What can be done to improve Nashville Predators TV ratings?

Clay Travis of 104.5's 3HL got Nashville Predators fans stirred up this morning with an observation tied to Goodlettsville's outstanding run so far at the Little League World Series:

Goodlettsville's LLWS game yesterday does a 5.9 in Nashville. Higher rating than any Predators game in 14 years. Really.

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravisBGID) August 20, 2012

This, of course, elicited a spirited response from many Preds fans, which allowed Travis to reply with this:

I need to start doing a column with Pred fan excuses for why no one watches the Preds on TV. Even Bama fans think logic is worthless.

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravisBGID) August 20, 2012

But my thinking is, rather than complain about Travis kicking hockey fans around, why not ask what can possibly be done to improve the team's local TV ratings? We all know that some ideas may be impractical, but let's get 'em out there at least. Here are a few which occurred to me:

1. Get all games on a single channel, no more bouncing around from Fox Sports Tennessee to SportSouth (and alternates)
2. Even better, partner with a local station (i.e. 2, 4, 7, 17) as Kevin Ingram suggested on Twitter.
3. What's Heather Locklear doing these days? She sure seemed to boost ratings for every show she joined.

Seriously, rather than moan & groan about perceptions, what constructive ideas can people come up with to improve ratings? We all know that establishing a culture which tunes into hockey on a regular basis is a long-term challenge in the South, and it seems like things are headed in the right direction, but how can the team build upon that momentum?

Nashville's next great agitator? Sunday's notes

It's a lazy Sunday in middle of August, so the hockey notes are few and far between this morning! We start off with a good one, though, a bit of advanced scouting for a Nashville Predators prospect who you're probably not very familiar with...

Best of Nashville 2012 - The Nashville Scene

This year they have a reader poll for "Best Sports Blog". Can you help us defend our title from 2011? Vote daily!

Nashville Predators News

Coming Down the Pipe!: One To Watch: Nashville Predators
Guy Flaming predicts that Brendan Leipsic, drafted in the 3rd round by Nashville this summer, will develop into a crowd favorite.

Nashville Predators remain close to Central Division rivals | The Tennessean

Thanks to the Red Wings' summer of swing & miss, the Preds haven't lost much ground. St. Louis remains the favorite, though.

Around the Wide Wide World of Hockey

Lubomir Visnovsky escapes serious injury after crashing Ferrari during race in Slovakia | Puck Daddy
Whoopsie.

Melky Cabrera Cooked Up A Phony Website To Try To Beat His Suspension - Deadspin
Not hockey-related, but hilarious nonetheless.

Happy Town Hall Day: Monday's notes

Better late than never, right? Tonight at Bridgestone Arena, the Nashville Predators will host their annual Town Hall event (which, in the past, has taken place in early-mid July). Check here for the full schedule of events, which begin at 4:00 p.m., and last until 8:00 p.m. Will I see you there?

The hockey notes are few and far between today, but a good topic of discussion might be "what question do you want to see answered by the panel tonight"?

Best of Nashville 2012 - The Nashville Scene

This year they have a reader poll for "Best Sports Blog". Can you help us defend our title from 2011? Vote daily!

Today's Hockey Notes

Boclair: CBA contretemps | Nashville City Paper
Nashville benefited greatly from the previous CBA... will this one turn out as well for small-market teams?

Framing the Issue and Reasons for Optimism : Tom Benjamin's NHL Blog :: CanucksCorner.com
Whoa, Tom's optimistic?

Introducing the scariest mask in the NHL - Puck Drunk Love
Creepy!

Who is the Greatest #20 in Nashville Predators history?

Boy, this one will test some sensitivities, won't it?

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Jamie Heward

Heward signed on as a free agent for the Preds' kickoff season of 1998-1999, taking on the tough task of manning the blueline behind a first-year expansion team. It was, however, his first chance for full-time NHL work, and he chipped in with 6 goals and 12 assists (along with a team-worst -24 Plus/Minus). He moved on as a free agent in the summer of 1999, and played for five more teams over the next several years.

