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Article Published: Sunday, January 18, 2004
Score one for Lacroix
By Terry Frei, Denver Post Sports Writer

Last summer, Nashville Predators general manager David Poile tried to juggle figures,
but couldn't avoid the harsh reality: To make his payroll work, he had to trade defenseman Karlis Skrastins.

He assumed other GMs had taken note of Skrastins' durability - he had played all 246
games over three seasons - and his steady, if unspectacular play.

They didn't. Skrastins, now 29, ended up going to Colorado for a third-round 2004
draft choice. And that's why Poile laughed when I confessed to him recently that I
hadn't realized how good Skrastins is, and that we had significantly underplayed the
Avalanche's acquisition of the Latvian defenseman, who has more than compensated for
the loss of Greg de Vries to the New York Rangers.

"There were a lot of other teams I called before I called Colorado that I thought would
have more interest, and they didn't recognize it either," Poile said at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

Score another one for Pierre Lacroix. Skrastins' even-strength pairing with Adam Foote
has been stable and effective, and they are out against the opposition's top line.

But having to virtually give away Skrastins underscores some of the trouble in Nashville,
where the Predators are doing a terrific job this season to be hanging in a playoff spot
while having the league's lowest payroll. The Predators are getting the most out of a mix
of second-tier journeyman types (e.g., Scott Walker, Greg Johnson and Rem Murray) and prospects.

But the honeymoon is over, and the fans need to be won back. Once a hot ticket in Nashville,
the Predators have had three crowds of fewer than 10,000 this season and are averaging a shade
less than 13,000 per game. Making the playoffs this season for the first time would help immensely,
but the financial retrenchment that has resulted in the league's lowest payroll is a handicap.

"The Nashvilles - and I'm using the plural, because we're not by ourselves here - and a lot of
teams can't participate in player acquisitions or trades because it's not a level playing
field," Poile said. "It's a selfish statement I'm making. I'd rather that the game of hockey
be judged on the management and the coaching versus who's got the most dollars to spend.
That's the way it used to be in this business."





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