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Welcome (Back) to Smashville · Predators Official Podcast

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This is the Predators official podcast here on Nashville
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predators.com. We are back and so are your
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friends. With preseason getting started
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this week and training camp underway, Thanks so much for
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joining us. It's going to be an amazing
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season here on THE POP. Let's get started by telling you
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what all we've got going on. My name is Max Ers from Preds
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Radio, joined as always by Kara Hammer from Freds TV.
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Hi Hammer, so great to see you. So great to have hockey and the
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POP back. Yeah.
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Hi, Maxi. I missed you and we're so
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excited about this upcoming season because this podcast is
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on video form. That means we had to bring back
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the OG Brooks Bratton. Welcome back to the Pres
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official Podcast. Thank you both so much for
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having me. What a pleasure it is to be
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back. You know, Max, how far we've
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come from the days of Max was the producer, Kara and I were
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doing the show together, Kara. I even remember talking to Max
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as a student when he was at Vanderbilt and I had just
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started along with Thomas Willis at the Preds almost a decade
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ago. So I love how things have come
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full circle. I'm so excited to be back with
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you guys. Obviously for myself, I came
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back to the team last year off of a two year hiatus and again,
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it's just such a pleasure. I feel a little bit like Matthew
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McConaughey in those old car commercials where he would say
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they say you can't go back. Well, yes, you can.
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I feel a little bit, that was a horrible impression, but I feel
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a little bit like Matthew McConaughey in that sense.
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So, you know, thanks to our bosses and everybody who helped
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put this together. It really is a pleasure to be
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back with you both, Brooks. You got the green light.
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I yes, I love it. That's a that's a really good
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play on words. I love that.
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I love a good green light. I still haven't read the book,
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but I've heard it's good. Well, we've got all three of us
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here for the POP this year and you can also watch the POP this
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year on the Nashville Predators YouTube page.
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So we will have both our usual audio methods of distribution on
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your favorite podcast platform and also throughout the week on
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our flagship radio station, 102.5 and 106.3 The Game, which
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is of course still your radio home for Pred's hockey.
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But you can watch us as well. See our beautiful faces up on
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Pred's YouTube. Brooks, Kara and Max all
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together, Pred's TV, Pred's radio and Nashville
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predators.com together as one. Synergy.
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It's a beautiful thing, is it not?
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I feel like so many things to talk about coming into this
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season. I know we're all excited to be
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back, but one of the themes coming back in is nobody wants
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to talk about last year. So we cannot kick this off
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forgetting about the end of last season with a lot of excitement
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for what's ahead. Do you guys agree with that?
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100%, we care. It's funny.
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We at the first day of training camp had a chance to talk to
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Fedor Svechkov. And he was asked, you know, what
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happened last year, how do you expect to move on?
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And he laughed and said, what happened last year?
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I don't remember. So that it's, it's humorous, but
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I, I think that's fitting for how the team feels, how they're
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kind of embracing that. And yes, it's OK.
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Like Steven Samkos acknowledged this.
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Sure, it's OK to to mention it the first couple of days, but
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you want to talk about wiping a slate clean?
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That's exactly how the Predators are approaching this new season.
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Let's forget about the past. And let's also use it as a
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little bit of motivation to prove some people wrong.
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Can we talk about Federer? Because he showed up buzz cut.
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So already he's coming in with a brand new look for the season.
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But Brooks, I have to top you here because the first thing he
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said to me when he sat down for one for our one-on-one interview
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was I forgot English and how to talk.
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It's a lie, he remembers. He remembers he just wants to to
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start the season that way. Media darling Fedor Svechkov.
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What else have you guys noticed from the start of camp?
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It's been upbeat. It's it's felt like everybody
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wants to turn this thing around. And last year's camp didn't feel
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this way. And I think players felt it from
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the beginning of the season. And it's good to have that clean
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slate again. And we've heard it come in so
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many different forms, from head coach Andrew Brunette, from GM
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Barry Trotz, from the many players who have done interviews
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so far already. And I think the the most
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important thing that leads the line of things that are
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refreshed is the captain of the team, Roman Yossi, is back after
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missing almost the entire second-half of last season with
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an injury. And he's looked really good on
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the ice the first few days. And Brooks, he discussed in
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pretty detailed terms his medical diagnosis of Potts,
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doing his interview earlier this week.
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And he thinks it's going to work well and that he feels 100%.
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And so far, based on what we've seen from him, that's the truth.
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Yeah, I think that's that was the biggest sigh of relief,
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right, Hearing both Barry Trotz and Roman Yossi say, yes, 100%
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back to health in dealing with POTS.
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You'll recall that last season, Yossi took a hit in the Florida
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game late in February and that was the end of his regular
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season. But even before that it
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happened, Yossi admitted that he was having these symptoms, which
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POTS is a condition that if you're lying down and you stand
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up too quickly, maybe you get dizziness, increased heart rate,
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some fatigue. And he was having that and was
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kind of self diagnosing, didn't know what it was.
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And in some ways, taking that hit in that game was kind of a
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blessing in disguise to get him off the ice and really let him
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sit down and say, there's something going on here.
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I've got to figure out what it is.
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So a really good offseason for him.
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Kara and Max, as you've mentioned, the changing his diet
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and new exercise and a new morning routine.
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He's got an entire toolbox now after working with doctors and
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specialists over the summer to be able to deal with this.
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And again, I think the best news of all is hearing Roman say,
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yes, I am back to 100% health. I'm feeling really good on the
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ice and it makes a huge difference.
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Obviously, we know how important he is to this team.
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All of his teammates know what he brings on the ice.
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And that was something that Philip Forsberg said yesterday
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is that, you know, you almost take for granted having Roman on
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your team. And he's always out there and
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he's always doing what he does. And then when you don't have
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him, it's like, we'll shoot. Gosh, we really do miss him.
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And so Philip said that he just simply cannot wait to play with
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Roman again. And you know, not only what he
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brings on the ice, but off the ice as the captain of that team
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makes a world of difference. I think Brooks, you hit on it
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too, Roman said. You know, it's not one thing
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that he could change. It was an entire lifestyle thing
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that changed. He's posted some, you know,
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videos of the exercise he's doing.
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He's really kind of slowed things down, taking the time to
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to work on every aspect to get back to skating.
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And as crazy as it sounds and and how frustrating the end of
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last season was, starting the summer earlier for these guys,
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maybe a better thing. I mean, even Jonathan Marshiso
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mentioned it. He said one year he missed the
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playoffs and he came back the following season a better player
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because he had more time to skate and get back to his game.
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And Marsha so has certainly made-up for lost time on the ice
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so far this week. His gaps per minute is already
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in mid season form, talking every single person's ear off
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during trails and scrimmages. So rest assured, Marsha is ready
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to roll in every way. I feel like he came back in and
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when he sat down for his Gladiator interview, he was
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already seemed like an entirely different person.
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He was more upbeat. He was more into it.
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It's almost like he's done a complete 180 being back in
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Nashville this season. And it's funny, we always ask
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the players, you know, some some side questions about your
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teammates. And it was one word to describe
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Jonathan Marshall. So and eight different players
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called him loud. So we already know what kind of
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player we're getting with Marchie, but I feel like it's
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just it's more upbeat, it's more positive.
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The guys are amped and ready to be here.
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Well, and and that's a good point, Kara, with somebody like
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Marcia so who came from Vegas last summer, obviously Stephen
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Stamkos doing the same thing from Tampa Bay.
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And that was something that Stamkos mentioned that the
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difference between this time last year and now, how much more
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settled he feels, not only on the ice, but simple things like
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having the house settled, having the kids in school, knowing how
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to drive to the rink. I mean, those are those are
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things that you don't necessarily think about, but it
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all adds up and it all makes a difference.
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Brady Shea said the same thing on Friday as well.
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That, you know, you just, you know everybody, you know the
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trainers, you know the coaches, you know your teammates better.
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That makes a difference. And I think that that's, you
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know, I don't, I'm not going to sit here and say that that's
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going to be the difference between 20 more wins or losses.
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But don't underestimate the impact that something like that
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has as well. The fact that guys like Stamkos
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and Marcia so and Shay are all settled in Nashville now.
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They're settled with their team and they can just go out and
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play hockey. Plus for Marsha, so having Nick
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Haig back in the locker room with him, he's like, he's got
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his buddy there. You know, that makes a
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difference for these players. And you speak of Brady Shay,
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Michael McCarron, both athletes won a a gold medal over the
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summer. So they're coming in, they're
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riding high. Brady and Michael McCarron both
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expecting babies soon. So so you talk about things
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being high. I mean, they're just elevated
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right now. Exciting times and a lot of
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reason for optimism. They're always is at this time
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of year, right? There's there's 32 teams that
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have started training camp and they all believe that they can
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make the playoffs. Of course, only half of them
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will, but for the Predators, I think there is a lot of reason
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for optimism considering the way that things went last year.
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Everybody in that room, even guys that weren't here last
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year, everybody in that room is excited to be a part of that and
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the opportunity to reverse fortunes and really get back
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into the swing of things this season.
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So guys, I think the overall theme on day one is that again,
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last seasons in the past, the Preds are coming in with a bit
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of a chip on their shoulder, in the words of Roman Yossi, ready
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to prove people wrong and get back to winning ways.
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And I love what Stephen Stamkos had to say on day one.
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So we're going to play a couple of clips from the Predators
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forward. Here's Stamkos first on wiping
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the slate clean and leaving last season in the past, we all
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understand what happened last year.
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And I think it's it's OK to talk about a little at the beginning
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and and say we don't want that to happen again, but, you know,
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move on from it. It's it's not going to do us any
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good to think about what happened last year.
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It's it's a fresh start. There's some new faces and just
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overall, I think a different sense of, you know, I don't want
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to say expectation, because the expectation is, is that we're a
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playoff team. I don't think that's changed,
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but there was a lot of outside noise last year and I think
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that's toned down a little bit this year.
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And if anything, we use that as as some internal motivation to
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to prove some people wrong. But at the end of the day, it's
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focusing on, you know, coming out of the gate strong and and
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that's a big part of what can dictate the rest of the season
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is and starts now training camp and making some tweaks that that
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we've already discussed and guys are excited.
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And then secondly, here's Stamkos once more on finding the
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motivation to not let last season happen again.
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I think it was a tough year for everybody last year.
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It it sucked the joy out of a lot of us in terms of the game
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that that we love. And it was disappointing,
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frustrating. There was a lot of different
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emotions that I think a lot of us didn't see coming at the
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beginning of the year. And.
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It just weighs. You down throughout the course
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of of a season and before you know it, you're out of the mix
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and, and it's tough. You have to be a pro and find a
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way to finish strong. I I don't question the, the work
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ethic of, of our group, you know, the compete, you know,
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pretty thin line up at the end of the year and guys are still
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going out there and giving it their all.
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We got a chance to see a lot of young guys get chances and, you
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know, hopefully continue to to to play with the confidence they
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showed at the end of last year coming into this year.
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So in tough times, there are some positive things that come
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out of that. And I think we've learned from
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that. And I think there's just a
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general excitement of, OK, last years in the past.
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Let's come in. Let's let's, let's have some
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fun. Let's work hard.
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Let's get back to, you know, why we love this game and why we
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play this game. And, you know, today was a good
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start. OK, so there's Steven Stamkos
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with some pretty powerful thoughts there.
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I love what he said, especially at the end of that second quote.
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Let's have some fun and let's get back to why we love this
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game, why we play this game. He, you know, you heard him say
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the way that last season went, it unfortunately sucked the joy
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out of it for a lot of guys in that room and the optimism that
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a fresh start brings. Just really encouraging stuff
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from Stamkos there. And they talk so much about, you
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know, changing the systems, you know, talk, talking with Bruno.
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He said it in his press conference.
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He said, I met with the players at the end of the season in the
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middle of the summer and and to start now.
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And it was a collaboration on how do we get back to the
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winning ways. And I think some of those
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expectations that they had to start last season, they're kind
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of by the wayside. And they said internally, hey,
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they hear national media saying Fred's aren't going to make it.
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Hey, they only got picked up by two national television games.
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Hey, all eyes aren't on Nashville right now.
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Internally, that's got to be a little fuel in the fire for
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these guys. 100% it is. And I, I think the quote of the
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day on day one was from Barry Trotz, who very wryly said that,
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hey, you know what? We've proven the experts wrong
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two years in a row and we're looking to make it 3.
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And for a little bit of context, which we had some issues with
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this on social media, but of course the experts 2 years ago
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said, oh, there's no way Nationals making the playoffs.
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They made the playoffs. So last year everybody says, oh,
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Stamkos, Marcia Soche, for sure they're going to the postseason.
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We all know how that went. So very trots making light of
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it. A little bit of humor there
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saying we're going to prove the experts wrong three years in a
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row. That is the goal.
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So a really good day one for the Predators is camp opened.
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I wanted to include this as well.
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You know, getting the chance to talk to guys like Philip
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Forsberg, Roman Yossi, who are kind of the elder statesman now.
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Of course, Colton Sissons was dealt in the offseason.
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UC Soros has been here for a while as well.
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But it's kind of Forsberg and Niosi are the guys that have
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been here for over a decade. They've seen just about
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everything in Nashville, and I asked Phillip on kind of being
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that elder statesman with Roman Yossi, what about the pride that
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he takes and having only played for Nashville in his career and
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what it means to him to try to find a way to bounce back.
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The Roman has been here the whole time and I've learned a
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ton from just playing with him and and just seeing him every
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day for the last about 13 years. And as as the journey have gone
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along, we've had guys, obviously citizens just laughed.
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He was here pretty much the same time as me, but there's guys to
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come and go and throughout there you learn a little bit from
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everyone. But I think the ultimate thing
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like like you did touch on pride, like I love this city.
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I love this team and and, you know, doing something great for
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the city is what drives, I think all of us, especially,
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especially like you said, me and Roman, you know, just being here
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for a while. But even the guys we bring in,
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everybody is is on board. And I think that's something
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that we've been very lucky with here in Nashville, that people,
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people want to be here. And sometimes maybe we take that
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for granted a little bit. But yeah, the guys are here.
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They're they're ready to go and so am I.
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So there's Phil, who of course is also part owner of Nashville
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SC, talking about how much the city of Nashville means to him
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and the sense of pride that you take.
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He loves the city, he loves the team, and doing something great
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for the city is what drives a lot of them.
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And as guys like Philip Forsbrig and Rome and Yossi get older, I
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think that little bit of, I don't know if urgency is the
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right word, but that desire grows even stronger every year
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because it's just simply not going to last forever, right?
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You can't play forever. You only have so many tries at
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this. And I love to hear those words
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from Phillip. Well, the thing that rang
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strongest with me, Brooks, is that people want to be here.
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And even after a really disappointing season last year,
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there wasn't a ton of change and everybody who's here wants to be
16:13
here. And I think after times last
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season where things got really low, you feel that sense as
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strong as it has been, even more than before the season last
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year, this week, I feel like we felt that.
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And I think it's been echoed by the the new players who are here
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as well. And the prospects obviously want
16:32
to be here. They want to make the NHL.
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So there are a lot of hungry guys right now and I think
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they're personifying a lot of things that have built the Preds
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franchise not just based off of their past, but based off of
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where they are right now going into this season.
16:48
Well, how? How cool was it on day one to
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hear from Eric Holla talk about how, of course, his second stint
16:54
in Nashville now, he was traded back to the Predators from New
16:57
Jersey in the summer. And he said that he had a big
17:01
hand in making that trade happen, that he wanted to come
17:04
back to Nashville. He's got a lot of familiarity
17:06
with Andrew Burnett, Nashville's head coach, of course, loves
17:09
playing for Bruno and, and wanted to be here.
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You know, like you said, and like Forsberg said as well, guys
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want to be here. And I think that's a perfect
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example of, you know, even though last season didn't go the
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way that anybody anticipated it would, there's still a lot to
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like about Nashville, the lifestyle here, the
17:26
organization, there's good people in the organization.
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And Max, as you said, everybody wants to make it work the way
17:33
that last year went. Nobody said, Nope, I'm good, no
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thanks, I'm out of here. Everybody wants to find a
17:39
solution. And that is going to drive
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folks, I think especially in the early going here.
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Yeah. And, and no guests on today's
17:45
show since we're getting the whole season started here, but
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we'll have interviewed guests coming up on future episodes.
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And we'll talk to Eric Holla about how Andrew Brunette has
17:54
either coached him or been in the player development side with
17:58
all four NHL organizations that Brunette has been on staff with.
18:01
So pretty great to get him back here, guys who know each other.
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And we saw Holla playing center on Friday at training camp
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practice #2 in between Jonathan Marshasow and Michael Bunting in
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a line that generated a lot of scoring chances and scrimmages.
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And Andrew Brunette pointed them out unprovoked that they were
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driving play. 100% And that's one thing that Brunette said
18:22
that he likes about Hollow the most is he's a competitive
18:25
player. He's a big game player and you
18:27
can plug him in basically anywhere.
18:29
And so again, Max, as you said, day 2, it's we're only a couple
18:33
days in, but this is the time that you start trying some
18:37
things out. And yeah, that marsh is so
18:39
bunting Hollow line getting some praise from Andrew Burnett.
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So we'll see if that sticks during the preseason, but
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certainly some things to like in that regard.
18:49
We wanted to mention as well, Barry Trotz, of course,
18:52
addressing the media to start things off in training camp.
18:56
The first question he was asked was about Luke Evangelista
19:00
without a contract. At the moment he remains
19:02
unsigned and he is not attending camp to start.
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But Barry Trotz reiterating that the goal is to get Evangelist
19:08
assigned to a new contract and nothing else.
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So as we record this on Friday afternoon, September 19th,
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certainly something to keep in the back of the mind as training
19:17
camp continues. And unfortunately some sad news
19:20
as well that came down over the past weekend during Predators
19:25
Rookie camp is that 2 Predators prospects, Ozzy and Oasis, their
19:30
older brother Orca, unfortunately passing away.
19:33
And, and that's obviously something that you never want to
19:35
hear. We're thinking about the Wise
19:36
Black family at this time. Yeah, just devastating news.
19:40
You know, Barry Trotz sent his condolences to the family.
19:44
We know that Ozzy is currently up in Canada with his brothers,
19:47
taking care of all the family business.
19:49
He's expected back in Nashville, he said, maybe by the end of
19:52
next week. But we also want to extend our
19:54
condolences to the wise Blatt family.
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Yeah, and the Wise Blatt family got so much positive publicity
20:02
last year when Ozzy made his NHL debut for the Preds right after
20:05
New Year's and. The Preds are so grateful to
20:08
have Ozzy in the organization late in the season.
20:10
Last year they welcomed Oasis into the fold and his junior
20:14
season went so long as Medicine Hat won the Chenoweth Cup and
20:18
went to the Memorial Cup, the one of the greatest junior teams
20:21
of recent memory and Oasis was captaining that team.
20:24
So he is new to the organization.
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He's in development camp, he's in camp with his brother, and
20:29
sadly they've had to leave for an unimaginably awful family
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tragedy as the oldest of the five famous wise black siblings,
20:37
all with the alliterative OW initials Orca, passed away in a
20:41
car crash back home last weekend. 25 years old and just
20:46
unbelievably sad. And my mind jumps to the
20:50
incredible things we've learned about that family.
20:52
And the first time that two of the three Wise Blacks who would
20:56
play in the Western League played each other when Orca, who
20:59
was on the Calgary Hit Men, played against Ozzy, who was on
21:02
the Prince Albert Raiders in the Calgary Saddle Dome.
21:05
And they were both stars of their game.
21:07
And their mom, who is deaf, is in the crowd bawling her eyes
21:10
out. And that there is there's a
21:14
family that the hockey world fully understands what they're
21:17
about. And when tragedies happen in the
21:19
hockey world, everybody has each other's back.
21:21
And the Preds are unbelievably fortunate to have two members of
21:26
this incredible family. And we know that when they
21:28
return to camp, both guys will be pushing to make rosters and
21:32
everybody will have their back emotionally and away from the
21:35
ice and in what is an unspeakably tough time.
21:38
All said Max. And we're again, just all of our
21:41
our thoughts, our prayers, our condolences.
21:42
We're thinking of the wise blats at this time and hope to see
21:46
Ozzy and Oasis back here in Nashville sometime soon.
21:49
So coming up next, we will recap rookie camp and the Prospect
21:53
Tournament and who from that group could potentially
21:55
challenge for a spot on the opening night roster.
21:58
You are listening to and watching the Preds Official
22:01
Podcast on ESPN 102.5 and 106.3 The Game and YouTube.
22:08
Welcome back to the Predators official podcast.
22:11
I'm Kara Kamer along with Max hers and Brooks Bratton.
22:15
We are so excited to be here on our new video platform bringing
22:19
you all the new content of this season and Brooks rookie camp.
22:23
We have a chance to see some of the young guys coming in.
22:26
They went down to Tampa. They played a few games.
22:29
They've been skating in front of the coaches, the development
22:32
staff. I mean, who has stood out to you
22:36
as of today? Well, first of all, there's
22:38
worse places to be than Tampa, certainly on a rookie tournament
22:41
weekend trip. So that was always, it's always
22:43
nice to be in Tampa and it was great to get down there and see
22:46
the guys on the ice. They went to one and O in that
22:48
tournament and lots of guys stood out.
22:52
But Kara, you asked about a couple names.
22:54
I've got to go with Joachim Kemel and Reed Shaffer is
22:57
probably the top two. It was.
23:00
It was really great to see Brady Martin as well, of course, the
23:02
number five overall pick in this year's draft from the Predators.
23:06
Of course, getting into the line up, being able to show what he's
23:10
got against some other top NHL prospects.
23:13
He had a really good showing in the first game, a really nice
23:16
dish over to Kemel with a beautiful shot on the power
23:19
play. And then Martin scored a goal of
23:21
his own on a penalty shot. One of the things too, I'll
23:25
mention on Martin, as well as Barry Trotz was asked on day
23:28
one, what did you see from Martin and camp and what do you
23:31
want to see from him now in the main training camp?
23:34
And I think something that stood out to me, of course, Martin is
23:36
only 18 years old. And Barry Trotz says the
23:39
maturity is much higher than maybe you would expect a normal
23:44
18 year old player. He said that Martin is seeing
23:47
plays and reacting to them with the maturity of a much older
23:50
player. So I think that was really good
23:53
to hear. You can see why he was selected
23:56
that high, the attributes that he has, some of the intangibles,
24:00
even little glimpses of it, right?
