Photo Credit: Frederick Breedon/Getty Images
Last night I had the pleasure of bringing along a die-hard Blue Jackets fan (Twitter handle: @bcluxton) to the Nashville Predators home opener for what I figured would be a bit of karma coming at the Predators.
Why would I think that, you ask? Well, to be honest, how could you not think that? 
Nashville goes into Columbus for their home opener, beat them 3-2 with Predators fans in the arena. Nashville goes into St. Louis for their home opener, beat them 4-2 with Predators fans in the arena. Nashville comes back home for their home opener and plays against a team that is win-less and probably has LITERALLY a handful of their fans in the Bridgestone Arena. If you believe in hockey karma or continually start sentences with “The Hockey Gods…”, then you know exactly why I felt like I did last night.
However, what shocked me the most about last night was the early uprising of fair-weather fans that seemed to start slowly after the game was over like a breakout of poison ivy on your arms.
So, Phoenix gets the first goal. Ok, that’s fine, the Predators will come back from that.
So, Phoenix gets the second goal…still not out of the first period. Ok, that’s fine, the two goal lead is the worst lead in the NHL, the Predators will come back from that.
So, Phoenix gets the third goal…still not out of the first period and down 3-0.
At this point, I started scanning the arena to see if anyone was heading to the exits. Surely enough, I see people starting to leave for the exit to the concourse. I think to myself, “Well there is only 1:15 left in the first period, maybe they’re just going to the bathroom or to the concession stands.” Even the gentleman who purchased the LONE non-season ticket held in the row I sit in right beside me had gotten up and walked out. So, I wasn’t sure.
First period ends, second period rolls around. The gentleman nexts to me doesn’t come back for the rest of the game.
So, Phoenix gets the fourth goal…down 4-0. NOW the fans started leaving. You could really see some of them piling out, including quite a few of the regulars in my section, and I can’t blame them. A 4-0 lead? How often do teams come back from that?
Nashville finally gets on the board, shorthanded at that, making it 4-1 Phoenix. Ok, so there is a little hope, right?
Second period ends, third period rolls around. A few more empty seats than the start of the last period, but what can you say, right?
Nashville gets another 9 minutes in, making it 4-2 Phoenix. Here comes the comeback? Yeah, no. Not tonight.
Phoenix gets the empty netter, the fans file out, which is DEFINITELY expected when down 5-2 with 1:10 left in the game.
The game ends, 5-2 Phoenix, disappointing home opener for Nashville. Hey, 3 games into the season, if you would have told me that the Predators would be 2-1-0 and David Legwand would be leading the league in total points, I would have shook your hand and told you that THAT is the positive attitude all fans should bring to every game.
However, the reality of things? Nashville is 2-1-0, David Legwand leads the ENTIRE league in points scored, Nashville has a top 10 penalty kill and powerplay, and although the Predators seriously were on the end of a “oops, bad night”-stick last night…Nashville is only three games into the season.
Then, I start seeing these type of comments posted across many of the social media outlets from Predators fans:
“I hope Trotzy can get this team together, we looked like a bunch of little boys out there playing”
“Seems everytime they give out tee shirts, the Preds lay an Ostrich-sized egg on the ice.”
“I’m not sure what the problem playing at home is for the Preds lately. They had a very mediocre year at home last season and between the playoffs and the home opener, they’re 2-5 in their last 7 at the Bridge.”
“It wasn’t the uniforms that were bad tonight, it was the guys wearing them. I wish it were as easy as changing the unis but it won’t be. The coaches have their work cut out for them.”
“It so sucked! That gold is a jinx!”
So, what am I getting at here? Some Predators fans need to band together, form a circle, join hands, and say repeatedly, “It’s only the third game of the season”. Do that over and over and call me in the morning.
