This is a multi-part series where we countdown our Top 15 moments of the Nashville Predators’ 2010-11 season.
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#6 :: SERGEI KOSTITSYN SINGLE-HANDEDLY (LITERALLY) SHOWS MONTREAL WHAT THEY’RE MISSING
Sergei Kostitsyn. A guy the Montreal Canadiens couldn’t wait to get rid of. Nashville Predators General Manager David Poile sent the negotiating rights to two players (Dan Ellis and Dustin Boyd) he wasn’t going to re-sign anyway to the Habs in exchange for the troubled winger. But that wasn’t all. Poile somehow managed to convince Kostitsyn that he needed to rebuild his reputation around the league and, if he signed in Music City, it would be for less than what Wade Belak would make. They key to Kostitsyn’s success? Poile and the Preds were up front and honest with Kostitsyn. They told him right at the beginning that he very well could be sent to Milwaukee and have to earn an NHL spot from there. The 24-year old Novopolotsk, Belarus native responded to their direct approach and, after a slow start where he was battling a foot injury, exploded come December, tallying 47 points in his last 58 games en route to leading the team in goals (23), tying for the lead in points (50) and leading the entire league in shooting percentage (.247). One of those team leading 23 goals was this beauty against the arch-rival Detroit Red Wings. It defied belief and, as a result, will live on in Nashville Predators lore for a long long time.
