Preds Praise Fans as 100th Consecutive Sellout Arrives

It wasn't all that long ago when people scoffed at the idea of the Nashville Predators selling out more than 25 games in a single season.
Sean Henry remembers it well, too.
"Yeah right," he would hear. "You only average 15,000 a night. You'll never hit that."

So, when another 17,000-plus fans walk through the doors at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday as the Preds host the San Jose Sharks, it will mark a day that the Predators President and CEO - and everyone else in the organization - hoped would come but were never quite sure it would.
Nashville's 100th consecutive sellout arrives tomorrow, a century mark of regular-season and playoff contests that have seen at least 17,113 patrons in the building for every game over the past two calendar years.
The streak dates back to April 2, 2016, also a night when the Sharks were in town, and as those final three regular-season games led into six more postseason matches at Bridgestone Arena that spring, there was no looking back.
"I don't see this streak ending anytime soon, and that's a testament to the fans," Henry said on the eve of No. 100. "That 5-year-old that came to the first game or heard about the first game, they're 25 years old now, out of college and making their own buying decisions. In the midst of our 20th season, we're tapping into people that don't know anything different than Preds hockey."

Six attendance records have been broken over the course of the streak, with 17,561 on Feb. 17 of this year becoming the new number to beat for a single game. Those who have spent time at Bridgestone Arena during that span have also repeatedly left satisfied with the Preds owning a 65-21-13 record in the past 99 home games.
And the players have taken notice.
"I was thinking about that [during Tuesday's game] actually when they put on the Megatron that it was the 99th consecutive and how the next home game will be pretty exciting," Preds center Ryan Johansen said. "It'll be a proud night for all of us and everyone who's attending the game for sure. We're in this together as players and fans and as a city."
"One of the first surprises [when I arrived in 2011] was how incredible the fans are, and it's only continued to see tremendous growth," Predators center Mike Fisher said. "To have that many sellouts in a row in this city is pretty remarkable… We appreciate the fans for sure because it's a fun place to play, a fun city to play in."
The streak is one thing, but the atmosphere that comes with each and every sellout has become the envy of the League. Henry often poses a challenge to the other hosts who visit Bridgestone Arena:
"I always say in speeches I give to visiting groups that come in, or sometimes we have clients that bring their clients in and we talk to them pregame… and I tell everyone, 'You can email me if what I'm saying is wrong, but you're about to experience the best in-game environment of every event you've ever gone to,' and everyone challenges it," Henry said. "You have proud New Yorkers and people from Massachusetts to Canadians to Chicago and Detroit, and without exception, I'll get emails after the game and they're like, 'Oh my gosh, you're right. It was a Thursday night in December and it was just unreal.'"

Even in the days when there were only 12,000 fans in the building, there was still something special about a game in Smashville - the chants, the standing ovations, the overall atmosphere that is second to none in hockey, and in sports.
Now that the building is full every night, that experience has manifested into a force that can carry the Preds when they need to mount a third period comeback or hold a late lead. And as the fans keep filing in, the Predators will continue to feed off of it, a collective effort in achieving the ultimate goal.
The Seventh Man banner hangs from the Bridgestone Arena rafters for a reason. It got some company in 2017, and plenty more could be on the way. It all harkens back to that nod to the fans, and it's deserved now so more than ever before.
"The fact that we've sold out 100 in a row is phenomenal, but it's the energy that comes into the building," Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "We're very fortunate here for the support that we have, how vocal they are and the atmosphere that they create inside of our building which makes it a difficult place to play. We love it here. We love it at home."