Bringing the cup to Nashville | A Predators BAGM

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Nashville Predators

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Team: Nashville Predators
GM Difficulty: Medium
GM Firing: Off (If I do bad I don't want to get fired I wanna stick with Nashville)

Format: Undecided, but I know I'm not doing box scores for every game. I may post a few games a month, have a monthly recap and then post all of the games and their scores.

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Nashville, TN-The Nashville Predators haven't won a playoff series in their history since they started in the 1998-1999. They've just started gaining some leadership, in the form of the big defenceman Shea Weber. They've started gaining a good core of players, and a stable goaltender with Rinne.

Despite this, they went down in the first round again last year in from the eventual Stanley Cup Champions the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. After this, the Nashville Predators have began to look for new ways to increase their success. They began going to the chopping block. First on their list: General Manager David Poile.

The Nashville Predators hired Ethan Ryan to take over the General Managing position of the Predators. He's not know very well, since he's been coaching and managing a European team. He was hired after he lead his team to their league's championship.

"I respect and admire the fans of Nashville," said the new General Manager. "After being knocked out of the playoffs year after year, they keep coming to cheer on their team for the next year. I'm hoping to lead this team to a Stanley Cup Championship in under a decade."

When asked about what approach he would take, Ethan Ryan had this to say.

"I plan on taking a Canadian style approach to the team. Hard hitting, aggressive, but still skilled and able to set up plays. A true team in both ends on the ice. I've noticed the increasing prominence of a European style, particularly in Detroit. But building a team with that kind of skill takes time, and good coaching."

Nashville fans seem excited about how confident their new GM seems, and they hope under his leadership, they have a lot of good years to come.

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Predators GM Makes a Trade and Drafts

Nashville, TN- Yesterday was draft day, and the Predators GM made a trade with New Jersey and drafted some promising prospects.

Ethan Ryan started the day with making a one for one trade with New Jersey. Nashville gave away S. Sullivan in exchange for C. White.

"I've been looking to plug up some defensive holes, and I wanted to free up some cap space while I was at it. New Jersey came with the perfect deal. We gained a good defenceman, and freed up about a million dollars in cap space."

There were no other trades for Nashville throughout the draft, and they picked the following players:

Victor Wahqvist
6'0
181 pounds
Nationality: Sweden

Sandro Zurkrichien
5'9
160 pounds
Nationality: Switzerland

Brenden Rouse
6'0
173 pounds
Nationality: Canadian

Kurt Torbohm
6'0
208 pounds
Nationality: Canadian

Ben Alavie
6'0
198 pounds
Nationality: Canadian

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Sharks bite into Nashville's plans
Nashville begins Free Agent hunt

Nashville, TN- The Nashville Predators began negotiations with free agents quickly, and one of the players they went after, despite being an RFA, was David Setogouchi. They offered him a 3 year 3.8 million offer, and Setogouchi agreed. The Sharks didn't want to lose a key player in their franchise, though, and they matched Nashville's offer, retaining Setogouchi.

"It was a disappointing end to our plans. I like a player like Setogouchi, and it would've been great having him here in Nashville. He would've been a useful asset to our team."

Despite this, Nashville still got two other free agents to help contribute to their campaign. They got former Anaheim captain Paul Kariya, and they also got Bill Guerin.

Paul Kariya has had problems with injuries in his past, particularly concussions, but when he's healthy he can be a great second liner when the going gets tough.

"We gave him what we thought was fair, a 2 year 1.8 million dollar contract," said Ethan Ryan. "We're happy to have him aboard and we hope he stays healthy for the season. We can't afford to get bit by the injury bug this year."

They also signed Bill Guerin to a one year 770 thousand dollar contract.

"We knew he was considering retiring, but he wanted to have another go at the Stanley Cup. No other team offered him a contract and he is a good supporter now. We hope we can carry him, and the rest of the team to the cup."

While Nashville admits they're disappointed that they didn't get David Setogouchi, they're still happy with the picks they made.

"We were considering Ilya Kovalchuck, but that idea quickly passed by when we heard he wanted an 8 million dollar contract, which would've had us almost completely capped out."

The question remains, are these signings enough to help Nashville make a good run in the playoffs.

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Nashville Predators Final Roster

Nashville Predators Roster
#	CENTERS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
33	Colin Wilson	20	6'1	213	Left
11	David Legwand	30	6'2	202	Left
15	Mathew Lombardi	28	6'0	190	Left
25	Jerred Smithson	31	6'3	204	Right
#	LEFT WINGS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
27	Patric Hornqvist	23	5'11	180	Right
9	Paul Kariya	35	5'10	180	Left
22	Jordin Tootoo	27	5'9	194	Right
3	Wade Belak	34	6'5	221	Right
#	RIGHT WINGS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
10	Martin Erat	29	6'0	195	Left
71	Jean-Pierre Dumont	32	6'1	205	Left
13	Bill Guerin	39	6'2	220	Right
29	Joel Ward	29	6'2	220	Right
#	DEFENSE	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
20	Ryan Suter	25	6'1	196	Left
6	Shea Weber	25	6'3	234	Right
5	Colin White	32	6'4	220	Left
12	Cody Framson	23	6'5	213	Right
37	Denis Grebshkov	26	6'0	209	Left
51	Francis Bouillon	34	5'8	196	Left
#	GOALIES	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
35	Pekka Rinne	27	6'5	205	Left
39	Chet Pickard	20	6'3	214	Left

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Nashville Predators Depth Chart

Nashville Predators Depth Chart - 10-11
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LW	P. Hornqvist	P. Kariya	J. Tootoo	W. Belak
C	C. Wilson	D. Legwand	M. Lombardi	J. Smithson
RW	M. Erat	J. Dumont	B. Guerin	J. Ward
D #1	R. Suter	C. White	D. Grebshkov
D #2	S. Weber	C. Franson	F. Boullion
G	P. Rinne	C. Pickard

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Nashville ends terrific Pre-Season
Suter leads team with 6 assists

Suter was a key component of Nashville's success

If the pre-season is any sign, the Nashville Predators are going to have a very successful season this year. Lead by Captain Shea Weber, the Nashville Predators had a 3-1 pre-season record, losing only to the Detroit Red Wings as they hunted down every other piece of prey they could find.

Bill Guerin was an immediate success with the Predators, recording 5 goals in 6 six games, with a total of 7 points, leading the team after the pre-season.

Pekka Rinne had a mediocre pre-season, finishing with 91.7% save percentage, and a GAA of 2.69. While that play is acceptable the Predators are hoping for more from their goaltender as the season progresses.

GM Ethan Ryan was very happy with his teams play over the 4 game pre-season.

"The team had great chemistry, and I hope they'll continue to play like this throughout the year. It's a great start to the season, but now we need to focus on the games that count, and continue to try and plug the holes that still linger within the team."

Nashville coach Barry Trotz has decided to keep the lines as they are, trying to not break up the chemistry between the players as they hope to continue winning as the Regular Season starts.

Looks like Nashville has a good hockey season to look forward too.

[SENS_AK27]

Nice to see a new dynasty on the go. I encourage you to stick with it.