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2003-04 NHL SEASON

WRAP-UP

As Richard Zednik goes, the Nashville Predators go. The winger has stepped up a lot this season, and has been the main player driving this squad to the top. Because, yes, despite an injury-plagued season, the Preds did very well for themselves, finishing with a 42-29-8-3 record, for 95 points, and almost overtaking the Blues for the Central Division lead.

The team got more bad news when Skrbek got injured again in February, missing one month of action. When Scott Hartnell finally came back later that month, GM Austin Killer decided to send rookie Boyd Long to the AHL, after he had played 30 games. ''We are pleased with Long's overall play and development as a part of the main team. With Hartnell back into the line-up, he would have seen his ice-time reduced, so we think it's better for him to go back down. Long represents the future of this franchise at wing, and we think he will be up with us full-time as soon as next season.''

Seeing his team winning games despite the injuries, Killer decided to pull the trigger on a very big deal, that saw Nashville's defense get upgraded. The team sent former 1st round pick Dmitri Mikhaylov, a 2nd rounder in 2004 and Karlis Skrastins to the Vancouver Canucks for Ed Jovanovski. Jovocop, a 27 years old on a solid contract, is widely considered a top-flight D in this league. ''Jovanovski's acquisition will mean a lot to Barry and the guys in the locker room. He will come in and be a true #1 for us, and will lighten the workload on Timonen's shoulders. We could afford to lose Mikhaylov with the recent development of Dan Hamhuis and Tomas Slovak on the farm.''

All in all, Legwand missed 71 games this year, Skrbek 42, Hartnell 32, Yachmenev 7, Zednik 4 and Tenkrat 4 as well.

Around the hockey world
 

Some trade deadline deals:

-MIN deals Matt Plaxton (former 6th overall pick) to CAR for Petr Schastlivy (a 24 years old 3rd liner)
-ATL deals Ilya Kovalchuk to BOS for Hal Gill and goalie Steve Belanger (20 yrs old, solid potential)
-FLA deals Kristian Huselius to VAN for prospects
-PHI deals Simon Gagne to CGY for Bret Hedican and Jarrett Stoll
-BUF deals Jan Hlavac to OTT for Tim Gleason
-BUF deals Max Afinogenov to MIN for Ian Moran, prospects

Baffling move in Atlanta, especially since they already have Ryan Miller, so no need for another goalie prospect...

Surprisingly, the Detroit Red Wings miss the playoffs, and just like that the dynasty is over; Hull, Robitaille and Hasek are all retring, Yzerman already did, and Fedorov is with the Blues. Only Lidstrom is left, with very few key youngsters to take over... Meanwhile, the Jackets finish dead last AGAIN. The good news is their young defenseman Lyapunov is widely considered to be the best young D in the game already.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
1. New Jersey - 113
2. Tampa Bay - 108
3. Boston - 94
4. Pittsburgh - 103
5. Ottawa - 92
6. Washington - 91
7. Toronto - 90
8. Philadelphia - 85
=
9. Montreal - 78
10. Buffalo - 71
11. Atlanta - 71
12. NY Islanders - 70
13. Carolina - 69
14. Florida - 64
15. NY Rangers - 63

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
1. Colorado - 120
2. Anaheim - 111
3. St.Louis - 96
4. Edmonton - 106
5. Dallas - 96
6. Nashville - 95
7. San Jose - 83
8. Chicago - 81
=
9. Los Angeles - 80
10. Detroit - 77
11. Vancouver - 75
12. Phoenix - 72
13. Calgary - 65
14. Minnesota - 57
15. Columbus - 54

NHL STATS

TOP NHL GOALIES
1. Dominik Hasek (DET) 67 GP - 27 W - .922% - 2,69 - 5 SO
2. Patrick Roy (COL) 54 GP - 36 W - .912% - 2,15 - 4 SO
3. Martin Brodeur (NJ) 55 GP - 35 W - .908% - 2,18 - 6 SO
4. Olaf Kolzig (WSH) 68 GP - 37 W - .911% - 2,43 - 4 SO
5. Tomas Vokoun (NSH) 70 GP - 35 W - .910% - 2,55 - 3 SO

