Dierks Bentley ‘Toots’ Nashville Predators in Stanley Cup Race

Dierks Bentley is a huge hockey fan, and when he isn't on the road or working, he plays on a local Nashville team called the Iceholes. So, when the NHL's Nashville Predators won their first round of Stanley Cup playoff games against the Anaheim Ducks, the singer could not have been more excited.

"The NHL playoffs have been the best they've ever been, and so many game sevens and overtimes," Dierks tells The Boot. "It's funny, I was on the Dr. Don Show up in New York City on the NHL Network about four years ago. I play hockey, so they're giving me the benefit of the doubt. They're being cool to me and promoting my record, and they asked me who my favorite player was, and I said, [the Predators] 'Jordin Tootoo.' They looked at me with disgust, and the whole interview changed. They seemed to be like, 'OK, this guy doesn't know anything about hockey obviously. Let's go back to talking about your record.' I look at him now, and I think, 'I did know what I was talking about!'"

"I've always loved Toots, because he goes out there and gives it 110% and not about all the hitting, but it's just about the effort he gives on the ice," he continues. "He always tries so hard. I think it rubs off on the rest of the team. They're scrappers, and they believe in themselves. Toots is having a great series, and this is great for Nashville. Everyone I know from the Mayor to the guys on my bus are so excited about the guys getting in the next round. It's exciting."

The Nashville Predators have won two of the five games in the second round against the Vancouver Canucks, including Saturday night's 4-3 triumph. The team will go into Monday night's (May 9) Western Conference semifinals game, needing to win the match, otherwise they will be finished in the race for the Stanley Cup.

Nashville has a fresh face on the team, and the player who sports the No. 12 jersey, is a new favorite with the crowd and with Dierks, not to mention the player's wife, Carrie Underwood.

Mike Fisher, who was acquired from the Ottawa Senators earlier this year, has shown himself to be a team player, and during the first playoff series, as Carrie looked on, he tussled with the Ducks' center Ryan Getzlaf.

"Fisher's been great. The game I was at, he took out their main guy," says Dierks. "A guy like that to be new on the team to go and take out the toughest guy like that, it's great. They're all jelling, and it's just fun to watch a team that really believes in themselves."

Dierks, who is climbing the country charts with 'Am I the Only One,' continues his Jägermeister tour with a show on Wednesday (May 11) in Augusta, Ga.

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