"If it bleeds, we can kill it. "

The blog post title is from, naturally, "Predator." Amazing movie. Back when action movies actually existed. And action stars existed. And would all make movies together. Sly Stallone is trying to put one more together, coming out this year, with about every major action star of yesterday at least asked to participate (many, for unknown reasons, turned down their only chance at work in years). I can't wait.

But I digress. With the Hawks opening up the Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight, I figured we'd take a look at who we're facing, the Nashville Predators.

First, though - I gotta say, this is a very foreign feeling. I'm not used to finishing a regular season with such little fanfare. Without instantly getting all jacked up about the playoff match-up it brings. Last season was such a big deal to make the playoffs and there was so much hope and uncertainty that you were just buzzing about the Calgary series. In baseball and football every playoff game is always huge. But this series with the Preds? Not doing much for me. And that is something I haven't experienced in a long while - probably since the Bulls were more than a giant ATM for Reinsdorf to discreetly raid to fund the Sox $100M+ payrolls.

Sure, I'm pumped about the first round games because it's always fun to watch the Hawks and these games obviously matter a ton. But this first round really just seems like more of the regular season - you want and need to do well, but there's not a whole lot to accomplish. Look, I'm well aware of how often bottom seeded teams knock off the favorites. Over the years I've probably watched more playoff hockey than any other sport. And the Hawks, being young with iffy D (thanks to injuries) and unproven goaltending, are ripe for an upset.

But there's just a different level of enthusiasm that comes when facing a series where the best you can accomplish is not to get upset. Maybe we smoke through these guys in four games and start to feel invulnerable again. But would that really make you that much more confident against the Wings or Canucks in Round 2? Would it really change anything?

The fact is that this series, just like the regular season, is about taking care of business. Our opponents, the division rival Nashville Predators, exemplify that. They'll be scrappy, they'll give us a good run, and as I said, they could even get some hot goaltending and knock us out. But they aren't a bunch of big names, they aren't much of an accomplished team, and they aren't particularly hot or interesting in any way.

To me, this has all the feeling of the "play-in game" during March Madness.I t matters somehow, but it's just a precursor to the real deal. Only if and when we get past Nashville will I really start to feel "Game On!" And what a feeling that will be - we just might be on the cusp of the greatest Hawks season of any of our lives. Holy balls could it be absolutely amazing!


But for now, we've got the uninteresting task of taking care of a team we should handle with relative ease. Who is this Nashville team who sits in front of us, capable of an upset, but too boring to offer the upside of any great sense of accomplishment?

As a franchise, they've been respectable, making the playoffs in their 6th year of existence, quietly building a solid nucleus and sticking with Barry Trotz, the only coach the franchise has ever had. New ownership screwed them up last year, bringing an end to five straight post-season births, but they're back again now.

How'd they get here this season? By not being bad. Really - they don't do anything particularly special. They scored and gave up 225 goals, both middle of the pack. Their special teams are both in the Bottom 5 in the league. They had only one 30-goal scorer, one 20-goal scorer, and two 30-assist guys.

When a team looks very mediocre on paper but wins games (their 47 wins were 8th in the NHL), generally it means some great goalie play. But while Pekka Rinne was solid with a 2.53 GAA (13th) and .911 Sv % (21st), he certainly wasn't noteworthy. He's capable of stepping up - as evidenced by his 7 shut-outs in only 58 games (one of the best such percentages in the NHL) and .757 save percentage in 45 shoot-out attempts (again, one of the best in the NHL).

Those numbers suggest Rinne can get hot and close the door, especially when the stakes are raised. But it also means that he had a lot of very pedestrian outings, with plenty of teams figuring him out on plenty of nights. So what else kept the Preds on the upside of most of their games?

Basically, they just do what they need to in order to get the W. They know the Hawks are far more talented, so they're gonna try to slow the game down, muck up our rushes, and score on the counter attack. They know the Hawks will dominate puck possession, so their goal will be to keep those possessions from being dangerous and take advantage of a goalie who's not able to get into any rhythm.

