2 0 1 0 P L A Y O F F M E D I A G U I D E - Nashville Predators

WEBER SCORES GOALSA season after tying for the fourth-highest goal total by a defenseman in the past 10 seasons (23 in 2008-09), SheaWeber continued to light the lamp for the Predators in 2009-10, tying for second among NHL blueliners in goalswith 16. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, the Sicamous, B.C., native has scored 62 times, second-most in thatspan behind only Washington’s Mike Green (70). The 6-4, 230-pounder scored an NHL defenseman-high 12 of hisgoals on the road. He also tied for fourth at the position in power-play markers (7), and tied for fifth in gamewinninggoals (3).MR. DURABLEFor the second consecutive season, and for the third time in the last four campaigns, defenseman Ryan Suter suitedup for all 82 of Nashville’s games, extending his games played streak to 203 dating back to Jan. 13, 2008. TheMadison, Wis., native has played 20-or-more minutes in all but two games over the past two seasons, and ranked13th in the League this season in total minutes played (1,966:02). After setting the franchise record for average icetime a season ago (24:15), Suter logged 23:58 per game in 2009-10, third-highest in Predators history.WEBER STRIKES OLYMPIC GOLD, EARNS ALL-STAR NOD, SUTER CLAIMS SILVERThe Nashville Predators were well represented at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, led by defenseman Shea Weber,who claimed a gold medal thanks to Canada’s 3-2 overtime victory over the United States in Sunday’s Gold MedalGame. Weber, drafted 49 th overall (second round) by Nashville in 2003, was one of just two defensemen (along withUnited States/Detroit blueliner Brian Rafalski) to be named to the Olympic All-Star Team after he notched a point insix of his nation’s seven tournament games (2g-4a) and ranked second on the team in average ice time (20:37). TheSicamous, B.C., native’s point total tied for second among all defensemen for the competition, and he was one ofjust four d-men to register multiple goals in the tourney. This was the 6-4, 230-pounder’s third gold medal for TeamCanada – he was part of championship-winning teams at the 2005 World Junior Championships and 2007 WorldChampionships in addition to earning silver at the 2009 World Championships.Weber’s defensive partner, Ryan Suter, earned a silver medal as part of the United States’ Olympic entry,duplicating the finish of his uncle Gary from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The Madison, Wis., native ledTeam USA in average ice time for the tournament (22:50), highlighted by a game-high 31:31 played in the GoldMedal Game – he played 11:38 in the third period and 4:12 of 7:40 in sudden-death overtime. Drafted seventhoverall by the Predators in 2003, Suter tied for the tournament lead in plus/minus rating (+9) with Canada’sJonathan Toews, and amassed four assists in America’s six games.NASHVILLE’S OTHER OLYMPIANSPatric Hornqvist made his first career Olympic appearance representing Sweden, and scored a goal while playingin all four of the nation’s games. The tally – notched in the quarterfinals against Slovakia – was set up by formerPredator Peter Forsberg… Martin Erat donned a Czech Republic sweater at the Olympics for the second straighttime in Vancouver. He played all five of his nation's games, registering one assist and a plus-1 rating whileaveraging 16:03 of ice time… Both Marcel Goc and Alexander Sulzer also played in their second Olympic Gamesfor Team Germany. Goc paced the German squad with two goals and three points in four games in addition toleading all team forwards in ice time (18:22). Sulzer also played in all four of Germany's games, averaging 15:09 ofice time.OTHER PLAYER NOTABLES• Martin Erat recorded one of the best goal-scoring months in franchise history during December, tying for theLeague lead with 10 goals in 14 games – that tied the franchise record (Jason Arnott, February 2009) for mostgoals in a month. The Trebic, Czech Republic native had a point in all but two of the 14 games he played duringthe month, tying for eighth in the NHL in points (10g-8a) in 2009’s final 31 days. Three of the 10 goals cameduring Erat’s second career hat trick on Dec. 8 vs. Vancouver.• Kevin Klein saw a major increase in his ice time in 2009-10, averaging more than seven minutes more per gamethan he did in 2008-09. After averaging 12:39 a season ago, Klein saw a 19:55 per game this season, an increaseof 7:16. Among skaters who played more than 60 games last season, he is the only one in the League with anincrease of at least six minutes per contest.• A couple of notables came out of Nashville’s 6-5 overtime victory at Ottawa on Oct. 22. First, Shea Weber andRyan Suter both scored a pair of goals, while Cody Franson tallied his first NHL goal, meaning five ofNashville’s six goals came from defensemen. It was the most goals by the defensive corps in franchise history,and the most in the NHL since March 21, 2004 when the Edmonton Oilers had five goals from their blueliners ina 5-2 win over San Jose. The other goal came from J.P. Dumont, who also pitched in four assists to tie thefranchise mark for points in a game. The only other Predators to record five points in a single game are DanHamhuis (1g-4a at Pittsburgh on March 4, 2004) and Marek Zidlicky (5a at February 18, 2004).