• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Predators begin season against Blues with high hopes

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:21 AM Nashville (0-0-0) at St. Louis (0-0-0), 8:30 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The Nashville Predators get their first crack at proving they are ready to take the next step as a perennial winner.

After a valiant - yet unsuccessful - run as the eighth seed in the playoffs last season, the recharged Predators begin the 2008-09 campaign against the St. Louis Blues on Friday.

The Predators were tied at two games apiece with the eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings before being eliminated in the Western Conference quarterfinals for the fourth straight year.

As the team celebrates the 10-year anniversary since its inaugural campaign, Nashville hopes to avoid another 10-point decrease it suffered after its 101-point effort in 2006-07.

The Predators re-signed Martin Erat to a franchise-record seven-year, $31.5 million contract in the offseason, and inked David Legwand - the second overall pick in 1998 - and J.P. Dumont as well to anchor a healthy offensive unit, which had four players with 23-plus goals last season.

Dan Ellis impressed in goal, registering a 23-10-3 record, 2.34 goals-against average and a league-best .924 save percentage.

St. Louis, however, has much lighter aspirations upon missing the postseason for the third consecutive season. The Blues qualified every season from 1980 to 2004, but have trudged through a slow rebuilding process that doesn't seem to be getting better.

One of the main pieces of the team's youth movement will miss the entire season. Defenseman Erik Johnson, who was the first overall pick in the 2006 draft, suffered a season-ending knee injury, courtesy of a golf cart.

Brad Boyes, who recorded 43 goals and 22 assists, returns as the Blues' only dangerous scorer, while Keith Tkachuk and Paul Kariya continue to prove they still have some gas left in their tanks.

In goal, Manny Legace proved he can be a stellar No. 1 option, posting a 27-25-8 record and a 2.41 GAA in 66 games.

St. Louis is 18-14-8 in its regular season openers, while Nashville is 4-5-0.