Teams are going to have bad nights, NO team is an exception to that rule. Need proof that it always happens early in the season for the Predators and they still have a successful season? Here, try this:
October, 2010-2011 season: 3 straight OT losses in the first 6 games and two losses by a combined score of 8-2 to finish the month. How did the Predators finish that year? 5th place in the Western Conference, first round win against Anaheim, dropped in the semi’s against Vancouver
October, 2009-2010 season: 6 straight losses after starting the season 2-0, being outscored 22-6. How did the Predators finish that year? 7th place in the Western Conference, dropped in the first round against Chicago
October, 2007-2008 season: 6 straight losses after starting the season 2-0 (sound familiar?), being outscored 29-9. How did the Predators finish that year? 8th place in the Western Conference, dropped in the first round against Detroit
Do I need to continue?
All I am getting at here, readers, is that we have 6 more months to the season. Yes, Nashville played bad last night against Phoenix, I’m not going to sugarcoat it one bit. Horrible? Maybe so. However, is it time to theoretically jump the ship because of a bad 5-2 loss? No, not at all. Stay on board, there is a TON of hockey left and Nashville is going to exorcise their early season problems like they do every year.
If you feel I’m being too harsh, maybe I am, and I want to hear from you if you do, however understand that I AGREE with you the Predators played bad last night, however I don’t agree that they are on the wrong track or they have a lot of work to do. Erat/Hornqvist were hurt last night which jumbled the lines a bit, Hillen was scratched and Ekholm got his first ever shifts as an NHL player, Bergfors got his first start for Nashville, Fisher/Bouillon will hopefully be back in the next few weeks, and Rinne/Weber/Suter just had bad nights overall (although 2 of the goals against Rinne weren’t his fault at all).
Phoenix played better than Nashville last night, and it clearly showed. Yet, that is no reason to overly criticize a team 3 games into an early season.
Well, they do have a lot of work to do. It’s just not anymore work than they had to do before last night. The defense is not yet “Predator” defense. It will be in relatively short order, because that’s what Trotzy does.
I have mixed feelings about fans who give up on games (and seasons) early. On some level, I understand that they may be protecting themselves from further disappointment. Or maybe they are more casual about their fandom than I am (admittedly, that’s not hard–I am obsessed). Or maybe they are working an angle–my mother used to believe that the Cowboys played better when she didn’t watch, so she’d turn off the TV and sit anxiously for 3 hours until the game was over and she could check the score. She loved her team, but she was irrational about it.
That said, though, I promised these guys that I wouldn’t give up on them if they didn’t give up on themselves. As long as they’re out there fighting, I’m going to be watching. That relationship means a lot to me and I wouldn’t change it for the world, not even at 4-0.
“That said, though, I promised these guys that I wouldn
I think the problem is still the off season. The off season was such a bummer to a lot of fans (watching players leave, not seeing them get replaced, worrying about the big three) that a lot of people were simply waiting for the team to lay an egg so they could throw their hands in the air and say yep, just what I thought.
I remember how the momentum of the first playoff appearance continued all the way through the lockout, through the off season and into the next season. That should’ve happened this time too. The momentum of the second round should still be in the building elevating the fans and elevating the team. But Poile dropped the ball big time this off season and killed the team’s momentum and a lot of fan’s excitement weeks before the season started. A lot of people aren’t going into this season with the idea that this team is ready to take another step, they’re coming into it feeling like the team took 2 steps back for reasons they’ve never believably explained.
I can understand that reasoning, seriously. It makes sense that a lot of fans are subconsciously thinking this and therefore find a reason to get all agitated after 3 games.
Either way, everyone just needs to simmer down a bit
“Uncharacteristic Response From Some Fans”
Actually, I think this is the typical response from MOST of the fans at the games. I was not able to attend last night, but have seen the same thing happen in past.
I am sure if you were pull up twitter feeds and multiple other fans responses to the past years starts you mentioned that you would see that same comments you do now. Only now you can add Pred fans complaining about jersey colors and the free stuff not being good enough.
Haha! Well, I wanted to give some people the benefit of the doubt and not group everyone into that equation. However, I saw the twitter feeds this morning complaining about the Gold and the free t-shirts from last night.
Oh well, can’t please everyone apparently
BTW, I now hate the road jerseys more than the home jerseys now. At least I can see the home ones. The road ones are so white they blend in with the ice. It’s like you don’t see anything but a heads, hands, feet and sticks. It’s like an invisible hockey team.
