Nashville Predators

Lore & Background

The club was founded in 1997, when the NHL granted an expansion franchise to Craig Leipold, with the team beginning play in the 1998–99 season. After five seasons, the Predators qualified for their first Stanley Cup playoffs during the 2003–04 season. In 2008, ownership of the team was transferred from Leipold to a locally based ownership group. The Predators advanced to their first Stanley Cup Final in 2017, but were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. In the following season, the Predators won their first Presidents' Trophy and Central Division title. As of 2026, the Predators, along with Nashville SC, are one of two professional sports teams in the state of Tennessee to have not relocated from another location as the Titans and the Grizzlies moved to Tennessee from Houston and Vancouver respectively.

In Their Own Story

The arena lights hummed over the Honda Center as the final seconds ticked away, the scoreboard reading a tense tie. A Nashville forward, covered in ice shavings from a brutal check along the boards, skated toward the faceoff circle, eyes locked on his Anaheim counterpart. The crowd roared, a deafening mix of 'Hockeytown' chants and Southern drawl taunts echoing off the rafters. As the referee dropped the puck, the history of their divisional wars seemed to hang in the air, waiting for one final, decisive hit.

Reader's Guide

The Predators have played their home games at Bridgestone Arena since 1998. The team's logo features a saber-toothed cat (Smilodon fatalis), referencing a partial Smilodon skeleton found beneath downtown Nashville in 1971. The franchise name 'Predators' was submitted by owner Craig Leipold and chosen by fan vote. The Predators began play in the 1998–99 season, with their first win on October 13, 1998, against the Carolina Hurricanes. They qualified for their first postseason in the 2003–04 season, losing to the Detroit Red Wings in six games. In the 2005–06 season, the Predators set an NHL-best home record of 32–8–1 but were eliminated by the San Jose Sharks in the first round. The team was sold to a local ownership group in 2008. The Predators reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and won the Presidents' Trophy in the following season.

Did You Know?

• The Predators were the only one of four expansion cities granted a franchise in 1997 to have a completed arena, allowing them to begin play first in 1998.
• The team's first head coach was Barry Trotz, named on August 6, 1997.
• In the 2005–06 season, goaltender Chris Mason became the ninth goaltender in NHL history to score a goal.
• The Predators played two games in Tokyo against the Pittsburgh Penguins to begin the 2000–01 season, drawing crowds of over 13,000.