It’s been nearly three years since I’ve seen a hockey game in Nashville and that particular game was so fantastic both in entertainment value and on-ice product that I was more than excited to head down for Wednesday night’s Game 4 against Detroit.
Coming from Philadelphia where there isn’t much beyond a really big parking lot around the arena, I love ones with restaurants and bars around them… It just adds to the ambience and therefore the overall experience making pre- and post-game festivities that much more fun! The Sommet Center in Nashville is one such arena, but they go one step further…they have a party!
They’ve got a band rocking it out on the plaza, moonbounces and obstacle courses for the kids, and with seemingly everyone decked out in Preds gear, you can’t help but get excited. The vibe was electric and the fans were ready to go before the doors even opened. They brought their signs (my favorite of the night simply said “Git-R-Done!”), their clappers (my favorite noisemaker, just ahead of thunder sticks) and a whole lot of energy to do their part as the”7th man” and help their team to a win.
As they announced the starting lineups, I was immediately reminded of my days with the UMass hockey team as there was a distinct college vibe. Here’s the run down…
A) Shouting “Sucks!” after each player was announced in the oppositions starting line up followed by “He sucks too” for the coach
B) A “student” section – Cell Block 303 - to lead the chants and cheers…they were unprompted and random…sometimes I wasn’t even sure what they were saying, although “Chelios is a sissy” came through loud and clear!
C) The theme from Jock Jams playing after a goal followed by “You suck!” – this is classic! They didn’t know to follow it up with “Goalie, Sieve, Goalie, Sieve – Sieve! Sieve! Sieve!!” as they pointed from their goalie to the oppositions goalie, but I’m sure they’ll figure it out.
D) The fans thanked the PA Announcer (our very own Predators blogger, Paul McCann) when he notified them of the time remaining in the period
The only thing they were missing was a cowbell!! They even had a band – although way cooler than a marching band – that played during intermissions.
The fans in Smashville rock my socks! After going to a game here, I have no idea how you can think there aren’t any hockey fans or that hockey doesn’t matter in Tennessee. The city might not be crawling with hockey fans but the ones they have a VERY passionate…the key is to get them to bring their friends to a game or two and convert them into hockey loving fools. ;)
Outside of the hockey, there were a few things that I found quite interesting about this game:
1) The Rally Towels – I LOVED them!! Interesting because I’m normally not a fan, but I’ve figured out it’s because you usually can’t see them. Every time I can remember seeing them in person they’ve blended in with the crowd. Example: Last weekend in Washington, the fans paid attention to their “Rock the Red” campaign and wore red, but then the Caps gave out rally towels that were also red and you couldn’t see them therefore doing nothing for me. But…Most of the Predators fans wore their dark home jerseys or those horrendous mustard yellow third jerseys making their white rally towels stand out and look like confetti. It…was awesome.
2) The Choo-Choo Trains – Whistles start blowing everytime Jordan Tootoo’s on the ice – Love it!
3) The Goal Girls – Different from the Ice Dancers…they not only shovel snow during TV timeouts, they put on a figure skating exhibition during intermission doing tricks and spins and jumps – talk about awesome!!
4) The Governor and First Lady of Tennesse - On hand to drop the ceremonial first puck…even cooler, the First Lady wore a Preds jersey.
5) The Concert-like Feel – great music, swirling spotlights…fun stuff
6) Famous people in the stands – Eddie George, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban – Aussies enjoying hockey…I love it!, and Dierks Bently –
check out his blog on NHL.com …turns out he ducked out of the CMT Awards after the red carpet to go to the game on Monday…I hope he won an award and they had to say he couldn’t be there because he was attending a Predators game…How awesome would that be?! Here’s to hoping they spread the word that hockey rocks in Nashville!
7) The TV Timeout – I know a lot has been said about this, but in my opinion it’s still not enough. I’ve never seen anything like it – several minutes of spontaneous and continuous cheering that gets louder by the minute. No “clap your hands” flashing on the jumbo-tron, no music playing to pump them up, just 17,000+ on their feet and making noise in support of their team…unreal…
8) The Lines to the Bathroom – As a woman it’s really not all that uncommon, but ironically I saw not one line for the ladies room. The men’s room was another story – I saw more men waiting in line for the bathroom at the Sommet Center than I have ever seen in my life. We’re talking a good 10-15 deep and that was just those that were out the door. Very strange…
9) The Dead Fish – After the National Anthem, someone along the glass tosses a HUGE catfish onto the ice and was promptly escorted out of the arena. Quite frankly, I think that sucks. A) you paid all that money to get that seat and you don’t even get to see it. B) Security searches your bags when you enter…you can’t tell me they missed that or didn’t say “Hey buddy…you’ll get tossed if you throw that on the ice”. At the end of the game, someone else threw an octopus on the ice and JP Dumont helped the official clear it with his stick leaving a trail of fish juice. I usually love the smell of the ice, but that section of the ice…I can do without.
In regards to the hockey, it’s simple…Dan Ellis is a rockstar! He is the reason the Preds came out with a win Wednesday night. Here’s to him keeping it up :) As I write, the Preds have kicked Game 5 into OT, scoring the game-tying goal with under a minute remaining in the game and he is again the reason why they were still in the game making great save after great save (53 in all). I hope they can pull it out in OT and have the opportunity to clinch at home on Sunday – I know the fans would be fired up.
Talk soon!
Jules
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p.s. So just after I post this...the Preds lost on a defensive turnover that lead to a breakaway and Detroit goal...bummer :(
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