Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee, and one of the city's most recognizable sports franchises. Colloquially known as the "Preds," the club competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The club was founded in 1997, when the NHL granted an expansion franchise to Craig Leipold, with the team beginning play in the 1998–99 season. From modest expansion-team beginnings, the Predators grew into one of the NHL's more competitive franchises, culminating in a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 and a Presidents' Trophy–winning season in 2018.

Founding and Early Years

Nashville's path to an NHL franchise began in the mid-1990s. In late 1995, rumors began to circulate that the New Jersey Devils would be relocating to the planned Nashville Arena. Nashville offered a $20 million relocation bonus to any team that would relocate, and the Devils attempted to terminate their lease before ultimately restructuring it to stay in New Jersey. After that failed attempt, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stated Nashville would probably be considered in upcoming expansion.

In January of 1997, a group out of Wisconsin, led by Craig Leipold, presented a franchise expansion request to the National Hockey League. In June of 1997, the NHL granted a conditional franchise to Nashville, Columbus, Atlanta, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The condition was that Nashville could participate in the 1998 season if they sold the league-mandated 12,000 tickets before March 31st, 1998. Out of the four cities awarded teams that year, Nashville was the only city with a completed arena; therefore, they started playing first.

The National Hockey League officially announced the Nashville Predators as the 27th franchise in League history. Jack Diller was named the first president of the Nashville Predators, and David Poile was named the first general manager in franchise history. Barry Trotz was named Nashville's first head coach.

The team's name and logo both carry deep local significance. On September 25, 1997, Leipold and team president Jack Diller held a press conference where they unveiled the franchise's new logo, a saber-toothed cat (Smilodon fatalis). The logo was a reference to a partial Smilodon skeleton found beneath downtown Nashville in 1971 during construction of the First American National Bank building, now the UBS Tower. Once the logo was unveiled, the franchise held a vote among fans to choose a name. Three candidates were culled from 75: "Ice Tigers," "Fury," and "Attack." Leipold added his own submission to the vote, "Predators." On November 13, Leipold revealed at a press conference that his submission had won out and the new franchise would be known as the "Nashville Predators."

When awarded a franchise, the city of Nashville paid 31.50% of the $80 million fee to join the league. The Predators selected David Legwand with the second overall pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, and Nashville signed free agent Tom Fitzgerald and named him the first captain in franchise history.

The Nashville Predators hosted the franchise's first NHL game versus the Florida Panthers. In front of a sellout crowd of 17,298, Ray Whitney scored the only goal of the 1-0 game and the Panthers' Kirk McLean earned the shutout. The Nashville Predators defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2, netting the first victory in franchise history. Andrew Brunette notched the first goal in franchise history at 5:12 in the first period.

The team had a losing record in each of its first five seasons, finishing no higher than third place in its division during this period. A notable early milestone came in November 2003, when Jordin Tootoo made his debut with Nashville, becoming the first player of Inuit descent to play in the NHL.

Reaching the Playoffs

On the penultimate day of the 2003-04 regular season, a loss by the Edmonton Oilers clinched the Predators' first-ever berth in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Predators faced off against the Detroit Red Wings and won the first two playoff games they ever played at home, but fell in the series 4–2.

The 2004–05 NHL season was cancelled due to a labor dispute, but Nashville returned stronger. Prior to the 2005–06 season, the Predators signed free agent Paul Kariya. During the season, the Predators became only the fourth NHL franchise to start the season 8–0; the last time a team did so was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who set the mark with a 10–0 start in 1993–94. By the end of the season, the Predators had accumulated 106 points and clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs for the first time in team history.

The Predators' first head coach set an NHL record in the team's early years. Barry Trotz, who coached the team for 16 seasons until 2014, broke the record for coaching the most games as an expansion team's original coach in 2002-03, with 392 games.

Ownership of the team shifted during this era. Following the 2006–07 season, owner Craig Leipold announced his intention to sell the team to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie. Balsillie had intentions of bringing the Predators to Canada. On July 19, 2007, a group of local business owners known as Our Team Nashville held a rally at the Sommet Center to encourage fans to buy season tickets in order to help the Predators meet the attendance figures needed to keep the team in Nashville. They drew approximately 7,500 fans and sold the equivalent of 726 full-season tickets during the rally. After negotiations with the City of Nashville, the local group headed by David Freeman reached an agreement with Mayor of Nashville Karl Dean, and the NHL Board of Governors approved the sale on November 29, 2007.

After missing the playoffs in 2008–09, the Predators returned to the postseason the following year behind the play of centre Jason Arnott and defenseman Shea Weber, only to lose their opening series to the eventual champion Chicago Blackhawks. In 2010–11, the Predators defeated the Anaheim Ducks in the initial round of the postseason to notch the franchise's first playoff series win.

