The Predators brought hockey to F&M Bank Arena on Wednesday night
By Anthony Pellegrino @Apelle50 IceInsider.com Founder/Owner
BOSTON--The Nashville Predators faced off in a scrimmage format at F&M Bank arena Wednesday evening; marking the second annual event held by the Nashville Predators. Featuring the youth presence of Luke Evangelista, Zachary L'Heureux, notable forwards Philip Tomasino, Parssinen, Novak, Kemell, and backup goaltender Scott Wedgewood, the intrasquad put on an entertainment; for Clarksville fans.
The annual event recognizes the arena's distance to Fort Campbell and incorporates military members in the team's game presentation. Funds from the ticket sales were then donated to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
Nashville's intrasquad game ended up leading into overtime, where 6'4 Mark Jankowski buried a multiple-rebound attempt past goaltender Ethan Haider, who is expected to begin the season between Milwaukee (AHL) or Atlanta (ECHL), both affiliates of Nashville.
F&M bank arena is now home to the Red River Spartans USPHL Junior Club, formerly the Nashville Spartans of Nolensville. The debut games for the Junior team at the arena happened weeks ago on September 13th and 14th. The fan turnout was enough to push the team top five in attendance to start the season amongst USPHL teams.
Which now has some questioning, could Clarksville and F&M Bank Arena be home to a pro hockey franchise?
North America is home to five professional hockey leagues. The NHL, AHL, ECHL, SPHL, and FPHL. While the average NHL capacity is 17,700, the AHL is roughly 8,000. Moving down to the ECHL, capacity ranges from 17,000 seats; yet the average capacity is around 5,000. F&M Bank Arena's hockey seating capacity caps at 5,000, meaning it would count as one of the top five smallest arenas in the league, yet average in attendance if they sold out seating regularly.
The Adirondack Thunder (4,794 cap.), is the smallest arena in the ECHL. Analyzing the population of the city, 123,000 people, and another team in the Kalamazoo K-Wings (5,113 cap.) with a city population of 73,000 people, Clarksville leads with an estimated 176,000 residents. The town realistically could handle an ECHL team based on the population.
Just one hour away from Clarksville, before the Nashville Predators, the city hosted the Nashville Knights, of the ECHL. They were an immediate hit with attendance of over 6,000 fans many nights and a league attendance record of 8,805 in 1990. The team did relatively well for southern hockey in the 1990s, however, fan support waned over the last couple of years, and the team was moved to Florida in 1996.
Traveling three hours east outside of Nashville is Knoxville TN, the third largest city in Tennessee, home to the Knoxville Ice Bears of the SPHL. The team has been in Knoxville and hosts up to 4000 fans per game; a viable minor league hockey city.
The city of Nashville has seen tremendous growth in the hockey community since the Knights left town and the Predators arrived. In fact, the city came close to loosing the Predators when former owner Craig Leipold expressed how he felt of the team.
"I'm tired of losing money," Leipold said. "I found someone willing to step up and invest in this team and make it happen (2007).
A Canadian billionaire, whom many don't know his name, helped save the franchise from leaving Nashville; Jim Balsillie.
Weeks ago the Ford Ice Centers held a celebration, commemorating the rink(s) milestones. The center in Antioch became the city's stepping stone for youth hockey, with Bellevue following years later.
Since their openings in 2014 and 2019, Ford Ice Center Antioch and Bellevue have welcomed 1.5 million visitors annually, while Ford Ice Center Clarksville (a part of the F&M Bank Arena buildout in downtown Clarksville) saw 300,000 guests come through the doors in the facility’s first year.
The Predators training camp continues through the week. Click here to view the full schedule.
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Great article and glad to see Nashville becoming a hockey town with a growing fan base