Ryan Johansen’s photogenic, underbite-sporting bulldogs aren’t the only four-legged friends in Smashville this season — several other players have started sharing their dogs’ lives on social media.
While many Predators tend to keep their personal lives to themselves, their dogs are out there living their best lives with as much gusto as many an Instagram influencer. Craig Smith’s mini golden retriever Tula and Yannick Weber’s two Siberian huskies, June and Willow, have about 1,200 followers apiece, and Roman Josi’s two dogs, Kingsley and Bella, are closing in on 3,000. The latest addition to the pup pack is Smash — full name Lord Banner of Smashville — the Nashville Predators’ official team puppy.
Yes, like so many other teams throughout the league — including Central Division rivals the St. Louis Blues — the Nashville Predators finally got a dog.
“Other NHL teams were getting dogs, and we were like, ‘We should get a dog, because who doesn’t love an office puppy?’ ” Smash’s keeper Kristen Finch tells the Scene during a recent visit to Fair Park, a new 1-acre dog park near the fairgrounds. “It’s been a huge office-morale booster for sure. People love having him around.”
Finch works in the team’s communications department and had been toying with the idea of adopting a puppy. So before going to meet Smash at his foster home, she sold the idea of a team dog to Preds President Sean Henry. Smash, a black-and-white mutt with floppy paws and the most perfect spot at the top of his head, was adopted through Keely’s Friends Dog Rescue in Goodlettsville. He became a fan favorite almost instantly.
“I knew people love puppies, but I didn’t realize the extent,” says Finch. “The first day we announced [Smash] at a game, he already had 2,500 followers on Instagram. I didn’t realize how huge it was gonna blow up!”
In his two months with the team, Smash has racked up nearly 9,000 Instagram followers (his handle is @predspup), rough-housed with record-breaking goal scorer Viktor Arvidsson, helped deliver traffic updates on NewsChannel 5, and even sat in the front row of the team’s official team photo in captain Roman Josi’s lap. But there’s still plenty more to do.
Finch notes that Smash hasn’t yet met Johansen’s popular pups, Doug and Dozer. “But a lot of our players are getting puppies,” she says, “so we’ll have to schedule playdates with them.”
And will Smash eventually make an appearance in the team store? Doug and Dozer have their own plush toys, after all.
“Stay tuned,” Finch says. “They won’t have it in time for playoffs, but it’s in the works for next season.”
Further cementing the Preds’ status as the most dog-friendly team in the league, Weber and his fiancée Kayla Price also founded Weber’s Woof Pack this year, a Preds fan club for dogs. For a $30 club fee, which benefits the Nashville Humane Association, your dog gets a Woof Pack collar and leash, a dog tag, a dog bowl and invitations to exclusive dog-park meet-ups throughout the city where, yes, Smash also likes to go play. Sign up at nashvillepredators.com/woof.
