“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.
