It’s OK to wake up Smashville… you aren’t dreaming.
In a post season of many firsts… first sweep of a series… first time past round two… first conference championship… and now… the Nashville Predators are going to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history... bringing with it the chance to bring home the first major league championship trophy in the history of the city.
That’s some pretty big stuff.
I’m not going to worry about a GBU or a game recap… this morning, I find myself trying to wrap my head around the fact that the team that I have covered for 14 years both on this blog and on SlapShot Radio, the team that my family has been charter season ticket holders for, the team that I have been blessed to be able to do the PA for the last ten seasons is now in a position to win a championship.
It’s an amazing feeling… and though all these feels… I have found myself thinking back to ten years ago.
Ten years ago on this very day, May 23, 2007… when news broke that the CEO of Blackberry bought the Nashville Predators for $220 million dollars. The speculation began immediately about Nashville losing their team. The battle back… the formation of “Save the Predators” by a great group of fans including Jim and Wendy Leutgens who did everything they could to raise money to buy tickets to donate to soldiers and first responders. Plenty of businesses stepped up, other smaller groups formed… All of these efforts culminating in a huge “Save the Preds” Rally on a sweltering day in mid-July… I wrote this after the rally…
The 6pm rally was an amazing experience. I did not enter the bowl of the arena until I went out on stage. The experience of seeing the entire floor of the arena completely packed was unbelievable. The crowd was estimated at over 7500 crazed denizens of Pred Nation. All decked out in their Predator finest. I was completely honored to be a small part of the event.
The fans were nuts... the Governor and First Lady addressed the crowd. Don't be surprised to see a picture of the governor of Tennessee holding up a sign saying "Keep your damn hands off our team." The fans chanted, screamed, yelled, and generally caused all kinds of havoc. The atmosphere downtown was like a game night.
Thinking back to that experience still gives me chills… and everyone who had just a small part of that day should be proud of where this franchise is today. That night was a key milestone in our team’s history. The night that Nashville fought back, that proved to local owners that this market cared and cared fiercely…
You know the rest of the story, local owners step up and buy the team, bring in great people to run the business like Sean Henry… a change in coaches (a first for Nashville,) a sellout streak that goes back to last season… it’s all good in Smashville… and there is one more person on my mind…
Predators general manager David Poile, he has waited 33 seasons for this moment… 33 years as an NHL general manager and he now has a chance to win the Cup. David has built great teams, both in Washington and in Nashville. His patience and loyalty sometimes tested the patience of Pred Nation… but this team overcame things that previous teams didn’t… they handled adversity and thrived on it. The pieces came together at the right time. I am so happy for him that he finally gets this experience.
OK… 12 wins down… and the hardest four are yet to come. If you think Smashville is crazy now… well…
You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
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Conference Final Reset
Eastern Conference
PIT vs. OTT – PIT leads 3-2 – Game six is tonight in Ottawa.
Western Conference
ANA vs. NSH – NSH wins 4-2
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Playoff Random Notes
- Head coach Peter Laviolette is only the 4th head coach in league history to take three different teams to a Stanley Cup Final, and the first US born coach to achieve this feat.
- Even with 17,352 inside Bridgestone Arena… and thousands more outside… the game posted record ratings of 16.4, smashing previous rating records for a Preds game.
- I have to say, I was very disappointed with Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle’s carping about playoff scheduling… “The toughest part I have about the whole thing is this was our 7th game in 13 days.” “I think there has got to be some consideration in the scheduling” There
is consideration in the scheduling… you get rewarded for winning your series in less than seven games.
- One game in the NHL tonight – 7pm – PIT @ OTT (NBCSN)
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SSR’s season nine is on, our next show is TBD pending the results of Game Six… on 102.5 the Game. SlapShot Radio is the longest running hockey show in the mid-south and Pete Weber and I bring you the best in hockey talk all playoffs long. We will have a Stanley Cup Final preview tomorrow night.
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