Predators media thread

[PredDave]

Preds tie season low with just 17 shots - Nashville, Tennessee - Thursday, 01/18/07 - Tennessean.com

The Predators began Wednesday's game with aggressive offensive hockey, scoring two goals after driving toward the Detroit net.

Defenseman Greg Zanon redirected Steve Sullivan's pass behind Dominik Hasek for Nashville's first goal and Jordin Tootoo redirected Scott Hartnell's pass to give the Predators a 2-1 lead.

But scoring chances would be few and far between for the rest of the Predators' 5-3 loss to the Red Wings. Nashville posted just 17 shots on goal, tying a season low that it had most recently recorded last Saturday in Columbus.

"When you get three goals against Detroit, that's got to be enough to win because they're just not going to give you more than that,'' Predators goalie Chris Mason said. "We were lucky enough to get that many goals and get a few leads, but you've got to be more responsible when you get to that position.''

Detroit mustered only 27 shots, but two of the Red Wings' top offensive threats — Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk — combined for two goals and five assists.

"In the end, a couple of their top guys played a little better than our top guys,'' Predators Coach Barry Trotz said. "We got contributions from guys like (Jordin) Tootoo and (Greg) Zanon, but not as much from some of our big guys.''

Hasek's take: It was not a particularly good night for Czech netminders, as Tomas Vokoun surrendered a pair of soft goals and Hasek allowed one of his own.

But Hasek criticized Trotz's decision to remove Vokoun after Detroit's second goal.

"Usually a coach doesn't change a goalie after two goals, but (Trotz) made his decision and probably for that team, it wasn't the right one,'' Hasek said.

[PredDave]

Preds show moxie in rise to NHL lead - Nashville, Tennessee - Friday, 01/19/07 - Tennessean.com

They are now the best in the NHL.

After trailing Anaheim for the Western Conference lead since the beginning of the season, the Predators finally overtook the Ducks, claiming a 4-0 win over Columbus and advancing to first place in not only the conference, but also the entire league with 69 points.

Nashville is one point better than Eastern Conference leader Buffalo (68 points), but Nashville has also played one more game than the Sabres.

Anaheim — which lost 4-1 loss to the Oilers on Thursday — also has 68 points. The Ducks have played one more game than Nashville.

"We were 15 points behind them before we could realize it," Coach Barry Trotz said of Anaheim's quick start. "Before, we were a spot on the horizon. Now (they're) in the rearview mirror, (we're) right in front of them."

Predators captain Kimmo Timonen said the rise to the top is something to be proud of, but it is not something that the Predators can rest upon.

"That's a sign we have been playing good but it doesn't bring us a Stanley Cup," Timonen said. "You can talk about it and you can be happy about it for sure, it's a great thing, but we still have 35, 40 games to go. We still have to stay focused on game-by-game basis."

[PredDave]

Poile's plan reaches pinnacle - Nashville, Tennessee - Friday, 01/19/07 - Tennessean.com

On a night when they became the NHL's top team, the Predators' 4-0 win over Columbus served as a testament to General Manager David Poile's building plan.

The first goal scorer (David Legwand) was the team's original first-round pick. The second (Steve Sullivan) was a trade acquisition. The third (Paul Kariya) was a free agent signee.

And the goalie who posted the shutout (Chris Mason) was a waiver claim.

"It takes a little bit of everything to build your team," said Poile, the GM since the inception of the franchise in 1997. "In the first five or six years we tried to do almost everything though the draft. Then we thought we were becoming competitive and we mixed it up a little bit with the trades … and the free agent acquisitions."

"I think that's why, in a nutshell, we now have the best team that we've ever had."

Several Predators said the mix of players, acquired in different ways and perhaps at different stages of their careers, has keyed chemistry both on the ice and in the dressing room.

"There is no easy way to put a team together," defenseman Dan Hamhuis, a 2001 first-round draft pick. "David's assessed this team over the eight years it's been here and through the draft, through waivers, through trades, through free agent signings he's found a mix he likes and it's been great for us this year."

Of the 19 players who were on the ice against the Blue Jackets, seven were drafted, six were signed as free agents, five were traded for and one was claimed off waivers.

Legwand said the evolution of the team from a time when he was surrounded by a far higher percentage of homegrown talent has been fun to watch.

"I think we're No. 1 in the league now," he said. "David Poile and (owner) Craig Leipold have done a phenomenal job building this team. It's so closely knit and so well put together."

At 32-12-3 Nashville hosts Chicago on Saturday night and could be the league's top team at the All-Star break, which starts Sunday.

Poile won't be taking a break, however. He's got scouting meetings scheduled.

[PredDave]

NHL's best: Preds prove a point - Nashville, Tennessee - Friday, 01/19/07 - Tennessean.com

Predators goaltender Chris Mason spent some time this week reflecting on his season thus far.

Never did he imagine he would play so many games. Nor did he anticipate he would have such an impact on the team's success.

On Thursday, Mason again performed beyond the reach of his musings. He blocked all 33 shots by the Columbus Blue Jackets, collected a franchise-record fifth shutout by a goaltender in one season and helped Nashville claim a 4-0 win in front of 10,927 fans at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

The Preds made franchise history by advancing past Anaheim and Buffalo for the NHL points lead (69-68), but have played one more game than the Sabres.

"I would have never expected this," Mason said. "For it to be at this point I am extremely grateful at how everything has turned out."

The previous record of four shutouts was held by both Mike Dunham (2000-2001) and Tomas Vokoun (2005-06). Heading into the game Mason was ranked second in the NHL in save percentage (.928) and eighth in goals-against average (2.36) in 29 appearances.

It was Nashville's eighth shutout of the season and its sixth win over the Blue Jackets.

"They just outworked us, it's pretty plain and simple," said Columbus forward Rick Nash.

David Legwand and Steve Sullivan had first-period goals, Paul Kariya got his 16th goal on a power play in the second and Martin Erat got his in the third.

[PredDave]

Preds' early gamble now looks like genius - Nashville, Tennessee - Monday, 01/22/07 - Tennessean.com

Preds' early gamble now looks like genius
Trotz, Timonen no longer no-names

In constructing an expansion hockey franchise in Nashville, the Predators knew they could afford to take some chances.

With little or no expectations placed upon the team, what did it have to lose?

So why not hire a coach with no NHL experience, one who never even played in the NHL?

Why not make a trade for a 5-foot-10 defenseman, one who never played in an NHL game himself?

More than eight years later, those decisions are looking pretty good.

There probably aren't two better examples of this franchise's growth than Predators Coach Barry Trotz and defenseman Kimmo Timonen, both of whom will represent the organization at the NHL All-Star game in Dallas on Wednesday.

The man with the broad shoulders and the big heart has seen his team advance from one that couldn't even score a goal in the franchise opener to one that boasts the league's best record at the break.

The little blueliner with the bigger-than-average backside has not only developed into one of the league's best offensive defensemen, but also become the Predators' captain.

"I think they are a couple of great stories,'' Predators General Manager David Poile said. "I knew there would be a lot of good things that came out of the expansion process. What better story than our coach and our captain — two guys that were certainly underdogs in terms of a lot of NHL people?''

[PredDave]

David Legwand: Answering critics


Predators management, coaches and fans have long wondered whether David Legwand would live up to the expectations of being the second-overall pick in the 1998 draft.

He's shown more offensive explosiveness than ever this season, and demonstrated it by collecting his first hat trick and setting the franchise record for career goals (97) in Saturday's 6-3 win over Chicago.

"People have been pretty hard on him because of all the expectations, being the first pick and all that,'' Mason said. "He's such a great guy. He's grown up on this team. I couldn't be happier for him.''

Legwand's three goals gave him 18 for this season, which already matches the career best he posted in 2003-04. His 41 points are closing in on his career high of 48, with 33 games still left in the season.

"Leggy's been a pretty good player the last few years, but not really got the numbers,'' Trotz said. "I think guys like Paul Kariya, Steve Sullivan and bringing Jason Arnott in … (Legwand) can just play his game right now, and I have a lot of trust in his game.

"I really look at Leggy and Jason Arnott as 1A and 1B or whatever. They're both capable of No. 1 status, so that gives us some balance.''

[PredDave]

Hordichuk does magic off the ice - Nashville, Tennessee - Monday, 01/22/07 - Tennessean.com

Hordichuk does magic off the ice
Fourth-liner has flair for dramatic


Teammates have a saying about Darcy Hordichuk: As a talented magician, he can make the puck disappear off the ice, but as a player he can't seem to make it reappear in the net.

No, the Predators' fourth-line bruiser is not known for his scoring prowess — he has only 12 goals in 231 NHL games — but when it comes to wowing a crowd with a few tricks, he certainly has the magic touch.

"If he was not playing hockey, he could definitely have a career in Vegas as a magician," said Bob Kohl, associate producer of Predators television broadcasts. "I would pay to go see him at the MGM Grand. He is amazing."

The "amazing" Hordichuk was first exposed to magic through a neighbor when he was a child. While the interest stirred, it didn't truly take hold until he began playing in the International Hockey League in 2000.

On road trips, Hordichuk would stop in magic shops, purchasing videos designed to teach tricks. He developed a repertoire and began entertaining friends and teammates at parties or on trips.

"I think anyone who has seen a magician gets excited," Hordichuk said. "My interest kind of stemmed from there. I ended up spending a lot of money that I made back in those days on card tricks. Now it's a lot of fun."

[PredDave]

Preds back on top at All-Star break - Nashville, Tennessee - Sunday, 01/21/07 - Tennessean.com

Preds back on top at All-Star break
Legwand hat trick clinches points lead


He wears a jersey with a pair of ones on it, which wound up as the perfect symbol for David Legwand in Saturday's 6-3 win over Chicago.

The very first pick in Predators history sent his team into the All-Star break in first place in the NHL standings.

He did so by collecting the first hat trick of his career, and those three goals just happened to move Legwand into — you guessed it — first place in franchise history.

It was only fitting that a sellout crowd at Gaylord Entertainment Center counted down the final seconds by standing and chanting, "We're No. 1!''

"I felt like I was at a high school game,'' Predators Coach Barry Trotz said. "The crowd was really fantastic.''

Legwand completed his hat trick by posting an empty-net goal with 38 seconds left. His three goals were the 95th, 96th and 97th of his career, moving him ahead of Scott Walker.

"I wasn't expecting it to come in one game, being two behind,'' said Legwand, who was the second-overall pick in the 1998 draft. "But it did. It's nice to get three anytime.''

Legwand's second goal was the game-winner. It came after Martin Erat fired a puck into the slot that J.P. Dumont redirected on the Chicago net. Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was there for the stop, but Legwand tapped home the loose puck to put the Predators ahead 4-3 with 11:59 left in the game.

[PredDave]

Preds' top line produces wins - Nashville, Tennessee - Sunday, 01/21/07 - Tennessean.com

Preds' top line produces wins
Trotz has praise for his first unit


As the Predators have ascended to the top of the NHL standings, the team's top line also has been on the rise.

Over the last month, few players have performed better than the first-line combination of Paul Kariya, Martin Erat and David Legwand.

Their point production has sky-rocketed, playing what Predators Coach Barry Trotz sees as a vital role in the team's emergence as the league leaders heading into the all-star break.

"It's been critical," Trotz said. "Your top guys have to be your top guys every night, and they have been pretty good for us."

[PredDave]

Game against Chicago is third sellout of season - Nashville, Tennessee - Sunday, 01/21/07 - Tennessean.com

With 17,113 fans in the stands at Gaylord Entertainment Center to watch the Predators beat Chicago 6-3 on Saturday night, Nashville logged its third sellout of the season.

The Predators sold out the 2006-07 season opener, which was also against the Blackhawks, and the Nov. 11 game against Colorado.

