Nashville Predators

Practice makes perfect, but it can also lead to a broken ankle. 

The Nashville City Paper (h/t Yahoo Sports) reports radio personality at 107.5 The River Adam Davis, better known as Intern Adam, was injured during an on-ice rehearsal of a human bowling ball exercise back in December. 

The video of the incident follows. Be warned, there is some NSFW language when Davis reaches the end. He lets out an expletive that is excusable, considering what he suffered. 

According to Yahoo Sports, via the lawsuit, Davis suffered, "a right medial malleolus fracture" (i.e. broke his ankle), needing surgery, screws and continued treatment."

The price of fixing a broken ankle varies, but it's safe to say it remains just over what the radio personality is willing to pay, especially considering the injury was a result of a solid he was doing for the Nashville Predators. 

The Nashville City Paper gives some more information on a painful experience. 

Davis was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where screws had to be placed in his ankle.

The lawsuit claims that employees of the Predators failed to provide adequate protection for Davis — and also failed to warn Davis of the risks associated with the stunt. Attorney Bill Leader, who is representing Davis, said his client didn't sign any kind of waiver form before participating in the stunt.

The cost of this wacky bowling ball fiasco has apparently reached to over $25,000, the same amount Davis is asking for in his lawsuit. 

So far, there has been no comment from the team, because they are still awaiting the lawsuit to reach them. 

Human ice bowling looks like all fun and games until someone gets hurt. 

Follow me on Twitter, because it's safer that way. 

Follow @gabezal

Let's face it, the Nashville Predators have had a rough offseason, to say the least. The losses of Ryan Suter, Alexander Radulov, Jordin Tootoo, Anders Lindback, and Andrei Kostitsyn are leaving many fans to believe that last year's fourth seed in the West will be cellar-dwellers in 2013.

Yes, Ryan Suter is gone, and Nashville has not signed a defenseman of any kind to replace him. Will Suter's loss hurt them? Of course it will. But will it hurt them as much as some people are saying it will?

No.

Ryan Suter is a great defenseman, probably top 25 in the league. However, I believe that his reputation as an elite defenseman has been skewed because, well, his defense partner was only the best defenseman in hockey: Shea Weber.

Weber, of course, is still on the team and will remain with them for 14 years after Nashville matched an offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers.

Any team with Shea Weber is a threat when on the power play. He's the idea power play quarterback, giving Nashville a reputation of being one of the league's top teams with a man advantage.

Not to mention, his size and strength cause him to be one of the most physically intimidating players in the league.

Other than Weber, the Predators still have Pekka Rinne, easily one of the league's top five goalies, between the pipes. With Rinne in net and Weber as a top defenseman, the Predators should once again not have any problems with preventing goals.

One issue for the Predators, though, is the offense. Alexander Radulov proved to be an ineffective rental at the end of least season, but Jordin Tootoo was a feared enforcer and Andrei Kostitsyn was part of a very dangerous line with his brother, Sergei, and David Legwand.

Sure, the offense will take a slight step back, but it is still led by Mike Fisher, Patric Hornqvist, Paul Gaustad, Martin Erat, David Legwand, and Sergei Kostitsyn. That's still not a horrible offense by any means.

Not to mention, young forwards like Gabriel Bourque and Colin Wilson should be able to improve and become solid forwards to the team.

Take a look back to the 2007 offseason. The Predators finished as a fourth seed in 2007 and went on to lose Paul Kariya, Peter Forsberg, Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen, and Tomas Vokoun in what was statistically a much, much worse offseason than this one.

Yes, the team took a step back in 2008, but finished as the eighth seed and gave the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings a very tough time in the first round.

In 2009, they missed the playoffs for the only time since before 2004, but they returned to the playoffs in 2010 and gave the eventual champion Chicago Blackhawks a run for their money, and went on to slowly become one of the league's better teams in 2011 and solidified their identity in 2012.

If this team can overcome that kind of offseason that easily, they should certainly be able to overcome this offseason even more easily.

Barry Trotz knows what he's doing behind the bench, the team plays in one of the loudest stadiums in the NHL, and there is still a lot of talent around the entire roster.

The Predators should be fine in 2013, and even though the Western Conference is ridiculously deep, this team should be right in the thick of everything. I'm guessing about a seventh or eighth seed this year, and they will once again become one of the league's top teams in the years to come.

Although the Nashville Predators were able to retain defenseman Shea Weber after the Philadelphia Flyers signed him to an offer sheet, this hasn't been a banner offseason for the Music City squad. Signing Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan would certainly change that, however.

