Nashville Predators: Regular season does not matter for Predators

Projections are starting to roll in for the upcoming season. Only one thing really matters for the Nashville Predators: make the playoffs.

The 2017-18 regular season is creeping closer and closer to starting. And, as we get closer to hockey, the hype-train is making rounds. For the Nashville Predators, the talk is can they win the division.

The core of the team is in place, yet questions remain about leadership and replacing the second-line scoring. With other teams making questionable moves, combined with the stellar playoff run for the Predators, hype reigns in Nashville.

But, the only things that should matter to the Predators are staying healthy and making it to the playoffs.

Nothing else matters

Is anyone else a fan of the show “Adam Ruins Everything?” My wife and I love it. The premise is simple: take everyday thoughts or myths and debunk them with scientific studies. But do it with a splash of comedy. It is a great show, in my opinion.

Well, one episode was an attempt to ruin football. While it did little in terms of deterring me from watching football, part of the show was right.

The regular season does not matter. Make the playoffs and it is a new season. Of course, we know this. It happens in baseball, football, and hockey. The best team in the regular season rarely wins the championship. Now, the regular season in the NBA doesn’t matter either, but the teams with better records typically win in the end.

Look at the NHL Western conference. In the last nine seasons, the team with most wins at the end of regular season won the Western Conference twice. That was the 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks and 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks. The second best team won the conference twice, as did the sixth best. The fourth and fifth each won once. And the Predators were the only eighth seed to win make it to the Stanley Cup Final.

On average, the Western Conference Champion was ranked 3.88, with the median being four. It is worth noting that neither the third or seventh ranked team won the conference.

Get in the playoffs

Another interesting aspect of the Western Conference is that 15 different teams made the playoffs in the last nine years. Only the Blackhawks appeared in all nine. The San Jose Sharks made eight, the Anaheim Ducks seven. The trio of the Predators, Canucks and Los Angeles Kings appeared six times.

Of those 15 teams, nine played in the conference final. The conference has been won by six different teams.

The top team was in the conference final four times. Same for the second place team. Twice for the third team, once for fourth, three times for the fifth team. The sixth team and eighth team made the conference final twice.

And, again, the seventh seed never made the finals.

What does this all mean? Simply this: if the Predators make it into the playoffs – ranked anything but seventh – there is a chance they repeat their success of 2016-17. Winning the division or being the top team at the end of the regular season does not matter.

Next: Five Most Anticipated Home Games of 17-18 Season

So, Predators fans, do not be upset if they do not meet your hyped-up expectations. They get in, they can win.