TOP NHL ROOKIES
1. Kalle Salle (TB) 22-35-57
2. Kamil Piros (ATL) 19-23-42
3. Zdenek Blatny (ATL) 14-18-32
4. Henrik Zetterberg (DET) 9-22-31
5. Grigori Lyapunov (CBJ) 8-20-28

TOP NHL DEFENSEMEN
1. Rob Blake (COL) 17-42-59
2. Brian Leetch (TOR) 17-41-58
3. Brian Rafalski (NJ) 14-42-56
4. Kim Johnsson (PHI) 15-40-55
5. Zdeno Chara (OTT) 16-38-54

2004 PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:
1. Colorado vs 8. Chicago
2. Anaheim vs 7. San Jose
3. St.Louis vs 6. Nashville
4. Edmonton vs 5. Dallas

1. New Jersey vs 8. Philadelphia
2. Tampa Bay vs 7. Toronto
3. Boston vs 6. Washington
4. Pittsburgh vs 5. Ottawa

ROUND 1

 VS

Still injured for the Nashville Predators: David Legwand. And against a club like St.Louis, he will be dearly missed. They have an incredible offense with Pronger and MacInnis on D, though their goaltending ain't that great.

Nashville lines:
Marc Savard - Eric Lindros - Scott Walker
Richard Zednik - Patrick Marleau - Vitalii Yachmenev
Scott Hartnell - Aaron Gavey - Petr Tenkrat
Vladimir Orszagh - Denis Arkhipov - Shean Donovan

Ed Jovanovski - Mark Eaton
Kimmo Timonen - Richard Lintner
Pavel Skrbek - Andy Delmore

Tomas Vokoun / Jan Lasak

St.Louis lines:
Cory Stillman - Sergei Fedorov - Pavol Demitra
Keith Tkachuk - Doug Weight - Scott Young
Dallas Drake - Mike Keane - Scott Mellanby
Blake Evans - Daniel Corso - Eric Boulton

Chris Pronger - Erick Smith
Barret Jackman - Al MacInnis
Kevin Haller - Jeff Finley

Fred Brathwaite / Brent Johnson

Game 1 - NSH 2 @ STL 6

Vokoun starts the playoffs with a stinker, as he did last year against Colorado. This team is gonna need him to play better if they wanna have a chance. Arkhipov got two assists from the 4th line.

Game 2 - NSH 3 @ STL 4

A very close match-up, decided late in the 3rd. Vokoun was better, but not good enough. Lindros & Zednik are nowhere to be seen. Fedorov with 2 pts.

Game 3 - STL 6 @ NSH 3

In Nashville, the Blues dictated the play and pull ahead by 3. The Predators did score the first 3 goals of the game... which as you can figure out means Vokoun allowed 6 unanswered goals.

Game 4 - STL 4 @ NSH 3

Nashville can't regain that magic that made them force a game-7 against the Avalanche last season as Doug Weight plays the hero, scoring the series-clincher in overtime.

GM Austin Killer had very bad words for his goalie Tomas Vokoun, as did Barry Trotz. It was an unacceptable performance by him and the team's two star forwards, Eric Lindros and Richard Zednik.

1. Scott Hartnell 3-1-4
2. Denis Arkhipov 1-3-4
3. Aaron Gavey 0-3-3
4. Ed Jovanovski 0-3-3
5. Eric Lindros 2-0-2
Tomas Vokoun - 4 GP - 0 W - .829% - 5,00 - 0 SO

COL 4 - CHI 2
ANA 4 - SJ 2
STL 4 - NSH 0
EDM 4 - DAL 2

NJ 4 - PHI 0
TB 4 - TOR 0
BOS 4 - WSH 2
PIT 2 - OTT 4

2004 Round 2:
COL-EDM
ANA-STL
NJ-OTT
TB-BOS

Round 2 results:
COL 4 - EDM 1
ANA 2 - STL 4
NJ 4 - OTT 2
TB 4 - BOS 3

2004 Round 3:
COL-STL
NJ-TB

Colorado beats the Blues 4-1, meaning a 2nd straight Stanley Cup appearance for them. They won it all last year. In similar fashion, the Devils also beat the Bolts 4-1, and are making their 3rd straight Stanley Cup appearance. They lost in 2003 to Colorado, but beat St.Louis in 2002.

