Nashville Predators: Canada’s Playoff Team

The Nashville Predators will be happy to pull up a bandwagon to allow our Canadian brothers to root for someone in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Let’s face it, you saw how friendly we are when you visited the All-Star game this January. John Scott sure loves us.  And we know how it feels, we missed the playoffs two years in a row back in 2012-13 and 2013-14.  It was devastating.  We had previously made it seven of eight years so we didn’t really know how to act.

We understand that for the first time since 1970 there are no teams from Canada in the playoffs.  We actually feel kind of bad about that.  We are certainly not like fans in Boston, Chicago or Detroit who are laughing about it and taunting you on Social Media.  Nashville is a little more understanding than that.  We haven’t felt the sweet touch of the Stanley Cup yet.  Of course, we are only in our 16th year of existence.  It’s not like our rival the Blues who haven’t won since they started in 1967!!

We know that you’re not going to completely shun the playoffs.  You’re not going to go watch baseball or curling or something.  There is still hockey going on and that’s as Canadian as maple syrup and the Maple Leaf on the flag. But we think you’ll find it’s a lot more fun if you have a rooting interest.

Surprisingly we found this poll from the Kelowna Daily Courier in British Columbia:

While it shows that 44% of fans SAY that they won’t watch the playoffs this year, we think that is just a little bitterness leading them in the poll and not really true.  On the other hand, there is still 56% that say that they will watch the NHL tournament.

One way or the other we volunteer the Nashville Predators to be your rooting interest.  It’s really a natural if you think about it. We’ll give you some of the reasons why:

Not One of the Original Six – You don’t really want to root for Chicago or the Rangers do you?  And no possible way you could root for the Bruins. We don’t really have any rivalries with a Canadian team.  We did face Vancouver once in the playoffs but unfortunately, we didn’t beat them.

Likeable Players – We don’t have a player that you love to hate.  Granted there are few folks that aren’t that fond of James Neal‘s background but you’d still love to go to a honky-tonk in Nashville and buy him a beer.  And other than the Washington Capitals, who couldn’t love Filip Forsberg? And Roman Josi…the ladies in Nashville swoon over him.

A National Hero – Shea Weber is a Canadian hero.  Born in Sicamous, BC and played for the Kelowna Rockets. He won an Olympic gold medal with Team Canada in 2010 and 2014. He is a legend as we mentioned in this article by putting pucks through the netting, the boards, and poor Kari Lehtonen this season. He can also shoot a puck at over 108 mph as he’s shown at the skills competition a couple of times.

Play Like You’re Supposed Too – We aren’t one of those fancy-pants teams like the Dallas Stars or Tampa Bay that just try to outscore you.  The Nashville Predators have a balanced team that can score with Ryan Johansen, and 30-goal scorers Neal and Forsberg.  But we are built on blue-collar defence.  The quartet of Weber, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm are arguably the best top-four in hockey.  And the hard-working Pekka Rinne is right behind them in goal.

We Are Due – We certainly aren’t the favorite going in.  We are just a Wild Card team from the Central Division. We have been one of the top teams in the league since the All-Star break, though.  We aren’t afraid of anyone after playing in the Central all year. It’s always fun to root for an underdog.  We qualify although we really don’t feel that way.

Central Time Zone – Okay, if you need one more reason to root for us, we are centrally located for any Canadian team.  We aren’t on the East or West coast, we are right in the middle of it all. And like Calgary, we love Country Music too!

And the Predators feel the same way!  Take a look at this tweet:

Next: Five Reasons the Preds Will Find Playoff Success

So there you have it.  It should be an easy decision and unlike some of your hated rivals, we’ll be happy to accept your support.  Jump on the Nashville Predators bandwagon and let’s ride it all the way to the Stanley Cup.  Wouldn’t that be fun?