Nashville Predators Franchise History

The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Their home ice is located at the Bridgestone Arena.

NHL Expansion To Nashville
In January of 1997, a group out of Wisconsin, led by Craig Leipold, presented a franchise expansion request to the National Hockey League. NHL Commisioner, Gary Bettman, along with other league officials, visited Nashville and toured the arena. Thousands of people gathered on the arena's plaza and greeted Bettman.

That June, Nashville was given a conditional franchise, along with Columbus, Atlanta, and Minneapolis-St.Paul. Nashville would be allowed to begin playing the following year if they were able to meet the National Hockey League's requirement of selling 12,000 season tickets before March 31, 1998. Nashville was the only city with a completed arena at the time, meaning they would be able to begin playing first.

A month later, Leipold named David Poile, former Washington Capitals general manager, as the first general manager of the franchise. On August 6th, Barry Trotz was named the franchise's first head coach, while Mitch Korn was named the franchise's first goal-tending coach. All three - Poile, Trotz, and Korn - still hold their positions today.

Team Logo and Naming
On September 25, 1997, Leipold, along with the team's president, Jack Diller, held a press conference to unveil the franchise's logo. They presented a saber-toothed cat, which was a reference to a partial Smilodon skeleton discovered beneath downtown Nashville in 1971 during construction of the First American National Bank building.

After the logo's unveiling, the franchise held a contest among fans to a choose a name for the team. Out of 75 entries, they narrowed it down to three names: "Ice Tigers", "Fury", and "Attack". Leipold decided to add his own submission to the vote: "Predators". On November 13, Leipold held another press conference to reveal which submission had won. His own entry had been chosen and the franchise would now be known as the "Nashville Predators".

First Home Game and First Win
The first time the Predators took to the ice was on October 10, 1998. They played the Florida Panthers, which ended in a 1-0 loss. Their first franchise win came only three nights later, on October 13, when they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. Then Forward Andrew Brunette scored the first goal, which was reviewed by the video goal judge.