Latest / Predators Official Podcast / The Playoff Push & 2026-2027 Broadcast Updates

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The Playoff Push & 2026-2027 Broadcast Updates · Predators Official Podcast

• 0:10
  Welcome to the Predators Official Podcast here on
• 0:12
  ESPN1O25, The Game, Nashville Predators, YouTube and your
• 0:16
  preferred podcast platform. My name is Maxers from Preds
• 0:20
  Radio along with Brooks Bratton from nashvillepredators.com and
• 0:23
  Kara Hammer from Preds TV. We are down to just a week to go
• 0:28
  in the regular season of the Predators continue to push for
• 0:31
  the playoffs and they have a point in all four games so far
• 0:35
  on their final road trip of the year.
• 0:37
  Three wins, one overtime loss and heading into their game
• 0:41
  Thursday night in Salt Lake City, they hold on to the second
• 0:44
  Wild card spot in the Western Conference with four games to
• 0:47
  go. This is what we signed up for
• 0:49
  guys. The playoff push has been fun
• 0:51
  and the friends are doing their part with three Rd. wins over
• 0:54
  the last week. It's been a heck of a trip and
• 0:59
  we've kind of said it the last few weeks for as we've recorded
• 1:02
  and we record today, on Wednesday, April 8th, this
• 1:05
  afternoon Max and I are in Salt Lake City.
• 1:08
  And we've kind of said it again the last few weeks that what a
• 1:11
  difference a week makes. You go from A5 game win streak
• 1:14
  to a three-game skid. And now the Preds have seven of
• 1:17
  eight points on this trip, right?
• 1:19
  So the the race continues. We'll get so much more on that
• 1:22
  in just a moment. A new partner, a new era of
• 1:25
  Preds broadcasting to talk about as well.
• 1:28
  An honor for Ozzy. Why is Black coming up?
• 1:30
  And some of your mailbag questions, too.
• 1:32
  But again, this has been a fun little jaunt out West for the
• 1:36
  Predators. Max, as you said it, three wins,
• 1:39
  a shootout loss. You've gotten a point in every
• 1:41
  single game and it's been a fun week.
• 1:44
  Cara Hammer. Well, Brooks, I would say it
• 1:47
  would be the good, the bad and the ugly, but I don't know if
• 1:49
  that's so much so. We've seen a lot of good.
• 1:52
  Obviously, right now they're back in that playoff spot, but
• 1:55
  I'm still coming down from the first game of the road trip, a
• 2:00
  very intense shootout scenario where I think my cholesterol
• 2:05
  levels, whatever was spiking was through the roof at that moment.
• 2:09
  I was probably lying awake and bad at 2:00 in the morning
• 2:11
  wondering. What just.
• 2:13
  Happened. What just happened, and I'm sure
• 2:16
  if you were at home watching the same game, we were watching very
• 2:20
  late because it's central time zone, everybody's on the West
• 2:23
  Coast. But boy, oh, boy, was that a win
• 2:26
  to kick things off for the Nashville Predators on this road
• 2:29
  trip. Max, you were in the building.
• 2:31
  I mean, take us through what you were witnessing.
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  Well, every single game that the Los Angeles Kings have played
• 2:37
  this season goes to overtime. They have set the NHL record for
• 2:41
  overtime games, including two of them in the last week against
• 2:44
  the Preds. So they were nice enough to host
• 2:47
  a ceremony before the game for their retiring Anjay captain
• 2:50
  Anjay Kopitar, who we love and respect.
• 2:52
  But in the spirit of pace of play in the game not ending at
• 2:56
  2:00 AM for our fans, that did not help things.
• 2:59
  So you knew it was going to overtime, you knew it was going
• 3:02
  to an 8 round shootout. And UC Sorrows keeps all 8 pucks
• 3:05
  out. The best shootout performance by
• 3:08
  a goalie in Preds history. 8 for eight.
• 3:11
  And the Preds had five, six chances to walk it off.
• 3:17
  And the sixth guy with a chance to win it, Luke Evangelista, won
• 3:21
  it with his first shootout goal ever.
• 3:23
  A1 nothing shootout to finish off a 43 Preds win or five.
• 3:27
  Four Preds win. Nothing, nothing.
• 3:29
  Bottom of the eighth. Luke Evangelista can try and win
• 3:32
  it for the Preds. Boy Vincenzo.
• 3:35
  Evangelista goes right, cuts to the middle back GO Preds win a
• 3:44
  beautiful goal by Nashville's most beautiful person to seal it
• 3:49
  in a shootout. Predators beat the Kings 54.
• 3:56
  Luke Evangelista's first career shootout goal walks us off in
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  the bottom of the eighth round. Can I give you a little
• 4:04
  background of, of what it was like for me and probably most of
• 4:07
  the fans? But if you receive the push
• 4:09
  notifications from the Preds, you always know when something
• 4:11
  happens, a goal happens or you know, the period is ending and
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  I'm watching it and hoping I'm not on delay because nothing is
• 4:19
  coming through on my phone, but I'm watching, you know,
• 4:22
  anticipation every time, hoping please don't send me a push
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  notification that they've actually scored and I'm 10
• 4:27
  seconds behind. But no, 8 different rounds.
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  I mean, how incredible was it? Well, I, I mean, it was 11:00
• 4:36
  for us in California. I, it, it was so fun.
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  It's been fun on this trip to, you know, I've been talking to
• 4:42
  so many of my friends about what's going on right now and
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  they all go to bed, which understandably so, most of them
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  anyway. There's a few tough soldiers
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  who, who stick it out through the end, but it's kind of fun
• 4:52
  to, to wake up to their reactions too, especially after
• 4:55
  that one in LA, just again with an 8 round shootout.
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  It's as you said, care, whatever the cholesterol levels, the
• 5:00
  heart rate, the everything was spiking in those moments.
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  But the Preds found a way to get it done and they did it in San
• 5:07
  Jose, too. That was a 63V, but it was much
• 5:10
  tighter than that seemed. The Preds somehow have not lost
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  to the Sharks since 2019. They go up 3, nothing in the
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  game. The Sharks tie at 33 early in
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  the third. And then Tyson Joe said no
• 5:22
  problem, I'll get 3 points and we'll score 3 unanswered and the
• 5:26
  Preds will come away with another win Max.
