Keep An Eye on the Country Boys from Nashville

Hey everybody. Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Years because I sure did. There was plenty of Disneyland, hockey, desert, and family that I tended to during this time. Also, it was watching TRON for the third time (that movie is a good movie by the way)

But while there was break, obviously hockey was still going on. They were off for two days during the Christmas and it took me a while to realize how many good times there were coming up. One of these teams were the good ol' boys from the country. That's right. It came straight from Nashville, Tennessee.

While the city has its own sports controversy with the Titans being in the news a lot, some people are not talking about its other teams. It is a team that is on the rise as of late and that team is so-called the Nashville Predators.

What can you say about this team beside the fact that they are fighting for their lives to get into the playoffs after losing to Chicago in the first round last year? Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback are carrying this team with such passion and heart.

They have a crucial Pacific road trip with stops in Anaheim, LA, and San Jose. They looked like a good team in Anaheim, beating the Ducks 4-1 behind play from Sergei Kostitsyn, David Legwand, and Jarred Smithson. Pekka Rinne did well in net, providing 40 saves en route to win their third straight. It is also their third straight winning by a count of 4-1 after beating the Wild and the Blue Jackets 4-1.

It needs to keep winning if it hopes to be a part of the playoff squads. In LA tonight (where I'll be), look for a close game. I don't expect Nashville to win this game because LA knows how to put them in the back of the bus after beating them by a wide margin their last two meetings, but if Nashville can stay on track, they'll win the game and keep pace.

At 20-13-6 with 46 points, they're starting to make some noise in the Western Conference. But for how long that lasts is undecided. Will the Predators keep track of themselves and be able to make it in or will it all collapse before the March Madness and the playoffs? Watch this team and keep an eye out for how well this team does.