Nashville Predators Bring NHL to Youth League with Sensational 'Smashmob'

For some lucky youth hockey players, the NHL was alive and well for one glorious game recently. 

Yahoo! Sports reports on this wonderful story of two teams getting the full NHL treatment while the gloom of a lockout continues to deprive fans of the real deal. 

It all went down at the A-Game Sportsplex in Franklin, where the Nashville Predators apparently invited about 250 fans to a pizza party. 

What those fans found out when they arrived at the Sportsplex is that they were to play a huge part in making some young athletes' days. 

Instead of eating pizza and enjoying the company of other hockey fans who are craving professional hockey, they were given the chance to bring the ambiance of a regular season NHL game to this clash between the Cyclones and Blizzards. 

It seems the kids received every last aspect of a real pro game, with fans shouting, drummers pounding away on their drums and a play-by-play being called. 

At the 3:25 mark, it seems that a few of them were even interviewed like real sports stars. All the while, you can spot some extremely happy young hockey fans living out their dreams as they play in front of a boisterous audience. 

Predators coach Barry Trotz explained why the team decided to crash the game, via The Tennessean. 

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I think it was a thrill for the kids. That’s sort of what our organization has done. The lockout is not where we want to be, but we’re making the best of it and doing some things in the community and it’s a thrill of a lifetime for some of these kids. 

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The lockout has deprived us all of action we have grown accustomed to watching at this time of year. 

We applaud the Predators for making the best of an awful situation and spreading a great deal of joy to their young fans. 

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