Nashville Predators 2010 Preview & Predictions

Nashville Predators 2010 Season Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds

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NASHVILLE PREDATORS

2009-10 record: 47-29-6
Shootout Record: 8-4
Division Finish: 3rd, Central
Conference Finish: 7th, Western
Goals For: 225
Goals Against: 225

Nashville Predators 2010 Preview

Perhaps no team came closer to stopping Chicago’s Stanley Cup run than the Predators.

Having taken Game 1 of their opening series, right in the raucous United Center, the methodical Preds kept the Hawks off balance and led late in Game 5 with a five-minute major to work with towards the end of the third and a shot at going home up 3-2 in the series.

What followed was a harsh lesson that all up and coming teams must face. Instead of closing in for the kill, Nashville let the chance slip away, losing after a short-handed tying goal and in overtime when the penalized Marian Hosta returned to the ice to score the crushing game-winner.

They managed to make a game of it a couple of nights later, but the damage was done.

So much for their first-ever playoff ‘series victory. But it would be wrong to suggest the club took a step backwards in the spring.

Nashville is one of just five teams (New Jersey, San Jose, Detroit and Calgary) to rack up 40 wins in each of the past five seasons, and they had to go all but two post-season games without leading scorer Patric Hornqvist, who had 30 goals before suffering an upper-body injury.

Chosen 230th and last overall the year Sidney Crosby went first, Hornqvist became just the ninth player selected that low to make the grade, never mind tying for second in the League with eight game-winning goals. Hornqvist’s willingness to drive to the slot in search of opportunity is an inspiration, according to coach Barry Trotz.

The Preds have strong defense as their tenet, in tandem with goalkeeper Pekka Rinne. He was also a late-round find in 2004, who unseated Dan Ellis as the No.1 last season.

And while still lacking household names, the Preds spread the wealth enough to keep staying in the pack with Chicago and Detroit in the Central Division. Joining that group will be Sergei Kostitsyn from the Canadiens, ready to graduate to the League full time, like his brother Andrei.

If Nashville had to fall in the first round, losing to the eventual champions provided a noble result.

David Poile, a finalist for-the inaugural NHL general manager of the year award, will need some budget creativity to keep the team together heading into 2010-11.

Paile lost Dan Harnhuis on defense to free agency, but he still retains a couple’ of blueline studs in Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, who made outstanding contributions to their respective Canadian and U.S. Olympic teams in Vancouver.

When they returned in March, the club didn’t slow down, going on a run of 14-61 to solidify their 100-point season and a playoff berth.

The Preds went into the summer with no lingering severe injuries, a change from previous seasons when important cogs such as Steve Sullivan missed full campaigns. Sullivan played 82 games for the first time since 2002-03 with Chicago and supplied 51 points.

2010 Nashville Predators Offense:

With Hornqvist out of the picture for most of the Chicago series, David Legwand and Martin Erat stepped up with 12 points combined and six of the 15 Nashville goals, a pace they intend to maintain this season. The Preds boasted 10 players with 30-plus points in the regular season; Hornqvist, Sullivan, Erat, Weber, Suter, Legwand, Jason Arnott, J.P. Dumont, Joel Ward and Marcel Goc. Washington, Pittsburgh and Chicago were the only teams with more. Goc was also a plus10, second to Hornqvist’s team-high 18 among forwards. Eight Preds had three or more game winning goals to tack on to Hornqvist’s eight, which only Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin and San Jose’s Dany Heatley matched or bettered. The Preds also added free-agent center Matthew Lombardi, which was a really nice addition and which will help ease the loss of Arnott, who was dealt to New Jersey in return for red-.hot prospect Matt Halischuk.

2010 Nashville Predators Defense:

Weber and Suter were obviously busy men during the year, playing at between 23 and 24 minutes a night, and both had a coming-out party at the Olympics. Weber was second among all blueliners in Vancouver with six points and second in ice time with 20:27. Suter, meanwhile, was a plus-nine and played even more for the Americans, including almost 32 minutes in the gold-medal loss. Besides Hamhuis, two unsung defenders were Francis Bouillon and Kevin Klein, the latter entering his third full year here after three seasons of shuttling to the farm and back. Twenty-three-year-old Ryan Parent, who appeared in 17 post-season games with Philadelphia, came to the Predators from the Flyers in the deal for the rights to Hamhuis. Rookie Cody Franson, a 6’5″ specimen, made it into 61 games after being selected back in 2005.

2010 Nashville Predators Goaltending:

The Preds were in from the start on the Finnish goaltending fad, plucking Rinne late in the 2004 draft and letting him hone his game on the farm with Milwaukee with a couple of 30-win seasons. His 61-31-9 record since then clearly justifies the gamble and back to- back seven-shutout seasons make it look even better. The.6’5″ goaltender’s next task is to get more playoff friendly, meaning more successful at shutting the door in the spring. The aptly named, for the Nashville area that is, Chet Pickard, a first rounder from 2008, could get his chance earlier than expected with Ellis winding up in Tampa Bay.

Nashville Predators 2010 Special Teams

The power-play aces on the Preds had a long summer wondering how different the Chicago series might have turned out had they penetrated more than once in six games. Hornqvist had lOin the regular season, the only team member to break into double figures, while Weber contributed seven from the point with his howitzer shot. Sullivan added five with the extra man to give him 63 in his career.

Nashville Predators 2010 Season Predictions

It’s back to the playoffs in all likelihood and though you sometimes learn from losses, Nashville needs some help from the hockey gods to get home ice and not have to face a powerhouse team right away. The Preds had a steady diet of Detroit and San Jose, before facing Chicago. The Wings in ’08 and Blackhawks in ’09 both made the Final after opening against Nashville.

We predict that the Nashville Predators will finish 3rd in the NHL Central.

Nashville Predators Betting

Nashville Predators Stanley Cup Odds: +4000
Nashville Predators Western Conference Odds: +1800

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