Can we just take a minute to admire those blue and silver jerseys that I always liked before the Nashville Predators switched to gold as their primary color? Sorry, but the navy and silver has always been my favorite look.
Anyway, I get the Predators fanbase's frustration about the 2024-25 season, something they've had over three months to digest as we're now closer to 2025-26. And for many fans, 2024-25 was the worst campaign in franchise history.
I mean, I've seen very few teams look that good on paper, albeit at an advanced age overall, only to squander when the season began. Let alone one that ended up with a top-five lottery pick. While emotions have run high, the Predators inaugural season still clocks in as worse, but by a measly five points.
Yeah, other than the uniforms, that 1998-99 Predators team put up a mere 63 points and 28 wins. In that 82-game stretch, the Preds put up 190 goals, or 2.31 per game and ranked 24th in a 27-team league. They allowed 261, which ranked 26th and averaged out to 3.18 per.
As for their leading points producer? It was Cliff Ronning, who finished the year with 53 points and 18 goals. Tomas Vokoun and Mike Dunham were in a timeshare as the starting goaltenders, and they combined for a 0.908 save percentage and a 3.03 GAA, with two shutouts.
The 1998-99 Nashville Predators were still your worst team in franchise history
In 2024-25, the Preds put up 212 goals, good for 2.58 per game, which ranked 31st in the league. So, about on par with that 1998-99 team when you realize the league's more scoring-friendly these days. Still, it was one of the worst in hockey.
As for goals allowed, the Preds gave up 274, or 3.34 per contest, ranking 27th. It was more than the 1998-99 squad, but still, hockey was a bit of a different breed then.
As for their leading scorer, it was Filip Forsberg, who put up 76 points and 31 goals in 82 contests. Yep, and even with more scoring in hockey here in 2025, Forsberg still put up 23 more points and 13 more goals than Ronning. So I'll give him the edge here.
And I think we can all agree that Juuse Saros made the most out of what he had, with a 2.98 GAA, an 0.895 save percentage, and four shutouts. Given how bad the Preds were this season, you'd think those numbers would've been way, way worse, even from a player with Saros' caliber.
Finally, the Preds finished with 68 points, as opposed to the 1998-99 squad's 63. So, while the previous year disappointed every Predators an out there, it (barely) wasn't the worst ever.
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