By TOM JONES, Times Staff Writer
Published October 23, 2005
No team needed a good start more than the Nashville Predators.
Not to make the playoffs or anything like that. To survive.
When the NHL had labor problems last year, the Predators were used as an example of a small-market, Southern-based team that might not survive when the league finally cleaned up its mess.
But entering the weekend, the Predators, who had never won two straight to start a season, had won six in a row.
"In one aspect, I'm surprised," coach Barry Trotz said. "But in another, I'm not. It's like a couple players were saying the other day: Every night we believe we can win, and I don't know if we could say that in the past."
The Predators haven't beaten any league heavyweights. Two victories have come against a down-and-out Blues team, and the best team they have played probably is San Jose, which is off to a so-so start.
But that doesn't matter in Nashville.
"Ever since training camp started, I think our fans have come back probably bigger and stronger than it ever was before," forward Steve Sullivan said. "I think Nashville took a huge hit during the lockout from the media, saying that ours was a market that might not be able to make it through a season, the lockout, and that our market might not be a very strong hockey market."
That has been proven wrong.
"I think the fans here love their hockey," Sullivan said. "The word around the street, everyone's talking about the Predators. ... We're really excited about this market."
GOING WILD: Hey, how about the Wild? Everyone thought the new rules would hamper the defensive-minded team, but it entered the weekend as one of the league's highest-scoring teams at five goals a game at home.
And look who has gotten with the program.
"I look at games, and this is great hockey," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "Better than I've ever seen. Better than I've ever seen. You get excitement. You get everything."
EVERYONE LOVES COFFEY: The Oilers retired Paul Coffey's No. 7 last week. Other than Bobby Orr, there has never been a more exciting defenseman. Think about it: Coffey was a defenseman who scored 20 goals or more eight times and once scored 48 in a season. And he scored 100 points or more five times.
Former teammate and goalie Andy Moog said, "I was close to being the worst puck-handling goalie in the league, and one year I had eight assists. I'd just stop the puck for Coffey."
And who said this: "I couldn't skate like Paul Coffey and I'm not just being humble. We're not going to see anybody skate like him again." None other than Orr himself.
SIN BIN: Here's why the Hawks are struggling. In their first seven games, they've been short-handed 60 times and have faced 15 five-on-three situations.
"The next step is putting them on the bench," an angry coach Trent Yawney said. "It's not like they haven't been given a chance. ... I thought we were going in the right direction, but obviously we still have some work to do."
DAN THE MAN: Buffalo retired the numbers this week of former players Pat LaFontaine (No. 16) and former Lightning broadcaster and assistant Danny Gare (No. 18). They join Buffalo's retired number list of Gilbert Perreault (11), Rick Martin (7), Rene Robert (14) and Tim Horton (2).
Gare, a two-time 50-goal scorer who tied for the league lead with 56 in 1979-80, scored 18 seconds into his first NHL shift.
"I know my underwear was brown," Gare said. "It was a very nervous and intense opening shift. I guess when that happened, it was kind of like maybe you belonged in the National Hockey League."
ICE CHIPS: Pat Quinn became the third Maple Leafs coach to work 500 games on Saturday. Only Hap Day (546) and Quinn's old coach, Punch Imlach (760), have coached more Toronto games. ... Defenseman Brendan Witt wants out of Washington. The Penguins and Islanders are interested. ... Ty Conklin was supposed to be Edmonton's No. 1 goalie this year, but he has been supplanted by Jussi Markkanen. ... If the Devils look to move Viktor Kozlov when Patrick Elias (hepatitis A) returns, the Oilers will jump on him. Edmonton is more than $7-million under the salary cap.
Information from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald was used in this report.
