Gotta See It: Preds legends share their memories of Smashville

When the NHL announced that it was awarding an expansion franchise to the city of Nashville, there were thousands of hockey fans who laughed at the idea of Music City becoming Hockey City. Nearly 20 years later and no one’s laughing anymore.

The Nashville Predators, buoyed by the passion and enthusiasm of their fanbase, have become one of the NHL’s most supported franchises, but it hasn’t always been this way in Smashville. 

Reflecting on his first season in Nashville, former Preds defenseman and captain Kimmo Timomen remembers, ”I was like, 'Wow, what is this place?' It looked like something from an old country movie," Timonen said. "It didn't look like a hockey town that day." 

"There was a guy with a microphone explaining the rules. 'That was icing. That was offside,' " Timonen said. "Then there was a couple fights and he would say, 'That's normal, they fight, don't worry about it, it's normal, they fight.' I was like 'Wow, this is different.' For me, it wasn't the feeling that I am actually in the NHL."

Watch a Predators game live now and there’s no doubt that the fans are an educated group, but back in the early 2000s the game was still new to the city and fans didn’t always have an accurate read on the world’s fastest game. “Sometimes they'd cheer when we got a penalty because they thought the other team took a penalty," said another former Predator Andrew Brunette.

Despite all the criticism he received at the time, there’s no denying that Gary Bettman’s decision to grow the game in Tennessee has proven to be the right move. Smashville loves their Preds.