KW's Top Ten Preds Moments

I really like this theme! Good idea Mike. I'll tell everyone up front that I have a strangely selective memory. I may not remember opponents for some of these games, but I remember what I wore and what Chris ate. So, apologies up front for any lacking certain details while going overboard on others. My memories are often more of specific plays or goals than overall games in general. Here are my favorite Preds moments over the life of my fandom.

10. Erat Channels Joe Sakic: I'm not sure it's possible, even if you believe in channeling, to channel a guy who's not dead. But I do know that it was Erat's rookie season. It was also near the end of the season. Erat found the puck in the neutral zone, with two defenders to beat. I vividly recall he had a burst of speed I'd never seen from a Pred. And my jaw hit the floor when he double-deked, waltzing through the two defenders, as I'd seen Sakic do several times the previous playoffs. One defender was left on his butt on the ice. The shot was stopped by the goalie, but the future had been glimpsed. My buddy and I were freaking out, saying..."Did you just see that Predator rookie make that move?!"

9. The Vancouver Melee: Two years ago, near season's end. The whole game had been extremely physical, with the Preds able to draw several penalties on Bertuzzi by frustrating him. Finally, near the end of the game, Bertuzzi lashed out (in an spooky episode of foreshadowing) and put Karlis' face into the boards and proceeded to uppercut him in the jaw several times. We won the game by one, if I remember right (Bertuzzi's anger hurt us by inspiring him to score twice). But the reason I fondly recall this game is that our team responded with an all-out scrum for several seconds. We didn't back down, and quickly jumped in to defend Karlis (who never hurt anyone, he just led the team in blocked shots and hits every year he was on the team). It was a spark I'd not seen yet from the previously tentative Preds. And it was a marvelous example of our needling and getting under opponent's skin becoming a great way to distract teams from their mission of playing hockey. Plus it was really exciting. It's also why Preds fans were ahead of the rest of the world in declaring Bertuzzi was a thug. The world would later catch up to us quite rapidly.

8. Vladdy's Hat Trick: Last year. My friends and I call him Vladdy Hustle, because he always works hard. He's not the fastest, or the most skilled, or the leader, or the enforcer...he just quietly goes out and hustles every single shift. I'm surprised Arkipov hasn't learned this just by playing with Vlad. Anyway, it was extremely rewarding to see his often unnoticed work ethic result in a career night of tangible scoring. He also made a few great moves.

7. Sullivan Arrives in Style: Who can forget this game? For years we'd been sellers at the deadline, though every season I'd hoped we'd jump out and get a high-profile player to get us over the hump. And here was a guy that had stats and reputation before he even came in the door. The fans welcomed him like he was an original Pred, with a huge ovation. And when he scored that first goal....forget it. The place went nuts. And then another? Come on...is he human? By the time the third goal went in we were sure he was literally an angel. I've never seen so many thrown hats for a trick at the GEC as I did that night. He cemented his place in our history and our hearts in one game. One game. He could suck forever and we'll always remember that effort. Side note: Does anyone but me remember the impossible angle his shots were taken from on two of the three goals. On the first one, watching the replay...his feet and entire body were behind the goal line. I don't know how you put a hook on a wrist shot, but he must have, because the laws of physics were clearly ignored on that shot. I still have hopes that he can teach Legwand through example the one lesson Legwand is reluctant to learn: when in doubt...throw a shot on net...and stuff will happen.

6. Avalanche Up Close: Season before last. I have often gone to games by myself, when Chris and the other hockey buddies I have are busy, and always have a good time. But this was the first time I ever took a plunge on a front row seat. Face value said $85, and I got it for $25 from a scalper--God bless Tennessee state law. I sad in the attack twice corner, left of the goal. If you've never sat in the front row, I urge you to do it...at least once. Skip a few games and save money if you have to. It's an entirely different perspective. You see things you'd never seen. You can see details like sweat and blood and facial expressions. You can hear players' on-ice chatter. When they dumped the puck in around the glass I could hear it whizzing by through the cracks between the panes. Peter Forsberg (who I think is the best active player in the world...all around) had his face shmooshed into the glass directly in front of me. I wanted to invite him to dinner, but by the time I thought to...he was gone. It was visceral, palpable, and made the game seem so much faster and so much more real. Plus, it's always a great experience to watch a superstar line-up like the Avs always have. Forsberg, Sakic, Roy, Blake, Hejduk...five of the game's best right there on one team. Clearly one of the best and coolest experiences in my life. I think we lost that game 6-4, but I didn't care that night. I'd seen hockey in a new light, and loved it even more. And I came face to face with one of the all-time greats. Just awesome!

5. Vokoun's first game as the first-string goalie: Now I liked Dunham a lot. Mostly, I think, it was because he was our number one and I think you have to love your number one. When he was the Wall...he was unbeatable. Unfortunately, the Wall just didn't show up as often as we thought he would. I was flat-out stunned when he was traded. Almost depressed a little even. But as the thought percolated in my brain, and I remembered all the groin injuries, and how good Vokoun had proved to be in a back-up role. I began to be more open to it. And that first game back after the trade, I will never forget the crowd's reception and all-night ovations for Vokoun. He played well, sure. But it was more than that. It was our way of saying, "We embrace you. We believe in you. You can do it." I am never more proud of being a Preds fan than during moments like these, because we show our true colors. We have long had to believe in players that didn't always believe in themselves, and even though the attendance numbers weren't always high, those fans bothering to show clearly always had the same, sky-high level of love and support for these Preds...a team the league and the national media have always dogged and disrespected. Games like these remind me why I'd rather live here and root Preds than be in any other city calling any other team my team.

