Earlier today, Mike Fisher, 10 year veteran and Assistant Captain of the Ottawa Senators, was traded to the Nashville Predators for a 1st round pick in the 2011 draft and a conditional pick in the 2012 draft.
At first glance, there were two major opinions on this trade: 1) Excitement and 2) Disdainment
Most fans shared the first opinion, absolutely loving this trade especially knowing that we didn’t give up anything but a potential 1st round defenseman (or defenceman for my Canadian readers) we would draft or whatever came down the line in the ’12 draft (probably another defenseman). However, there was a minority of fans that leaned towards the second opinion, feeling that Fisher was nothing more than another Erat or Legwand. Funny thing is, if you are superstitious with numbers or stats, then that opinion would make sense as Erat is #10, Leggy is #11, and Fisher wears #12 and they all usually have the same point totals at the end of the year.
My 2 cents on the matter though? Fisher is much more than just a Leg-rat copy…he’s essentially what you would get if Legwand would have the sense to be more of an offensive prowess, he is, as I stated earlier in my tweet, Legwand 2.0
Fisher is much more offensively consistent than Legwand is. Do NOT look at his current stats this year with the Senators. Players playing on teams that are having bad years tend to have their stats considerably skewed and play on the level that the rest of the team does. However, Fisher has averaged more than 20 goals in the 10 years he’s played in the NHL and is CURRENTLY averaging 48% on faceoffs and has averaged OVER 50% on faceoffs over the past 3 years. His +/- has only dipped under the even mark twice (not including this season)
People are sometimes SO obsessed with the numbers on paper that they seem to forget the intangibles that a person has. Work ethic, desire, competitiveness, etc., Mike Fisher symbolizes EVRYTHING that Barry Trotz practices and preaches and tries to teach the young kids that make it atop the minor league mountain and make it to the big leagues. The Predators are built on heart and hard work; this addition only strengthens us, nothing more.
Now we can VIABLY say we have a number one center on our team (that is healthy, no offense to Matt Lombardi)
On a side note, The Tennessean needs to take a very SERIOUS look at who they hire to edit their paper and to write their headlines. Over the years, Predators fans have had the find their source of hockey news and coverage from other sources besides the local paper, as it’s been seriously lacking. But in the past 5 days, fans have seen what a true waste of birch trees and a perfectly good fish wrap can bring: Making a side note of the 3-0 Preds win and putting it on page C7 (albeit briefly on page C7) and making a total mockery of today’s trade for Mike Fisher
The headline? “Predators acquire Carrie Underwood’s husband”, which was later changed to “Predators acquire Mike Fisher, Carrie Underwood’s husband”
As my wife and I discussed (heatedly) earlier, my point is NOT about how a company can lure visitors in to their product, as The Tennessean CLEARLY did that very well with the aforementioned headline, my point and the main problem of the paper is that they haven’t and will never take the Nashville Predators as a serious sports team in Nashville.
As far-fetched as that sounds, that’s the truth. If the Titans/Volunteers/Commodores would have had news as big as todays news, it would have been front page on the sports area of the Tennessean’s website and most likely front page on tomorrows Sports section. However the Preds always seem to be relegated to second-banana to all of these teams, and what’s most shocking is that they are second-banana to COLLEGE teams (no offense to the Vols OR the Dores).
This is a shame…a travesty if you will. The Tennessean keeps wondering why their subscription levels have dropped over the past years. I’m not saying it’s because of the Preds, but they would have quite a few more subscribers if their level of coverage for the Preds increased and became more prevalent. The Predators, contrary to popular belief, are the best sports attraction in Nashville: not the Titans, not the Commodores, not the Sounds. The Predators have been here the longest of the 2 professional teams and over the past 7 years have continually put a winning product on the ice. However, we’re continually shunned by our local newspaper. It won’t just take a 1st round win in the playoffs, but THE Stanley Cup itself coming to Nashville before The Tennessean and it’s management start to notice what’s been here for 11 years and right under their noses.
Thanks for reading!
~KM
Follow me on Twitter at @PredsFan_303
Good stuff man. Welcome to the Predators blogging world.
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That headline pissed me off so much, I wanted to go downtown and find the hack that wrote it. Not only that, our hometown paper was the LAST media outlet to report the story. It was everywhere BUT the Tennessean! They are a joke and always will be. Good work.
Great article. I have often wonder if our local media would report as much about the Preds as they do the Titans, Dores, Vols if it would make a difference with the fanbase. I often eat lunch downtown and will listen to some of the conversation going on around me. Usually it is as small as 2 guys to a group of guys. They seem to always talk about the Titans year-round, then Vols, Dores depending on if its football or basketball season. Very seldom will the Preds even be mentioned, I as a huge Preds fan and true sports fan can’t understand this. It has to start with our media, tv, radio and newspaper. Thanks for your work it is appreciated by all of us Preds fans.
Thank you much @Robby, @Pred2Win, @Chris, I appreciate the comments!
Up here in the great white north, no one gives a hoot who a player’s wife is. (Imagine calling Wayne Gretzki ‘Mr. Jones’?) I cannot think of any other wife since the early 60′s being refered to by name! It’s simply not done.
But that all changed here when Miss Carrie came to town. We were barraged with inane details about her being present at the game, what she was wearing and where she got her hair done. I for one am decidedly relieved that we’ll lose all that non-sense with the trade. It took up far too much space in the papers. Perhaps now you all can look forward to the Tennessean covering this all-important beat. You know what they say about there being no such thing about bad publicity, don’t believe it for a second!
@Gail – Thanks for posting! Nah, with the Tennessean, we don’t have to worry about them covering the Predators, we are relegated to about a paragraphs worth on the last page. And when we DO get coverage, it’s to say we picked up Carrie’s husband. Eh, it’s just frustrating, but I completely understand your point about the coverage she brings
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