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travacado's thoughts
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Thursday, April 15, 2004
Preds get even
Anyone who believed it would be a snowy day in April before the Predators beat the Detroit Red Wings in back-to-back playoff games … well, you were right on the mark.
The white stuff falling from the sky yesterday afternoon may have been a little surprising, but the eighth-seeded Predators' whitewash of the top-seeded Red Wings last night?
That was even more of a shocker.
Hard to believe as it might be, however, the Predators' 3-0 triumph not only tied this best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series at 2-2, but guaranteed another playoff game in Nashville.
That came as good news to another ridiculously loud sellout crowd at Gaylord Entertainment Center, which roared its approval as goalie Tomas Vokoun raised his arms in victory after gloving Detroit's final futile shot.
''It was a huge game, we tied the series and it was a great atmosphere in the building,'' Vokoun said. ''You can't be much happier than that. That's what you play for … Moments like this, you'll never forget.''
The fifth game in the series will be played tomorrow evening at Joe Louis Arena, where the Red Wings captured wins in Games 1 and 2. But the Predators will head north with little pressure, as most observers gave this series five games at most.
''We're surprised,'' Predators left wing Steve Sullivan said. ''I mean we're happy to be in this situation, but we're going against the best team in the league and to be able to tie it up 2-2 and make a two-out-of-three series out of it — we're excited.''
The Predators owe plenty of thanks to Vokoun, whose 41 saves last night meant he's stopped 82 of 83 Red Wings shots over the past two games. He had Detroit shooters shaking their heads in the third period, one of two periods in which he turned away all 16 attempts.
''That was one of the best performances I've ever seen,'' Sullivan said. ''In both of those last two games, he's been just outstanding.''
Sullivan's first goal of the playoffs opened the scoring for the Predators in the first period, with Vladimir Orszagh adding a second-period goal and team captain Greg Johnson completing the scoring early in the third period.
The final goal meant the end of the evening for Detroit keeper Manny Legace, who gave way to Curtis Joseph after stopping just 8 of 11 shots.
''Maybe we're a little frustrated, but we're also confident,'' Red Wings right wing Darren McCarty said. ''We just have to find a way to win a hockey game. The good thing is we're going back to the Joe for Game 5.''
The Red Wings blasted away all evening, more than doubling Nashville's 20 total shots. But Predators defensemen did a respectable job limiting Detroit's quality chances, and Vokoun swallowed up everything else.
''I couldn't really give you a specific reason why we're not putting the puck in the net,'' Detroit captain Steve Yzerman said. ''I don't think we've had great chances. I think we need a little more desperation, I think we need to go a little harder to the net and a little better execution.''
The Predators scored the first goal for the third time in the series when Sullivan beat Legace on a breakaway with 9:16 left in the first period. It was Sullivan's first playoff point, and it came after a perfectly placed Scott Walker pass that began at the Nashville blue line and wound up at the Detroit blue line.
''He feathered it right to my stick,'' Sullivan said.
Orszagh's goal was his second of the playoffs, and came with 5:39 left in the second period when he redirected Dan Hamhuis' blueline pass under Legace's pads.
The Predators were readying for another Detroit onslaught in the third period, but Johnson's goal with 17:56 remaining gave Nashville a three-goal working margin. The play began with a routine Scott Hartnell shot, but Legace surrendered a fat rebound in the slot and Johnson made him pay.
''I don't think we should be intimidated by the Wings,'' Hamhuis said. ''We just have to continue to do what we've been doing — work hard and play strong defense.'' (By John Glennon, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
Clipped Wings: Vokoun backs talk with huge plays
When did this first-round playoff go from an easy skate for Detroit into an all-out hockey war?
Maybe it was Sunday afternoon, when Nashville celebrated the first NHL playoff game in its history with a victory.
Perhaps it was last night, when the Predators evened the series 2-2.
But for my money, this series was turned on its ear on Saturday evening, about a half-hour after Nashville had lost to the Red Wings.
There, in the visitors' dressing room at Joe Louis Arena, Tomas Vokoun drew a line in the ice.
Vokoun, who had inadvertently kicked in the decisive goal in a 2-1 loss that day, turned a postgame interview into an impassioned statement about a rivalry that is now coming of age.
''I'm starting to hate those guys,'' Vokoun said.
He didn't stop there. In the next couple of minutes, Vokoun referred to the Red Wings as ''arrogant'' and a team that is ''whining all the time.''
''We've got to beat them,'' Vokoun said. ''I don't care about anything else.''
Those are fighting words. And in the ensuing two games, the Predators have done exactly that. Once Vokoun turned feisty, the Predators became downright predatory.
Vokoun has backed up his words with some outrageous, on-his-head play in goal. He limited Detroit to just one third-period goal in Game 3 and followed it up with a stunning 41-save shutout last night.
''I'm sure after those two games in Detroit they thought this would be an easy series and they would move on and get ready for whoever they play next,'' Vokoun said after perhaps the finest game of his career.
''Now it's 2-2. There is no reason for them to be arrogant now. It's going to be a battle. … We are a good team. We are going to battle them right to the end. The pressure is on them. We're enjoying ourselves.''
Meanwhile, the Red Wings must be starting to question themselves. Call it a case of deja Vokoun.
Last year, Anaheim swept Detroit when goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere played like the second coming of Patrick Roy, leading Anaheim to a first-round sweep of the Red Wings. A year later, Detroit has found another hot goalie standing in its path to the Stanley Cup.
Somewhere along the way last night, Detroit started showing its age. Toward the end of the second period, the Red Wings were having trouble mustering their customary rushes toward the goal. Nashville's younger, fresher legs were evident.
Too, there was a frustration factor at work. Detroit is so accustomed to burying shots that the Red Wings seemed dazed and confused when Vokoun kept spitting every puck back at them.
At one point, Brett Hull skated off the ice shaking his head after Vokoun smothered a rocket from the right side.
''He's riding on Cloud 9 right now, which is great, but it's our job to get it by him and knock him down,'' said Red Wings right winger Darren McCarty.
Speaking of knocking Vokoun down, that's exactly what Tomas Holmstrom tried to do in the second period. Holmstrom, who often parks in front of the net and spars with goalies, got into a shoving match, with Vokoun upending the Red Wing.
''That's what this game is all about,'' Vokoun said. ''It's a physical game. I'm not a physical player by any means. I'm a goaltender. But I'm trying to protect my space.''
He's doing more than that. Tomas Vokoun is taking the Predators on the ride of their lives. (By David Climer, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
TIDAL 12:17 AM
Monday, April 12, 2004
'Our fans won this game'
The playoff party that began hours before face-off at Gaylord Entertainment Center continued straight through the Predators' first postseason win yesterday.
A vocal, towel-waving crowd greeted the team when it hit the ice, and eventually wound up celebrating Nashville's first playoff victory — a 3-1 decision over the Detroit Red Wings.
The win cut Detroit's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series, with Game 4 at the GEC tomorrow. Face-off is 6:30 p.m.
''That was pretty special,'' left wing Scott Hartnell said. ''Skating around those last 20 seconds out there, I could hardly hear myself think. It was like an NFL game when the quarterback can't call any audibles because of the noise.''
