Achi news desk-
After dropping Game 2 at home on Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks are now in Nashville for Games 3 and 4 of their first round opener against the Predators. And the fans there are preparing for a unique playoff tradition that gives new meaning to Bridgestone Arena’s nickname: Smashville.
At the beginning of each playoff round, Pardes fans take hammers to a car covered in the opposing team’s name and colors. And the Canucks car is now outside the arena, ready to be crushed before Friday’s game.
“I’m curious how much of a hit it will be,” said Herman Dial, a Canucks reporter for The Athletic who is in Nashville to cover Games 3 and 4.
“That’s part of the fun of playoff hockey, right? Every fan base, every team has its traditions.”
Predators fans have also been known to throw catfish on the ice during playoff games, and they relentlessly taunt visiting goaltenders with deafening chants after every Nashville goal.
“I covered a regular season game between Vancouver and Nashville in December, and I can tell you that Bridgestone Arena absolutely rocks,” said Dial. “You don’t normally think of Nashville as one of the pure hockey markets in the NHL. But these fans are passionate, they’re loud, and it’s going to be a hostile and intimidating environment for the Canucks.”
The Canucks will have to face the Predators without number one goaltender Thatcher Demko, who made the trip to Nashville but will not suit up. Backup Casey DeSmith will be between the pipes, as he was for Game 2.
“DeSmith spoke after practice about how beneficial it was just for him to have Demko’s support and how close they were,” Dayal said.
“I think Demer is coming along for the ride — and he’s doing this thing in therapy and stuff — but I think it’s important that he’s around,” Canucks head coach Rick Touchette said.
“And Demer wants to be around, so I think that really helps.”
The Canucks will return Tyler Myers to the lineup on Friday. The defense missed Game 2 with the flu. He skated with the team during Thursday’s practice in Nashville, where the focus was on moving pucks through the continuous predator screen.
“Sometimes it just comes down to the desire and the hunger to get the puck to the net,” Myers said.
“I just thought Nashville’s desire to defend was better than our desire to score, let’s face it,” Tocchet said. “I think there is a position and a game there, but it’s really a desire.”
The Canucks will have fan support in Nashville.
“We landed here on Wednesday night and our taxi driver asked me if Canadians had the week off because he had heard of a lot of people from Vancouver coming in,” Dayal said.
But mostly, Bridgestone Arena will be full of fired-up Predators fans, fresh from crashing a car, looking for more Canuck destruction on the ice.
“It’s one to one, it’s two equal teams,” Tochet said. “It’s going to be an exciting game, and we have to embrace the excitement.”
