Smashville, TN – As the weekend approached, rain threatened the Music City scene, one of 65,000 seats surrounding a gridiron, regularly occupied the last four months of each year by the resident Titans. On this weekend, though, the transition has been made, from pigskins to pucks, end zones to goal creases, midfield to red line and from Titans to Predators; outdoor hockey is alive in Nashville.
Rain gave way Thursday to temperatures in the low 30s with an overcast sky and near-perfect conditions for this year’s Stadium Series game, where the hometown Predators host the two-time Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. 
While the hosts appreciate having a formidable opponent for this unique setting, they are happy their opponent left the tropical climate in the sunshine state. They’ll focus more on the strength of a team bidding for their third-straight Cup and one who is a series threat should the Predators reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Activity from the players began at 3:30 PM when the Predators enjoyed a robust practice filled with drills, but mainly a focus getting used to the surroundings, goalies needing to get comfortable with new sightlines, players getting in tune with the large facility surroundings. 
Perhaps more important than anything to the players; how good the ice was to skate on in advance of the outdoor contest. The first question to Nashville’s Ryan Johansen centered on the surface condition and he called it spectacular, a fast ice. 
Nashville sport their SMASHVILLE logo on their uniforms with bold back and side numbers, their primary logo on the left side of the pants. As for those goalies, the offer the other side of the uniform aesthetics with event-specific pads, gloves and masks.
Although Juuse Saros will likely be the starter Saturday night, it was back-up David Rittich who tuned heads with his Music City-themed pads. Both netminders chose dark navy, but it was Rittich’s guitars on his equipment that gained a level of appreciation in the press box, a very slick-looking, motif.
Once practice was over, Nashville players enjoyed the ice with their families, the last time they would glide across the ice until a little more than twenty-four hours, the mighty Lightning would be sharing the slab with two points up for grabs.
Before Tampa Bay took to their turn on the ice, Captain Steven Stamkos and blueliner Victor Hedman spoke with the media. Stamkos took the serious route with his answers balancing the thrill in being in one of the NHL’s marquee events with the need to get two points and continue gaining on division-leading Florida. 
When Stamkos was asked if he expected many fans to follow him and his teammates from Florida to Nashville for this special game, especially after seeing some of them along the famous Broadway thoroughfare in downtown Nashville. He responded it was expected that many Lighting fans would be here tomorrow and hoped they would be as loud here as they are in Amalie Arena back home.
Hedman spoke about his time playing outside in Sweden, where his mother would often have to call him to come in, a young Viking eager to continue in the game he loved, even at a very young age.
About 5:30 PM, Tampa Bay hit the ice, their white gloves among the more noticeable characteristics of their uniform, primary logo on the side of each player’s left leg and the same zip in their strides which helped to earn there the last two NHL crowns.
Goaltenders had the most to show outside of those white gloves from their teammates. The on-ice aesthetics from the two players who guard the net were simple, but slick. It looks like the Lightning’s
Brian Elliott might have gone shopping with his Nashville counterpart Juuse Saros, a solid panel of Tampa Bay blue on his equipment with no designs. Expected starter Andrei Vasilevskiy chose a bold kit with blue Lighting bolts downward striking from the top of the pad with his gloves mirroring a similar
After a feverish practice, for just less than an hour, it was time for the family skate which ended about 6:30 PM, exactly day before the puck drops at Nissan Stadium for the 2022 Stadium Series Game.
Dennis Morrell has enjoyed many years of experience in the great game as a hockey writer, photographer, goalie coach, player and currently active USA Hockey-certified referee with over 1,500 games donning the striped jersey. His passion for the game began in the early 70s with his first glance at skaters in Clayton’s Shaw Park. He can be reached at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com and you can follow him on Twitter at DMMORRELL.
Photography by Don Haas
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