Predators goalie Tomas Vokoun earned the game's first star after turning away the talented Red Wings time and again. He stopped 41 of Detroit's 42 shots, including 22 of 23 in the third period.
''He was sharp,'' Predators Coach Barry Trotz said of Vokoun. ''The third period they threw everything at us, and Tomas was fantastic.''
In most of the Predators' previous home games against Detroit, Red Wings fans have filled anywhere from a third to a half of the arena. Not nearly as many were evident yesterday.
''I think our fans won this game,'' Predators owner Craig Leipold said. ''I've never seen fans as vocal, as high-energy, as rowdy. They fed our team energy.'' By John Glennon, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
Predators bare their fangs
All those who believed the Predators were satisfied simply to make the playoffs should take note:
This team intends to stick around a while.
The Predators delivered that message to Detroit yesterday in front of a throaty sellout crowd at Gaylord Entertainment Center, beating the Red Wings 3-1 in Game 3 of this best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series.
It was Nashville's first home playoff game. The Predators can tie the series 2-2 with a win here tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.
''We were never that happy just to be here,'' Predators Coach Barry Trotz said. ''I take a little offense at that. We deserved to be here.''
The Predators looked every bit the Red Wings' equal in Games 1 and 2, and despite being outplayed for significant portions of yesterday's game, they finally managed to break through for a win.
The historic victory also served as a tribute of sorts to the team's building process.
On one side of the rink, goalie Tomas Vokoun, one of Nashville's three remaining expansion draft picks, turned away 41 of 42 Detroit shots. On the other end, three early-round draft choices — David Legwand, Adam Hall and Scott Hartnell — contributed goals.
''I've always said Game 3 is the biggest game of the series,'' Predators left wing Steve Sullivan said. ''At 3-0, the series is over. But at 2-1, you're right back in it with another home game.''
Predators fans had to sweat through much of the third period after Detroit's Brett Hull slapped his own rebound past Vokoun, trimming Nashville's lead to 2-1 with 14:39 remaining.
The Red Wings had a handful of good chances to tie the game over the next several minutes, and came within inches of doing so with 7:50 remaining.
Jiri Fischer's shot trickled through the legs of Vokoun and slid toward the goal line, but Predators captain Greg Johnson alertly skated behind his goaltender and knocked the puck out of danger.
''I saw it and my eyes got big … I swung at it and got it out of there,'' Johnson said. ''We couldn't afford to give up one there.''
Four minutes later Hartnell clinched the game for the Predators, capping a three-on-two rush by redirecting Hall's pass behind Detroit goalie Manny Legace. That score allowed the GEC's towel-waving throng to give the Predators an extended ovation over the closing seconds.
''We drew a lot of energy from the crowd,'' Trotz said. ''What an atmosphere for a playoff game. That's what it's all about.''
The Red Wings looked as if they were swooping in for the series kill in the first period. Detroit outshot Nashville 12-2 over the first 16 minutes and came close to scoring several times.
But with the Predators trying to kill off a penalty late in the period, Legwand picked off Detroit defenseman Derian Hatcher's pass, skated in on goal alone and beat Legace to put Nashville ahead 1-0.
''It's always a little more special getting a goal against these guys,'' said Legwand, born and raised in suburban Detroit. ''I've been getting some more time on the penalty-kill unit lately, and I had to take advantage of it.''
The Predators struck again with just 15 seconds left in the period, as Hall whistled a shot from the face-off circle that beat Legace to the far side. It was the second goal of the series for the Michigan State graduate.
Hull would draw the Red Wings within 2-1 when he scored the 101st playoff goal of his career. But Vokoun would allow Detroit no closer.
''There's no point in being in the playoffs unless you're trying to win,'' Vokoun said. ''We believe we can beat them. We beat them today and we can beat them again.'' (By John Glennon, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
If Preds stays sharp, Nashville may stand on its head
The focus was on one end of the ice, where Nashville's David Legwand and others were celebrating the goal that put the Predators up 1-0.
Far away and unnoticed by most of the maddening crowd, Adam Hall and Scott Hartnell skated past Tomas Vokoun and tapped him on the pads.
It was a subtle but important message: This game was going to be different. Vokoun would not be left to win or lose it on his own. He had backup.
''It meant something,'' Vokoun said later. ''It was a great moment for us, to get the lead in our own building.''
That was the beginning of a dream sequence of playoff hockey for the Predators. Just 1:23 later, Hall scored to stretch the lead to 2-0 as Nashville finally drew a line in the ice of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And maybe some perceptions were changed along the way. Many considered this a team that was just happy to make the playoffs and maybe engender a little respect along the way.
Now the Predators have bigger plans.
''We're not just here to get some experience in the playoffs that we can use next year,'' said Hartnell, whose goal with 3:57 remaining all but iced it. ''We want to win the series and move on.''
That's why the focus must move quickly from yesterday's victory to tomorrow's Game 4. Cynics will say Nashville's 3-1 win was just a matter of the mighty Red Wings throwing a playoff crumb to the upstart Predators.
Too, you can make the case that the playoff schedule worked to the Preds' advantage, with Nashville's younger legs better suited to playing a second game in as many days.
And then there was the crowd, which celebrated the city's playoff debut with the kind of uproar that Preds owner Craig Leipold called ''as great a home-ice advantage as you could ask for.''
The Red Wings remain unconvinced. When you have the best record in the NHL during the regular season, a loss after two playoff wins is no reason for panic.
''It's a playoff game. This happens,'' said Detroit right winger Darren McCarty. ''We've been through this before. We've lost close games like this one before, so we'll be ready Tuesday.''
Or as Brett Hull said: ''Hey, if you want to win a Stanley Cup, you're not going to win 16 straight.''
Still, it is hard to ignore the statement the Predators made yesterday or the way they have played in all three games of the series. Game 1 was a battle. Game 2 was decided by a puck that slammed off the backboard and skittered off Vokoun's skate and into the net. Game 3 proved that Nashville could win even when being out-shot 42-21.
''Everybody's trying their hardest,'' Vokoun said. ''That's why it is so much fun to play in the playoffs.''
About Vokoun: The time-honored hockey term ''standing on his head'' often is applied to goalies that make a series of remarkable saves. Considering the quality and depth of the offensive weaponry Detroit has thrown at him in the first three games, all the blood must be rushing to Vokoun's head by now.
For all we know, the guy sleeps like a bat, hanging upside down, to get prepared for the game.
''He's unbelievable,'' Predators captain Greg Johnson said. ''Tomas just keeps making key saves at key times.''
And after what happened yesterday, Nashville's Predators look more and more like a team that is in this for the long haul. (By David Climer, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
SMASHVILLE: Predators sweet at home, cut deficit to 2-1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- As the clock counted down Sunday, the fans roared like never before at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Red Wings had a 6-on-4 advantage -- power play, goalie pulled -- but still couldn't score.
"That last 20 seconds was unbelievable," Nashville forward Scott Hartnell said. "I could hardly hear myself think out there. It was so awesome."
