2006–07 Nashville Predators season

The 2006–07 Nashville Predators season was the 8th National Hockey League season in Nashville, Tennessee. 
The Predators, looking to get past the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in franchise history, bulked up their roster by signing star forward Jason Arnott, whose 76 points in 2005–06 was second on the Dallas Stars. With returning forwards Paul Kariya and Steve Sullivan, and the acquisition of Arnott and J.P. Dumont, the Predators were predicted to challenge the Detroit Red Wings for top spot in the Central Division.burnside, Scott, Nashville Predators season preview, espn.com, October 2, 2006, accessed February 17, 2007
Although the Predators were leading the Central when the 55th National Hockey League All-Star Game was played in Dallas, Texas, only one Predator player was named to the Western Conference team. Defenceman and team captain Kimmo Timonen played in his second All-Star game. Head coach Barry Trotz served as an assistant coach for the Western Conference.2007 NHL Allstar Game rosters, nhl.com, accessed February 17, 2007
The attendance in Nashville had been a topic of much media debate all season long, with the Predators' attendance being in the bottom third of the league despite the team leading its division for most of the season. There had been much speculation in February about a clause in the Predators lease with the city that could force the city of Nashville to buy $2 million worth of tickets for the Predators in the 2007–08 season if the team failed to reach a paid average attendance of 14,000. After 21 home games, the Predators were only averaging 12,766 in paid attendance.Mullen, Bryan, Empty Preds seats could cost city $2M, The Tennessean, February 10, 2007, accessed February 17, 2007 Team owner Craig Leipold had also announced that he was looking to sell up to 40% of the team to local interests; however, he found no immediate takers.Glennon, John, Leipold: No bites on buyers, the Tennessean, January 24, 2007, accessed February 17, 2007
In February, the Predators acquired forward Peter Forsberg from the Philadelphia Flyers for Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent and two draft picks.Flyers deal Forsberg to Predators, tsn.ca, February 15, 2007 The deal paid immediate dividends at the gate: the Predators announced they had sold 3,500 tickets for their games in the first day after the trade was announced.Kuharsky, Paul, Forsberg scores early for Predators in ticket sales, The Tennessean, February 17, 2007
The Predators finished the season with a franchise-record 110 points, with 51 wins, and earned a fourth place seed in the Western Conference quarter-finals in the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They then lost to the San Jose Sharks in 5 games in the Quarter-finals.
On May 23, 2007, Craig Leipold was reported to have reached a tentative agreement to sell the team to the Chairman and Co-CEO of Research In Motion, Jim Balsillie.Balsillie attempting to buy Predators, tsn.ca, May 23, 2007 According to Leipold, the team is likely to play the 2007–08 season in Nashville, but the future of the team after that is not clear.Nashville Predators Being Sold, newschannel5.com, May 23, 2007 Balsillie has been rumored to be interested in placing another team in Southern Ontario.
==Regular season==
===Season standings===
For complete final standings, see 2006–07 NHL season
===Game log===
====October====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1 	October 5 	Chicago 	8 – 6	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	0–1–0 	0
2 	October 7 	Nashville	5 – 6	Minnesota 	 	Vokoun 	18,568 	0–2–0 	0
3 	October 12	Nashville	1 – 3	Chicago 	 	Mason 	8,008 	0–3–0 	0
4 	October 14	Phoenix 	1 – 4	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	13,770 	1–3–0 	2
5 	October 16	Nashville	2 – 1	NY Islanders	SO	Vokoun 	9,431 	2–3–0 	4
6 	October 18	Nashville	3 – 0	NY Rangers 	 	Vokoun 	18,200 	3–3–0 	6
7 	October 19	Nashville	4 – 3	New Jersey 	SO	Mason 	11,274 	4–3–0 	8
8 	October 21	Vancouver	4 – 3	Nashville 	OT	Vokoun 	16,073 	4–3–1 	9
9 	October 26	San Jose 	3 – 4	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	13,436 	5–3–1 	11
10	October 28	Nashville	3 – 2	Calgary 	 	Vokoun 	19,289 	6–3–1 	13
