The Wide World of Predators' Hockey: Preds' Fan Asen Hails from Bulgaria

The Nashville Predators have one of the most passionate local fan bases in the National Hockey League. Folks from other hockey markets that visit the Bridgestone Arena are are often amazed at the intensity of support. The TV time out standing ovation has become a tradition that is unparalleled around the league.

We often hear that folks in other markets know little about the Predators and that players do not get the recognition that they deserve. Pekka Rinne would be a leader for the Hart and Vezina Trophies and Shea Weber would be a Norris finalist if the Preds were located in a "traditional" market.

When looking at the analytics of page hits at POTG, I'm always amazed at their origins. The US, Canada, Japan, Russia, and Finland round out the top five which is not surprising but many other countries are also listed.

Today, I received a long Tweet from Asen Peshev a.k.a. @nature_one who is a huge Predator fan that hails from 5,375 miles away in Sofia, Bulgaria. Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, has over two million residents and is located on the Balkin peninsula in southeastern Europe.

Asen is a reader of POTG and explains how he became a fan of the Predators. "I started to watch hockey and NHL mostly since 2007. Really enjoy the game and there's something about the Predators that really liked it. The hard working team,their defense first style of play and great coach in Barry Trotz really stood in front of me."

He continues, "Also Shea Weber is a great player and got me involved even more to them. It's hard to watch live games even on ESPN player because of the time zone difference (8 hours) but trying to read and be supportive anyway I can."

He has the same frustration with media coverage as fans in Nashville, "The thing that really bothers me is that those guys don't get the respect they deserve and often are overlooked in media which I think is a huge mistake."

Maybe one day we'll all get to meet Asen as he says "(I) Really hope to see them live one day! And btw I am really proud with my hoodie :)"


Thanks for reading Asen and for your support of the Nashville Predators!

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass