ILikeItILoveIt
Registered User
- Apr 2, 2010
- 823
- 617
Although the season ended on an up note results-wise, there was trouble in Pred Nation. STHers were threatening not to renew, calling for Trotz or Poile or both to be gone. The crushing loss to Phoenix, followed by two years of no playoffs after being spoiled with 7 out of 8 years in The show, confirmed we were on our first downward spiral since the Firesale during the ownership change. With no savior player on the horizon, and more blame being thrown on our “style†and our anemic forward situation, we were pretty low.
Fast forward to today:
We relieve Trotz of his duties, allowing him to go out with grace and let fans mourn his passing, thus giving STHers and Trotz-haters the red meat they desired. CHECK!
Poile admits our lack of offense is a problem, takes blame for some of it, and vows to address it. More red meat to those beating the “boring hockey†drum, thus pleasing many. CHECK!
We hire PL. Affirms Poile’s vow for offense. Gets us a coach who’s kissed the Cup and turned around every team he’s coached, at least short term. The “style†issue is now addressed. These will not be your father’s Preds. Get used to 5-4 thrillers at the Bridge. Hope is renewed. CHECK!
Draft coming up. Near zero chance we will draft a D-Man. We will draft a scoring threat. He will symbolize our new direction. More hope. CHECK!
Fan interest grows. Renewals now appear to be a historical levels instead of a sell-off. Board participation soars. It almost qualifies as a Buzz. Upon further review, we’ve officially created buzz without touching the lineup yet. CHECK!
So, all of a sudden, we can’t wait for the season to start. This is quite a feat by management. PL will give us some “JAM†and create opportunities for the Stalbergs, Wilsons, and others to prove that Trotz was part of their problem. Pred forwards will be unleashed. Pred D-Men will pinch more times than your two-year-old sister. PL will give locker room speeches about tearing hearts out and earning your next shift.
I’m getting excited just thinking about it.
So we gracefully exited Trotz, with tears and love and nostalgia. It made us all proud and even though many wanted him gone, even the most hardcore felt a loss. The innocence of our franchise is-no-more. We’re All-Growed-Up.
Underneath all this change is an overriding theme: Our style, dictated by Trotz, was detrimental to developing scoring forwards, boring, outdated, and a barrier to attracting dynamic scoring FAs. Clearly Poile was frustrated watching the few scoring threats he either traded for, purchased, or called up, playing on the 4th line with Clune or healthy scratched. Trotz sealed his fate when we screwed-the-pouch in the Phoenix desert. The emergence of PL as our new, dynamic, offensive-minded leader is a direct backslap to the Trotz style. Our forwards never developed because of Trotz, and they will develop because of PL. Our games will be more exciting, and we’ll be able to attract offensive-minded FAs once players see the new-look Nashville Predators.
The internal question is: Did Trotz play a conservative game because of the players he was given or did the players offensive flaws force Trotx to play the only style that could possibly win with consistently enough to sniff the playoffs.
We’re going to find out. Pekka and the D-men better practice their 2-on-1 defense because there’s going to be a spit load of odd man breaks coming back our way, especially early in the season.
Will PL change his high-minded O-speak once he witnesses first-hand the lack of O-skill among the forwards? Will it force him to find his inner-Trotz and tighten things up?
Will Pekka survive the style change? He made his $7mm over 7 years by benefiting from Trotz’s everybody’s-a-goalie brand of box forming around our crease. Pekka has underperformed for several years now, even under the Trotzonian structure. Will Pekka get exposed as a less-than-elite goalie when his D-men are pinching more than they’re blocking pucks in his end?
Whenever the Preds broke out in a big scoring game, they usually spit-the-bed in the next game, only to have Trotz scold them for venturing outside the “the system†and getting away from “Predator Hockeyâ€. With the inmates now running the asylum, and the old rules burned along with the Wicked-Witch-of-the Trotz, will we win exciting games, or will we more consistently lose “exciting†games and lose our identity in the process. Trotz always dragged us back to our identity. Play “Predator-Hard†with “Detail†and go to the “Hard Placesâ€, and we grind out wins. Score 3 goals and we win. Boring? Yes. Grounded in success? More times than not.
As Dorothy said, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.†We are driving the Pred Family-Truckster without a GPS. F’n PL has been given free reign to de-trotz the system and redefine “Predator Hardâ€.