When the final horn sounded, the Red Wings had lost, 3-1, and their lead in this first-round series had been cut to 2-1. The Predators had earned the first playoff victory -- in the first home playoff game -- of their six-season history.
"Detroit is a veteran team, and they wanted to put a nail in the coffin," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We didn't let them. Hopefully we can continue to make this a series."
The Wings outshot the Predators, 42-21. They dominated the first period, but David Legwand capitalized on a turnover by Derian Hatcher and Adam Hall quickly added another goal. The Wings dominated the third, too, but after Brett Hull reduced their deficit to one, Hartnell put them away.
"We certainly played well enough to win," Detroit forward Brendan Shanahan said. "But we made a couple of mistakes. That's what we'll have to tighten up for next game."
Game 4 is Tuesday night at Nashville.
After losing Games 1 and 2 at Joe Louis Arena, where they had won only twice ever, the Predators were happy to come home, where they were 7-7-2 against the Wings.
Except for a slow, country national anthem -- performed by Alison Krauss and Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas -- the rink rocked. Someone even threw a fish onto the ice to answer Detroit's tradition of tossing octopi, and a blood streak had to be cleaned up before the puck could be dropped.
The Wings still took 12 of the first 14 shots.
"I thought we had total control," Detroit coach Dave Lewis said. "I don't think we could have played a better first period."
But then came a critical error: During a power play, Hatcher chased a puck and tried to backhand it to the middle for fellow point man Ray Whitney. Legwand picked it off at the Detroit blue line.
"I made a bad pass," Hatcher said. "That's basically it."
Legwand broke away and beat goaltender Manny Legace with 1:37 to go in the period.
"It was just a bad turnover," Legace said. "The guy came in on a breakaway and scored. What can you do? I got caught back on my heels, back in the net. All of a sudden, the puck was behind me."
All of a sudden, the Predators had the momentum, and Hall ripped a shot from the right circle to make it 2-0 with 14.9 seconds left.
"That was a bad goal," Legace said. "I should have had that one. . . . I didn't really see it, but I should have been out another step."
The teams traded chances in the second period. The Predators' best came at about 8:25, when Vladimir Orszagh broke in alone and Legace stopped him with his glove. The Wings' best came at about 15:45, when the right side of the net was open and Robert Lang barely missed.
With the Wings pressing and the Predators trying to hold on, the Wings outshot the Predators in the third period, 23-9.
Henrik Zetterberg whirled amid some Predators in the left-wing corner and whipped a sweet backhand pass. Alone in front, Hull fired a shot, then chipped in the rebound at 5:21.
The Wings came close a few times after that. With about 7:48 to go, Jiri Fischer fired from the point. The puck squeaked past goaltender Tomas Vokoun. But it stopped in the crease, and with Pavel Datsyuk closing in, Greg Johnson swept it out.
"We forced their goaltender to make some great saves in the third period," Shanahan said. "I mean, those weren't routine saves he was making. A few of them, he didn't even see the puck."
But finally, with 3:57 left, Hartnell redirected a pass from Hall past Legace on a rush.
"We weathered the storm -- not as well as I would have liked, but we weathered it and we're sitting here, two games to one," Trotz said. "I think it was a great confidence boost for our team."
The Wings took it in stride.
"This is going to happen," Shanahan said. "You're going to face a lot of adversity. This team isn't going to panic." (By Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Detroit Free Press)
Legwand cashes in on Hatcher's mistake
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Late in the first period of Sunday's game, David Legwand demonstrated precisely why the Predators made him the second pick in the 1998 draft.
The Red Wings were on a power play, and defenseman Derian Hatcher charged into Detroit's zone with a full head of steam, trying to corral the puck not far from the boards and get it back across to the other end. Ray Whitney was trailing a few feet behind, coming down the left side. But what Hatcher didn't realize was just how opportunistic Legwand was. When Hatcher sent the puck across the middle, Legwand was there to pick it off, with nothing but a few yards of pure ice between him and Manny Legace. A quick wrist shot was all it took for Legwand to score his first playoff goal of any kind since he starred for the Plymouth Whalers in the Ontario Hockey League in the late '90s.
Legwand's goal helped Nashville to a 3-1 victory, its first playoff victory in its six-year history, and its first of this first-round series.
Legwand, a center from Grosse Pointe Woods, said he had a feeling Hatcher would use his backhand to throw the puck across the ice, because that was what Hatcher had been doing this series.
"You kind of read guys, kind of guess them out," Legwand said. "You could tell he was going to go that way. You pick one off like that, and you have to take advantage of it."
Hatcher, naturally, wasn't nearly so effusive. "I made a bad pass, that's basically . . . that's basically it," he said.
Once Legwand got clear of the defense, he focused on Legace.
"We'd been talking about Manny and getting pucks up over his pads, and that's what I tried to do," Legwand said. "He's a good goalie and when you get in close you have to get it up high. He's a little shaken after that shot in the head in practice, I guess."
Legwand's goal put a damper on the torrid pace the Wings were on in the first period, when they outshot Nashville, 13-5.
"That was a huge play," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "You talk about momentum goals. We were sort of a little bit on our heels, and David picked off Hatcher and stuck it in the net, and that really gave us a lot of energy. We were hoping for something like that to happen. We needed a break, and Leggy stayed real hard on Hatcher and we were able to capitalize."
Although he has played in big games before -- the OHL playoffs, world junior tournaments and world championships -- Legwand's inexperience showed some in Game 1, when he failed to register a shot on goal. He had two during Saturday's 2-1 loss at Joe Louis Arena, but it wasn't until Game 3 that he showed why the Predators decided to build a team around him.
At times, that decision has been questioned, by the organization itself. Legwand is strong on the puck, is good at reading plays and has terrific hands. He could develop into a game-breaker. But sometimes he seems uninterested in exerting himself, perhaps a sign that at 23, he still has maturing to do.
Last season, that appeared to change when he carried the team during January and February, edging the Predators within distance of what would have been their first playoff berth. But then March 1 he suffered a broken collarbone, and missed the last 18 games. This season, he went back to being more of an enigma than a full-out star. During a 12-game stretch beginning in December, he scored just one goal and had two assists. During March, when the Predators were fighting to stay in the hunt, he had one assist during an eight-game stretch. He finished with 18 goals, 47 points and a plus-9 rating.
"We take him for granted just because he's been here for so long, but the guy is still not even 24 years old," Predators captain Greg Johnson said. "We still haven't seen fully what he's going to become as a player." (By Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press)
Nashville tries desperately to convert Pred-Wings fans
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- They cheered and cheered Sunday, and for a change, it wasn't for the Red Wings.
The Nashville Predators beat the Wings, 3-1, in Game 3 of their playoff series. Nashville's victory gave some life to this best-of-seven series -- the Wings now lead, 2-1 -- and more life to the Predators franchise. It also added to the storied Predators-Red Wings rivalry.
OK, Wings fans don't see a rivalry. But for many Nashville fans, this series is like watching your son battle your dad. There are so many Wings fans in Nashville, they have a nickname.
Pred-Wings.
And for several years, when the Wings came to town, Pred-Wings outnumbered Predators fans. Many Pred-Wings worked for General Motors in Michigan and transferred to the Saturn plant at Spring Hill, Tenn., 30 miles south of Nashville.
That's why this series is so symbolic for the Predators. It's not just the first playoff series in their six-year history. It's a chance, once and for all, to convince many transplanted Detroiters to convert for good.
"I know a lot of people wear two shirts to games," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "When the Red Wings score, the Red Wings shirt comes out. When we score, the Predators shirt comes on."
Then there is George Popa. Sunday afternoon, he wore a Predators jersey and a Steve Yzerman cap, his inner conflict on display for the world. Hi, I'm George, and no matter what happens, I'll be a little happy and a bit sad.
Popa is nine-year resident of Nashville and a six-year Predators season-ticket holder -- and also a native of Troy and a lifelong Wings fan. When the Wings score in this series, Popa cheers. When the Predators score, Popa cheers. I didn't see Popa when the Wings and Predators scuffled early in the first period, but I can only assume he was punching himself.
"I'm cheering for the Predators not to embarrass themselves and the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup," said Popa, who worked for Medstat in Ann Arbor before being transferred to Nashville. "I tell friends, 'Until the Predators win 10 Stanley Cups, I'm cheering for the Red Wings.' "
There were Wings fans in every section of the arena for Game 3, but not as many as there usually are.
"We were talking before the game -- we thought there was going to be a lot of Red Wings fans," said Nashville captain Greg Johnson, a former Wing. "Hats off to our fans. You could tell it was our home building."
One of the guys working at Jack's Barbecue, a block from the arena, said he had served 100 Wings fans. By 11:15 a.m.
On Easter Sunday.
They weren't all Pred-Wings. Many of them came to Nashville from Detroit just for the game. But a lot of them were Pred-Wings.
"I think everybody's behind us in Nashville -- even the Pred-Wings," Trotz said. "They can't go wrong, I guess. They cheer for us, and they cheer for the Red Wings. Obviously they're in a win-win situation."
It's hard to imagine Wings fans feeling conflicted when their team played anybody, except maybe a squad of Nobel Peace Prize winners, and even then only if Yzerman sat out. But Predators fans are still learning the joy of true animosity.
In fact, they're still learning hockey. When a player is whistled for slashing in Nashville, the penalty is defined on the scoreboard, so that fans know he isn't serving two minutes for budget cuts.
Predators left wing Jim McKenzie said that on one radio show, as the announcers rattled off the Predators' young stars, they mentioned Jason York. York turns 34 next month. (Good news, Gordie Howe: You're middle-aged!)
The Predators take all this in stride, even the Pred-Wings stuff. Hey, when the Wings won the Cup in 1997 and '98, the Predators didn't even exist.
"It might be easy to win over the Lions fans," McKenzie said. "But it's a way different thing trying to win over a Red Wings fan."
They just took one more step toward winning over the most die-hard Pred-Wings. All they need now is another three victories over the Wings, then 12 more playoff victories, and then another nine Cups. (By Michael Rosenberg, Detroit Free Press)
Predators clip Wings in Game 3
Detroit outshoots Nashville but can't get much past the vigilant Tomas Vokoun
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--All right, at some point, Nashville is going to realize where it is, and who it’s playing, isn’t it?
Don’t count on it.
They call it Smashville down here, and they make up for their lack of history with heapin’ batches of youthful impunity. Nashville, in its first playoff series, keeps sticking to the Wings, and in Game 3 on Sunday, stuck it to them good.
The Predators’ 3-1 victory shaved Detroit’s series lead to 2-1, ratcheting up everything — the energy, the pressure, the animosity. The Wings, who played well for long stretches, can look at it two ways.
They weren’t going to win every playoff game anyhow. Or, the Predators are making the transition from pesky to potent. The next step is dangerous, and it could come in Game 4 on Tuesday night in Nashville, especially with Nashville goalie Tomas Vokoun getting that ol’ familiar confident look.
Stop me if you’ve heard these numbers before. The Wings outshot the Predators 42-21, including 23-9 in a frantic third period. Detroit finally looked dominant, just before it looked defeated.
“You can’t get frustrated, that’s the thing,” said Brett Hull, who scored the Wings’ lone goal. “(Vokoun) is playing very well. But with the guys in this room, we’re not afraid of any goalie. We’ve got to keep getting in front of his face, keep throwing it at the net.”
The Wings need to do even more of that, before Vokoun gives them something to really be frightened about. See, this is why hockey can be a goofy sport, and the Wings can be one of its primary puzzles.
In the two games in Detroit, Nashville played well. The Wings won both, including Game 2 on a late fluke.
Then, the series shifts from Hockeytown to HonkyTonkTown and the crowd is juiced for the franchise’s first-ever home playoff game (completely outnumbering the standard batch of Wings fans here) and the Wings take control from the start. Midway through the first period, the shots are 11-1, Detroit.
But to be honest, the Wings lapsed into fancy play, when forceful play would do. They passed up shots to try to get better ones. And then defenseman Derian Hatcher made a huge mistake, losing the puck on a lazy pass. Nashville’s David Legwand picked it up, skated in alone on Manny Legace and changed everything with the game’s first goal.
“Detroit’s a veteran team, and they wanted to put a nail in the coffin,” Nashville Coach Barry Trotz said. “And we wouldn’t let them. They threw everything at us early, and we weathered the storm.”
The Wings have been here before. The Predators haven’t. You’d assume that would be a factor, eventually.
But maybe this is where Nashville’s 3-2-0-1 record against Detroit in the regular season actually matters. The Predators sure don’t look intimidated. The problem is, the Wings haven’t given them enough reasons to look that way.
The Hatcher gaffe will get the most attention, and it should. He has appeared especially slow after missing most of the season with a knee injury. Nashville’s speed is real, and it puts the slower Wings in a tough spot. Do they keep pressing and pressing, knowing one false move might send the Predators the other way?
“Maybe we should’ve been more patient,” Kris Draper said. “We kind of took it to them good and had nothing to show for it. That was tough, because we did what we wanted to do. They took advantage of our mistakes.”
Maybe the fledgling Predators, in their sixth NHL season, are getting the hang of this playoff thing. Sit back, let the big bad red team take all the chances, and hope your goalie outplays theirs.
Vokoun was the star of this game, just as Legace stood out in Detroit. The Wings have seen it before. That should be a comfort. It also could be a concern, because scoring droughts have doomed them before.
“We controlled play well enough to win,” Brendan Shanahan said. “This is going to happen in the playoffs. You’re going to face a little adversity. But I thought we battled back pretty well and had some unbelievable chances. We just have to tighten up our defense and stick with it.”
The Wings recognize all the noise. They know how badly the upstart wants to knock off the top seed. Goodness, this game was even delayed at the start because a fan flung a dead catfish onto the ice, spilling blood and guts everywhere.
Sure enough, Nashville is throwing everything at the Wings, who dodged the fish but not the loss. The Wings can’t be blasé about this. They shortened their bench in the third period and went strong after Nashville. All we’re saying is, they need to stop waiting around, before it really gets noisy. (By Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News)
Predators 3, Red Wings 1
Red Wings ensnared by savvy Predators
Michiganians Legwand, Hall lead the way
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Michigan connection got the Nashville Predators back into their Stanley Cup playoff series against the Red Wings.