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  Yeah, it was Phillip Forsberg's first period with two goals and
• 5:32
  a primary assist. He was a world beater as the
• 5:35
  Preds got out to a three nothing lead for the second game in a
• 5:37
  row. Then the Sharks scored three
• 5:39
  goals that basically we're all four on four kind of weird
• 5:44
  scenarios in that game. Got the Preds a lot of four on 4
• 5:47
  situations and the Sharks excelled.
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  Macklin Celebrini was leading the way, tied the game.
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  Then the third period, Ryan O'Reilly with one of the plays
• 5:56
  of the season. Not necessarily a highlight reel
• 5:59
  play, but he banked the puck behind the net and sat it there
• 6:03
  on a bounce to make sure Luke Evangelista could get to it,
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  knowing that he would pass it right back to him.
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  And O'Reilly made the play, set up Evangelista to get the
• 6:13
  primary assists, and O'Reilly had the RIP to put the President
• 6:16
  43. And then things got a little
• 6:19
  hairy toward the end there. Roman Yossi batted the puck out
• 6:23
  of play in the defensive zone with 321 to go.
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  The old dog paw got him Kara and the Preds were short handed down
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  a goal. The Shark Tank was nuts, and it
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  was a Shorty that clinched the victory for the Preds.
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  Taijo's held up, so he grabs Orlov as the Sharks resume their
• 6:42
  power play. Minute 25 left in the man
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  advantage. Under 3 minutes left in the
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  game. Celebrini swings and misses on
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  A1 timer. Jose falls on top of him and
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  gets the puck away and clears cross corner.
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  Holla on it. He shoots it.
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  Skies wow. Eric Holla buries the Shorty
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  over Yaroslav Askarov. And Tyson Jose can't even get
• 7:08
  back to the bench. He is hunched over.
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  What an effort he had to break away.
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  And then he comes back, breaks up the play from his knees,
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  swipes the puck at the blue line, gets the red line and then
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  dumps it cross corner in a perfect spot for Holla to skate
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  into it. And with a one touch, he goes up
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  over the blocker under the bar to make it a 5 three-game.
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  Tyson Jost had three points in the third period, including the
• 7:38
  pivotal pass to set up that shorthanded goal by Eric Halla,
• 7:42
  which was a clear that became a great pass. 2 great area passes
• 7:47
  in the third period won the Preds that game, yeah.
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  I one of my favorite things I saw on social was somebody
• 7:52
  replied during the game or after the game, I guess where were you
• 7:55
  for the Tyson Jost game? It really kind of came out of
• 7:59
  nowhere in that third period. He iced it with an empty netter.
• 8:02
  But as you said, Max the to go on the power play late in the
• 8:05
  game as the Sharks did you think, all right, fine,
• 8:07
  whatever. They're going to tie it not to
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  be the case in that clearing pass.
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  I I thought of my high school geometry teacher, physics
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  teacher rather, who said, you know, use geometry, use physics
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  like that to your advantage in hockey because it happens all
• 8:22
  the time. And that was so fun just to, to
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  see Tyson Jost really take over in a way.
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  And, you know, you talk about the big guys getting it done.
• 8:32
  And it was Steven Stamkos, it was Philip Forsberg, it was Ryan
• 8:35
  O'Reilly who got the game winner.
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  But guys like Tyson Jost have been so clutch in this road
• 8:41
  trip, in this whole stretch as the Preds make this push.
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  And I think that was Exhibit A of what a player like that is
• 8:48
  capable of doing, registering 3 points in the third period,
• 8:52
  giving the Preds a huge win at that time, bumping them back in
• 8:55
  to the second wild card spot for something that's happened a
• 8:58
  couple times on this trip. But yeah, that's all the Preds
• 9:01
  continue to do right now is going to San Jose.
• 9:03
  And the last couple times they've done it, they've scored
• 9:05
  a few goals on Yaroslav Asker off too.
• 9:09
  Yeah, I I think that's the cherry on top of this win that
• 9:11
  ask her off still has his shaky moments.
• 9:15
  And like, as of now, the Preds made the right choice.
• 9:19
  And it was the easy choice at the time to give UC Soros the
• 9:23
  Max ext 8 year contract and trade ask her of for David
• 9:28
  Edstrom and the draft pick that became Riker Lee.
• 9:30
  And with the year Riker Lee had this year as a freshman, a true
• 9:34
  aged 1819 year old freshman at Michigan State, you know, every
• 9:39
  time it'd be Yaroslav ask her of.
• 9:41
  I just kind of like to think about all that, Kara.
• 9:43
  Yeah, and you know that he was also feeling the pressure of
• 9:45
  that game. If you had a had a chance to to
• 9:48
  watch his postgame comments, he was asked, you know, about his
• 9:52
  performance and without answering, just ask next
• 9:55
  question, you know, not not stepping up to to what he felt.
• 9:59
  So obviously a lot of pressure. These guys are young.
• 10:01
  It's a big moment for him. But but moving on, I mean to two
• 10:07
  big games for the Nashville Predators and then it continues.
• 10:10
  You guys are on a long road trip out West and you're right back
• 10:14
  in LA. And what is it?
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  The same scenario Here we are again, Another shootout, another
• 10:21
  late night. Brooks What?
• 10:24
  What were you, what were you feeling when you saw March or so
• 10:29
  had a chance on the open net, couldn't capture the game, And
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  then here we are again. Yeah, that was that was a tough
• 10:36
  one to take, right. You know, you go to another
• 10:38
  shootout again, of course, the kids, the Kings, why not?
• 10:40
  Every game goes to overtime in a shootout.
• 10:43
  So we were expecting that. And it's just, you know, when
• 10:45
  you get down to it, I think the Predators played another decent
• 10:48
  game. It wasn't the best start, but
• 10:50
  they had opportunities to win. They had a post laden regulation
• 10:53
  that easily could have gone either way.
• 10:54
  I like that. You know, Andrew Brunette has
• 10:56
  joked before that on his tombstone, one day it's going to
• 10:59
  say three to two that, you know, whether you're on the right side
• 11:03
  of it or the wrong side of it, it's probably a three to two
• 11:06
  game. And that's what it was in the
• 11:08
  second one in LA. And again, just two teams that
• 11:11
  are really right there, neck and neck battling it out with each
• 11:14
  other. And again, I think kind of
• 11:16
  appropriate that it goes to a shootout, again, that the Pred's
• 11:20
  unable to score that time around, but they get a point.
