Preds Celebrate Terry Crisp with Ceremony, Surprises for Broadcaster

Surprising someone like Terry Crisp - a man who has seen it all as a player, coach and broadcaster during his 60-year career - isn't easy.
But on Sunday evening, in the midst of celebrating Crisp's legendary 24-year run in Nashville, Predators President & CEO Sean Henry got him.
The announcement from Henry of the establishment of the Crisp College Scholarship Fund, which will be awarded to a deserving youth hockey player who makes a difference in the Nashville community, was one thing. But when the second reveal came - the renaming of one of the ice sheets at Ford Ice Center Bellevue as the Terry Crisp Ice Rink - the honoree couldn't help but envelope Henry in a bear hug, overcome with emotion on a night that was all about him.

The intermission celebration, which Crisp joined on the Ford Band Stage with his wife, Sheila, came after the couple took part in the ceremonial puck drop between the Preds and the Blues as the organization recognized the contributions from the Crisps over the past two-plus decades.
Together for 60 years - and married for almost 57 - Terry and Sheila Crisp have been all over North America together as the current Preds broadcaster played and coached in cities like St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia and Tampa. But, once Crisp's time behind the bench came to an end, he found a home in Nashville while joining Pete Weber, the Voice of the Predators, on the team's television and radio broadcasts.
The duo is largely credited with helping to teach the game of hockey to fans in Nashville who were eager to learn about their new expansion franchise back in the late 1990s, and their on-air chemistry was one of the best ever seen between an announcing pair.

Now, Crisp is trading in his microphone for more time with family, and after originally not wanting much fanfare on his way out, he's certainly enjoying the chance to say "thank you" to Predators fans over and over again.
"In our career, the cities we've gone to and the people we've met and the memories we've had, we didn't really think about how we're going to end it," Crisp said to the Bridgestone Arena crowd on Sunday. "And yet, the hockey gods must have had a plan for Sheila and me, because we came here, and we've had 24 years in Nashville - and what better place for Sheila and me to complete our hockey journey than to call Nashville our home.
"I want to thank everyone, all of you, and Pete Weber and I have raised most of these kids in this building, and Pete and I are proud of it, let me tell you right now. For all you generations that joined us, we're thanking you for helping us create memories that will last forever. And, by the way, we're not leaving. We're staying here with you, and we're going to be here at this rink cheering on our Predators to bring Lord Stanley to the fans who deserve it."