Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League(NHL)

Franchise history

The team was named after the fossil skull of a saber-toothed cat—a species extinct for at least 10,000 years—that was found in August 1971, in a cave during the excavation for the AmSouth Center in downtown Nashville. The fossil is only the fifth of its kind found in North America.
When awarded a franchise, the Predators got a very lucrative deal. The city of Nashville paid 31.50% of the $80-million fee to join the league. The city also absorbs operating losses from the arena, despite the fact that the Sommet Center is operated by a subsidiary of the team.
The Predators first took the ice on October 10, 1998, where they lost 1-0 at home to the Florida Panthers. Three nights later, on October 13, they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 for their first win. Forward Andrew Brunette scored the first goal on a play that was reviewed by the video goal judge.

1998-99 season
The Predators, in their first year of existence, finished second-last in the Western Conference with a 28-47-7 record, ahead of the Vancouver Canucks.

1999-00 season
The Predators finished the 1999-00 NHL season with an almost identical record to the previous season (28-47-7-7), and finished last in the West behind the Calgary Flames. During a game versus the New York Islanders on February 20, 2000 the Predators scored four goals in 3 minutes and 38 seconds.

2000-01 season
The Predators opened the 2000-01 NHL season with two games in Japan against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Each team won a game in front of the largest crowds ever to see a hockey game in Japan. Backed by the goaltending duo of Mike Dunham and Tomas Vokoun, Nashville finished the season in tenth place in the West, 10 points out of a playoff spot with a 34-36-9-3 record, good for 80 total points.

2001-02 season
A highlight of the 2001-02 NHL season for the Predators was recording their 100th victory as a franchise on December 6, 2001. With that win, Nashville became the second-fastest expansion team of the 1990s to reach the 100-win plateau. The team was especially unlucky in overtime, finishing with a 28-41-13-0 record - good for 69 points, and 15th spot in the West.

2002-03 season
The 2002-03 NHL season saw another record broken by the Predators, as coach Barry Trotz broke the record for most games coached by the original coach of an expansion team (392 games). Nashville finished the season with a 27-35-13-7 record for 74 points, putting them well out of contention in the Western Conference in 14 place.

2003-04 season
In the 2003-04 NHL season, the Predators, under coach Barry Trotz, finished eighth in the Western Conference and made their first trip to the playoffs. The rival Red Wings beat them in six games in the quarterfinal.

2004-05 season
This season did not occur due to a labour dispute between the owners and players.

2005-06 season
In 2005-06, the Predators set an NHL record by winning their first four games by one goal each (although two of those were shootout victories, which would have been tie games in previous seasons). They also became only the fourth NHL franchise to start the season 8-0; the last time a team did so was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who set the mark with a 10-0 start in 1993. The Buffalo Sabres tied the Leafs' record in 2006. The Predators set the franchise mark for wins in a season with a 2-0 shutout of the Phoenix Coyotes on March 16, 2006. In that match, Chris Mason became the ninth goaltender to score a goal. By the end of the season, the Predators had accumulated 106 points—their first 100-point season—and clinched home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs for the first time in team history. They finished the season with an NHL-best 32-8-1 record at home.
In the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Predators faced the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. The Sharks beat them in five games.

2006-07 season
The Predators acquired veteran center Jason Arnott from free agency on July 2, 2006. Arnott and David Legwand led the team in goals with 27 each. Late in the season the Predators traded two former first round draft picks Scottie Upshall and Ryan Parent, plus their first-round pick and a third-round pick in the 2007 draft, to the Philadelphia Flyers for five-time NHL all-star Peter Forsberg.
The Predators finished the season in fourth place in the Western Conference with 110 points, a franchise record. They were defeated by the San Jose Sharks in the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs Western conference quarter-finals for the second year in a row, losing the series 4 games to 1, for the second straight season.

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