THE 2004 STANLEY CUP FINALS

 VS
 

The re-match !

Colorado Avalanche line-up
Alex Tanguay - Peter Forsberg - Milan Hejduk
Steven Reinprecht - Joe Sakic - Chris Drury
Shjon Podein - Stephane Yelle - Radim Vrbata
Brian Willsie - Riku Hahl - Mikhail Kuleshov

Radoslav Suchy - Rob Blake
Martin Skoula - Adam Foote
Rick Berry - Mikko Viitanen

Patrick Roy - David Aebischer

New Jersey Devils line-up
Patrik Elias - Scott Gomez - Jay Pandolfo
Turner Stevenson - Jason Arnott - Petr Sykora
Sergei Brylin - Bobby Holik - Mike Knuble
Andrei Nazarov - Marcel Goc - Brian Gionta

Scott Stevens - Brian Rafalski
Colin White - Mike Commodore
Jamie Pushor - David Hale

Martin Brodeur - Scott Clemmensen

Colorado does the impossible and sweeps the Devils, winning their 2nd straight Stanley Cup, 3rd in 4 years and 4th in total (1996, 2001, 2003, 2004). That is 4 Stanley Cups in 9 NHL seasons for the Avalanche. Impressive!

After winning it all, Patrick Roy has decided to hang them up. Roy has won 2 Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens and 4 with Colorado. A true legend!

Joe Sakic wins the Conn Smythe by scoring 25 points.

1. Joe Sakic (COL) 11-14-25
2. Chris Drury (COL) 8-13-21
3. Milan Hejduk (COL) 8-9-17
4. Doug Weight (STL) 7-10-17
5. Rob Blake (COL) 4-12-16

2004 NHL AWARDS
Jack Adams - Bob Hartley (COL)
Calder - Kalle Salle (TB)
Hart - Mario Lemieux (PIT)
Jennings - Patrick Roy (COL)
Vezina - Martin Brodeur (NJ)
Norris - Rob Blake (COL)
Rocket - Jaromir Jagr (WSH)
Art Ross - Mario Lemieux (PIT)
Selke - Vincent Lecavalier (ANA)

RECENT STANLEY CUP HISTORY

2004 Colorado victory over New Jersey
2003 Colorado victory over New Jersey
2002 New Jersey victory over St.Louis
2001 Colorado victory over New Jersey
2000 New Jersey victory over Dallas
1999 Dallas victory over Buffalo
1998 Detroit victory over Washington
1997 Detroit victory over Philadelphia
1996 Colorado victory over Florida
1995 New Jersey victory over Detroit
 

Notice the dominance of NJ, DET, DAL and COL over this time period... wow!

NASHVILLE PREDATORS HISTORY

SEASON RESULTS
1998-99: 28 W - 63 PTS - 12th in the West
1999-00: 28 W - 70 PTS - 13th in the West
2000-01: 34 W - 80 PTS - 10th in the West
2001-02: 26 W - 60 PTS - 14th in the West
2002-03: 35 W - 83 PTS - 8th in the West (eliminated in 1st round by COL)
2003-04: 42 W - 95 PTS - 6th in the West (eliminated in 1st round by STL)

MOST GOALS IN A SEASON
1. Eric Lindros - 33 (2002-03)
2. Scott Walker - 33 (2003-04)
3. Scott Walker - 29 (2002-03)
4. Eric Lindros - 29 (2003-04)
5. Vitalii Yachmenev - 28 (2003-04)
6. Richard Zednik - 27 (2002-03)
7. David Legwand - 27 (2002-03)
8. Cliff Ronning - 26 (1999-00)
9. Richard Zednik - 26 (2003-04)
10. Scott Walker - 25 (2000-01)