According to Kevin Allen of USA Today, the Preds are now one of 16 teams in the running for Doan's services. Barry Trotz, who is the only head coach the Predators' franchise has ever known, had glowing praise for the Coyotes' captain and made it clear that he would love to bring Doan into the fold.

The Predators lost top-pairing defenseman Ryan Suter as he signed with the Minnesota Wild for a king's ransom, and nearly lost their best player in Weber as well. Nashville secured Weber, but by allowing the Flyers to dictate his contract with an offer sheet, the Predators are now stuck with an absolutely massive contract for 14 years.

Weber will have an annual cap hit of nearly $8 million over the life of the contract and will be paid $14 million per season over the first four years. On top of that, the Preds signed center Paul Gaustad to an absolutely ludicrous contract. He'll cost a cap hit of $3.25 million per year over the next four years despite being little more than a face-off specialist and fourth-line center.

Amid all those negatives, though, Nashville may be a true player when it comes to signing Doan. It is well documented that Doan would prefer to stay in Phoenix, but the organization's ownership situation is such a mess that it may drive Doan out of town. Nashville would be a logical landing spot, as it has a similar small-time feel to Phoenix in NHL terms.

Also, the Predators play a style that suits Doan well. Nashville isn't exactly chock-full of offensive skill players. Instead, it relies on great defense and solid goaltending from Pekka Rinne. As far as forwards go, the Preds don't have any flashy superstars, but they have a bunch of 20-goal guys who scratch together enough offense to excel.

Doan fits that mold as he is consistently between 50 and 60 points on the season with at least 20 goals. He probably isn't going to score 30 or top the 70-point plateau at the age of 35, but he is tough, willing to go to the dirty areas and more than capable of lighting the lamp and making the plays that breed winning hockey.

The Predators are going to have to beat out a lot of teams in order to land Doan, but they have the money to do it and can offer a pretty attractive setting for Doan to play in. The Predators are a team that has slowly progressed over the past few seasons, but missing out on Doan would make some sort of regression almost inevitable.

It is going to be difficult enough to replace Suter defensively, but adding some offensive punch could offset that to some degree. The Preds lost Alexander Radulov to the KHL and seem unlikely to re-sign Andrei Kostitsyn as well. That means that a guy like Doan is needed to help an offense that isn't particularly explosive.

Predators fans have to be somewhat discouraged by what has transpired this offseason and are waiting for something positive to happen. Signing Doan would obviously fit the bill and perhaps it would lessen the sting felt by the loss of Suter and the bad contracts doled out to Weber and Gaustad.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

On July 24th, the Nashville Predators decided to match the $110 million offer sheet signed by team captain Shea Weber (NHL.com).

It marks another player that the Flyers have lost out on this postseason, but was it really the smart thing to do for Nashville?

The Predators organization held a rally for fans yesterday to announce officially that Weber was to remain in Nashville. A video recap from The Tennessean can be found here.

Many fans were excited to see their team captain returning, with one stating his belief that Weber simply “wanted the $110 million.” It didn’t matter where he got it.

In the interview, Weber’s agent points out that one does not sign a 14-year offer sheet with any team if they did not wish to play for them.

Jarrett Bousquet, Weber’s more vocal agent, also told TSN that the Nashville captain did not want to be part of another rebuild.

During a conference call that also included Sportsnet, Weber tried to explain that he was "comfortable staying (in Nashville)" for the rest of his career, as reported by the above Sportsnet article.

It does leave many wondering if this was the right choice for Nashville.

If Weber was content to stay in Nashville, why sign a 14-year deal? The $110 million part with front-loaded bonuses aside.

The loss of his defensive pairmate, Ryan Suter, to the Minnesota Wild during free agency, caused a large void in an otherwise rather sparse blueline.

Only a couple of names, including Roman Josi, are being used as potential pairing replacements for Suter, according to The Tennessean.

Shea Weber will now have at least one year to play in Nashville, but if he so decides, he could waive the no-trade clause and do what Rick Nash has done.

There are fans who thought that if Weber was re-signed and the comments made by his agents were true, they could get a better deal for Weber via trades.

Remember before the trade deadline when it became public knowledge that Rick Nash wanted out of Columbus?

Nash has been a regular goal scorer for the Blue Jackets, and to do so while on a team who finished last this season is remarkable.

Yet when Howson began to shop around, one by one the teams were either not on Nash’s list or did not want to strip their club to obtain Nash.

The same would be true next summer should Weber make it apparent that he actually wishes to leave Nashville.

