Yearwood treats Predators to feast on 'Trisha's Southern Kitchen' TV show

Trisha Yearwood was so inspired by the Nashville Predators' run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, she brought three of the players into her home and prepared a feast fit for champions on her Food Network show, "Trisha's Southern Kitchen."

The episode, which airs Saturday at 10:30 a.m.ET/PT, stars return guests Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg, plus newcomer Yannick Weber, and features a special game day menu of Loaded Curly Fry Nachos, Philly Cheesesteak Pull-Apart Bread, Slow Cooker Jalapeno Corn Dip, Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars and a Cherry Citrus Smash cocktail.
"It was cool to have them back and just tell them how proud we all were of their accomplishments and what they did," Yearwood told NHL.com. "And I think it's cool for people to get to see their fun side."
Yearwood had Johansen, Forsberg and Colin Wilson, who was traded July 1 to the Colorado Avalanche, on her show last season. That time she hit the ice with them and her friend Glenda Martin, and brought Glazed Limoncello Cookies. Yearwood said Johansen has already asked for another batch for the 2018 postseason.
Yearwood has been a Predators fan since the team's inception in 1998, and they once threw their band Christmas party at a game.

"I've got some pretty bad 90s hair pictures of going to see them play," she said.
When Yearwood was on tour with husband and fellow country music superstar Garth Brooks in the early 1990s, they used to play hockey with their crew members in arenas where they performed.
"A lot of the arenas we played had hockey teams and they would let us go play on their practice rinks," she said. "And so we'd go and suit up in all the gear and get on the ice with our sticks and the whole bit, and I mean, I'm terrible, but you'd just get out there to be on the ice. I'm not any good but I really do enjoy it. It's really fun."
Modest skills aside, Yearwood was thrilled to join Johansen, Forsberg and Wilson on the ice a year ago.

"You have so much respect for the skill that these guys have when you put on your skates and get on the ice," she said. "I'm just trying not to fall down and these guys, they're just so fast."
Yearwood is on tour so much that she doesn't get to go to many games in person, but she's always watching on TV from the road.

And when she got the chance to
sing the national anthem for Game 6
of the 2017 Western Conference finals in Nashville, she was excited to be included in the run of country music stars the Predators called on to perform The Star-Spangled Banner during the postseason.
Yearwood is a veteran of singing the national anthem at big sporting events, including the Daytona 500 and Game 1 of the 2014 World Series, but Game 6 in Nashville was so loud she couldn't hear her pitch pipe to figure out if she was starting on the right note.

"I was like, you know what? I'm just going to start where I think it's supposed to be and hope it's right," Yearwood said. "And it was. It was an amazing experience. I'm honored that I got a chance to be a part of it."

Game 6 also featured her favorite part of the playoffs, when Johansen made his first appearance since undergoing emergency thigh surgery after Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
"The night I sang the anthem, Ryan Johansen was recently hurt and on crutches and he went out on the ice and went up in the stands and he was gray, like he did not feel good," she said. "The respect and the ovation he got made me cry. Just to see the love for these players, that was the biggest moment for me."
After the Predators' success in 2017, Yearwood was eager to get the back on her show as a way to express her appreciation for them as a fan.
"I am thankful for the willingness to participate in my silly little show," she said. "It's been really cool and, not that the Predators need any help from me or anybody else to shine a spotlight on them, but we're doing our best to try and make sure everybody knows about them and how great they are."