[JasonKirk]

I'll let you all in on a little secret...the Nashville Predators are quietly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Before you start laughing, consider our lineup:

Paul Kariya, Steve Sullivan, Scott Walker, Marek Zidlicky, Kimmo Timonen, Dan Hamhuis, Martin Erat, David Legwand, Danny Markov, Mark Eaton, Scott Hartnell, Greg Johnson, and World Champion/NHL All-Star goalie Tomas Vokoun.

I've been going to Preds games for the last 5 years, and they've been steadily improving every season. I think that the new rule changes will help us more than almost any other team because we're built for speed and forechecking - the older, slower teams are going to take a lot of penalties against us this year and we'll be converting lots of power play chances. I don't know who will win the Cup, but look for the Preds to be in the top 5 teams in the West at the end of this season.