Nashville Predators On Top Of NHL
The Nashville Predators view the rest of the NHL a little differently today. Today their view is from the top, a position this team is not used to seeing. Their perch, which resides here in the Music City, is not exactly thought of as the epicenter of hockey. My how times have changed in Nashville.
Nashville’s history with hockey is long, but not exactly storied. I was born in the ’62 in Nashville. There were no pro teams of any kind in our sleepy little town. However in the same year I was born, Nashville got its’ first taste of professional hockey. That team was the Dixie Flyers. The Flyers played in the Eastern Hockey League from 1962 until the league folded in 1971.
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The Flyers played downtown at the Municipal Auditorium. I can remember going to a game once as a kid. I can remember watching the game and coming away with the sense that it was a game of controlled chaos. As a kid that was already playing baseball, basketball and football, I could not see any particular structure to the game. Were there plays? Were there formations? Was there any type of strategy at all? I loved the action, but I didn’t get it at all. The Flyers became back to back champions of the EHL in 1965 and again in 1966.
Nashville was dry on the Hockey front until the Nashville Southstars began skating here in 1981 and 1982. The Southstars were a minor league team playing in the CHL in ’81 and then the ACHL in ’82. Nashvillians were not knocking the doors down to get in these games. Sitting in the heart of the SEC this was football, baseball, and basketball country.
The Tennessee Volunteers were the mid state favorites. The Vols had a long history of winning in College football as well as basketball, and most here followed them. The hometown Vanderbilt Commodores were popular as well for many, but they lost, and lost a lot on the football field. You had to be a special kind of fan, or an alumni to pull for the Commodores. However their basketball teams were always good. They were also always entertaining and extremely hard to beat at home in Nashville.
The Southstars were not exactly successful here to say the least. But they led the way to another successful minor league team that came here. The Nashville Knights set up shop here in 1989 and played in the successful ECHL until 1996. The success of this team’s steady attendance laid the foundation for the NHL to look at Nashville as a potential NHL town.
In 1998 the Predators came to town and immediately became the best ticket in town. Nashvillians still may not understand the game from a “strategy” or “rules” standpoint, but they understand effort. The Predators have always been about effort, but that effort has never been greater than this season.
After the Preds let the only coach Nashville had known, Barry Trotz, go last season the fans were anxious to see what was going to happen. Trotz was popular in Nashville and a fan favorite. He compiled a record of 557-479-60 while here. He got to the playoffs in 7 out of the 15 years (better than the Titans) he was here, but he never threatened to be the best. Trotzy seemed to play a defensive game with a philosophy of ‘if the other team can’t score, you can’t lose’. Offense was basically non existent in those 15 years.
I can remember going to the Predator’s game thinking that they should at least try to score every once in a while. Shoot the puck toward the net! Crazy things seem to happen when you do that. But the Preds tried to pass around to try and get that perfect shot. Enter Peter Laviolette.
Laviolette has a much different philosophy. They attack the net relentlessly. They put the puck on goal when they come out of the tunnel. They also put the puck in the net frequently. The Preds have scored 117 goals on the season as best as I can add. That is an average of just under 3 goals per game. With stonewall Pekka Rinne in net, that is more than enough to win most games. And that is what the Predators have done so far.
The Nashville Predators are sitting at 27-9-4 with 58 points which is tied with Anaheim and Tampa Bay. By virtue of their record the Preds are looking down from the top. I think this team can stay there as well.
This team has a lot of energy. It is very much like Nashville itself. Nashville has momentum. The Preds have momentum. Nashville is the “it” city in all of America right now. The Preds are the “it” team in all of the NHL, at least right now. My how things have changed around here.
The Nashville Predators are in Minnesota taking on the Wild today at 1:00 P.M. The Wild is on a three game losing streak while the Preds have won two in a row.