Nashville Predators raise the bar on their expectations

Kevin Allen | USA TODAY Sports

The cost of winning for the Nashville Predators this season was the loss of their anonymity.

"It's amazing how much the sport has grown here," fourth-year Nashville Predators forward Colin Wilson told USA TODAY Sports. "In my first three years here, I don't think anyone walked up to me and said, 'Hey, you're Colin Wilson.'"

Many people know Wilson today because he has a team-leading three goals and has been a visible force for the Predators, who trail the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal.

Interest in the Predators has been on a slow rise for a few seasons, but it has made a quantum leap this season because the team has established itself as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

In the past, fans celebrated playoff participation as if the Predators had accomplished something of significant importance. That's not the prevailing attitude in the city anymore.

"Nobody is celebrating that we are in," Wilson said. "We want to win the Cup. It's win the Cup or nothing. Expectations have changed. We have raised the bar."

Nashville captain Shea Weber says the fans' increased attention is playing a role in pushing this team to a higher level. It almost has become the Predators' civic duty to keep this city engaged in the NHL playoffs.

"It's not win one round or two rounds," Weber said before an injury that will keep him out of this week's first two games in Chicago. "It's try to stay level, and keep going — it's not good enough to just get in."

Weber welcomes the pressure the Predators feel.

"Definitely, you don't want to go to a place where it's OK to lose," he said.

The Predators were considered a surprise team this season, mostly because they missed the playoffs last season. David Poile, the only general manager the Predators have ever had, fired his friend, Barry Trotz, who had been the team's only coach. Poile simply concluded it was time for a change, a new look for a team that needed a spark.

Poile hired Peter Laviolette, who had a Stanley Cup championship on his résumé. He made a bold trade for forward James Neal. He convinced himself that goaltender Pekka Rinne's injury last season was the biggest reason for the team's struggles in 2013-14.

But no one should have been surprised at how well the Predators have played this season because Laviolette told everyone in the organization in August that it was going to happen.

He said it at a meeting of the Predators staff, including players, ticket salespeople, hockey operation, housekeeping and building operation personnel. Roughly 150 employees were in attendance.

"(Laviolette) talked about what this team was going to be and how we were going to perform and how we were going to grow on each other," said Sean Henry, the Predators' president and chief operating officer. "He talked about how it was a snowball rolling downhill and we are going to wake up in February and we are going to be amazed about how big that snowball is."

The staff met again in February, and the Predators were the No. 1 team in the NHL. They ended up sixth overall, but it didn't diminish the confidence the city began to have in the team.

"The best evolution is not that we sell out games on a regular basis, it's our fans' expectations aren't that we should make the All-Star roster," Henry said. "It's that we should win the division."

Nashville has come a long way from the days a few years ago when there were questions about whether the city could keep its team long term. The Predators played to almost 99% capacity this season, registering about 30 sellouts.

Traditionally, the Predators have wanted, needed or expected opponents' fans to help them fill their arena. In this year's playoffs, the Predators have rigged their sales operations to ensure that tickets are being sold to Nashville fans, not Chicago fans.

"It wasn't that long ago when people looked at our attendance numbers and, 'Oh, oh, is that team moving to Hamilton (Ontario)? What do we have to sell to make sure they can't?' " Henry said. "We are so past those days."

Now, they want a Stanley Cup. The Predators have been around 17 years, and if they can survive Weber's injury, this is probably the best opportunity they've ever had to accomplish that mission.

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