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Nashville Predators: 10 Best Moments since Predators were saved

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In 1995, rumors flew around the NHL that the New Jersey Devils would be relocating to Nashville. It was the first sign of hockey in Music City since the Dixie Flyers of the Eastern Hockey League had skated in Municipal Auditorium in the 1960s. However, the deal fell through, and Nashville was without a franchise heading into the 1996 season.

That all changed though, after a deal that tried to bring an NBA team to Nashville, failed. The city turned again, to hockey. In January of 1996, Craig Leipold made a request to the NHL for an expansion franchise in Nashville.