In June 2003, the Predators hosted the NHL Entry Draft. Future Predators captain Shea Weber was selected by the team with the 49th overall pick. They also selected Ryan Suter at seventh overall. The 2003 Draft, held at Bridgestone Arena, proved particularly fruitful: the Predators made 13 picks overall, including eight of the first 98 players selected in what has become known as the top-producing draft in NHL history. More than 13,000 fans attended the two-day event, which had an estimated economic impact of nearly $10 million on Middle Tennessee.

The 2017 Stanley Cup Run and Peak Years

The franchise's peak moment arrived in 2017 in one of the most improbable postseason runs in NHL history. The Nashville Predators finished as the Western Conference's second wild-card, earning 94 points. The Predators defeated the Blackhawks in a four-game sweep; this was the first time since 1993 that an eighth-seeded team swept a playoff series against the top seed in their conference. They then eliminated the St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks, both in six games, before reaching the Final. Colton Sissons' hat trick goal was the series-winning goal in a 6–3 victory over Anaheim, putting the Nashville Predators in the Finals for the first time in their 19-year history.

This was Nashville's first Stanley Cup Final appearance in its 19-year history. They were also the first major professional sports team from Tennessee to play for a championship since the Nashville-based Tennessee Titans made Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. The Eastern Conference champion and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators, four games to two, to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

The following 2017–18 season proved even more dominant in the regular season. Nashville set a franchise record with 53 wins in 2017–18, winning the Presidents' Trophy for having the best record in the NHL during the regular season. Pekka Rinne won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender. On April 5, 2018, the Predators clinched their first division title in team history while also claiming their first Presidents' Trophy. They defeated the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs in six games, and then lost to the Winnipeg Jets in seven games in the second round.

On June 17, 2022, former Governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam began purchasing shares in the club to become the majority owner. In February 2023, David Poile announced that he would retire as general manager of the team at the end of the 2022–23 season, and that former head coach Barry Trotz would succeed him, effective June 30, 2023. On May 31, 2023, the team hired former player Andrew Brunette as the fourth head coach in franchise history.

Bridgestone Arena and Home Ice

The team has played its home games at Bridgestone Arena since 1998. Bridgestone Arena was built in 1996 in anticipation of the arrival of a professional team in Nashville and holds more than 17,000 fans for hockey. The venue can pack in nearly 20,000 for other events, such as concerts and awards shows. Bridgestone Arena hosts more concerts than anywhere else in the country, with the exception of Las Vegas. The arena has operated under several names over the years, beginning as the Nashville Arena, then the Gaylord Entertainment Center, the Sommet Center, and finally Bridgestone Arena upon a naming rights agreement in 2010. The arena is owned by the Sports Authority of Nashville and Davidson County and operated by Powers Management Company, a subsidiary of the Nashville Predators franchise, which has been its primary tenant since 1998.

The Predators are currently affiliated with two minor league teams: the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL), and the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL. Local television rights of Predators games are held by FanDuel Sports Network South (formerly Bally Sports South), with its territory covering Tennessee, Georgia, most of Kentucky, northern Mississippi, and northern Alabama.

Fan Culture and Traditions

The Predators have developed a distinct game-night culture that blends Nashville's Southern identity with the sport of hockey. Among the franchise's most recognizable traditions is the catfish toss. What began as a retort to Detroit Red Wings fans throwing octopi on the ice has turned into a tradition among the Predators' fanbase. Bob Wolf, a former Broadway bar owner and musician, says he threw the first catfish on the ice during the Predators' first season, on January 26, 1999. Wolf said he did it in response to a Detroit fan who threw an octopus on the ice, which is their tradition. Since at least 2002, diehard Preds fans have smuggled catfish into Bridgestone Arena and tossed them onto the ice, a practice popularized even further during the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals. In recent years, the team has placed a catfish touch-tank on the main concourse during the playoffs, embracing the tradition by bringing the catfish straight to the fans.

The tradition gained national attention during the 2017 Final. During Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in Pittsburgh, fan Jacob Waddell threw a four-pound catfish on the ice and was charged with disorderly conduct, disrupting a meeting, and possession of an instrument of crime. The charges were dropped the next day, and Waddell quickly earned the nickname "Catfish Jake."

Predators fans also use their "Fang Fingers" during each power play of the game. There are foam saber-fang gloves available for purchase, but most fans simply curl their index and middle fingers on each hand into fang shapes and brandish them in an up-and-down motion. Fang Fingers are done to the horror sounds from the Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho.

As of 2026, the Predators, along with Nashville SC, are one of two professional sports teams in the state of Tennessee to have not relocated from another location, as the Titans and the Grizzlies moved to Tennessee from Houston and Vancouver respectively. That distinction has become a source of local pride, reinforcing the Predators' identity as a homegrown Nashville institution.