I must admit I can’t wait to see what happens.
Nice job, Front Office. You turned what would have been a dreary off-season into something really cool. Draft a scorer and sign a high profile FA and Smashville will come unglued.
Bring on The JAM!!!!
Fast forward to today:
We relieve Trotz of his duties, allowing him to go out with grace and let fans mourn his passing, thus giving STHers and Trotz-haters the red meat they desired. CHECK!
Poile admits our lack of offense is a problem, takes blame for some of it, and vows to address it. More red meat to those beating the “boring hockey†drum, thus pleasing many. CHECK!
We hire PL. Affirms Poile’s vow for offense. Gets us a coach who’s kissed the Cup and turned around every team he’s coached, at least short term. The “style†issue is now addressed. These will not be your father’s Preds. Get used to 5-4 thrillers at the Bridge. Hope is renewed. CHECK!
Draft coming up. Near zero chance we will draft a D-Man. We will draft a scoring threat. He will symbolize our new direction. More hope. CHECK!
Fan interest grows. Renewals now appear to be a historical levels instead of a sell-off. Board participation soars. It almost qualifies as a Buzz. Upon further review, we’ve officially created buzz without touching the lineup yet. CHECK!
So, all of a sudden, we can’t wait for the season to start. This is quite a feat by management. PL will give us some “JAM†and create opportunities for the Stalbergs, Wilsons, and others to prove that Trotz was part of their problem. Pred forwards will be unleashed. Pred D-Men will pinch more times than your two-year-old sister. PL will give locker room speeches about tearing hearts out and earning your next shift.
I’m getting excited just thinking about it.
So we gracefully exited Trotz, with tears and love and nostalgia. It made us all proud and even though many wanted him gone, even the most hardcore felt a loss. The innocence of our franchise is-no-more. We’re All-Growed-Up.
Underneath all this change is an overriding theme: Our style, dictated by Trotz, was detrimental to developing scoring forwards, boring, outdated, and a barrier to attracting dynamic scoring FAs. Clearly Poile was frustrated watching the few scoring threats he either traded for, purchased, or called up, playing on the 4th line with Clune or healthy scratched. Trotz sealed his fate when we screwed-the-pouch in the Phoenix desert. The emergence of PL as our new, dynamic, offensive-minded leader is a direct backslap to the Trotz style. Our forwards never developed because of Trotz, and they will develop because of PL. Our games will be more exciting, and we’ll be able to attract offensive-minded FAs once players see the new-look Nashville Predators.
The internal question is: Did Trotz play a conservative game because of the players he was given or did the players offensive flaws force Trotx to play the only style that could possibly win with consistently enough to sniff the playoffs.
We’re going to find out. Pekka and the D-men better practice their 2-on-1 defense because there’s going to be a spit load of odd man breaks coming back our way, especially early in the season.
Will PL change his high-minded O-speak once he witnesses first-hand the lack of O-skill among the forwards? Will it force him to find his inner-Trotz and tighten things up?
Will Pekka survive the style change? He made his $7mm over 7 years by benefiting from Trotz’s everybody’s-a-goalie brand of box forming around our crease. Pekka has underperformed for several years now, even under the Trotzonian structure. Will Pekka get exposed as a less-than-elite goalie when his D-men are pinching more than they’re blocking pucks in his end?
Whenever the Preds broke out in a big scoring game, they usually spit-the-bed in the next game, only to have Trotz scold them for venturing outside the “the system†and getting away from “Predator Hockeyâ€. With the inmates now running the asylum, and the old rules burned along with the Wicked-Witch-of-the Trotz, will we win exciting games, or will we more consistently lose “exciting†games and lose our identity in the process. Trotz always dragged us back to our identity. Play “Predator-Hard†with “Detail†and go to the “Hard Placesâ€, and we grind out wins. Score 3 goals and we win. Boring? Yes. Grounded in success? More times than not.
As Dorothy said, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.†We are driving the Pred Family-Truckster without a GPS. F’n PL has been given free reign to de-trotz the system and redefine “Predator Hardâ€.
I must admit I can’t wait to see what happens.
Nice job, Front Office. You turned what would have been a dreary off-season into something really cool. Draft a scorer and sign a high profile FA and Smashville will come unglued.
Bring on The JAM!!!!
