With the New Jersey Devils winning the Eastern Conference and advancing to the Stanley Cup. My mind drifts to a eighth grade thought. What if the Predators won the Western Conference and played for the Stanley Cup. A story line would be the goal chants for both teams. Both the Predators and the Devils have the same goal song. A battle of "YOU SUCK!" would develop between the two teams fan bases. You suck for being a Springteen fan. You suck for being a Country music fan. You suck for having 24 hour diners to get sobered up at after partying on the weekend. You suck for having Waffle Houses to get sobered up at after partying on the weekend. You suck for having a toll road called the Garden State Parkway. You suck for taking twenty years to finish Briley Parkway. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be this juvenile and still play for the Stanley Cup! One can only imagine.

With the latest suspension for Game 3, Radulov is officially the Predators VY. I can't look at it any other way.

Just like VY, he thought his skill and talent put him above the team. He thought the team rules applied to others and not him.

Just like VY, who had a reputation for not being all in, his effort on Sunday was appalling by those who have played the game. Some on the thread were offended that NBC got a switch off the big tree and proceed to use it on him during an intermission. Not me.

Just like VY, I had my doubts about him but I was willing to set those aside if he helped the Predators win. After Sunday and this NO MORE!

I hope Poile and Trotz make him a permanent scratch for the rest of the playoffs. He doesn't deserve to be on the ice with our team.

If you watched HBO's 24/7 Rangers/Flyers. The Rangers coach kept making Sean Avery a healthy scratch every night. Eventually, the Rangers released him and sent him back to their top minor league team. With the number one headache down in the minors, the Rangers have flourished as the top team in the Eastern conference. This team and this organization have flourished without Radulov and still can. Starting tomorrow night the return of Predators hockey and we get back in this series.

On the verge of the biggest win in the history of the franchise. With this victory, the franchise and us the fans need no more to drink from the chalice of envy. Under the current leadership in the board room and the front office,there has been no more "we are the little train that could" mentality which was a constant under previous ownership. With the change in leadership the mentality and actions have been "WE ARE THE TRAIN THAT CAN!" By vanquishing our biggest rival, no more us as fans looking up to Detroit and being envious of their success. No more will we as fans have to cry "Why doesn't the Canadian hockey media respect us?" No more waisting time convincing your co-workers that hockey is truly a great game and they need to try it. With this mouth watering victory, the franchise and us the fans can finally and joyfully say "GET ON BOARD OR GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY! GO PREDATORS!!

To go forward, is to move toward the division title. Fear not the thorns and sharp stones on this path. With respect to Kahlil Gibran, I take liberties with his quote on March to make it fit this post. On January 31st the Predators were third place in the division and fifth overall in the conference. Thirty days and fourteen tough opponents later the Preds are still in third place in the division and fifth overall in the conference. Nashville goes 7-4-3 for the month but the goal I and many other fans have for this team is still insight. WIN THE DIVISION. Today, Nashville is six points behind the St.Louis and Detroit. With eightteen games left the path to the division title will be achieved with wins on the road. Nashville has TEN of the last eightteen on the road. Also, like the previous fourteen games there are no easy opponents. Each opponent with the exception of Edmonton is either in the top eight or just outside the top eight clinging to their playoff hopes. The Predators will need their "A" game every night. I want to be clear, I am happy Nashville is lock to make the playoffs as of this date. The vibe, the energy and the direction I get from this franchise is they want more! The moves made at the trade deadline were to fulfill this expectation. An expectation is to win the division. I've heard Coach Trotz express this several times on his morning radio show. The team that wins the central is probably going to be the second seed in the playoffs. St. Louis, Detroit and Nashville are ahead of the first place Coyotes of the Pacific division in total points. A more favorable match against the seventh seed and home ice guaranteed for both the first and second rounds of the playoffs. MARCH ON! I say.... MARCH ON!

Poll

How many wins do you think the Predators will have in the final 18, William S. style.

60%

12 Cry "HAVOC" and let slip the dogs of war!

12 votes

40%

10 All the world's is a stage....

8 votes

0%

8 This is the short and the long of it

0 votes

0%

6 Beware the Ides of March

0 votes

20 votes | Poll has closed

There has been a lot of talk about Suter situation. From will he sign? What will it take to get him to sign? Why won't he sign? Who do we need to trade for to get him to sign? All this all-star break story is good but I am more concerned with the task at hand which is the February schedule. The Predators have had an outstanding month of January going 9-3 heading into the game tonight against Minnesota.

Starting tonight Nashville starts a difficult stretch of the schedule with twelve of the next fourteen games against top eight teams regardless of conference. Here's the schedule team and the playoff spot as of 31 January.

1/31 Minnesota 8th

2/2 Philadelphia 4th

2/4 St Louis 4th

2/7 Vancouver 3rd

2/9 Ottawa 4th

2/11 Boston 2nd

2/14 Chicago 6th

2/17 Detroit 1st

2/19 Dallas 10th

2/21 Vancouver 3rd

2/23 St Louis 4th

2/25 San Jose 3rd

2/27 LA Kings 7th

2/28 Carolina 15th

With parity being what is in the league there are no gimme games until the 28th against Carolina(just like Columbus is out of the playoffs for 2012). As Predator fans, I believe all of us dream of the day the Preds would be considered a top team by the league. With this schedule against division rivals and the best teams in both the Eastern and Western conference. Being considered league wide as a top team is a possibility.

The Predators are three points behind the division leader Detroit as the second half starts. As nice as it was to get out of the first round last year, there are no banners hanging the rafters stating this fact. There are no T-shirts, hats and other paraphenalia. The only way to get such paraphenalia is too win the division. Bring on the tough schedule and get on the road to winning the division. Then the NHL playoff marketing machine will again feature the Predators making history.

