Carrie Underwood Feels ‘Blessed’ After Predators’ ‘Incredible Season’
Carrie Underwood has broken her internet silence for the first time since the Nashville Predators lost the Stanley Cup to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night (June 11), saying she feels "blessed" after a winning season.
"Had a lovely night last night celebrating with the players, wives and staff of the @predsnhl ...oh, as well as with this hunk!" Underwood posted to Instagram on Wednesday (June 14), accompanied by a picture of herself with her husband, Predators captain Mike Fisher.
"We are so thankful for such an incredible season and the amazing group of people we got to spend it with!" she writes, adding the hashtag #blessed.
The Predators swept through an amazing season in 2017, winning their way into the playoffs and then into the Stanley Cup Finals as Nashville and the country music community got caught up in hockey fever. Underwood was among the most fervent of all of the fans, showing up to cheer them on at games and even going a little bit too far with her Preds spirit online, sharing some heat-of-the-moment posts that she later admitted might have gone too far.
Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman Take in a Predators Nail-Biter
Underwood also sang the National Anthem at one of the home games, joining a short list of country stars including Little Big Town, Lady Antebellum, Vince Gill, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Dierks Bentley and Faith Hill in showing their team spirit. Thomas Rhett, Brett Eldredge, Lee Brice, Nashville star Charles Esten and more were among those who showed support either in person at the games in Nashville or on social media over the course of the Preds' amazing run, which ended when the Penguins won Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Nashville on Sunday, taking home the Cup for the second consecutive year.
Fisher also shared his thanks via Instagram Wednesday, writing, "Thank you Preds fans for an unforgettable year! You brought passion like the NHL has never seen before and made me so proud to wear the jersey! You guys made this experience the best year of my career and can't thank you enough for the support and for the memories that I'll never forget!!"
Despite the disappointing end to the season, hockey has assumed a new prominence in Nashville.
“I’ve got some friends who work for the NHL. They said they’ve never seen an atmosphere like the one here in Nashville; the volume is the loudest they’ve ever heard in the country,” Dierks Bentley observed before the final game. “So it’s not so much what the Stanley Cup means for Nashville … it’s more about what Nashville’s doing for the sport of hockey. We’re doing a lot more for the NHL than the NHL’s doing for us.”
Country's Best Anthem Singer? You Decide!
Country Music Reacts to Preds' Loss