11	October 31	Nashville	3 – 2	Vancouver 	 	Vokoun 	18,630 	7–3–1 	15
====November====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
12	November 1 	Nashville	5 – 3	Edmonton 	 	Mason 	16,839 	8–3–1 	17
13	November 4 	Nashville	4 – 3	Minnesota 	 	Vokoun 	18,568 	9–3–1 	19
14	November 10	Nashville	0 – 3	Detroit 	 	Vokoun 	20,066 	9–4–1 	19
15	November 11	Colorado 	0 – 1	Nashville 	 	Mason 	17,113 	10–4–1	21
16	November 15	Nashville	5 – 4	Columbus 	 	Vokoun 	16,283 	11–4–1	23
17	November 16	Minnesota	7 – 6	Nashville 	SO	Mason 	12,759 	11–4–2	24
18	November 18	Columbus 	2 – 4	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	13,209 	12–4–2	26
19	November 20	Nashville	3 – 1	Columbus 	 	Vokoun 	16,174 	13–4–2	28
20	November 22	Nashville	0 – 1	Dallas 	 	Vokoun 	17,853 	13–5–2	28
21	November 23	Vancouver	0 – 6	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	15,396 	14–5–2	30
22	November 25	Detroit 	2 – 6	Nashville 	 	Mason 	16,835 	15–5–2	32
23	November 29	Nashville	3 – 2	Philadelphia	 	Mason 	18,789 	16–5–2	34
24	November 30	Nashville	5 – 4	St. Louis 	 	Mason 	5,410 	17–5–2	36
====December====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
25	December 2 	Chicago 	4 – 3	Nashville 	OT	Mason 	15,530 	17–5–3 	37
26	December 4 	Nashville 	2 – 3	Phoenix 	 	Mason 	11,735 	17–6–3 	37
27	December 6 	Nashville 	0 – 4	Anaheim 	 	Mason 	15,362 	17–7–3 	37
28	December 7 	Nashville 	4 – 1	Los Angeles	 	Mason 	15,119 	18–7–3 	39
29	December 9 	Nashville 	1 – 3	San Jose 	 	Mason 	17,496 	18–8–3 	39
30	December 12	Edmonton 	2 – 3	Nashville 	 	Mason 	12,032 	19–8–3 	41
31	December 14	Ottawa 	0 – 6	Nashville 	 	Mason 	12,718 	20–8–3 	43
32	December 16	St. Louis 	2 – 3	Nashville 	SO	Mason 	13,309 	21–8–3 	45
33	December 17	Nashville 	2 – 1	St. Louis 	OT	Mason 	9,318 	22–8–3 	47
34	December 20	Nashville 	2 – 1	Chicago 	 	Mason 	10,201 	23–8–3 	49
35	December 21	Buffalo 	7 – 2	Nashville 	 	Mason 	16,616 	23–9–3 	49
36	December 23	Los Angeles	0 – 7	Nashville 	 	Mason 	14,739 	24–9–3 	51
37	December 26	St. Louis 	2 – 3	Nashville 	SO	Mason 	14,807 	25–9–3 	53
38	December 29	Nashville 	1 – 4	Dallas 	 	Mason 	18,532 	25–10–3	53
39	December 30	Boston 	0 – 5	Nashville 	 	Mason 	16,612 	26–10–3	55
====January====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
40	January 1 	Colorado 	5 – 3	Nashville	 	Mason 	15,878 	26–11–3	55
41	January 5 	Nashville	8 – 3	Chicago 	 	Mason 	13,186 	27–11–3	57
42	January 6 	St. Louis	2 – 3	Nashville	 	Mason 	14,438 	28–11–3	59
43	January 9 	Anaheim 	4 – 5	Nashville	OT	Vokoun 	11,821 	29–11–3	61
44	January 12	Columbus 	0 – 2	Nashville	 	Vokoun 	14,136 	30–11–3	63
45	January 13	Nashville	4 – 1	Columbus 	 	Mason 	16,825 	31–11–3	65
46	January 15	Calgary 	3 – 5	Nashville	 	Vokoun 	12,011 	32–11–3	67
47	January 17	Nashville	3 – 5	Detroit 	 	Mason 	20,066 	32–12–3	67
48	January 18	Columbus 	0 – 4	Nashville	 	Mason 	10,927 	33–12–3	69
49	January 20	Chicago 	3 – 6	Nashville	 	Mason 	17,113 	34–12–3	71
50	January 26	Nashville	3 – 1	Chicago 	 	Vokoun 	11,162 	35–12–3	73
51	January 27	Nashville	6 – 3	St. Louis	 	Mason 	16,346 	36–12–3	75
52	January 30	Nashville	3 – 4	Colorado 	 	Vokoun 	17,119 	36–13–3	75
====February====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
53	February 1 	Nashville 	2 – 3	Phoenix 	 	Vokoun 	14,047 	36–14–3	75
54	February 3 	Anaheim 	0 – 3	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	37–14–3	77
55	February 6 	Nashville 	1 – 4	Pittsburgh	 	Mason 	16,333 	37–15–3	77
56	February 8 	Toronto 	2 – 4	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	15,018 	38–15–3	79
57	February 10	Los Angeles	4 – 1	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	38–16–3	79
58	February 14	San Jose 	0 – 5	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	13,836 	39–16–3	81
59	February 16	Nashville 	0 – 1	St. Louis 	 	Mason 	15,660 	39–17–3	81
60	February 17	Minnesota 	4 – 1	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	39–18–3	81
61	February 19	Phoenix 	1 – 4	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	15,862 	40–18–3	83
62	February 22	Montreal 	6 – 5	Nashville 	SO	Vokoun 	15,808 	40–18–4	84
63	February 24	Detroit 	3 – 4	Nashville 	OT	Vokoun 	17,113 	41–18–4	86
