Some Nashville Predators Fans Miffed At Forced Relocation For Stanley Cup Final

NASHVILLE, TN — Crowds at Bridgestone Arena have become a national talking point during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The raucous gold-clad faithful have reached potentially world-record-setting noise levels, seemingly willing the eighth-seeded Nashville Predators to the Western Conference title and a berth in the Cup Final.

The Predators have helped ensure a vociferous home crowd with geographically-limited sales that keep out visiting fans and steep discounts for season-ticket holders — more than 50 percent off the face value in many cases — to get the most boisterous backers in the door. But a Cup Final appearance means increased attention: specifically, more media members than the handful of local beat writers covering regular season games. The need to meet league requirements for media seating, though, is displacing many long-time season-ticket holders for the biggest series in team history.

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"Additional media for the Stanley Cup Finals in a common occurrence and (Eastern Conference finalists) Ottawa and Pittsburgh are dealing with the same problems," Nat Harden, the Predators' Senior Vice President, Tickets, Premium Sales and Youth Hockey, said. "We are required to provide the media this seating and will need to make (Sections 309, 310 and 311) available to meet this requirement."

For one Day One season-ticket holder in Section 309, who didn't want to give his name, displacing long-time fans for out-of-town media — many of whom practically cheerleaded for the team to relocate at its nadir in 2007 — is especially stinging.

"We've been on a ride with our hockey family for 19 years, and now they've kicked us out of our seats to give our space to a group of media reporters who, largely, never had faith in Nashville, never thought hockey would work here, never thought it could be supported or financially viable, who picked us to lose in the first round and have only recently began to respect what we do here," he wrote to Patch. "What WE do here. The fans. The people in the seats every game. The people who believed in this team and this organization from the start. Shouldn't we get a little respect from the team? Haven't they told us we are a family? Don't we hear from the front office, the coaches, and the players how important the fans are to the Predators' organization?"

This fan — who put down a deposit for tickets a year before the team arrived in 1998, whose son beloved former color commentator Terry Crisp taught to whistle and estimates he's taken 100 people to their first game and spent more than $100,000 on tickets — noted the seats in the affected sections are coveted because of their view of the player benches and proximity to arena amenities, but, more importantly, like many season-ticket holders, seat neighbors have become like family.

"Where is the Preds' commitment to us? Do we not deserve to be treated fairly? To sit with our friends and neighbors like we have since day 1? To celebrate what we hope is a Stanley Cup win with those with whom have celebrated every on-ice and off-ice milestone? It's disheartening," he wrote.

Harden said, though, the team is hamstrung by league requirements and that his staff is working to accommodate fans

"I certainly understand the frustration from any season ticket holder that would need to be moved in the Finals but we simply do not have an option," Harden said. "With that said, I have informed our reps to try and move these (season ticket holders) in comparable seats and also provide a $50 per seat gift card as a thank you for moving. If they are unable to get a comparable seat we are allowing them to upgrade to a higher price range at no additional charge."

Told this, the relocated fan said he'd happily move to, among other places, "the owners' box." Coincidentally, what is now the owners' box was originally designed to be the press box until the Predators' original owner, Craig Leipold, saw it and claimed it as his own.