SWOT Analysis - Identifying the Nashville Predators' Weaknesses

by Dirk Hoag on Feb 16, 2010 4:17 PM EST

Yesterday we kicked off the first part of a 4-piece review of the state of the Nashville Predators, by conducting a SWOT Analysis that will set the table for discussions next week as to what the team should do in the near- and long-term.

Today, we turn our attention to the weaknesses of the team - yes, when the Preds lose a few games in a row, opinions on this topic are wide and varied, so fire up your keyboard and follow along here.

Once again, to review...

What is SWOT Analysis?

SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Oppportunities, Threats) is a common tool used in the business world to assess an operating group and the environment within which it operates, in order to determine what steps are needed to help that organization achieve its goals. Just as one applies this tool to a factory or a sales force, it can be used with a hockey team as well.

Weaknesses

Today's discussion is intended to come up with a list of the Nashville Predators' weaknesses as an NHL organization, characteristics of the team itself that hold it back from achieving the goal which was set out at the start of this:

"The goal of the Nashville Predators is to consistently qualify for the playoffs, and contend for the Stanley Cup championship."

So again, I'll toss a couple points out here to get things started, but I'd like you to fill out this list in the comments below. What weaknesses would you say apply to the Nashville Predators as an organization?

Budget - the current ownership group has a limited ability to absorb financial losses, and along with the constraints of the NHL revenue sharing system, that dictates a salary structure that runs $10-12 million lower than cap-max teams.
Power play - A consistent theme of recent Predators teams has been that regardless of changing personnel or schemes, the power play has ranked among the NHL's worst.

So what other tangible weaknesses of the Preds would you add here? Sound off in the comments below, and keep them focused on the organization (not, Player X sucks...).

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Comments

I would narrow that PP weakness down to 5-on-4 PP ….. we’re top half of the league or better (top five in 5-on-3 and 4-on-3) in every other man advantage and PP situation. Even with an over 18% conversion rate over the past 53 games on the PP overall, our goal total 5-on-4 still lags far behind where we need it. We’re also giving up far too many shorties for the amount of time we’re one man up.

I’d also add the PK … all situations.

by 101st on Feb 16, 2010 4:33 PM EST reply actions

Media outreach

There’s only so much a team can do to get noticed in the papers (and get exposed to the general population)…but also plenty that it can do that, in my opinion, it hasn’t done much of so far (but maybe is beginning to do). New media is a HUGE component of this. A coordinated online marketing/blogger outreach strategy is needed to beat the traditional top-down “this is football, now like it” approach to Nashville sports marketing. This should include some budget outlays for banner ads, exclusive blogger briefings/luncheons, and hitting bloggers with exclusive releases not made available to mainstream TV, print, and radio outlets.

If this team is going to make Nashville a hockey market by playing the children/family angle, it’s going to have to go online hard and fast. It’s on its way, but the push hasn’t been aggressive enough in my opinion.

by stackiii on Feb 16, 2010 4:39 PM EST reply actions

This is an interesting angle, for sure. I think with new media, their strategy is to take an experimental approach to things, to see what pays off and what doesn’t without putting too much at risk.

For example, they’ve used their Facebook page to get hooked up with over 13,000 fans, allowing them direct access to getting the word out when they need to. With bloggers, I think they’ve been pretty open to including us in the mix of coverage, but I can’t imagine they’d go so far as to give us something that they don’t give to the MSM as well.

The mainstream media here in town continue to frustrate hockey fans, certainly. The new 12-3 show on 104.5 might as well be called “Pure Pigskin”, and George Plaster seems personally offended that games haven’t been consistently sold out after his efforts during the summer of 2007 (not so much for the sake of his team, as a validation of his ego).

More and more, I’m coming around to the mindset that we should simply ignore those elements of the Nashville media that remain ignorant of hockey, and instead, celebrate those who do give the Predators and the NHL their due. Thom Abraham and Willy Daunic on the radio, for example. Cory Curtis on WKRN does the best job reviewing a game highlights among the local news broadcasts, and when he and Joe Dubin had a back-and-forth about how the team was going a few days ago I almost fell out of my chair to find such a thing on Nashville TV (usually I stick to the HD stations, but am branching out).