64	February 25	Nashville 	4 – 3	Columbus 	OT	Mason 	16,220 	42–18–4	88
65	February 28	Nashville 	4 – 3	San Jose 	SO	Vokoun 	17,496 	43–18–4	90
====March====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
66	March 3 	Nashville	6 – 3	Los Angeles	 	Mason 	16,854 	44–18–4	92
67	March 4 	Nashville	2 – 3	Anaheim 	SO	Vokoun 	17,174 	44–18–5	93
68	March 6 	Nashville	3 – 4	Detroit 	 	Vokoun 	20,066 	44–18–6	94
69	March 8 	Calgary 	3 – 6	Nashville 	 	Mason 	15,515 	45–18–6	96
70	March 10	Columbus 	1 – 2	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	46–18–6	98
71	March 13	Detroit 	5 – 2	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	46–19–6	98
72	March 14	Nashville	2 – 4	Detroit 	 	Mason 	20,066 	46–20–6	98
73	March 17	Dallas 	2 – 3	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	47–20–6	100
74	March 21	Nashville	0 – 2	Vancouver 	 	Vokoun 	18,630 	47–21–6	100
75	March 22	Nashville	2 – 3	Calgary 	OT	Mason 	19,289 	47–21–7	101
76	March 24	Nashville	4 – 0	Edmonton 	 	Vokoun 	16,839 	48–21–7	103
77	March 27	Edmonton 	3 – 4	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	16,832 	49–21–7	105
78	March 29	Detroit 	2 – 1	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	16,646 	49–22–7	105
79	March 31	Dallas 	4 – 2	Nashville 	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	49–23–7	105
====April====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
80	April 3	Chicago 	3 – 2	Nashville	SO	Mason 	14,663 	49–23–8	106
81	April 5	St. Louis	1 – 4	Nashville	 	Vokoun 	16,624 	50–23–8	108
82	April 7	Nashville	4 – 2	Colorado 	 	Vokoun 	17,462 	51–23–8	110
*Green background indicates win.
*Red background indicates regulation loss.
*White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.
==Playoffs==
The Nashville Predators ended the 2006–07 regular season as the Western Conference's fourth seed.
====Western Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (5) San Jose Sharks====
San Jose wins series 4–1
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT 	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 11	San Jose 	5 – 4	Nashville	2OT	Vokoun 	17,113 	0 – 1
2	April 13	San Jose 	2 – 5	Nashville	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	1 – 1
3	April 16	Nashville	1 – 3	San Jose 	 	Vokoun 	17,496 	1 – 2
4	April 18	Nashville	2 – 3	San Jose 	 	Vokoun 	17,496 	1 – 3
5	April 20	San Jose 	3 – 2	Nashville	 	Vokoun 	17,113 	1 – 4
==Player stats ==
===Regular season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	LW 	82	24	52	76 	36 	6 	5 	0 	2
 	RW 	82	21	45	66 	28 	14 	5 	0 	3
 	C 	78	27	36	63 	44 	23 	3 	1 	7
 	RW 	57	22	38	60 	20 	16 	6 	3 	4
 	RW 	68	16	41	57 	50 	13 	5 	1 	3
 	D 	80	13	42	55 	42 	20 	8 	0 	2
 	C 	68	27	27	54 	48 	15 	12 	0 	6
 	D 	79	17	23	40 	60 	13 	6 	0 	2
 	LW 	64	22	17	39 	96 	19 	10 	0 	2
 	RW 	64	18	19	37 	26 	19 	5 	0 	4
 	D 	79	4 	26	30 	72 	8 	2 	0 	1
 	C 	72	11	15	26 	40 	11 	0 	1 	1
 	D 	82	8 	16	24 	54 	10 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	81	6 	14	20 	66 	8 	0 	0 	1
 	C 	17	2 	13	15 	16 	5 	1 	0 	1
 	C 	59	7 	6 	13 	79 	7 	1 	1 	2
 	C 	38	4 	9 	13 	29 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	64	5 	7 	12 	42 	-8 	1 	1 	2
 	RW 	65	3 	6 	9 	116	-11	0 	0 	0
 	D 	66	3 	5 	8 	32 	16 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	13	1 	4 	5 	13 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	53	1 	3 	4 	90 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	14	2 	1 	3 	18 	-1 	0 	0 	2
 	D 	15	1 	2 	3 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	44	0 	2 	2 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	1 	0 	1 	0 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0 	1 	1 	12 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	40	0 	1 	1 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	13	0 	1 	1 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	15	0 	1 	1 	10 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T/OT	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	2601	44	27	12	4 	104	2.40	5 	1299	1195	.920
 	2342	40	24	11	4 	93 	2.38	5 	1244	1151	.925
 	20 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2 	6.00	0 	10 	8 	.800
Team: 	4963	82	51	23	8 	199	2.41	10	2553	2354	.922
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	5 	4	2	6 	0 	4 	1 	1 	1
