2017 Stanley Cup Final

Lore & Background

The 2016–17 Predators were a team built on speed, grit, and an almost absurd depth of two-way skill. PK Subban, Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, and Matt Cullen formed a core that could outwork anyone on the ice, while Pekka Rinne anchored the net with the kind of calm that made opponents' shots seem like suggestions. Peter Laviolette's system demanded relentless forechecking and transitional speed, and the 115-point regular season—matching the 2015–16 Penguins' mark—was the statistical proof that a team from a mid-sized Tennessee market could out-execute the league's biggest budgets.

The playoff run through Anaheim, St. Louis, and Winnipeg was a masterclass in structured aggression. The Predators did not blink against any opponent, and by the time they met Pittsburgh in the Final, the narrative was electric: a young, hungry Western Conference team against the perennial powerhouse of the East, with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as the counterweight.

The series itself was a study in near-misses. Nashville competed at a high level across all six games, winning in their own building and keeping the Penguins honest, but Pittsburgh's depth and Crosby's clutch scoring proved decisive. The final buzzer in Game 6 in Pittsburgh was a moment of collective grief in Nashville, but also a moment of pride. The franchise had arrived. The gap between 'promising team' and 'championship contender' had been closed, and the 2017 Final became the yardstick against which every future run would be measured.

In Their Own Story

The arena in Pittsburgh was a cauldron of orange and black, 19,000 voices shaking the glass. In the Nashville bench, the players sat with their sticks across their knees, breath fogging in the cold air between periods. The ice was scarred, pockmarked with the ghosts of five previous games. A Zamboni hissed through the rink, leaving a fresh white sheet where the puck had been a second ago. Somewhere in the crowd, a kid in a Predators jersey held a sign that read 'GAME 7.' There wouldn't be one. The coach's voice was low, almost conversational, as he walked down the bench. The players nodded. They had given everything. The scoreboard glowed red. In Nashville, 500 miles south, a city that had waited nineteen years for this moment sat in a silence that was somehow louder than any celebration could have been.

Reader's Guide

1998–99: The Predators begin play as an expansion franchise, finishing 31–45–6. It matters because it sets the baseline: a small-market team with no legacy, no infrastructure, and a fanbase still learning to trust the product.

2003–04: Peter Laviolette is hired as head coach. The team begins its identity shift toward speed and structure, laying philosophical groundwork that will pay off a decade later.

2013–14: The Predators make their first Conference Final, losing to Los Angeles. The message is clear: the ceiling has been raised, but the championship round remains out of reach.

2016–17: The 115-point season. The Predators top the Western Conference, sweep through three rounds, and reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time. They fall to Pittsburgh 4–2. This is the watershed: the franchise proves it belongs in the conversation, and the 'small-market underdog' label becomes a badge rather than a limitation.

2018–19: Nashville returns to the Conference Final, losing to St. Louis. The 2017 run is no longer a fluke; it is a pattern. The franchise has entered the era of sustained contention, and every subsequent playoff push is measured against that six-game Final in Pittsburgh.

Did You Know?

• The Predators' 115 points in 2016–17 tied the single-season NHL record set by the 2015–16 Pittsburgh Penguins, making Nashville the first team to match that mark in a different era of the salary cap.
• This was the first time in franchise history (founded 1998) that the Predators played in the Stanley Cup Final, ending a 19-year wait for the team's ultimate stage.
• Sidney Crosby won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, capping a series in which he scored in multiple games to keep Pittsburgh ahead in the decisive contests.
• The Predators entered the Final as the top seed in the Western Conference, having beaten Anaheim, St. Louis, and Winnipeg on their way through three rounds.