Last week was a snow filled weekend for most of the United States. Most of the country saw a major winter storm pass through. Because of that, many college and professional sporting events were either postponed or had their schedule adjusted to account for the inclement weather conditions.
One such game was the Nashville Predators home game at Bridgestone Arena against the Utah Mammoth. The game was initially scheduled for 2:30 central time but was moved up two hours to 12:30 central time. The league made the announcement on Friday so fans had a good amount of warning.
Still the upcoming storm was enough for many fans to stay home. Pictures of the Pekka Rinne statue outside the arena covered with snow were posted on X. So few fans showed up the arena announced on their jumbotron that all fans, regardless of where their purchased tickets were, could move to sit in the lower bowl. The arena was also dealing with staffing issues because of the storm, so consolidating most of the fan base into one part of the area helped consolidate which of the limited number of concession stands would remain open. Fans in attendance also received a 50% discount on some concessions.
The announced attendance came out to just over 6,000 fans. That’s just over a third of the arena’s announced ice hockey capacity of 17,113 and the Predators have been pretty much filling to capacity all season. Seeing the images of a more than half empty Bridgestone Arena reminded us on a game that lives in NHL legend. We’re talking about the “334 Club”.
The “334 Club” refers to the 334 brave souls who bared eight inches of snow to watch the Calgary Flames take on the New Jersey Devils on January 22, 1987. The visiting Flames had made it to the arena, the old Brendan Byrne arena in the Meadowlands, in time so the league said if enough Devils players and NHL officials show up the game will go on. With 105 minute delay the puck was dropped and the Devils skated off with a 7-5 win.
Stories from that day have become the stuff of hockey legend ala Eddie Shore’s historic trek to Montreal. Peter McNab from the Devils stranded his car on the highway and walked the final mile and a half to the arena. Fellow Devil Doug Sulliman drove backwards in the opposite traffic lane as a means to reaching the game. Sulliman had his only career hat trick that night. He remembers there only be a few hats on the ice so he threw his own, which was on the bench, to add to the count.
Even if you’ve never heard the full story of the “334 Club”, you have probably seen images or videos of the eerily empty arena as a regulation NHL game takes place. MSG Networks made a short documentary on that night you can watch here. The fans who were in attendance had their information taken by the team to become members of the “334 Club”, perhaps hockey’s most exclusive fan club, and forever be a part of the team’s history.
This Nashville Predators game took place on January 24th, only a few days removed from the 38th anniversary of the “334 Club” game. Hockey has a funny way of doing things like that, right? The group of Predators fans from Saturday’s game is nowhere near as exclusive as the “334 Club”. Best guestimate says there were 20ish times more fans in attendance. Plus, the “just over 6,000 club” doesn’t have as nice of a ring to it.