David Legwand of Grosse Pointe Woods and Adam Hall of Kalamazoo scored in a 1:22 span late in the first period of a 3-1 victory over the Wings on Sunday in Game 3 of a Western Conference quarterfinal series.
“We started out as well as we could have started,” Coach Dave Lewis said. “I don’t think we could have played a better first period. Just the result was the wrong result.”
The Wings lead two games to one, with Game 4 on Tuesday at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Game 5 will be Thursday at Joe Louis Arena.
“The next game is huge,” said Brett Hull, who scored for the Wings.
The Predators appear to be gaining confidence in this series. No longer is there talk of a Wings sweep. There are rumblings about a possible Predators upset in this series.
“We were listening to some of the media saying we were just happy to be here,” Predators Coach Barry Trotz said. “We deserve to be here. A lot of people were saying we backed in (to the playoffs). We didn’t back in.”
Scott Hartnell clinched the first playoff victory in Predators history by tipping a pass from Hall past Manny Legace at 16:03 of the third period.
The power play continues to struggle for the Wings. They were 0-for-5 Sunday, including two third-period chances that could have put them back in the game.
The Wings weren’t sharp defensively, either, on the goals by Legwand and Hall.
“We had some breakdowns,” Brendan Shanahan said. “We have to tighten up in those areas.”
With the Predators shorthanded, Legwand intercepted a weak pass by defenseman Derian Hatcher, broke in alone on Legace and scored at 18:23 of the first period.
“A shorthanded goal always sparks a team,” Lewis said. “We wanted to get out 1-0, but we never did that.”
That was because Hall pounced on a Wings defensive-coverage error to beat Legace from the right dot.
The Wings cut the deficit to 2-1 at 5:21 of the third period when Hull got his first goal of the postseason. He had been silent in the series until converting a nice backhand pass from Henrik Zetterberg, who was along the boards to the right of the net.
“The first period we played great, but it’s funny how the game works out sometimes,” Hull said. “We’ve done it to teams a couple of times ourselves. We played well, had chances, but they score (late in the period).”
Said Shanahan: “We played really well, well enough win. We had opportunities to tie it up. We forced their goalie to make big saves.”
No kidding. The Predators’ Tomas Vokoun made 41 saves, including 22 in the third period.
“We got a two-goal lead and they started coming,” Vokoun said. “Some nights it’s like that (facing a lot of shots). We won, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Now the Wings will be forced to work a little longer in a series that took a decided turn in the Predators’ favor Sunday.
“We knew it was going to be a tough series and a tough place to win,” wing Darren McCarty said. “This puts the onus on Tuesday.” (By Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News)
TIDAL 9:55 PM
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Preds fans snap up tickets
Faithful line up before dawn to get few playoff seats left
At 5 a.m., before the sun broke the horizon in Nashville, Jibi Adam, 33, was the first in line at the windows at the Gaylord Entertainment Center to buy tickets for the city's first NHL playoff series.
''Before, it's just football and baseball here,'' said Karel Skricka, 26, another Nashville Predators fan who joined Adam at 6:30 a.m. ''Even if we lose, the playoffs can help change that.''
Adam and Skricka were among the 100–200 or so fans lined up at the GEC yesterday morning before 10 a.m. when tickets went on sale for the Predators' best-of-seven, first-round playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings.
Phone lines also were jammed at the GEC as fans placed their ticket orders. More buyers went online.
Predators spokesman Gerry Helper said about 5,000 tickets became available to the public yesterday. Season ticket holders earlier had the option of purchasing playoff tickets. The Predators do not say how many season-ticket holders they have. The GEC has a capacity of 17,113.
Game 3 this Sunday is a virtual sellout, with fewer than 100 single-seat tickets remaining as of late yesterday afternoon, Helper said. Fewer than 300 tickets remained for Game 4 next Tuesday. The first two games of the series are in Detroit tomorrow and Saturday.
If a Game 6 is needed, it would be in Nashville on April 17. Helper said tickets were available for that game.
The Predators, in their sixth year after starting as an expansion team, hope the playoffs can boost their efforts to succeed in a market previously unaccustomed to hockey.
''As great as the regular season is, playoff hockey is that much better,'' Helper said. ''The energy, intensity. … When you talk to hockey fans in other markets, they say there is nothing like it. For six years this community has heard about it but not experienced it. It is a big opportunity.''
After good attendance for the team's initial seasons, crowds began declining in recent years, especially for weekday games.
''I think morale was down in the community toward the team the past couple years,'' said Nashville's Jeff Steele, 44, who came with his wife, Caroline, and 9-month-old daughter, Chloe, to buy playoff tickets. ''But just making the playoffs shows a difference in the organization. This shows the Preds are for real.''
Tunja Ashford, 44, said the Predators' clinching of the Western Conference's final playoff spot this past weekend ''lets people know this is a viable team.''
Though Nashville won the season series against the Red Wings, the Predators will be a decided underdog. Detroit recorded the most wins and points in the NHL's regular season and won the Stanley Cup championship two years ago.
The Wings also have a national fan base, much like that of the Dallas Cowboys or the University of Kentucky basketball team, which means they have a strong presence in visiting arenas. That has included Nashville, where many Michigan transplants call Middle Tennessee home.
''I am an enemy in your state,'' said a smiling Gary Vinson, 32, a Michigan native in Nashville, who bought tickets at the GEC yesterday wearing his Red Wing cap.
''I don't want to see the Predators go out, and that's probably what's going to happen. The playoffs still gives the city more awareness, and that's good for the sport. They need the experience.''
But Nashville's Sky Hutson, 35, echoed most Predators fans buying tickets yesterday, saying Detroit is the team that fans most wanted to see the Predators play because of the atmosphere and the confidence of winning the regular-season series.
''I bet 20% will be Red Wing fans … that will make the Predator fans even louder,'' she said. Some Predators fans estimated that the crowd would be made up of even a greater number of Red Wing fans.
''If we could have played anyone, Detroit is a good match,'' said Robyn Jannetta, 31, of Brentwood, who was buying tickets with Hutson. ''We'll be fired up against them. It's all steps of progress. We're getting experience.'' (By Andy Humbles, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
Getting up close and personal part of NHL playoffs
For weeks they've said they were already participating in playoff games.
The Nashville Predators, after all, were in plenty of situations where they had to earn points to maintain their spot and strengthen their position in the Western Conference hunt.
But beyond the enhanced stakes when they start the franchise's first postseason tomorrow night in Detroit, the Predators face something else that is dramatically different: a series.
The Predators have never played the same team four to seven games in a row. And a series is something entirely different than, say, three games in four nights against three different teams.
As division rivals, Nashville and Detroit are very familiar with each other from six regular-season games. That knowledge will now grow exponentially game-by-game.
''By the end of the series some of our players, and the same with their players, are going to know what flavor of gum they are each chewing,'' Predators Coach Barry Trotz said.
''That's what it's all about. It's man-on-man. You're going head-to-head every night against the same guy and you can't flinch.''
