Legionnaire11

thats why I said regular season. That playoff series had a few pretty good games in it. Like I said, if they had counted the goal, then there wouldn't have been the power play that Holmstrom scored on. So it doesn't matter either way. If you're still not impressed with the Predators this season... I don't know.

And people say the Preds overpaid for Forsberg. WOW what a pricetag, Atlanta had better go deep now. If I were trading for one of them, i'd rather have Guerin too, so I'd imagine the price to get him out of St. Louis will be unreal.

That was probably one of the top 2-3 regular season Preds v Wings games that i've seen. Crowd was magnificent. Lots of back and forth between the the two sides. Refs were terrible on both sides. So many times that I was wondering how there was no penalty called on the wings, and then equally as many times that I was wondering how the Preds got away with something not being called. Physical game, close game, hard fought, last second heroics. Awesome!!! ...as a side note, I've only seen 2 other people mention it in this thread. The goal that was waived off. Okay, there was a delayed penalty, the puck is touched by Vokoun and then goes in, so they waive it off saying that when the puck was touched that it was dead and then the penalty was assessed. And then the Wings scored on the power play. But if they had counted the first goal, then the wings don't get that power play... so it's basically an even call. You still got the goal, just not when you thought it would be. Not an excuse. I still want just one game where both teams are healthy and putting their best on the ice. Wings played Osgood instead of hasek, and Cleary was out... but on the other side, we were missing Sullivan and Hartnell our two leading goal scorers.

Headed over to the Arena! Good Luck Wings Fans. I hope it's a highly entertaining game, a tough, physical battle, and some third period heroics for the home team. i'd also take a complete blowout game too. Doesn't matter, as along as the Preds come out on top!

I can't wait to get to the Arena. I woke up at 4:45 this morning because there was a fire just a few doors down, lots of sirens and lights. And then I remembered it's game day... haven't been back to sleep! Here's hoping for Forsberg's first point(s) as a Predator tonight!!!

once again, it's funny how many of you will get so worked up and argue until you're blue in the face that it's not a rivalry. If there's nothing there, then there wouldn't be anything to argue about would there? I don't see this type of discussion about any other team in the league. But no... there's no rivalry

Never thought I'd see the day that Tunbo was defending me lol. I can't wait until Saturday... 4 pt game with first place on the line. Forsberg skating in his first Preds v Wings game. A packed house on Broadway. And to top it all off, 4 more meeting this season after that!

O-6 is a farce. They did more damage to the league in the long run than good. While other leagues were building up tradition, laying the foundation of a nationwide league, the 0-6 put together 25 years of zero growth for the NHL. There were other cities that wanted in, but the league owners wouldn't let them, it's a shame that such a great sport and league had to be set back 25 years. Not to say that the hockey wasn't great, the teams were great and the players were great. But you have to look at the negative side of the era as well.

