Nashville Predators Holiday List – 25 Days of Predsmas: Week 2
Before Tony Stark became Iron Man, before Steve Rodgers became Capatain America, before Bruce Wayne became Batman, there was the original story. I’m talking about “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town“. Who was the villain? Burgermeister Meisterburger. What made him such a villain? He wanted to outlaw gift-giving and jail anyone with a toy – he basically wanted to rob the community of any joy that could possibly be had. Does this sound familiar? It should.
It’s pretty clear that one of the least fun people in the NHL, a man constantly booed, and deservedly so, is Gary Bettman, and he’s our Burgermeister Meisterburger. He has held his role as Commissioner of the NHL since February 1, 1993. In the time since, there has been not one, not two, but three lockouts, and Bettman has been at the helm of three of the four NHL lockouts in history.
What’s my take on this? I have a gut feeling because of how the 2021 season has been negotiated, another lockout may be on the way, and once again, Bettman will probably deserve to shoulder much of the blame. He doesn’t want us to have fun.
Many would argue he doesn’t deserve a happy holiday season, and I would tend to agree. Enjoy this chorus of boos:
What a smug and smarmy goober; don’t use the Sedins to shield yourself from the welcome you deserve.
I’m going to start out by saying the Grinch is a nuanced character. Sure, he did try to steal Christmas. The lights, the presents, the tree,but really, he was a product of his environment. The Grinch never got the love he deserved, until he met Cindy Lou Who.
Where am I going with this? We had a player who helped steal Christmas (the Stanley Cup) from our beloved Nashville Predators, but we converted him and came to love him. He may be gone now, but he was a genuinely good dude while wearing the gold jersey: Nick Bonino.
light. Related Story. Check out Week 1 of Predsmas!
Of all the players the Predators lost this offseason, Bonino may be one of them I miss the most.
Not only was Bonino solid on the third line, but his service to the greater Nashville area was notable while he was here. Yes, he won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins against the Predators, but he saw the error of his ways and joined the good guys, and he made a positive impact, including helping the team to win its first President’s Trophy.
Call this the chaser of this list, if you will. Here’s a Bonino video from simpler times, when he scored a hat trick against the Blackhawks:
Ah, better days. Fare thee well, Bones…just not when we have to play you.
The Wet Bandits were the classic dumb villains of Home Alone, another classic holiday movie. The two were played expertly by Joe Pesci and the lesser-known Daniel Stern, and Kevin McCallister put on a master class in giving them the business (twice).
You want to talk about two individuals (adults) who should’ve easily been able to best someone many would consider lesser, but instead got absolutely owned, and you won’t find a better example than the Wet Bandits.
Who are our Wet Bandits? I’ve got two for you, and they’re just as trashy as you might think: Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
If you ask me what one of my favorite moments as a Nashville Predators fan is, easily in the top-5 is sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks as the eight-seed when they were the top seed in our historic Stanley Cup run in 2017.
How beautiful it was to not only beat the highly-touted Blackhawks, but absolute mop the floor with them.
How well does this fit? Home Alone takes place in Chicago (the suburbs, but still), and that’s where Kane and Toews play. For all the hype that Kane and Toews have gotten, they still haven’t gotten the best of the Kevin McCallister of hockey, our Nashville Predators .
How I miss these good ole days.
Is it really the holiday season without claymation? An all-time classic has to be Frosty the Snowman. One of the underrated villains was and continues to be Jack Frost. He’s jealous as he is petty, even going so far as to blow Frosty’s hat off his head, nearly traumatizing the kids in the movie. I mean, come on.
Who’s our Jack Frost? I’m going to go back to another former Nashville Predator, except, this one isn’t remembered as fondly. In fact, he’s booed almost every time he comes back to play in Bridgestone Arena. I’m talking about Ryan Suter.
Am I still a little bitter he walked? Absolutely. Is it his loss? You’re gosh darn right.
You just know that Suter is jealous the team has had more success since he left, and if he could blow the hats off us, he would. Let the Smashville-faithful convey my feelings with a chant usually reserved for the opposing goalie, but this deserved an exception:
Man, I can’t wait to be back in Bridgestone. In the meantime, Suter can suck it.
Ebeneezer Scrooge is a classic, almost quintessential, holiday villain. He hates joy, doesn’t care about others, and is greedy as any other villain on this list. Sure, he gets a redemption arc, but let’s not focus on that for the sake of this writing.
People don’t refer to nice people as Scrooges, after all. So who would the Scrooge of the Nashville Predators be? Who is one of the more selfish souls to ever be encountered in Smashville? Well, look no further: our Ebeneezer Scrooge is Alexander Radulov.
We drafted him, developed him, and put faith into him, and how did he repay us? Well, he left the team for the KHL, snubbing Nashville in spite of being under contract, and wouldn’t return for four years. When he did return, well, he was nothing but an absolute Scrooge while finishing out his contract, earning suspensions from both the league and the team.
After becoming reviled, and rightfully so, by the Predators’ faithful, he bolted for the KHL again, returning to the NHL in 2016 with the Canadians, and now playing for the division rival Dallas Stars.
Just because I need a chaser after writing anything about Radulov, here’s a video of him and another Nashville Predators villain, Patrick Laine, colliding like two semi-trucks playing chicken: