Radio Stars

Real quick post here...

A while back the Predators asked a bunch of season ticket holders to come in and participate in recording clips for some new radio ads. They said they would post them online, but i haven't seen them yet...

Well, i finally caught a few fast enough to record (though only one from start to finish).

Christy and I are featured pretty prominently in a few of them, so i decided to take what clips i'd been able to grab so far, chop them up, and make a version with just Christy and I :-)


Oh, and here's the one complete original i've been able to grab so far for anyone else that wanted to hear the commercials.

Thanksgiving in February for Preds fans

This is a long post, but one i would love every Predators fan to check it out.
Please spread the word, and take the time to read it.

Predators fans have been through quite a lot in the last few years. First it was the team being sold, and what looked like an impending move to Canada. Then a fire sale of top talent to the eastern conference (so that Craig Leipold could go buy our competition in the west). Then a lengthy process of first going with other outside ownership, then bringing a local ownership group into the picture and renegotiating a lease with the city to help make the team more profitable.

Then new ownership actually got to take control of the team halfway through the season. During the next off season, they promised to invest in the team and re-sign all our core young players (which they did) and we were ready for a year where we finally might make it out of the first round of the playoffs. Then star offensive weapon Alexander Radulov was persuaded to defect and skip out on his NHL contract to play in the upstart Russian league - the KHL. Not only were some Pred fans disappointed that we weren't picking up any additional talent, but now the team had lost a major piece of its offense too late in the off-season to find a replacement it could afford. This after losing so much talent to the fire sale, and Steve Sullivan's back injury.

Top all this off with the constant rumor and speculation (mostly from several papers 'up north') that it is only a matter of time before we inevitably lose the Predators to either contraction or, more likely, relocation.

It is pretty easy to see how one could become rather depressed as a hockey fan in Nashville. It is very easy to feel that the individual ticket-buying fans are the only ones that care and are being left out to dangle in the wind.

But a few things to remember:

Media Support: We give the local media a lot of flack around here because we as fans aren't satisfied with the amount, or at times the quality, of coverage. But as i've heard several very knowledgeable people say lately - we have it pretty good compared to many other cities with NHL clubs - even some of the more "traditional markets".

• Remember back when "we" held that big rally in July of '07 - we showed up, but a whole bunch of other people put their time and money into that to organize it as well. 104.5 The Zone dedicated hours and hours of time to talking nothing but hockey (*cough* usually takes them weeks to talk that much hockey *cough*). Someone had to organize and pay for that event at the Sommet Center. We showed up to their party.
• Hockey and Predator focused shows on two other sports talk radio stations (besides the "flagship" station that has an interest in the Preds success) - HockeyBuzz Radio and hours of pre-game on WNSR 560AM and a few shows here & there on 106.7 The Fan. WNSR in particular has stepped up with a ton of hockey programming lately. Not the best and strongest in the world, but it is there
• Newspapers across the country are trimming staff right and left. The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star Telegram used to each have writers covering the Dallas Stars. They have now reached an agreement to "share" coverage of the team. Meanwhile in Nashville the little 'ol Tennessean has not one but TWO writers for the Predators (John Glennon and Jessica Hopp Bliss), while the Nashville City Paper has another writer of its own (David Boclair). Even the business focused Nashville Post has broken and covered several stories regarding the Preds. Not a day goes by (even non-game days) that there aren't at least 2-3 Preds stories posted by these various papers. Not every NHL club can say that.
  

Local Businesses:

• Local ownership stepped in to buy the team. Yes, they had some funding help from outside, but the majority of the funds put up to buy the team were put up by local business owners. People who weren't even the biggest hockey fans, but who knew that Nashville didn't need to lose this team. Yes, they knew the fans were here and that the fans would support the team, but they had to stick their necks out and lay a LOT of money on the line, and they came through.
• Sponsors and advertisers had to step up too. Craig Leipold and Steve Violetta did all they could to alienate local ownership by treating it as a God-given right to own and operate a professional hockey club in Nashville, rather than treating it like any other business that has to be sold, promoted, and managed. One of the main reasons the club wasn't making much money is that there weren't enough sponsors and advertisers bringing in revenue. There isn't a professional sports team on the planet that can pay all its expenses on gate, merch, and concession revenues alone - even if they sold out every night. Corporate sponsorships and advertising are a key source of revenue.

That last point brings me to what prompted this blog post.

We recently switched the hosting for ghia over to Dolphini Networks. Not only was it a major upgrade to our quality of service, but Dolphini is locally owned & operated and a major sponsor of the Predators. Great for us all around. As a result of switching over, we got to hang out with Dolphini owner Michael Krause at their table in the All Inclusive Zone at a game.

During the 3rd period Michael and I started chatting and he mentioned that he was much like Preds owner David Freeman - not a big hockey fan before the sale of the team, but wanted to support the community so he stepped up as a major corporate sponsor. A bit later I said "thanks" from all of us fans, that we really appreciated what he and others like him had done. I felt it was a unique opportunity to directly tell a major sponsor "thanks" in person for supporting the team I love (rather than just buy Pepsi over some other soda once and a while, or use First Tennessee as my bank).

His response shocked me.

After a few minutes, he came back and thanked me for thanking him. He said in the entire time they had been a major corporate sponsor, not one fan had approached him and thanked him for his support. I'm sure he's been told "thank you" by the Predators organization itself a million times. And I'm sure there've been lots of "You guys sponsor the Preds, right? I love the Preds" conversations. But somehow, none of us had ever bothered to sit down and directly thank the man that is pouring a LOT of money into supporting this team.

And i'm sure he's not alone. While I can go out of my way to buy one soda over another or fillup at a certain gas station - most of us don't make web/data hosting decisions, or buy a cars and diamond rings everyday.

So here's a request to all Predators fans:

Take 3 minutes out of your day and write a quick email to a few of these companies. Everyone just grab a few random ones so we make sure they all get a few notes.

In no particular order (links are to the "contact us" pages)-

• Dolphini
• The Sommet Group
• First Tennessee Bank
• Vanderbilt Medical Center
• Bridgestone
• Hardees
• Pedigree
• Thompson/CAT
• Mapco
• Toyota Trucks
• Honda
• Dodge
• Wendy's
• Jack in the Box
• Healthways
• Shane Company
• Bud Light
• DEX Imagaing and Printing
• Lochinvar
• Southwest Airlines
• Pepsi
• Cracker Barrel
• and the whole list of sponsors.

