So... Nashville is 1st in the NHL...

[Acetylene]

Impressive. I never thought they'd have this kind of season, after signing Roy and Jokinen this summer.

 

[jwhouk]

Glad someone else made this thread.

(walks away humming "I Like It I Love It")

 

[notheroic]

Nashville is a good team, who installed a new coach at the right time. Lavi is a great 1-3 year coach. Perfect for the switch to uptempo offensive hockey. Theyre like a new team out there. As a Hawks fan, I'm scared to face them in the Playoffs. They're gonna go through some teams. Rinne of course, as everyone says, is a beast.

 

[nashpreds]

Our depth will definitely be tested with nagging injuries at the moment but I think this team is for real. I don't know if winning the presidents trophy is likely but I'd say we finish somewhere between 5-7 in the league.

On a side note, there's so many Predators threads lately. Any other Preds fans feel weird with all the attention this team is getting?

 

[wadesworld]

Our depth will definitely be tested with nagging injuries at the moment but I think this team is for real. I don't know if winning the presidents trophy is likely but I'd say we finish somewhere between 5-7 in the league.

On a side note, there's so many Predators threads lately. Any other Preds fans feel weird with all the attention this team is getting?

We do get some threads now, but it's still about 1 out of every 40 threads started. I listened to XM Radio the other day to see how much time they'd spend talking about the Preds. In the 4 hours I listened, there were 5 minutes of discussion about how Rinne was having a career year, a 10 minute story about the ducks, and 3:45 discussing Eastern conference teams.

I'm not worried we're going to get so much press it's going to go to our heads.

 

[alko]

Now is Predators eventually will win the Cup, whit every € you can win 14 €.
Few Months ago it was 1:70.
Lets see, how it will look at the end of regular season.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

Except we're nothing like Colorado was last year at all.

You have to admit there Are some real similarities.

 

[CMDEADLY]

You have to admit there Are some real similarities.

Like what? Outside of being in first in the division?

Varlamov was an unproven goalie.

Patrick Roy was a First year head coach.

They had 3 good/elite centers.

Their defense wasn't very good.

Their possession numbers were awful.

Nashville on the other hand.

A proven elite goaltender that was coming off of injury.

Laviolette is a proven coach with a Stanley Cup, and Stanley cup final's under his belt.

We don't have an Elite young center. However we do have Wing Talent.

Our defense is top 3 in the league.

Our Possession numbers are top 5.

Where are the similarities?

 

[Mikeshane]

Both teams are based in the USA.
Both play in the NHL.
Both teams' rosters consist entirely of humans.

 

[swissexpert]

Both teams are based in the USA.
Both play in the NHL.
Both teams' rosters consist entirely of humans.

Haha

I'm surprised about the reactions here, seems like no one is watching their games. Otherwise, there wouldn't be answers like "only because of Rinne/Weber" or "it wont last too long"...
They play an exciting game for a while now, despite some critical injuries. They're strong as a team.

 

[biturbo19]

It's entirely baffling to me, the success the Predators have had this year...hodgepodge forward group, superb blueline, good goaltender...it's still just crazy to me the success they've had with that scoring group up front.

They've won enough at this point, that they're pretty much a lock playoff team. It's still just crazy to me that they've had this much success...particularly Rinne, who i really thought would regress without that stifling Trotz system in place. But instead, the opposite.

 

[PerdFan]

It's entirely baffling to me, the success the Predators have had this year...hodgepodge forward group, superb blueline, good goaltender...it's still just crazy to me the success they've had with that scoring group up front.

They've won enough at this point, that they're pretty much a lock playoff team. It's still just crazy to me that they've had this much success...particularly Rinne, who i really thought would regress without that stifling Trotz system in place. But instead, the opposite.

Playing a possession game...your best defense is a good offense.

One of the players said it best a couple days ago " The past few years it was like we were playing not to lose, this year we play to win."

