Looking at the history of the Predators through the lens of the Martin Erat for Filip Forsberg deal.
Seriously well worth the read.
I don’t want to be a fairweather fan, but it really is difficult to watch this year’s Predators team.
When they play well defensively, they can’t score. When they can score, the defensive corps is porous.
Colin Wilson is hurt and Patric Hornqvist (also injured) and Gabriel Bourque (team’s only 10G scorer as of now) are the only forwards that have consistently been worth a damn. On defense, that honor belongs to Roman Josi only. Many believe Pekka Rinne deserves better, and he truly does.
Sergei Kostitsyn has been one of my favorite Predators players for a while. Now all he’ll be known for is quitting on a backcheck. Scott Hannan has been playing so poorly, he’d lose his job to a deceased Karlis Skrastins. Rich Clune is a tough player and a great character, but he should NEVER be expected to be a top-line winger. Veteran wingers like Fisher, Legwand and Erat, whose ceilings are already kind of limited, haven’t delivered enough. Brandon Yip is just kinda useless. Craig Smith is breaking my heart by not emerging as a top scorer this year…not even close.
The feeling is that either the team has either quit on Barry Trotz, or the shortcomings of his system have finally been exposed. Some fans are starting to question whether the team’s ownership and front office truly cares about winning. Some are proposing the team tank for a lottery pick, which will only hurt the team’s attendance and even if you get the best available forward, there’s always a chance they turn out to be more like Alex Daigle than John Tavares.
With the way the West is, it’s not totally impossible for the Predators to squeak in and possibly even make an LA Kings-esque run to the cup. But as the historic losses and bad losing streaks and awful stats pile up, you start to wonder if the season really is lost now.
And you have to wonder if this team will be drastically different after this season.
It just sucks to watch this team, once a favorite to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals as recent as last season, now having to seriously consider starting all over.
fx2k:
Nashville Predators - @PredsNHL Shea Weber with the overtime winning goal (only 44 seconds in) against the Red Wings last night.
Martin Erat Scores after a mistake by Backstrom. Jan 22nd 2013 (by HockeyVideoHD)
nhl opening night! i sketched during the bits when there wasn’t actually any hockey happening. so, nashville predators coaching staff and gm being interviewed about the super short training camp and why they’re losing to the blue jackets, basically.
2013 Nashville Predators - opening day roster
Forwards (13)
- 16 - Richard Clune
- 10 - Martin Erat [A]
- 12 - Mike Fisher [A]
- 28 - Paul Gaustad
- 24 - Matt Halischuk
- 27 - Patric Hornqvist
- 74 - Sergei Kostitsyn
- 11 - David Legwand
- 23 - Brian McGrattan
- 15 - Craig Smith
- 13 - Nick Spaling
- 33 - Colin Wilson
- 18 - Brandon Yip
Defensemen (8)
- 64 - Victor Bartley
- 7 - Jonathon Blum
- 4 - Ryan Ellis
- 75 - Hal Gill
- 22 - Scott Hannan
- 59 - Roman Josi
- 8 - Kevin Klein
- 6 - Shea Weber [C]
Goalies (2)
- 30 - Chris Mason
- 35 - Pekka Rinne
[Injured Reserve: Gabriel Bourque]
Proposed NHL playoff expansion, more like “okay, if it helps get the league back in business this year, fine, cool, but why the fuck is this even necessary when 16-team playoffs are more than good enough”
