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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 3090838" data-attributes="member: 2012">Preds' feel they are a Cup contenderCanadian Press9/27/2006 2:19:08 PM(CP) - The Nashville Predators and Stanley Cup have rarely been mentioned in the same breath. Well, probably never in their eight-year history.Year 9 is different."I really like where we are," said Predators GM David Poile, who has been there from the very first day. "I like the whole process of how we built this. I just feel like it's our time. I'm fully cognizant that there's other really good teams out there. But if don't have a really good year in terms of the regular season and playoff success, it will be disappointing based on how we feel right now."Winning the Cup is certainly a vision that we have."That's about as bold as the usually reserved Poile can get. But for the veteran GM to even mention "Cup" says it all."My job is to go to training camp and have players and coaches and everybody in the organization believe that you can win the Stanley Cup," Poile said this week from Nashville. "And I think legitimately, this is the first time. Last year we had a good team but I'm not sure the belief was really there that we could win the Stanley Cup."But I think legitimately this year we have a chance."Poile isn't alone in his assessment of his team. Observers around the league like the Preds a lot and generally Nashville is grouped along with San Jose, Anaheim and Calgary as the teams to beat this year.The Predators were first-round losers to the Sharks in last spring's playoffs, in large part because star goalie Tomas Vokoun wasn't available due to a blood clot problem. But Poile points to another issue that factored into their downfall."Our shortcomings at centre ice really showed up against San Jose when we matched up with their top two centres, (Joe) Thornton and (Patrick) Marleau," said Poile. "That was a little bit of a mismatch. So I think with (Jason) Arnott and (Josef) Vasicek and hopefully a healthy David Legwand our chances at centre ice are better this year than they were in the past."Poile's key move this summer was to bring in the 6-4, 220-pound Arnott, especially, as his No. 1 centre, but the 6-5, 214-pound Vasicek might be a sleeper if he stays healthy after battling a knee injury last year."Arny was a huge acquisition for our club," star winger Paul Kariya said this week. "We got a No. 1 centre who is just a powerhouse out there, a great offensive talent, terrific faceoff guy. And he's a big guy. I think one of the biggest differences in our team this year is that we're a lot bigger. Vasicek is even bigger than Arny. So we probably went from being a team with good speed but not a lot of size to a team that's got some bulk down the middle and can play a bit more of a power game."I think that was a bit of a weakness last year."Added Poile: "I am very cognizant that the best teams in the league win with strength down the middle and I think we've done a good job to strengthen that position in the off-season."Poile also signed winger J.P. Dumont from Buffalo, adding to a deep group at forward that also includes Kariya, Steve Sullivan, Martin Erat, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall.Which begs the question, where does rookie winger Alexander Radulov, who tore up the Quebec junior league last season for 62 goals and 91 assists in 62 games, fit in?"He's got to beat out one of those guys to play on the top three lines," said Poile, mentioning the forwards above. "He's not a fourth-line forward. So that might be a little hard to do right now."He's had an excellent camp. There's no doubt in my mind that he's going to play for us. I just can't tell you when. We're very deep in forwards right now."Some AHL seasoning might be in the offing."It's always been good for every player, the experience at the minor-league level," said Poile. "Last year Shea Weber was down there for most of the year, he played well when he came up late in the year. The time he spent down there was really good. So we'll figure it out (with Radulov). He's a terrific prospect, there's no doubt about that."The defence is solid but young. Aside from veterans Marek Zidlicky and Kimmo Timonen, the Preds will count on youngsters Weber, Dan Hamhuis and Ryan Suter to round out the top five."Other than Timonen and Zidlicky, we're lacking a little bit in experience," agreed Poile. "That's one thing you could look at. But we think the potential is there."Vokoun is back and healthy, coming off a season that saw him place fourth in Vezina Trophy voting as the NHL's top goaltender.What's not to like?"I think as a team and as an organization we're definitely looking to make the next step," said Kariya.</blockquote>

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