John Namestnikov

Picked up in trade from the New York Rangers in 2000 for Jason Dawe, this Russian defenseman spent most of his time with Milwaukee, playing just two games as a Predator in April of that year. He spent the entirety of 2000-2001 with the Admirals before heading back to his homeland.

Nathan Perrott

Perrott made his NHL debut with the Predators in the 2001-2002 season, suiting up for 22 games with one goal and two assists from the right wing. The rest of that season he played for Milwaukee, and was traded to Toronto after playing one game for Nashville in 2002-2003.

Oleg Petrov

Petrov was picked up in trade from Montreal in early March 2003, and wore the #20 for his first three games with Nashville before switching to #14 for the rest of the campaign. He didn't hit the scoresheet at all during those games.

Todd Warriner

Warriner was playing out his final NHL season in 2003 when he landed in Nashville for seven games down the stretch, having started the year with Vancouver. He was traded by the Canucks in February to Philadelphia, but the Flyers put him on waivers just a few weeks later, and the Preds claimed him. He picked up the #20 that Petrov had recently abandoned.

Simon Gamache

Gamache spent parts of two seasons with the Predators, immediately before and after the Great Lockout. He came over from Atlanta in a December 2003 trade, and wore #20 for seven games, scoring one goal. Once hockey resumed in the 2005-2006 season, he had switched to #41.

Ryan Suter

A prototypical example of the draft-and-develop model that Nashville is known for, Suter was the 7th overall draft pick in the 2003 draft held in Music City. Following the draft he spent one more year at the University of Wisconsin, spent the Lockout year with Milwaukee, and became a full-time NHL player when the league resumed in the fall of 2005.

After seven seasons for the Preds, he stands fourth on the franchise lists in career games played (542) and assists (200). He made his first All-Star Game appearance last season, but took his talents to Minnesota this summer as an unrestricted free agent.

Poll

Who is the Greatest #20 in Nashville Predators history?

• Simon Gamache
• Jamie Heward
• John Namestnikov
• Nathan Perrott
• Oleg Petrov
• Ryan Suter
• Todd Warriner

  137 votes | Results

Nashville Predators ratings in EA Sports' NHL '13 released

While a full 82-game regular season NHL schedule still remains up in the air for the 2012-13 season, the beat will go on in the virtual world. NHL '13 is set for release on September 11, 2012, and we're slowly, but surely starting to learn more and more about the game.

Today, EA released the player ratings for Western Conference teams, which of course includes our beloved Predators. Follow after the jump for ratings (minus the new guy), OUTRAGE and a fancy graphic:

As a Predators fan, I think you have to be pleased with these ratings, because it looks like, for the most part, they went with the best case scenario.

A few things that stand out:

• EA still has Paul Gaustad on the wing. Come on, he's a center. It was frustrating last year having to switch he and Craig Smith's spots on the fourth line, and then having to put him on the PK. Anyways....
• Is Martin Erat really as good as David Legwand?
• Brandon Yip is a full "four" better than Gabby Bourque (lol).
• Everything looks to be ok on defense. Weber 90, Klein 78, Gill 80, Josi and Ellis low 70s, but will probably improve, Blum 81- OH MY GOD. WHAT ARE YOU DOING EA?
• Rinne at 89 is - I think, correct me if I'm wrong - a slight drop off from his rating last year.

Thoughts? Comments? OUTRAGE of your own?

[h/t to @jrlind for pointing this out]

Nashville Predators sign defenseman Scott Hannan

The Nashville Predators have addressed the lack of experienced depth on the blueline by signing free agent defenseman Scott Hannan to a one-year contract. This provides some backup on the left side, where the depth chart currently has a lot of youth outside of Hal Gill.

Quoth the Preds:

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has signed defenseman Scott Hannan to a one-year, $1 million contract.

