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head coach:
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Barry Trotz
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roster:
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C - Darren Turcotte, Greg Johnson, Jeff Nelson, Patric
Kjellberg, Sebastien Bordeleau. LW - Andrew Brunette, Blair
Atcheynum, Scott Walker, Danny Lambert, Ville Peltonen, Jeff
Daniels. RW - Sergei Krivokrasov, Brad Smyth, Tom Fitzgerald,
Patrick Cote. D - Joel Bouchard, Bob Boughner, John Slaney, Jamie
Heward, Jayson More, J.J. Daigneault, Drake Berehowsky, Greg
DeVries, Jan Vopat. G - Mike Dunham, Eric Fichaud.
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injuries:
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Ville Peltonen, lw (shoulder, day-to-day); Sebastien
Bordeleau, c (ankle, day-to-day); Jan Vopat (hand, day-to-day).
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transactions:
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Acquired rights to Zdeno Ciger, lw, from Edmonton in
waiver draft; traded Mikhail Shtalenkov, g, and Jim Dowd, lw, to
Edmonton for Eric Fichaud, g, Drake Berehowsky, d, and Greg
DeVries, d; traded Dominic Roussel, g, to Anaheim for Chris Mason,
g, and Marc Moro, d.
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game results:
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10/10 Florida L 1-0
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standings:
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Central Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
St Louis 2 1 0 1 3 7 5
Chicago 1 1 0 0 2 2 1
Nashville 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Detroit 1 0 1 0 0 1 2
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team news:
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by Jeff Middleton, Nashville Correspondent
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Well, the season is finally here.
Nashville's team has arrived. After playing all of the preseason
games on the road, the inaugural game was truly the first NHL game
ever played in Nashville. There was quite a bit to look forward to
-- the Predators had not been blown away in any of the preseason
losses and actually put together a respectable 2-4-2 record.
Granted this means about as much as the regular season does during
the first round of the playoffs, but when you don't have a "last
year" to provide perspective, you reach a little.
The biggest question in Nashville is one facing many NHL teams these
days...where are goals going to come from? The preseason answer was
former Philadelphia Phantoms defenseman Jamie Heward, who actually
tied for the NHL preseason goal-scoring lead with six. However,
having a defenseman as leading scorer does not make anybody feel good
about the corps of forwards being thrown out on the NHL ice. Big
seasons are needed from former all-star Darren Turcotte and perennial
underachiever Sergei Krivokrasov to fill scoring gaps up front.
Defense and goalkeeping actually look pretty good, relatively
speaking of course, with Bob Boughner and Joel Bouchard providing the
foundation and Mike Dunham holding up well between the pipes.
Clearly no Detroit or Philadelphia (or even Ottawa, for that
matter), the Predators have a lot to prove. October 10 was a big
night. Finally, trivia questions have answers. Inaugural games
have a way of doing that.
It was a night of firsts. Tom Fitzgerald had the first penalty, two
minutes for high sticking. Patrick Cote had the first fight,
sparring with Peter Worrell in the first period. Mike Dunham got
the first start in goal, and played a great game, saving 25 of 26
shots. Unfortunately that was not enough, leading to several more
firsts: first shutout and first loss.
For the fans that attended the game, hockey did not disappoint.
There was not a lot of scoring, but there was not really a lack of
offense, either. Both teams fired away, while Dunham and Panthers
goalie Kirk McLean made it difficult to find the twine. This was
in large part due to the fact that there was definitely no shortage
of special teams' play, as Florida was 1-for-9 and Nashville
0-for-6 on the power play. As we have heard hundreds of billions
of times, special teams once again made the difference.
Early in the third period, Predators RW Scott Walker took offense to
the hit of Kirk Muller and decided to pound him a lesson.
Unfortunately, he pounded himself into the sin bin with a double
minor for roughing. Although the shorthanded Nashville squad was
able to kill off the first half of the penalty, the Panthers
capitalized on the second. A beautiful cross-ice pass from Gord
Murphy was sent home by Ray Whitney, the first goal ever scored in
Nashville Arena. McLean held down the fort for the rest of the
game, with heavy pressure and some good chances for Nashville in
the last minute.
Not a bad showing for a first game, as hard-fought 1-0 losses show a
lot about the character of a team. Even though Nashville's fans went
home unhappy, they were not distraught. It was clear that there would
be many nights with results like these, but the Predators actually
showed some bright spots. They demonstrated that they could play in
the NHL, and they were not going to be run over by anyone.
But they still leave many questions unanswered. The one on
everyone's mind is (of course): what player will score the first
goal in Nashville Predator history?
Random notes:
Mindy McCready sang the National Anthem, but everyone is still
debating who will sing "O, Canada" for the first time (Calgary,
Oct. 23). ... All of the inaugural game festivities are taking
place again on Tuesday, October 13 against Carolina. ... Blue-chip
prospect David Legwand was not signed and will return to the
Ontario Hockey League. ... The players arrived at the first game in
HumVees with a police escort. ... Video presentations detailing the
short but robust history of the Predators were played on the
scoreboard before the game. ... Owner Craig Leipold and NHL
commissioner Gary Bettman participated in the ceremonial
puck-dropping ceremony.
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