Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

There Is Only One 'First' For The Nashville Predators

05/28/2017 at 5:39pm EDT

from Joe Rexrode of The Tennessean,

Of the Nashville Predators’ top four defensemen and top 10 forwards, 13 of those 14 players are under the age of 30 and 10 of them are under contract through at least the 2018-19 season.

The two centerpiece players whose deals are up, Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson, will be signed in the offseason as restricted free agents, and they’ll be paid well. The Predators already were in the best financial shape of their 20-year history before this run to the Stanley Cup Final, which opens with Game 1 Monday at Pittsburgh.

From various perspectives – fan growth, financial stability, attractiveness to free agents, championship-level experience for current players – the past six weeks have done much to enhance the possibility of future runs.

“This is going to pay dividends for years,” Predators general manager David Poile said.

But there will never be another one like this.

Make sure to remember that as the Predators take the ice in PPG Paints Arena for their first Stanley Cup Final experience, and when they return home to a June 3 scene that might make Woodstock look like a casual kegger, and at every possible moment in between....

I saw it happen with hockey in Detroit. When the Red Wings finally made the Cup Final in 1995 for the first time in 29 years, after several seasons of talented teams that couldn’t get over the hump, the city and state of Michigan were consumed. It was still fever pitch, though with more anxiety and pressure, when the Wings won their first Cup in 42 years in 1997.

Then they repeated the next season against a Washington Capitals team mostly built by Poile, and in 2002 when a pre-salary-cap Detroit team loaded with aging stars got another Cup, Detroit was like: “Super Team wins again, cool!”

It wasn’t quite the same. I’m not even sure Anna Kournikova showed up for that third parade.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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