonton.
• Nabokov is 7-0-0 with a 1.84 GAA against the Avalanche in his career. Not too shabby.

Gratuitous YouTube Embed

Finally, the Capitals have been doing some pretty cool in-house video this season with their players. Here's Mr. Ovechkin and his pimped-out garage. Not exactly the world's greatest pitch-man, but he's got 124 million reasons why he shouldn't give a damn about what I think ...