• 11:22
  And I think that that is something that can be so lost in
• 11:25
  a moment like that. Like, yeah, you're disappointed,
• 11:27
  you're frustrated. It would have been so great to
• 11:29
  win it or to find a way to win it in regulation Even so.
• 11:32
  But you'd still rather have a point than no points at all.
• 11:35
  And every point is so crucial right now.
• 11:38
  And then I think Kara, the biggest thing about it all is
• 11:42
  you never know quite what to expect on the second-half of a
• 11:46
  back-to-back. And so to go into Anaheim
• 11:49
  against a team that has had a good season, but the Ducks are a
• 11:52
  little bit fragile right now, you never quite know what to
• 11:55
  expect. And I don't know about the two
• 11:57
  of you, but I said to Barry Trotz on the elevator on the way
• 12:01
  down after the game, never have I been so nervous at the end of
• 12:05
  a 5 nothing game because even though you're winning handedly,
• 12:09
  boy, did you want the shout out for big juice.
• 12:12
  And that's exactly what happened, Max.
• 12:14
  That's when the draws Zellweger shot is blocked by camel with
• 12:17
  through selling out two seconds. Preds win Eustace on and then
• 12:25
  gives the big fist bump as the Predators shut out the Ducks 5
• 12:31
  nothing in Anaheim. I love the last shift Joachim
• 12:35
  Kimmel blocking the shot. Zach LaRue was flying through
• 12:38
  two trying to block it. The Predators wanted their
• 12:41
  long-awaited first shut out of the season, and also Eustis
• 12:44
  Anandan's first shutout in two years as a Pred, his third
• 12:48
  career shutout. The other two were with the ABS,
• 12:50
  so really, really well earned for Anandan. 43 save shutout,
• 12:55
  one shy of his career high. One of the highest save total
• 12:59
  shutouts in Pred's franchise history in the regular season.
• 13:03
  So pretty cool for big Juice was awesome in that game.
• 13:05
  Predators deserve to be down multiple goals at the end of the
• 13:08
  first period, but it was nothing.
• 13:10
  Nothing. They got three goals in the
• 13:12
  second and then we're able to extend in the third period.
• 13:15
  And this game, other than the suspense of the shutout, was
• 13:19
  decided early in the third. Like, what a feeling, right to
• 13:22
  win 5. Nothing in a big game like that,
• 13:25
  Yeah. And we'll never ask you to turn
• 13:28
  us off, but just pause for a quick moment, go on your social
• 13:31
  and watch the video of the hug Bruno gives on.
• 13:35
  And, and after that game, I think, I think he got some air
• 13:38
  with that one. I mean, that's a Big Bear hug
• 13:41
  from Brun, Coach Brunette. And I think that just sums up
• 13:45
  how everybody was feeling. Well, and not only that, but so
• 13:50
  when I came down after getting ready to go in the room, our
• 13:54
  video producer who was on the road will go into the room and
• 13:56
  get those great locker room reaction shots that you see
• 13:59
  after a win. And it's Jared Martin on the
• 14:02
  trip for us right now, has been doing a great job.
• 14:04
  And he came back out and said to me, that was the best locker
• 14:08
  room I've ever been in postgame. And I was like, what happened?
• 14:11
  He's like, just wait till you see the video.
• 14:13
  And as just as Kara just said too, once you're done watching
• 14:16
  that, stop us again. If you haven't seen it, go watch
• 14:19
  the locker room celebration. Never have I ever seen a player
• 14:22
  get a standing ovation and they're egging him on.
• 14:25
  And Big Juice is just it's fantastic.
• 14:29
  And it again, it's a, it's just one moment in a long season, but
• 14:33
  it's moments like that that you really see the closeness, the
• 14:37
  tightness of this group that is talked about, but we don't
• 14:41
  always get to see that peek inside the room.
• 14:45
  I, I think that was a perfect example of how happy everybody
• 14:49
  was for a guy like Eustace Anand and to not only get a shout out
• 14:52
  for the team, but how well he played in a moment like that
• 14:56
  too. It's it's one of the biggest
• 14:58
  game. We talked about it every game
• 14:59
  these last two weeks has been the next installment of the
• 15:02
  biggest game of the season. And for him to have that
• 15:04
  performance in that situation, how can you not love the guy?
• 15:09
  Yeah, and happy wasn't it Happy there in the locker room?
• 15:12
  I think he's single handedly brought it up like 10 decibels
• 15:15
  with his yelling. Exactly right.
• 15:19
  That was a great. Hey, those are your.
• 15:22
  Characters down the stretch, the young faces on this Preds team,
• 15:26
  the big personalities are leading the way and it's a lot
• 15:29
  of fun. And if I may guys, I got a
• 15:32
  couple of stats about the shutout.
• 15:34
  Now that the Predator have won this season, some things I want
• 15:38
  to provide some perspective about the fact that the Preds
• 15:40
  had not had a shutout this season.
• 15:43
  It's not as much of A panic mode.
• 15:45
  Oh my God, how do they not have a shutout as you would think?
• 15:48
  So it would have been if the Predators had finished the
• 15:51
  season without a shutout. It would have been the first
• 15:54
  season in Preds history here in Year 27 without a shutout by
• 15:57
  Preds goalies. Now that's not going to happen
• 16:00
  obviously, because you just saw them and got one, but it was
• 16:02
  interesting. It inspired me to look back a
• 16:04
  little bit and just see how frequently this happens.
• 16:07
  There are five NHL teams going into last night that still did
• 16:12
  not have a shutout this season after the Preds got one.
• 16:15
  There are four in the previous ten NHL seasons combined.
• 16:21
  For every team the past ten seasons, there were five teams
• 16:25
  that did not have a shutout, so there were as many going into
• 16:29
  the final week of the season this year that didn't have one
• 16:32
  as the previous ten seasons combined, which includes
• 16:35
  shortened seasons for COVID too. So the moral of the story?
• 16:39
  It is the hardest it has ever been to get a shutout in the
• 16:41
  NHL, and the Friends got theirs. Wow.
• 16:45
  Well, and we've talked about that too.
• 16:46
  That's great stats Max, by the way.
