NASHVILLE, TN - “I Like It, I Love It, I want some more of it!” echo the chants around me. The ‘Preds’ have tied the game! The enthusiasm is contagious and I tap my cowboy boots in unison to the beat of Country superstar Tim McGraw’s hit tune that was creatively crafted into the Nashville Predators’ signature goal song.

Smashville, which is what the Predator’s home stadium, the Bridgestone Arena, has been dubbed, is filled with countless, boisterous fans, dressed in the team’s colours — gold, navy and white. Gnash, the Preds’ saber-toothed tiger mascot, energizes the crowd with stunts and his high-energy spirit.

In this unique town that’s famous for country music and honky tonks, hockey is another one-of-a-kind Nashville entertainment experience.

The Preds, who appeared in the 2017 Stanley Cup final - they lost to Pittsburgh - have become the hottest ticket in the NHL and the city of Nashville is inviting hockey fans from other cities to come and enjoy some good hockey and good times after the games. It’s an appealing invitation for fans of teams like Toronto and Buffalo, who live a 12 hour drive away from Nashville.

Not only is the hockey better in Nashville, the cost to see a game here is much lower than in Toronto and the country entertainment can’t be matched anywhere.

They call this “Music City” for a reason and just because you’re watching hockey doesn’t mean the only song you’ll hear is the national anthem. Live music is performed between periods on the ‘Smashville’ Band Stage, showcasing some of the area’s top musical talents, spanning the spectrum of country, rock and pop. It’s almost as if you went to a hockey game and a concert broke out.

Left: After the games, hockey fans can head to the nearby honky tonks for some fun and good music. Right: The area around the Predators home area offers lots of great entertainment.

I’m especially pleased to find out one of the bands playing the night I attended a Preds’ game — Bootleg Glory — is from Canada.

Bridgestone Arena is a 20,000-seat multi-purpose venue that opened in the winter of 1996 and has since hosted more than 13 million people — most of them hockey fans. It’s also Nashville’s No. 1 venue for large-scale musical productions, as well as one of the nation’s most highly acclaimed entertainment and sports complexes. Other events that have been held here include the World Figure Skating Championships, NCAA and SEC basketball tournaments and an NHL Entry Draft.

Whether your team wins or loses, you are sure to find somewhere to celebrate or drown your sorrows a short distance from the arena. And, because roads around the arena are blocked off on game nights, you can avoid singing the blues over heavy traffic and let your boots do the walking to the city’s famed entertainment district.

Above: The Music City has lots of good, affordable accommodation and prices to games are very reasonable.

So Bro — South of Broadway — the area where the arena is located, is also where the city’s new $635 million Music City Convention Center stands and of course there’s lots of hot new restaurants, cocktail bars and trendy hotels to be found here. Nearby, Honky Tonk Alley is filled with countless live music venues — from Legends on the Corner, to Tootsies and everything in between, the iconic neon lights illuminate the streets and the electric atmosphere that has made Nashville so famous is always in full swing.

“Music is the reason I get up every afternoon,” says the tagline on my souvenir mug but maybe they should add “hockey” because lots of people get out to see the Preds play.

From honky tonks to hockey, Nashville is sure to have you singing its praises.