NASHVILLE — The 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning is 10 days away, and Colton Sissons said he can’t wait.
The Predators forward and teammate Mikael Granlund were at Nissan Stadium on Wednesday watching crews prepare the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans for the game Feb. 26 (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN360, TVAS2, NHL LIVE).
“We were looking forward to it for so long and it’s finally here,” Sissons said. “Our families are going to be pouring into town, and friends and stuff, and everybody is so excited. It will be an amazing experience to have an outdoor game in our backyard.”
The game will mark another hockey milestone for Nashville in recent years. It was the site of the 2016 NHL All-Star Game, the first time the city hosted the event, and the Predators reached their first Stanley Cup Final in 2017. The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Predators in six games, but the three games played in Nashville featured tens of thousands of fans crowding the streets around Bridgestone Arena in a massive outdoor celebration.
“We’ve had a lot of cool events to kind of raise the energy level around hockey and build our fan base,” Sissons said. “It’s at a tremendous level now. This is kind of the next step, another feather in the Nashville hockey cap.”
Sissons has never played a professional game outdoors, though he said he played outdoors a few times growing up in North Vancouver, British Columbia. He missed the 2020 NHL Winter Classic with the Predators because of a lower-body injury. Nashville lost 4-2 to the Dallas Stars at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.
Granlund is a veteran when it comes to playing outdoors. The forward played two outdoor games in his native Finland early in his professional career and has played two in the NHL. The first was the 2016 Stadium Series at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, when Granlund and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1. He also played with the Predators in the 2020 Winter Classic.
“They’re always special events,” Granlund said. “As a kid when you grow up, you’re skating in outdoor rinks. That’s how we all grew up pretty much, and that’s one of the best things in your childhood when you were able to get out there and just hang out with your friends and play some hockey. This kind of reminds me of that. You get to play outside, have the fresh air. It’s really exciting and I’m really looking forward to it.”
It will be the second outdoor NHL game in one of the League’s Southern cities, following the 2020 Winter Classic. The Carolina Hurricanes will host the 2023 Stadium Series at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, next February against an opponent to be announced.
“I think our game is going to draw a lot of people, not just from the Nashville area, but others from surrounding states and Southerners that maybe aren’t even the biggest hockey fans,” Sissons said. “Hopefully it will bring more fans to the game, more fans to the [Predators]. … It will be so much fun. There will be people from all over, from all walks of life to watch a hockey game outdoors, so it will be cool.”
Forecasts call for highs in the low 50s on Feb. 26, but temperatures should be cooler by game time. When Granlund played in the 2016 Stadium Series, the temperature was 35 degrees.
“That was pretty cold,” Granlund said. “So it’s something totally different. But at the same time, you just go out there and play hockey, try to enjoy yourself.”
He said he’s eager to experience outdoor hockey again.
“I’m sure it’s going to be buzzing here,” Granlund said. “It’s going to be loud, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”