October 10, 1998: The NHL Comes to Tennessee

Jeff Daniels (left) and Bret Hedican

October 10, 1998: The Nashville Predators play their 1st regular-season game. It had been 3 years and change since NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had tried to get the New Jersey Devils to move to Nashville, a move derailed when the team won the 1995 Stanley Cup, resulting in Bettman getting the hell booed out of him when he presented the trophy.

But, what Bettman wants, he usually gets, and he wanted another team in the American South. So the City of Nashville built the Nashville Arena, now named the Bridgestone Arena, and the NHL expanded for the 1998-99 season.

The Predators became the 1st major league hockey team in Tennessee. The NHL had never had a team in the Volunteer State before: Not in Nashville, not in Memphis, not in Knoxville, not anywhere else. Nor did the World Hockey Association of the 1970s put a team there, despite putting teams in Houston and Birmingham, and trying to put a team in Miami.

The 1st game didn't go so well for the home team: They lost to the Florida Panthers, 1-0. Ray Whitney scored the only goal, 2:26 into the 3rd period. The Preds and their fans would have to wait 3 days for their 1st win, 3-2 at home to the Carolina Hurricanes.

With a large contingent of people who were not native -- including people who had come to Nashville for the music industry from places where hockey was popular and their allegiances could be transferred, and from places where it wasn't and their fandom could develop -- the Predators built a big fanbase that will probably prevent them from ever seriously considering moving.

They were competitive quickly, too: In their 1st season, they went 28-47-7, although they missed the Playoffs. It took them until 2004 to make the Playoffs, and until 2011 to win a Playoff round. But, by then, they were usually making it. In 2017, they reached the Western Conference Finals for the 1st time, and got all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

UPDATE: The Predators do not yet have a team Hall of Fame. They have retired one uniform number, the 35 of 2005-21 goaltender Pekka Rinne. Three of their former players have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Defenseman Shea Weber played for them from 2006 to 2016. The others were elected mainly for how they played elsewhere: Left wing Paul Kariya, who played for them in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons; and center Peter Forsberg, who played 27 games for them in 2006-07. In addition, David Poile, their 1st general manager, from the start of the organization in 1997 until 2023, and still in their front office, has been elected.

Poile, 2010-18 center Mike Fisher and 1998-2022 broadcaster Terry Crisp have been elected to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Fisher is married to country singer Carrie Underwood -- meaning her married name is Carrie Fisher.

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October 10, 1998 was a Saturday. There were 11 other games in the NHL that day:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 7-1 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal. In a rarity, the Habs got their 7 goals from 7 different players: Saku Koivu, Vincent Damphousse, Craig Rivet, Benoît Brunet, Scott Thronton, Igor Ulanov and Brett Clark. The Ranger goal was scored by Adam Graves.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils made it an 0-3 night for the New York Tri-State Area teams, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. It was not the 1st regular-season NHL game: That came at the start of the previous season. 

* The Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 3-3 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 1-0 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 4-4 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina (now the First Horizon Coliseum).

* The Dallas Stars beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1 at the Northlands Coliseum -- then named the Edmonton Coliseum. Two days later, the name was changed to the Skyreach Centre.

Baseball's League Championship Series were being played. In the American League, the New York Yankees won Game 4, beating the Cleveland Indians, 4-0 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. The Yankees won the series in 6 games.

In the National League, the San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). The Padres won the series in 6 games.

Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Ohio State beat Illinois, 41-0 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Four weeks later, Ohio State lost to Michigan State, blowing their shot at the National Championship, sole ownership of the Big Ten Conference title, and a bid to the Rose Bowl. They were, however, invited to the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 2 Nebraska were upset by Number 18 Texas A&M, 28-21 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. A&M won the Big 12 Conference Championship, which, under the usual circumstances, would have resulted in an invitation to the Orange Bowl. But since SEC Champion Tennessee were ranked Number 1 at the end, they were invited to the BCS Championship Game, and the slot in the Sugar Bowl that would otherwise have been offered to them was offered instead to A&M. They were beaten by Ohio State.

* Number 3 University of California at Los Angeles beat Number 10 Arizona, 52-28 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. UCLA won the Pacific-10 Conference title, and were invited to the Rose Bowl.

* Number 4 Tennessee beat Number 7 Georgia, 22-3 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Tennessee ended up winning the Southeastern Conference title, and were ranked Number 1 in the country after the Conference Championship Games.

* Number 5 Kansas State beat Number 14, Colorado, 16-9 at Folsom Field outside Denver in Boulder, Colorado.

* Number 6 Florida beat Number 11 Louisiana State, 22-10 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. A loss to Tennessee cost Florida the SEC title and a bid to the Sugar Bowl. They were, instead, invited to the Orange Bowl, where they beat Syracuse.

* Rivalry: Number 8 Florida State beat the University of Miami, 26-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. FSU ended up winning the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and were ranked Number 2 in the country after the Conference Championship Games. And so, in this 1st year of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), they faced Number 1 Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe. Tennessee won, and were the undisputed National Champions.

* Number 9 Virginia were idle.

* Number 12 Wisconsin beat Purdue, 31-24 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin went on to lose to Michigan, and ended up tied with Ohio State for the Big 10 title. Because Ohio State had been to the Rose Bowl more recently, Wisconsin were invited instead, and beat UCLA.

* Number 19 University of Southern California lost to the University of California: Cal beat USC, 32-31 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 22 Notre Dame beat Arizona State, 28-9 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* Number 23 North Carolina State lost to Georgia Tech, 47-24 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: Texas beat Oklahoma, 34-3 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Although Texas did not win the Big 12 South Division, they received a bid to the Cotton Bowl game at the Cotton Bowl stadium, as they so often did as Champions of the Southwest Conference, and beat Mississippi State.

* Among the service academies, Army beat the University of Houston, 38-28 at Robertson Stadium in Houston; and Air Force beat Navy, 49-7 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* Rutgers, New Jersey's team, were idle.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, beat Woodbridge, 27-13 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.