...and to show you just how far i've gone - i disabled AdBlockPlus on nashvillepredators.com, so i'm back to seeing ads on all Preds pages. Support those that support the Preds.

Barry Trotz: Goalie Killer

With the Preds ship finally righting itself, i don't want to get too negative, but there's an issue that is cropping up again that is getting ignored in all the Sully's-return and 9-goals-in-2-games press and blog coverage: Barry Trotz kills goalies.

In the Preds win against Pittsburgh on Thurs, The Preds gave up 1 goal in the 1st, then gave up a second goal on a fluky bounce when a Preds player tried to clear the puck and it bounced of not one but two of his teammates and went in the net. Was it a goal that could have been avoided - yes - but nothing that goalie Dan Ellis could have done. But what happened next was a bit odd: coach Trotz pulled Ellis in favor of Pekka Rinne. Trotz said in the post-game press conference that he did it to "change our luck" and that he wasn't unhappy with Ellis' play. Blogger Brandon Felder asked Ellis about being pulled after the game:

Felder - "Obviously the game wasn't a great start but it was really bad luck goals. Were you at all frustrated by getting pulled there?"

Dan Ellis - "I think it was stupid. Bottom line. It's the exact same thing as last year. So yeah I was frustrated. Absolutely. I can't stop both teams."

Key words there: "It's the exact same thing as last year." What does he mean by that?...

This is something Trotz has done to 3 starting goaltenders in a row. First Vokoun, then Mason, (both pictured at left) and now Ellis - and Danny knows it. At the end of the 06-07 season, Vokoun was frequently pulled in favor of Mason. The team seemed to play better in front of Mason, and it made sense at the time. Vokoun played well, but Mason was deemed ready for prime-time and Vokoun was one of the players lost during Leipold's march to the sea Minnesota. Then last year (07-08) it was Mason who was frequently pulled and/or benched in favor of the upstart Ellis. The team played well in front of both and Mason was over and over again said to be the #1, but Mason was pulled more and more and Ellis got more and more starts so that by the time the playoffs started, Ellis was the clear #1 for the team. So during the offseason Ellis is signed to a 2-year deal, Mason is traded to St Louis, and Pekka Rinne is brought in to be the backup.

That brings us to this year. Ellis has played well, and while Trotz has shown more restraint when it comes to pulling goalies than in previous years, he has recently started his very bad habit of pulling them to "shake things up" - and not because the goalie is playing poorly.

This messy with goalie's heads. Dan Ellis knows it. He saw it kill Chris Mason's game last year, and knows that Trotz is starting down that path again.

Fortunatly i think Ellis is made of a little tougher mental stuff than Chris Mason (as it applies to being a #1 goalie). But Trotz needs to be very careful and do a lot of talking wtih goalie coach Mitch Korn, or he's going to find himself trading away Ellis, establishing Rinne as the #1, and bringing up yet another young goalie next off-season.

Weber for President

Ok, not for President, but for the all-star team.

The NHL All-Star balloting has begun (yes, it seems early to me, too), and this year the NHL is using a new voting system on the web that lets fans (1) Vote as many times as they want and (2) instantly see a running tally of how many votes each player is getting.

But let's cut to the chase. If you want to vote as i did, (Arnott, Dumont, Erat, Weber, Suter, Ellis for the West - Timmonen, Hartnell, Vokoun for the East) then just click on the button below .


You can check the current standings here.

Random Updates

Two quick random updates on previous posts:

1) Back in May i posted about Fox Sports' announcement that they would be increasing their ability to handle HD signals and that in 2009 they would be 100%, 24/7 HD. Of course there was no promise as to when in 2009 they would be 100% HD... Today we got the confirmation that out of the 55 Predators games that will be airing on FSN South (or is it FS South now?), 22 will be in HD. They are pretty widely spaced through the season, and don't seem to pickup later into 2009...so we'll see if that improves or how that is connected to this great new HD signal processing center.

2) The KeepOn that i raved about back in September of '07 (you remember that right?) is finally going on sale...for $30k each. A company (BeatBots) has been formed to sell the cute little interactive robots, and for now they are primarily targeting the technology to research firms and universities. So i guess that goes on my "If i had a million dollars" wish list, not the "General Wishlist". Check.

As a reminder of how awesome this thing is, here's its appearance in Spoon's video for "Don't you Evah"

Free advice for the Preds marketing department

I was a marketing minor in college, so clearly, i am an expert to listen to in the area of marketing. With that in mind, here are a few ideas i have that i think could help the much improved effort already underway for the Nashville Predators.

List Game Dates/Times Everywhere
The presence around town of Predators billboards is vastly improved over the last several years. They look better and there are just more of them. Trouble is, they don't have one very key piece of information - when are the games? Through the summer the drive has been for season tickets, and that makes sense. But trying to sell seasons tickets through most of the year doesn't make as much sense. After all, people buying season tickets are probably already fans. That's no who you need to be reaching.
The main push needs to be for individual game sales from casual fans (or people who have never even seen a game). Those people buy tickets more impulsively. They want something to do this weekend. They just remembered a spouse/child's birthday and need to do something, etc. They can only do that if they know when the games will be. Everyone knows when Titans games are (Sunday is pretty easy to remember) but not everyone has (or thinks to look at) their pocket calendar of Preds games.

I've seen the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs use this to great effect. Every month they would put a new billboard up listing games that month. It was very easy for fans driving down the highway to see it and think "oh, i could catch a game this weekend" or "hey, there's a game on my husband's birthday - i bet he'd like that". Last year the Preds had a billboard up pushing the Capitals game, which was good, but putting up a month of games lets people plan for more than just one option. (The widespread use of digital billboards around town also makes changing the game listings much easier/cheaper to do) (Here's an example of one done by Michigan St football)

Tell businesses why it makes sense to partner with the Preds - not "support" them.
I was very happy to hear David Freeman say last year, when he took over as lead owner of the Preds, that he was not asking for anyone's charity. He didn't want the Predators to be a charity case and didn't think or want to say that business "should" support the Predators as part of their civic duty. Unfortunately the Radio "ticket-thon" that 104.5 did last week did exactly that. Operating far outside their comfort zone, George Plaster and crew begged people to support the Predators and "buy tickets to 1 or two games" or "buy a 10 pack...whatever you can afford". While very well intentioned and very appreciated, the message sent to businesses was the wrong one.