Poll

How many games do you think the Predators will win out of the next 14?

6%

12-2 Nashville shows the league who is their daddy!

2 votes

64%

10-4 Another ten wins in the books and owning the month.

20 votes

29%

7-7 Oh No, its October again.

9 votes

31 votes | Poll has closed

I was visiting New York this Tuesday to hang out with a college buddy and catch the Brewers v Yankees game that night. I had his wife drop me off on fifth avenue.  I was going to walk from Rockefeller Center to Times Square and back while waiting on college buddy to get off early from work.  Walking to the heart of the NYC tourist area, I came across the NHL Store. Its on sixth avenue otherwise known as the Avenue of the Americas. I went in with much excitement only to be disappointed.  It had a big spread devoted to the cup champion Bruins.  Also plenty of hats, jersey and other paraphernalia to the other big market teams.  Also, there was a section of Sid Crosby gear by Reebok.  I'm assuming if Sid hadn't had a season ending concussion. Reebok had planned a big commercial rollout of him and his gear much like Nike use to do with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. If you want gear of failed franchises in the past the store has it.  Hats, jerseys for these franchise losers( KC Scouts, Oakland Golden Seals/Cleveland Barons, Atlanta Flames, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota North Stars and Hartford Whalers).  There are thirty teams in the NHL but only TWENTY-NINE are represented in the store.  No where in the store did they have any Nashville Predators gear. No hats, no jerseys and no over priced team logo key chains. I asked the young lady on the floor did they have any Nashville Predators gear in the back cause I could not find it on the floor.  She said no the store didn't stock a lot of Predators items.  I thanked the young lady for her honesty instead of telling me they were sold out at the time. 

I didn't expect it to be like the team store at the arena but other teams especially those on the west coast were represented by their star players and their jerseys.  At least Nashville should have been treated the same. I should have been able to see or buy a Shea Weber home jersey.  He is our superstar just like Corey Perry or Joe Thornton jerseys that were available. If they are going to sale gear for franchises that have failed, I would like to think a successful franchise's gear would be wanted too. 

Down 2-0 to the Canucks, Boston finds themselves in a deep hole going into Game 3 Monday night.  Now this is nothing new for the Bruins who were down to Montreal 2 -0 after dropping both games at home. Boston did come back and win the series but Vancouver is way better than the Canadians.  Of the last 35 times the home ice advantage team went up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup final they are 33-2  .943 winning percentage.  The last team to come back from the 0-2 hole and win it all was the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins. Its is doable, Boston must play the whole game like they did the second quarter of Game 2 to make it from plausible to possible.

Can you imagine Titans or Ravens fans not watching the Super Bowl because the hated Pittsburgh Steelers were in it?  Only the hardcore NBA fan follows the regular season yet the ratings for the playoffs continue to be better than the regular season.  Then why is it the NHL suffers from the reverse phenomena?  If the team you cheer for doesn't make the playoffs or advance that teams fans lose interest.  This trend must stop at least for this year.  After three years of the ratings on the upswing in the Stanley Cup final. This year's matchup the ratings outlook is shaky at best. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/05/28/boston-win-saves-nhl-stanley-cup-finals-tv-ratings-calamity-whats-your-guess-for-the-viewership-poll/94152/ The prospect for strong ratings was even worse for a Tampa(12th TV market) versus Vancouver(Not included in US TV rating) final. 

With a new TV deal reported to be two billion dollars for the next ten years the NHL must develop the its own brand of fans.  This fan must be a fan of the NHL hockey and not just his favorite team.   This is a huge weakness of the NHL in comparison to other leagues.  The NFL has convinced many Titans, Ravens, Cowboys and Bears fans to watch the Super Bowl even though their hated rival was in it.  The NFL has succeed in getting each member team's fans to follow the league and not just their team.  With Boston(#7 US TV Market) and a strong original six following the ratings fall from last year has been cushioned but the need for NHL Stanley Cup Finals fans will remain.

I'm imploring you the Nashville Predators fan and other teams fans to step up and support this years final.  Us the fans must be NHL hockey fans too.  Its June time to follow the league and the Stanley Cup finals.

Poll

Will you watch the Stanley Cup final?

58%

GO BRUINS!! Keep Vancouver/British Columbia crying.

29 votes

2%

What there is a Stanley Cup Final? Its june, I'm outside.

1 votes

0%

No Way, its Deadliest Catch & Swamp People for me.

0 votes

40%

Go CANUCKS!! I can say the Preds lost to the Champion.

20 votes

50 votes | Poll has closed

With the Predators season ending Monday, us fans now get to play GM David Poile and speculate about the moves during the off season. I'll start it off with the Marcel Goc situation.  Marcel Goc has become a fan favorite since coming to the team at the start of the 09-10 season.   He had a good season contributing 30 points (12 goals/18 assist) and playing in 73 games.  This year has to be a disappointment for both Goc and the team.  A season with high expectations turned into a time of recurring shoulder injuries. His first shoulder injury happened in October when he was boarded by Nicholas Backstrom. He was out two-four weeks with a separated shoulder.    He returned Nov 4th and played consistently until February where he reaggravated  the same shoulder injury. It was determined he would need season ending surgery to repair his shoulder.  This season Goc had played 51 games and scored 24 points( 9 goals/15 assist)

I'm  for keeping Goc another year.  He proved when he is healthy he can contribute to the team. He will be twenty eight this August. His best years are still ahead of him if he stays healthy.  The problem for him has been staying healthy.  His last four years games played recap: 

2007-08   51   San Jose

2008-09  55   San Jose 

2009-10  73  Nashville

2010-11  51  Nashville

Three of out of the last four seasons he has played 50 plus games due to injuries.  With his injury history, I'm not sure what market would be out there for him in the league. Goc was on a one year deal with the team for 775,000.  Poile could offer him the same amount with incentives for more money if he meets games played and other goals. I would still prefer a one year deal.  His injury history risk is to high to give him more than a one year deal. Marcel would be a nice depth piece at a reasonable salary for 11-12 season.     