24:02
I'm not going to sit here and say that he's ready to be in the
24:05
NHL and and be a 30 goal scorer all of a sudden.
24:08
But it was really good to see him in some game action.
24:11
But again, I think Kemel and Schaefer, 2 guys that stand out.
24:15
Kemel is a guy who made his NHL debut last season with the
24:18
Predators. He got in two games and of
24:20
course, when you're a rookie, you're coming in, you're a
24:23
little bit timid it it takes a second to get going again.
24:25
He only had those two games, went back down to Milwaukee.
24:29
But boy, was I impressed with Yo Kim Kemel, something that stood
24:32
out to me really like, you know, the offensive capability that's
24:35
there, his shot on the power play.
24:37
Again, I can't emphasize that enough.
24:39
What a laser that was to go right under the bar.
24:41
But the physicality from Kemel, he was hitting everything that
24:45
moved and I think that that's something that if he can bring
24:49
that all together in his game, what a well-rounded player he
24:54
already is and could be at this next level.
24:57
And read Schaefer the same thing.
24:58
He's got some offensive upside. He scored a game-winning goal
25:02
during the tournament. But he's another guy who he's
25:05
physical, he's gonna hit everything that moves.
25:08
He told me verbatim, He said I like to be a pain in the butt to
25:11
play against. Although he used a different
25:13
word than but but but you love that, right?
25:16
Like to see him out there and to just mixing it up.
25:19
He's in the middle of everything.
25:20
He's always talking that energy. And by the way, 65, that doesn't
25:25
hurt to have some size and some skill to go along with
25:28
everything. But Schaefer and Kemel, 2 guys
25:32
that really stood out and really curious to see how they perform
25:36
in the preseason games, the remainder of training camp.
25:39
Those are two names to watch for.
25:41
I think if anybody can make the opening night roster.
25:43
And let's not forget Matthew Wood as well, who played the
25:45
last six games of the previous season as he made his NHL debut
25:49
with the Predators. But those are some names I think
25:52
that we need to keep an eye on over these next two weeks
25:54
leading into opening night for sure.
25:56
And Max, you know, with the contract situation with
25:59
Evangelista, he hasn't been on the ice with the players.
26:02
So Kimmel has stepped in having that opportunity, and it's a big
26:06
opportunity for him. Yeah, Kimmel has some undeniable
26:10
offensive attributes with the shot leading the way, and Barry
26:14
Trotz said in his press conference to start for the
26:16
preseason training camp here, he's gone from a boy to a man,
26:19
and it's time for Kimmel. This is his third full North
26:22
American pro season, got in those two NHL games last season.
26:26
I think we're going to be seeing a lot of him this year based on
26:29
what we've seen so far this week at Fort Nice in Bellevue.
26:31
Well. Guys, I have to let you know, my
26:33
favorite rookie story of the summer has to be the fact that
26:37
Brady Martin, it's been a few days at the Philip Forsberg
26:41
house. I, I spoke with Phil about this.
26:43
He told me that when he was a rookie coming in, he lived with
26:46
Patrick Hornquist, so he always wanted to give back.
26:50
He spoke with Aaron about it. And Brady Martin was Uncle Brady
26:54
for the summer. Brooks I I mean, what, what do
26:58
you think you've had a chance to meet Brady?
27:00
Do we trust him as a babysitter here for Felix?
27:04
Well, he said that he did not get that ask.
27:06
And Phil admitted, hey, we're a little bit stingy with that.
27:08
It's not just Brady. We're we don't really want
27:11
anybody to watch Felix other than us.
27:12
But no, what a what a cool opportunity.
27:15
And something else that was great was Brady Martin was also
27:18
on the ice for Philip Forsberg, his hockey clinic a couple of
27:22
weeks ago. And and, you know, you might
27:24
look at that and say, oh, it's, you know, it's great.
27:26
I mean, it's a clinic for kids and you're out there for a
27:28
couple hours, whatever. Not a big deal.
27:30
That's part of it, though, right?
27:31
Like that's part of being a professional athlete, giving
27:34
back to your community. So for Brady to not only be able
27:38
to skate alongside Phil, play with Phil now during some of
27:42
these early days of training camp, but to have witnessed that
27:45
side of it. And then to go home at the end
27:47
of the day and say, yeah, this is life in the NHL.
27:50
This is what it's like. What a great opportunity and
27:54
experience for Brady Martin and yeah, I mean, hanging out with
27:57
Felix. Who wouldn't want to do that for
27:58
a few days? They had a very full house, a
28:01
lot of Phil's wife's family and friends were there the weekend
28:04
that Martin was with them, plus Phil, his wife Aaron and baby
28:08
Felix. So with Uncle Brady Martin
28:11
joining the fold, they basically became the Brady Bunch, both pun
28:15
intended and capacity related as well.
28:19
Let's can we just talk about the difference of these people?
28:23
I mean, Philip grew up in Sweden.
28:25
I know that they were married in a European castle because Aaron
28:29
has roots there. She's a Southern girl.
28:31
And then you bring in Brady Martin, who grew up on a dairy
28:33
farm. I think Phil said that Aaron
28:36
literally asked every question under the sun about his
28:40
childhood and and how he got here.
28:42
Well, and it's so fascinating, right?
28:44
Like, Brady Martin wasn't even in the draft in LA because he
28:48
wanted to stay home. Family is so important to him.
28:51
And there's chores to be done on the farm as well.
28:54
He mentioned when he was here for development camp that, you
28:57
know, as soon as I get back, it's right back into the barn.
28:59
And and that's just the way of life up there.
29:01
Obviously, he's here right now. He's focused on hockey.