• 16:48
  And and I think you've seen that as a trend around the league
• 16:52
  that goaltenders with A9 O 5/9/10 save percentage.
• 16:57
  I think that used to be pretty average that that's like top of
• 17:00
  the league right now if you've got something like that.
• 17:02
  I think safe percentages overall are down, goals are up, Teams
• 17:06
  and individual players, they're just more skilled, they're
• 17:09
  shifty, they're crafty, they're finding ways to put the puck in
• 17:13
  the net. And so I think a game like that,
• 17:16
  a shot out like that is even more impressive considering the
• 17:19
  trend that we've seen around the league this season.
• 17:21
  I thought another cool stat put out from NHLPR that on and on
• 17:26
  Tuesday night became just the third goalie in Prez history
• 17:29
  with his many saves and a shutout victory, joining UC
• 17:32
  Soros who had 46 back in 2017 and 43 back in 2018 and Dan
• 17:38
  Ellis who had 43 all the way back in 2008.
• 17:42
  Kind of shocked the Peck Arena is not on that list.
• 17:45
  But Eustace on then now with some elite company and franchise
• 17:48
  history again, just one more notable from a huge win for the
• 17:52
  Predators on Tuesday night. But then oh guess what?
• 17:55
  Now the biggest game of the season is Thursday night and
• 17:58
  Utah, and it's going to be like that for these Final Four.
• 18:02
  Yeah, Utah will be an interesting match up for the
• 18:05
  team. Obviously they're they're
• 18:06
  sitting in that wild card spot. And Max, I don't know if you
• 18:08
  have your favorite website, moneypuck.com, where are they
• 18:11
  sitting right now? Last I checked, I think it was
• 18:15
  like above what 2526 is that? Is that current it has it upped?
• 18:21
  All I care about from moneypuck.com is pucks.
• 18:24
  I don't care about their money. Their money is not accepted
• 18:26
  here. Just keep winning, baby the
• 18:30
  friends. Can.
• 18:31
  Hold their own destiny because the Kings have a game at hand on
• 18:35
  them. One point behind, but all you
• 18:36
  got to do is just keep winning the games in front of you.
• 18:39
  You got a head Ted game against the Sharks, so you control your
• 18:42
  own destiny against them. Just keep on winning and we want
• 18:45
  to see you in Smashville for the final three games of the season,
• 18:48
  all of which are at home this Saturday, April 11th at 4:00
• 18:52
  against the Wild Monday, April 13th against the sharks.
• 18:57
  Massive game, head to head game for two teams and I think the
• 19:01
  two most deserving teams of the teams fighting for this spot
• 19:04
  because the Kings just don't really do it for me right now.
• 19:07
  And then the final game of the season Thursday night, April
• 19:10
  16th against the docks, who the Preds just beat 5 nothing at
• 19:13
  Bridgestone Arena. Both teams will likely still
• 19:16
  have everything to play for in that game as well.
• 19:18
  So come see us at Bridgestone Arena.
• 19:20
  We have an offer for tickets that will also get you priority
• 19:24
  access to playoff tickets. If the Predators make the
• 19:26
  playoffs, you'll be treated along with the season ticket
• 19:30
  holders and the Smashville loyal before the tickets go on sale to
• 19:32
  the general public. If you buy the Smashville 2
• 19:36
  pack, you get 2 of the final three games of the season.
• 19:39
  You get to pick which two games, you get to pick your seats, and
• 19:41
  you get playoff priority access for tickets if the Predators
• 19:44
  make the playoffs. So go to
• 19:46
  nashvillepredators.com/twopack/the number 2PAC K to make sure you
• 19:54
  were in the building. If the Preds make the playoffs,
• 19:56
  we want you there. You got to be there because as
• 20:00
  you just said, Max I the more we look at it, the more it sure
• 20:04
  seems like that Thursday night against Anaheim is probably
• 20:08
  going to decide a whole heck of a lot.
• 20:09
  So if you haven't gotten your tickets already, do it now
• 20:13
  because you're going to want to be inside the bridgie.
• 20:16
  And the 1st 10,000 fans of that game, for fan appreciation, I
• 20:20
  get a gold Preds cowboy hat. So make sure you're on Thursday
• 20:24
  as well, yeah? I wasn't going to go, but now
• 20:28
  I'm going to go. I think I think that's pretty
• 20:32
  enticing. That's pretty enticing.
• 20:33
  Hey, there's still plenty to look forward to this season, but
• 20:36
  there's also something to look forward to next season already.
• 20:39
  When we come back in just a moment, a new era of Preds
• 20:42
  broadcasting has arrived. You're listening to the
• 20:45
  Predators official podcast. You're on ESPN 1025 The Game and
• 20:48
  streaming on Predators YouTube. Into the Predators official
• 20:52
  podcast, Cara Hammer, Maxers and Brooks Bratton.
• 20:54
  And guys, where are you? You are currently in Utah as we
• 20:59
  record here on Wednesday. It's a late afternoon.
• 21:02
  We got to give a shout out to our guy Nate, who's running the
• 21:04
  show behind the scenes because it's 6 O clock central time
• 21:08
  putting in the extra effort. But also we have a nominee for a
• 21:12
  guy putting in some extra effort.
• 21:14
  Brooks, do you want to break this one down?
• 21:18
  Yeah, you know, so here's the thing.
• 21:20
  OK, so every player, every team rather has a nominee for the
• 21:26
  Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy each and every season.
• 21:29
  Those nominations come from the respective chapters of the
• 21:33
  Professional Hockey Writers Association and this season for
• 21:37
  the Nashville Predators, Ozzie Wiseblatt gets the call.
• 21:41
  So the definition. Let me read you this because I
• 21:43
  think it'll under, it'll make sense knowing what Ozzie's been
• 21:46
  through. The Master 10 is presented
• 21:49
  annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of
• 21:52
  perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.
• 21:56
  If that does not describe Ozzy Wiseblatt, I don't know what
• 21:59
  does. Because for a guy who was raised
• 22:03
  with a number of other siblings, 5 total siblings by a single
• 22:08
  mother, Kim White, who she's also deaf, nothing came easy.
• 22:12
  But then in September, Ozzy was in Nashville preparing for
• 22:17
  Predators training camp. His brother Oasis, We were in
• 22:21
  Tampa at the time with the rookie tournament and their
• 22:24
  brother Orca tragically passing away in a car accident.
