Besides, I don't see what they said that was inaccurate. A huge portion of our roster is comprised of wild cards, and it certainly won't be easy, but you can never count us out.
I don't see us being behind Calgary or Minnesota, but it's one of the better ones I've seen. Some people still rank us 14th in the west, even after a 100 point season.
THN (The Hockey News) and TSN are completely different.
THN has gone SEVERLY downhill over the past 3-4 years and should be taken with a grain of salt. I am sure when TSN brings out their rankings, Nashville will be in the Top 8.
Referring to the media outlet I assume THN is watching in the great White north.
But there is an enormous difference between TSN and THN. TSN has Bob McKenzie and numerous other quality analysts (some would argue they're the ONLY ones with quality analysts). The Hockey News is a hackapalooza.
Surely you, living so much closer to Canada for all these years than the rest of us, can make that distinction.
Surely you, living so much closer to Canada for all these years than the rest of us, can make that distinction.
DO I sense sarcasm. Surely I jest?
I like TSN, THN is pathetic. The problem I find is that border is a large sharper and deeper that the 500 yards of no man's land that define the actual land the border makes up. TSN and THN have to cover the sports spectrum for Canada. It's good business and because of that they have to provide deep coverage of the 6 teams north of 54.40. Because of this they don't have the manhours to cover the American teams. Canadians don't give two ***** about American teams so TSN and THN caters to that market.
My question for these teams is did they just look at the roster and guess or did they consider team's history? Chemistry patterns? Line formations? They poo-poo Kostitsyn as a risk but I drool over the chance of him feeding Legwand as one of his wings. They poo-poo on Hamhuis but the shear fact of the matter is that he did not have chemistry with the other defensemen. You look at Klein-Boullion, Franson-Parent and the skills sets match. Weber-Suter are set.
I look at what teams did in the Central and I think Defense will be the key to winning the division. Nashville needs to get it's defense better than last year and I'll be honest, Hamhuis will be an addition by subtraction. The pairings will have better chemistry. I still would like a vet who can eat up minutes but not at the risk of screwing with what looks like set pairings.
I just don't see what thew THN has to knock down the Preds. Halak is good but is he the difference to put the Blues above the Preds?
Almost everybody north of the border thinks hockey south of Minnesota is a joke and their writings clearly reflect that attitude. In TB, we just look at their writings and laugh.
I'm ok with it. Twice Nashville was considered at very good-to-elite team and we bit the dust in brutal series, both against the Sharks. In 07-08 we were counted out and went on to play on hell of a series against Detroit. In 08-09 we were counted out, but battled until the last game to barely miss the play offs. Last year we were counted out, and once again gave the eventual cup champions a run. If the trend of being wrong four out of five times continues I hope they pick us in the bottom five every season. Of course, this year it'd be nice to do more than just bang up a team on its way to the SCF.
There's definitely gaps in their logic and they clearly don't follow the Preds that closely (i.e. their over the loss of Arnott, who many/most Pred fans wanted gone), but I wouldn't take it personally, I think you'd find most hockey fans feel their teams don't get accurate treatment. Watch what happens on the Canuck boards for example when articles get posted, there's a whole bruhaha over "Western alienation" and "Toronto-centrism" here as well.
That said, I think there's a structural problem with the Predators being underestimated, to put it simply, your team plays greater than the sum of its parts. Some teams are just built that way, to overachieve (Predators) while others tend to perenially underachieve (Sharks/Senators, well, at least in the playoffs for those two for a number of years).
As much as history should be a guide as to how you can expect a team to do, during the off-season, it's hard to look at the roster of a team like the Predators and with any degree of confidence say it will come through again. I'm a fan of the Preds, but on paper, the way it looks like is a team with a promising but not season-after-season proven starter in Rinne, a defense with an amazing top-two pairing but a steep drop-off of experience after that, and a collection of forwards who are either underachieving/overpaid top-six guys (Legwand, Dumont) or unproven enigmas (Sergei K) or one-season stars (Hornqvist).
I think Trotz and Poile have earned the benefit of the doubt, but that's hard to quantify when looking at rosters on paper, and I think that's what happens.
Like Cigarran says, it's all about time and consistency, the Canucks for years were I think underestimated because the Sedin "sisters" weren't "first-line talent" and Kesler was an over-hyped third-liner, etc. I think if you can keep it together for two or three years, get Radulov back, let Wilson grow into his role and harvest some of your ridiculous defensive prospects, things will be fine.
Oh, believe me...I take THN very personally. I canceled my subscription and refuse to go to their site. When a magazine continues to badmouth my city and my team, they can live without my money.
Oh, believe me...I take THN very personally. I canceled my subscription and refuse to go to their site. When a magazine continues to badmouth my city and my team, they can live without my money.
I do miss the crossword puzzle.