For one brief moment though, someone did say the right thing: When interviewing someone from Vanderbilt Sports Medicine (the new official health care provider of the Predators), the question was asked "why sponsor the Preds". Among other things in his answer, the Vandy rep said (and i paraphrase) "because they are a great way to reach our target market. There is a lot of overlap between who they draw to games and the customers we want to reach". BINGO! That message needs to be being said VERY loud and VERY often.

Now, i trust (and hope) that David Freeman and crew, when going out to give presentations to businesses, are saying this and have all sorts of demographic data to back it up. Businesses buying tickets for Preds games just makes sense - from a business point of view. And we aren't talking about it-helps-keep-the-Preds-in-town-and-if-we-don't-Nashville-will-look-bad-and-top-talent-won't-want-to-move-to-Nashville-and-you'll-have-to-hire-lesser-people. That's not it. The connections are much more direct.

1. Advertising with the Predators (in the arena, on TV, and on the radio) is a fantastic way to reach a passionate crowd of typically young, upper- and upper-middle-class people. The associate with teams is a proven way to build fantastic brand loyalty among people who have money to spend and are still building loyalties. There are more numbers out there to back all this up... if i was back in a marketing job i'd go on and on here...
2. It's a great way to reward employees and build a good corporate environment. I know of multiple businesses that have used this to great success: Buy a pair of season tickets - good seats - to the Predators. Then give it away to top performers. Maybe its a contest for whoever is the top sales person that week gets the tickets. Maybe employees get the tickets for a month when they have been with the company for X number of years. Whatever it is, people go crazy for what they perceive to be a valuable commodity - regardless of the actual value. Example: Season tickets right next to the governor and his wife (section 112, around the 4th row) cost $156 per game. I know very few commission-based salespeople (which i work with) who will go crazy and bend over backwards for $150 spiff (only interested in the big bucks) - but tickets like this? Very prestigious and they will go nuts for them - working OT, etc. I've seen it happen more than once. And of course there are other seats on the suite level that include all you can eat food/drinks packages for about the same money.
   

Oh - and the Preds have meeting facilities in the arena - so you can get a great group rate on the game and have your quarterly strategy session in the arena (catered) for a great package deal. But so very few people know about these options.

Again, i trust that this conversation is taking place, but it is happening behind closed doors right now. It needs to be shouted from the mountain tops.

Make the 'value' packages very clear and well promoted (during poor economic times)
Did you know you can get 4 tickets in the all-you-can-eat zone for $220? That's 2.5hours of great family entertainment, all the hotdogs, burgers, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, water and soda you can handle for $55 each. Last year's family fun packs that let a family of 4 go for $100 and included a free hotdog and soda was a fabulous deal too. In hard economic times, you have to emphasize that the games aren't as expensive as people may think they are. And you'll have better family bonding time at a game than at a movie (you can actually, ya know, talk to each other).

Side note: Promote the website better. It's awesome.
Last plug i gotta make here is for the absolutely awesome website. Especially PredsTV. If you haven't checked out Training Camp Central, its excellent. Reports on all the players and daily write-ups with interviews with coaches and players, etc. There are write-ups and highlight shows posted quickly after every game, and resources for fans all over.

PredTV is by far the highlight though, with videos posted all summer long showing what the players did during the off-season (JP Dumont's kids are pretty cute), how prospect camp went, and more...

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Every press conference the team does is available online as well:


Best way to stay caught up with what is on the website: add the following feeds to your feed reader (or to your MyYahoo or iGoogle page):
Predators News
New PredsTV Videos

Fantasy Hockey Time!

I'll try to do a big breakdown and talk smack later, but for now wanted to post a brief analysis of my fantasy hockey league for this year.
This is the sums/averages of all stats for each category.

Blue = Best in league
Red = Worst in league
Bold = Above the league average

Run down of the managers this year:

303 4 Life - Bradley S (co-worker and fellow Cell block 303er)
PredFans - Paul Nicholson (yours truly)
Barrys Bolts or Bust - George Scoville, aka stackiii (hockey blogger/forum guy)
Becker's Wreckers - Joel, aka Introverted One (friend/blogger)
Fantasy Hockey Guru - Kevin Hicks (co-worker & sports nut)
Ice Holes - Paul McCann (Preds PA annoucner & Hockeybuzz blogger)
Nolensville Knights - Dirk Hoag, aka The Forechecker (Kuklas Korner blogger)
Old School Blues - Gary Nicholson (my dad)
Pond Hockey Rulez - Michael Nick (co-worker)
Puckhounds - Joshua Frizzell (co-worker)
RebelMandos - Kevin Peters (random friend)
Tallahassee Warthogs - Andy B (fellow Cell Block 303er)
The Felder Flu - Brandon Felder (Hockeybuzz blogger)
The Knack - Ken Knack (co-worker)

Preds Fan Meet-Up

Predators Fans: Come one, come all!

Well, actually, let me be more specific...

There's a pretty nice community of people from blogs, Flickr, Twitter, etc around "Pred Nation". So, i'd like to see as many of us get together to actually meet the 3D versions of each other.

Where: Predators Training Camp - Centennial Sportsplex
When: Sat, Sept 20th 10:30am
We will meet in between the first and second training camp sessions (around 10:30am) at the tables in the front lobby of the Sportsplex building (near the front doors). I'll be wearing a light blue work shirt that says "Geek" on the front and carrying around a camera. If you can't find us, call 615-823-1734, that'll ring my cell. Or you can DM me on Twitter @pwnicholson.

Now for the roll call (and link love) of the people i'd really love to see there. I'm sure i'm going to leave a few people off the list, but if you want to show, please do! You don't have to be listed!

• Paul McCann
• Forechecker (aka: Dirk Hoag)
• Brandon Felder
• Jeff Pope
• Thinktrain (aka: Rob Robinson)
• PredJoe
• Wes Cunningham
• poiv3
• Introverted One
• Handtrick
• Ian Kirk
• Phragmunkee
• jroper
• ...and the many followers of the @PredFans Twitter group. All 53 of you (just too many to list out)
• ...as well as the members of the Nashville Predators Flickr group (all 37 of you)

For full details on Predators Training Camp, check out "Training Camp Central"

See ya there!