None of the players Columbus obtained in the deal will ever replace Nash. It will be a similar situation for Weber.

Nashville had a few options with Weber: It could have negotiated with Philadelphia to obtain a trade once the offer sheet was signed, and it also could have walked away from the offer sheet.

Walking away would have garnered them four draft picks from Philadelphia. Even with the Flyers ending high, it would give Nashville the ability to trade its own pick and Philly’s.

Any of these picks could have been used in a trade to upgrade Nashville’s front line that is in need of a consistent goal scorer.

Even if the Predators had kept the picks, it would have helped them obtain players they could develop in their system.

The best deal would have been to speak with Philadelphia about a trade. Picking up a few decent players from Philly would have helped to avoid the offer sheet.

Again, it would have been an uneven trade and more than likely Philadelphia would have walked away better off.

While in the short-term, Nashville has proven that it is serious about being contenders, but it is the long run that is now filled with what-ifs.

What if Weber asks for a trade? What if Weber actually does not want to play for another team?

Much like the results of his arbitration last summer, Weber will go out and earn his money.

In the end, however, if he really wants to leave Nashville next summer, he can request a trade causing the Predators to watch as another top defender chooses to leave.

The Nashville Predators dished out its largest contract in franchise history Tuesday by matching the Philadelphia Flyers offer sheet for Shea Weber. 

Weber, the Preds' captain and top defenseman, will be in Tennessee for the next 14 years and earn $110 million.

These are two of the most pressing questions for the Predators' front office throughout this nearly week-long debate.

1) Was Weber the individual that this franchise wanted to lead our team, a team that would compete for the Stanley Cup every year, for the next 14 years? 

The Predators believe the answer to those questions is yes, but I'm not entirely convinced on that one.

Nashville's two best players are Weber and goaltender Pekka Rinne (under contract until 2019). They have nearly $17 million in salary cap space, according to CapGeek.com.

The Preds have just six defensemen on the roster and as most NHL teams can tell you, defensive depth is crucial to a successful season. Right, Tampa Bay?

Without Ryan Suter to play the point with Weber, the Nashville defense may struggle a bit. That's OK, the offense will take over—the highest-scoring player on the roster is Martin Erat (58 points).

Defensive answers could come in the form of Brett Clark or Carlo Colaiacovo. Both are still on the free-agent market.

The Preds did a good job of keeping their best asset in town, but there are holes to fill if they are going to "compete for a Stanley Cup every year, for the next 14 years."

2) Would a decision not to match the offer sheet send a negative message to current Predators players and other NHL organizations, a message that the Predators would only go so far to protect its best players and be pushed around by teams with "deep pockets?"

Predators answer: "Yes."

I agree.

The Preds did a fantastic job in not allowing a bigger market team to "push them around" and for that I applaud their courage. 

My issue with that is, why didn't the Predators offer something that Weber would have agreed to on their terms?

While I don't know the intricate workings of the negotiations that were done, if you were truly trying to protect your best assets, would you even let them consider going to a new team?

The Preds dodged a bullet in matching the offer sheet. I'm not sure the fan base would have allowed the team not to.

Nashville has sent the message that they will not be bullied by larger market teams but the fact is, they don't really have the money to offer another Weber-like contract.

As mentioned above the Predators don't have a 60-point scorer from last season on their roster.

Their defense was eighth in the league, but that included Suter. You have to assume the Predators defense won't be as solid this season so the offense will need to shoulder a larger load.

The Predators offense was also eighth in the league (2.83 goals per game). And, they boasted the best power play unit in the league (21.6 percent) but they still have questions to answer offensively.

The Predators have 13 forwards under contract for the upcoming season but you would have to think bringing in a 60-point scorer would help. That's if the Predators can afford one.

While the Predators have answered yes to some trying questions there are still many more to be addressed.

Who pairs with Weber?

What do they do on the power play?

What if they miss the playoffs?

Can Pekka Rinne carry the team until the defense settles in?

If the Predators do happen to miss the playoffs, they could have put themselves in a no-win situation and what could be a tragic fallout to one of the league's best almost-young franchises.  

So the Nashville Predators took the plunge and matched the Flyers 14-year, $110 million offer sheet to defenseman Shea Weber. Now Weber will remain a member of the Preds for the foreseeable future.

While the front-loaded offer sheet was designed to make it difficult for the Preds to match, GM David Poile went ahead and kept Weber in Nashville.

When all was said and done, Poile did what he had to do. The Predators had three core players who were the keys to their team: goalie Pekka Rinne and a pair of defensemen in Weber and Ryan Suter. Despite the cost, Poile kept two of his three best players and has enough young talent to make up for the loss of the third.

