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Predators' Stanley Cup Final Ticket Demand In Nashville Already Off The Charts

The starting price on StubHub for a Stanley Cup Final ticket is "twice as high in Nashville than in Ottawa and Pittsburgh for the opening games," according to Jamie McGee of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. According to resale site Tickets.Expert., the "running price in the nosebleed section" for the June 3 Stanley Cup Final Game 3 in Nashville is $825, while "center ice, second row can run up to a cool $7,800." StubHub's starting price as of yesterday afternoon for a Game 3 ticket is $749, "higher than tickets to watch" the Warriors in the NBA Finals on June 1. Game 3, the first game of the series to be played in Nashville, is on a Saturday night, which "could account for some of the disparity, along with the uncertainty about where the away games will be played" as the Senators and Penguins head to Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Finals series. Meanwhile, Predators Corporate Communications Coordinator Natalie Aronson said that the team is "seeing increased demand for season tickets for next year, given the team's historic season" after making its first Final (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 5/24). McGee notes the team will "sell additional tickets to the general public on Friday morning" through Ticketmaster after "assessing inventory." Predators President & CEO Sean Henry "anticipates 100 to 200 tickets per game, at most, will be sold." The team's "last-minute ticket offerings on the Predators app also will continue for each Final game." The tickets "cost $15 and about 100 are made available on the day of the game" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 5/24).

HERE TO STAY?
On Long Island, Neil Best writes the Predators making the Stanley Cup Final is a "good thing for hockey, more so than the average non-traditional market in which the NHL dreams of making a lasting mark." Nashville has been a "healthy hockey town for most of the 2010s after some dark days in the 2000s." In a city that "lacks an NBA or MLB franchise and whose Titans have not won an NFL playoff game in 13 years, even lifelong Southerners have caught the hockey bug." Most cities "buy into the excitement when a local team advances deeply into the playoffs, especially for the first time," but the signs "point to this being more sustainable" than other Sun Belt teams like the Hurricanes and Panthers (NEWSDAY, 5/24). In Toronto, Kevin McGran notes the Predators "deserve" this moment, as "they have been a solid hockey citizen, building teams from within and building a fan base that has embraced hockey and adopted these players as their own." The Cup Final is "going -- again -- to a non-traditional hockey market, but one unlike the others where the games were a curiousity beyond the 18,000 faithful inside the rink." McGran: "This will be the biggest sporting event in Nashville" (TORONTO STAR, 5/24).

SMASH AND SPLASH: YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski wrote 10 years after nearly being sold and relocated to Hamilton, Ont., the Predators have become "Nashville’s team, rather than a team playing in Nashville." Some details were "subtle, like putting piano keys and a guitar pick on their hockey sweaters," while some were "overt, like embracing the country music scene to the point where they’re practically synonymous." Wyshynski: "It’s in the food around the arena. It’s in the marketing of 'Smashville.' It’s the understanding there are some ‘rasslin fans in Tennessee who might get a kick out of hearing Bobby Roode’s 'Glorious Domination' as the unofficial theme song of the 2017 playoffs. And it’s the acknowledgment that Nashville likes to party" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/23). SI's Alex Prewitt writes, "Give Nashville credit for creativity." Outside Bridgestone Arena in the hours before Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, fans "put the smash in Smashville, paying $10 for three sledgehammer whacks at an old Chevy Malibu spray-painted" with the Ducks' logo." At intermission, reporters were "served roast duck" (SI, 5/29 issue).

POILE GETTING HIS DUE
: NHL.com's John Glennon noted Predators GM David Poile is set to make his first Stanley Cup Final during his 45-year career, and he has "built the franchise from the ground up" since joining the team prior to its debut in '98. He has led the club "through lean times, and turned it into an NHL playoff regular that plays in front of 17,000-plus Gold-clad fanatics" (NHL.com, 5/23). USA TODAY's Kevin Allen notes Poile acquired every player on the club's roster, including last summer's "bold trade" for D P.K. Subban. Poile's acquisition of C Filip Forsberg from the Capitals in '13 "has to rank among his best trades," and he "made another daring deal last season when he acquired" C Ryan Johansen from the Blue Jackets for D Seth Jones. Johansen was the "team’s No. 1 center in these playoffs until he went down with injury" (USA TODAY, 5/24). THE HOCKEY NEWS' Ken Campbell wrote Poile was "due to finally go to the final." Campbell: "You may not meet a more decent individual in the game than David Poile." He is "accommodating, unfailingly polite, self-deprecating and has an incredibly keen sense of humor." The hockey world would "be a lot less fun without" Poile in it. He has "never been afraid" to "make earth-shaking trades." Campbell: "There are a lot of fine people for whom the hockey world should be happy in Nashville. But David Poile stands above the rest" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 5/23). 

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