"When you step on the ice, you feel that right away," Predators captain Kimmo Timonen said. "It gives us a lot of energy. It's a good feeling."

Nashville is still far from nearing last season's sellout total of 10 games, however, and even farther removed from the franchise-high of 20, which it reached in 1999-2000.

The Predators rank 23rd out of 30 NHL teams in attendance figures, averaging 14,403 a game.

The league leader is Montreal (21,273). St. Louis sits at the bottom (11,610).

[PredDave]

The City Paper - Smart, Fast, Free

Trotz, Poile have grown together with game

Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz and general manager David Poile have been working together as part of two different NHL organizations for more than 20 years.

They have both seen growth in each other, especially in the almost 10 years they have been together as part of the Predators franchise. Trotz has set a new record for most games coached by the first coach of an expansion franchise. He is also 19th on the all-time coaching list for the longest time with one franchise.

“Some days I wake up and think, `I didn’t expect to be at this point,’” Trotz said. “It does defy the odds a little bit. You still have to pinch yourself. I have a Predators tattoo on me. We have gone through some hard times together and now we are going through some good times.”

Dating back to their days with the Washington Capitals franchise Poile has worked with Trotz as a player, part-time scout, full-time scout, chief scout, assistant minor league coach and head minor league coach.

“A lot of people only know each other as coach and general manager,” Trotz said. “I have gone to Hockey University for almost 20 years. I have been at every level of an organization for the most part. I started with Nashville the year before we had a team and was involved in the scouting of players. He can probably tell me more about my life than I can.”

When Poile started to build the Predators he was told to find an experienced NHL coach to start the team in the right direction. He went against the advice and gave Trotz his first NHL coaching job.

“I wanted to hire Barry from the beginning,” Poile said. “I felt it was right and fair. I’ve talked about giving players a chance in the expansion process. Someone gave me the chance to be a general manager. It was time for me to give someone new the chance to be a head coach.
“It was the right decision. It continues to be the right decision.”

Poile could understand why his peers in the NHL knew very little about Trotz, but he had a solid understanding of what he was getting in his new head coach.

“I’ve seen him grow,” Poile said. “I knew him before he was married. Now I know him as a husband and the father of four kids. That is a lot of development. And he can say the same thing about my situation. That is part of the basis for our communication.”

Poile is known for his willingness to listen to his scouts, his coaches and assistant coaches when decisions need to be made.

“David’s biggest skill is that he listens,” Trotz said. “There is a lot of high pressure in this business and people forget to listen.”

[PredDave]

Preds' second-half issues: Vokoun, seed, trades - Nashville, Tennessee - Friday, 01/26/07 - Tennessean.com

Five key questions — and answers — heading into the final 33 regular-season games:

1. How important is it to earn the Western Conference's top seed?

2. What will happen in goal for the Predators?

3. Will the Predators be active at the trade deadline?

4. In what areas do the Predators most need improvement?

5. What are the biggest reasons for optimism?

[PredDave]

News - Timonen, Trotz help lead West to victory - Nashville Predators

Timonen, Trotz help lead West to victory

Kimmo Timonen and the Western Conference All-Stars skated to a 12-9 victory over the Eastern Conference in the 2007 NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. With Barry Trotz behind the bench as an assistant coach for the Western Conference, the West pounced on the East with six goals in the second period and never looked back.

Timonen, who was playing in his second career All-Star Game, logged 18:18 of ice time. The Buffalo Sabres’ Daniel Briere was named the game’s MVP after collecting a goal and four assists. Former Nashville Predator and current Phoenix Coyotes center Yanic Perreault picked up two goals in his first All-Star appearance.

It was sweet revenge for the West All-Stars who were defeated by the East in a couple of competitions the previous night. The Young Stars East defeated the Young Stars West, featuring Nashville Predators Shea Weber and Alexander Radulov, 9-8 in the Young Stars Game on Tuesday night. Following the YoungStars Game, the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 15-11 in the NHL All-Star Skills Competition.