Rinne and Weber are now staying in Nashville, while Suter has moved on after signing a big free-agent deal with the Minnesota Wild.

For years, the Predators have lost many of their best players whenever they became eligible for free agency. Somehow, Poile and coach Barry Trotz managed to keep the Predators in the thick of the highly competitive Western Conference, making the playoffs seven of the last eight seasons.

The Preds remained competitive but only to a point; they always lost in the first round of the playoffs.

In 2010-11, Nashville won a playoff round for the first time in franchise history. It matched that mark again last season, beating arch-rival Detroit in the first round before falling to the Coyotes in round two.

At the trade deadline this past season, Poile was an aggressive buyer for the first time rather than a seller. Part of the reason was that he wanted to convince both Weber and Suter to stay in Nashville. The other reason was that he genuinely believed the Predators had a real chance to make a deep playoff run.

Weber is one of the best defensemen in the game today—if not the best. Last season, he scored 19 goals (tied for the league lead among defensmen) and 49 points and was an impressive plus-21. He was a major contributor on both the power play and the penalty kill and averaged 26:09 of ice time per game.

Poile has some young talent ready to step in and help on defense to replace Suter. Ryan Ellis is a former first-round draft choice who saw action in 32 regular-season games last season and is probably ready to make the jump to full-time NHL player.

Expect to see Ellis play a big role on the power play next season. Roman Jossi and Jonathon Blum are also young and ready to take on more minutes and responsibility—or so the Predators hope.

Nashville entered a new phase last year by adding players like Hal Gill, Paul Gaustad, Andrei Kostitsyn and Alexander Radulov at or near the trade deadline last season. The acquisitions didn't all work out, but the moves put the league on notice that the Predators are contenders and that they won't let their mid-market status prevent them from going all out to win a Stanley Cup.

By re-signing Weber, Poile proved that he intends to keep his team as contenders for the foreseeable future. Was the price very high? Absolutely. Was the contract to Weber more than a little bit unreasonable, especially in the first few years? Sure. But competing at the highest level costs money in the NHL, and the Predators showed they are willing to spend it.

Winning Stanley Cups isn't easy. It takes talent, hard work and a little luck with regard to injuries and a few bounces of the puck. The bottom line is, if you have a chance to win, you take it.

The Predators think they have a legitimate chance. If they don't end up winning in the next few years, it won't be because they didn't try to do everything they could to sign their top players. That alone is a great message for the Preds players and their fans.

The Nashville Predators prevented a catastrophic loss of one of the team's franchise players by matching the offer sheet that the Philadelphia Flyers extended to Shea Weber.

According to the team's official Twitter account, the captain will be back for the next 14 seasons:

Shea Weber will remain in #Smashville; Preds match 14-year offer sheet on team Captain -- click here for full details predators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?…

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) July 24, 2012

There is absolutely no way that Weber will play at a level remotely near a $110 million deal for the entirety of this contract, but it was something that the Predators had to do.

If the organization declined to match the front-loaded offer, that will pay Weber $27 million by the time the defenseman's second $13 million bonus of the year is handed over on July 1, 2013 (via CBS Sports' Brian Stubits), that would mark the second star that bolted out of Nashville for greener pastures this offseason.

Ryan Suter signed with the Minnesota Wild earlier this month. To lose a second star defenseman within a three-week span would have been crippling to the Predators.

Even with the retention of Weber, Nashville is going to have a tough time filling the void left by the departed Suter. However, the organization has now proved to its fanbase that it is not afraid or reluctant to spend money on a player that matters.

Whether Weber is happy with the Predators matching the contract remains to be seen. Would he have agreed to an offer sheet with a different team if he didn't want to play in a bigger market with more tradition? That is for the Predators and hockey fans to ponder.

The Predators are a defense-first team, and there would be no chance of matching last season's 104-point campaign if head coach Barry Trotz lost the second of his top-two defenders.

By re-signing Weber, the Preds saved their power-play attack. The 26-year-old former second-round pick has racked up 46 power-play goals in seven seasons, including 10 last year en route to helping his team compile the best power-play percentage in the NHL.

If nothing else, general manager David Poile and the rest of the front office saved face by keeping a fan-favorite in town. The organization was able to keep some grit on the ice, as well as hang on to one of its leaders.

No athlete in any professional sport should receive a 14-year deal with the amount of turnover we see on a year-to-year basis, but there are exceptions to the rule.

The Nashville Predators matching the offer sheet for Shea Weber was one of those exceptions.

The Nashville Predators have matched the Philadelphia Flyers’ gigantic offer sheet in order to keep Shea Weber. 

The Flyers offered the all-star blueliner a 14-year, $110 million contract on July 19, as reported by TSN. The Predators announced today on their website that the team matched the deal, calling it the “most important hockey transaction in franchise history.”

The team has never signed a player to a contract of this magnitude. Weber’s contract is the second largest in NHL history in terms of total money, trailing only Alexander Overchkin’s 13-year, $124 million deal, as noted by the Tennessean.

Weber is worth every dollar. He has established himself as one of the premier defensemen in hockey, and is just 26 years old. He is a three-time all-star and was selected to the first All-Star team in both of the last two seasons.

He is the Predator’s captain, and his presence has helped the team become a contender. Nashville finished with 104 points last season—fifth-best in the league.

Fellow defenseman Ryan Suter left the team in free agency for the Minnesota Wild. If Nashville failed to retain Weber, they would have given up the core of the perennial playoff team. 

Weber is a complete player. At 6’4” and 234 pounds, he establishes a physical presence on the ice. He also contributes to the offense and has recorded at least 40 points in each of the last four seasons. 

He is also a consummate teammate and leader—which is why the Predators felt comfortable making him a captain when he was just 24 years old.

Weber is the type of player to build a franchise around. That is exactly what the Predators have done by keeping him under contract through the 2025-26 season.

Nashville has the talent to compete for a playoff spot every season, and with another impact player, the team could make a deep postseason run.

The team’s decision to match the offer will keep the franchise’s cornerstone in place for over a decade, and the stability from that will be invaluable. The Predators made the right move, and it will benefit them in both the present and the future.

The Philadelphia Flyers thought they took a necessary step when they signed Shea Weber to an offer sheet that would have given him the second-most lucrative contract in the league behind Alex Ovechkin, and would have put him in a Flyers uniform for the next 14 seasons.

However, the Flyers received a shock when the Nashville Predators swallowed hard and matched the Flyers' offer sheet (per Nashville Predators/NHL.com).

Predators' general manager David Poile had already taken a solid body blow when defenseman Ryan Suter left the team through free agency. If Weber's contract offer had not been matched, the team would have lost two all-star defenseman.

It was widely thought that the Predators didn't have the wherewithal to handle a 14-year, $110 million contract, but paying the money was obviously a better alternative (per OnTheForecheck.com) for Nashville than losing two elite defensemen in the same offseason.

Nashville's decision will cause the Flyers nothing but pain. Philadelphia felt a need to add a No. 1 defenseman because general manager Paul Holmgren knows he cannot count on the return of defenseman Chris Pronger. Holmgren now knows that Weber is no longer available.

Poile was quite angry and upset when Suter decided to go with the Wild. He claimed that Suter had misled him during the season when they had talked about his contract status. Poile said Suter told him he wanted to be with a winner and stay with the Predators (per Pro Hockey Talk), and that moving on to the Wild represented a change in that philosophy.

Poile appeared to take the signing personally.

He said his next line of business was making sure that Weber remained with the team.

Weber ranks with the very best defensemen in the league. He was a candidate for the Norris Trophy last season, and he excels at both the offensive and defensive aspects of the game. Weber will take the body, play physical defense and he will also block shots.

He is perhaps the most dangerous shooter from the blue line in the game. Weber is well known for his 100-plus mile per hour slap shot that he shows off every year at the skills competition.

While he regularly comes in second in that exhibition to Boston's Zdeno Chara, he does not have to take a back seat to big Z in shooting effectiveness. Weber seems to get his shot off quicker than Chara does, and he is also quite accurate at firing his bomb to the upper reaches of the net.

Weber has scored 74 goals in the last four seasons. He scored 16 in 2011-12, and connected on 8.3 percent of his shots on net.

Chara has scored 52 goals over the last four seasons. He scored 12 goals in 2011-12, and connected on 5.4 percent of his shots on goal.

The Preds had no choice but to keep Weber if they had any hope of remaining in the upper echelon of the Western Conference. If they had lost both Suter and Weber, Poile and head coach Barry Trotz would have been in a rebuilding mode whether they wanted to admit it or not.

While the loss of Suter still hurts, if they had to choose between keeping Weber or Suter, then they made the right choice. The two are nearly equal defensively, but Weber is the much stronger offensive player.

Poile had a chip on his shoulder prior to matching the offer for Weber. Now that he has kept him in the fold, he can get back to the business of adding strength to this team and making it a strong contender for 2012-13.