Paul McCann: The Day the Music Almost Died

Thank you for that little bit of history.

While we can all cheer the new ownership group from that dismal time.
In my opinion....the best thing that happened to the Preds was Sean Henry.

I remember, scary, ...and Basillies lawer mentioning 'just chill'....that just fired everyone up even more.

Look at us now, we've come along way.

I moved to the middle Tennessee area when I was sixteen... At almost the exact same time the Nashville Predators came into existence. Already a huge hockey fan, my gravitation to the team seemed preordained. Latching on since day one, I've watched this team through all it's growing pains from an expansion team in a non-traditional market struggling with the indifference of it's own market to seeing droves of people gathering outside of Bridgestone to watch a playoff game outside of the freaking building. 2007 did change everything... Moderate fans began to realize we couldn't take this team for granted, because if we didn't support it, they might not be around much longer. It was a slow burn over the next few years, but that's when the fanbase and support for this team really started to change... Not during the cup run like a lot of the hockey snobs in Canada, and snarks from the big eastern markets want to believe... Or maybe actually really do because they never bothered to pay attention. It's been a running joke that Nashville didn't discover Hockey until 2017, (well the bandwagon fans did), but they've got it backwards. It took until 2017 for most of the rest of the league to realize there was still hockey in Nashville.

Due to the unique challenges the Predators had to face as a team in a small/non-traditional hockey market, I've always said it would take about a generation for the franchise to become truly viable... Give time for the kids who loved this team in those early days to grow up, start buying tickets themselves, and pass the passion on to their own kids. Also needed time for the Bubba's grumbling 'this hockey ain't 'nvr guna wurk in Nashville' crowd to die off. Some of them are still around, but now their's usually someone in a gold jersey sitting next to them saying 'shut up old man, I'm trying to watch the game!'

I don't always agree with your opinions Paul, but thanks for this. Great piece.

I miss Wolfe’s

I remember watching the season finale of Lost, where Jack says "We have to go back!". Screen cuts to black. Then the Preds logo is on the screen and the local news is telling me the team is for sale. My heart sank.

I was there before the Preds, one of the 50-75 people that came out when Bettman took a look at the new arena (when the rumor was the Devils were moving here). I was there opening night. And I was there for the rally to save the team. Bredesen telling everyone to get their damn hands off our team, classic. It was a turning point.

It's hard to believe it's been that long, but baby, look at us now. Hey, Poile, wanna avoid going back to pre-rally level enthusiasm? Sign some scorers.

I miss Wolfy's too.

I remember watching the season finale of Lost, where Jack says "We have to go back!". Screen cuts to black. Then the Preds logo is on the screen and the local news is telling me the team is for sale. My heart sank.

I was there before the Preds, one of the 50-75 people that came out when Bettman took a look at the new arena (when the rumor was the Devils were moving here). I was there opening night. And I was there for the rally to save the team. Bredesen telling everyone to get their damn hands off our team, classic. It was a turning point.

It's hard to believe it's been that long, but baby, look at us now. Hey, Poile, wanna avoid going back to pre-rally level enthusiasm? Sign some scorers.

I miss Wolfy's too.
- FoxMulder

Thankfully we're past the point where we have to worry about descending back into the dark ages, unless the wheels just completely come off. The fanbase has become much more vocal over the years, learning to balance out staying supportive of their team without just blindly accepting everything they do, and not being afraid to call B.S. when they see it. It's a definite sign of growth for the fanbase. For the first decade or so, there really seemed to be this 'we're just happy to be here' mentality that was great at time, but not really conductance if the team was ever going to emerge from the middle of the pack. Things seemed to turn around the time that Suter left... Fans were getting smarter, and starting to get restless and asking questions... We weren't happy with just being at the party anymore. We wanted to win... Poile is a decent GM, great even at managing an expansion roster with no budget, but he seemed to struggle at first when the fanbase was no longer buying the smoke & mirrors portion of his roster strategy. He learned to adapt over time, and now he's going to have to adapt again. We appreciate the twenty plus years of hard work, but the goodwill is running out.

Nice article Paul.

I'm glad the team stayed and have grown the fan base tremendously. I have been there 3 times for a game and it's a great city to visit. I would hope a baseball can be there some day and would hope the Cubs or Sox for that matter could add another rival just as the hockey teams have.

Also in 2007, was when the Blackhawks owner Dollar Bill Wirtz died. The day their franchise changed forever as his son Rocky took over. So 2007, was a great year for both of the teams.


We know the goalie chants aren't going away, but let the Hawks fans back into the arena and most of us won't hate your team as much. I'm not sure if the ban is still in place, but I haven't gone since and instead travel to St Louis, Colorado, Minnesota for an annual Hawks trip because of it. I understand that the team/ fans and ownership may like it but talk to the industry workers and travel bureau around town and ask what they think. I wouldn't oppose a pre-sale for Nashville area residents to get tickets first for any games, but after that, it should be fair game for all other people who want to go.

.and Basillies lawyer mentioning 'just chill'

Almost as good as being on the treadmill during his radio interview.