You might have to go back to the ’67 Boston Red Sox.. or the ’69 New York Mets.. or the ’69 New York Jets.. to find a team more unlikely to win it all. But that’s where the Nashville Predators sit right now, two wins away from a Stanley Cup.
Excuse me.. Smashville Predators.
Smashville is at a Fever Pitch
"We got a little bit last year; this year, it's ramped up even more," Predators’ captain Mike Fisher said after arriving in Pittsburgh for Thursday’s Game 5. "I mean, we feel the support. We appreciate it. To have that, when you come back, even when we came back [down] 2-0, there were people out there...Regardless, they're there. Says a lot about our fans, the job they've done."
Fisher’s wife, by the way, is more famous than he is. She is Carrie Underwood, the country music superstar.
Preds’ fans have traveled thousands of miles to see their beloved hockey team, both in Nashville and in Pittsburgh. They’ve filled the home, the Bridgestone Arena, for every game this season. And many veteran hockey people and current players have said this is the loudest building in their sport.
"The last two games have been, even for us that have been here for a long time and played in front of these fans in this city for a long time, it was unique," Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne said. "It was a great experience and an amazing feeling to be out there. So I don't know [what the atmosphere will be for Game 6]. It's going to be crazy."
At the center of Smashville’s love affair with their hockey team, is a catfish. Yes, a heavy, smelly, slimy catfish which is one of Tennessee’s favorites. Detroit hockey fans started throwing octopi on the ice more than 60 years ago. Nashville hockey fans started with the catfish more than 15 years ago, but they’ve really gone crazy in this year’s playoffs. One Predators’ fan threw a catfish on the Penguins’ ice in Game one and was promptly arrested. A Nashville radio station offered to pay all his fines, and the series’ battle was on.
But as all good things must end, Predators’ Head Coach Peter Laviolette has asked fans to stop throwing catfish on the ice. Officials could call a 2-minute on the Preds for delay of game, and that’s the last thing they need, so close to the city’s first professional sports championship.
Hockey isn’t everything in Nashville. They’re also passionate about their music. This weekend, an additional 100,000 people are expected in town for the Country Music Association Music Festival. Good luck getting a ticket. You know every professional country music singer in town has offered to sing the national anthem before Sunday’s Game 6, if it will get them a ticket to the potential Stanley Cup-winning game.
There are tickets.. if you’ve got money.. a lot of money.
ESPN Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell said on Twitter this Tuesday the purchase on StubHub of four Game 6 seats along the glass was $31,845. America has been infected by this team. TV ratings for Predators’ games in Nashville, are through the roof.
The offensive linemen for the football Titans have become Preds’ fans and during games, they chug Tall Boys from their suite, while fans go wild. “The energy and excitement surrounding the Predators’ historic success is truly amazing — it has brought together the city like few things I have ever seen before," said Nashville Mayor Megan Barry to the Tennessean.
Seems like ancient history, but the Predators made the playoffs by the skin of a slimy catfish. They were the #8, and last seed in the Western Conference. No playoff team had fewer than their 94 points. And now, two wins away from the Cup. They do that, and those catfish will smell pretty darn sweet.
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Cover photo by James Lock on Unsplash