Said captain Greg Johnson: ''You'll adjust from period-to-period, from game-to-game, whatever it may be. You see what happens in just a simple back-to-back during the season where adjustments are made. This is a totally different thing.''
Trotz said in a playoff series he will work especially hard to make sure he has the matchups he wants, while his Detroit counterpart Dave Lewis will do the same.
The coach of the home team has the advantage in matchups. After whistles, the visitors are obligated to put their skaters on the ice first, giving the home team a last chance to counter.
When the puck is dropped tomorrow night at Joe Louis Arena, Predators forward Scott Walker will end the longest current NHL streak of games without a playoff appearance — 574.
Even though it will be his first NHL playoff series, he has a good sense of how things develop exponentially over the course of multiple games against the same team.
''There are always little competitions, little battles in the series, player against player on certain things,'' he said. ''I am sure it will be fun to watch those evolve. I don't know what to expect. You never know how that is going to come about or turn out. But I'm sure there will be little battles won and lost that carry over.''
It will also be much more important for the Predators to pick up on trends and tendencies and adjust accordingly.
Detroit has been in the playoffs 14 years in a row and has won three Stanley Cups since 1997, so the Red Wings have far more experience at monitoring such things — whether it's a goalie judging where a forward likes to send his slap shot from a certain spot on the ice or a center anticipating how an opponent likes to take a faceoff.
''Sometime, when certain things happen in a game and you don't pick them up, they don't affect you or you can get away with certain mistakes,'' Walker said. ''But when you play a series, you can't do the same thing over and over or eventually it will come back and hurt you.''
Trotz is the fourth-longest tenured coach in the NHL and qualifies as a rare expansion coach who is still at the helm when his team has grown up enough to earn a playoff berth.
With Washington's American Hockey League affiliate, he coached the Portland (Maine) Pirates to the Calder Cup Finals, winning it in 1994-95. While he acknowledged it's not NHL experience, he still included it on the list of things he will be drawing from in the coming days.
''I've been around Washington (during some Capitals playoff appearances). I've watched and taken notes and talked to my friends who've been in the playoffs and picked their brains a little bit about some of those pitfalls that you can fall into or some of the things that can blindside you,'' he said. ''So I'm trying to do my homework and hopefully prepare the players as best as possible.'' (By Paul Kuharsky, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
Let us prey: Wings face Nashville
Predators are young, but they're hungry
As coach Dave Lewis walked out of Joe Louis Arena about 10:30 on Saturday night, he updated people on the score.
No, not the score of the Red Wings' 4-1 loss to Columbus. That was meaningless, because the Wings had already wrapped up the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular-season team.
No, not the score of the Duke-UConn game, either. This is Detroit. This is Hockeytown, where March Madness is one thing, April Anxiety another.
Lewis was updating the score of the Edmonton-Vancouver game. That was crucial, because if the Oilers lost in regulation, they were eliminated from the playoff race. Nashville would clinch the eighth seed in the Western Conference and face the top-seeded Wings in the first round.
"It's 1-0, Vancouver," Lewis said.
A couple of hours later, the final was 5-2, Vancouver. The Oilers were out.
The opponent was the Predators.
It was Music City vs. the Motor City, and it was music to some ears. At first glance, this looks like the better matchup for the Wings.
They have to travel only to Tennessee, not all the way up to Alberta. They have to deal with the hubbub created by the Predators' first playoff appearance, but not a Cup-crazy Canadian media circus.
Thousands of Detroit fans always show up to see the Wings at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Predators are 7-7-2 against the Wings there all-time. But they're only 2-11-2-2 at Joe Louis Arena.
Among them, the Predators' players have only 209 games of playoff experience. Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios has played 214 playoff games himself.
The Wings went 3-3 against the Predators this season. But after losing the first three, the Wings won the next three by a combined score of 13-3. Apparently the Wings played better against the Predators once they respected them.
"We respond better when we're playing against teams that present a big challenge, and I think this is the kind of season where the Nashville Predators are saying to the league, 'We're a real team,' " forward Brendan Shanahan said after the Wings' second victory over them this season, a 4-1 game Feb. 3 at the GEC. "If we underestimated them earlier in the season, we weren't going to do that again."
The thing is, the Wings had better not do that again. After all, coming off a Stanley Cup championship in 2002, they were swept in the first round by seventh-seeded Anaheim last year.
The Predators are young and inexperienced. But they're also young and hungry. They don't give up, as the Wings found out Nov. 8 by blowing a 3-0 third-period lead and losing to them, 4-3. They're small, but they're fast.
"They don't really wear you down, but they can outskate you," Lewis said. "They put a lot of pressure down ice. They like to chase the puck. They forecheck well. And they try to make the best of their opportunities."
Goaltender Tomas Vokoun might not be a big name. But he was good enough to play in the All-Star Game this year. And did Jean-Sebastien Giguere have a big name before the playoffs last year?
"When you look at those quiet leaders on the Nashville Predators, Tomas Vokoun is definitely one," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "No team in the league without good goaltending can go very far."
The Wings should win -- and win quickly. But that doesn't mean they will.
"The pressure's on us; it's not on them at all," Detroit defenseman Mathieu Dandenault said. "They've got nothing to lose; we've got everything to lose." By Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Detroit Free Press)
TIDAL 6:23 AM
Monday, April 05, 2004
Excited fans welcome playoff-bound Preds
A sellout crowd exited Gaylord Entertainment Center quietly after Saturday afternoon's 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues had put a damper on the Nashville Predators' playoff hopes.
The mood was much more festive last night when about 350 fans gathered at Nashville International Airport to welcome the Predators — who qualified for the National Hockey League playoffs for the first time in the franchise's six seasons later Saturday — from a 2-1 overtime victory at Colorado in the regular-season finale.
Fans wearing Predators jerseys waved congratulatory signs and chanted players' names as the team filed through the crowd at the Signature charter terminal.
''We've had great fans since Day One, and to see them out here again is great,'' Predators captain Greg Johnson said. ''We're just so lucky. This is a great time for us and the organization.''
The Predators will play the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday and Saturday in Detroit.
Their first home playoff games of the Stanley Cup's opening round best-of-seven series will be Sunday and April 13.
Johnson said the team was at its hotel in Denver on Saturday night watching Edmonton's loss to Vancouver, which clinched Nashville's first playoff appearance.
''We all kind of came together in the lobby for the countdown the last couple of minutes,'' Johnson said. ''We celebrated once it was final. We were hugging each other and we had some champagne.''
There was no champagne at the airport, but the atmosphere was definitely bubbly as the fans welcomed the team back with balloons decorating the terminal.
''In the preseason, nobody had the Predators picked to be where they are now,'' said Nashville's Michael Davis, a season-ticket holder. ''They've defied all the odds, and they overcame a lot of obstacles. They deserve it. I'm going to have to take out stock in Rolaids to calm the heartburn down from the playoff chase.''
Fans had signs that read, ''Playoff-Bound,'' ''Welcome Back,'' and ''We want the (Stanley) Cup.''
''It hasn't been easy, but that's what it's all about,'' Predators goaltender Tomas Vokoun said. ''I've been here for a long time, and it's a reward for everybody.''