• 22:28
  So Ozzy's been through a lot this year.
• 22:30
  And through all of that, he made the team out of training camp
• 22:35
  and he's been on the roster all season long.
• 22:37
  So to not only persevere with what he's been through to even
• 22:41
  get to this point, but to really establish himself as an everyday
• 22:44
  NHL player. His story has been well
• 22:46
  documented. We've talked about it before.
• 22:48
  You'll remember when he scored his first NHL goal back in
• 22:51
  December, immediately pointing to the heavens for Orca.
• 22:55
  But boy, what a great choice. From the Nashville chapter of
• 23:00
  the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
• 23:03
  Ozzy's perfect for it and I love what he said.
• 23:06
  I had the chance to talk to him in San Jose about it and he said
• 23:09
  I just think it's a never give up mentality.
• 23:12
  He said. I think that's the way that me
• 23:13
  and my siblings have all been raised throughout life.
• 23:15
  Throughout hockey, we've already seen our mom do hard work.
• 23:19
  He said. Hockey is one thing, but working
• 23:21
  multiple jobs and taking care of kids is another.
• 23:24
  That's hard work that's getting through stuff and we see that
• 23:27
  through the way we were raised through our moms.
• 23:29
  So what an inspiration for Ozzy said He thinks about work
• 23:32
  everyday as well, but a really cool honor for him and there's a
• 23:36
  lot of great nominees around the rest of the league is we were
• 23:39
  just talking about offline, but certainly very deserving Ozzy to
• 23:42
  get that master to nomination here in Nashville.
• 23:46
  Yeah, I think Ozzy, what stands out to him about about him to me
• 23:51
  the most is despite the fact that something so terrible
• 23:54
  happened to him and his family right as the season was getting
• 23:57
  going, he's been his best self this year.
• 23:59
  And he's let that tragedy fuel him in a lot of ways to his
• 24:03
  first full season in the NHL. And oh God, he's an absolute
• 24:07
  beauty. We love being around him.
• 24:08
  He's so funny, he's so much fun, but he's also so serious and
• 24:13
  takes the game so seriously and loves what he does.
• 24:17
  I think he exemplifies the Master 10 spirit even separately
• 24:21
  from the personal tragedy. And I really like the way the
• 24:24
  NHL does the Master 10. It's like hockey's version of
• 24:27
  comeback player of the year, which is what the award is
• 24:30
  called, and MLB and the NFL. But it's much more open.
• 24:35
  Like it highlights players like Ozzie Wise Blatt, who have been
• 24:39
  through personal tragedy, guys like Clayton Keller, whose
• 24:41
  father passed away during the season, Rasmus Dalene, whose
• 24:44
  wife has been battling serious illness during the season.
• 24:47
  Those guys will certainly be getting heavy consideration for
• 24:50
  the award. Then you have kind of the
• 24:52
  traditional comeback guy, Jonathan Taves from The Jets
• 24:56
  after three seasons away back in the NHL, he's The Jets nominee
• 24:59
  for the Master 10. And then somebody like Dominic
• 25:02
  Shine, who's a long time AHL guy for the Red Wings, making his
• 25:05
  mark in the NHL this year. So I love seeing who everybody
• 25:09
  picks around the NHL. The local writers pick a nominee
• 25:12
  for every team and the NHL does this award the right way.
• 25:15
  They give it top filling at the NHL awards over the summer.
• 25:18
  They don't bury it, they don't hide it behind MVP, the Art
• 25:22
  Ross, the Rocket, anything like that.
• 25:24
  They lean into hockey's faces and the often tear jerking
• 25:28
  stories of these guys. So we will be rooting for Ozzy,
• 25:31
  and none of us are voters for this award, but if we were, I
• 25:35
  think Ozzy would be a finalist on this panel.
• 25:38
  No, it's, it's so well deserved, as we said.
• 25:40
  And again, just going back to Ozzy and and his brother Orca
• 25:45
  passing away, Ozzy said. I think about him every day, he
• 25:48
  said. I think just for me, so lucky
• 25:51
  that our family is so close that any of us are feeling some type
• 25:54
  of way about it some days, he said.
• 25:56
  We can always just talk to each other and get through it
• 25:58
  together. So it's something that drives me
• 26:01
  and and doing it for him in a sense is what Ozzy said about
• 26:04
  his brother. And then just appreciating where
• 26:06
  he is right now, but also realizing that you can never be
• 26:10
  content and comfortable because Ozzy's been a healthy scratch as
• 26:13
  of late. And I think that that is simply
• 26:16
  more on the team around him is playing well more than it is a
• 26:20
  knock on Ozzy. I don't think that Ozzy's done
• 26:23
  anything wrong. Think that, you know, the the
• 26:26
  lineup that was in there when the team started playing well,
• 26:29
  they continue to do so. And so when that's the case,
• 26:32
  unfortunately, somebody has to be the odd man out.
• 26:34
  And that's what Ozzy's dealing with right now.
• 26:37
  But even a situation like this, like this is all part of your
• 26:40
  story, right? And and I have no doubt that a
• 26:42
  guy like Ozzie Wiseblatt is going to become better for just
• 26:46
  being in the situation that he's in right now, but also being a
• 26:50
  great teammate and enjoying the ride at the predators are on and
• 26:53
  being supportive and being positive.
• 26:55
  He doesn't pout. He goes to work, he does his
• 26:57
  business. He stays on after, you know,
• 27:00
  after the morning skate when they do the the extra skate if
• 27:03
  it for a guy who's not going to play that night.
• 27:06
  So he's putting in the work and he'll get back in there
• 27:08
  eventually, whether it's this season or it ends up being next
• 27:11
  season. But a guy like Ozzie Wiseblood
• 27:13
  is not going to sit there and complain and say what was me
• 27:18
  because he knows what it takes to get to A to a moment like
• 27:21
  this. And we're really lucky to have
• 27:23
  him in Nashville. So again, Congrats to Ozzy
• 27:25
  Weisblatt. We're really happy for him.
• 27:27
  And by the way, we're going to give him our biggie awesome
• 27:29
  person of the week as well. We're going to pump this up a
• 27:32
  segment because there's nobody more deserving this week than
• 27:35
  Ozzy Weisblatt. We're so happy for him and it's
• 27:38
  it's good to have another positive biggie this week.