29:05
But yeah, what a what a fascinating way of life.
29:08
And it's something that I don't, I don't know about you guys.
29:09
I didn't grow up on a farm. I have no idea how that goes
29:12
down. But it's been so cool to see
29:14
someone who has a different way of life.
29:17
And yet he still has become this elite hockey player with family
29:21
values. And I've loved to hear Brady
29:24
Martin talk about how important leadership and being on a team
29:29
and winning with a team is to him.
29:31
He mentions Sidney Crosby, the captain of the Penguins, who's,
29:34
you know, certainly one of the greatest leaders the sport has
29:37
ever seen. That's not a bad role model.
29:40
And if you're looking for someone to say, hey, how do I be
29:43
a good leader? Martin has expressed over and
29:46
over again how important that is to him.
29:49
I love the way that he, even as an 18 year old, the way that he
29:52
speaks about that, about wanting to lead A-Team and winning with
29:56
a team, how important that is to him.
29:58
And he's off to a good start here in Nashville.
30:00
Whether or not he makes the team, we'll see.
30:03
But boy, you love the character that he's already shown in the
30:06
early going. You guys know, because Max and I
30:09
love to talk about my Wyoming roots on this podcast, but when
30:13
I was in Wyoming, the football players that grew up on the
30:16
farms and the ranches came in and they just had that different
30:19
sort of toughness, that tenacity.
30:21
You see it in places, you know, it reminds me of that Tanner.
30:24
You know, you grow up in that farm life, you're just a tough
30:27
all around person. I expect to see a lot of that
30:30
from Brady Martin just having that background in his DNA.
30:34
All right, well, we have plenty more content coming your way.
30:36
We had Gladiator Days in Smashville on Wednesday and lots
30:40
of content to bring. So stay with us.
30:42
We'll be right back on the Fred's Official podcast.
30:48
Welcome back to the season opening edition of the Predators
30:51
official podcast. My name is Max Hurst from Fred's
30:53
Radio with Kara Hammer from Fred's TV and Brooks Bratton
30:57
from nashvillepredators.com who rejoins the podcast this season.
31:01
You can also watch our podcast on YouTube all year long, in
31:05
addition to hearing us on your favorite podcast platform and
31:08
throughout the Hockey Week on 1025 The Game.
31:11
One of our favorite days of the preseason is Gladiator Day when
31:14
all the players come in, take tons of pictures and cool videos
31:18
that you'll see on the scoreboard, on TV, on social
31:21
media, tons of different places throughout the season.
31:24
And Kara gets to have a lot of fun on that day, recording a lot
31:28
of things that you will see on FanDuel Sports Network this
31:31
season. I do feel like Gladiator is
31:33
always one of my favorite content days of the year because
31:36
the guys come in and they're just so much more relaxed.
31:39
It's not the middle of the season where there's pressure on
31:41
them. If they're on a win streak, on a
31:42
losing streak, whatever it is, it's just, hey, it's almost like
31:46
the first day of school. You get to come in and catch up
31:48
with everybody about, you know, things they did over the summer.
31:52
I feel like one of the things that that really stood out to me
31:54
was Bruno. And this the time he took the
31:57
summer to kind of reassess where he was at.
31:59
I asked him, you know, what's your relaxation?
32:01
What's your leisure activity? A lot of the guys golf.
32:05
And he told me that he he goes up to his lake house in Canada
32:09
and he canoes. He said that's his escape from
32:11
it all. He is, you know, we know Bruno.
32:14
He is a hockey guy. His mind never wavers from the
32:18
sport of hockey, and he said that he spent a lot of time
32:21
canoeing, you know, catching up with the guys.
32:24
Most of them obviously went back to their their residences in
32:27
Canada. But but Brooks, what's your
32:30
favorite part about gladiators? Just having the chance to kind
32:33
of just see all your friends again.
32:35
No, I I always, I love the first day of school analogy.
32:38
I love that you use that because I do the same thing, right?
32:41
It's like it's there's always a little bit of bittersweet coming
32:44
back out of the summer, right? You never really want summer to
32:48
end, But then you get back and you see everybody.
32:50
It's like, all right, no, I'm good.
32:51
This is this will be OK. But gladiators were fun for me
32:55
this year. As for one, as I kind of work my
32:58
way back in, when I came back last season, I didn't start
33:01
until opening week. So this is my first Gladiator
33:04
Day, rookie camp training camp that I've had in three years.
33:07
So for me, on this particular Gladiator Day, it was fun to
33:11
just walk around. I didn't really have a specific
33:13
task, so I was able to kind of roam around and see all the
33:17
different stations. I think the highlight for me was
33:20
watching Zach LaRue solve a Rubik's Cube.
33:23
That was pretty fun. He was, he was, he was
33:25
interested. I wish we would have had a timer
33:27
going because he took some time and I, I said at one point I was
33:30
like, do we have a timer? Is there a time limit on this?
33:33
Because he didn't seem that he was ready to move on to the next
33:36
station until he finished it, which he did finish it.
33:39
So props to him because I, I can't do a Rubik's Cube.
33:43
I don't have the patience for it or the time for it.
33:45
But he was not about to walk away without finishing it.
33:47
So that's that professional athlete mentality.
33:51
If you, you don't give up until you succeed.
33:54
Well, we got a new nickname then, Zach Larubik's.
33:59
Wow, well done Max. This is a bad one.
34:01
This is the kind of stuff that you only get here on the POP.
34:04
There you go. Well, I also love because it's a
34:06
chance to to talk with the players about some things that
34:09
are coming up throughout the season.
34:11
Obviously the team is going to play in the Global Series game
34:14
in Sweden, so we caught up with Philip Forsberg about what to
34:18
expect. Is there a little bit of
34:19
pressure on him that he's going with his team to Sweden?
34:23
You learn about some of the guys who have never even left the
34:26
country. So we'll bring you all of this
34:29
content coming forward about who's leaving America for the
34:32
first time, who's going to Europe.
34:35
One of the things that really stood out, though, was catching
34:38
up with the guys about the Olympics and how they were
34:41
feeling about the Olympic Games. And so much talk was coming off
34:44
of that. Four Nations, the level of
34:47
competitiveness we saw, and I think that this is going to
34:52
translate over to the start of the season.
34:53
Something to keep your eye on for a few of these players who
34:56
are a little bit up on the bubble, including our very own
34:59
Philip Forsberg. He has not yet been named to
35:02
Team Sweden to play in the Olympics.
35:04
So for some of these guys kicking off the season, it's
35:06
still a little bit of a tryout. Oh, Brady, Shea said on Friday
35:10
during his interview at Fred's training camp.
35:12
I believe in response to a question by you, Brooks.
35:14
He was part of the gold medal winning U.S. team at the World
35:17
Championships in the spring, led by Fred's assistant GM Jeff
35:20
Kelty, who helped assemble the team and had two Preds on it.
35:24
Michael Mccarran, Brady Shea, 3 different Pred staff members
35:27
were part of that group and they won the gold medal.
35:29
And he was a part of the Olympic camp for Team USA over the
35:33
summer, which is a bigger group that will be cut down to the
35:35
Olympic team. And he said, I'm I'm going to
35:38
have to play great hockey in order to push for that team,
35:40
knowing how great the players are on Team USA right now.
35:43
So it's exactly what you're saying, Kara.
35:45
These guys are using it as a motivating factor.
35:48
And it's there later on in the middle of the season in February
35:51
in Milan, Italy. And we do know that Roman Yossi
35:53
and Yossi Soros, of course, have already been named to their
35:56
respective teams, Switzerland and Finland.
35:59
So they will be there for sure. And Milano Cortina and yeah, you
36:02
mentioned a guy like Philip Orsberg who you would think will
36:05
be on that roster at some point, but but you've got to play well.
36:08
And Max, to your point about Brady Shea, I love the way that
36:11
he put that in saying that he doesn't have to think about it
36:15
too much. All he knows is that he has to
36:17
play good hockey. And if he plays really great
36:19
hockey for his NHL team, that will benefit not only him but
36:24
everybody else as well. So it's a win win if a guy like
36:27
Brady Shea ends up finding himself on that United States
36:30
Olympic roster because that means he's doing a heck of a job
36:33
here in Nashville. So also, like, how excited are
36:37
we for the Olympics? I mean, it's been over 10 years
36:41
since NHL players participated in the Olympics.
36:44
There's nothing better than best on best hockey.
36:47
You guys mentioned that. We saw it at the Frozen, the
36:50
four, Four Nations facing off. That's what it is.
36:53
But boy, are we excited for the Olympics.
36:57
It was cool. I, I had a chance to catch up
36:58
with some of the guys about, you know, what was their favorite
37:00
Olympic memory. We don't want to share all the
37:03
content because we need to save some of the stuff for the season
37:07
to bring you on the, on our FanDuel broadcast.
37:09
But you know, I, I'm going to take this moment right now and
37:12
put you guys on the spot. Do you have a favorite Olympic
37:15
memory? I'll start with you, Max.
37:18
Oh, man, I don't know. You are putting me on the spot.
37:23
I love all the hockey moments. Obviously.
37:25
I think Michael Phelps is probably my favorite of my
37:28
lifetime. If I can ditch the Winter
37:30
Olympics to cheat and answer the question just because that was,
37:34
I mean, that was one of the most incredible American sports
37:36
moments. I was a teenager and I was just
37:40
iconic. But I think we're going to have
37:41
some new ones this year and I think USA Hockey is potentially
37:45
the favorite going into the tournament, even though they
37:47
ended up silver and the best on best last year.
37:49
The ones that could come to me, I go back to 2010, the gold
37:53
medal game between the United States and Canada.
37:57
Canada ends up beating the US in overtime on a goal by Sidney
38:01
Crosby. But growing up in Pittsburgh and
38:03
and being in college at the time, I remember watching it in
38:05
one of my friend's dorm rooms. And for me, and I think for all
38:10
of us, you know, me especially, I can speak from my experience
38:13
of just like I'm a hockey nerd, I just am.
38:16
I'm obsessed with the sport. And when everybody else is also
38:20
paying attention to the sport at the same time, I love that.
38:24
And it was so fun in moments like that when everybody is
38:28
paying attention. Same thing in 2014 in Sochi when
38:31
it was TJ Oshi, TJ Sochi in the shootout again and again and
38:35
again, scoring for the Americans and ultimately helping them
38:39
prevail over Russia. Certainly two of the top
38:41
moments. And then also, how could you
38:43
forget? I was not alive back then.
38:45
But watching the movie Miracle for the first time, of course,
38:48
based on the 1980 US Olympic team, boy, it's hard to beat
38:52
something like that. Oshie is mine.
38:54
It came to me before Brooke said it, I swear.
38:57
Sochi. Sochi Well, this is a question
39:00
we're going to obviously have to ask all of the players now
39:02
throughout the season as we lead up to the Olympics.
39:04
But so many exciting things happen at Gladiator Days.
39:08
We have tons of content now. We're all on video, so we can
39:11
share a lot of that with you this season.
39:13
Stay with us here on the Predators Official podcast.
39:16
Coming up, we're going to start a new segment this season that
39:19
we are very excited to show you. Stay with us.
39:26
Welcome back to the Predators official podcast here on
39:29
Nashville Predators YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
39:32
My name is Max Hurst from Fred's radio.