So…similar to Bergfors last night? LOL
I think this kind of fan behavior is pretty typical, especially for a franchise with a growing fanbase. As much as I hate reading it over and over, Nashville is a non-traditional (or new-traditional, as Trotzy likes to call it) hockey market. The on-ice success of the team and the marketing saavy of the front-office have made tremendous strides toward creating a positive buzz around Smashville and putting more butts in the seats. Many of those rears belong to newer Preds fans and probably a good number are fairly new to hockey in general. For a new Predator fan who rode the playoff wave of last season or a person who only attends a few games a year, getting up and leaving the home opener in disappointment when the score hit 3-0 and 4-0 isn’t that hard to imagine. It’s only hard to imagine if you’re a die-hard Preds fan who’s weathered many a winning/losing streak, comes to games regardless of special promotions, and stays in your seat regardless of game result. You can call them fair-weather fans (because they are), but the truth is that we need the casual fan in order to fill the building. They may leave when we lose, but they’ll be back when we win a couple, and hopefully in time some of them will turn into die-hards like us.
I don’t question a bit of what you say, you’re absolutely right. However, for those fair-weather fans, they just need to read this article and callllllm down lol. That’s all I’m saying. However, other than that, you’re 100% correct right on the dot
When we got down 3-0 last night I was thinking there’s no way we can come back from this, that was the rational side of me at least. The die hard love my team (I call them “my boys”) part of me kept siting there rocking back and forth (yea I know I have issue lol) going we can do this. We came back in Buffalo last year and won that game 4-3, we have come back from behind like this before. But I will admit when watching the game last night I was like what is up with this team tonight? They werent playing like I know they can. Not to make excuses, but it doesn’t help when 3 of your players that are out, could make up one of your scoring lines. I have faith that this is just a bump in the road, and they are going to get back on track (hopefully tomorrow)
Cheryl, that comeback in Buffalo was the moment I committed. I was getting ready to turn the TV off when they tied the game. I almost missed that. So, never again. I’m with my boys to the end now. May Shea’s beard grow long this year.
Let’s face it, these days people see nothing but negative, hear nothing but negative, and read nothing but negative. They don’t know what the word ‘positive’ means. If they can’t have instant gratification with wins, they move on to something else. They are in the arena to see wins so they can feel good about themselves cause they support a winner. On the other hand, I did watch The Mentalist on Thursday after the score got to 4-0. But I tuned back in every commercial, hoping for the big comeback! So I’m not as negative as those who left the arena. Heck, if I had been there, I wouldn’t have left. The tickets aren’t cheap enough to walk out on! lol So we won’t have a full house tonight because a loss will be expected by most. But I know the Devils are going to be beaten down to Georgia! Yah hoooooo GO PREDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I still thought we could pull it out until the empty netter. These doomsayers reminds me of many of the fans of the vols I have as friends. Even when they are ahead by twenty, they still believe they are going to blow it. It is early, enjoy the games, have fun. Most importantly, DON’T PANIC!
Look, I was as disappointed as any. They just didn’t play well on Thursday, and…yeah, it kinda sucks. We’ve got one of the best teams in the league this year (not kidding), and they didn’t play like it. PHX isn’t terrible, either.
All that said, it’s an 82-game season! We’re on game 3! I don’t know what it was…the gold (still kinda jinx-y), all the pre-game hoopla for the home opener, or a combination of everything, but…it just didn’t happen. So, they’re gonna dust themselves off and get after the Devils tonight. That’s all there is to it.
And one last thing–whoever it was that said the Preds had a “mediocre” year at home last year just wasn’t paying attention. 24-9-8 at home last year, one of only 3 NHL teams with single-digit home losses. This post is 100 percent right: I HATE watching the Preds lose, but…chill.
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I washed that game out before it ended…I better not see another like that anytime soon. Too many Rookies to have any semblance of maturity but as long as I see improvement and effort, I can hold out. Especially with Fish & Cube about ready to come back. What’s with Rat and Horny?
Let’s GO Preds