In Smashville, the Seventh Man Has Loomed Large & Loud for 25 Years

As the Nashville Predators entered the third period of Tuesday night’s game trailing the Winnipeg Jets by two goals, a postseason berth up for grabs, forward Michael McCarron placed a bet on the home crowd and won big.

Dropping the gloves, then dropping his opponent, No. 47 flexed his arms up to the rafters to engage one of the Predators most dangerous weapons: the Seventh Man.

“I knew we'd been pressing, we had tons of shots on net and we just needed something from something, I don’t know,” he said. “I knew that was going to get the crowd into it and I don't normally celebrate like that, but I felt the crowd needed it tonight. And they might have jump-started us to tying that game there.”

While there are no statistics to prove it - no columns for expected goals per decibel or goals allowed per taunt - McCarron’s hypothesis likely wasn’t far off the mark.

Rising to their feet after his fighting major and unifying in a single cacophony of sound, Smashville remained in a fervor until Spencer Stastney cut the visiting team’s lead in half six minutes later.

Then, it only got louder.

When Ryan O’Reilly fired a shot past Connor Hellebuyck to knot the score 127 seconds later, it got louder still.

Not that it was any surprise. After all, that’s how it’s been in Smashville for the last quarter century.

“The fans have always stuck with us,” Predators Captain Roman Josi said hours before the game. “We’ve just had some amazing games this year and some amazing atmosphere. I’ve been here for such a long time, but even the new guys can feel the special connection we have with our fans. So, to be able to [clinch] at home is pretty special.”

A Time-Honored Tradition

Just over 16 years ago to the day, the Predators found themselves in an almost identical position.

Trailing the St. Louis Blues 2-1 with their postseason hopes on the line, the Predators rallied back to take a 3-2 lead in the third period, first with a tying goal from J-P Dumont in the second, then with the go-ahead goal from Greg de Vries at 4:01 of the final frame.

After de Vries’ goal, the game went into a TV timeout. Rising to their feet and waving the white promotional t-shirts they’d received high above their heads, the home crowd relayed their thunderous approval to their team throughout the 90-second break.

Whether anyone knew it at the time, the Smashville Standing O had just been born.

“It was a strange feeling,” Dumont said. “In the beginning I was like, ‘OK, what’s going on?’ I thought that maybe a celebrity or a musician had got into the rink or something, because it just got loud and for no apparent reason… And I remember getting chills because it was not just like one section getting up, it was the full arena just going crazy.”

Tyler Clemmons, a game presentation intern for the Predators at the time, witnessed the historic moment from the band stage.

“It was just like, ‘What is this crowd doing? What are we witnessing?’ It was something special,” Clemmons said. “It almost felt like the moment where we went from a crowd of a bunch of former Detroit Red Wings fans that lived in Tennessee now to an actual collective unit.”

Culminating at the tail end of a season that nearly saw the Predators moved to Hamilton, Ontario, the first Smashville Standing O represented something far greater than a goal reaction.

“All we heard all year long was that the team needs to be moved, needs to be sold, take [the Predators] away and put them somewhere where hockey matters,” Clemmons said. “And there was just this groundswell of local support for the team that was so exciting to see.”

“We had some concerns, and until the management group from Nashville stepped in, we thought we were going to move a few times,” Dumont said. “But the fan base was always there supporting the team and loving the team - it was something pretty special when I got here. And obviously through all the years, through the successes and the ups and downs, it's been pretty crazy the fan base we have here in Nashville.”

As much as it electrifies the building, the Smashville Standing O has to be earned. When the Predators bring everything they’ve got, the crowd returns the favor.

That precedent was of course set 16 years ago.

“There was no graphic that said, ‘OK guys, it's time to stand up and start swinging these t-shirts. around wildly,’” Clemmons said. “It just happened. And we just sort of rolled with it.”

The team on the ice rolled with it too, and ended the night clinching the fourth postseason berth in the history of the 10-year-old franchise.

“When people ask, ‘Can the crowd play a factor in the game?’ I would say yes, definitely,” Dumont said. “It definitely gave us a lift and a big push… It was unbelievable. I remember everybody on the bench just looking at each other like, ‘How can we not just go right now?’ It was unbelievable.”

The Predators rolled with it again 16 years later, riding a surging home crowd to the 16th postseason berth in the history of the now 25-year-old team.

Smashville, of course, got their share of the credit.

“It’s been really amazing,” forward Tommy Novak said following Tuesday’s game. “The whole season, it's been really awesome to see. I’ve never been a part of an atmosphere like this, so it’s amazing and it definitely gives you a little extra jump, for sure.”

Welcome to the Cellblock

Far from the band stage and high above the starter’s crease, another pantheon of Smashville legends loom large.

You may have never met any of them personally, but you’ve definitely heard them.

From the infamous goalie chants that stunned the hockey world during the 2017 Stanley Cup Final run, to the appreciative shoutouts to veteran PA announcer Paul McCann as each period winds down, it’s from ‘Cellblock 303’ that each of the Predators infectious chants are sparked.

Kevin Lankinen remembers the chants well. With 12 goals scored on him at Bridgestone Arena during his tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks, he’s now much happier in a Gold sweater.

“Sometimes I feel bad for the other goalies, when I'm on the bench and the fans are going at them,” Lankinen said. “But it's just a fun little tradition, and it's pretty cool that they have created something like that.”

It’s all in good jest, of course.

“People want to say it's a negative thing because we say ‘You suck,’” Cellblock resident Janice McClard said. “But I've also heard people saying to their children that have seats up there, ‘This is the only place you can say suck…’ It’s all fun.”

Watching her earliest Predators games from neighboring Section 302, McClard quickly caught Cellblock fever.

“It didn't take long,” she said. “When the Predators score, you just jump up and you start singing ‘I like it, I love it.’ It just comes natural.”

A proud member of the Cellblock going on 23 years now, McClard has seen her extended family grow 100 times over.

“There’s nowhere like 303 for me, because it's like home,” she said. “When I sit up there, I know everybody, I don't worry about my bag, I just leave it with everybody around me. We know each other. And we've been there so long… We've made lifelong friends.”

If the neighboring Ryman Auditorium is the Mother Church of Country Music, Bridgestone Arena could just as well be the Church of Country Hockey, and Cellblock 303 the choir.

Section303.com, then, would be their hymnal.

Preds first-timer? Not quite sure what those boisterous fans in 303 are actually saying? It’s all listed out there.

Not that everyone needs to brush up before attending their first game.

“I would tell anybody, if it's their first game, that you don't have to know anything about hockey to have a good time,” McClard said. “Once you learn the rules… You're going to have a good time. It's just a fun atmosphere.”

Stand With Us Smashville

Postseason bound for the 16th time in franchise history, the Predators know they can’t go into battle without the Seventh Man at their backs.

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