• 27:41
  Hey Preds are the only team where a Master to nominee comes
• 27:45
  with an additional award. So Biggie Winner April 9th,
• 27:50
  2026, Ozzie Wiseblack and our Master to nominee. 100%, you
• 27:55
  love to see it. We've been teasing it for a
• 27:57
  minute and this is big news. Preds fans coming up, a new era
• 28:01
  of Preds broadcasting is here. You're listening to the
• 28:04
  Predators official podcast on ESPN 1025 The Game and streaming
• 28:07
  on Predators YouTube. Welcome back to the Predators
• 28:11
  Official Podcast here on ESPN1O25, The Game, Predators
• 28:15
  YouTube and your preferred podcast platform.
• 28:18
  My name is Max Herz from Fred's Radio with Brooks Bratton from
• 28:21
  nationalpredators.com and Cara Hammer from Fred's TV.
• 28:25
  And we have big news about Fred's TV.
• 28:28
  The FanDuel Sports Network is going bye bye after this year
• 28:32
  and we have a new way for Predators fans to watch their
• 28:35
  games and it is going to be the most accessible that Predators
• 28:39
  hockey has ever been on TV for fans in Nashville and the rest
• 28:44
  of the Predators viewing market starting next season.
• 28:47
  The Predators this week announced A partnership with
• 28:49
  Scripps Sports, which is a company that owns news TV
• 28:53
  stations around the United States.
• 28:55
  Their affiliate in Nashville is News Channel 5, which is
• 28:57
  Nashville CBS station. We've partnered with them the
• 29:00
  past couple years to air some games.
• 29:02
  We aired our animated broadcast on News Channel 5 last year and
• 29:06
  we are so happy that we will be airing Preds games on a new new
• 29:10
  TV channel next year that will be called the Spot 28.
• 29:14
  It will be channel 28 on your antenna in Nashville.
• 29:18
  Currently it is the channel called ION.
• 29:20
  It will continue to air some ION programming but will air every
• 29:24
  single locally broadcast Preds game including preseason next
• 29:28
  season and it will be your home for Preds TV.
• 29:32
  You can get it for free with an antenna.
• 29:34
  The Predators and scripts are currently in negotiation with
• 29:38
  cable providers and YouTube TV and the like to make sure that
• 29:41
  as many folks as possible can see it.
• 29:44
  And if you are in the Predators viewing market, you will be able
• 29:46
  to watch it on an app as well. So guys, this is something that
• 29:50
  the Predators have been wanting to do for multiple years.
• 29:53
  They're finally now able to. Now the FanDuel Sports Network
• 29:56
  is gone and it is going to be the most accessible game
• 30:00
  watching for Preds fans. Other teams have done this, and
• 30:03
  for the teams that have done it the past couple years, it has
• 30:05
  been a rousing success. This is a huge deal and I, I, I
• 30:11
  think everybody realizes the gravity of this, but to now have
• 30:15
  the ability for everyone in the Middle Tennessee area, the
• 30:20
  Predators viewing market locally in Nashville, to go out and get
• 30:24
  a $20 digital antenna, hook it up to your TV and be able to
• 30:28
  watch Predators games live over the air for free.
• 30:32
  It's, it's groundbreaking, it's game changing.
• 30:34
  I saw a couple people, I wanted to clarify this too, because I
• 30:36
  saw a couple people mention I'm not putting it into antenna on
• 30:39
  my roof. You don't have to put an antenna
• 30:40
  on your roof. It's digital.
• 30:41
  It's a, it's a new era and you can just plug it into your TV
• 30:44
  and it works like that. And the predators, as you
• 30:46
  mentioned, Max in negotiations with cable providers, satellite
• 30:50
  providers, there will be much more information coming in the
• 30:54
  weeks and the months ahead. Again, FanDuel is still on for
• 30:58
  the rest of the regular season in the first round of the
• 31:00
  playoffs. If the predators are able to
• 31:02
  make it still FanDuel no changes.
• 31:04
  This is all for next season. But again, I think that the
• 31:07
  biggest deal here is that the the viewership will spike
• 31:12
  tenfold right. I, I think talking to Sean
• 31:14
  Henry, Predator CEO earlier in the week, you know, I, I think
• 31:18
  right now it's about 30 ish percent in the Nashville market
• 31:23
  that you can really actually get it into your household.
• 31:26
  It's going to go up to 9095%, just an an enormous, enormous
• 31:30
  spike in people that are able to view the game.
• 31:33
  And I think the big point that Sean Henry made was, you know,
• 31:36
  if you can't watch the game, you're not going to become a
• 31:38
  fan. Yes, we want you in the building
• 31:39
  at a home game. Yes, if you see a live hockey
• 31:42
  game in person, you're probably going to get hooked.
• 31:44
  But if you're hanging out at home, it's not feasible for
• 31:46
  everybody to get to the games. And if you end up watching on
• 31:50
  TV, you're probably going to going to become a fan.
• 31:53
  It's amazing what this can do for future generations of
• 31:57
  growing the game. And for someone who's going to
• 31:59
  be on that television broadcast just like she already is, but in
• 32:03
  a heck of a lot more households, Kara Hammer, that's a big deal.
• 32:06
  What do you think about all this?
• 32:08
  Yeah, You know, it's nice to feel like we finally have a
• 32:10
  home. I feel like there's been a lot
• 32:12
  of name changes. It's in my tenure with
• 32:14
  Nashville, obviously starting out with Fox Sports, Tennessee,
• 32:17
  then Valley, then vandals will be nice now to just settle in.
• 32:20
  So we're going to have more accessibility to to us as a
• 32:23
  broadcast. We'll still continue the
• 32:25
  podcast, but just pushing out content to bring fans in to keep
• 32:29
  all everybody engaged. And also it's Scripps is a great
• 32:33
  home. And we're not the only team to
• 32:34
  be doing this. I mean, they've already
• 32:35
  partnered, excuse me, with the Florida Panthers, the Tampa Bay
• 32:39
  Lightning, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Utah Mammoth,
• 32:42
  along with other professional sports teams.
• 32:44
  So it's great to see that they have found a way to make games
• 32:48
  accessible for the fans at home. Because we all know, like Brooke
• 32:52
  said, we want you in the building.
