Predators players huddled around one phone to see if they had clinched Presidents' Trophy

BarDown Staff

Craig Smith , (Getty Images/Patrick McDermott)

One year removed from crusading to the Stanley Cup finals as an 8th-seed, the Nashville Predators are officially top of the league. The Preds currently sit at 115 points, and with the Boston Bruins losing their game against the Florida Panthers Thursday night to remain at 110 with two games to spare, Smashville will enter 2018 playoffs with home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

The clinching was also made possible by the Predators winning their own matchup against the Washington Capitals, but since that match ended prior to the Bruins-Panthers finish, the Preds players were all huddled around a phone to catch the end of the game.

Predators watching the end of Florida-Boston on a phone. Florida win clinches Presidents’ Trophy for Predators pic.twitter.com/5eIwRdAhBv
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 6, 2018

Of course clinching the Presidents’ Trophy doesn’t guarantee anything come playoff time. Just as the Washington Capitals, or better yet, former Capital Filip Forsberg who was dealt away from the team in a very unbalanced deal.

Filip Forsberg On #Preds winning Presidents’ Trophy: “we’ve seen especially here (in Washington) that the Trophy doesn’t mean that much, but I think just the home ice is going to be huge.”
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) April 6, 2018

One benefit that Smashville would probably have over the Capitals is one of the best home advantages in the league. While home ice always helps a team out, it helps exponentially more when the atmosphere is as raucous as Nashville’s.

(H/T NHL.com)