Can let Dan Hamhuis have it.  Yes, after not playing in the two regular season games here due to injury.  Those Predator fans who have waited to get even with Hammer for his (perceived by the super sensitive) slam of Nashville at his welcome to the Canucks event.   I want you to scream, boo, jeer him every time he is on the ice.  The Cell block  to lead us in frothy, passionate ridicule of Hamhuis is a sissy!  I want you to explode with great gusto and zeal when he makes a mistake that leads to a Predators score.  I want the Hammer Haters to get it all out! WHEW, I need a minute to calm down. Then can we move on and quit acting like the jilted ex girlfriend.  Move our collective focus back to beating the Canucks and winning this series. 

I have posted in an earlier post a major FAILURE of last years playoffs was Nashville's inability to step on the Hawks throat everytime they had the chance.  Tonight the Predators have an HUGE opportunity to do the same to the Ducks.  Anaheim is going to throw the kitchen sink at us to get a win tonight.  A Predator victory tonight will go a long away in showing this team is different and we as fans can expect a different outcome this year.  A loss tonight will slightly put a cloud over my enthusiasm about this year but I will still be at full throttle Sunday and Wednesday here in Nashville. I'll say it again.  Get'em Down( Preds up 1-0)  Keep'em Down( go up 2-0 with the next two at BRIDGESTONE) and WIN THE SERIES!!  

As Predator fans we all remember this date, April 26 2010.  That was the day the Blackhawks won the series here in Nashville with a 5-3 win.  It was particulary more painful given the game five collapse two days earlier.  I sat back down and watched every player lineup and shake hands after the series was over.  I saw the Blackhawks player raise their sticks in the air to their fans that were in the building.  I wanted to get maximum experience of the pain of losing in a close series. 

Now nearly one later, the Preds have the best matchup on paper in any previous series.  I have kept my emotions in check during the season waiting on this day to get back to the playoffs.  I jeer Detroit, Chicago and other teams but I never got to high nor to low during the season.  I saw it as a grind waiting to get back to this day.  I have read and heard all the analysis on why the Predators should win this series.  The major failure from last year was everytime the Preds had a chance to keep the Blackhawks down they failed.  Nashville wins game one, gets shut out in game two.  Wins game three again get shut out in game four.  THAT TREND CAN NOT HAPPEN THIS YEAR!   Get the Ducks down, Keep the Ducks down and WIN THE SERIES!!   The Predators in six.  Game Six is scheduled to be played here.  I want to be saluted by OUR VICTORIOUS team this time. 

The late Isaac Hayes had a classic tune from the 70s that is perfect for Kenny Britt and his stupidity in New Jersey.

click on the link and listen to the WHOOOOLLLEE song.


http://soundcloud.com/bergerdenis/isaac-hayes-out-of-the-ghetto#play

Everywhere Isaac says "I" needs to be FOOTBALL and unfortunately his latest episode in New Jersey is a classic case of this.  Memo to Kenny only go back home for  Christmas, Mother's Day and Easter  otherwise called "CME" in churches across America.  Also add your momma's birthday and your son's birthday too.  Other than that STAY OUT OF NEW JERSEY!   The old neighborhood ways once again have sucked you into stupidity.

  The playoff picture in the western conference is taking shape. Firmly in first place, Vancouver clinched a playoff spot and won the division two weeks ago.  The Canucks are having a phenomenal season. A franchise first fifty wins and the President's trophy in sight.  Detroit and San Jose are battling for the second and third spot. The final spot for home ice advantage in the first round is still up for grabs.  Five teams are in the race for this position.  If the playoffs started today, Phoenix would be the final team with home ice advantage in the first round.  Listed below are the five teams and who they have left to play in the season with home/road games remaining.

Chicago       (8)    3/5    Home  Lightning, Blues, Red Wings,  Road Wings, Bruins, Jackets, Canadiens, Wings

Toughest schedule to get iinto the fourth spot.  Two Back to Backs in the final eight. Five games against playoff contenders. The Hawks are five points behind Phoenix.  Just making the playoffs might be a better option for the defending champs. Finish the season with a road and home game against the Wings.

Anaheim     (7)   4/3   Home  Avalanche, Stars, Sharks, Kings  Road  Flames, Sharks, Kings.

Those pesky Ducks are four points behind Phoenix and have a shot at winning the Pacific division with five out of the remaining seven against division opponents.  The Ducks have two games in hand over Phoenix. Unfortunately none are against the Coyotes.

LA Kings    (7)   3/4     Home  Stars, Coyotes, Ducks   Road  Oilers, Canucks, Sharks, Ducks

Prior to Saturday afternoon this team would have been my pick other than the Predators to clinch the fourth spot. One point behind Phoenix a devasting injury to Anze Kopitar will challenge the character of the team. With two games in hand and a home game against the Coyotes it is possible for the Kings to clinch the fourth place spot. It  will be interesting to see how the Kings respond without Anze for at least until the end of the season.

