Nashville Predators Tickets

The Nashville Predators organization sold their first tickets to an eager public on June 25, 1997. They began their inaugural season in the Nashville Arena which was later renamed the Gaylord Entertainment Center. David Poile was appointed as executive vice president of hockey operations in addition to being positioned as the team general manager. He had previously been general manager of the Washington Capitals since 1982, thus bringing the experience a new franchise would need to meet the demands of the ticket buying public. Prior to that he had served with the Atlanta Flames, and later the Calgary Flames, with a direct NHL lineage stemming from his father, Bud Poile, who had played for 7 and had served as general manager for both Philadelphia and Vancouver. He was the ticket to getting the budding organization off the ground running.

Barry Trotz was hired to be the team's first head coach based on his prior position as head coach for the Portland Pirates which was Washington's farm club in the American Hockey League. In 1997 the franchise was christened, "the Predators". The owners made it clear that a predator is a winner who succeeds and wins. The profile of a saber-toothed cat, which was present in the Nashville area in prehistoric times, was emblazoned on the team uniforms, stationary, merchandising and the tickets that were about to make haste for the hands of the Nashville fans.

Their second season saw the Predators as a hungry newborn animal, finishing the season with an identical record to their first season of 28-47-7. Their third season saw them finish in third place in the central division with a 34-39-9 record.

Rumors of the Predators moving started to circulate around Nashville during the 2007-2008 season. The team who a season earlier had considered themselves Stanley Cup contenders began the season with a roster that was missing several key players due to payroll cutbacks, as the team was placed up for sale. Captain Kimmo Timonen, Goalie Tomas Vokun, Scott Hartnell, Paul Kariya, and Peter Forsberg left the team. Needless to say, and much to the chagrin of anyone who had season tickets or had merely set money aside to buy tickets, the Predators got off to a rough start and lost six of their first eight games. However, the Predators would not go down without a fight as they continued to remain competitive as they entered the New Year with a record of 18-18-2. Dan Ellis taking over the goaltending duties the Predators stayed in playoff contention all season. Martin Erat became an immediate hero when he scored a sly hat trick in a pivotal 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

The Predators maneuvered themselves into the playoffs with the eighth seed and posted a record of 41-32-9. The Predators faced the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs. The legendary Detroit club had the best record overall in the NHL in the latter part of the first decade of the new century. The Predators increased the value of a ticket when they over came an early 2-0 deficit for a 5-3 win in Game 3, powered by three unanswered goals in the final four minutes. The Predators fought to even the series with a 3-2 win in Game 4 due to the heroics of Dan Ellis as he gallantly stopped 39 of 41 shots. When the series shifted back to Detroit, the Predators continued to give the Wings hand the Red Wings a ticket to defeat, as Dan Ellis kept his team in the game stopping 52 of 53 shots as they game went to overtime tied 1-1. The Wings took the deciding game six and went on to win the Stanley Cup. But the near defeat of one of the most legendary and enduring franchised boosted ticket sales for the Nashville Predators and defined them as a force to be reckoned with; a tradition they have continued into their outlook for the future.

Along with a slew of familiar draft picks, Tom Fitzgerald was brought into the fold and was positioned as the Nashville Predator's first team captain. Then, in October 1998, the Predators played their first game in front of 17,298 ticket holding fans against the Florida Panthers. As their first season drew to a close, the Predators had attracted 644,000 spectators who had discovered the best ticket in town, as the Predators pounced into the league with a 28-47-7 record, and extended the contracts of coach Barry Trotz and his assistant coaches Brent Peterson Paul Gardiner.