Nashville Predators: Ranking the Best Moments in Franchise History

By Chad Minton | Apr 11, 2020

NASHVILLE, TN - MAY 22: Ryan Getzlaf #15 of the Anaheim Ducks shakes hands with Pekka Rinne #35 of the Nashville Predators after the Predators defeated the Ducks 6 to 3 in Game Six of the Western Conference Final during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena on May 22, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

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27 Jun 1998: First round picks (L-R) David Legwand of the Nashville Predators, Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brad Stuart of the San Jose Sharks. /

The glorious first goal

I just can’t leave off the franchise’s first goal in 1998. It would be different if the Predators were a relocation team, but this team was built from the ground up. No favorable expansion rules like the current day.

That original Predators roster was full of blue collar players. Not a ton of offensive prowess, but fans in Nashville were just happy to have a professional sports franchise.

The Predators had to wait until their second regular season game to actually score the first goal. It came against the Carolina Hurricanes on October 13th, 1998 and Andrew Brunette did the honors.

Here’s a look at the highlights of that game and other highlights throughout the decade. This video is owned by the Nashville Predators.

This was the first goal in franchise history in the game that would also be the franchise’s first win. Greg Johnson and Joel Bouchard would get the assists.

Goals were a lot more rare during that time in the NHL as well. Be sure to remember the name “Andrew Brunette” if you ever get a sports trivia question on this. You will probably impress a lot of people!

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