Hey, Nashville's new NA3HL team, where's the roster?

On May 1 of this year, the NA3HL, the third tier of the North American Hockey League, the biggest junior hockey league on the continent, announced that Nashville would be one of three new markets getting NA3HL teams (the other two being Decatur, Alabama, home of the new Point Mallard Ducks; and North Richland Hills, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, home of the new Texas Brahmas, whose head coach is ex-Ravenwood boss Al Rooney, who will come up again in this blog post). After being unnamed for a few weeks, the team decided to be smart, and call themselves the Jr. Predators, though they aren't affiliated with the youth program. The team is owned by Franklin-based MDG Management, which includes former Pred J.P. Dumont. Dumont is also serving as the Jr. Preds' general manager.

The team will play its home games on weekends on Rink 1 at A-Game Sportsplex in Cool Springs, the first being on Friday, October 3, though one game - against Rooney's Brahmas - will be held at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday, November 15. The team's first game is in 18 days, against the Topeka Capitals at the Kansas ExpoCentre. I hope to make it out to some games, and I hope you will, too.

However, not everything is completely rosy with the Jr. Predators. They really haven't marketed themselves very well, and they seem to spend more time retweeting stuff on their Twitter account (@NashvilleNA3HL) than posting news. The biggest problem on the team's website is the fact that they haven't posted a roster. The team Tweeted this three months ago:

First local tender announcement coming soon - things coming together for Nashville Jr hockey #NA3HL
— NashvilleNA3HL (@NashvilleNA3HL) June 4, 2014

But nothing ever came. In fact, the Twitter account, website, and Facebook page the team operate has only somewhat mentioned the players in regards to being a host family to those from out-of-town. After months of Twitter searching, I ran across this earlier this morning:

Proud to say I've signed with the Nashville Jr. Predators of the NA3HL.
— Jacob Elrod (@ellyrod7) August 7, 2014

That's right. Jacob Elrod, one of the biggest pieces of Centennial's Predators Cup-winning team in the most recent GNASH season, has signed with the Jr. Predators. And good for Jacob. He deserves this shot at the next level, and I'm glad he's doing it in his hometown.

But that's all I can find. Are there any other GNASHers who have signed up with the team? Kyle Kawamura? Kieran Ogle? Brenden Eng Tow? I don't know. Not even the team's "31 in 31" preview on the NA3HL website mentioned any players.

Meanwhile, Rooney's Brahmas have been announcing player signings left and right. Three of them are GNASHers: former Ravenwood Raptor, Zach McPherson; Brock Brown, now formerly of Station Camp-Beech; and Matt Alfieri, now formerly of Pope John Paul II. I've complimented Al and the Brahmas on announcing their signings; this is a great way to get people interested in the team, especially kids.

This brings us back to the Jr. Preds. Why have they said absolutely nothing about who will be wearing the sweater for them? Why did it take a Twitter search for me to finally find someone who's going to play for them? The team took part in the NA3HL draft in June, but didn't draft one player from the Nashville area. Did any of the players drafted end up signing? I have no idea.

What's even wilder about all of this is the fact that the team is on their second head coach before even playing their first game! In late May, Steve Howard, who won the league's Coach of the Year Award head-manning the Flint Junior Generals last year, was hired. By the time the league's camp in Flint, Michigan, rolled around last month, Howard had left his post to become an assistant coach with the United States Hockey League's Waterloo Blackhawks. Taking over was Karlis Zirnis, a Nashville resident for the last few years, who had worked at A-Game. Zirnis was an assistant to Ted Nolan for Latvia's men's hockey team during the Winter Olympics in Sochi back in February, where they reached the quarterfinals, and gave Canada a hard time, before the eventual gold medalists pushed Latvia out. A local coach in Zirnis and at least one local player in Elrod is a good foundation to build this team on.

But more has to be done.

Get out in the community with player appearances, buy ads on TV and the radio, put up a billboard, COUGH UP A ROSTER! No one ever got attention by sitting on their hands. The Jr. Preds are opening for business at the right time in this market, with the opening of Ford Ice Center in Antioch, but they need to make themselves visible if they want to succeed.

I love that the Nashville market has an NA3HL team, since it means that any GNASH players who want to go to the next level can do so without leaving the state, but getting a fanbase starts with them. So far, it seems that only the diehards are aware of the team's existence. The Jr. Predators failing would be a big blow to the Nashville market (and the youth version almost blew things up this past Spring, which would've been absolutely horrible for hockey around here), so, just give us a roster. That's all we need.