2006 Nashville Predators Preview

2006 Nashville Predators Preview from Maddux Sports. With the NHL Hockey Season opening up, now is the time to get aquatinted with the 2006 teams and players. Remember if you are NHL hockey betting look no further, as we offer hockey picks and can help you turn a profit betting on the NHL this season.

2006 Nashville Predators Hockey Season Preview

Can the Nashville Predators be the next Stanley Cup champions? They certainly have as good a shot as any other top team. Over the years, this club has been built up and vastly improved. Last season they were in the top ten in most categories, finishing eighth on defense and tied for 10th on offense.

This is a team with fast forwards. Paul Kariya (31 G, 54 A, 85 Pts) had one of his best seasons in years and Steve Sullivan (31 G, 37 A, 68 Pts) proved to be extremely effective. Former Dallas center Jason Arnott (32 G, 44 A, 76 Pts) brings mass, speed and playmaking to the first line, taking pressure off of center David Legwand (7 G, 19 A, 26 Pts over 44 games).

The Predators are also speedy on defense with Kimmo Timonen (11 G, 39 A, 50 Pts) and Marek Zidlicky (12 G, 37 A, 49 Pts) providing seamless back-and-forth play. There’s no true big man on D, but there’s plenty of youthful speed. Dan Hamhuis (7 G, 31 A, 38 Pts) enters his third year as a quickly maturing force in the league.

Together these squads provided a quick moving power play (10th in the league) and an effective penalty kill (tied for fifth). But this team’s youthfulness often got the best of them last year, with Nashville averaging over 18 minutes of penalties per game (28th in the NHL). With another league veteran like Arnott, they should improve in this area.

The Predators are rich in goaltending. Tomas Vokoun (61 GP, 36 W, 18 L, 7 OT, 2.67 GAA, .919 SP) has excellent positioning and quick reactions. Despite the fact that backup Chris Mason (23 GP, 12 W, 5 L, 1 OT, 2.54 GAA, .919 SP) is an fine stabilizing force, the team hopes that Vokoun’s health issues are over and he can play a full season.

The Predators will duke it out with the Red Wings for first place in their division, and they certainly could win that battle. Like last season, they’ll be in the playoffs.

For more information on the 2006 Nashville Hockey Club check out the Predators team website.