Nashville  (6)  4/2     Home Canucks, Red Wings, Thrashers, Jackets  Road  Avalanche, Blues

One point behind Phoenix and with a game in hand the Predators have a favorable schedule. Nashville plays only two Stanley cup playoff teams.  The remaining four games are against teams who are playing out the season.  Those four games are teams the Predators should and must beat in order to get the fourth position.  Clinching a first round home ice advantage would be a first step for the team getting over the"never won a playoff series" hump.  A home winning percentage of nearly sixty percent (.595) Nashville is a tougher team at home. Finally, it would be nice to see the team up 2-0 in a series, By being up two love the Predators would be in control of the series instead of tied or down two love for a change. 

Phoenix (5)  3/2       Home  Stars, Avalanche, Sharks   Road   Kings, Sharks                                                                     

Phoenix needs to follow the maxim by the Oakland Raider owner Al Davis and "JUST WIN BABY!".   The Coyotes have the fewest games remaining the primary way they can control their destiny and clinch the fourth spot is by winning. If the desert dogs win out they would have 103 points.  Forcing Nashville and Los Angeles to win six games to pass them. 

Two weeks left in the season.  Let the chase for the fourth spot begin.

Poll

Who do you think will win the fourth spot in the western conference?

11%

Phoenix Coyotes

1 votes

22%

L A Kings

2 votes

66%

Nashville Predators

6 votes

0%

Anaheim Ducks

0 votes

0%

Chicago Blackhawks

0 votes

9 votes | Poll has closed

 

Recap: 8 points     Reality: 4
After going 1-1-2 on the last big road trip of the season.  The Predators find themselves eleventh place three points behind the Phoenix Coyotes.  With the next twelve out of the fifteen games at home. Desperate times call for a change in direction.  With our manager down for some R & R from this site.  I decided to inject some humor by having a trend topic in the fan post section.  If you are on Twitter you are familiar with the trend topics world wide. They start with the number sign(#) followed by the topic.  The trend topic is #Just( fill in the blanks).

I'll post a few quickies and hopefully the On the Forecheck readers will post some in the comments #just have fun with it.

We all need to #just calm down.

Starting tonight to the end of the season The Predators are going to #JUST BRING IT!

So they can #Just WIN BABY!

Get it now....

Have fun and #just keep it clean!

After going 5-6-2 for the month of February. Nashville starts the month of March in tenth place in the conference standings. The next four games are the last big road trip of the season. Nineteen games left to play it is all about winning. The second tiebreaker is a rule change where playoff position is deteremined by the greater number of wins excluding shootout wins. So regulation wins are at a premium.   There has been some twitter activity about the number of wins the Predators would need to make the playoffs.  Regardless of what that number is Nashville needs to win three out of four on this trip.  A road trip sweep would be fantastic.

Last week points Recap: 5   Reality: 2  Poor play and some bad breaks put the Preds 1-3 for the week.

 

Points anticipated this week: 6

Just like being on the covers of Sports Illustrated or EA Sports Madden are cursed for the athlete.  Being the Predators radio show host is also a curse.  Every player who has done the radio show has been sent packing.  That continued Friday with the release of Wade Belak.   Listed below is the previous radio show host and their cursed fate.

Drake Berehowsky                                       Traded to Vancouver March 2001

Greg Johnson                                               Released

Darcy Hordichuk                                          Traded to Carolina in 2008 during the off season.

Wade Belak                                                  Released

This is the list of the players whose name was on the radio show.  I didn't include the years the team provide someone to meet its obligation to the station to do the radio show. If you so chose, feel free to add names of players you would LIKE to see be the new radio show host......... SO THEY CAN MEET THEIR FATE! 

 

Recap:  February 14th 5 points anticipated.  Actual points obtained 3.  

The depth of good teams caught up to the Preds last week, 1-1-1 was the final tally. A thrilling Thursday night win over the Vancouver Canucks. The top team in the league. Sandwiched between two losses to other quality teams in the conference. No easy games in the Western conference.  Eight points only seperates fourth place from twelve place.  Also five teams tied at sixty-eight points not a good time to have losing streak past one game.   Nashville has four games this week. Columbus on the road Tuesday night and Chicago at Bridgestone on Thursday. A weekend away and home back to back against Dallas and Columbus. Both of those games are midday games.  A January 2nd midday game required a Coach Trotz verbal beatdown to get the team going during the intermission between first and second period. Hopefully Coach Trotz won't have to push that button this weekend.

The final western canada road trip of the season is next week. Nashville needs to get every point they can this week. My motto as a fan is NO REGULATION LOSSES  this week.  My motto is confirmed with the post game press conference by Coach Trotz. He was lamenting not getting the Phoenix game to overtime and getting one point  Saturday night.

Points anticipated this week 5

Keep Columbus and Chicago on the outside the top eight. 

A battle to stay in the top four this week will be on the line. Nashville has three home games with teams in front or chasing them in the conference.  Regulation wins is a must this week against these opponents.  Regulation wins put both San Jose and Phoenix further behind Nashville. Also regulation wins keeps the pressure on Detroit to keep winning.

The San Jose Sharks come to town which shapes up to be a battle for the fourth place spot if only for Tuesday night.  I prefer to see the Sharks as our nemesis and not our rival.  If the Predators were Batman, the Sharks are the Joker.  The Predators focus on defense and more defense. The Sharks are the opposite. Offense and more offense except for this year.  The Sharks have not be the offensive juggernaut they have been in the past.  A change in focus on being a more defensive team and not overwhelm opponents with offensive skill has been their approach for this season.  The Preds have won both games by one goal this season.  A regulation win Tuesday night will give Nashville a three point lead with a game in hand. An opportunity to win the season series Tuesday night.

Thursday night the top team in the league comes to the Bridgestone arena. The Vancouver Canucks have shown a toughness to keep winning games even with their depleted defense corps. They are without four defenseman to include Dan Hamhuis. Hamhuis was knocked out by an elbow last week and no timetable has been set for his return.  Overall team depth is the reason the Canucks beat the Preds in January. Nashville was in the game the last time these two teams met.   It will be the third game in four days for Vancouver on this road trip. A loss in Nashville will make the flight back home even longer.

The Phoenix Coyotes come to Smashville Saturday night. Right now they are behind the Predators but it is possible they could be in first place in their division by Saturday night. The two teams are tied at 67 points. Phoenix is one point behind the Dallas Stars for the division lead. The amazing turnaround of this franchise continues. From bankruptcy to a franchise first 50 win season last year. The Coyotes have kept their winning ways this season hot on the Predators and the Stars heels for a top four playoff spot.   Powered by J.P. Dumont's fourth career hat trick the Preds beat them 5-2 in Phoenix.  For the Coyotes, this is game one of a five game road trip.  Saturday night is the last time these two team meet unless it is in the playoffs.  Smashville will be rocking again Saturday night.

Recap:

February 7th  4 points anticipated.  4 points obtained.  A nice bounce back by the team with wins in Detroit and over Colorado after a disappointing home loss to Edmonton on Monday.

Anticipated points:  5  Why five?  Odds are there will be a dreaded three point game this week.   A three point game is better than a regulation loss for the Preds and their opponents this week. For the loser one point is always better than zero. 

The Predators will be playing three games a week from now to the end of the season. They will fall into a routine of games on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights. An occasional Monday, Sunday and Friday night games spread out thru the rest of the season.  The nice thing about their schedule is the analysis can be done of the next three games on Monday.   The games this week are tonight the Oilers, February 9th Red Wings and February 12th Avalanche.

Tonight games has been highlighted with the pic of Admiral Akbar's "Its A TRAP!" and that is so true.  But just like the rebel alliance found away to beat the empire, the Preds will have to find a way to win tonight. They will have to put the emotional high of winning Saturday night and the anticipated rematch on Wednesday behind them. Get their focus on beating the last place team in the conference.  Teams that win their division win games like this one tonight. Point blank the Predators are better than the Oilers and this is a team they should beat.

Wednesday night in Motown the rematch will take place.  A chance to gain two more points on the Red Wings. A plus for the Predators is this game is sandwiched in between two original six games( Rangers tonight, at Boston on Friday) maybe, just maybe they might be able to steal this one in Detroit.

Saturday night the Colorado Avalanche come to Smashville. It is anticipated it will be the return of Peter Forsberg to the ice.  Unless Forsberg is going to help them in stopping goals allowed(second to last in the conference at 172) I don't see how his return is going to help them.   The Avalanche are in tenth place in the conference despite being fourth in goals scored.  Thanks to Pekka and Anders the Preds are tied with Vancouver in the conference at 125 goals allowed.   Strong defense is why the Predators are in fourth place contending for the top of the conference and the division.  A strong defense by the Predators Saturday night with some timely scoring  should lead to another victory in Smashville.

The anticipated final tally. 4 points.  6 would be great but 4 is more likely.

With the start of the second half the season Tuesday. The playoff push will begin. We will hear from the local pundits and fans this fact. The Predators have made the playoffs four out of the last five seasons.  I call this fact a "pacifier stat". A pacifier stat is:  A fact that can not be disputed and is usually tossed out to shut the opposing view up. Often put out by sports talk show host when the conversation about the team is too negative.  With twenty-one of the next thirty two at home. The Predators in my opinion are poised to do something they have never did before in the history of the franchise.  WIN THE CENTRAL DIVISION!!!  It is time and this year is the year. Barring a collapse in the second half, I as a fan do not care about how many points the team needs to make the playoffs. I want the Preds to finish first in the division and be in the top three playoffs spots. By winning the division the team will have home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.   The Predators are only six points behind Detroit.   They have four games against the standard bearer in the division. The goal of winning the division is obtainable. 

I hear fans say "the Preds don't get the respect in the hockey media other teams do". I say to myself, we haven't won anything.  If we want the team to get some respect from the hockey media then that is obtainable too.  The Predators have five games against Vancouver(3) and Dallas(2).   By aiming to win the division the Preds can compete for the top of the conference. By finishing first in the conference the Preds will face an eight seed team. There will be no easy teams in the western conference playoffs. Spots four thru twelve are only separated by six points.  That eighth seed team will be easier though than playing a fourth or fifth seed team if the playoffs were to start tomorrow. 

By winning the division it will give the franchise and us the fans a fact we can all love like winning the first road playoff game last year.  It will signal a hurdle the team has finally crossed. It can be a celebration for the organization. They can pass out hats or t-shirts on the ice to the team the night they clinch the division.  No sports teams hang banners declaring  "four out of the last five years in the playoffs".  They do hang banners for winning the division, conference or Stanley Cup Championships.  It is time for the Predators to hang a banner.

