Former Thrasher fan, teach me the ropes?
 

Hello there! I was a rabid Atlanta Thrasher fan, and when they moved i took a year off. I could not stand attaching any kind of hockey as I just despised the ASG and Gary Bettman. I have decided to start watching the game again, and if you don't mind i am adopting the Preds as my team. I would appreciate it if you could teach me the ins and outs of Predators hockey i would appreciate it! GO PREDS!

Right now the big thing is watching Suter and Weber to see what they do. I'm sure after the FA market starts to die down we'll get more into discussing the team and the direction we think it will take next season. In the meantime feel free to ask questions that come to mind. There is also a thread for prospects that might give you a lot of info on up-and-coming players.

welcome aboard!! post often!

Welcome aboard, you've picked a great franchise to be a fan of. I was a lifelong LA Kings fan (and, my condolences, I loved watching the Thrashers) whose view of the Preds went from 'nuisance of a team we can't seem to beat' to grudging respect, to admiration and love of this organization that seems to go about things the right way, and manages to scrape together a competitive team year in and year out no matter how poor the roster may look.

I'm sure some of the longer-tenured fans can give you better background on the team, but as TMI alluded to, the team is at a bit of a crossroads at the moment, with both our cornerstone defensemen either choosing to commit here long-term, or leaving, within the next full year. Things are a bit tense around here as a result, so don't take anything personally. Always great to add another to Pred Nation.

There are a lot like you. Welcome sir! We accept any and all fans

great to have you... very briefly..

Preds are built from the goal out, play defensively responsible hockey, trotz is the only coach we have ever had, some think he stifles the offensive potential of talented young players, others think he gets more results out of less talent than most other coaches could..

we have been a fixture in the playoffs but are reaching the point in our development as a franchise that just making the playoffs is no longer good enough, this fan base is itching for a deep run

for years we have had to survive on a shoestring budget, and now it appears the owners are ready to open up the purse strings.. but ironically and possibly tragically, two of our homegrown superstars may be leaving in the near future even though we have the money to pay them


welcome aboard, I think you're gonna like it!

thanks for all the hospitality! Im looking forward to supporting the Preds! Will check out the prospect thread,

Welcome aboard the "We better re-sign Suter" Express!

To make a long story short, Wilson is either misued or over-rated, Klein either sucks or is our 3rd best defender, and Trotz and Poile are either one of the best GM/Coach combos in the league or they need to be fired. Choose wisely. :naughty:

Hi Caleb. I was a mod on the old Thrashers board here...The best advice I can give you about the Preds is take literally everything about the Thrashers and reverse it.

Thrashers
High powered offense
No defense
shaky goaltending
Arena in disrepair
Ownership who doesn't care about fans
Nothing happening around the arena really
Bad drafting
Playoffs? lol.
No player development

Predators
Cycling style offense
Strong defense
Premiere goaltending
Immaculate arena
Owners who really care about the fans
Arena in a really happening part of town
Solid drafting
Now making the Semis
Solid minor league system

to be a fan here, you have to emotionally overreact to everything, even minor league signings. You have to hate Poile, hate Trotz, hate Legwand, think all players are greedy for testing free agency, overvalue young bottom six grinders, think smith is the second coming, blum is a bum, ellis is a midget, josi is god, but not mike fisher's, that would carrie underwood. you have to take pekka for granted, realize this teams mvp is a beard and think klein is overpaid at barely above the minimum.

think I covered it all.

Welcome Caleb! It is always good to pick up a new Preds fan. I hope that you can follow their AHL affiliate in Milwaukee too. Then you will know who the new guys in Nashville are and what to expect.

Token Grinder sums it up. The fans want to dump Trotz after he gets the team to the playoffs again, and they don't get to the SCF again.

And expect UFA signing could have gone to the Preds.

Isn't the arena relatively new? How is it falling apart after only 12 years?

I never understood why the Phillips Arena was around nothing

and all trades made for a guy that fills a hole, Poile failed because he didn't make the trade, because, as we all know, Poile is overly conservative and afraid to use his assets.

Except when he does make a trade in which case you must instantly assail it for being a vast overpayment and name every other player in the league as who we should have traded for instead.

Um... The same Poile that was the most aggressive out of 30 teams at the deadline?

Think you missed the sarcasm bro lol

How is that? He swung the most deals... Gill, AK, Goose, Rads. Many pundits praised Poile for the deals.

Yep, Atlanta $pirit Group let Philips Arena get into a horrible state of disrepair. There's the gigantic wall of Philips TVs that don't work, concourse TVs that don't work, broken bathrooms, torn seats, chipped paint, cracked walkways, tons of bulbs out on matrix boards, etc.

And, despite being in downtown Atlanta, there's nothing near the arena, sans a few things at CNN Center. Wanna go somewhere after the game? You're gonna have to drive up to Midtown at least. The only thing downtown is Underground, and nobody goes there.

I hope you at least attended a Gladiators game or two.

Yes i did, i go to around 10 games a year, but it's not the same.

Hockey is hockey.Sure the talent level isn't like the NHL but they work hard.

I love hockey, but I disagree. After years of seeing NHL talent, the overall experience is a major drop off. After the Whalers left town, we were "rewarded" with the Rangers farm team. Many considered it a slap. After decades of watching stars like Gretzky and Mario, we get an AHL team.

im not saying the Glads don't work hard. The overall experience is just different.