Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1547037
38 // OCTOBER 2026 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM I f Andy Franklin's vision comes true, mem- bers of the Nashville Predators' community in Middle Tennessee will eventually move along from the team's youth programs to one day become high NHL draft choices. "That's kind of my big thing," said Franklin, who has been with the Predators for a dozen years and is now the NHL team's director of rink pro- gramming. The Nashville native grew up playing in the city's youth hockey league and later skated for Father Ryan High School and the Vanderbilt University club team. Franklin oversees operations at the Ford Ice Centers in Antioch, Bellevue and Clarksville, Tennessee. In May, the team also took charge of operations at the Centennial Ice Rink, the Predators' practice facility. " We wanted to make sure that nothing really changes," said Franklin. "We're still going to make sure that we do the operational things that we like to do at our Ford Ice Centers and just implement them there. We're making some very minimal changes to make sure that our players are safe and also supported." Having played his youth hockey at Centennial, Franklin is quite familiar with the facility. He expressed a certain amount of nostalgia for the building, which should bolster the Predators' connections with youth, adult and commu- nity hockey programs. "Each year, we expand a little bit fur- ther on either a new program or a new initiative or just larg er enrollment numbers of our player registrations," Franklin said. "Our goal essentially over the past 10 years has been to pretty much build a pipeline for all of our youth hockey players to suc- ceed in. That all starts with Learn to Skate." The Young Preds Learn to Play pro- gram has exhibited strong growth. It h a d 4 01 p a r t i c i p a n t s i n 2 0 2 5 - 2 6, a n increase of 13.6% over the previous year. The goal is to build lifelong relationships between players and the sport. " We 've j u st r e a l l y t r i e d t o m a ke s u r e t h a t we've bolstered our registration numbers and PHOTOS BY Getty Images; Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators Are Committed To Continuing To Grow The Game In The Music City A HOCKEY MELODY by Bob Reinert