Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images
“But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.”
It was a punch in the gut, a sham, a fraud and a deceitful account of what happened to the Nashville Predators. Surely it couldn’t have taken place…in 5 games…where the Predators dreams of even getting to the Western Conference finals and the eventual Stanley Cup finals were dashed and shutout (quite literally) of existence. Poile made all the right moves contrary to any he had sequestered since the NHL-rocking Forsberg trade. It was the first time in franchise history that the Predators finally beat their proverbial measuring stick in the Detroit Red Wings in a playoff series and quite handily at that. But it wasn’t meant to be and the final curtain call and raising of the sticks in salute up above happened in Game 3 of the Phoenix series and for the first time, the Predators didn’t finish their season on home ice.
Through a week of marinating, ruminating and the constant stream of condolence as if our favorite dog died, most Predator fans have been making a solid go of it with the oft-heard phrase in and around Smashville for the past 13 years…”there’s always next year.” But then again, there was something about this year that set everything at odds with how Nashville cheered and jeered for their team. It was a confidence with just the slightest hint of arrogance that permeated through the concrete slabs of Bridgestone Arena and poured out over the multitude of media outlets afforded to fans by the hordes of Predator-based websites and forums.
It wasn’t the same lunch-pail attitude of hard work and perseverance that has led Nashville to being one of the toughest outs for any opponent they face. That sentiment was replaced by the knowledge that Nashville had skill in bunches and the additions of Alexander Radulov, Andrei Kostitsyn, Paul Gaustad and Hal Gill would gloss over any of the ineptitude of the previous years when what Nashville truly needed was a top-notch scorer for that extra push into the playoffs. Health concerns were non-existent as well and some of the players that fought so hard all year to earn their spots on the game-time roster were replaced by the elite level scoring threats and made to watch in the box after serving the team admirably for the entire season.
The maddening part in this whole debacle has been that the one year where Nashville would seemingly need a sniper to fill out the roster, they got beat by a team that played “Predator-style” hockey but played it better than the Predators. Phoenix employed a stifling trap-style defense that collapsed in on itself to get sticks in the lanes and clog any kind of shot from the slot. The perimeter was the only line of sight for the Predators but the defensive pairings for Phoenix along with timely goalkeeping from Mike Smith made it an insurmountable wall of bodies and crease-clearing efforts that Nashville could not figure out.
Phoenix played Nashville exactly the way Nashville played Detroit and it got Phoenix past Chicago and Nashville both to move into the Western Conference Finals against the L.A. Kings. Many who offered their sympathy to me over the past week have heard my reasoning of Nashville’s defeat in very simplistic terms: one was stated in the above paragraph; the second is that Nashville was built at the trade deadline to beat teams like Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis and Vancouver. As James Nelson pointed out in his article, Chicago would have been the better draw for Nashville for a multitude of reasons.
I am sure that many of you will disagree with my assessment about Nashville and their fans being confident with a slight air of arrogance and that’s fine with me. I was possibly one of the main culprits until the end of the series. Like many fans, I never gave up on my Predators and I waited, slightly purple from holding my breath, until the last seconds ticked away on the season hoping that at some point the team that was supposed to go all the way to the top by finally going “All In” was going to show up and take the Coyotes to the cleaners. The reality was that maybe the Phoenix Coyotes were just better: better physically, better chemistry, better coaching and better determination.
I will go away from this season with a heavy heart once again knowing that this will be one of the most critical off-seasons the Predators organization and David Poile have ever faced. I have some great memories though of a team that constantly over-achieves despite what many believe at the start of the season. The Predators were comeback kids this year with totally improbable come-from-behind victories against Detroit and Columbus twice. Pekka Rinne played one of the best January’s of any goaltender and his season lead him to another nod for the Vezina trophy. Weber once again led the Predators as a true captain always will, by example, and earned yet another Norris nod to go with another All-Star appearance. Suter earned his first All-Star appearance this year, too. Craig Smith got invited to participate in the Young Stars competition and looks to be a promising draft pick for the Nashville Predators to go along with outstanding rookie campaigns from Gabriel Bourque, Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis.
Most importantly, the memory I will cherish always was that this was my first full season writing about the Nashville Predators. I can’t thank Kris Martel enough for his patience, guidance and support of my writing. He runs a damn good website and is the best editor and friend I could have asked for in this business. Giving me a shot when no one else would has been all I’ve ever dreamed of and I promise to continue throughout the off-season and leading into next year providing the best coverage and the most thought-provoking commentary about the Nashville Predators.
