Nashville Predators forward Joel Ward believes the Preds have moved forward this past season as a hockey club. But the question is whether Nashville will continue to move forward with or without Ward as a member come next season.

The Predators completed their best ever season when ousted in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals series against Vancouver. A part of the team’s success can be attributed to the consistent play of Ward throughout the Anaheim and Vancouver series. Ward now owns the Predators franchise record for goals and points in a post-season with 7 goals and 13 points.

“We made strides over the year. We all got together and made a pretty good push. We’ll have to go over it in the summer and regroup, just give it an extra little bit over the summer and hopefully have a better result,” he said.

While the product on the ice has made strides, so has the off-ice product. The Predators went from averaging 14 900 fans a game to 16 100 fans. The growth has not been lost on Ward.

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