Weekend Wrap Up

The Predators opened their regular season with back to back games on Friday and Saturday. I predicted that we would go 1-1 in our first two games, which we did. However, we lost to the team I expected us to easily defeat and beat the team I expected us to struggle against.

Quite frankly, I saw two entirely different teams on the ice from one night to the next. Friday's game versus the St. Louis Blues presented a team that did not look at all ready to play a regular season game. We looked sluggish on the ice and unprepared to work hard. While we managed to score the first goal of the game, the fact that St. Louis scored two goals mere seconds apart from one another did little to help our confidence. This is something we struggled with throughout the season last year. I would have expected us to learn from that and be better equipped to handle similar situations this time around. Obviously, we still have things to work on.

Dan Ellis looked a bit rusty even though he seemed up to form during pre-season. Coming into this season with the notion that he is our number one might have had something to do with it; that and opening night nerves and jitters, I'm sure. The Preds were dropped by the Blues 2-5 and the most positive thing I can say about Friday night was that I was happy for the St. Louis fans who got to experience a season opener win at home. Every fan should be so lucky.

Coming in to last night's game against the Dallas Stars, my hopes were high as I too, wanted to experience a win for our regular season home opener. We struggled a bit with Dallas last season, so I wasn't too sure what to expect; especially after the previous night's poor performance. However, my boys did not disappoint and last night's game had it all, including three fights and two game misconducts. Sorry, Hammer and serves you right, Avery. Captain and birthday boy Jason Arnott (the "dad" of my Family Line) had a fantastic night with two goals and one assist, definitely showing he can still bring it in the goal-scoring department. His great performance last night even earned him the second spot in NHL.com's Stars of the Day.

Last night's team was definitely not the same team I saw in St. Louis the night before. Our defense was where they needed to be and even Greg Zanon looked like he might have recaptured his rookie year spirit. While there were defintely things we can take away from last night and work on, I was pleased with our on-ice product and look forward to seeing what we do from here on out.

We're on the road in Chicago tomorrow night; headed to Dallas for a re-match on Wednesday and then face Columbus in home-and-home games Friday and Saturday. With a schedule full of road games over the next two months, I'm curious to see how this year's team fares away from home. For some teams, road games are quite the struggle and others, not so much. I hope the Predators will use the next couple of months to bond as a team on and off the ice and really establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with during the games that really count.

Last night's game brought back to mind all the things I love about this sport and more specifically, the Predators. I know it's only been two games, but I can't wait to see where we're headed this season.