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

One thing that has gone really well is other players picking up the slack when needed. Up until recently, the top-2 lines have been a major factor. With injuries, they've cooled off. Now, Josi and Weber have really heated up and are racking up points.

It also doesn't hurt that Rinne is insanely good this year, too.

 

[Brooklanders*]

The question is: Can it last?

Haven't been following the team too closely this year, but it definitely surprised me.

I have to assume this is on the backs of Weber, Rinne, and Forsberg/Rebeiro.

Watch out the Rangers are coming!!
And remember the Presidents trophy is kinda worthless just ask Vancouver.

 

[PerdFan]

Impressive. I never thought they'd have this kind of season, after signing Roy and Jokinen this summer.

And Roy is gone and Jokinen is, uh...I'm still not sure why he's still on the ice.

But Ribeiro and Neal have been great pickups and Fisher is doing great things since his return. Also, Nashville has had more skilled young forwards than they've gotten credit for, they had just been raised in a stifling system until now and finally are being turned loose to play to their individual strengths.

 

[Swedishpredator]

Mike Ribeiro is back in old form, Forsberg is shining...tho last few games he have had refs against him or being a little less hungry.

I think the injurys of Neal, Nystrom, Beck are testing this team right now. the game against carolina and dallas was not perfect. Preds usually like to shoot and when they shoot around 30+ shots they are playing good....last few games they have won but still aint playing perfect. i doubt it will hold if this continues. Rinne has cooled of a lil bit to me but then again...team keeps winning.

Ellis is injured now aswell and that makes it even tougher....

In the playoffs i dont excpect more then 1,2 round tbh...i feel really uncertain how well this team can perform when it really matters...tho i hope Lavy can motivate them

 

[kihei]

Have only seen Nashville a couple of times this season, but they very much look for real when I do watch them. Good luck to them.

 

[Muzzinga]

You have to admit there Are some real similarities.

They are nothing like the Avs. The Avs were 1 of the very worst teams in the league, riding an insane lucky streak

The Preds are very very good and deserve to be where they are. I think they are the 2nd best team in the league behind Chicago

 

[Riddum]

They're peaking too early.

Boy did I eat my words on that one, when the Blackhawks won the cup a few years back LOL!

 

[sourdough]

Both teams are based in the USA.
Both play in the NHL.
Both teams' rosters consist entirely of humans.

The jury is still out on Weber and Rinne.

 

[MoreOrr]

Rangers/Preds Final.

I've been sensing that lately myself. Way too early yet, but both teams look to be heading in the right direction.



* See the two top threads at this instant.

 

[Hesher]

It's impressive. I'm happy for Laviolette, I've always liked him as a coach.

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

Its good to see a different team take the reigns

Good for Nashville. I hope they can keep it up

 

[BonMorrison]

It's awesome to see as a Preds fan but I don't think it'll last. The injuries are starting to scare me and even though we've been winning, we've been getting scored on a lot lately (relative to the usual). I'm still not comfortable when the team has a lead and if Ellis is out, our defensive depth will be tested heavily. Losing forwards isn't as big because we have a glutten of forwards to fill spots and play well - not so much on defense, IMO.

 

[613Leafer]

Their possession stats are quite strong (6th for CF%) and their goal differential is great (1st in the league), so the underlying stats for their play indicate it's not just them getting a bit lucky.

Is the play of individual players sustainable? Rinne is having a fantastic year, but he's considered a top 5 goalie anyways, so it's not like he's expected to regress much. Weber, Josi, Jones, Smith, Neal, etc are all playing at expected levels IMO, so shouldn't be regressing.

Forsberg, Ribeiro, and Wilson are the question marks. They're all having better than expected years, so any regression there could hurt the team pretty hard. That's where I'd place the question marks on sustainability for this team. I'd like to see them do well though, I like the idea of Weber staying with a small-market team and finding success there. If Weber were on a perennial contender like Chicago, I think he would have won 2-3 Norris' by now.