The final games are being played in the NHL and the various Franchises start to imagine Stanley Cup triumph and the prospect of becoming world champions. We will look at the Franchises and portray how they set off from a Franchise For Sale, promoted around the sector to the blue-chip Franchises of hockey today. The NHL market has been insecure for lots of years from lots of teams in debt, to a lot of teams being able to spend millions of dollars on new talent. At this current moment the NHL franchise market is much more secure as huge amounts of money are being saved, as business problems have spread to the sporting market. All of the Franchises are saving and running with what they have in the locker room, which is having a key benefit on the possibility of a Franchise For Sale on the market. A lot of franchise managers for lots of years have treated their Franchises as a Home Based Franchise, the franchise managers work with their franchise repetitively and they take it home with them, wherever they might be around the world. This is generally like any other Home Based Franchise with the existing business problems and consequently greatly important to a future franchise manager looking for a Franchise For Sale in the NHL sector. The backer will have the sureness that the franchise has been well isolated and looked after as if it were a Home Based Franchise.

Here is an overview of one of the NHL Franchises that have had much support over a short period of time including alterations in coaching and players.

The Nashville Predators made their NHL debut in the 1998-99 season. The expansion club was publicly accepted into the league in the summer of 1997, owned by Leipold Hockey Holdings LLC and were slated to play in the brand new Nashville Arena. The club name "Predators" was announced by majority shareholder Craig Leipold and president Jack Diller. For their logo, the team selected the image of a sabre-toothed tiger which was native in prehistoric times to what is today the Nashville area. They also hired ex Washington Capitals general manager David Poile and brought in Barry Trotz as the Franchises first coach. The Predators began to build their clubthrough in the 1998 amateur entry draft with the pick of highly considered Ontario Hockey League hope, David Legwand.

The Nashville Predators earned their first win in club history on October 13, 1998, by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. They ended their first year with a 28-47-7 record for 63 points, ending last in the Central Division. The 2000-01 season would see the Predators put up their best record to date, ending with a 34-34-9-3 record and 80 points. But in spite of the .500 record, they fell short of a Stanley Cup playoff chance. The 2001-02 season brought much of the same in Nashville - an unreliable style of play that would see the franchise fall back below .500 in the regular season.

The 2002-03 regular season saw the Nashville Predators start off on the wrong foot. They only won two of their first twenty games and soon experienced some long awaited ammendments. Long time goaltender Mike Dunham was traded to the New York Rangers, a transfer that would ultimately be followed by more in the next off season.