Preds One Of Only Two Unbeaten NHL Teams, and Still Getting No Respect

Hey guys. Boy are our Preds good or what? Kariya had three points last night. Such an exciting time to be a Nashville hockey fan. But yesterday I was reading an online chat with USAToday hockey writer Ted Montgomery, and he said something so false and stupid that I had to respond. Below you will find the text of the e-mail I just sent him. Let me know what you think.

"Ted,

Love reading your chats about hockey.

Reading your most recent chat transcript, though, I noticed something I�d like to bring to your attention. In answering a question about how the rules changes will affect certain teams, you mentioned that (and I�m paraphrasing) "teams that clutch and grab like Calgary and Nashville" would suffer the most.

When did Nashville become a clutch-and-grab team? I live in Nashville, and pay my hard-earned money to see about 25 games live every year. And this categorization of our team is simply unfair and erroneous. The Preds are a skating team, plain and simple, with speed and stick-handling as our signatures. Our D-men aren�t known to clutch and grab. Timmonen and Zidlicky are both skaters: great vision and excellent passing skills, same for Mark Eaton. And they�re both smallish. Hamhuis, our young guy, loves to hip-check, but that�s not the same as grabbing. In fact, this year�s acquisition of Danny Markhov marks our first truly physical defensemen, and even he doesn�t really clutch and grab.

When I hear clutch and grab, I think of the trap and New Jersey, who you failed to list in the group. The Wild in Minnesota also do that.

So I�m left with two possibilities: 1. You typed Nashville in error in a moment of mental lapse, perhaps intending to type New Jersey. Or 2. You haven�t seen Nashville play a game in a long time.

I certainly hope it�s the first, but I fear it�s the second. Nearly every major media outlet has mentioned at the start of this new season that Nashville is one team that stands to benefit most from the new rules, specifically because we DON�T clutch and grab. The extra space and obstruction calls free up our skaters. Look at some of our top players and see if you can spot the common theme: Paul Kariya, David Legwand, Martin Erat, Steve Sullivan. Do you have it yet? It�s speed. We�ve got one of the fastest teams in the league. Now�what would it benefit a team built on speed to clutch and grab?

Check out Sports Illustrated. They named us the 5th best team in the league. How would a team that, as you put it, is in so much danger after the new rules about clutching and grabbing, end up that high? Check out TSN. Check out Sporting News. Not only do most analysts predict our fast, young team will prosper under the new rules, but you are, in fact, the only person I have read that suggests we will suffer. And you�re certainly the only guy who says we clutch and grab. Can�t find that anywhere else.

And now we come to the reason I write: I�m tired of big media (and most of Canada) bashing Nashville without having any knowledge of our team. I know our guys have been, for the most part, anonymous guys. I know Canada thinks that Nashville is a southern hick town where hockey went to die. But we sold out our first three playoff games. Gary Thorne and Bill Clement, during their playoff broadcast from our arena, made repeated comments about the incredible noise-level and fan enthusiasm. We�ve sold out our first two home games this year. We are one of only two remaining undefeated teams in the NHL so far. Our goalie is the reigning world champion. Our minor-league affiliate has consistently been one of the top three teams in the AHL the last three years. Try as I might�.I can�t see the reason why so many would wish so badly for us to fail. But we are here to stay. We�ve positioned ourselves to be a contender for the next decade. Nashville is a hockey town.

I keep thinking about all the folks who read that chat who have never seen Nashville play. Now, because you labeled them as clutchers and grabbers, there are likely several that never will. It would go a long way toward improving the overall image of the league if people such as yourself would stop digging at our team and our city without first having actually looked at the product we put on the ice�particularly when your comments are specifically about our style of play. I�m sure you have the Center Ice package. I recommend you check out a Predators game sometime, and not just to prove my point�but also because you will see some exciting hockey. And, in the end, exciting hockey is something we should all be in favor of, right?

Sincerely,

KW, A fan of the REAL Nashville Predators"