Last night stung – plain and simple. As a fan of the Nashville Predators, it’s incredibly difficult to watch someone else awarded the Stanley Cup inside the confines of Bridgestone Arena. Smashville was rocking, but it wasn’t enough to fend off a team whose stars clicked at the perfect moment. It was a fabulous season and a classic championship showdown.
We can pout and we can lament missed opportunities, or we can not let sports stress us out the way that they do. It’s hard, I know. Believe me, I know. But, for the most part, we’re adults. We need to shake it off and deal with it.
I think it was the esteemed poet, “Mr. 305” Pitbull, who once said, “don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
We should be looking back at this phenomenal run with the amazement it deserves.
First and foremost, we’ve said a lot of terrible things about the Pittsburgh Penguins, specifically Sidney Crosby, over the course of the Stanley Cup Final. But, you have to give credit where credit is due. They were unquestionably the better team, and deserve to hoist the Stanley Cup.
I don’t want to hear any talk about the poor officiating. You have to overcome these things. I understand there were several questionable calls last night. Colton Sissons’ disallowed goal could have changed the entire complexion of the game. Sure, but that doesn’t do anything for the Preds’ inability to get past Matt Murray on several beautiful scoring chances.
The truth is that the Penguins roster is LOADED with talent – from Crosby to Evgeni Malkin to Phil Kessel to Jake Guentzel to Matt Murray (who now has two Stanley Cups and is also a rookie – what?). It’s fitting that Patric Hornqvist scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal – a guy who was beloved by Nashville during his time as a Predator.
But, look at all the team accomplished this season – a team that squeaked into the playoffs, and was supposed to be swept by Chicago. Instead, the Preds got out the brooms and won 4-0. They gutted one out against the Blues, and in all my life, I’ll never forget that damn Anaheim series. The city celebrated its first Stanley Cup Final in electric fashion.
While it hurts, there’s still plenty of reasons to believe the Predators will get back to this point. There’s still plenty of reasons to celebrate this team, and despite losing the Stanley Cup, a lot was accomplished.
The Team Is Young
It doesn’t really feel like it to fans, because it seems like Nashville has been building towards this moment for 20 years now. But, the roster is loaded with youngsters, and look at what got ya there: Pekka Rinne and a strong corps of defensemen: P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm.
#35 will be back next season, and the top four defensemen remain unchanged. Subban is 28, Josi is 27, Ellis is 26, and Ekholm is 27. This is a unit that is just now hitting its prime.
The offensive stars of this team are young, too – Ryan Johansen is 24. Filip Forsberg is 22. Viktor Arvidsson is 24. Calle Jarnkrok is 25. Kevin Fiala is just 20 years old. Plus, look at some of the key contributors on this Western Conference Championship run. Frederick Gaudreau is 24. Colton Sissons and Pontus Aberg are 23.
The team is leaps and bounds above where they were five years ago when it comes to developing forwards. Though somebody is going to be dealt to Las Vegas as a part of the expansion draft, this is a team that should be competing for the Stanley Cup for the next several years. Consider the window opened.
The Biggest Party in America
All due respect to Pittsburgh – great hockey atmosphere – but Nashville was simply buzzing all week. Things just culminated at the right time – CMA Fest, Bonnaroo, the Stanley Cup Final all within the same week. The citizens of Music City got to take part in the biggest shin dig in the country, and it sure was a hell of a lot of fun. They may write books about this one day.
The National Media
Nashville sports fans want to cry about being a small market. I disagree with a lot of it, but even those with such concerns have to be appeased (at least a little) now. National media and the NHL itself have lauded Nashville for being a tremendous hockey town. Many have even said that the city has “elevated” the game of hockey. Who would’ve thought? Even the toughest of the small market ‘truthers’ have to be satisfied with that, right? National writers and analysts are crediting our city with making the sport better – that’s cool.
Nashville Is a Viable Sports Town
Too many people got in on the debate of whether Nashville is a “hockey town” or not. Forget that – it doesn’t matter. We don’t have to be one or the other. There’s room for both hockey and football. And, guess what! It’s a pretty damn good baseball town, too. And, it’s a pretty good soccer town. How about this – Nashville has proven itself as a damn good sports town. Seriously – everyone comes together to get behind their team, whether it’s the Preds or the Titans, or the Vanderbilt Commodores (remember the football stadium full of people watching Vandy’s baseball National Championship win?).
Why Do We Love Sports?
Where is our love in sports rooted? A deep sense of community and a break from the real world. That’s just this blogger’s two cents, of course, but this run has given us both – look at the thousands of people who showed up to watch games in the streets of Nashville. People set aside their differences to unite over this run, and it was a moving thing to witness. It’s an exemplary instance of our city coming together to get behind its team(s). That’s who we are – so MLB, NBA, MLS, whoever may be watching. Take notes. Next time y’all want to expand, maybe we get a real shot?
Regardless, the future certainly feels bright for this city and this team. Go Preds.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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