39:35
First episode of the season coming to an end now with our
39:37
final segment with Cara Hammer from Fred's TV and our new old
39:42
Co host like Eric Hollow, Brooks Bratton is back so happy.
39:47
Emphasis on emphasis on old. Thank you for that Max I.
39:51
Love this new old. It's a whole new old crew back
39:55
together as one. We're so happy to have you guys
39:57
here on the Preds official podcast, and we are going to
40:00
open up the mailbag for you this season.
40:02
Brooks will tell you how to get involved with that coming up
40:04
here shortly. But first, I would say probably
40:07
the most important thing that we have to talk about on this
40:09
podcast. We wanted to make sure that we
40:12
do something special for someone special, and we're going to do
40:15
it every week here on The POP. We have a lot of great feel good
40:18
moments in Smashville and every week we are going to highlight
40:21
our favorite and give that person that moment, that group
40:25
of people that provides that feel good moment with an award
40:28
called the Big E in memory of Erin Donnick, wife of our great
40:33
friend Willie Donnick from Fred CV who passed away in July after
40:38
a battle with cancer. And we remembered her had a big
40:42
service in August with over 600 people there, including tons of
40:45
folks from the Preds including the Trots family, the Poyle
40:49
family, Roman Yossi was there. It was an incredible day
40:53
remembering an incredible person and at the service everybody's
40:58
favorite thing was to talk about Aaron's incredible phrases that
41:03
made everyone know how incredible they were.
41:06
And I think the number one was why are you so awesome to
41:10
everybody or you rock, rock on with your bad self.
41:15
So every week we are going to give out the Big E in memory of
41:19
Arandonic to someone who we want them to tell us why are they so
41:23
awesome or who rocks. And Kara, you have the honors of
41:28
telling us who the first very fitting winner of the Big E on
41:33
the POP is. Philip Forsberg and Aaron
41:36
Forsberg, why are you so awesome?
41:39
Because the Forestwork family donated $25,000 to the Stars
41:44
Foundation. That is a foundation very, very
41:48
close to Aaron Donic. She worked there for decades.
41:51
It was part of her identity, who she was.
41:55
When my baby was born, Aaron Donic gave me a Stars onesie.
41:59
So this is for her legacy and we are so proud to honor it.
42:06
And we are so thankful for the Forsbergs to award Willie
42:10
Donnick and his daughter Evie Donnick $25,000 in honor of
42:15
Aaron Donnick to the Stars Foundation.
42:17
They awarded this check to Willie and his daughter Evie
42:20
Donnick at PD's party. As we know, every year the
42:24
Predators host PD's party for Brent Peterson as he battles
42:28
Parkinson's disease. So overall, this was just just a
42:32
heartfelt, heartwarming surprise to the Donics in honor of Aaron.
42:37
And that's why the Forsberg's are so awesome.
42:41
Rock on with your bad selves, Forsberg family, and thank you
42:44
to the Preds Foundation and the Forsberg's for providing a
42:48
really touching and generous moment.
42:50
And we could go all day about Aaron.
42:54
So instead of doing that, we're going to give out the Big E once
42:57
a week offseason long, and nominations will be accepted for
43:01
the biggie as part of our mailbag, which Brooks is going
43:04
to both open momentarily and monitor all the time to get your
43:10
questions here on The POP. So if you have the good or the
43:13
bad, go to Brooks. But, but only the bad to Brooks.
43:18
Yes, 24/7 monitoring. I will see all of it.
43:20
No, you know, and for those of you that have been with us for a
43:23
while, you probably remember this back in the day, use #preds
43:27
podcast. It used to be Twitter.
43:29
The first time we did this, it's X now use #preds podcast on X,
43:34
or you can comment on the YouTube link of this video.
43:39
If you're watching on YouTube, you can comment below.
43:42
Comment your question and we will be sure to get it on, on
43:46
the air. And hey, we love to give away
43:48
three things in Smashville, so stay tuned.
43:51
There may be some giveaways coming this season if you're
43:53
participating and using #preds podcast.
43:56
So we don't want it to just be the three of us coming up with
43:59
what to talk about. We want you to have some input
44:01
and we would love to get your questions and answers on here,
44:04
especially officiating questions.
44:06
I'd love to talk to you about referees and all sorts of things
44:10
as we go along this season. So make sure to use #preds
44:14
podcast, get those questions in, and we'll look forward to doing
44:16
mailbags as we move along here. Well team one episode down,
44:20
plenty more to go. First episode of the Predators
44:23
official podcast. We are so glad you guys joined
44:25
us for episode #1 and we're even gladder that the Predators are
44:29
back playing hockey at Bridgestone Arena this week.
44:32
My name is Max Hurs from Preds Radio.
44:34
You can follow me on Twitter at Max Hurs Talks.
44:37
I'm Carrie Hammer. You can follow me all season
44:39
along at Carrie Hammer. I'm Brooks Bratton, so glad to
44:43
be back. You can find me at Brooks
44:44
Bratton on X and at brooks dot bytes under score on Instagram.
44:50
The search Brooks Bytes, you'll find me.
44:52
All right, we'll talk about it more later, but you don't have
44:55
to follow Brooks bytes. To look into the box.
44:58
That's a cliffhanger for next episode.
45:00
Thanks to our incredible video team as well that is making
45:03
these video episodes a reality for you.
45:05
Jake Hartsfeld from Preds TV, Justina Quagliata from Preds
45:09
social media and welcome to smash film.
45:11
Nate Baker from the Preds video team as well and the entire
45:14
Preds video and tech and IT squads for making this podcast
45:18
happen in new ways on YouTube in addition to your favorite
45:22
podcast platform. We'll be back later this week
45:25
with more Preds hockey and more Preds talk here on The POP on
45:28
nashvillepredators.com. So long.