MOST ASSISTS IN A SEASON
1. Richard Zednik - 50 (2003-04)
2. Richard Zednik - 47 (2002-03)
3. Cliff Ronning - 43 (2000-01)
4. David Legwand - 43 (2002-03)
5. Eric Lindros - 41 (2003-04)
6. Vitalii Yachmenev - 37 (2003-04)
7. Cliff Ronning - 36 (1999-00)
8. Cliff Ronning - 35 (1998-99)
9. Marc Savard - 35 (2001-02)
10. Greg Johnson - 34 (1998-99)

MOST POINTS IN A SEASON
1. Richard Zednik - 76 (2003-04)
2. Richard Zednik - 74 (2002-03)
3. David Legwand - 70 (2002-03)
4. Eric Lindros - 70 (2003-04)
5. Eric Lindros - 65 (2002-03)
6. Vitalii Yachmenev - 65 (2003-04)
7. Scott Walker - 63 (2003-04)
8. Cliff Ronning - 62 (1999-00)
9. Cliff Ronning - 62 (2000-01)
10. Scott Walker - 59 (2002-03)

MOST POINTS (DMEN) IN A SEASON
1. Kimmo Timonen - 41 (2002-03)
2. Kimmo Timonen - 37 (2003-04)
3. Mark Eaton - 37 (2003-04)
4. Kimmo Timonen - 33 (1999-00)
5. Andy Delmore - 33 (2001-02)
6. Drake Berehowsky - 32 (1999-00)
7. Andy Delmore - 32 (2003-04)
8. Kimmo Timonen - 31 (2001-02)
9. Richard Lintner - 28 (2002-03)
10. Richard Lintner - 28 (2003-04)

MOST WINS IN A SEASON
1. Tomas Vokoun - 35 (2003-04)
2. Tomas Vokoun - 30 (2002-03)
3. Tomas Vokoun - 23 (2001-02)
4. Mike Dunham - 21 (2000-01)
5. Mike Dunham - 19 (1999-00)
6. Mike Dunham - 16 (1998-99)
7. Tomas Vokoun - 13 (2000-01)
8. Tomas Vokoun - 12 (1998-99)
9. Tomas Vokoun - 9 (1999-00)
10. Jan Lasak - 7 (2003-04)

MOST GOALS AS A PREDATOR
1. Scott Walker - 128
2. Vitalii Yachmenev - 81
3. Cliff Ronning - 81
4. David Legwand - 81
5. Petr Tenkrat - 67
6. Eric Lindros - 62
7. Kimmo Timonen - 55
8. Greg Johnson - 55
9. Richard Zednik - 53
10. Marc Savard - 50

MOST ASSISTS AS A PREDATOR
1. Scott Walker - 169
2. Cliff Ronning - 148
3. Kimmo Timonen - 124
4. David Legwand - 123
5. Vitalii Yachmenev - 108
6. Marc Savard - 102
7. Richard Zednik - 97
8. Greg Johnson - 93
9. Patric Kjellberg - 74
10. Eric Lindros - 73

MOST POINTS AS A PREDATOR
1. Scott Walker - 297
2. Cliff Ronning - 229
3. David Legwand - 204
4. Vitalii Yachmenev - 189
5. Kimmo Timonen - 179
6. Greg Johnson - 158
7. Marc Savard - 152
8. Richard Zednik - 150
9. Eric Lindros - 135
10. Patric Kjellberg - 122

MOST POINTS (DMEN) AS A PREDATOR
1. Kimmo Timonen - 179
2. Andy Delmore - 90
3. Mark Eaton - 82
4. Drake Berehowsky - 73
5. Bill Houlder - 57
6. Karlis Skrastins - 56
7. Richard Lintner - 56
8. Pavel Skrbek - 34
9. Andy Berenzweig - 33
10. Jamie Heward - 18

MOST WINS AS A PREDATOR
1. Tomas Vokoun - 122
2. Mike Dunham - 56
3. Jan Lasak - 10
4. Chris Mason - 5

2004 NHL DRAFT PREVIEW

1. Lance Rodway, C (6'5 223) from CAN

A huge body and a huge talent. Despite being so tall and big, Rodway is known for his soft hands and quick skating. He is also very strong on his skates, obviously.