Vegas on Preds

Vegas has spoken and have ranked the Predators the 18th most likely team to win the Stanley Cup this year out of the 30 team league. 30/1 odds.

Of course, the Red Wings are roughly 7.5 times more likely to win the Cup than the Preds, but the good news is that they are effectively picking us to make the playoffs (we're in a 3 way tie for 7-9th most-likely-to-win in the West) and again finish second in the division.

I find it very interesting that they have given the Preds better odds than Chicago and Tampa Bay, both of which did some major retooling in the offseason and i personally would have to handicap at least at the Predators level, especially Chicago. I'm also a little surprised to be put at parity with Calgary, which to me looked to have a strong off-season and looks loaded to at least make a lot of noise this season.

Probably the most surprising to me about this list is that the East is given much better odds overall (though of course no one approaches the Wings odds). 10 of the top 16 odds are given to teams from the East. I just really find it odd that they would give Carolina odds that good, or teams like Calgary odds that low. On a team-by-team basis nothing seems too far off, but most of the talk i hear is that the West is deeper and stronger than the East (though the gap is closing), but this chart doesn't appear to support that theory.

We shall see...

	Team	Odds
1	Detroit Red Wings	4/1
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	11/2
3	San Jose Sharks	10/1
4	Montreal Canadiens	10/1
5	Dallas Stars	12/1
6	Anaheim Ducks	12/1
7	New York Rangers	15/1
8	Ottawa Senators	15/1
9	Philadelphia Flyers	15/1
10	Washington Capitals	18/1
11	New Jersey Devils	20/1
12	Carolina Hurricanes	22/1
13	Minnesota Wild	22/1
14	Colorado Avalanche	25/1
15	Boston Bruins	30/1
16	Buffalo Sabres	30/1
17	Calgary Flames	30/1
18	Nashville Predators	30/1
19	Vancouver Canucks	30/1
20	Chicago Blackhawks	35/1
21	Toronto Maple Leafs	40/1
22	Tampa Bay Lightning	45/1
23	Edmonton Oilers	50/1
24	Florida Panthers	50/1
25	Atlanta Thrashers	60/1
26	St. Louis Blues	60/1
27	New York Islanders	75/1
28	Phoenix Coyotes	75/1
29	Columbus Blue Jackets	75/1
30	Los Angeles Kings	100/1

Preds May Need To Tank

I looks like everyone else is chiming in with what they think the Predators should do with the open roster spots, so i figured it was time for me to cast my vote.

The discussions center around whether the Preds should sign a big name free-agent (Sundin), mid-level veteran talent (Parrish), or just go with the prospects we have in our system (Hornqvist, Jones, etc).

Moy vote: I think the Preds should go with the young talent. Don't spend a dime more than you have to on the roster this year. Invest the money in the marketing, hype these youngsters and most importantly, pick a personality on a long contract to build the fans around (Dumont, Weber, or Erat seem logical).

Some are saying the team can't afford to take a year off - that from the financial and fan-base building point of view we can't afford to go a year without making the playoffs and being competitive. But i think history proves that wrong. The Preds best attended season was 2001, when the team was well below .500, and wouldn't see the playoffs for years to come. Likewise the Blackhawks and Capitals have proved that a well marketed, unbalanced team with just a few talented players can draw crowds and attention, win or lose.

As much as i am a Preds fan and want few things more than seeing Lord Stanley's cup hoisted at the Sommet Center, the one thing i might want more is the promise the the team will be here for my kids to enjoy in 10-15-20 years. What do we need to ensure that? A profitable team and butts in the seats.

News flash: Crowds don't follow wins. They follow stars, excitement, and only then, yes...playoffs and championships. Over and over again teams in the NBA and NHL have proved that stars and hype fill arenas and sell TV ads. Period. If those stars make it to the playoffs, so much the better.

So i think the Preds options are one of two things*: Either do another roster purge and sign Mats Sundin or trade for Evgeni Malkin, or stay low with the roster we have and do the best we can to hype the young talent - and don't worry about our record. Win where we can, but by the half-way point if we aren't in the playoff hunt - tank. Go for the draft spots and go for broke next year.

Balanced, above average players great for fantasy rosters and winning hockey games, but they don't sell tickets. We need hype, we need tickets, and we need them this year and next.

*Obviously i don't think the Preds are going to go with either of these routes exactly, and I'm not sure if i was Davids Freeman & Poile that i would have the guts to actually do either option - but if i was a high-priced consultant brought in to give my completly uneducated opinion, this is what i'd say.

Update-
To put this more clearly (thank you JC for helping me get to this point of clarity in my argument): For this team right now, $1mil spent in advertising gets them a decent bump in attendance. $1mil spent on the salary gets them...? At best another point or two in the standings? This team isn't going to be significantly better and their playoff chances will not improve that much with ANY player they could sign (even with $10mil a year for Sundin). So don't bother. The team as it is right now will be competative and entertaining enough.

Take a "building year" on the ice to develop young talent that has been stuck in Milwalkee and Europe for too long, while pumping big dollars into marketing. Then next year, with your nice, shiny high draft pick thanks to a bad record, you'll have a marketable star (who cares if they are really game-changing, Stamkos is selling tickets in Tampa Bay and he's yet to step on the ice for them) at rookie-discount pricing who you can hype the snot out of.

The Preds have had teams in the past that were successful on the ice but didn't have any mega-stars that were well marketed. They went strong into the playoffs, then fizzled - and never drew huge crowds until the very end of the season and playoffs, which is something Nashville has always done. What they need is someone that a marketing effort can use to get people into the seats while football season is in full swing. Invest in marketing and hope for a great draft pick.

Oh - and i don't care if he's horrible - get Blake Geoffrion playing at the NHL level as soon as possible. Local boy makes good is a great story for the news.

Predators 08-09 Roster Finalized

(Warning: This article is full of sarcasm)

The Predators roster is still anyone's guess. Personally, i take David Poile at his word that, right or wrong, they will plan on relying on prospects to come up and fill vital roster spots at the forward position (to be more specific, i think they'll at least wait until camp and then make a free agent signing or trade based on what we need). Others like The Forechecker think (or at least hope) that the Preds will make another move before camp begins.

