NHL Ready to Celebrate Music, Nashville During 2022 Stadium Series

The NHL's vision - an ice rink in the middle of a football stadium in Nashville, Tennessee - is becoming reality.
Crews remain hard at work just over one week away from the Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning facing off under the stars in the 2022 NHL Stadium Series at Nissan Stadium on Feb. 26, and after a few days that flirted with 70 degrees Fahrenheit, Friday felt like hockey weather.
The cooler temperatures have arrived just in time for the ice build to begin, and as the NHL's Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer spoke inside the stadium Friday morning, the outline of the rink continued to take shape behind him - just one more milestone ahead of what might just be the most unique outdoor game the League has ever put on.

"I'm not just saying it because I'm here - this one's going to be awesome," Mayer said while describing what he and his team have planned for next Saturday night. "It's one of the reasons why we really couldn't wait to come to Nashville, just all this area has to offer… Everybody comes out - the music community comes out, the sports community comes out, the fans come out - they certainly get behind their Preds… We've done a lot of these games, but from a visual standpoint, the way this field will look and the lighting and how it actually represents this area and Broadway and Nashville, it's about the best that we've ever done."
The vision for that spectacle became clearer on Friday as well as the NHL released a rendering of what Nissan Stadium will look like come game time - and as Mayer said, it's awesome.

From the League: "The NHL-regulation rink that sits atop Nissan Stadium's field will be surrounded by design elements inspired by Nashville's Broadway entertainment district - neon marquees, historic brick buildings, musical notes, and a cowboy boot with a skate blade as well as a cowboy hat with a hockey stick in the band as a nod to the Predators' home arena and host city. Sharing the spotlight with the rink will be three stages, one for each of the headline performers and each bearing the name of their respective Nashville establishments - Miranda Lambert's Casa Rosa and Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row, for their first intermission presented by Ticketmaster performances, and a center stage for "The Stadium Biscuits" house band (led by band leader John Bohlinger) and other special guests."
There was no doubt music was going to play a notable role in the evening - as it does every night inside Bridgestone Arena during every Predators home game - but this time was bound to be something special.
"From the time the fans walk into the stadium, we're going to put on a show," Mayer said. "We have a house band, and next week we'll be announcing about 12 country music artists - actually, not only country music artists, but rock-and-roll artists as well, who will join our house band for music moments. So, every time there's a whistle and TV goes to a commercial, out will come the house band with a special guest, and that special guest will play for our fans. Then, when we return from the commercial break, television will show that artist and show that music. So, live music is a huge part of what we're going to do."

Of course, there is a game that needs to be played as well, and while Mayer says inclement weather in Nashville on Thursday complete with torrential rain and thunderstorms set crew back just a bit, he added there is no reason to believe the rink won't be completed in time. According to Mayer, crews will continue to work through the weekend, day and night, in order to make sure the puck drops on time.
"No days off here, and I think we're in a really good position," Mayer said. "As we have always done, we look ahead, we take weather seriously, but we adjust whether it's on the part of building ice or the back end. We know what we need to do to get done by the 26th."
Of course, weather on the actual game day is also of paramount importance, and while fine-tuning a forecast a full week away isn't the easiest task, early indications say conditions look clear with temperature in the 40s and 30s, conditions Mayer says are ideal.
"Right now, 30 to 40 degrees, that's pretty special," Mayer said. "The weather forecast for the night of the game has us in this range, so I think if everything holds, we're going to be in really good shape for the night of the game."
Nonetheless, the show must go on, and that's exactly what Mayer and his team plan to do, no matter what it takes. After all, this is Music City, U.S.A., where hockey and entertainment are one in the same.
"We're really excited about being here," Mayer said. "This isn't the worst place to be, I'll tell you that, and we think we're going to put on a show."