2. Aaron Levins, C (6'2 217) from CAN

Levins has a lot of offensive skills, including a great slapper and solid vision. He can also hit very hard, but needs to work on his skating.

3. John Peoples, C (6'3 220) from USA

Peoples is a big speedster at center who plays an amazing two-way game. He will make an impact anywhere on the ice and is great at faceoffs.

4. Juan DeJesus, RW (6'2 190) from USA

Here is a solid winger that can pick corners with the best of them. He is very fast on his skates, and loves to score goals.

5. Jaroslav Prochazka, LW (6'1 195) from CZE

The top Czech prospect in this draft has smooth skating and a solid wrister, but poor defensive awareness.

6. Scott Douris, LW (6'1 183) from CAN

Douris is an all-around winger that can do a little bit of everything on the ice, especially produce points. His speed allows him to always be around the puck.

7. Adam Ayre, RW (6'3 207) from CAN

Ayre is a big, talented winger that absolutely loves to destroy people. He does need to work on his skating, but doesn't have any other holes in his game.

8. Robert Wight, D (6'3 220) from CAN

Wight is a defensive-minded blueliner that is always in great position. He defends his zone swiftly and is well disciplined.

9. Paul Seymour, RW (6'1 177) from CAN

Seymour is a sniper who loves to dangle, show off his moves. needs work on defensive side of the game and isn't very physical. All-out offense.

10. Martin Nolet, C (5'9 157) from CAN

Nolet is a smallish, finesse playmaking center that can shoot well. His skating is great and should allow him to have success at the next level.

2004 NHL DRAFT

The hockey world heard with great surprise the decision of Columbus to draft Adam Ayre 1st overall. It is not that Ayre is not a good hockey player. It's just that he was ranked a little bit further, and when you're a team in need such as CBJ, and you're getting yet another top pick, you have to make the right choices. It was really surprising that anyone would pass up on giant center Lance Rodway.

The suspense was unbelivable in the arena when Rodway started dropping. What exactly do fans and even media members don't know about the player that has been compared to Joe Thornton? What we know for sure now is that Rodway will join the Islanders, and will probably make their team right away. Ayre vs Rodway will be an interesting battle to follow for the next 15-20 years.

Nashville Draftees

In the first round, the Predators chose French-Canadian center Dany Dumas, a tall, offensive-minded forward who has lots of potential. Another French-Canadian was picked in the 3rd round, in goaltender Charles Godin, perhaps Vokoun's eventual successor.

22 Dany Dumas, C (6'3 212) from Canada
72 Charles Godin, G (5'11 198) from Canada
82 Aki Hesso, D (6'3 208) from Finland
112 Mats Nyberg, C (6'1 193) from Sweden
142 Martin Kenda, RW (6'1 210) from Austria
 

2004 OFF-SEASON

There was a big rumour swirling around. And when general manager Austin Killer called the media in for a press conference, we knew exactly what had happened.

Killer announced: ''As you know, the Predadors are mostly a small-budget organization. Our owner, Craig Leipold, has been very generous, and doesn't want to sacrifize on-ice success for a couple of bucks, of course. So I wouldn't have made this trade if it wasn't 100% justified. With Tomas Vokoun's salary demands, we had no choice but to deal our recent prized acquisition, Eric Lindros, to the Buffalo Sabres. Lindros' $7M salary is just too big to absorb for us right now. We are still a young franchise with a growing fanbase. We may be able to accumulate more star players with big salaries in the future, but not right now.''