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on Feb 16, 2010 4:59 PM EST up reply actions

Certainly

I wouldn’t necessarily deny MSM information or access to coverage that bloggers receive, but if bloggers are out in the community promoting the narratives with user-generated (and linked) content, along with selling tickets via the ambassador program, the team has more to gain from giving bloggers preferential treatment…maybe use the blogosphere to break stories just before midnight, but then send out an MSM release the next morning. That way, you guys have the edge on the news cycle, and if, say, the Tennessean wants to get something in the morning paper (unlikely, but humor me), they have to come to/link to you guys.

I’m glad they have a Facebook fan page and three (by my count – @PredsNHLHocky @NHLPredsInsider and @PredsNHLDraft) Twitter accounts, but having those accounts and the followers attached to them aren’t necessarily a good metric in and of themselves for community exposure or engagement. How those tools get used is of utmost importance…check out the NHL teams list I created on Twitter (http://twitter.com/stackiii/nhl-teams) and check out the disproportionately higher use of Twitter by other teams, as compared to the Preds.

This needs to be coordinated and strong – it has changed the face of political/issue advocacy campaigns, and in a market like Nashville, where the team really has to compete for the attention of area residents, I think it’s a good model going forward. And if anyone at the Preds is reading this, I’m an experienced social media coordinator who will work for tickets :)

by stackiii on Feb 16, 2010 5:41 PM EST up reply actions

Bad link

http://twitter.com/#/list/stackiii/nhl-teams

by stackiii on Feb 16, 2010 5:42 PM EST up reply actions

Just go to my homepage and click my lists

Lol. Sorry.

by stackiii on Feb 16, 2010 5:43 PM EST up reply actions

Here you go

Click this

Graphic Designer/Researcher/Writer at Music City Miracles.
Official Graphic Goon of On The Forecheck.

by Aditya T (smashville) on Feb 16, 2010 5:45 PM EST up reply actions

Consistency

I will keep my comments extremely brief. It is frustrating to see a lack of consistent play on a nightly basis; not finishing checks, turnovers in the neutral zone …

by BuckeyePredFan on Feb 16, 2010 4:40 PM EST reply actions

Is there something specific you can point to? All NHL teams have up and down nights…

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on Feb 16, 2010 4:43 PM EST up reply actions

As one who is somewhat new to the game, it is hard to point to one specific thing (besides the PP).

However, the first thing that comes to mind is how this team plays to the level of the opposition. Yes, it is easy to be motiviated for a SJ or Detroit … but what about games against the Islanders or Columbus. There are times this team is either Dr. Jeckyl or Mr. Hyde; play lights out hockey one night … then have a horrible game two days later. Yes, the team has off nights, but it seems there are way too many.

… sometimes I just shake my head.

by BuckeyePredFan on Feb 16, 2010 5:03 PM EST reply actions

Lack of a big name player

It can help grow a fanbase if you have just one big name player that can be advertised.

Graphic Designer/Researcher/Writer at Music City Miracles.
Official Graphic Goon of On The Forecheck.

by Aditya T (smashville) on Feb 16, 2010 5:48 PM EST reply actions

Not just a big name player

But a big name player signed to a long contract. I know Poile doesn’t want to “mortgage the future,” but he’s going to have to do so to some extent in order to grow the franchise.

by stackiii on Feb 16, 2010 6:01 PM EST up reply actions

we have a big name player

His name is Shea Weber. If you cruise around SBN Hockey, Shea is like a god. And he’s pretty good, to boot. He’s on the top pair for Team Canada, and will be a perennial Norris candidate. If the team can’t market that then they couldn’t market anyone.

On the Forecheck-where Patric Hornqvist is never underappreciated.
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by Chris Burton on Feb 16, 2010 6:11 PM EST up reply actions

We could probably agree on “lack of an offensive superstar” like an Ovechkin, Crosby, etc.