I too miss the crossword puzzle. That was always the best part of the magazine. I still buy the special edition issues, but do so from the bookstore whenever one appeals to me.
I tried three different times to cancel my subscription...the first two times my uncle gave me a new subscription as a Christmas gift and the third time my mother renewed it after I finally got my uncle to stop. It's finally gone though...
At a glance it looks like you've lost more quality on your roster than you've pulled in - but not by a lot.
You finished 7th last year, they've put you 3 spots lower at 10.
I don't see any reason for you to be so mad. They've got 30 teams to consider, not just 1.
really? without knowing who was ranked where, I can tell you the preds are better than:
the oilers-do I need to go there?
columbus-they have done zip to get better
the wild-same boat as columbus
the coyotes-they added whitney, but lost their top center
anaheim-sheldon brookbank is a top 4 d-man.
flames-they added mr. lockerroom cancer for some reason. they stink
st. louis-they added halak, who had a 3 week run of games and is inconsistant as heck
avalanche-we were better than them and they did not improve
stars-nothing done to improve
kings-would you bank on quick again? or smyth playing younger than he is? or can poni replace frolov?
i would put us 6th right now, fighting with chicago and detroit and clearly behind vancouver and san jose. but i don't think san jose is much better, esp with nitty maki in net.
i think you underestimate the preds and their depth. the moves the preds made this summer addressed the pp- (lombardi, maybe sk) the pk (parent, lombardi, sk)
the only question is whether we can pull 10 wins in 20 starts from a backup goalie, and whether klein can handle leading the 2nd pair
really? without knowing who was ranked where, I can tell you the preds are better than:
the oilers-do I need to go there?
columbus-they have done zip to get better
the wild-same boat as columbus
the coyotes-they added whitney, but lost their top center
anaheim-sheldon brookbank is a top 4 d-man.
flames-they added mr. lockerroom cancer for some reason. they stink
st. louis-they added halak, who had a 3 week run of games and is inconsistant as heck
avalanche-we were better than them and they did not improve
stars-nothing done to improve
kings-would you bank on quick again? or smyth playing younger than he is? or can poni replace frolov?
i would put us 6th right now, fighting with chicago and detroit and clearly behind vancouver and san jose. but i don't think san jose is much better, esp with nitty maki in net.
i think you underestimate the preds and their depth. the moves the preds made this summer addressed the pp- (lombardi, maybe sk) the pk (parent, lombardi, sk)
the only question is whether we can pull 10 wins in 20 starts from a backup goalie, and whether klein can handle leading the 2nd pair
I agree with most of your points but I will say if our backup plays 20 games we are screwed because that will mean Pekka was either hurt or playing poorly.
If Pekka is playing welll I expect him to play an almost Brodeur like schedule. If one of the untested rookies is his backup I would imagine Trotz would try to play Pekka at least 70 games if not more.
BTW, I would put SK on some PK time as well. Universally, Montreal fan complimented him on being a PKer.
I like the way the potential chemistry of the lines looks. Lots of combinations that don't make us want to vomit. For Christ sakes, Goc is the 4th line center unless Legwand or Wilson play at wing.
volde, my hope is still with a veteran backup that plays 20 games. maybe a 45-15 splitthe first 60 games and 15-5 the last 20. (and hopefully the backup can have the last couple of games while we are locked in a playoff spot. )
really? without knowing who was ranked where, I can tell you the preds are better than:
the oilers-do I need to go there?
columbus-they have done zip to get better the wild-same boat as columbus
the coyotes-they added whitney, but lost their top center
anaheim-sheldon brookbank is a top 4 d-man.
flames-they added mr. lockerroom cancer for some reason. they stink
st. louis-they added halak, who had a 3 week run of games and is inconsistant as heck
avalanche-we were better than them and they did not improve
stars-nothing done to improve kings-would you bank on quick again? or smyth playing younger than he is? or can poni replace frolov?
i would put us 6th right now, fighting with chicago and detroit and clearly behind vancouver and san jose. but i don't think san jose is much better, esp with nitty maki in net.
i think you underestimate the preds and their depth. the moves the preds made this summer addressed the pp- (lombardi, maybe sk) the pk (parent, lombardi, sk)
the only question is whether we can pull 10 wins in 20 starts from a backup goalie, and whether klein can handle leading the 2nd pair
I Think Minnesota have improved with the additions of Cullen and Madden, that definitely improves their depth at center. Weren't they injury prone last year too? L.A. I think will be on par with Chicago, Detroit, and us. They are looking like a solid young team.
over the loss of Arnott, who many/most Pred fans wanted gone), but I wouldn't take it personally, I think you'd find most hockey fans feel their teams don't get accurate treatment. Watch what happens on the Canuck boards for example when articles get posted, there's a whole bruhaha over "Western alienation" and "Toronto-centrism" here as well. 
