Freeman At Last, Freeman At Last

After several weeks of false leads, retractions, revisions and amendments, the local investment group led by David Freeman has finally struck a deal with Mayor Karl Dean on adjustments to the Sommet Center lease, removing a large obstacle in the way of completing the sale of the team and preserving its future in Nashville. Approval by the Metro Sports Authority and Metro Council is expected in the coming weeks, but should be a relative formality at this point.

I think that’s worthy of a repeat visit by the On the Forecheck Dancers…

Rather than pontificate, I’ll simply provide this statement that was released by Joe Hall on behalf of David Freeman this afternoon:

"We are excited to reach an agreement with the Mayor’s Office on lease changes to keep the Predators in Nashville under local ownership. We are very appreciative of Mayor Dean for getting this done amid the many priorities he has as the new mayor of our city. He obviously has a strong desire for this hockey team to remain in Nashville.

We also appreciate the Mayor's staff who worked tirelessly with us to get this done. Most of all, we are excited for the city and the fans who will enjoy many more years of Predators hockey for the long run.

We are looking forward to working with the Sports Authority and Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors and the Metro Council to address questions and finalize this agreement for the city, while also working on the final steps to complete the sale and gain NHL Board of Governors' approval.

Our group wishes to thank the fans for their continued support, patience and enthusiasm for Predators hockey. This club has been playing great hockey this month. The Preds are undefeated in their last seven games and have climbed into fourth place in the Western Conference.

We hope that we can simply play our own small role in the long term of success and prosperity of the Predators hockey club and the City of Nashville. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of this experience."

Saturday night against St. Louis just got a LOT more exciting, that’s for sure…