The smile of Predators owner Craig Leipold lit up the night as he answered questions from the media on the runway after exiting the plane.
''For six years we've been dreaming about this, and the last 24 hours were a fantastic roller-coaster ride,'' Leipold said. ''We're just on top of the world right now.''
Predators Coach Barry Trotz was beaming like a proud father as he talked about the upcoming encounter with the Red Wings.
''It's been real emotional the last 36 hours,'' Trotz said.
''We had a little get-together about 10:30 Saturday night. You've got guys high-fiving in the lobby in Denver. It was a real special moment.''
Tickets on sale at 10 a.m. today
Individual game tickets for the three potential home games in the Predators' best-of-seven series against the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings go on sale at 10 a.m.
The Predators will play at 6 p.m. Wednesday and 2 p.m. Saturday in Detroit. The teams will play at 3 p.m. Sunday and 6:30 p.m. April 13 in Nashville. Game 6, if necessary, would be in Nashville at 2 p.m. April 17.
To place orders, visit the Gaylord Entertainment Center box office, call the Predators at 770-PUCK, call Ticketmaster at 259-9600 or visit www.nashvillepredators.com. Tickets are limited to eight per household.
Season-ticket holders and previous customers have priority.
New customers will see a price increase of $1-$3 from the regular season, with tickets from $12-$72. (By Chip Cirillo, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
Predators’ playoff fate waiting in the Wings
DENVER — There were no goodbyes said by the Predators following their final road trip last night, no packing away sticks and equipment for next season.
Instead of preparing for the offseason, the Predators are readying for the postseason. They open a best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series Wednesday in Detroit against the top-seeded Red Wings.
''Things are a little different this year,'' said center David Legwand, whose goal gave the Predators a 2-1 overtime victory against Colorado at the Pepsi Center.
The Predators (38-29-11-4) had never posted a winning record before this season, nor had they totaled more than 80 points. But yesterday's triumph over the Avalanche capped a franchise-best season that produced 38 victories, 91 points and the all-important first trip to the playoffs.
''I don't think anybody believed we would pull this off in September,'' Coach Barry Trotz said, ''but it's a tribute to the guys' commitment.''
Yesterday's game held no particular meaning for either team. The Predators and Avalanche knew they'd be seeded eighth and fourth, respectively, no matter the outcome.
The Avalanche looked as if they might bury the Predators early, when Colorado defenseman John-Michael Liles beat Chris Mason with a point-blank redirection 1:52 into the game.
But Mason made a series of spectacular saves to keep the Predators close for the next two periods. Scott Hartnell took advantage of a Tommy Salo turnover to tie the game 1-1 midway through the third, and Legwand notched his career-best 18th goal in overtime.
''Even though the game didn't matter, it was good to get a win for momentum's sake,'' Mason said. ''This gives us confidence we can beat good teams.'' (By John Glennon, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
TIDAL 6:23 AM
Saturday, April 03, 2004
New chamber prez seeks local support for endeavors
James G. Vaughan Jr. helped attract the $45 million Tennessee Aquarium to Chattanooga and laid the groundwork for bringing a professional football team to Jacksonville, Fla.
Now he'll turn his attention to Waco as the new president of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce.
"I believe I'll take you to some places you wouldn't have gone without me," said Vaughan, 60, speaking to chamber and civic leaders during a news conference Thursday afternoon at Ridgewood Country Club.
Vaughan's introduction as Waco's new chamber president ends a search that began shortly after Jack Stewart resigned in October to join WCI Texas, a Waco construction firm. Stewart had served as chamber president 13 years.
"I like the fact he has a proven track record," said David Lacy, president of Community Bank & Trust and a member of the chamber executive committee that chose Vaughan. Lacy said Vaughan served in executive positions on chambers in Chattanooga and Jacksonville when each city enjoyed "growth spurts" and waterfront developments.
"He worked on the program to bring an NFL franchise to Jacksonville," Lacy added. "That's a huge project that takes lots of work, tons of coordination, everyone on the same page and in sync. Obviously he's not going to get us an NFL franchise but he could get us a big plant."
Vaughan served as executive vice president and CEO of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce from 1983 to 1986, and served at another time as its general manager. During the mid-1980s, Jacksonville was home to the Jacksonville Bulls, a United States Football League team. The USFL has since folded, but Vaughan said the city also pursued an NFL team. In the early 1990s, after Vaughan left, it landed the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Most recently, Vaughan was employed by Fremont Development Corp., a consulting firm based in Atlanta, Ga. It helps chambers of commerce raise money for daily operations and for industry recruitment. It had more than 40 clients, Vaughan said.
"I helped raise money, but I couldn't help spend it," Vaughan said during an interview following Thursday's news conference.
He applied for the chamber job in Waco, he said, "because I'm a city builder. It's my life's work."
But no one can tackle that task alone, said Vaughan, who craves community participation in making Waco a better place.
"To carry out that vision is the best job in the world," said Vaughan, a Florida State graduate who also completed courses at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Organization Management at the University of Delaware.
Jim Haller, chairman of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, led the executive committee's search for a new president.
"We had about 50 applicants and seriously looked at 25," Haller said. "We cut that number down to seven, and really did a lot of background checks on those. We narrowed that seven to four finalists, and brought those four to Waco for extensive interviews."
Vaughan was the only one brought back for a second conversation, Haller said.
"We think the community is very fortunate to attract a man like Jim Vaughan," said Kent Keahey, president and CEO of Providence Healthcare Network and a chamber executive committee member. "He has integrity and experience, and the chambers in Chattanooga and Jacksonville brought him back on different occasions, which says a lot. He's a strategic thinker, values public-private partnerships, and has a track record of bringing people together. One of the references we talked to said the community connected during his tenure in a way it had not before he arrived or after he left."
Other chamber leaders involved in choosing the chamber's new president were Louis Englander, Bob Davis, Johnny Mankin and Virginia DuPuy. Linda Beasley, a 20-year chamber employee and interim chamber president, participated in the interviews.
Vaughan served as president and executive vice president of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. During his term, the chamber raised funds and managed a successful campaign to merge two school districts. The city also became home to the 12-story Tennessee Aquarium.
Prior to joining the Chattanooga chamber, Vaughan helped six cities in the Southeast take part in a community goal-setting program called Vision 2000. One of those cities, Spartanburg, S.C., landed a BMW automobile assembly plant.
Vaughan said Thursday he will place a top priority on economic development, or industry recruitment. He also made it clear he does not think the chamber has enough money at its disposal to pursue industrial prospects as he would like.
For industry recruitment, the chamber has a budget of about $500,000, which is spent on trade shows, advertising, and salaries and expenses for four staffers, including Mike Barnes, the chamber's president for economic development. That money is provided primarily by the city of Waco, McLennan County, Waco Industrial Foundation and Baylor University.
Waco and McLennan County each kicks in $750,000 per year for use by the Waco-McLennan County Economic Development Corp. This corporation can offer incentives to industry to locate in Waco.
But Vaughan said he would like to see Waco's private sector contribute to economic development. He also said he will get personally involved in recruiting industry for Waco, working with Barnes and his economic development staff.