• 32:53
  Come visit us. Smashville is better when we
• 32:55
  have the 7th man. But also we know there's those
• 32:58
  nights that maybe you just want to sit home, watch us on TV.
• 33:01
  And so we hope more fans TuneIn and we're, we're just so happy
• 33:04
  to be with Scripps now. The FAQs about all of this
• 33:09
  announcement can be found online at
• 33:11
  nashvillepredators.com/scripps, which is spelled Scripps
• 33:17
  Nashville predators.com/scripps. We don't know everything yet
• 33:21
  about where exactly the games are going to be, but we wanted
• 33:24
  fans to know that this is happening and hopefully we will
• 33:27
  have some good announcements this summer about the new
• 33:30
  channel popping up on Comcast, YouTube TV, DIRECTV, all of the
• 33:34
  different cable providers that you guys have in Nashville and
• 33:37
  in other places. So a couple of other things that
• 33:40
  I wanted to clarify. Some games will be on News
• 33:44
  Channel 5 in addition to Channel 28 the spot.
• 33:48
  Those will be determined once the schedule is out closer to
• 33:50
  the next season. Some games will be on Nashville,
• 33:53
  CBS. Every game will be on the spot
• 33:55
  28 and also for folks who do not live in the Predators viewing
• 34:00
  area who currently watch the games on ESPN plus as out of
• 34:04
  market subscribers. Nothing changes for you.
• 34:06
  You could still watch on ESPN Plus if you have NHL center ice
• 34:10
  that still works. If you're in Canada the sports
• 34:12
  net subscription you use should work and other countries.
• 34:15
  I don't know what you're doing, but keep on doing it and thank
• 34:17
  you for doing it. 100% And one more thing that I'll mention
• 34:22
  from my conversation with Sean Henry said about once a game, or
• 34:25
  at least once a game, he gets an e-mail from somebody who's just
• 34:29
  kind of frustrated and says I, I just want to watch the game and
• 34:32
  I feel like I can't do it. Those are going to go away.
• 34:35
  Now. You can.
• 34:36
  There's a way to do it, especially for free over the air
• 34:39
  in Nashville. It's a huge deal and we're
• 34:42
  really excited about it. As Max said, Nashville
• 34:44
  predators.com/scripps, an FAQ page there plenty of answers
• 34:48
  right now. Even more answers are going to
• 34:50
  come in the weeks and the months ahead.
• 34:52
  But we are really excited to be on in way more households than
• 34:57
  the Predators are on right now. We're growing the game one fan
• 35:00
  at a time, and this is going to help do it.
• 35:02
  And we're really excited about this and we're excited as well
• 35:06
  to answer some of your questions coming up.
• 35:08
  And we will do that as we finish off this episode with a mailbag
• 35:12
  from some questions submitted on the old Instagram.
• 35:15
  We'll be back in just a moment here on The POP on ESPN 1025 The
• 35:19
  Game and Prez YouTube. Final segment of the Predators
• 35:22
  official podcast on this Thursday, April 9th.
• 35:26
  Matt Sirs, Brooks Bratton and Cara Hammer with you.
• 35:28
  We are so excited about the Predators new TV home next year,
• 35:31
  the most accessible over the air and so many other places.
• 35:35
  Prez hockey on TV on a new channel, The Spot 28 and Cara
• 35:40
  Hammer has formally volunteered me to come to your house, you
• 35:45
  beloved listener, and help you set up your antenna if you need
• 35:47
  it. You just have to make me lunch.
• 35:49
  That's the trade so I'm available for.
• 35:51
  This is before I learned that you didn't have to go on the
• 35:54
  roof. I thought we, I thought I was
• 35:55
  sending you to the roof. That's why I volunteered you.
• 35:58
  Carol wants me to go out on the roof of all of our fans, and who
• 36:02
  am I to say no? I got nothing going on, so I'm
• 36:05
  available. Brooks Bratton also has nothing
• 36:07
  going on except for some fan questions which were submitted
• 36:09
  on Instagram today. So what's Karen Brooks?
• 36:12
  I'd like to see that Max I we should find a way to make that
• 36:15
  happen. Let's get Max on roofs across
• 36:17
  Nashville. In the meantime, yes, some
• 36:20
  questions from the mailbag, which thanks to all of you for
• 36:23
  submitting some questions on Instagram this time around.
• 36:26
  And I think this is a very pertinent question for the
• 36:29
  situation we're in. It says what is the number one
• 36:31
  biggest key for these last four games for the Predators?
• 36:35
  For me, it's just continuing to to enjoy the moment.
• 36:38
  There's been a balance of yes, appreciating the the magnitude
• 36:43
  of the situation that you're in, but also have a little bit of
• 36:46
  fun with it. This is what you play for as a
• 36:48
  player to be in a situation like this.
• 36:50
  The guys continue to talk about it.
• 36:51
  You saw from the the Eustis on and then post game locker room
• 36:54
  celebration, they are enjoying it too.
• 36:57
  So continuing to find that balance, play your best, but
• 37:00
  appreciate it and enjoy the moment.
• 37:02
  And they're continuing to find success in that regard.
• 37:06
  My answer would be to to keep with what's been working for
• 37:08
  them. Their motto of when the week
• 37:10
  they found success using that. It's what's gotten them to this
• 37:13
  point. So that's exactly where I'm at.
• 37:15
  Hey, find a way to pick up two points against Utah.
• 37:17
  Find a way to do it again. It's Saturday night, but but not
• 37:20
  looking so far ahead. You know, there's big games
• 37:22
  against Minnesota. Those are big games against
• 37:24
  Dallas. So right now my my my answer
• 37:27
  would be stick with what's worked when the week.
• 37:32
  My answer would be Philip Forsberg needs to keep playing
• 37:35
  unbelievably well. He's a goal per game during this
• 37:39
  hot streak for the Predators. We need that to continue.
• 37:43
  Love it. Easy said easy said easy done.
• 37:46
  What's it like being in the playoff race and what got the
• 37:48
  team here? I think for me, one being in the
• 37:51
  race is really exciting because every night you're living and
• 37:54
  dying with every shot, every goal, every save.
• 37:56
  It's been really fun, nerve racking as Kara said, but fun to
• 38:00
  be in a race like this and what got the team here.
