Predators run to final will always be special

Of the Nashville Predators’ top four defensemen and top 10 forwards, 13 of those 14 players are under the age of 30 and 10 of them are under contract through at least the 201819season.

The two centerpiece players whose deals are up, Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson, will be signed in the offseason as restricted free agents, and they’ll be paid well. The Predators already were in the best financial shape of their 20-year history before this run to the Stanley Cup final, which begins Mondayat PPG Paints Arena.

From various perspectives, the past six weeks have done much to enhance the possibility of future runs. “This is going to pay dividends for years,” Predators general manager David Poile said.

But there will never be another one like this. Make sure to remember that as the Predators take the ice at PPG Paints Arena for their first Stanley Cup final experience, and when they return home to a June 3 scene that might make Woodstock look like a casual kegger, and at every possible moment in between.

No matter where Predators hockey goes from here, this teamwill always have a prominent spot in Nashville sports lore — win or lose. There’s onlyone first time.

The best local comparison wouldbe the 1999-2000 Tennessee Titans. That run to the lone Super Bowl in franchise history started with the “Music City Miracle,” an iconic Nashville and NFL moment.

It also vaulted a football team that had talent but wasn’t favored to win the AFC, just as this hockey team’s sweep of Chicago was a slingshot. Those Titans came up a yard short in the big game but will always be revered by Titans fans.

This is not to say it’s all downhill from here. Just that this is special. For Nashville coach Peter Laviolette, it’s a third crack after winning the Cup with Carolina in 2006 and losing to Chicago as Philadelphia’s coach in 2010.

“Two of the most memorable points in my life, if you remove family … will be two trips to the finals,” Laviolette said Sunday. “One of them I’ll hold close to my heart, and one of them hurts. But it’s a great feeling, to be able to be here and compete.”

Andthe ride here is worth a book.