Thanks to all the readers for your continued support of The Predatorial all season. You are the best fans and your insight and suggestions (especially the blatant ones) have helped me become a better writer and researcher.
Stay tuned to The Predatorial for what will be quite an interesting summer filled with rumor, gossip and speculation as Poile, Trotz and the entire Predators organization endeavor to build a team even better than last season.
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Stay HardCore…
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I am still shocked and puzzled by the fan reaction following the elimination. I know it sucks when your team loses but people really need to step off the ledge over this. Doesn’t anybody ever just sit back and realize that only one team wins the championship? That doesn’t mean the other 29 teams failed. You can have the most talented team in the league, you can dominate the entire season and your odds to win the Cup still aren’t all that good. Is there anybody alive who predicted the final four to be the Rangers, Devils, Coyotes and Kings? No Penguins, Flyers, Canucks, Bruins, Wings, Hawks? There are much better teams than the Predators who are sitting at home too. Everybody wants to win, but you can’t be so out of touch with reality that you don’t understand that 99 times out of 100 you probably won’t win anything. Just ask the Blues or Canucks. It’s like walking outside trying to get hit by a meteor and then getting mad when it doesn’t happen. Beating the Wings was a pretty damn good accomplishment. Not winning the title isn’t anything to cry about.
Dead on right, bud. You have to take the good with the bad, and sometimes the bad just stings a bit more. But, the majority of fans out there are just that: fans. As fans, if you’re team dominates everyone in the regular season and falls out early in the playoffs, it’s an utter disaster. However, you have to look at all the positives. That’s where we come in
Kinda confused here…is this directed at me or at other fans? I think this was one of the best teams talent-wise they have put together on the ice since Kariya was here. But as both you and I have pointed out, talent doesn’t necessarily get you the Cup. The game isn’t played on paper. I found it the most ironic and perplexing that the teams that played what we consider “Predator-style” hockey (New Jersey/L.A./Phoenix) are the ones going further than the elite scoring teams (Vancouver/Pittsburgh/Philly/Chicago).
“As James Nelson pointed out in his article, Chicago would have been the better draw for Nashville for a multitude of reasons.”
I disagree with this notion. It’s no more arrogant to think that we would have beaten the Hawks than it is to think that we should have beaten the Coyotes. In case no one noticed, the Hawks played the Coyotes a heck of a lot better than we did. Yeah, they had a sieve for a goalie, but they also have guys who can score. Pick your poison. We may have gotten past the Hawks, but there was no guarantee of that either.
It is what it is. The biggest concern I have is whether or not this coaching staff is capable of taking it to the next level before the decade runs out. It took seven tries just to get into the second round. Hopefully it won’t take seven more to get into the WCF, but you never know. The Kings are there for only the 2nd time in their 45 year history. When you look at suffering fans, the Kings fans have it all over us.
We’ll be back next season, Suter or not, and we’ll be competitive once again.
Predaceous: I understand your comparison about how the hawks played the yotes closer than we, but looking at the bigger picture reveals we would likely have been MUCH better if the hawks pulled through than Phoenix. Season series, we split with the Yotes but they actually won because of regulation wins. We beat the Hawks 4 out of 6 games this season. The hawks play just as the Red Wings do and as stated by Babcock after their game 5 exit, “4-1, That’s not even close”. If we have a dragon slayer team built by Poile and Trotz and we get into a fight with an elephant, well there’s a mismatch. If we had played the Hawks, who knows we could have still been alive to battle it out with the Kings.
Maybe next year, we will let go of Radulov and focus on the players that want to be “Team players”, and re-focus on the predator style hockey. Just as in any sport (with salary caps), your fan base grows and so does your talent. With the ability for us to draft strongly and breed talent from youth, we will have many good years to go after some better veterans with nicer contracts than in the past, simply because our team is going to be more stable and free with the cash.
Have to disagree about letting Radulov go…I for one would love to have a full season of his effort. Albeit he looked very pedestrian against Phoenix, so did the rest of our team. A full season with Radulov going through training camp and pre-season…he will be a BEAST, and the perfect compliment to our team being younger and faster. Radulov plays his ass off out there and despite what Jones and Roenick pointed out, Radulov rarely if ever takes a shift off. I still dislike the curfew issue but after it was known that it was an hour afterward rather than 4 a.m….I can be a bit more lenient with that.
The big question will be if we can keep Wilson. Colin Wilson has so much potential and has displayed as such but because of coaching issues with his game, Trotz feels the need to bench him in the playoffs when he is exactly the player you want out on the ice when the PP is strugging…rant over….here’s hoping for a great summer with many surprises (hopefully good ones).