Predators Earn First Post-Season Birth

The Nashville Predators have punched their ticket to their first ever playoff appearance in the EHE! Finishing as the 2nd seed in the Central Division, they will take on their biggest rivals in the EHE the Minnesota Wild. A team they have been in a battle for home ice against in the last half of the regular season. The Nashville Predators have secured home ice, and the series is set to begin tomorrow night on April 28th. 

Many hockey analysts have the series going either way, citing that Nashville has the better offense, however is held back by their mediocre goaltending duo, James Reimer and Darcy Kuemper. It was reported that Reimer would be the Predators starter, but in a shocking twist, GM Wolf confirmed at the Predators press conference that Kuemper will actually get the start in Game 1 against the Wild. "Kuemper deserves it", Wolf said. "Kuemper started the first half of the season as our back-up, but over the course of the season, his game has been consistently solid. He winded up playing more than Reimer, and played in 46 games, earning 32 wins in those 46 starts. It's no knock on Reimer, but when it came down to it, Kuemper has simply earned the crease and has earned the Game 1 start." 

The Predators will have to rely on their potent offense to carry them to any kind of success these playoffs. Led by the likes of Crosby, Hall, McDavid, Skinner, Okposo and company - opposing teams will need to make sure their defense is able to shut down these guys whenever they are on the ice. 

"We're really excited here in Nashville. It's our first playoff appearance and the fans are really excited. They definitely deserve playoff hockey here in Nashville. We're eager for Game 1 tomorrow, and we're going to fight hard to get to round 2. We've had some pretty good regular season success against the Wild, so we hope we can translate that success into the post-season. However, we know the playoffs are a different ball game and that anything can happen, so we got to prepare ourselves in all kinds of scenarios and make sure we take care of business against our biggest rivals in the EHE.