Who Sang the National Anthem During Nashville Predators 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs Games? [PICTURES]
In an interview during Game 4 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final series between the Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carrie Underwood summed up the vibe in Music City recently: "We do music, we do hockey, and we do everything loud.” Country stars have been showing their support for the Predators during their historic Stanley Cup Playoffs run, and the team has invited a number of big names to perform the National Anthem before home games.
Underwood herself started the tradition, way back before Game 3 -- Nashville's first home game -- of the Preds first 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs series vs. the Chicago Blackhawks. Luke Bryan sang the Anthem at Game 4, and the Predators defeated the Blackhawks four games to none to win that series and advance.
"I love the secrecy of not knowing," Dierks Bentley tells The Boot and other reporters. "I was at a game where someone next to me goes, 'I think Luke Bryan's singing today.' I was like, 'I was just out on Luke's farm this morning. He didn't say anything about it.' I texted him, 'Are you singing today?' He goes, 'Yeah. I'm getting ready to sing right now.' I'm like, 'What the hell?'"
During Round 2 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Little Big Town, Vince Gill and his daughters Jenny and Corinna and Lady Antebellum performed the National Anthem prior to Game 3, Game 4 and Game 6, respectively. Nashville defeated the St. Louis Blues four games to two in that series.
The Preds played the Anaheim Ducks during Round 3 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Western Conference Final. Keith Urban was on National Anthem duty for Game 3, while Kelly Clarkson did the honors for Game 4. When the Predators won the Western Conference Final -- for the first time in franchise history -- in Game 6, Trisha Yearwood had performed the Anthem.
"When [Yearwood] sang [at] Game 6 against Anaheim, that place would have gone through hell after that," Garth Brooks says. "They were so fired up."
Nashville is now playing in its first-ever Stanley Cup Final series, vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins. Martina McBride performed before puck drop of Game 3, the team's first home game of the series, while Bentley sang before Game 4.
"It was definitely surreal. The last time I sang the National Anthem was at a [Tennessee] Titans game in 2004; I did one at [Chicago's] Wrigley Field, I did one at the Titans. I was kind of like, ‘I’m done doing it. It’s a tough song,’ and then this opportunity came up," Bentley recalls. "I wasn’t nervous; I was definitely anxious. It goes from being very loud, crazy loud, and so many moving things to, you walk out there, it’s dead quiet, everyone’s doing this [places his hand over his heart]. It feels like you’re walking into a painting."
After four games, the series is tied at two games apiece; Game 5 will take place in Pittsburgh on Thursday night (June 8), and Game 6 is scheduled for Sunday (June 11) in Nashville. Who do you think will sing the National Anthem before that game?