The Nashville Predators reached their first ever Western Conference Finals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a game 6 win over the St. Louis Blues, and while Smashville has been hailed as one of the best atmosphere’s in hockey, it wasn’t always that way.
The expansion team began playing in Nashville in October of 1998, and a hockey team in the South seemed a little odd.
“Back when it started, there was a lot of skepticism,” former Governor and Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen, said. “I can’t tell you how many people told me this isn’t a hockey town.”
But Bredesen moved forward with other city officials and investors to bring a new arena to Broadway, and professional sports to Nashville.
“The idea was to put an anchor downtown, start getting things going on downtown, and I think it’s worked wonderfully for that,” Bredesen recalled.
While the stands were filled by many faithful fans, in 2007, the threat came up of the Predators being sold and moved to Canada.
Fans did what they could to get more tickets sold and to get more support for their hockey team, and back in 2007, PA announcer Paul McCann made a proclamation.
“The world is going to find out that Nashville is a hockey town,” McCann said, and he was right.
The team was bought by new, local owners, and a new chapter of Predators hockey began following the 2007-2008 season.
“I think Nashville has really adopted the sport and I think that’s a huge part of the team’s success,” Bredesen said.
Michelle Kennedy, executive vice president and CFO for the Predators agreed.
“Those guys in that arena do so much to get us to where we are to this point, they’ll be very, very important as we continue,” Kennedy said of the fans, adding that the players know they have to continue to play hard despite their success. “Yes, we’ve won 8 games, but in their minds, it’s 8 on the way to 16.”
The Predators will face the winner of the series between the Ducks and Oilers, which is headed to a game 7.
