This could have been the season of discontent for the Predators, but it turned into one of triumph.

After letting top players like Paul Kariya, Peter Forsberg, Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen go and trading goaltender Tomas Vokoun, the Predators appeared to be headed to the bottom rungs of the Western Conference. The stripping of the team, the result of the decision of Craig Leipold to the sell it, also seemed to be setting the stage for the team to limp out of town and possibly to Canada.

But a local group came forward to purchase the team. That ownership stability also translated to the ice, with the Predators endeavoring to persevere through a number of injuries, often inconsistent goaltending and a season-opening losing streak on the way to their fourth straight Stanley Cup playoff berth.

But the Predators also dropped out of the playoffs after the first round for the fourth straight time and have failed to win a road game in those four playoff trips. That means that Predators general manager David Poile still has some fine-tuning with this team.

The Predators, often the victims of their own youth, will be a year older next season. The defense, where most of that youth can be found, is deep and talented with more to come from the minors. That embarrassment of riches could produce trade bait, especially a player like defenseman Kevin Klein, who spent most of the season as a healthy scratch.

The Predators have an all-star center in Jason Arnott and scoring talent in wingers J.P. Dumont and Alexander Radulov and center David Legwand, but there still is a need for a top-line scorer.

Those are hard to find, but Poile might have a couple of decisions to make. He has youngsters like Klein, but he also has four draft picks in the top 45 in June with two in the first and two in the second. This is supposed to be a deep draft and four picks at such a high level could build a solid foundation, but those players will be at least two years away and the Predators need to move forward next season. Poile often calls the draft the Predators' bread and butter, but he might choose to add some scoring to the lineup with a package of players and draft picks.

Goaltending didn't cost the Predators the first round of the playoffs. Dan Ellis started each game and played solidly against the Detroit Red Wings. Chris Mason, whose new contract kicks in this summer and will pay him $3 million a year for the next two years, did not live up to expectations. Pekka Rinne has little, if anything, left to prove in the American Hockey League, providing a potential logjam at the position if the Predators do succeed in signing Ellis, an unrestricted free agent.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT
The Predators clinched the No. 8 spot in the playoffs with a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Sommet Center on April 3. It wasn't so much the win but the reaction of the fans. In the closing minutes the fans stood up and cheered throughout the final television timeout. That spontaneous display was repeated the rest of the season and in the playoffs, letting the players and the new ownership know that these fans aren't going anywhere and that they are happy the team is not going anywhere, either.

TURNING POINT
With seven games left in the regular season, coach Barry Trotz was not happy with either Chris Mason or Dan Ellis between the pipes. He sent for Rinne from Milwaukee with plans to start him March 22 against the Chicago Blackhawks. But Rinne was unable to make timely air connections to arrive on time, and Ellis got the start at the last minute. Ellis beat Chicago 2-1 and then won his next two games by shutouts. He lost 1-0 in overtime at Detroit after holding the Red Wings scoreless in regulation, ending a string of 233:39 scoreless minutes. Who knows what would have happened if Rinne had arrived on time? But Ellis was inspired and motivated by the decision to bring in Rinne, and he took his game to a different level.

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