Schedule gives Predators extra day after Olympic break
Six games are scheduled Tuesday as the league resumes play after the Olympic break, but the Predators don’t have to play until Wednesday night when they visit Chicago. They should have at least four of their five Olympians back with the team in Chicago.
What kind of shape they’ll be in remains to be seen after the long flights back from Europe.
“If you’re going to make a commitment to be in the Olympics, you’re in all the time,” coach Barry Trotz said. “You can’t pick and choose. Every four years, everyone’s under the same sort of strain. I’m actually very fortunate. I think everyone got out healthy. We got four medals out of that.”
The Predators currently are fourth in the Western Conference, three points ahead of Vancouver.
“Vancouver lost two defensemen for probably a week to 10 days in that tournament, which doesn’t bode well for them,” Trotz said.
Four of the Predators’ five Olympians won medals with defenseman Kimmo Timonen winning silver with Finland, while goaltender Tomas Vokoun, defenseman Marek Zidlicky and forward Martin Erat picked up bronze by beating Russia and teammate Danny Markov, a defenseman. Markov’s return status is unclear.
For players who didn’t go to the Olympics, the break was much needed after the grind to squeeze the season around the Games. Predators forward Steve Sullivan said he was mentally refreshed.
“The schedule was so hectic and so compact, before and after, there’s no way we could’ve kept playing at that pace. So hopefully, this break is going to be huge for us and beneficial and the guys are all rested. Practices have been uptempo the last three or four days. We’re looking forward to it,” he said.
The Predators used a college club team goalie to replace Vokoun in practices the past few days, including Monday, to avoid wearing out backup Chris Mason who will start at Chicago. Sullivan said they know their teammates will be fatigued when they return.
“We’re going to try to carry them for the first eight, 10 days and try to give them as much rest as possible. Hopefully, they’ll be able to recharge their batteries and help us down the stretch,” Sullivan said.
The Predators only hope Detroit has an Olympic hangover with five Red Wings alone winning gold with Sweden. They trail the Western Conference leaders by nine points with three games left between the teams.
“Hopefully yeah,” Trotz said.