But of course all that is just talk. Those amazing hockey insiders at EA Sports have apparently used CIA level spying techniques (or maybe a time machine) to give us info that others can only speculate on.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is your NHL 09 Nashville Predators roster:

Forwards:
Jason Arnott, Radek Bonk, Jean-Pierre Dumont, Martin Erat, Vernon Fiddler, Martin Gelinas, Jan Hlavac, David Legwand, Scott Nichol, Jed Ortmeyer, Jerred Smithson, Steve Sullivan, Jordin Tootoo

Defensemen:
Greg de Vries, Dan Hamhuis, Ryan Suter, Shea Weber, Greg Zanon, Cody Franson

Goalies:
Dan Ellis, Pekka Rinne

So what can we glean from this?

• Alexander Radulov, though under contract with the Predators, isn't going to be in the NHL this year (he isn't listed as a free agent either - just not in the game). He has been erased from existence (cue 'Back to the Future' clip here)
  
• The Predators may lose Radulov, but will somehow talk Jan Hlavac out of signing with a Swedish Elite team and into coming back to Nashville. Wise move.
  
• Steve Sullivan will be back on the ice, though skating a bit slower (or at least taking up a roster spot).
• The Predators will resign the ageless Martin Gelinas despite all outward indications to the contrary. This is best explained by his ability to get a little press coverage every time the anniversary of the Great Gretzky Trade rolls around.
• Despite going through all the hassle of arbitration and subsequent signing of Ville Koistinen to a new one year, one-way contract, the Predators will apparently buy him out with no trade in return and instead opt to go with minor leaguer Cody Franson. They will therefore have absolutely no offensively focused defensemen on the roster, which makes sense of course, given the obvious glut of scoring power at the forward position.

Wow. Just a heads up, if you try to play with this Predators roster, you're gonna be in a world of hurt (not to mention have little resemblance to the team that will actually take the ice this year). I know the Predators won't be favorites to win the cup, but at least we can take solace in the fact that we probably won't be this bad. I hope...

Other notes of interest:

• Greg Zanon (Mr Body Sacrifice to you) is still listed as the 15th best shot blocker on the Predators (yes, Jordin Tootoo, Jed Ortmeyer and Jason Arnott are clearly the team leaders in this category).
• David Legwand is rated as the 6th fastest player in the NHL. That's right folks, Steve Sullivan only looks faster because of his size apparently.
• Martin Gelinas can also make his 38 year old knee, fresh from injury and surgery, propel him to the 3rd fastest spot on the roster.
• Jordin Tootoo is the 7th toughest player in the league (hey Dallas, i though he was supposed to be a whiner?)
• Overall Legwand is apparently our superstar in hiding. He is in the top three on the team in Speed, Acceleration, Deking, Agility, Offensive Awareness, Puck Control, Deflections...and probably a few more categories. Jason Arnott is really good too.

For the full Preds roster with all stats in fully sortable Google Spreadsheet format, check here.

As for the game itself, my big complaint last year was that few of the Predators players looked anything like themselves. Well, this year things aren't looking much better, though it's hard to say for sure. The NHL 09 website screenshot section features not a single picture with any Predators featured. The videos i have watched so far only had a single brief glimpse of Ryan Suter with his back turned to the camera. The only picture of a Preds player's face from the game that i can find is on this IGN page (picture at right). I can't tell for sure, but i can only assume from the "A" on the jersey that ends in the number 1 that it is either supposed to be Dumont or perhaps Legwand. Too bad it looks absolutely nothing like either of them. Meanwhile Paul Kariya, Vinny LeCavelie, Sindey Crosby, etc all look like themselves...at least a little. It looks like once again the Preds will be staffed by the generic-faced masses.


National TV Coverage

That lack of respect and consideration does fit nicely with the new TV schedule though. The NHL released the National TV schedule a few days ago (the FSN local TV schedule has yet to be released) and the Predators are all but absent. Out of 196 games scheduled to be televised on TSN, NBC, Versus, and Hockey Night In Canada - exactly 4 of them will feature the Nashville Predators. Now, i understand that the league wants to promote the Penguins and the Red Wings are always a huge draw, etc... and HNIC and TSN will naturally gravitate towards games with Canadian teams, but those teams have to play someone, right?

I guess we can't complain too much...the Panthers, Coyotes, and Hurricanes are all on TV only 4 times (along with the Preds), while the Ducks and Kings are only on 3 times ,and the lowly Columbus Bluejackets are only featured on national TV 2 times out of 196 games. With no exposure at the national level, is it any wonder why these franchises are struggling? I know it's a chicken-or-the-egg kinda problem, but this TV scheduling doesn't help them out any.

Preds owner speaks out on Ownership/Radulov

This afternoon, Predators lead owner David Freeman went on 104.5 The Zone with host George Plaster to answer questions about the latest on the Del Biaggio ownership mess, and even touched on the Radulov issue briefly.

Many thanks to 104.5 for having Freeman on, and i hope they don't mind me posting this. I guess i'll hear from them if they do :-)

(Sorry for the minor quality issues. I recorded this from my portable Sansa while riding on the bus, so you can tell when we went under bridges, etc.)

I made two versions. The first is the 12-minute "the good stuff" version (I tried to cross-fade it to make it obvious where i made cuts). The second is the full version, with only commercials cut.


Soundbite/highlights:

In regard to Del Biaggio and Warren Woo:

"In some ways we're disappointed, in some ways we didn't have real high expectations of 'em"

In regard to the presentation Del Biaggio and Woo put together for potential investors:

"What's disappointing about the documents is how they misrepresented the financial condition of our club"

"They were trying to raise money...so, they took a few liberties with the truth and oversold their position"

In regard to the Predators:

"In an absolute worst case scenario, its just exactly the same as the deal we had when we went into this and the club isn't going anywhere."

"Boots and Warren didn't have any obligation to put any more money in the team. In fact we gave them a special deal that we would never ask them to put more money into the team"

On the Radulov issue:

"David Poile and I have a little side deal going. I take care of the situation out on the west coast and he takes care of the situation over in Russia."

"I think we will all stand back and let the NHL handle this one. This is obviously a much bigger issue than the Nashville Predators, and I think we'll all be pleased with how it plays out."

On the team's future in Nashville (attendance issues, etc):

"Honestly, we just don't think about it in terms of 'we have to do this or else'. We've made this commitment, and as crazy as it sounds sometimes in life you just do things and you don't think about the down side or listen to the negative. Sure, I guess there is a scenario where if no one ever showed up for a hockey game that it wouldn't turn out right...The same way the Titans have an unflinching belief that they're gonna sell tickets to Titans football games, we feel the same way about Predators hockey. We feel like this franchise and the city are on the way up and its a total waste of time for me to talk about what-if scenarios...It's important to us, but there is no doubt in our mind we're gonna make [the attendance requirement for revenue sharing]. If for some reason we didn't make it one year, its not the end of the world. It probably goes back to conversation of how much you have to spend on this or that, but again we think we're headed in the right direction"

The Question Not Being Asked

Much has been made about the Tennessean article from Sunday which detailed Boots Del Biaggio's plans for the Predators. Much of the media is talking about how its clear that there was (is?) a plan to move the Predators out of Nashville. Forechecker highlighted that Boots was pointing to expected expansion revenues in the coming years.

But here's the thing people: This wasn't created in a void. This PowerPoint deck that was somehow acquired by a Tennessean reporter (Kudos by the way, for the rare bit of good investigative reporting) was made by Del Biaggio specifically to present to possible investors in his NHL ventures. It was designed to make it look like he would soon be able to take control of the Predators, and that they would have a guaranteed revenue boost in a few years.

Del Biaggio made a living LYING to investors. That's what he did. He (apparently) went through he process of forging bank documents to show that funds were his that never were in order to secure loans. Do you seriously think that stretching figures and facts on a PowerPoint presentation is beyond this guy?

I'm not saying the Predators will be up with the Leafs in revenues this year. I know the franchise has a tough fight ahead. But i am very surprised that no one is questioning the information. I don't blame the Tennessean reporting, but cummon people. Consider the source of the stories source.

Who says baseball should be the only sport with matinee games?

The Predators just released their pre-season schedule. I'm happy to see us continue the relationship with the Atlanta Thrashers and i hope we get to play them more often in the regular season as well. It's an obvious friendly-rivalry that would benefit both teams.

Most interesting here are the new rookie games - and one at 11:00am!

My guess is that these are in place of a few scrimmages that would normally happen during camp. No details yet on who will play in the games, but i think it is a safe bet to say the first 2-3 lines of the Predators won't be there. I doubt if they literally only play based on NHL experience an 'rookie' qualifications. The normal pre-season games are at or near full price for tickets. I'll be curious if the rookie games are open for free to the public, discounted, or something else (especially that mid-morning game). Could be very cool.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS 2008 PRESEASON SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Site	Time (CDT)
Mon., Sept. 22	Atlanta Thrashers (R)	Sommet Center	6:00 PM
Tue., Sept. 23	Atlanta Thrashers (R)	Sommet Center	11:00 AM
Thu., Sept. 25	Atlanta Thrashers	Sommet Center	7:00 PM
Fri., Sept. 26	at Columbus Blue Jackets	Nationwide Arena	6:00 PM
Sat., Sept. 27	Columbus Blue Jackets	Sommet Center	7:00 PM
Thu., Oct. 2	Carolina Hurricanes	Sommet Center	7:00 PM
Fri., Oct. 3	at Atlanta Thrashers	Philips Arena	6:30 PM
Sun., Oct. 5	at Carolina Hurricanes	RBC Center	TBA

Hockey Nationalism

I wanted to take a minute to post as an entry here, some comments that i made on two other sites recently.

The discussion was started by this post at Two For Elbowing that i first saw linked to from this Puck Daddy entry. The quote that started the discussion was this:

"What, exactly, does this say about the relative power balance of Canada and the U.S. when the Leafs have to hire Americans to fix the franchise?"

So I give you the ensuing discussion:

I think more to the point, what do statements like that say about racism (or more specifically nationalism) in hockey. I've never heard any other pro sport outside of nationalist soccer/futbol squads be so hung up on where their coaches and players come from, and the problems with racism going on in soccer leagues around the world is a massive problem right now. I'd hate to see hockey be next.

Who care if a Canadian is coaching a US team or a US coach or GM is working for a Canadian franchise. The only other time i've heard nationalities discussed in other sports is during the Olympics/world championships when they have their flags on their uniforms.

If they are wearing a Leafs sweater or a Sharks sweater - it shouldn't matter. They are just pros doing their jobs. Argue about them on their merits, not where they come from.

That comment brought this response: "Paul- tell that to the people of Quebec." - to which i responded:

I definitely hear the most consistent nationalist/racist comments from Quebecers, but it is much, much wider than that. As a resident of Nashville and fan of the Predators, I/we have seen no small measure of this.

It is ironic really.

When i moved here, i thought that southerners in Nashville more were racist than average. I found the opposite though - not that there aren't people with issues, but on the whole the city is very accepting of Eastern Europeans, Canadians, Scandinavians, etc on the Predators and African American players on the Titans, and Hispanic players on the Nashville Sounds baseball team. Without question they are judged on their playing ability 99% of the time and comments are practically never made as to where they are from. We just don't care as long as they can play.

Meanwhile i hear things like this, where a lifelong hockey man in Ron Wilson and others are criticized for having the audacity to think they 'deserve' to coach on Canadian soil. You can think he is the right coach for Toronto or not, that he can handle the media pressure or not, that he will help the team or not... but that he should be allowed to coach based on his nationality?

That same post goes on to say "The mind boggles. I'm amazed the Canadian-centric media types haven't been screaming at the government to outlaw this already." meaning the hiring of coaches and GM's from the US.

I know they are dipping into sarcasm there, but seriously...I'm not sure what the situation is in Canada, but this level of discrimination is outlawed in the US. In fact the NFL requires that minority options are considered before hiring coaches.

It boggles the mind indeed. When will hockey implement something similar?

Which then received this response

Paul, I agree with you on judging an individual purely on their performances and their ability to get the job done, and not where they are from. However, with some rare exceptions, I think most Canadians are not prejudice against players/coaches/gms from other countries, but rather, proud of the ones from their country.

I don't think comparing Canada's love of hockey and their pride in their country's rich and honored history in that sport, to something as ugly as racism, is a fair statement.