[PredDave]

Trotz: First half officially over - Nashville, Tennessee - Thursday, 01/25/07 - Tennessean.com

Trotz: First half officially over
Points lead is nice, but consistency still needed


Don't be surprised if Predators Coach Barry Trotz points toward the ceiling when his team next takes the ice at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

He'll be pointing out what is not hanging from the rafters there.

"You don't get any trophies or banners for finishing in first place at the All-Star break,'' said Trotz, an assistant coach for the West, after it beat the East 12-9 in Wednesday's NHL All-Star game.

"We had that as a personal goal for the team, but that's behind us now. We've got to go forward now and continue to do the kinds of things we did in the first half.''

He'll have no better support delivering that message to the Predators than captain Kimmo Timonen, who played 18:18 in Wednesday's contest and finished with a minus-2 rating.

"Yes, we lead the league in points, but we can't rely on that,'' Timonen said. "You can't just sit back now and wait for the playoffs to start. You have to get your game in order and play at your top level.''

As much as Trotz and Timonen like what they've seen in a team that's rolled to a league-best 34 wins and 71 points in 49 games, both see opportunity for improvement over the final 32 contests.

"I think we still need to work on consistency,'' Timonen said. "We'll play a lot of good games, but then we'll play a couple of bad ones. We try to play an offensive game sometimes too much and we know where that leads us.''

Trotz thinks the Predators can be better on the defensive side of the ice.

"Our focus will continue to be on playing better defense,'' he said. "We're better now than we were five games into the season, or 20 or 30, but we can still improve. We could be better on faceoffs and special teams.

"But the number one thing is kind of an intangible. I want us to be character-tough down the stretch.''

And just what does character-tough mean?

"It means paying the price every night,'' Trotz said.

[PredDave]

globeandmail.com: Duhatschek: Invisible Predators deserve attention

Duhatschek: Invisible Predators deserve attention

They all drifted home in separate directions Thursday, to resume the final push towards the National Hockey League playoffs. As play resumed following the six-day All-Star break, the No. 1 team in the league wasn't the Anaheim Mighty Ducks or the Buffalo Sabres or even the San Jose Sharks.

No, it was the Nashville Predators, a team that draws about 12,000 fans for most of its mid-week games and may not even qualify for revenue sharing if they cannot bump their attendance up.

Against that backdrop — and you could pretty well some up their plight of love and loss in just about any country tune, new or old - the Predators have quietly assembled one of the best young teams in the league.

They've drafted reasonably well, made virtually all of their free-agent signings pay off, and have done so almost invisibly.

They have the same GM they entered the league with in David Poile, the same coach in Barry Trotz, and the organization had such a good reputation that when Pittsburgh went looking for a new GM, they gave the plum job to Poile's former assistant, Ray Shero.

"We've been under the radar as far as being a pretty good team for the last two years or so," said Trotz, who was an assistant coach for the Western Conference all-stars. "I think we've had a pretty good team. We didn't get off to a real quick start, so people sort of forgot us for a little while. But we've been really consistent after that.

"The luxury of our team is we have two pretty solid goaltenders that allowed us to take some injuries and keep going in the right direction. When Anaheim had some back-end problems, with their goaltender out and (Chris) Pronger out, we were able to sneak up on them a little and finish first at the all-star break."

Trotz paused to take a breath.

"There's no trophy for that, but from an organizational standpoint, it shows another evolution of growth that we've had.

"In some of the southern markets, they sometimes forget you down in that corner of the world. But there are good hockey teams down there and I believe we're one of them."

Last year, Nashville qualified as the fourth seed in the Western Conference, but ran into the San Jose Sharks in the first round and lost. The Sharks, along with the New Jersey Devils and the Ducks, were the hottest teams in the league right about then and they carried strong finishes over into the playoffs. They couldn't sustain their runs for the full two months, but they were on the crest of a wave then and the Sharks swamped the Predators.

Now, a year later, the Predators look better equipped to make a serious run deep into the playoffs this spring.