tennessean
The Nashville Predators are not widely regarded as Stanley Cup contenders this season, and that suits first-year general manager Chris MacFarland just fine. He has established a demanding standard of effort and urgency, knowing it is the team's only path to success. While the Predators have been inconsistent, they remain in the middle of the Western Conference standings, challenging for a wildcard spot.
It would be easier for the Predators to accept what is already clear about this team: it is not built to be a viable contender. From the rest of the NHL to the revamped front office to the coaching staff to a locker room of veterans and newcomers still learning each other, no one seems to believe otherwise. For these Predators to accomplish anything significant, everyone agrees it would take something truly special. Yet special is exactly what is being demanded. Overachievement has become a daily expectation, making for a difficult existence—but that is the Predators' new reality under MacFarland.
MacFarland looms as a wildcard in Smashville. He is liable to make moves—roster-related, coaching-related, or otherwise—as soon as performance dips on the ice. So the Predators' objective is clear: never ease up. Every game is a referendum. Every opponent is a Super Bowl. It will be exhausting, honestly.
"It's going to be like that all year, I think, (with) the sense of urgency," Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. "We are what we are. We're not perfect. It's not going to be easy. I think we've accepted that challenge to start."
What MacFarland is doing to open his tenure is actually kind of brilliant. Before the season, he was measured in his expectations, telling The Tennessean that these Predators would have to outwork teams time and time again to have a chance to win. In the same interview, MacFarland said that is exactly what he wanted to see—or else. "How the scoreboard is going to read in the month of October is going to be very, very important to the direction of this season and future seasons," MacFarland said, raising the possibility of major change if the Predators stumbled out of the gate under Brunette.
So far, they haven't stumbled. They aren't soaring, either. As October nears an end, the Predators are back where they've so often been this decade: in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference, positioned to challenge for one of two wildcard spots. Out of 12 games, they've lost only three in regulation—that's good. But they've won only four, which is not so good. Their five overtime losses lead the NHL. The same Predators who forgot to play hockey (Brunette's words) in a dreary 6-0 loss in Boston turned around three days later and outplayed the mighty Colorado Avalanche for a 6-2 victory. Was it just a coincidence that the Avs are MacFarland's old franchise? Probably not.
After a 4-3 shootout defeat to the New York Islanders at Bridgestone on Oct. 27, the website Moneypuck gave the Predators a respectable 31.2% chance to make the playoffs. But their odds of winning the division were more like 0.7%.
"We're hanging around, I guess, is the best way to say it for now," MacFarland said during an appearance on 102.5-FM's DMase, Vingan & Daunic prior to the Islanders game. MacFarland acknowledged some good nights but also said, appropriately, that the team has been inconsistent. "That's the part you've got to see," he added. "You've got to see consistency."
MacFarland's stated aim, initially, was for these Predators to surpass expectations (including his own). And here's the thing: there's no finish line to that. He won't ease up on that goal just because October went OK. If anything, it will only heighten the ambition. There will never be a point where these Preds can relax and believe they've done enough to satisfy the new boss. That's the brilliant part. MacFarland has figured out how to keep his Predators on edge all season. It's not to be unreasonable or mean. It's because he believes the only chance this team has is by turning extraordinary effort into the ordinary.
"That's what I think we have to do," MacFarland told 102.5-FM. "I don't think we're going to explode by teams five-on-five. I don't think we're that type of team right now. I think we're going to need good goaltending and continue to get good special teams and, then, find a way to get a point here and two points there and not have any extended losing streaks."
This Predators season, so long as it is worth watching, will be watching them push a boulder up a mountain. Gaining or losing a few steps each day. Understanding that the peak is likely unattainable. That'll be OK, though. The struggle is the goal. They want to keep doing it for as long as they can.
Originally reported by tennessean.