Nashville Predators: Forgotten Unsung Heroes of the Past

Ever since the Nashville Predators made that fateful trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, it’s been a wild ride that’s made it easy to forget important players from before.

If you haven’t been a fan of the Nashville Predators from the start in 1998, then you missed out on a grueling journey with rosters full of blue collar players that didn’t garner much national attention.

The Predators had to do it the hard way to get to where they got to in 2017, and where they’re trying to get back to heading into next season. They’ve been a perennial playoff team over the last decade, and even beyond that.

There’s some players from the past that are easy to overlook. When thinking of those past teams you instantly think of guys like David Legwand, Paul Kariya, Kimmo Timonen and Shea Weber. But there were other key players that were more of the unsung heroes of the team.

Time to go back in time and look at the forgotten unsung heroes of the Predators franchise that helped build the foundation of winning hockey in Nashville.

Marek Židlický

The most diehard Predators fans will remember Marek Židlický and his importance to the team in the mid-2000s. However, he often gets overlooked in casual fan talk around the water cooler.

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Everyone remembers Mike Dunham, right? The first starting goaltender for the Predators, and a good one at that. He was traded to the New York Rangers for Židlický and a couple other players.

Židlický began his playing career with the Predators in 2003, but was actually drafted by the New York Rangers in the 2001 Entry Draft as a sixth-round pick.

In very impressive fashion, Židlický  played in all 82 games in his first season in the NHL. That’s unheard of for players playing their first NHL minutes. It shows the importance that he brought to the Predators at that time when playoff success was a fantasy.

Furthermore, Židlický received two votes in the Norris Trophy voting after posting 53 points and having a strong presence on the power play. He was one of the most productive players on the Predators at that time.

Unfortunately Židlický  wasn’t considered a rookie due to his time he played overseas before coming to the NHL, but technically he was one of the best “first year” players in the NHL that year.

Židlický would continue his solid scoring pace in his second season with the Predators and ended his four-year run in Nashville with 175 points.

Considering how depleted of talent those early teams were, Židlický was really performing at a high level. He was traded away and never matched the production that he initially had with the Predators.

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Kevin Klein

The Predators have come a long way in terms of having superstar talent on the roster. But it’s important to remember the players who were part of building the foundation.

Kevin Klein is definitely one of those players. He was never a dynamic scoring defenseman like Roman Josi, Shea Weber, or Ryan Ellis, but he was reliable and steady.

I didn’t realize it until looking back that Klein played so many seasons for the Nashville Predators. Nine seasons for Nashville and just over 400 games played.

Klein became a regular in the lineup for the 2008-09 season, which was a team that featured Jason Arnott, Patric Hornqvist, David Legwand and even Pekka Rinne.

That team narrowly missed the playoffs and didn’t have a lot of talent defensively. Klein was the reliable contributor and was a true defenseman. He wasn’t flashy by any means offensively, but made the smart defensive plays to help the team finish 11th in the league in goals against.

Klein will never get much respect from the average fan for being an integral part of the lineup, but he made a difference. He was eventually dealt to the New York Rangers in 2014.

Joel Ward

Another player that you had to be living in the moment as a fan to realize how important they were to the team. Joel Ward was Mr. Clutch when it came time to win the game.

Ward came to the Predators after being undrafted and working his butt off to get into the NHL. A true underdog story that everyone should read up on. His story is truly inspirational as he eventually became a solid NHL player.

When Ward finally started logging minutes for the Predators in 2009-10, the team was regularly making the playoffs and trying to get over that next hump. He helped them do that, especially with his seven postseason goals that helped propel the Predators past the first round, finally.

It was hard to see Ward lost in free agency, but he continued his productive NHL career with the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks.

I’ll never forget those back-to-back clutch goals Ward scored to extend their second round series against the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 playoffs.

Dan Ellis

Before Pekka Rinne really took control of the net for the Nashville Predators, Dan Ellis was the guy. It was for a brief time, but his numbers were actually pretty respectable.

If Rinne wasn’t so wildly talented, I think Ellis sticks around for much longer as the starting goaltender for the Predators. Instead he just had three seasons for the Predators, putting up 98 starts.

Ellis’ first season for the Predators saw him put up top-notch numbers with a .924 save percentage and an unfathomable shutout streak that lasted over four games.

The Predators have always been lucky to have high quality goaltending, even before Rinne came along. Ellis was one of those guys, but he often gets overlooked for Tomas Vokoun, Mike Dunham and Chris Mason.

Ellis nearly got the Predators past the Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs, but the team just didn’t have the offensive firepower to overcome. Eventually Rinne would rightly take over for good, but Ellis deserves a lot of credit during that time before Rinne.