OK, You Can Stop Being Surprised Now

Here's what pisses us off: people who act surprised when the topic of the NHL's best team comes up. Do you even know which team is tops? Because it's not Buffalo, and it's not Anaheim.

It's Nashville.

Please, let's start giving them some 'spect, because these guys, and especially their coach, Barry "My Suits Are Just Too Small" Trotz are a little starved for attention. You can be sure if this collection of twenty-two guys played with say, a flying wheel, or a blue maple leaf instead of... whatever that is that they wear now, you would hear a lot more about the Predators.

Let's do something about that. The Maple Leafs are in town on Thursday, so apropos of that, let's talk Nashville. Nobody seems to want to give them the recognition (They only had one player at the All-Star game), and by nobody, we mean nobody on the Atlantic seaboard, which is really all that matters. Long disparaged as a team that simply should not be, Nashville is, as they say, a "non-traditional" market (which is the aristhockeyracy's code for, "it doesn't snow there!!"). They kicked off in '98 winning all of 28 games. Six years later, they posted their first winning season and were treated to a first round playoffaganza with the Red Wings, which they lost in six.

Last season was their coming out party, going toe-to-toe with Detroit all season long, for Central bragging rights, and they would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for Tomas Vokoun and his meddling blood-clot disease. Nashville lost in the first round to San Jose behind back-up Chris Mason, but the rink was set for next year. Too bad nobody north of the Mason-Dixon line noticed.

Well, 'cept us of course. You'll note at the bottom where we put Nashville in the cup final.

How can everybody miss it? Just look at their roster, which is so chock full of quality guys it almost makes us sick. Kariya, Timonen, Arnott, Sullivan, Dumont, Vokoun... how do all of these guys land on the same team and not draw attention?

Whatever, it's time for the non-traditional markets to take over. The Original Six (except Detroit of course) have shown themselves to be inept and the Stanley Cup hasn't seen any snow in three years now. Nashville is looking set to make it four.

Jason

P.S - We're pretty sure we are the first to use the word "aristhockeyracy" in a sentence.