Will the Real Nashville Predators Please Stand Up?

After a very uninspiring first game on Saturday the Predators came back with a bang in Chicago last night and a killer performance back at home against the Blues tonight.  Even though they played Chicago close and it wasn't a blow out, it was a much stronger performance by Nashville than I expected.  Some say Chicago isn't playing up to par, but I say there's no measuring stick because of their high turnover in the off season.  I think this is likely the Chicago Blackhawks we're going to see this season.  Good, tough, resilient, but mediocre.  All of the other teams in the Central Division have sputtered in fits and starts this first week or so of the season.  Except Nashville.  And the St. Louis Blues.


The two undefeated teams met and it was a lopsided start in favor of Nashville.  From the looks of the 1st Period you would have had no idea St. Louis had been playing as well as they had, and it wasn't for lack of effort on their part.  The Preds were just on fire!  So many of the problems they have suffered from for many seasons that somehow never got remedied were nonexistent.  Passing: on.  Shots on net: plenty.  Taking the body: check.  Coverage: yep.  Crashing the net: you betcha.  Carrying the puck into the zone: believe it.  Excuse me sir, but where are my Nashville Predators?


They said this was a different team than last year, and that all of the above problem areas were being addressed.  But "they" say that at the start of every season.  Forgive me if I've become a bit skeptical.  The Preds were not as obviously cohesive in the game against Chicago, probably due to the level of skill possessed by that team.  By Thursday night, for whatever reason (including, but not limited to, the lower skill level of the Blues), they had the game plan down.  No more wasting time on the power play by instigating an impromptu game of keep away.  When they did pass they connected, and on longer passes than usual.  Somehow they finally grasped Wayne Gretzky's rule of hockey: don't go to where the puck is, be where the puck is going.  All players, on each line, in every position did a much improved job of anticipating plays and passes and being in position.  Shots were taken, and when they bounced back to the action in the form of a rebound, there was usually someone there to attempt to pick it up.  Everyone chipped in for the shooting gallery, and not just the usual suspects. 


The most surprising and positive development this season has been the return of Steve Sullivan.  I know he officially returned to the team the season before last but he was not playing like the Steve Sullivan everyone remembered.  Whatever clicked into place for him is working.  Could be the end of his contract approaching or any number of personal or team adjustments that took place that made him more comfortable being the Sully of old.  I don't really care why it happened, I'm simply elated it did happen, and at such a pivotal time for the team.


The new players are making their mark, as well, but their contributions aren't as noticeable to me personally as the absences of a few specific players.  We lost our Captain, Jason Arnott, in the off season and I really didn't care.  I had liked him in the beginning of his time in Nashville but it has become abundantly clear he had no interest in our team at the end of the 08-09 season, and it just kept getting worse through the end of last season.  I also despised Kevin Klein for his lousy and uncoordinated defensive play which was magnified by a seemingly unending stream of rookie mistakes.  I shit a brick when I heard they had signed him to a two-year contract in the middle of last season.  Now it appears that the other half of that D-Pair, Dan Hamhuis, was like a major contributing factor to Klein's terrible play last season.

Finally, I've been endlessly excited by the play of backup goalie Anders Lindback.  Last year it was clear that Dan Ellis would not be rejoining the team this season and the front runner for his job was Chet Pickard.  I hadn't even heard of Anders Lindback when he suited up behind Rinne in the pre-season.  He played 2/3 of the pre-season game I went to but I didn't see anything warranting special attention.  Rinne suffered a "lower body" injury (that Willie Daunic later accidentally revealed was a knee injury) in the first period of the first game.  Lindback came in to finish the game with a perfect performance, and he continued to play exceedingly well in the last two games.  One inch taller and 4lbs lighter than Rinne he is another giant of a man, let alone goaltender.  A 6' goalie is a big goalie, and at 6'6" he's a monster!  Add Lindback and Rinne together and Nashville has 13' of goalie!  Ha!  Despite size these guys can move and play a style vaguely reminiscent of Dominik Hasek.  I like.  Because he seems to get his arms and legs out in the blink of an eye and make insane glove saves with his ridiculous reach I've taken to calling Lindback "Spidey."  Let's hope he can keep it up, since a goalie's knee injury can keep him out of the game for some time.

Overall I'm pleased with the more aggressive play of the team and the strong sense of teamwork that is showing itself early.  Of course, not much can be gleaned in the first few weeks of the season, but I'm hoping that the general trend that has emerged remains intact over the course of the long season ahead.  When you get to the end of the season, with the playoffs knocking at the door, and everything comes down to a few points it is easy to look back to the beginning of a season and say "if only."  If only we'd won more games to start with we wouldn't be facing a do-or-die game today.  If only we'd pulled out some of those other close ones tonight wouldn't matter as much.  We've never had a season end without several of those if only games and it would be nice to know what that feels like for once.