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on Feb 16, 2010 7:30 PM EST up reply actions

Lack of Business Community Support

This is the underlying issue beneath much of the (quite insightful) discussion above, directly affecting the team’s financial position, its corresponding inability to attract first tier stars, its lack of presence in mainstream media coverage, and associated shortcomings. We are (reportedly) some of the most loyal fans in the NHL and we buy a majority of season tickets, but very few of us have the wherewithal to underwrite promotions, launch media campaigns with the team, buy suites, donate youth hockey facilities, or otherwise benefit the team on a major scale. Those are the sorts of expenditures that assure a team’s continued profitability and community presence.

by Hockey Hillbilly on Feb 16, 2010 9:27 PM EST reply actions

weaknesses

i agree w/ the PP being an ongoing weakness. why is horachek still here? that flies in the face of a strength that is stability. i think in his case we need new ideas and he should go, but he wont. i will add this… we seem to next to never develop offensive talent. quite contray to the defensive talent we develop. only radulov has been real star quality. is that poor talent evaluation or development? i have no idea, however we seem to lean toward drafting dmen higher. we also seem to develop goalies rather well, or at least adequately. re: the budget… im not sure we can do much, but while i appreciate the group that bought the team, they dont understand sports. if they arent committed to making the team a winner they should sell the team. expecting everyone to come, then spend the cash for the on ice product is a failed policy and thats exactly what freeman has said on multiple occasions. i will say i long for the days leipold would go after forsberg to try to make a run. it appears that wont happen again in the near future. we try to hit 7th or 8th and hope we dont get dusted by the sharks.

by predswilrule on Feb 17, 2010 4:36 PM EST reply actions

That's good

The whole “win before we can spend” is a good one, I’ll add that as a wrinkle to the budget note above.

When it comes to developing offensive talent, I wonder if we should pose it as the inability to “Develop & Retain Offensive Talent”. Now that Hornqvist has blossomed into a scoring threat, along with Radulov and perhaps Scott Hartnell before him, I’d give the Preds credit for developing 3 30-goal caliber scorers within the last several years. That isn’t bad, all in all, we’ve just got to hold onto these guys.

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on Feb 17, 2010 4:54 PM EST up reply actions

The DROT of SWOT?

Takers?

by stackiii on Feb 17, 2010 5:02 PM EST up reply actions

Looking at the PP …… 18.5% over the past 53 games really isn’t that bad. The slow start killed us on that season long percentage. One significant factor in our lack of PP goals is we’re 22nd in times with a man advantage. Even when we have things going at a decent pace, we’re not getting enough opportunities to gain much ground.

Against the Pens we iced over 10% of the forwards the team has drafted (6 of 58). 100% of our first round forward selections are in the league, or would be if they hadn’t defected back to Russia. Hall was our most productive 2nd rounder from 98-05 … over 400 games, averaged over 14g per season for us. Our picks since there are either in college still, or Spaling with his limited NHL time this season. For all of the griping about our forward draft picks …..100% success in the first round, of our 2nd rounders who are out of college 33% have made the NHL. Even with the loss of Uppie, Hartnell and Rads we iced a team with 6 Preds draftees as forwards that just beat the Pens in their Igloo. Just what do you expect from a team that has ONE top 5 pick in its history?

Your longing for Liepold … well, I’ll be nice and point out that the technique that he employed had the team hemorrhaging over $10mil per season, depended on comps to get people in the barn, and was on the verge of losing the team. Complain all you want about how Freeman and Co are running the budget, but, the team is at/near breakeven for two fiscal years, surpassed 14k average paid attendance for the first time since season 3, is on pace to do it again, and the risk of the team moving is greatly reduced.

by 101st on Feb 17, 2010 5:20 PM EST up reply actions

Looking at GF/60 minutes in 5-on-4 play, the Preds were 23rd in 2007-8, 28th last season, and are 29th this year. I’d say that qualifies as a lingering weakness.

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on Feb 17, 2010 11:40 PM EST up reply actions

It is an issue … but then look at where we stand in GF/60 in every other area. It’s a system / style / execution issue with the one man advantage, not a we don’t have the personnel to score issue. We’re above the midpoint in every other ES and advantage situation which makes the 5-on-4 so frustrating.

by 101st on Feb 18, 2010 10:35 AM EST up reply actions