Back in August, I wrote a fanpost titled "2500 yards rushing is awesome but not realistic",  were I delved into Chris's boast about gaining 2500 yards for the season.   I stated that 1500 yards was not only more realistic but would be historic considering no 2000 yard rusher had achieved that rushing yards in the follow-up season.  Barry Sanders came tantalizingly close with 1491 yards in 1998. His followup season after gaining 2053 yards in 1997. Click on the link http://www.musiccitymiracles.com/2010/8/23/1637140/2500-yards-rushing-is-awesome-but

It has been a tough follow up year for CJ.  He has fallen to what I stated in the August post of increased defensive focus.  The 2010 schedule was announced in late April. Every team that had the Titans on their schedule immediately went into the film vault and broke down CJ's success last season. Everywhere CJ on the field he was the focus of the defense. CJ took some big hits this season.  In the San Diego game, he was shadowed by Kevin Burnette, who made sure he made a good solid tackle. The blue print for containing CJ is don't let him get outside or in space and no cut back lanes.Hit him and hit him hard.  There has been times this season, it looked like CJ was looking for the homerun instead of getting what he could and moving on to the next play. He did do a little to much dancing instead of hitting the hole hard and getting what he could on that play.  Couple increased defensive focus with offensive ineptness at the quarterback, offensive coordinator and head coach positions leaves CJ 175 yards short of 1500 yards rushing for a follow up season.  Listed below is  CJ's stat comparing 2009 and 2010 season thru fifteen games.

2009    1st  8 Games  144 attempts 959 yards*

2010    1st  8 Games  178 attempts 721 yards*

2009   Next 7 Games  178 attempts 913 yards*

2010   Next 7 Games  118 attempts 604 yards*

*source NFL.com

I will add there has been a problem also on the offensive line too. The Titans finished second in rushing last season. This year they are ranked sixteenth with one game left to play.  If CJ can have a big day against the Colts by gaining 175 yards or more. There will be at least be something positive on a disappointing season.     

The original plan for Sunday Jan 2nd was to watch the end of the Titans season and then head down to the Bridgestone arena for a late afternoon game between the Preds and the Blue Jackets. Then the NFL in a pitiful attempt to create faux drama. Used its flexible scheduling  powers and moved the Titans v Colts game to 3:15 pm, along with the Texans v Jags game at the same time.  The NFL pulled its WWE card with this silly change.  Unless Coach Fisher and VY are going to have the loser leaves town throwdown inside the Hell in a Cell cage. Surrounded by Titans players with ax handles to beat their asses on the way to the ring. This pathetic move still has the excitement of the undercard match before the show goes live at a RAW event.   Please NFL leave the FAUX drama to the WWE. They do it 52 times a year, they have it down to a science.   

With one home game to go in this month.  The NHL schedule makers giving the Nashville Predators the Michael Jordans of the NHL( Ovechkin and Crosby) as home games in this month has been a resounding success. 2009-10  Nashville had six home games last year too. This year they have six but the numbers don't lie.  See below:

2009-10   Home opener    Avalanche 14,797

2010-11  Home opener   Ducks       17,113    Sell out

2009-10    Sabres 14,209  Oilers  12,129   Blackhawks   13,103  Blackhawks 13,585

2010-11  Blues  15,103  Capitals  16,144  Flames 15,684  Penguins 17,113

Matching five games with 2009-10 the Predators are ahead by 13,284 in total number.  The total attendance number thru five home games is 81,157.  A sell out for the home opener(which did not happen last year) and the elusive Thursday night sell out in October.  Remember last year the Preds first sell out was the day after Christmas against Chicago.  They only had four sell outs during the regular season.  With two for October, the Stone is ahead of schedule to be rocking at capacity this season.

 

With a possible 0 for October staring at the program.  I would like to give those members of this lovely blog a quick history lesson on the last time the program was in dire straits.   The year was 1977.  To set the background about life at this time.  There was an ineffective Democrat from Georgia as President of the United States. The country was in the beginning of an economic recession. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were getting their butts kicked by Toyota, Honda and Datsun(now Nissan).  Marc Zuckerberg founder of Facebook was seven years from being born.  Jack Dorsey, founder of twitter was the tender age of 8 months old. The internet was still a government controlled entity waiting to be discovered and freed by Al Gore. Newspapers were the dominate form of information communication. Ted Turner was three years away from launching CNN   In the SEC, it was ruled by a coach wearing a houndstooth hat and spoke with a growl.  There was no swamp or gator chomp. Their sideline drink was still on the sidelines and not mass marketed.   Neyland Stadium capacity was at 80,250.   There were only ten teams in the SEC and they played six conference games at the time.   Games could end in a tie and were commonplace due to the coaching philosophy a tie beats a loss.  Teams only played a twelve game if they went to a bowl game.

After watching a gradual decline of the program, the UT brass at the time fired Bill Battle and hired Johnny Majors to restore the program back to past glory.  Coach Majors was fresh off his 1976 National Championship at Pittsburgh and his alma mater had summoned him home. Coach Majors was welcomed home like a hero. He was seen as the right man for the program.   Then the season started and reality hit.   Years of poor recruiting by Coach Battle had finally came home to roost.  The team that year went 4-7.  Coach Majors lost his first game to California 27-17 and would have bad losses to Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.  Tennessee went 1-5 in the conference.  Yep, the one win was over Vanderbilt 42-7.   Coach Majors had to be more salesman than head football coach.  He had to remind the faithful that it was going to take time to get the program headed in the right direction.  He was right his first winning season came in 1979 with a 7-5 record and a bowl game loss at the Blue Bonnet bowl.  In 1980, Tennessee went 5-6.  From 1981 until 1987 Tennessee won 6 or more games every year. It took Coach Majors five years to get the program completely respectable again.  Listed below is the year by year records of 1981-1987.

1981       8-4   *Lossing first two games by a combined 83-7 to Georgia and S. Cal. Team wins 8 of next 10.

1982       6-5-1 Beat Alabama for the first time in 11 years.  Bear Bryant last time at Neyland, dies in 1983.

1983       9-3     First Nine win season in ten years.  Beat Bama in Birmingham for the first time since 1969.

1984       7-4-1  Beat Bama again.  Last Time lost to Kentucky 17-12

1985      9-1-2   Beat Bama. First SEC championship in 15 years. Whipped Miami 35-7 in the Sugar Bowl

1986      7-5      Loss to Bama for the first time in four years

1987     10-2-1 Undefeated at home with road losses at Alabama and Boston College. 

All knowledgeable Tennessee fans know what happened in 1988. Also from 1989-2004 a high level of winning and consistency for that time period.  But I do this to remind the faithful that right now and for the foreseeable future we must be patient and stand behind our coach and the team through the tough times ahead.  Remember Coach Dooley has a FIVE year contract.  It is said that history repeats itself with only a few slight changes in present time.  Now let's recap life in 2010. An ineffective Democrat from Illinois is president of the United States. The country is wading through an economic recession.   GM, Ford and Chrysler are still getting their butts kicked by Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The internet has replaced newspapers as the primary vehicle of information. CNN is getting beat by FOX News. Twelve game schedules are common place in college football.  In the SEC, Alabama is again king of the hill.   Neyland Stadium holds over 100,000 and has been remodeled.  Poor recruiting in 2006-2008 has led to the decline of the program.  We have the right man as head coach for Tennessee. 

With the first wave of Titans cuts coming, I thought it was fair to look at the draft misses since 2003 at the wide receiver position.  The best thing about this analysis is that there has been exactly ten picks since 2003. Five by both Floyd Reese and Mike Reinfeldt as general manager of the Titans. 

The Floyd Reese Picks

Tyrone Calico - Second round draft pick in 2003.  The highest draft pick at this position until 2009 with the first round pick of Kenny Britt.  His whole career was with the Titans.  Never lived up to the hype of his pick. His best year was 2003 with 18 receptions, 297 yards and 4 touchdowns. He will be remembered for getting busted on the side of the road getting "busy" with a young lady he met at the club.  The Titans did pickup a replacement for Tyrone by picking up the eighth round pick of the Chicago Bears for 2003,  Justin Gage in 2007.

2004 - No wide receiver picks with the thirteen the Titans had that year.

2005 - Three wide receiver picks.

Brandon Jones -  Third round pick  He spent four years with the team and never played in more than ten games in any season.  Always seemed to be hurt.  His best year with the Titans was his last in 2008.  He had 41 receptions, 449 yards and a one touchdown.  He signed a laughable contract  last year with the 49ers.  Again he was non productive. This year San Francisco had the last laugh and cut him during their  training camp.  He now is fighting to get a job with the Seattle Seahawks.

Courtney Roby - The other third round pick who spent two years with the team.  Released at the end of the 2006 season. He did one year stints with both Cincinnatii and Indianapolis before landing a job as the kick returner for the World Champion New Orleans Saints.  He did very little with the Titans but should be commended for not quiting and landing a job in the league.  His best season was his first, 21 receptions, 289 yards and one touchdown.

Roydell Williams - The fourth round pick of that year.  He has been out of the league since 2007. His best season was his last with the team. 55 receptions, 719 yards and 4 touchdowns.  The last two years he has been what Blaine Bishop calls a training camp guy.  Meaning he get invites to a teams training camp but is not going to make the team. He is there to spread the work load out between the players. This year he is at the Redskins camp.

Jonathan Orr - Last of the Floyd Reese picks taken in the sixth round so not really painful.  He was with the team for one year and never played a game.  He is out of the league.  The Titans did take a flyer at defensive back by taking Courtland Finnegan in the seventh round.  Hindsight is twenty-twenty with another flyer taken later in the seventh round that year by the Saints on a player named Marques Colston.

Mike Reinfeldt  2007 - 2009

Paul Williams - Third round pick of 2007.  Has yet to produce anything on field.  He by far has been a bust and should be hearing the phrase the coach wants to see you and bring your playbook real soon.

Joel Filani - Sixth round pick of 2007.  Another sixth round bust so not a real loss. He was with the team for three season. His career stat lines reads as follows....0 receptions 0 yards and  0 touchdowns.  He was a permanent fixture on the inactive list every sunday.

Lavelle Hawkins - fourth round 2008 pick.  I remember when he was drafted the Titans brass said "we got the smarter one" of the two between him and Desean Jackson.  Two years later it looks like the Eagles got the smart one as long as we are talking NFL football smarts.  A second round pick D. Jacks  two year stat line looks like this 124 receptions, 2068 yards and 11 touchdowns.  Lavelle Hawkins two year stats are not so glowing. In fact, they are down right depressing.  14 receptions, 178 yards and no touchdowns.   It is obvious this is a make a break camp or year for Lavelle.  He either produces on the field for the team or it is time for him go somewhere else where the NFL smarts light will come on. 

Kenny Britt - first round 2009 pick.   It is still a little early to be too judgemental on Kenny. He has the build to be a big time receiver with a 6'3' frame.  We have seen flashes of his outstanding ability in the first eighteen months he has been with the team.  Unfortunately, maturity issues seem to crop up every time I think he has turned the corner.  He needs to grow up both on and off the field.  This year we need to see Kenny take a step to be a clear number two receiver on the field.  He needs to push Justin Cage to the secondary third receiver role in the offensive scheme.  If this happens this offense will be hard to stop. Until then the jury is still out on this pick.

Dominque Edison - sixth round 2009 pick.  On the sixth round bust track that has happened two other times since 2003. Dominque has yet to contribute anything in any game.  He is permanent name on the inactive list.  I do not know if the team will keep him around for this season.  In my opinion, it is time to cut bait and move on to the next guy.

It is said by NFL draft experts the toughest position(other than QB) to draft is a wide receiver.  The analysis of the wide receiver picks since 2003 for the Titans proves this point.  Nine zeros out of the last ten picks at this position means the team needs to do a better job evaluating.   Quit looking for the late round sleeper  and focus on first or second round talent at this position. An upgrade in drafting of talent will lead to an upgrade of production on the field.