Comparing it to African American players on the Titans or Hispanic players on the Sounds, and saying it doesn't measure up is like comparing apples to oranges. One has zero to do with the other. There are African American players on Canadian hockey teams; there are American players; there are players from countries all over the world who are not only on Canadian teams, but are worshiped by many Canadian fans.

I believe, a fairer comparison, using your Nashville as an example, would be to say that many people from Nashville are proud of their city's rich and honored history in country music. And some outspoken voices may say that the best country singers are from Nashville, and a country singer from Calgary, Canada or Tokyo, Japan should not be the headliner at the CMA Music Festival. But a few outspoken does not mean I should assume all everyone from Nashville agrees with these statements. Or that everyone from Nashville only likes Nashville country singers. Or even the bigger leap that you suggest above, that in fact they dislike every country singer outside of Nashville.

Again, with some rare exceptions, most Canadian hockey fans love the sport first, and are simply very proud of their country's rich history in that sport. And while some over zealous, proud fans, may come across pro Canadian at times, this 1) does not speak for all Canadian hockey fans; and 2) is a far cry from racism, IMHO. Hometown pride and racism are worlds apart! --buffettworld

Which then led me to respond:

Well put. And i do understand that.

I just hear more comments like this from hockey than any other sport. I understand a certain amount of pride...heck...i'm originally from Texas. I know pride (and its excess...)

But comments like the one quoted on this blog and many others i hear around seem to me to cross the line. They aren't just pride ("Isn't it great that the world is playing 'our' game" or "we have the best hockey players in the world") but more bigoted ("all top hockey teams, players, and coaches should really be Canadian")

There certainly are voices out there saying that the CMA's should always be held in Nashville (much ruckus was made when they tried it in New York a few years ago), but i've only heard a very small, quickly ignored minority complain about country music being popular in western Canada or Australia. Most love the fact that the additional eyes and attention mean more fans and a bigger/better product.

To carry that analogy through, no one would suggest moving the hockey hall of fame to Tampa. But by the same token that i don't hear anyone suggest that they should ban people from outside the south eastern US from country music.

I guess that is the biggest difference to me: who i'm hearing it from. I hear these criticisms and bigoted comments about the nationality of players from main-stream Canadian press, not just a few random bloggers and comment trolls.

Best example i can think of:
Lidstrom being the first European captain to win a cup. It was a big deal, and was covered by the press. Very similar to Tony Dungee being the first African American coach to win the Super Bowl a few years back. The difference was that no major sports outlet or even serious radio talk show host would have stood up and said "a black coach has never won the Super Bowl so our team shouldn't hire a black coach". Meanwhile i've heard from major hockey writers and talking heads repeatedly (up until last week) that teams shouldn't make Europeans their captains, citing "lack of heart" and other ludicrous reasons to explain how they shouldn't captain teams.

Is it horrible? No.
Is it everyone? Not by any means.

But is it more pervasive in hockey than other North American sports and something that should be addressed and talked about? Yes.

What do you think?

(image courtesy of Lone Primate)

Predators Roster Filling Up: What's the next move?

With the newly announced signing of Shea Weber (picture right) following quickly behind the signing of Dan Ellis, Ryan Suter, Martin Erat, David Legwand, Jordin Tootoo, etc, etc... Predators GM David Poile has made good on his promise to sign all of the team's restricted free agents and key personell. The trade of Chris Mason to St Louis also cleared up some salary.

But there is still a bit of a log jam. Taking the numbers from NHLSCAP.com, this appears to be our situation (adding in the Suter, Weber, and Ellis deals that aren't updated yet).

TOTAL COMMITTED SALARY CAP NUMBER:
$45,791,087
(Note: NHL Salary Cap is about $53mil, but the Predators are not expected to spend near the cap limit)

PLAYER	POS	08-09 Salary Cap Number
ARNOTT, JASON	F	4,500,000
LEGWAND, DAVID	F	4,500,000
BONK, RADEK	F	1,475,000
FIDDLER, VERNON	F	850,000
NICHOL, SCOTT	F	750,000
SMITHSON, JERRED	F	500,000
DUMONT, JEAN-PIERRE	F	4,000,000
ERAT, MARTIN	F	4,500,000
ORTMEYER, JED	F	750,000
TOOTOO, JORDIN	F	975,000
RADULOV, ALEXANDER	F	918,587
ZIDLICKY, MAREK	D	3,350,000
DE VRIES, GREG	D	2,500,000
HAMHUIS, DAN	D	2,000,000
SUTER, RYAN	D	3,500,000
ZANON, GREG	D	725,000
WEBER, SHEA	D	4,500,000
ELLIS, DAN	G	1,750,000
RINNE, PEKKA	G	547,500
SULLIVAN, STEVE	F - IR	3,200,000
Noteable free agents & AHL Players
PEVERLEY, RICH	C	RFA
GELINAS, MARTIN	L	UFA
HLAVAC, JAN	L	UFA
PIHLSTROM, ANTTI	L	567,500
HORNQVIST, PATRIC	R	713,333
KLEIN, KEVIN	D	RFA*
KOISTINEN, VILLE	D	RFA*

Our salary is already meeting David Freeman's promise of being the largest in franchise history at over $45mil. A roster full of talent, and as important as anything - we didn't lose anyone we wanted to keep.

This roster presents a few problems though.

FORWARD
Without even getting into the mess of having no true left wings (not counting Steve Sullivan) and few real natural centers, the team has 11 forwards under contract. Not a lot of room to add/drop, but still a couple of spots to have guys fight over. From last year's roster we have Martin Gelinas and Jan Hlavac as options. Of course we could also go after a free agent on the market... or dip into the substantial talent we have in the minors. From all accounts Patric Horvqvist and Antti Pihlstrom (pictured at right) are ready for prime time, and Rich Peverly has been up with the big club multiple times in the last two years.

Personally, my vote would be to pull up at least one of those guys - get them working in the NHL. You have the luxury of having two to pick from so if one isn't working out with an extended stay in Nashville you can swap them.

DEFENSE
Similar problem on defense. Six defensemen locked up, but good talent sitting in the free agent/minor league pool. DeVries is overpaid and Zanon wasn't great down the stretch but is still a bargain on his entry contract.

