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Guest Blogger - Ashley Grant's View From Across the Pond

July 29, 2009, 2:04 PM ET [ Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Ashley Grant is a Predator fan from England who visits the Music City annually to catch as many Pred games as possible. He weighs in again as a guest blogger, giving his take on the Predators off-season so far…

With the 2009/2010 NHL schedule released and the Predators starting to take shape, can we start to predict how the season will go for the Preds?

Unlike a lot of teams, the Predators had already signed their big names either during last season or a couple years ago, meaning that there was no real worry on who we may lose. After having Steve Sullivan and Joel Ward out on the free agency market on July 1, Predators fans had to just wait and maybe hope that David Poile would give those players contracts which they would sign.

Steve Sullivan which caught the eye of the whole NHL in his remarkable comeback last season received the Bill Masterton Trophy which every Predators fan was proud to see him collect it in Las Vegas. Sullivan signed a two-year deal worth $7.5 million. After knocking off the rust mid way through last season, Sullivan amassed 27 points (11g-16a) in the final 25 games of the season. Nashville went 22-14-5 with Sullivan in the line-up in 2008-09 vs. 18-20-3 without him. Looking at the potential of having him for the full season, that maybe one of the reasons why the Predators offered him that contract.

Joel Ward amazed many people last season and was clearly a good signing, after looking at his previous stats it did not look like he would have much of an impact, after picking up 35 points and finishing in the top ten, top point scorers on the team it was clear that Ward found his game and the right team. The Predators needed players like this; in the rebuilding of the team the Predators need skilled players that aren’t going to break the bank. Joel Ward has proven he is skilful and after signing a two-year contract worth a total of $3 million critics would say this is true value for money.

The future of the Nashville Predators looks bright, Nashville has a lot of skilled prospects who are developing perfectly to be able to break into the NHL, this will allow the Predators to bring them into the league when the Predators think they are good and ready which will allow them to have an impact on the team. Whereas other teams may rush players like their top draft picks in too early when they are not ready, they are not matured enough for the NHL and they play in the league having not adjusted fully from college and it just doesn’t work.

Nashville, selected Ryan Ellis as their 2009 number one draft pick and after watching him in development camp they feel he is a very skilled player with a lot of potential but most likely will not figure in the team next year.

Colin Wilson has developed over the year and during last season signed a contract with the Nashville Predators, he was told that if he left college to play pro hockey we would most likely be playing in Milwaukee, he was also given the option to stay at Boston University for another year, and he decided to stay at Boston. Wilson showed great potential at the development camp this year and was rated as one of the top players there.

Not every player was signed, as the Predators had to say goodbye to players like Greg Zanon, the 29 year old defence man signed a contract with the Minnesota Wild. Zanon recorded 11 points (4g-7a) for the Predators last season and had a big presence on the ice and could lead who ever he was paired with in the defence, he was a great player to pair a young inexperienced player with and will be missed by Nashville.

Scott Nichol was another to go, he signed a deal with the San Jose Sharks. Some fans might not know what’s worse to see Nichol (Scooter) go or for him to be playing for the Sharks which next to Detroit have to be Nashville’s biggest rival having faced them twice in the playoffs. Nichol suffered from a concussion through the season and couldn’t play as much as he or the Predators team would have liked, he managed to play 43 games for the Predators last season and recorded 10 points (4g-6a) in those games.

Ville Koistenen signed a contract with the Florida Panthers as a free agent, he may have gone sooner if the right deal could have been found on the day of the trade deadline, news spread that he didn’t want to play for the Predators anymore because he was unhappy with the amount of ice time he was getting, he also wanted more time on the power-play. Although it will be sad to see Koistenen go because of the amount of times he put away crucial shootout goals which no one really expected him to do, Nashville has replacements that have great potential, one of the bigger names that keeps popping up is Jonathan Blum, who won the WHL Defence of the year award.

Vern Fiddler, another excellent player in the shootout, signed with the Phoenix Coyotes who are trying to build a team that can contend seriously in the NHL, after many times of failing to make the playoffs they looked like they had a shot last season mid way through but coming into the second half of the season the wheels fell off and Wayne Gretzky’s team failed once again. Fiddler recorded 17 points (11g-6a) in 78 games for the Predators last season and was a valuable all round player. It’s safe to say that every Nashville fan wishes him the best of luck.

With the 2009/2010 schedule released every fan has already looked to see what are going to be the best games of the season. Barry Trotz spoke to reporters and said “Looking at the schedule, we are going to have success this year if we can maintain a pretty solid record against our own division. Our division has grown over the past couple of years to become the toughest division in hockey”
Now all the major off-season events in the NHL have passed the only real news now will be on who has signed who, it becomes a waiting game until September when training camp begins and the pre-season games get under way. Looking at what Nashville has so far in terms of prospects and the current roster, it looks to be a promising season for the Predators.

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Tune into Sirius/XM’s NHL Home Ice today at 4pm CDT… I’ll be joining Jamie Shalley and Boomer Gordon to talk Preds.

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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating during Pred home games in season with information and explanations from the PA box.

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HockeyBuzz Radio is on hiatus until late September… Keep checking in at www.hockeybuzzradio.com for the latest on the upcoming season and regular columns from hockey writer Mark McGee.

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