NHL Hockey Trivia: Nashville Predators Firsts

The Nashville Predators entered the National Hockey League in the 1998-99 season. The team has enjoyed moderate success for an expansion team, qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs in seven of fourteen NHL seasons. The Predators have won two playoff series, taking the opening round of the 2010-11 playoffs over the Anaheim and the opening round of the 2011-12 playoffs over the Detroit Red Wings. Nashville suffered a setback in 2012-13, not qualifying for the post season for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

There’s a first for everything. Test and expand your knowledge of the NHL’s Nashville Predators with the following four questions regarding ‘firsts’ in the team’s short history.

Q. Who was the first ever head coach of the Nashville Predators?

A. Barry Trotz is not only the first ever head coach of the Predators but he is also, as of 2013-14, the only head coach the team has ever had. Trotz played junior as a defenseman with the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL.

Before Nashville, Barry coached in the American Hockey League from 1992-93 to 1996-97. His first year was with the Baltimore Skipjacks. Trotz moved with the franchise to Portland where he coached the Pirates for the next five years. In 1993-94, the Portland Pirates won the Calder Cup championship, beating the Moncton Hawks 4-2 in the finals. That year, Barry was honoured with the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL coach of the year.

Q. On October 13, 1998, what player scored the first ever goal for the Nashville Predators?

A. In his only season with Nashville, Andrew Brunette holds the honour of scoring the team’s first goal. Brunette retired after the 2011-12 season. Over his career, he appeared in 1,110 regular season NHL games with the Washington Capitals, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks. Interestingly, he played for coach Barry Trotz for five years with the Portland Pirates in the AHL.

Q. Who was the first Nashville Predator to score on a penalty shot in overtime?

A. David Legwand was not only the first Predator to do this in 2000 but was also the first NHL player to ever accomplish this feat.

Q. Who was the first player ever selected by the Nashville Predators in the NHL Entry Draft?

A. David Legwand was selected second overall in 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Legwand played one game with the Predators in the team’s inaugural season and had been a mainstay with the club until a deadline trade in 2013-14 sent him to the Detroit Red Wings.

Legwand was drafted by Nashville after his first of two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Plymouth Whalers. In that 1998 NHL draft, only Vincent Lecavalier of the Rimouski Oceanic went higher, going first overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning.