First Playoff Appearance (2003-04)
First of the 1998–2000 expansion teams to reach the playoffs.
The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The team has played its home games at Bridgestone Arena since 1998. The Predators are currently affiliated with two minor league teams: the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL), and the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL.
Quick Facts
- Season
- 2003-04
- Record
- 38-28-11-5 (92 points)
- Division finish
- 3rd in Central Division
- Playoff result
- Lost in First Round to Detroit Red Wings (4-2)
- Key player
- Goaltender Tomas Vokoun
- Head coach
- Barry Trotz
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.
Reader's Guide
The Predators qualified for their first Stanley Cup playoffs during the 2003–04 season. They were eliminated by the Detroit Red Wings in six games in the first round of the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Did You Know?
- The Predators were the first of the four teams that joined the NHL between 1998 and 2000 to make the playoffs.
- The team's logo references a partial Smilodon skeleton found beneath downtown Nashville in 1971.
- The Predators became only the fourth NHL franchise to start the season 8–0 in the 2005–06 season.
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