Predators playing for Nashville in first home game since tragedy
In the face of tragedy, the Preds hope to play “inspired” hockey at home on Saturday
"It's an opportunity for our whole city to come together. I know we're going to come out ready to go because we want to give our fans and our city something to rally around," Kiefer Sherwood answered when asked about the Nashville Predators playing their first home game after the tragic events of the Covenant School shooting on Monday.
It's definitely something that's weighed heavily on the team since leaving for Boston. Ryan McDonagh, whose daughter's school was on lockdown during the tragedy, delayed his trip in order to stay close to his family. "It's difficult," he said, "we were pretty shaken up. This isn't the first school shooting that's happened, unfortunately. This is the first one that's happened really close to me. My oldest daughter being in school now, it definitely puts things in perspective for you. It was tough to leave. You have your family at home and you have your hockey family as well." He stayed home with his family as long as he could be fore he had to leave the next day to join his hockey family.
Today, McDonagh reflected on the week's emotions and returning to Nashville, "We have a job as the Nashville Predators hockey team to go out there and represent our city. If we can help someone feel a little bit happier, then we feel like we're doing our part to help the city recover from this." As far as tomorrow's game against the St. Louis Blues, he continued, "we want to play inspirational hockey."
Inspirational hockey is exactly what Nashville needs. Head Coach John Hynes said, "It’s special for the guys to come back to Nashville and play the first home game since [the shooting]… I'm confident they're going to come out feeling a lot of pride and put on a good show, to do the right thing for the city. They take a lot of pride in that."
Colton Sissons, who was walking his dog minutes away from the shooting as it occurred, looks forward to the opportunity to play in front of a Nashville crowd, "Giving people a little bit of a distraction right now is a beautiful thing, I think, and hopefully we can just go out there and play with passion. Just entertain some people that are hurting right now. I think we're pretty blessed to have that opportunity."
With so much focus on the tragedy, it's hard to remember that the Predators are also focused on trying to make the playoffs. I could go on to talk about elimination scenarios, games in hand, and the relative probability of making the playoffs versus acquiring the number one overall draft pick, none of that seems all too important right now in light of Monday's tragic events. As Kiefer Sherwood said, "I think the spotlight needs to be on the heroes there and supporting the families that were affected." I couldn't agree more.
Regardless of the outcome on Saturday, and regardless of how the season ends, this late-season Predators team will be remembered for the passion they've played with and the people they've played for. Before, the talk in the locker room was that they were playing for each other, but now they're playing for the whole city.
-featured image via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports-
