Nashville Predators Goalie Helmet and Uniform History

The Predators netminders for the 2023/24 season are Kevin Lankinen and Juuse Saros. The NHL franchise team is based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Kevin Lankinen

Lankinen played for the Chicago Blackhawks before the Preds. The Blackhawks signed a two-year entry-level contract with him in May 2018.

Lankinen's NHL debut was made on January 19, 2021, in a loss match against the Florida Panthers. He recorded his first victory, 4-1 against the Detroit Red Wings on January 22.

The Predators signed a one-year contract for $1.5 million with Lankinen on 14 July 2022. On March 3, 2023, the athlete was signed to a one-year contract extension for $2 million.

The goaltender's 2022-23 season was finished with a record of 9-8-1 and a .916 save percentage. He made at least 30 saves in 12 games.

On October 8, Lankinen recorded his first win with Nashville against the San Jose Sharks in the second game of the NHL Global Series.

As a Finnish player, Kevin represented Finland in the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championships and won the gold medal. Lankinen became the player with the second-highest save percentage throughout the tournament.

Juuse Saros

The Predators selected Saros in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He was signed with the team on June 16, 2015, to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Saros played his NHL debut game on 28 November 2015 in a 4–1 loss match against the Buffalo Sabres. In that match, he stopped 20 shots. In the next season, he recorded 34 saves while playing in his first NHL win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on 23 October 2016.

Nashville signed a three-year contract extension with Saros for $4.5 million on July 2018, and a four-year $20 million extension in Aug 2021.

Before his playing career with the Predators, he was playing for the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. He has also played for the Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) of a Finnish ice hockey league, Liiga.

Saros made one of the finest seasons in the Predators' history during 2022-23 as a goaltender. He finished the season ranking first in the league in goals saved above expected (46.7), and tied for sixth in save percentage (.919).

Nashville Predators colors for uniform are golden, blue, and white. The golden color is the most prevalent in the Preds' uniform and emblems.

Initially, the franchise had gone with the yellow color, the same color as the tiger, for their jersey. The yellow color represents happiness, hope, and spontaneity.

They slowly shifted towards the golden color from yellow. The golden color stands for wealth, prosperity, success, affluence, and luxury.

Nashville Predators blue jersey was revealed on November 27, 2009, in a match against the St. Louis Blues. They also came up with a black jersey on the same date.

In the Nashville Predators uniform history, they have played in white, blue and black jerseys on different occasions. However, their signature uniform color is golden.

Nashville Predators Color Codes

GOLD
PANTONE: PMS 1235 C
HEX COLOR: #FFB81C;
RGB: (255,184,28)
CMYK: (0,31,98,0)

NAVY BLUE
PANTONE: 282
HEX COLOR: #041E42;
RGB: (4,30,66)
CMYK: (100,90,13,68)

WHITE
HEX COLOR: #FFFFFF;
RGB: (255,255,255)
HSB: (42,0,100)
CMYK: (0,0,0,0)

The Predators revealed their winter classic jersey in collaboration with Adidas and the NHL on November 2, 2019; two months prior to the Predators facing the Dallas Stars in the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.

The new jersey was unveiled as their sporting dress for that particular occasion that took place on New Year's Day. It has a classic custom look and is different than any jerseys ever worn by the team.

The jersey comprises eye-catching Gold striping, inside which the team name is written in cursive. The same strips are made on both shoulders. The new jersey was set to wear in the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day.

The winter jersey features a new logo in the form of a roaring saber-toothed tiger's head. It represents the Predators' size, strength, and speed. The new logo gives a retro look to pay homage to the history and heritage of hockey in Nashville.

Regarding Jersey, Adidas stated, "The new jersey was created with a heritage aesthetic, featuring designs inspired by Nashville's rich hockey history and its passionate hockey fanbase."

It further added, "The script crest, felt block lettering, and classic striping create a nostalgic look suitable for the NHL Winter Classic's celebration of the game's origins outdoors."

The Predators logo has been changed only once since its inception in 1998. They are using the saber-toothed tiger in their emblems since the beginning. It looks really aggressive and is easily distinguishable.

The team didn't want to completely replace their logo. They rather did some redesigning to give their emblem a more aesthetic, modern, and aggressive look. They take the tiger as their pride.

1997-2012

Predators logo history starts in 1997 when the franchise revealed its first logo on September 25, 1997, in the form of a saber-toothed tiger.

A fang and foreleg bone of a saber-toothed tiger was found 26 years earlier in a cave just below the First American Center. The excavation was taking place at the downtown Nashville site at the American Center.

The construction workers discovered the nine-inch fang and the foreleg bone of the tiger whose species was extinct for at least 10,000 years. It was found while drilling through 20 feet of solid rock before coming to a soft muddy area.

JDK Design of Burlington, Vermont, and Dye, and Van Mol & Lawrence of Nashville codesigned the saber-toothed tiger as the first logo of the Predators. The first logo was used by the franchise till 2012.

2012 - present

During the 2011-12 season, the logo and uniforms of the Predators were designed to develop a powerful, long-term brand message. However, the theme and most of the design were unchanged from the original logo.

The emblem was redesigned to help fill new life with a more contemporary, aggressive, streamlined logo into the Nashville Predators imagery.

The red lines on the head of the tiger were made completely blue and a golden strip was lined from its nose to the neck. The same color was added to the eye to give the logo a more bold and aggressive look.

The dark version emblems of the Predators were revealed in 2012 with a golden and blue background. The golden one has an outer lining in the white, while that in the blue one is golden.

A new secondary logo represented the state flag of Tennessee and Nashville's Music City heritage. A guitar pick shape represented the state's three grand divisions - West, Middle, and East.