Joe Rexrode

USA TODAY NETWORK -- Tennessee

Arpon Basu figured he would have no problem finding top-notch barbecue ribs on a Saturday night in Nashville, and more of a problem watching hockey.

The Montreal-based senior managing editor of LNH.com, the league’s French-language site, wasn’t optimistic about finding a place with the Washington Capitals vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins on TV. But as he walked from his West End hotel, he passed a bar with the game on. Then another. Then another.

“Literally every single place had the hockey game on,” he said of that April 29 revelation. “They had baseball and basketball on smaller TVs. My natural assumption was no one would be watching the hockey game. Everyone was watching it. This has been remarkable to see.”

We aren’t just watching the Predators chase history, which the team will make if it can beat St. Louis on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena to reach its first Western Conference final. We’re watching the hockey world outside Nashville discover the hockey world in Nashville.

Much of the NHL media got a taste during the All-Star game and surrounding festivities on Jan. 28-31, 2016. Today that’s reaching mainstream media as this playoff run sweeps up the city and creates wild scenes at Bridgestone Arena during games. ESPN analyst Barry Melrose captured the city’s essence last week, saying: “If Nashville goes to the Stanley Cup finals, it will be the best Stanley Cup finals we’ve ever had.”

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The April 30 game was televised nationally on NBC, a 3-1 Predators victory, and it couldn’t have been a better commercial for the environment inside 17,113-seat Bridgestone created by the organization and fans. Broadcast analyst Pierre McGuire gushed in the first period: “This is a bubbling cauldron of Predator pride. I mean, it is so loud down here … as loud as any building in the league.”

And in the second period: “I find it just surreal. To think that, crowdwise it’s not as large as most of the large crowds in the league, just because the building isn’t that big. But the noise levels are deafening.”

And in the third period: “This crowd is unbelievable, it really, it makes a difference. It truly does.”

And with 5 seconds left: “If you haven’t been to a game in Nashville, put it on your bucket list. It is something else.”

Predators players and coach Peter Laviolette talk after every home game about the lift they get from that energy. The rowdiness is not a new thing, as chronicled by Justin Bradford in his book, “Nashville Predators: The Making of Smashville.”

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From the 1998 start of the franchise, season-ticket holder Mark Hollingsworth organized chants in Section 303, and they still originate from there.

“It’s kind of a melting pot of cheers,” Bradford said of a game atmosphere that feels like a mix of college football, soccer and college hockey. Predators President and CEO Sean Henry has likened the feel of the Nashville crowds to the rowdies who follow Adam Sandler’s character around in the golf comedy “Happy Gilmore.”

“One two three four, you just hit the icy floor,” they scream at Bridgestone when an opponent falls. “Five six seven eight, where the hell did you learn to skate? Looooooooser.”

And so on. It’s always been fun and non-traditional. Now it is packed every night. The team on the ice is a championship contender. And Nashville is seen less and less as a Southern city trying to figure out hockey, and more and more like a hockey hotbed.

“When people are shocked anymore by what Nashville has, it shows they’re not paying attention enough,” Bradford said.

“I think most people who come to Nashville would probably be surprised how charged up this town is,” Basu said. “It’s undeniable. You can’t miss it, it’s there. Whatever anyone thought about Nashville as a hockey market before, it doesn’t apply now. It’s healthy, it’s vibrant, it’s thriving.”

Sometimes it’s surprising. Basu wasn’t able to get those ribs — his restaurant of choice, Peg Leg Porker, was out of them. But it was showing the Capitals vs. the Penguins on the big screen.

Contact Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.