Personally, i think Ville Koistinen (pictured right) is responsible for making Zilicky worth keeping, and thus a must-have himself. Those two played great together when paired, especially on the power play. Klein i think is more valuable as a trade asset than on the ice right now. There are others deeper on the depth chart, but room needs to be made in front of them for any of them to see a shot at big league ice time this year.

GOALIE
Not much to say here. Set. Ready. Locked and loaded.

Ellis should be strong, though his one weakness will be his health issues. If the coaches try to push him through 65+ games next year i don't think he'll hold up. He had trouble keeping on the weight and only played 44 games last year (at times dropping 10+lbs every time he went on the ice). Rinne has been the 'goalie of the future' for a while, so this will be a great chance for him to get a lot of play time without having to carry the franchise on his still-young (but very sizable) shoulders.

---

So yes, we're in great shape. We have needs (strong, scoring forward) but are in good position with prospects and assets to spare.

What are your thoughts? Do you want the Predators to trade for a big name? Bring up Horvqvist or Pihlstrom? Should they resign Koistinen or Klein?

Good story so far... and next season should be one heck of a ride.

Big Move! Preds Sign Ellis, Trade Mason!

On the eve of the draft, the Preds just traded Chris Mason to the St Louis Blues and signed Dan Ellis. (Tennessean article here).

You have to assume that this means they expect Ellis to be the clear #1 goalie, with Pekka Rinne being the frequent backup, given Ellis' health problems last year (couldn't keep any weight on). Mason will logically be Manny Legace's backup give the year he had last season.

No details on contract length or amount (just that it is "multi-year") for Ellis, but i have to assume that they are saving money here - certainly over what keeping Mason and Ellis both would have cost.

The Tennessean is reporting that it is a 2-year, $3.5 million deal ($1.5mil first year, $2mil second year - avg of $1.75mil per year for the cap hit). This means a little more budget cleared for signing Weber and hopefully another trade for a nice skilled forward or two to boot. Great opportunity for Ellis to prove that last year wasn't a fluke and the Preds don't have to overpay for goaltending.

If i would have guessed they would pull a trade to keep Ellis, i would have thought it would be to trade Rinne - i never dreamed they'd be able to unload Mason, though just a single 4th round pick in this years draft shows his value is far less than the contract. They found someone willing to have a very very high level backup and overpay them. Kudos to Poile.

I also just have to say it is with some sadness that i watch Mason walk away from Nashville. He supported the Preds staying in Nashville as much or more than any other player (certainly was more vocal) and the city owes him for that. See ya Mase. You will be missed. Best of luck in St Louis (unless you're playing the Preds of course)

Behind the Predators closed doors?

[If you haven't stayed up on the lawsuits that Preds minority owner Boots Del Biaggio is going through, read here, here, and maybe some other places...]

We may be about to receive a major peek at the negotiating that went on when the Predators and the Metro Sports Council negotiated the new lease terms as well as the details and deals worked out among the ownership group.

Metro/Davidson County (specifically the Sports Authority and Jon Cooper) have been served with a subpoena for documents related to William "Boots" Del Biaggio's new bankruptcy and lawsuit trouble.

The interesting part is that the subpoena actually calls for:

All communications, including documents transmitted, to or from William J Del Biaggio, II, any of his agents, employees, persons working on his behalf or for his benefit, or any group, partnership, or organization that includes Mr. Del Biaggio or in which he has an interest, concerning any negotiations or transactions involving the purchase or sale of the Nashville Predators or any interest therein.

Yikes. They have about a week to get all of this together.

The way that sounds to me, all documents the Sports Authority has discussing anything with the Predators will likely be involved, given that it must include any "organization or partnership" that Del Biaggio was a part of. I seriously wonder if the Preds ownership group itself will be getting a subpoena next. Might depend on what they get from the Sports Authority i guess.

I don't think the ownership group or the city purposely did anything illegal or even shady, but i think we may be about to get a fairly unprecedented look at the negotiating process and exactly how the financial situation between all parties was setup.

I'm thinking we should stay tuned for more...

UPDATE:
The AP is reporting that Metro will "hold off" on taking "action" action against the Predators organization. Apparently Larry Thrailkill, a Brentwood based attorney (who was once President of the San Francisco 49ers) advised the Metro Sports Authority that Del Biaggio was in default of his agreement with the city. Exactly how he's in default, and how that impacts the Predators isn't stated in the article, though it did state the the Sports Authority has promised to let the Preds "fix the situation", whatever that means.

This is a little surprising to me since we've heard multiple times from ownership and the Sports Authority that this shouldn't affect operations since they have already cashed Del Biaggio's check and his bankruptcy wouldn't affect the Preds. Only thing i can think is if the contract had a clause regarding criminal activity (he is being sued and investigated for fraud at the federal level).

The article also states that Preds lead owner David Freeman told the Authority that they were as surprised as everyone else at Del Biaggio's duplicity. (See Freeman's full address to the Sports Authority here)

Almost as interesting, the article also notes that the Predators themselves were apparently served with a similar subpoena to the one the Sports Authority received.

Stay tuned indeed...

---

In related news, since i haven't actually posted on the subject myself, i'll chime in something that i commented in a few places: I think this is great for the team. The one concern myself and several other fans had was that Del Biaggio was just here waiting in the wings. Playing his role as a "good guy" and giving the Preds a chance, but was ready and waiting to buy out the team and move them to Kansas City, where he had a standing agreement with AEG to operate a hockey team in the Sprint Center. Or he could also have just been buying brownie points with the league to get his own expansion team later (something Jim Balsilie would be wise to learn if he wants in the owner's club).

But now of course, we don't have to worry about either of those possibilities (as Rob pointed out a few days ago). He isn't taking the team to Kansas City, and Jerry Bruckheimer wants an expansion team in Las Vegas and hasn't made any moves toward wanting to buy out any other teams. Which pretty much makes Balsillie the only shark circling in the water for the Preds, and we all know that Gary Bettman would have to resign as commish for that to happen.

Question: Boots Del Biaggio is clearly an idiot. How on earth did this guy expect to buy a hockey franchise out-right and move it to Kansas City if he's this broke? It's not like he would make money on the team here or there anyway. Someone this broke lying to get loans to buy something that isn't going to make him money...?! Dude. At least lie your way into something that will make you money next time.