• 38:03
  I think just sticking together. They could have thrown their
• 38:06
  hands up when they were at the bottom of the basement back in
• 38:08
  November. It's not a lot of teams that do
• 38:10
  that, find themselves the bottom of the league and work their way
• 38:13
  back into it. It's the closeness, the
• 38:15
  tightness of that room. Andrew Burnett has said it
• 38:17
  multiple times this season. This is one of, if not the
• 38:20
  tightest team that he's ever been around.
• 38:22
  That's what's gotten them here by refusing to give in, sticking
• 38:26
  together, and they have found success from that.
• 38:34
  My answer would be two things. First of all, thank the hockey
• 38:38
  gods that we are in the Western Conference and not the Eastern
• 38:40
  Conference. That is played in the Predators
• 38:41
  favor with the numbers game right now.
• 38:43
  But they've taken advantage of the opportunity and I just think
• 38:47
  they're doing the most with what they've got and looking back at
• 38:50
  this Preds roster going into these buildings with established
• 38:53
  players on the other side going up against a team with Anjay
• 38:56
  Kopitar or Tammy Panarin. And for some people, the
• 39:00
  Predators are kind of a no name team right now with all the
• 39:03
  young guys. They're doing the most with what
• 39:05
  they've got. Nick Hague's been out injured.
• 39:08
  That is a big absence, literally and figuratively.
• 39:10
  And the Preds continue to get it done with who they have with a
• 39:13
  full team effort and great goaltending.
• 39:15
  So four more games of that. We'll end on this one and I love
• 39:20
  questions like this. It says who is your favorite not
• 39:22
  as well known preds player of the past.
• 39:25
  And the question asker then offered some of my favorites are
• 39:29
  Rich Klune, Carter Hutton, certainly exceptional guys,
• 39:32
  exceptional players, but maybe not the star player, right?
• 39:35
  So who is your favorite not as well known preds player of the
• 39:38
  past? The first player that came to
• 39:40
  mind for me, Gabby Bork, my first season.
• 39:43
  He was one of the first guys that was super nice to me in the
• 39:46
  room with joke around and just a guy who got it done on the ice.
• 39:51
  Wasn't always the flashiest player, but could be relied upon
• 39:55
  when you needed them. That was the 1415 season he was
• 39:58
  here and he was here for a few years.
• 40:00
  But Gabby Bork, my top choice on the maybe not as well known
• 40:05
  Fred's player, but a guy that we certainly loved having.
• 40:07
  Her feel like that answer is going to put me on the spot
• 40:09
  here, Brooks. And now I have to think back for
• 40:12
  the last 10 seasons of every player I've covered and and who
• 40:16
  would stand out? Can I pick more than one?
• 40:19
  I think maybe Freddie Goudreau, I don't know if you would say
• 40:22
  he's the most well known player, but obviously came in had a few
• 40:26
  big goals exactly when they needed him.
• 40:30
  Oh my gosh, Freddie GI don't know granny.
• 40:32
  Do we consider Mikhail Granlin to be like a well known known
• 40:36
  player? I don't.
• 40:38
  Gosh, this is a tough one. I'm really going to have to
• 40:40
  think about it because there's been a handful of guys that I
• 40:44
  thought they're all well known. Hey, they play.
• 40:46
  Professional. Don't we know who all of them
• 40:48
  are? We know them.
• 40:50
  We know them. My answer is our colleague and
• 40:54
  my friend, the first Nashville Predator ever.
• 40:58
  Jay Moore is my favorite unknown Pred despite the fact that I
• 41:03
  have single handedly grown his fame the last few years on Preds
• 41:07
  radio by make him making him the Don Cherry of Nashville
• 41:10
  Predators broadcasts which he plays very well, but I think Jay
• 41:15
  is the best. We will occasionally still see
• 41:17
  Jay Moore jerseys from 1998 floating around in Smashville.
• 41:22
  Some of them are worn by his many family members, including
• 41:25
  his six lovely grandchildren. All of them live in Nashville,
• 41:28
  but sometimes you will see someone who has never met Jay as
• 41:31
  just a big admirer of his great games for the Preds when he
• 41:35
  ended his career in Nashville in 1998.
• 41:38
  And almost 3 decades later, here he is, the patriarch of a big
• 41:41
  family in Smashville and our favorite on the Preds broadcast.
• 41:45
  So I'm going to say Jay Moore, despite the fact that his fame
• 41:49
  grows every day and I love. I love that.
• 41:53
  Can I vote Hal Gill for being a player who I just?
• 41:57
  I really just adore him as my colleague, but wouldn't say he
• 42:01
  was probably the most well known player in a Nashville Predator
• 42:04
  sweater. What Max?
• 42:07
  What's your stat about? Mace has just as many goals as
• 42:11
  Hal does. We have we have three very proud
• 42:15
  former player analysts regularly on the air on Preds radio and
• 42:18
  TV, 2 defensemen and one goalie Chris Mason.
• 42:22
  How Gill and Jay Moore. Between the three of them, they
• 42:26
  scored one combined goal for the Preds and it was scored by the
• 42:30
  goalie Chris Mason. There you go.
• 42:33
  Go teammates. That is a stat that you're not
• 42:35
  gonna get anywhere else. So we're gonna do a whole
• 42:39
  episode now. Doesn't have that one.
• 42:40
  We're gonna do a whole episode in the summertime.
• 42:43
  Care is gonna just recall every single favorite lesser known
• 42:46
  player that she's had the chance to interview over the course of
• 42:49
  her career. And what a fun one that'll be.
• 42:51
  But in the meantime, meaningful hockey.
• 42:54
  You've heard us say it before. We're going to say it again.
• 42:56
  Four more games to go for the Predators, one in Utah and then
• 43:00
  we better see you back home at Bridgestone Saturday, Monday,
• 43:03
  Thursday next week, massive games.
• 43:05
  The Predators need all the points they can get.
• 43:07
  And we hope that this is prime G up just a little bit more to get
• 43:10
  you pumped for the last four here for the Predators, for Max
• 43:14
  Herriers and Kara Hammer, I'm Britch Bratton.
• 43:16
  Thanks so much for tuning in once again to another episode of
• 43:18
  the POP. And we will talk to you soon
• 43:22
  enough. Enjoy the hockey, talk to you
• 43:24
  later.