Dierks Bentley Practices with Preds, Talks Hockey in Nashville

Most of the Preds opted for an off-ice workout in lieu of lacing up their skates on Friday in Nashville, and deservedly so, less than 24 hours after setting a franchise record with 111 points in a single season.
However, not everyone took the option to rest, including Dierks Bentley.
In another classic, "only in Smashville" moment, the country music superstar, and diehard Preds fan, took to the ice, along with his young son, Knox, participating in drills and trying to beat Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros over the glove.
And just as a hockey player might be in awe of their favorite musician, the inverse is also true at first sight for Bentley.

"It's like sometimes you don't want to meet your heroes because you're afraid they might be jerks, but you meet these guys and they're really cool, too," Bentley said of spending time with the Preds players and coaches. "It just makes you an even bigger fan."
A Nashville resident and amateur hockey player himself, Bentley has cheered on the Preds for years, even carrying a bag full of equipment with him when he tours on the road just in case the opportunity presents itself.
Bentley, who sees a number of parallels between professional hockey and the music business, says the chance to converse with players and get to know them off the ice as regular people makes him proud to support the group, almost an ambassador of sorts when it comes to connecting the team to the country music industry.

"There's not another city like this in the NHL that has this combination of excitement, because you mix hockey with the entertainment industry," Bentley said. "A city like Nashville, every year it's growing and is the place to be, so it all comes together to make this the most exciting city to be in for playoff hockey."
That love affair was on full display during last spring's run to the Stanley Cup Final as country superstars were not only singing the National Anthem at Bridgestone Arena night after night, but also spotted in the crowd sporting their Gold and cheering just as passionately as 17,000 of their closest friends.
"Last year, I watched other fellow country singers come out of the woodworks that had never even been to a game before," Bentley said. "I remember seeing Brad Paisley holding up a catfish. It was his first game, and he's got the catfish and it's amazing, all in right away. It was just so exciting."
Just as that run spiked the players' desire to make it back to that point, the fans want it just as badly. Count Bentley as someone who continues to be all in, dreaming of what the weeks ahead may bring and how Nashville will come alive once more.
"The city feels so new in a lot of ways," Bentley said. "There's so much happening, new buildings and having new people move here all the time, and to have that coincide with these guys, not just going to the playoffs but probably a Stanley Cup favorite this year, it's going to be fun. To watch downtown transform into the spring and see the Gold, it's going to be awesome."