from a poster on the preds boards, he wrote it last summer, great piece. Please note #1 and #6... ==================================== 10 Simple Rules for being a Nashville Predators Fan. 1. Everybody Else Sucks. It's a rule. We all know how rules are. It really doesn't matter. Wayne Gretzky? He sucks. Mario? Ovechkin? Yzerman? Hull? They all suck(ed). The only POSSIBLE exception to this rule is Patrick Roy...because he coached Alexander Radulov last year. All other teams in GEC also suck. The fact that they may be the defending Stanley Cup Champions does not change this. The fact that they may be the winningest franchise in NHL history does not change this. The fact that, on their way to the arena, they rescued a busload of nuns from the scene of a fiery crash caused by people gawking at them while they stopped a terrorist plot at the Batman building moments before, having arrived there in the nick of time to aide in the birth of premature sextuplents does not change this. They suck. The only exceptions to this rule are the Milwaukee Admirals and teams made up of children under the age of 10 who are putting on a demo during intermission. Former Predators, no matter how fond our memories of them, suck. Cliff Ronning sucks. Scott Walker and Adam Hall now suck. Mike Dunham sets the standard for suckitude by which all others are measured. There are no exceptions to this rule. Yes, that means even Paul Kariya and Tomas Vokoun have the potential to suck. 2. David Poile is a Genius Nobody ever said he was perfect. But he IS a genius. Sure, the guy has made a mistake or two....so did Einstein. Doesn't change the fact that he's a genius. He's built a winning hockey team in a city that, 10 years ago, couldn't MAKE ice...or, for that matter, spell it. Sure...argue all you want about Jere Karalahti...just remember that the man not only found a way to unload Mike Dunham on some unsuspecting fool, but he got Marek Zidlicky in return. Genius. 3. Real Hockey Fans Spend Time on the Boards This is important. It's not necessary that one post...or contribute...or even fluff. You needn't suffer the rather aimless wanderings of BC...such as this post. It is not required to understand...or even tollerate...statistical anlyses that would choke a horse from some nut in Wisconsin. You do not need to have ever played the game, despite what the FHL crowd says. Drinking Jack Daniels before, during, or after a game is optional. You don't have to know who scoed the game winning goal...more importantly, you needn't know why. You do not have to spend hours, days, weeks, months, nay YEARS expounding on why David Legwand does...or does not...suck. In fact, we'd really rather you didn't. You DO, however, have to know what makes all of these things funny. It's just part of the whole Pred-fan groove, man. 4. That Man Has No ****ing Neck Yes, yes, we know. It's part of his charm. 5. Soft Dumps and Nice ***** Pete Weber and Terry Crisp are, without question, THE best broadcasting tandem in professional sports today. You are not, and can not be, a true Predators Fan until you have spent some time simply chatting with these two. Doesn't matter where...in the concourse before games, out at public events, at one of 303's SlapShot parties, over lunch...wherever. In as much as certain players have been said to "define what it means to be a Nashville Predator", they define what it means to be a Predator Fan. Their insights, descriptions, discussions, and broadcasts of games have, whether we realize it or not, shaped every one of us...and shaped how we see this team. Quite simply put, if you are unable to describe Cale Hulse's manhood...well...you just aren't a Predators' fan. 6. We are unavoidably and inexplicably tied to the Detroit Red Wings Yes. They suck. (See rule 1) But any real Preds fan knows there is "something special" about the connection between these two. Maybe it's the fact that the Wings were responsible for a sizeable chunk of our original fan base. Maybe it's simply the knowledge that to be the best, you have to beat the best. Who knows. But Preds fans understand that it just wouldn't have been right to have met anyone else in our first playoff series. Preds fans understand that when they built a strange bond with opposing fans after watching Jiri Fischer collapse on the bench...it HAD to be the Wings. And Preds fans know that, some how, some way, the hockey gods will see to it that when the Preds win their first Western Conference chmpionship...they'll have to beat Detroit to do it. It's kismet...fate...whatever. 7. We have the rarist of opportunities Preds fans get to watch a baby grow up. And we don't have to change diapers. Ok, sure...we deal with the growing pains...and lord knows, we spend ridiculous amounts of money clothing and feeding the kid. And there is no doubt the kid has done (and will continue to do) some pretty stupid things. But here we are, watching our child at the tender age of 9 already begin to accomplish some amazing things. And even if the kid reaches 20...or 30...or 40...and still hasn't achieved its ultimate goal in life...it'll still be OUR KID. 8. Growth Hurts (see #7 above) Growth is not a painless process. Growth involves trying new things, exploring new possibilities. Growth involves tossing aside that which was "great" because it has, of late, become "not good enough". Growth means Scott Walker now sucks. Shared pain makes us a family. 9. Our family is dysfunctional. Some of us still think the Ronning trade was a bad idea. We still invite them to dinner, but only on special occaisions. Some of us think the world revolves around Jordin Tootoo. We only invite them to dinner at obscure restaurants, as we lack the ability to prepare raw whale in our own homes. Some of us STILL don't know who scored the game winning goal. We laugh about them over dinner. NONE of us can agree on whether David Legwand sucks or not. What do you think we DISCUSS at dinner? Some of us, inexplicably, think the Dunham trade was a bad idea. Forget dinner, these people have been disowned. Some of us think "stupid penalties" are ok. Occaisionally we'll rationalize this over the dinner table by discussing the finer points of goaltender protection...or swooning over bruises. A few of us simply don't get to the dinner table often enough to know WHAT we think. We're too busy serving our country, or heading off to college, or we live obscure places like Nunavut...or Wisconsin. Some of us show up at the table with bottle in hand. Usually, somewhere between "consume" and "repeat", they manage to contribute to whatever argument is going on at the time. A rather significant number of us are convinced the sky is falling. Hopefully, somwhere after predicting that we'll miss the playoffs, but well BEFORE predicting that the team will be moved, we manage to contact our lawyers and have them written out of the will. And what have we learned from all of this? "Functional" families are boring. 10. Expect the unexpected. Bizzarre things follow this team around like lost puppy dogs. The first time our team disputed a suspension handed down to one of our players...the case was argued by one of our former players. Just this past season, we watched our BACKUP goaltender score a goal. We once watched our OLYMPIC goaltender knock a puck into his own net...with his butt. We watched Scott Walker (who sucks now, btw) score a hat trick...and then have it taken away...and then score it again. We've heard Terry Crisp describe Cale Hulse's manhood...and heard Pete Weber unable to speak for 3 minutes afterwards. Not only did we watch an apparently healthy opponent collapse on his bench with a heart problem, we've watched this team lose man-games to butt injuries caused by missed checks, back injuries caused by car wrecks, groin strains caused by golfing, and, in an apparent effort to one up ALL of these things, our goaltender ends his season by contracting a disease associated with sedentary pregnant women. Predators fans simply understand...whatever it is that can't possibly happen, will.