4. Vowel Line Dominance: Opening home game season before last. The vowel line came in right at the start of the first period, and held the puck in the other team's zone for more than two straight minutes. I know they were beat by the end...and we didn't get a goal out of it. But it will always be with me for several reasons. I pride myself on thinking I pay attention to small details in a game (for instance, anyone who's really watched David Legwand in the last year realizes he's been crucial to our success. He doesn't score as much as we'd like, but he steals, sets up plays, sees the ice, and has been a madman in the area of intangibles and easily noticed skills). But this night the entire crowd seemed to understand what was going on. Everyone seemed to grasp that not only is it hard to keep the puck in the offensive zone for very long, but that it's hard to play hockey period for much longer than 45 seconds. By the end of the two-minute stretch the entire crowd was roaring, on its feet. I felt at the time that this was a defining moment for our team...a symbol of our new grit and determination. "We're not going to back down. We'll wear ourselves out completely in the first two minutes if it means we get to own you and control the game." I was giddy.

3. Preds Rally in Detroit: I had to listen to it on the radio, mostly because the game was away...at the Joe. Now though we always seemed to have motivation to play these guys tough, Detroit had basically owned our butts from the dawn of our franchise. I'd even given up by the start of the third. Down three goals, it seemed we were on the verge of another sad turning point, further proving we'd not yet crossed over to that next level. But boy was I surprised. We fight back and score four unanswered in the third to take the game--stealing the two points away from the consumate professional Wings. Sure, everyone talks about this game as a turning point for the season. But I think it was a turning point for the entire future of the franchise. This was the game we realized we were through puberty and had become full-on men. This was the game where we didn't keep up with the big boys, we blew them away. Have you ever heard the Joe that quiet after a loss? Nobody even believed it until the next day. I remember Pete talking about the looks on the Wings' faces. It was remarkable. A corner was turned. And we didn't look back. Sure we'd won big games, but never so defining as this. And never from behind in such flamboyant fashion as this. Plus, there's something about listening to a game like this on the radio, when you can't see anything, that makes it so much more urgent and exciting. And I never spent so much time in my car right outside my apartment simply because I didn't want to miss something while I ran in to the house.

2. Game 6 Support: How can we forget that ovation, beginning late in the third when the crowd had realized it was over, and had quickly gone through the grieving process..and realized we had only a few more moments to thank the team for the ride of our lives. The roar grew slowly at first, and after about thirty seconds the rest of the crowd caught on, and the ensuing cheer was nearly deafening. Loudest moment in the GEC I'd ever experienced (imagine what will happen when we win the Cup!!). Vokoun got maybe the lion's share of the yells, but the team knew it was for all of them. I was proud of our team...who I think had clearly overacheived based on what the world thought they could do. And the entire playoff experience had been so overwhelming for me that I was literally clapping and hooting my thanks for the chance to see it. I'll never forget it. I might have even come close to tears.

1. Games' 3 & 4 Excitement: Being at these games was life-altering, as I finally had first-hand knowledge previously only held by the elite teams' fans. I got to taste playoff hockey. The noise was completely unexpected. I expected it to be loud, but not that loud. Or that sustained. This team's fans were hopped up on goofballs and ready to party. Legwand's breakaway for our first goal that first home game...gave me shivers. After seeming tentative in mundane, every day games, here...he was as confident as if he were one of the all-time greats. Could not have asked for a better way to start the scoring. I remember the fans in between periods getting in fun little shouting matches with Wings' fans in line for the bathroom. I remember how few Wings' fans were even there, after accounting for half the audience during regular season showdowns between the two games. I remember Vokoun playing like a madman. I remember how easy it seemed for our guys to quickly crawl under the veteran Wings' skin and disrupt their game. We gave Calgary the blueprint you know. That's how they beat them...by getting physical early and disrupting the style of play the Wings hoped to acheive. I remember Chelios being a sissy. I remember how loud the chants were--I heard them again later watching my tape of the broadcast. And I remember the giddy abandon of the fans exiting the building after the wins. Strangers were slapping me on the back as though I'd been on the ice. We were singing and chanting and cheering down the long staircase, out into the street, and from our cars in traffic filing out of time. Just a drunken stupor of fun and excitement. Those two games will forever be in my memory just as they happened. We showed the world we could be tough, and we could take down the mighty Wings. We showed our city pride. We showed our vocal chord strength. Of course, I could never use words to truly convey the experience...as I told my parents at the time (Lightning fans who hadn't had the joy of seeing live playoff hockey). My folks were quite jealous, until they got to see the Lightning win a finals game live and in person, at which point I became the jealous one. There is, I am convinced, no crazier, more exciting, more stupifying, more compelling experience than a playoff hockey win. If I wasn't hooked already, these games sealed the deal. I will always be a hockey fan because of these playoff wins. Always.

PS-You actually can still move down in the third period to closer seats. At least, you could last year, because that's my M.O. I buy a $10 ticket from the box office, then move down late in the first period. You just have to act like you belong, and be careful to avoid the one or two ushers that do check for tickets. Most of the ushers are too busy talking to a friend or a cop to care or notice...but there are a few who police the moving down. I usually spend a couple moments when the play is stopped scoping out my spot and the usher I want to slip by. Never been caught once...and strangely enough, I've never sat in a seat where the ticket holder later showed up. I do imagine that as we get better as a franchise it'll become more difficult. But that's a trade off I'm willing to accept if it means the team gets the fan response and respect I feel they've deserved for a while.