Hannan, 33 (1/23/79), has amassed 197 points (33g-164a) and 522 penalty minutes in 908 regular-season games and 15 points (1g-14a) and 89 penalty minutes in 82 playoff games with San Jose, Colorado, Washington and Calgary since the 1998-99 season. The 6-1, 225-pound blueliner enters the 2012-13 season having played more games than any NHL defenseman in the last 10 seasons (798). Hannan dressed for 75-or-more games for the 11th consecutive season (78), and averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons (20:21) with the Calgary Flames a season ago.

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The folks up in Calgary seem to have been pretty happy with how he fit in last season, and I think he makes a nice fit here. He can play a basic, reliable type of game and can hopefully soak up some of the tough minutes allowing guys like Roman Josi to be put in a position where they can succeed.

As for Jonathon Blum? The pressure to earn a roster spot may have just gotten a bit tougher, but a seven-man unit of Shea Weber, Kevin Klein, Scott Hannan, Hal Gill, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Jon Blum looks likely. At least with Blum, there's a comfort level there that he can play either side, so he may serve well as the 7th D.

Who is the Greatest #19 in Nashville Predators history?

Today's entry in the jersey number series presents us with a wide sampling of players from Nashville's hockey past. We have scorers, pluggers, thumpers and fighters all vying for your vote as the Greatest #19 of them all...

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Andrew Brunette

Brunette was a member of that first Nashville Predators team, and back in the 1998-99 season he chipped in 11 goals and 20 assists (with just 65 shots!). He will always hold a spot in Preds lore, however, as it was he who scored the first goal in franchise history, in a 3-2 win over Carolina on October 13, 1998.

He was traded in the summer of 1999 for a 5th-round draft pick, and has gone on to play over 1,110 games for a variety of different teams.

Mike Watt

Picked up via waivers for the 2000-2001 season, Watt patrolled the left wing for 18 games (1 goal, 1 assist) that year for Nashville, spending the rest of the time in Milwaukee. He was traded that summer to Philadelphia, but played only 5 more games in the NHL from that point on.

Martin Erat

More commonly recognized for being #10 in your program (but #1 in your hearts), Erat wore #19 during his first two NHL seasons, 2001-2002 and 2002-2003. In his rookie campaign he put up a respectable 33 points (9 goals, 24 assists) in 80 games, before spending most of the next season with Milwaukee. After that, he rebounded into full-time NHL work starting with the 2003-2004 season, bearing his signature #10.

Jim McKenzie

McKenzie had a long run as a hulking, physical winger who made Nashville his 9th and final NHL team during the 2003-2004 season (just after having won the Stanley Cup with New Jersey). While he put up just one goal and three assists during his 61 games as a Predator, that did bring up him to a nice round figure of 100 for his career.

Brendan Witt

Perhaps the first big Trade Deadline acquisition by the Preds, Witt was acquired in March 2006 from Washington in exchange for Kris Beech and a 1st-round draft pick (which later became goaltender Semyon Varlamov, now with Colorado). He was a huge thumper on the blueline who added toughness to the Nashville defense. After Nashville's playoff run fizzled against San Jose in six games, Witt signed as a free agent with the Islanders that summer.

Jason Arnott

Signed as a free agent in 2006, Arnott added genuine scoring punch down the middle. Out of his four seasons in Nashville, three of those are listed in the team's Top 10 in goal scoring, and he still holds the franchise mark for goals in a season with 33, set in 2008-2009.

Some fans didn't appreciate his lack of "rah rah" attitude on the ice or in the press, but Arnott stepped into a leadership role in 2007 after the Great Fire Sale and led the team to a remarkable playoff berth when the team's future in Nashville hung in the balance. It was his blast that ended Dominik Hasek's NHL career in 2008, and who knows what would have happened in that series against Detroit if Alex Radulov hadn't concussed him in the ensuing celebration. He left the Preds via the Matt Halischuk trade in June 2010, having compiled 107 goals and 122 assists in 275 games.

Poll

Who is the Greatest #19 in Nashville Predators history?

• Jason Arnott
• Andrew Brunette
• Martin Erat
• Jim McKenzie
• Mike Watt
• Brendan Witt

  329 votes | Results