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From Hockey 101 to a Ph.D. in Nashville

NASHVILLE — In the beginning, before the Nashville Predators sank their fangs into a city that adored hockey but just didn’t know it yet, there was a kiosk. Nat Harden perched there, outside the food court of the CoolSprings mall in suburban Brentwood, eight hours a day, five days a week during the 1997 holiday season and tried to sell a sport that he had never seen in person and a team that had no players.

One television at the booth showed hockey highlights, while another ran a loop of Shania Twain’s music videos.