Trotz has adapted to the talent surge. He has four strong lines with 12 players already with 20 points apiece, and two goalies in Vokoun and Chris Mason already with a franchise-record nine shutouts this season.

They play very fast and love to shoot at the net. Their 38 wins through Thursday led the NHL, and their 18 road wins already had matched a franchise record with 11 games remaining.

"It's nice not to be the underdog anymore, but the favorite,'' said forward Scott Hartnell, a 2000 draft pick with 427 career games with the Predators. "We're relishing that.''

Now if the Predators could fare as well in the stands as they do on the ice.

Leipold announced last month that up to 40 percent of his team is up for sale to a local owner, hoping that would boost corporate support for a team that ranks 23rd in attendance averaging 14,620 per game this season. That is up from last season, when Nashville averaged 14,428.

But business sales have dropped by more than half from 1998 to about 1,800 per game, and the Predators run the risk of not being able to collect all the revenue-sharing money available if paid attendance doesn't improve. The team also could leave town if paid attendance dips below 14,000 this season and next.

For now, the Predators are concentrating on the task at hand - trying to win the Central Division for the first time, win their first playoff series and push for the Stanley Cup with the most talented team they've ever had.

"You don't want to pass up opportunities like that, and you never know if you're going to get another one, being on a team like that,'' Vokoun said.

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