 	RW 	4 	3	1	4 	19 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	2	2	4 	12 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	2	1	3 	2 	0 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	0	3	3 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	3	3 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	1	1	2 	4 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	5 	1	1	2 	28 	-1 	1 	0 	0
 	LW 	5 	0	2	2 	2 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	2	2 	4 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	2	2 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	2	2 	4 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	1	0	1 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	0	1	1 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	1	1 	2 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	4 	0	1	1 	21 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	0	0	0 	17 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	0	0	0 	17 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	5 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	324	5 	1	4	16	2.96	0 	163	147	.902
Team: 	324	5 	1	4	16	2.96	0 	163	147	.902
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Olus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T/OT = Ties/overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; 
==Transactions==
The Predators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2006–07 season.NHL Insider - Offseason Trades, nhl.com, accessed December 2, 2006NHL Insider - Free Agent Signings, nhl.com, accessed December 2, 2006,
===Trades===
July 18, 2006 	To Nashville Predators Josef Vasicek 	To Carolina Hurricanes Scott Walker
July 19, 2006 	To Nashville Predators Dominic Moore 	To New York Rangers Adam Hall
July 19, 2006 	To Nashville Predators 3rd round pick in 2007 	To Pittsburgh Penguins Dominic Moore Libor Pivko
February 9, 2007 	To Nashville Predators Eric Belanger 	To Carolina Hurricanes Josef Vasicek
February 10, 2007	To Nashville Predators Vitaly Vishnevski 	To Atlanta Thrashers Eric Belanger
February 15, 2007	To Nashville Predators Peter Forsberg 	To Philadelphia Flyers Scottie Upshall Ryan Parent 1st round pick in 2007 3rd round pick in 2007
February 27, 2007	To Nashville Predators 4th round pick in 2007	To Buffalo SabresMikko Lehtonen
===Free agents acquired===
Player signed 	Former team
F Jason Arnott	Dallas Stars
F Ramzi Abid 	Atlanta Thrashers
D Alex Henry 	Minnesota Wild
F J.P. Dumont 	Buffalo Sabres
===Free agents lost===
Player lost 	New team
F Mike Sillinger 	New York Islanders
D Mark Eaton 	Pittsburgh Penguins
D Brendan Witt 	New York Islanders
F Denis Arkhipov 	Chicago Blackhawks
D Danny Markov 	Detroit Red Wings
F Greg Johnson 	Detroit Red Wings
F Yanic Perreault	Phoenix Coyotes
===Claimed on waivers===
Player claimed 	Former team
G Michael Leighton	Anaheim Ducks
===Placed on waivers===
Player lost 	New team
G Michael Leighton	Philadelphia Flyers
==Draft picks==
Nashville's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.2006 NHL Entry Draft Results nhl.com - accessed November 20, 2006 The Predators traded their first round pick, thus their first selection was in the 2nd round, 56th overall.
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team (League)
2 	56 	Blake Geoffrion (LW)	 	Nashville Predators 	US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
4 	105	Niko Snellman (W) 	 	Nashville Predators (from Atlanta)	Ilves (SM-liiga)
5 	146	Mark Dekanich (G) 	 	Nashville Predators 	Colgate University (NCAA)
6 	176	Ryan Flynn (RW) 	 	Nashville Predators 	US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
7 	206	Viktor Sjödin (W) 	 	Nashville Predators 	Västerås Jr.
==Minor league affiliates==
The Milwaukee Admirals are Nashville's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2006–07, and the New Mexico Scorpions are the Central Hockey League affiliate.
==See also==
*2006–07 NHL season
*2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs
==References==
*Nashville Predators player stats on espn.com
*Nashville Predators game log on espn.com
*NHL standings on espn.com
 
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Category:Nashville Predators seasons
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