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The Nashville Predators are on the road for their last regular season visit to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Predator fans have many memories of excitement, fear and thrills at this old barn. From exciting playoff matches, to the back-to-back games at the Joe caused by Jiri Fischer’s collapse on the bench. I will never forget that night… November 21, 2005... when, about 13 minutes into the game, right after the Predators jumped out to a 1-0 lead, Fischer went into cardiac arrest on the Red Wings bench, was given CPR and if not for an AED on site, he may not have survived the event. The game was suspended then replayed as part of a strange back-to-back series in Detroit the following January, a sweep by the Predators.
The Detroit Red Wings have always stirred the passions of long time Predator fans, in the early days of the franchise, there normally were more Detroit fans in the house than Pred fans. A derisive term developed for fans that were Predator season ticket holders but showed up in Red Wing garb when the Winged Wheel was in town… the dreaded, hated “Pred Wing” fan. That phenomenon faded with time and unfortunately, the rivalry with Detroit is all but dead due to the Wings move to the Eastern Conference a few seasons back, moving the season following a sweet playoff series win over those Wings in Niklas Lindstom's last game in the NHL.
Tonight’s game finds the roles reversed a bit. Nashville comes in with the huge expectations on their shoulders, Detroit… not so much. The debate seems to be raging over if they should work so hard to extend their playoff streak or go into rebuild mode. They come into tonight a .500 hockey team in a division that is rapidly improving and the Red Wings in a bit of a decline. They really haven’t replaced Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Frazen and Niklas Kronwall are on IR but they are coming off a big win at MSG where Jimmy Howard stole one for the Wings 2-1 over the Rangers.
The Predators come into tonight with a two game losing streak, dropping games to Dallas at home and Chicago on the road after winning their home opener against those same Blackhawks. The last two days practice have been focused on 5 on 5 play and skating and head coach Peter Laviolette played with the lines a bit as well, reuniting Mike Ribeiro with Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg, one of the most productive lines during the Preds 14 game point streak last season.
As I write this, the Predators roster is still at 20 players, not sure if there will be any call up from Milwaukee or not. Expect Pekka Rinne in net for the Predators who is off to a good start to the season, posting a 1-1-0 record with a save percentage of .934 and a GAA of 2.03. Game time is 6:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee and 102.5 the Game. For Pred fans without Center Ice, the game is also being carried on NHL Network.
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Sending out congratulations to the entire Predators organization and game day staff… voted as number one stadium experience and number one fan relations among 122 professional sports teams in ESPN’s annual Ultimate Standings. The team also was ranked 1st in affordability.
The team came in 6th overall in ESPN’s ultimate rankings… a significant jump from last year’s 27th ranking.
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Random Notes
- While focus was on 5 on 5 in practice, the Preds have had a smoking power play… five of their seven goals so far this young season has come on the man advantage.
- Among the line juggling saw Kevin Fiala dropped to the 4th line with Cody Bass and Colton Sissons, line 3 had Mike Fisher centering Colin Wilson and Viktor Arvidsson, the other line saw Ryan Johansen centering Calle Jarnkrok and James Neal.
- There is one unbeaten/untied team left in the NHL… Vancouver is off to a 4-0-0 start. Montreal and Washington both are 3-0-1.
- Bobby Orr wants to slow down the game by reinstating the red line in order to make the game safer. Interesting concept but I’m not sure that will slow the game down any, beyond increasing the amount of stoppages.
- LA got more bad news, Jonathan Quick will be out for three months… the Kings just got their first win and are 1-4 on the season so far.
- Three games on the NHL schedule tonight, all time Central – 6pm - CHI @ CBJ, ARI @ NYI. 6:30pm – NSH @ DET.
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