Written by Max
Ground #79
Thursday 26th March 2026
NHL Western Conference
Nashville Predators 2-4 New Jersey Devils
Attendance: 14,000 est.
Entry: $45
The Nashville Predators were formed as an NHL expansion side in 1998. They would qualify for their first playoff’s just 5 years later. The Preds best season to date is in 2017 where they made the Stanley Cup final but lost over a 6 game series to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In recent years the team have been in and around the play off positions and this season was no different as a great run of 5 wins on the trot meant the Preds went into this game just inside the all important top 8.
The first period was a well contested game with the defences on top. That was until the 18th minute when the visitors would take the lead.
Half way through the 2nd period the Devils doubled their advantage and the already quiet atmosphere in the arena turned to near silence. Luckily 2 goals in 2 minutes brought the game and the crowd back to life as the predators brought it back to 2-2.
The strange AI Tim McGraw goal music was interesting, but it was great to see some country music being tied into the team based in America’s music city.
Talking of music, one of the highlights of the night was the entertainment in the period breaks. In the UK we are used to a young figure skater coming out for a 2 minute show but of course in America everything is bigger and better! They had a band playing through the intervals keeping the crowd entertained and it felt like a free gig as part of your match ticket. A really good idea and something I’d love them to do back home!
Into the final period and just as the home team were getting on top New Jersey added a 3rd. Then late on, as is often the case in hockey, the predators pulled their goalie to go all out attack and try and get an equaliser. Unfortunately this lead to a breakaway and an easy finish into the open net to clinch the points for the away side.
In the end an entertaining game which could have gone either way. A poor end to the season saw the predators miss out on the play offs by just 4 points, with this defeat alongside another 2 days later being the difference.
Now to rate our first ever sporting experience in the USA:
Location: 10/10
Bridgestone arena is ideally located right in the middle of Broadway meaning you are within seconds of hundreds of live music venues and great food places. This makes a night at the hockey very easily accessible and we enjoyed the bars of Nashville both before and after the game!
One negative that alot of people are currently talking about around the imminent 2026 world cup in America is the fact alot of the stadiums are based away from the city centres and surrounded by car parks. This couldn’t be more different when it comes to the arena in Nashville!
Kit: 6/10
The Predators play in a unique bright yellow shirt with blue sleeves. We both really liked the colour but were surprised by the lack of sponsors on the kit and although usually this would be a good thing we actually felt this left the front of the shirt looking quite plain. We did like the nod to Nashville’s music city name with the piano on the inside of the collar though, and thought maybe this could have been something they tied into the design of the actual kit itself.
Facilities: 7/10
The concourse within the arena is very clean and has plenty of space to mingle before the game or between periods. We arrived well before puck drop and had plenty of time walk around and pick where we wanted to eat.
We were in the top tier and there was no trouble throughout the night as there were only ever very short queues for anything be it food or the toilets. This is much better than the experience we are used to when watching the Nottingham Panthers back home.
Look: 7/10
The arena has a capacity of just over 17,000 with the seats spread over 3 tiers. We were right at the back behind the goal which gave us a great view of the entire place. Even though we were so far back we still had a fantastic view of the action and it was definitely worth paying the reduced prices to be up here when compared to the extortionate prices found elsewhere (some tickets in the lower bowl were going for over $500 each!).
This is by far the biggest indoor arena we have been to, but in comparison to other NHL rinks sits about average in terms of size.
The jumbotron in the middle really lived up to its name and was the first feature we noticed. It was about 4 times the size of the one we are used to at The Motorpoint Arena
Food and Drink: 5/10
We had been told ahead of our visit to expect ridiculous prices within the stadium and so weren’t overly surprised as we arrived at the food counter. There were plenty of options available including the usual burgers and hot dogs but we decided to share what was intriguingly named a ‘walking taco’.
This cost around $12 although when we got to the counter and ordered we realised this was just a bag of doritos which they opened up and then topped with pulled pork and guacamole. We were ready to rip into this and laugh at how ridiculous this was but when we tried it it actually surprised us as the toppings were really tasty. Had this been maybe half the price we would have these again!
Drinks wise, again the prices were stupid. $18 for a large can of beer and that is of course without the obligatory 20% tip!
If unlike us you aren’t forced into buying food and drink in the arena due to writing a review, we would recommend going to the Assembly food hall which is across the road from the arena. There are loads of options in there at much more reasonable prices. Earlier in the week we went to Hattie B’s for their famous Nashville Hot Chicken which was well worth waiting in line for and something we have been craving ever since we got home!
TOTAL SCORE: 35/50
We both really enjoyed our first taste of the NHL at the home of The Preds. Going into this we were really interested to see the difference between an Ice Hockey game in the UK and one at the top level here in the US and we thought we would talk about these here.
In terms of the game itself, there is a noticeable difference in quality as the game is played at a much quicker pace in the NHL with passes hit crisply and to their target alot more often than in the Elite League back home.
Unfortunately for this game there were alot of empty seats and with Nashville, at the time, right in the thick of a push for the play offs this was really surprising. We aren’t sure if this was maybe due to the game being on a Thursday but there were noticeable areas of empty seats especially in the lower tiers. This may be due to the ridiculous prices that could be found for the better seats, but then even our area which was the cheapest available was only around 2/3 full with us having the back row to ourselves in our block.
Another thing we noticed was the lack of any real atmosphere throughout the game. There was the odd ‘Lets go predators’ chant but other than that it was a very muted atmosphere throughout and at times even from our back row you could hear the players shouts from the ice. We actually felt the atmosphere is better at games back in Nottingham even though the crowds there are only around 6,000. It was all very American and the only time alot of fans made noise was when the big screen told them to. It was also a bit cringey at times with the DJ’s screaming out the clubs #WelcomeToSmashville mantra every five minutes and the majority of the crowd seemed more interested by the dance cams rather than the match itself.
We hope you enjoyed this slightly different blog reviewing hockey in the US. Check out the gallery below for a few more photos from our time in America where aswell as Nashville we visited Chicago and St Louis.
Emma’s Ground Guide 