One other thing I do take away from their numbers - if they struggle on special teams but still end up a decent to good team, that means The Preds must play pretty solidly 5x5. That's a tough spot to be in when looking to upset a team like the Hawks. Generally you hope to get lucky with some power play goals and kill off their penalties, and just maintain 5x5 as you steal victories. If the Preds can't stop the Hawks with a man advantage, they're gonna be hurtin. Though the one facet of the Hawks game that isn't dominant is their power play, so maybe the Preds did catch a good match-up. Still, I don't see them continuously beating the Hawks in 5x5 hockey for seven games. But we'll see - as I said, these kind of upsets happen all the time.

Who will be leading their counter-attacks, looking to put young Uncle Niemi in his place? Most of the Preds attack comes from the wings. 23-year old Swede Patric Hornquist was very quiet in his limited NHL play last year, but in his first full year broke out for a 30-goal performance to easily pace the Preds (while adding 18 assists). Martin Erat, always a thorn in the Hawks side, had 21 goals and 28 assists.

Last year's leading scorer, JP Dumont, had 17 goals to go with 28 assists, while this year's leading scorer, Steve Sullivan, matched his 17 goals with a team high 34 assists. Both players were with the Hawks during some of the dark ages and have since gone on to productive careers.

Joel Ward scored 13 times and added 21 helpers to make some impact. Youngster Colin Wilson has come up and immediately been thrown a good amount of ice time, netting 8 and assisting on 7 more in only 35 games. Jordan Tootoo also seems to get some regular bottom line time.

At center, ageless Jason Arnott had 19 scores and 27 assists in only 63 games. He's not much of a face-off guy, though not terrible. American-born David Legwand was to be the face of the franchise, but has only gone over 20 goals or 50 points one time. This year he had 11 goals and 27 assists, but also was mediocre in the face-off circle. He did lead all Pred forwards in ice time, meaning he's probably got a good all-around game.

German Marcel Goc has always been tough in the circle and did respectable bottom line work for the Sharks before putting together a career year of 12 goals and 18 assists in Nashville this season. Jerred Smithson plays a similar game at center, potting 9 goals and 4 assists and being a plus in the face-off circle.

In all, it's not a terribly impressive forward core. They aren't terrible, but they aren't very good. They just play the Pred system well and get small contributions from everyone. Is that enough to win a series? So far it hasn't been, as the Preds are 0-for-5 in playoff series in their history.

Defensively, the Preds are lead by Shea Weber, whose 16 goals and 27 assists make him one of the more offensively gifted blueliners out there. He's joined by a pair of Americans in young Olympian Ryan Suter (4 G, 33 A) and veteran Francis Bouillon (3 G, 8 A). Dan Hamhuis (5 G, 19 A) and Kevin Klein (1 G, 10 A) also get around 20 minutes of ice. Young Cody Franson (6 G, 15 A) rounds out the blueliners.

How good is that group? It's always hard to tell. Weber and Suter are definitely high impact young defenders and their ice time shows it. Hamhuis has been solid for a few years now, while Klein is just coming into his own. Bouillon is just a depth defender, Franson is cutting his teeth.

Can they hold up to what the Hawks will bring? Alone, nope, but they'll have help from their forwards. The Trotz system is all about playing within yourself and not giving up too much. It's not quite the slow down trap of the Devils, but in a series like this, it probably won't be too far off. With all five skaters and the goaltender focused on stopping the Hawks, scoring with any consistency will be tough.


But at the end of the day, the Hawks have enough firepower to overwhelm this team in a seven game series. They know the Preds, which is a good thing, and they aren't quite accomplished enough to take any playoff series for granted. They're playing well of late, even adjusting to their short-handed situation on defense. Niemi has seized the reigns and given everyone - himself include - reason to have full confidence in his abilities.

It's the NHL playoffs, so nothing will surprise me. One hot goalie can change everything. Top players can disappear, nobodies can become heroes. But I feel like the Hawks are hungry enough, talented enough, together enough, and good enough on the road to take this series in five.

And once that happens, I'll definitely start to ramp up my enthusiasm, as I definitely believe we're at the start of something pretty damn special here...