Along with his boast of wanting to reach 2500 yards this season. And being the overall number one draft pick in every fantasy draft in the world.  I will propose that going for 2500 yards will be awesome. But reaching 1500 yards this season will be historic.  Why historic?  No 2000 yard rusher, has ever gained 1500 yard the next year.  Listed below is the five previous 2000 yard rushers. Also listed is their record year and the following season.  The games played that year and the difference of yardage between the two seasons.

O J Simpson 1973 2003 yards  14 games played  1974 1125 yards  14 games played     -878 #

E. Dickerson  1984 2105 yards 16 games played  1985 1234 yards   14 games played    -871

B. Sanders    1997  2053 yards  16 games played  1998 1491 yards  16 games played    -562

T. Davis          1998  2008 yards  16 games played  1999      67 yards   4 games played     -1941

J. Lewis          2003 2066 yards   16 games played  2004 1006 yards   12 games played   -1060

C. Johnson    2009 2006 yards   16 games played  2010  ???????

*nfl.com

# The NFL played  14 games from 1960-1977. Expanded to 16 in 1978.

Only hall of famer Barry Sanders came tantalizingly close to 1500 rushing yards the next season.  The others battled increased defensive focus and injuries the next season.   CJ will have a target on his back every time he hits the field this season. I love his swagger with the 2500 yard boast. But 1500  yards will be more achieve able and historic because no one has done it the next year.  Plus if CJ did rush for 2500 yards that means the passing game is extinct and he is the only weapon on the offensive side.  Finally the number of carries has to start adding up even on CJ. Last year he carried the ball 358 times which is right below the magic number of 370 carries according to  statistical information gurus at Footballoutsiders.com  Once a running back goes over 370 carries for the year, his production for the next season is lower. In 2008, Michael Turner had 1700 yards on 376 rushes. Last year was a disappointment for him with 896 yards on 178 carries due to him being on the injured list all season long. A healthy CJ means the Titans have a chance to win. A CJ bouncing from active to inactive every week means the Titans are in trouble. 

Run CJ run, just keep it under 370 carries.

As a Titans fan, I have heard the above phrase every year from Coach Fisher. Winning in the preseason counts. I decided to take his catch phrase to task and see if there is any correlation to winning in the preseason and winning in the regular season. I picked the two winningest teams over the last five years. The Colts and the Patriots. Both teams have won their division four out of the last five years. Listed below is both the preseason and the regular season records of the Colts, Patriots and the Titans over the last five years. Preseason record/ Regular season record. 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Colts 0-5/14-2 1-3/12-4 1-3/13-3 1-3/12-4 1-3/14-2 Patriots 2-2/10-6 2-2/12-4 2-2/16-0 0-4/11-5 3-1/10-6 Titans 1-3/4-12 1-3/8-8 3-1/10-6 3-1/13-3 3-2/8-8 Colts five year preseason record a paltry 4-17 .190 Regular season 65-15 .813 Pats five year preseason record an ok 9-11 .450 Regular season 59-21 .738 Titans five year preseason record an ok 11-10 .523 Regular season 43-39 .538 *source NFL.com If Coach Fisher was a Star Wars character he would be Obi Wan Kenobi and his Jedi mind trick phrase of winning in the preseason counts. The Colts despite barely averaging one preseason win a year have a plus TWENTY TWO regular season win total over the Titans. Obviously the Colt and the Patriots have a different philosophy about the preseason games and winning them. The numbers show they focus on getting ready for the regular season and winning those games. Maybe Coach Fisher needs to join the dark side of winning in the regular season and quit passing out the kool aid of winning in the preseason.

Much like the music great Frank Sinatra who was called by his close friends the Chairman of the board. The Nashville Predators chairman Tom Cigarran made moves Tuesday that clearly show there is new direction that the organization is taking.  Mr. Cigarran has made it clear that he will be the face of the franchise as the chairman. He seems very comfortable in this role.  With the letting go of Ed Lang and the hiring of two experience executives from other markets. It is apparent that this ownership group is committed to being winning franchise on and off the ice.  

By hiring Jeff Cogen and Sean Henry there will be a new level of energy and enthusiasm with the team. New faces bring new ideas to old challenges in this market.   An old challenge has been solving the football problem. Attendance for Predators games lags in October and November because fans are going to their favorite football teams games on Saturday and Sunday.  These new executives should have new ideas on how to attract fans during these months.  Jeff Cogen comes from Dallas despite having a team that did not make the playoffs last year. The Dallas Stars still drew an average of 17,215 and rank seventeenth in attendance.  The Predators on the other hand average 14,979 and rank twenty-sixth in attendance.    In Dallas, the Cowboys are number one and the other professional teams are a distant second. Yet the Stars still drew at a ninety-two percent capacity.  A key to the Predators moving up the attendance ranking ladder is more fans have to come to games during the football season months.


Both of these guys come from franchises that have won Stanley cups. At the end of game six, there was some fan frustration with the Predators inability to breakthrough with a series win.  Much like it takes steel to sharpen steel, a winning front office does lead to winning on the ice. The Chicago Blackhawks went from being a division doormat to winning the Stanley Cup with the simple change in the front office.

Finally, as a Predators fan I had grown tired of the "we are a small market mantra" every time the franchise could not make a move to improve itself. The culture was always one of a small market and had adopted a pessimistic view of itself.   Mr. Cigarran has moved away from this negative image.  August 10, 2010 will be a day the Predators moved to be the optimistic and vibrant franchise both inside and out.