In return for Lindros, the Nashville Predators welcome big-time prospect Joe Bowen, a left winger, drafted 5th overall in 2002, as well as young German goalie Thomas Baudendistel, a 5th round pick in 2002. Bowen is expected to compete for a roster spot in Nashville, while Baudendistel will most likely be the starter in Milwaukee.

Killer said on Vokoun: ''Despite his recent struggles, we have complete confidence in Vokoun as our starting goalie, and this trade proves that. Also, we are pleased to announce that Tomas has re-signed with us for 4 years, at $6.5M per season.''

OTHER NASHVILLE RE-SIGNINGS:
F Scott Walker, RFA -- $1.6M per year for 3 years
F Petr Tenkrat, RFA -- $750K per year for 4 years
D Richard Lintner, RFA -- $850K per year for 3 years

The Predators let Martin Erat walk as a free agent. Also, another trade was made to cut down the payroll, when backup goalie Jan Lasak was sent to Detroit for 21-years old prospect Igor Grigorenko and a 3rd round pick.

KEY NHL RETIREES:
Ray Ferraro
Dominik Hasek
Patrick Roy
Brett Hull
Luc Robitaille
Mike Richter
Al MacInnis
Shayne Corson
Curtis Joseph
Claude Lemieux

Good news for Nashville fans as Colorado (Roy) and St.Louis (MacInnis) will be hurting whereas Detroit is pretty much done as a contender for now with these retirees.

-Rangers trade Petr Nedved to Vancouver for Krys Kolanos

-Lightning deal Calder winner Kalle Sala to Columbus for Vaclav Nevihosteny (61st pick in 2003) and Achim Weisz (91st pick in 2004). TB got hosed, of course. Finally a good move for the Jackets.

-Capitals trade Dainiuz Zubrus to Detroit for prospects.

-Bobby Holik signs with Edmonton

-Keith Primeau signs with Washington

TRAINING CAMP 2004

First day of camp, GM Killer strikes a deal with the Oilers, sending farmhand Matt Hendricks and recently drafted Mats Nyberg for goaltender George Oberacker. He is also from Germany, and was the 19th overall pick in 2002. He will backup Vokoun this season.

The main question in camp was who of 2002 top picks Long and Bowen would make the club at left wing, and in the end it was Bobby Long who locked down a spot. Bowen will go work on his game in Milwaukee. He will line-up with fellow prospect Miika Harila and recently acquired Igor Grigorenko.

Highly-critized CBJ 1st overall pick Adam Ayre impressed in pre-season play, scoring 8 goals in 8 games.

The Nashville Predators lose their projected #7 D in Alexei Vasiliev to Minnesota in the waivers draft.

NASHVILLE TOP-10 PROSPECTS, FALL 2004
1. Joe Bowen, F (AHL)
2. Dan Hamhuis, D (AHL)
3. Dany Dumas, F (Juniors)
4. Tomas Slovak, D (AHL)
5. Miika Harila, F (AHL)
6. Thomas Baudendistel, G (AHL)
7. Aki Hesso, D (Juniors)
8. Anthony Turner, F (Juniors)
9. Jeremy Buchberger, D (Juniors)
10. Tony Clark, F (AHL)

TOP NHL PLAYERS FOR THE 2004-05 SEASON
1. Martin Brodeur, G (NJ)
2. Jaromir Jagr, F (WSH)
3. Joe Sakic, F (COL)
4. Chris Pronger, D (STL)
5. Mario Lemieux, F (PIT)
6. Peter Forsberg, F (COL)
7. Paul Kariya, F (ANA)
8. Rob Blake, D (COL)
9. Byron Dafoe, G (BOS)
10. Olaf Kolzig, G (WSH)

TOP CONTENDERS FOR THE 2004-05 SEASON
1. New Jersey
2. Anaheim
3. Colorado
4. Boston
5. Dallas
6. Edmonton
7. Ottawa
8. St.Louis
9. Washington
10. Pittsburgh

YOUR 2004-05 NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Head Coach: Barry Trotz
Captain: Scott Walker
Assistants: David Legwand, Vitalii Yachmenev
Payroll: $32,572,000