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Sunday, October 11, 1998
More fights than goals as Nashville loses first NHL game
NASHVILLE (CP) -- The Predators have pounced on the NHL and, although they won't often win, they'll keep the crowds coming back if they continue to play with the determination they displayed in their first game.A 1-0 loss Saturday night to the Florida Panthers exposed the lowly skill level of this collection of expansion castoffs. The 20 players in the lineup scored a total of 92 NHL goals last season. None had more than 12.
Yet the effort from coach Barry Trotz's players could not be questioned. The defence shone, with John Slaney logging a team-high 24 minutes 41 seconds of ice time, and Mike Dunham excelling after his long wait to be a No. 1 NHL goaltender.
"We're a little rough around the edges," admitted defenceman Jayson More. "But it's going to come in a short time."
The NHL's debut was marketed as a Return of the Ice Age, and owner Craig Leipold was pleased with what he saw on the ice and in the stands, where a capacity crowd of 17,500 was eager to greet captain Tom Fitzgerald and his teammates when they skated onto the ice through the fangs of a giant inflatable sabre-toothed tiger head as fireworks popped and laser lights swirled.
The team mascot, Gnash, arrived down a cord from the ceiling, and then the Predators played with more poise than one would have expected from a cast of underachievers bent on making a good first impression. Trotz, who cancelled practice Sunday to let his players wind down, and assistants Paul Gardner and Brent Peterson had done their jobs well.
Before the game, there were tailgate parties in parking lots. Vanderbilt University professor John Crocetti, head of the Predators' fan club, wore a sabre-toothed tiger mask amid a crowd of 2,000 that screamed its approval as the players arrived in hummers.
"It made me feel like a star, like I was at a Hollywood premiere," said defenceman J.J. Daigneault, who is with his eighth NHL team and is the only Predator with a Stanley Cup ring (Montreal, 1993). "The only thing that was missing was someone asking me if Armani or Hugo Boss was dressing me."
The hoopla, and Leipold's organization, impressed NHL commissioner Gary Bettman no end.
"The roots of any tree are important," Bettman said. "While this tree is very small in terms of maturity, it's roots are very deep and very strong.
"I like this building, this city and this ownership group. This franchise is not on my trouble radar screen."
Most seats were filled during the warmup.
"It's great to have the city behind us like this," said Dunham. "And I think that if we come out every night and play like this we're gonna surprise some teams."
The Panthers won it on Ray Whitney's power-play goal 2:26 into the third period.
Darren Turcotte was one of Nashville's best forwards, Sergei Krivokrasov displayed some flashy skating, and Patrick Cote became the most popular hockey player in Tennessee.
Cote, who appeared in only eight NHL games in three previous seasons in the Dallas Stars' organization, was claimed in the expansion draft for his toughness. The six-foot-three, 200-pound Quebec native delivered Saturday night. He won a fight with Florida enforcer Peter Worrell, a former QMJHL adversary, then he KO'd Paul Laus. The two fights drew the loudest responses of the night.
With Dunham on the bench for an extra skater, the Predators swarmed around Panthers goalie Kirk McLean trying for a tying goal in the last minute. A blast by defenceman Jamie Heward nearly found the mark. Although it missed, most fans left the rink smiling.
They had arrived from far and wide. Retired teacher Gary Kerhoulas of London, Ont., has now seen every NHL team play a game.
Leipold, who had signed autographs for fans while standing at an entrance to greet them, rented a Planet Hollywood restaurant for a post-game party. The 46-year-old absentee owner -- he lives in Racine, Wis., and has a downtown condo here -- was in the dressing room after the loss to shake the players' hands and congratulate them for working their tails off.
"I am so excited for what has happened here in Nashville," he said when all was said and done.
