Predators anthem singer replaced by A-list artists
Toronto FC may be on a franchise-record six-game win streak but the current crop of players has a way to go before it catches its coaching staff.
Head coach Greg Vanney and assistants Robin Fraser and Dan Calichman hold bragging rights when it comes to stacking up victories. They anchored the defence of the 1997-98 Los Angeles Galaxy team that holds the MLS record of 15 straight regular-season wins.
The TFC players may not have looked at the history book but their coaches remember it well.
“That was our team,” Vanney said proudly.
The Galaxy streak began Sept. 7, 1997, with a 6-1 thrashing of the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Los Angeles went on to beat Colorado, Dallas (twice), San Jose and Kansas City to wrap up the ’97 regular season.
The Galaxy kept winning to open the ’98 campaign, dispatching San Jose, the MetroStars (now the Red Bulls, twice), Kansas City (twice), Colorado (twice), Tampa Bay and Columbus. The streak finally ended May 20 in a 3-1 loss at Chicago.
In between, Los Angeles went 0-2 at the hands of Dallas in the ’97 playoffs.
L.A. outscored its opposition 4920 during the regular-season run of wins. That included a then-record seven-goal performance in a 7-4 win over Colorado on May 6, 1998. The previous mark of six goals in a game was held by five teams.
The Galaxy broke their own record in 1998 with an 8-1 win over Dallas.
The 11 total goals — a mark that stands today — broke the league record of 10 set on May 2, 1996, when Kansas City beat Columbus 6-4.
The goal spree came at a painful cost with Galaxy captain Calichman breaking a leg early in the second half when he was tackled by Colorado’s Marcelo Balboa.
One win later the streak was over .
The three defenders were also a big part of the ’96 Galaxy team that opened the season at 12-0-0. It remains the league’s second-longest win streak — and longest run of victories in a single season.
Those record runs came during the league’s shootout era (1996’99) when games couldn’t end in a tie. Post-shootout, Kansas City won nine straight in 2011-12, a stretch that included seven wins to open the 2012 season
League-leading Toronto (7-1-4) goes after win No. 7 Friday at the New York Red Bulls (5-6-1).
“It will be one of our goals, to keep the streak alive,” Vanney said after training Tuesday.
“While we’re not trying to get ahead of ourselves, the goal is to keep this thing rolling and keep building on the last game but understanding that you’ve got to make plays and you’ve got to deal with the situation in the moment and focus right in on that,” he added. Defender Nick Hagglund was moving gingerly Monday with a jumbo brace on his left leg. He is expected to be out two to three months with a torn medial collateral ligament, an injury Vanney says could have been far worse given the severity of the collision that caused it in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Minnesota ... Vanney is unfazed by Sebastian Giovinco’s latest minor injury (quad strain) saying it may have been caused by the fact his body wasn’t quite ready to go at 100 per cent after missing two games with a heel contusion. The Italian striker is expected to be out three weeks ... Defender Jason Hernandez, subbed at halftime against Minnesota because of a bout of food poisoning (believed to be bad salmon), says he is much better ... Still no word on what caused midfielder Jonathan Osorio’s irregular heartbeat. The club is monitoring his health, hoping it was perhaps a blip caused by illness ... Columbus forward Justin Meram, who had a hat trick in a 3-2 win over Montreal, won MLS player of the week honours. Toronto’s Tosaint Ricketts, with three goals including two game-winners, was a close contender.
NASHVILLE — The longtime anthem singer at Nashville Predators hockey games has sour grapes over being replaced in the Stanley Cup playoffs by superstar singers such as Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, and Little Big Town.
Dennis K. Morgan, who has sung at about 185 Predator games over the past 17 years, told The Tennessean he has been hurt and disappointed by being upstaged by A-list country acts, including Underwood, who is married to team captain Mike Fisher.
“They came to me and said the captain’s wife asked to sing the anthem that night,” Morgan said. “It was presented to me as a one night only kind of thing and I agreed to it. Then they continued to bring in these other singers and touted them as ‘A-listers,’ which kind of hurt me.”
Morgan said he had planned to bring it up with the team after the playoffs, but he was getting a lot of questions from people who knew him.
“The most important part of a Stanley Cup run is not what happens in pregame ceremonies, but rather what happens on the ice,” he said. “I will address any disappointment I have with the Predators’ decision hopefully after a Stanley Cup parade.”
The team said in a statement that the arrangement with Morgan allowed for “nationally and internationally renowned musical artists to perform when available.”
“The reaction from our fans in Bridgestone Arena as well as from around the country to seeing and hearing world class performers such as Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Vince Gill and his daughters, Little Big Town, and Lady Antebellum during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs has been overwhelmingly positive, bringing national and international exposure to our community while continuing to set our game experience and atmosphere apart from others in professional sports,” the team statement said. The Associated Press