The Wings do suck... I've never said anything else on here. I certainly don't like them by any stretch, really my least favorite team in the league. But they're a great team, with a lot of great players who are also good guys. And there are a lot of great posters on here. So, what?

Just anyone who does it. Not taking a shot at a particular poster, I just find it ironic that so many people complain about this or that having to do with the Predators, and then turn around and deny that there is a rivalry.

Am I the only one who finds it amusing that the same people who complain about something like this, are the same people who say that there is no rivalry between the two teams?

It's not overpaying when you consider that we still have Klein and Franson as stud defensive prospects in the system. This is what Poile has been stocking all this young D talent for anyway. solid defensive prospects are always going to be a premium, so why not hoard them and use them to get things that you need?

Umm, Nashville met the minimum season ticket sales to be awarded a franchise, which was only 12,000. The first few years they averaged over 16,000/gm. And I'm not sure when the last time you checked your attendance figures, we're averaging 14,700. It's St. Louis who is below 12,000. I wish everyone had a crystal ball so they could look into the future, K.C. would draw well for a few years and then fall off, just like all the other cities (including my own nashville). The thing is, there are some bad markets in the league, but there really isn't anywhere to move those teams that would be any better in the long run. The league is better off sticking it out in these markets and letting the fanbase grow up with it over a few generations rather than moving the teams every 10 years and never letting them become established and build some tradition. The only other option is contraction, and I think that would be the worst possibility for the league from a PR standpoint, not to mention the players union would never allow it to happen.

care to name this ideal city that you speak of? When Nashville was awarded a franchise there was no other Pro sports team here (titans were still the nomad-oilers at the time). Nashville is a booming city with plenty of young people. Nashville has had a pro hockey team for over 40 years. Seriously, find me a city that would be better. You name all this criteria, but you can't name a city that fits the bill.

I can see where Strachan can take things and stretch them to fit his hatred towards southern markets, specifically Nashville... Who BTW, just before this article was written, whooped up on his maple leafs (interesting isn't it?)... But Craig Leipold is a business man. He makes decisions based on what is best for his business, owning the Nashville Predators. You can say whatever you want about him, but he's only one voice out of 30 owners. So even if he were the biggest pile of crap in the league (far from it) he cannot single handedly do anything to change the league. Leipold is a huge Predators fan, he probably cheers louder than anyone else in the building when the Preds score. He's a great guy, always walking around before games talking with fans. And I mean, if you are looking at making an expansion team, and Nashville (which had a 30 year history of hockey before the NHL) comes at you with the biggest sweetheart offer in the history of pro sports. Would you turn them down? If your business is losing money, and the big corporate office says they're going to give you some free money from the profits that other businesses are making, would you turn it down? Nashville is not the only team in this situation. So, other than being the best team in the league, I don't understand why we're always the ones getting crapped on in the media. We're I think 22nd in the league in average attendance. Even if we sold out every night we'd only be 16th, so it's not like we could ever be in the top half of the leauge attendanc-wise anyway. ...to make a long story short. Craig Leipold is a great guy and a great owner. If every owner in the NHL were as passionate about their team, and did as much as Leipold to get every advantage and every little ounce of help and support for their franchise, then the league as a whole would be better off.

That was actually pretty funny

more news, and it probably won't be reported in any way having to do with the Preds. But there is bad news for nashville, good news for the preds. Starwood Amphitheater, which is one of the biggest music venues in Nashville has decided to shut down. This leaves only the GEC and the older war memorial auditorium as big concert venues in town. (kinda sad that we're the music city with no where to have concerts). This should add at least 15-20 addition summer concerts to the GEC's schedule. And of course, as part of the arena deal signed, the Predators get a % of all concert revenues. Won't help attendance, but it will help the bottom line. Maybe they can turn that extra money around to marketing and come up with some better ways to get people excited for hockey and translate that into ticket sales. I know it wouldn't be any huge boom, but every little bit helps.

The fans show the team no support? are you kidding? next time you come through nashville let me know and i'll buy you a ticket so you can see. It's the businesses of nashville who don't support. And Strachan... I think it's funny that when he writes a piece that rips on a southern market, suddenly everyone thinks it's decent writing and 100% factual. the guy is a piece of crap. For anyone interested, THIS is the thread on this article on the preds boards. the real meat of the discussion doesn't start until page 2. and our own paul mccann's response to strachan on hockeybuzz.com Here

Duck season... Rabbit season... Legionnaire season?

This thread is stupid. 11,000? do you honestly believe that? This clause has been in the contract since day 1. The Tennessean (Titans-sean) felt it necessary to make it a story on the day of a sold out game? and they ran a picture with it from the leafs game that was taken well before faceoff... there were 15,000 in the building that night. Please don't use that paper as a source of info on the Preds. In reality, we have only one media outlet here that does a decent job of supporting them and it's a radio station. Any media that was here and established (local tv and print media) before the preds are pretty much good ole boy operations and want nothing more than for hockey to be out of Nashville. If we get a little corporate support from the businesses here, then we would be at or near capacity every night. And for everyone who has ever said the preds would moved, and i've brought up our awesome arena deal as a reason for not moving... Do you believe me now?

I think Michigan is getting hosed in this whole thing. They are definitely a better team than Florida. Only reason florida is in the game is because of all the talk about how michigan already had their chance. Either way, the only game that matters now is MTSU v C. Michigan. I watched the MAC title game and i'm pretty much scared now, not sure if MTSU has much of a chance in this one.

Looks like Middle Tennessee State is definitely going to the Motor City Bowl. MTSU is just down the road from me and Alma Mater to just about everyone in my circle of friends and family. Middle are Co-Champions of the sunbelt for the second time since coming up to I-A 6 years ago. Finished with a 7-5 record with losses to Maryland, Oklahoma, Louisville, South Carolina and Sun Belt Co-Champs Troy (by 1 point). Players to watch: QB - #17 Clint Marks. Very accurate passer and great senior leader. Owns many school passing records. The one's he doesn't have are generally held by Wes Counts, Jonathon Quinn and Kelly Holcomb. Very good company to be in for a Sun Belt school. RB - #20 Eugene Gross. Workhorse back, owns many of the school rushing records. He won't impress much in the first half, but he wears opposing defenses down and does a lot of damage in the second half. DB/KR - #5 Damon Nickson. Leads the entire nation in Kick Returning. Had a 4 interception game against Arkansas State this season. Always a threat to score on any return. LB - #25 J.K. Sabb. Defensive leader. One of those linebackers who seems to always be in the right spot and around the ball. K/P - #46 Colby Smith. One of the highest Punting averages in the nation. Has been on the Groza watch list for 3 seasons. Last week kicked a 48 yard FG into the wind. Owns the school record with a 79 yard punt in week 1 of this season. Will almost certainly be in an NFL camp. So, those are the Blue Raiders. They'll be facing your own Central Michigan. If you don't have tickets yet, go buy some because MTSU is a very entertaining team to watch!! (and I already know that you don't care, but whatever)

San Jose Bay Sharks? I think he meant with "bay" in the name. Doesn't bother me. Anything they can do to market a better image for themselves and draw more fans. "HockeyTown" started out the same way.

i think the big thing that everyone is missing here... Forsberg Carter Richards Nedved Robitaille + a couple prospects Why would Philly want to trade their #1 RW for another center?