It is an odd schedule quirk that has the Predators with only one game between Tuesday’s win in Dallas and a Western Canada trip that begins next Wednesday in Vancouver. A quirk that is certainly welcome after the team just went through a 12 game in 20 days stretch… and a successful stretch at that as Nashville went 9-2-1 over it.



So… 28 games into the season and the Nashville Predators are 18-7-3 for 39 points. Extrapolate that over an 82 game season and the Preds are on track for 114 points with the capability to eclipse the franchise point record set by the 06-07 team. This team is top 10 in points, wins, goals scored, power play conversion, penalty kill and face off win percentage.

The interesting piece is this, like last season, this team has not been playing together as originally designed. Ryan Ellis has been out for the entire season so far, Scott Hartnell has missed 11, Nick Bonino missed 10… plus other onesy twosey injuries… Health is always critical for a team and Nashville is dealing with less injuries than some… but just imagine this team with Ellis and Hartnell back in the lineup… a fully healthy Nashville Predators team could be terrifying for the rest of the league.

For all the good news, all the platitudes… there is still another level that this team needs to go to. A consistent killer instinct, better care with the puck, a lot more discipline. If those issues get taken care of…

I just can’t think about it…

So let’s think about this… the new Vegas team is in town for the first time ever, and just like Monday’s game against Boston, they are bringing their dads with them as Vegas does their Father’s Trip, Including another visit from Karl Subban… this time in a Vegas jersey for his son Malcom who may be in net tonight for the Knights. That’s just one storyline as brother vs. brother may be P.K. vs. Malcom tonight for the first time in the NHL.

The other storyline, the return of James Neal. The sniper has been on a tear for the expansion Knights, tallying 13 goals in 27 games. You have to know that Neal has had this game and the one on January 2nd circled on his calendar.

This Vegas team has been the talk of the league, breaking new franchise records all over the place and as play opens tonight, solidly in second place in the Pacific Division. Most of their success has been at T-Mobile Arena, their road record is a fairly pedestrian 6-7-1… at home? 11-2-0.

Vegas head coach Gerald Gallant has this team believing in the system and playing hard… that is half the battle. Nashville needs to be ready for this team tonight… and Smashville needs to be as loud as they can to show the new guys how its’ done.

Game time is 7pm at Bridgestone Arena. Coverage begins at 6pm with pregame on 102.5 the Game… TV pregame begins at 6:30pm… game coverage on both media gets going at 7pm. Limited tickets remain for tonight.

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Forbes is out with its’ annual fantasy valuation of NHL franchises and they have the Predators at number 25 in the league, valued at 380 million, that number is up 41% year over year. Y’know… it’s really hard to trust a publication on numbers when they can’t get the most basic, verifiable number right. Here is a direct quote from the Predators valuation…

This is the same franchise that found itself in jeopardy of being sold 10 years ago as it struggled to establish an average attendance of 10,000.

Wow… that sounds really bad. A franchise that couldn’t even average 10000 in attendance?

That’s awful! Except for one little problem... Forbes got its’ numbers oh so wrong!

The Nashville Predators ten years ago were averaging just a shade under 15,000 in attendance, which is approximately 88% of capacity. Let’s look at the numbers (attendance numbers courtesy of ESPN.com)…

2005-06 14,428
2006-07 15,259
2007-08 14,910

OK… maybe Forbes was looking at older numbers… well… that doesn’t help them either, as the Predators have never averaged under 13,100 fans per game in a season. I have always looked at Forbes fantasy evaluation of franchise value with highly skeptical eyes to begin with… but when the most basic of information is blatantly wrong… it calls the entire evaluation into question.

C’mon Forbes… you’re better than this. Get your numbers right.

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Random Notes

- PK Subban is leading the Central Division All-Star voting according to the first results published by the NHL. All-Star voting continues until New Year’s Day.

- Looks like the Carolina Hurricanes are being sold to Texas business man Thomas Dundon, current owner Peter Karamanos will retain 48% ownership.

- The Seattle… Flannels? Rainstorms? Coffee Freaks? Seattle looks to be the next expansion candidate. Wonder what their name swill be?

- KHL Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit lost to Dynamo Minsk yesterday 1-0. Tolvanen was held off the scoresheet again, he stands at 17 goals and 13 assists for 30 points in 37 games.

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Tweets by @PredPAPaul


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SlapShot Radio’s tenth anniversary season is on. As the longest running hockey show in the region, SSR feeds hockey fans what they crave… intelligent, fun, entertaining talk about their favorite sport and we do it from the opening of training camp all the way through UFA day… the only local hockey show that does that.

We are on every Wednesday night at 7pm on the Predators flagship station, 102.5 the Game. Our co-hosts, Dan Keczmer and JP Dumont bring a true insiders perspective to the show. Our next show is tomorrow at 8am. We will welcome former NHL referee Kerry Frasier for another of his “C’mon Ref!” segments.

We have been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results at a reasonable price. Just ask our sponsors… including day one sponsor Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762, Mark Lonsway at ReMax Fine Homes, call him for all your real estate needs at (615) 207-7799, and TurfMasters… check out their great service at TurfMasters.com. Also… The Crag… Nashville’s premiere location for indoor rock climbing. Newton Dominey and his awesome crew have a great location in Cool Springs and they are opening a new location in South Nashville at the corner of Old Hickory Blvd and Nolensville Rd. Check out their website at ILoveRockCLimbing.com If you’ve never done it before… you need to try, they specialize on helping first timers.

Advertisers… reach out to me in order to access our activated listener base though great preseason advertising deals available for our tenth season when you email me at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com

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