"I view this as one staff," Vaughan said, adding, "They were doing good things before, so I don't need to be changing everything. But I think I can help them get the resources to do all the things they would like to do but haven't been able to do."
About two and a half years ago, Barnes was hired by the chamber specifically to recruit industry. He and his staff have an office in the Compass Bank building downtown, while the regular chamber staff of 10 has an office between the Waco Convention Center and the Waco Hilton.
Eventually, Vaughan said, he would like the two staffs to again work under one roof.
Barnes, who had been reporting to the chamber's executive committee, will now report to Vaughan, Haller said.
Asked if he wanted the job that Vaughan received, Barnes said: "I was not interested in the CEO position of the chamber.
"I would have been very comfortable with the chamber taking a position that other chambers are taking, that being that economic development is the major focus and that the balance of chamber activities is in support of that effort," Barnes said in a phone interview. "Under those circumstances, I would have been interested in heading up an economic development organization."
Barnes, who is on vacation, said he expects to "get along fine" with Vaughan. (By Mike Copeland, Waco Tribune-Herald)
Three Preds, one vision
One arrived in Nashville as a second-round draft pick who'd failed to live up to expectations, the second was a scrappy winger deemed too small for NHL standards and the third was a no-name goalkeeper who'd played all of one game in the league.
Almost six full seasons later, Greg Johnson, Scott Walker and Tomas Vokoun are not only the three remaining selections from the Predators' 1998 expansion draft, but they have become — along with Kimmo Timonen — the core of the franchise.
Johnson has evolved into the team captain who holds the franchise record for games played. Walker has posted more points than anyone in a Nashville uniform. Vokoun has notched the most goaltending victories in club history.
So as the Predators prepare for the biggest weekend in team history, a battle for the franchise's first playoff berth, it's fair to say the three have invested more of themselves in the quest than any other players.
''I think it would be extra special for those guys if we make the playoffs because they've been through the whole process,'' said Predators Coach Barry Trotz, whose team heads into today's game against St. Louis one victory shy of securing a playoff berth.
''They are the fabric of our organization. They're the cloth we kept to stand the test of time.''
In July 1998, Johnson stepped off an airplane into the stifling Nashville summer, a 2-month-old daughter in his arms and a mountain of questions on his mind.
He was readying for his fourth team in three years, and like Walker and Vokoun, was uncertain whether his NHL career was slowing, stalling or just getting started.
It wasn't enough for the brand new Predators to concentrate solely on their own challenges. They had to sell the sport itself, in one of the least traditional markets the league had ever entered.
''It was kind of a serious time for us, but at the same time, hockey in Nashville was at such an early stage,'' Johnson said. ''So sometimes you'd be trying to focus on your career and at the same time, you'd be explaining to someone what icing was.''
Trying memories from yesteryear have turned into smiles today.
Vokoun recalled one preseason caravan trip around the area in which the driver of the team's specially-marked, 9-feet tall recreational vehicle tried to park it in a 6-feet tall underground lot. Talk about taking a little off the top.
In some of the smaller towns, the Predators were questioned more about themselves than they were about the pros and cons of the neutral-zone trap.
''I think people were scared to ask questions, but once you said, 'Ask anything, don't worry about it,' then they started asking them and you'd get a little chuckle,'' Walker said. ''Sometimes they were more interested in where the guys were from, who the good-looking guys were and who was single.''
In typical expansion style, the Predators have piled up many more losses than wins, but there have been plenty of highlights as well.
Johnson recalled the opening night in franchise history, when a string of Hummers drove the players to red-carpet entrances at Gaylord Entertainment Center. A series of standing ovations awaited inside.
Walker remembered lying face-down on home ice four years ago, baseball caps raining down around him following a hat trick against Colorado.
Vokoun will never forget earning his selection to the NHL All-Star game two months ago.
''So many things come to mind when you look back,'' Johnson said. ''It's hard to believe six years can go by so quickly.''
So it is that the Predators find themselves today poised to take the biggest step in franchise history. A team that's never so much as finished with a .500 record finds itself two points from clinching a trip to the playoffs.
''I can't say enough of what it would mean for the organization or me personally,'' Johnson said. ''I mean, I've been here since day one. Seeing us through the tough times, and now to enjoy the work we've put into it — that would be one of the biggest accomplishments of my career.''
Making the playoffs would be a first for Walker, whose streak of 573 regular-season games without a postseason contest is currently the league's longest.
''It would mean a lot for me, and even more to do it with this team because I'm one of the original guys,'' Walker said. ''To be here for their first playoff game and my first would be outstanding. It would be a memory that would last forever.''
The alternative, of course, would be just as memorable.
It's entirely possible the Predators, should they lose today to the Blues and tomorrow to Colorado, will find themselves falling achingly short of making history.
''That would obviously be crushing,'' Walker said. ''It would be a big blow, probably the biggest disappointment I've had as a player, getting so close and not making it. All my career, I'd look back at this year … saying there was a time when one win or tie here or there would have made a huge difference.''
A failure to reach the playoffs might have serious repercussions for the franchise as well. It is desperate for a shot in the arm, especially with the looming possibility of a work stoppage in the fall.
''With all the stuff coming up in the summer, it would be good to be a playoff team,'' Vokoun said. ''For our sake as players, the sake of our franchise and everyone's sake, when you get into the playoffs, everybody benefits and everybody's happy.''
Especially those who have waited the longest. (By John Glennon, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
TIDAL 9:22 PM
Friday, April 02, 2004
Predators one win from playoffs
CHICAGO — One win and they're in.
That's the simplest way to describe the Predators' playoff hopes following last night's 3-1 victory over Chicago in front of an announced crowd of 13,951 at the United Center.
The Predators, in search of the first postseason trip in the franchise's six-year history, need to win one of their last two games — either tomorrow's home contest with St. Louis or Sunday's regular-season finale at Colorado — to secure a playoff spot.
An Edmonton loss tomorrow in Vancouver is another one of the scenarios that would automatically send the Predators into the playoffs, where they'd take on Detroit or San Jose.
''We're trying to stay on an even plateau right now, but we're really excited,'' said Predators forward Jeremy Stevenson, who contributed a goal and an assist.
''It's something brand new for this team. We just have to make it happen.''
The Predators, who not so long ago were enduring a season-high, seven-game winless streak, have captured three wins in their last four outings to move into a three-way tie for seventh place in the Western Conference standings.
They snapped a five-game losing streak at the United Center last night, thanks to two points each from Stevenson, Scott Walker, and former Blackhawk Steve Sullivan.
''We're not done yet,'' Predators goalie Tomas Vokoun said. ''This was a huge game for us, but we have another one on Saturday. They're fun to play because that's when you find out how good you are.''
The Predators (37-28-11-4) took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Sullivan and Adam Hall, but had to sweat out half the second period and most of the third after Tuomo Ruutu cut Nashville's lead to 2-1.
With 3:37 left in the contest, Sullivan sent a backhand pass across the ice and Stevenson stuffed home the Predators' second power-play score to clinch victory. (By John Glennon, The (Nashville) Tennessean)
TIDAL 5:34 AM
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