Good night, Nashville. There will be no encore.
The Predators' longtime anthem singer, Dennis K. Morgan, says the team hasn't asked him to return to his role and he wouldn't accept an invitation anyway after being replaced by a slew of country stars this spring.
"No one has contacted me from the Predators," Morgan told The Andrew Walker Show on Sportsnet 590 The FAN on Friday. "My contract expired last Friday, and I assume I'm done, in fact I know I am, because even in the unlikely event I was invited back, I don't want to have an association with the organization any longer just because of this."
He first expressed his disappointment with the club back in May, as the Predators were in the midst of a playoff run that culminated in the franchise's first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
During this time, the club summoned several big-name acts to handle anthem duties, including Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Trisha Yearwood and Kelly Clarkson, thereby upstaging Morgan, who lamented being replaced by A-listers - particularly "the captain's wife."
Morgan insisted Friday he's not interested in taking aim at the organization and just wanted to tell his side of the story, while letting other teams know that he's available for hire.
"I'm not trying to drag the Preds' name through the mud like mine has been dragged through the mud," he said. "I just want a chance to clear my own name (and) let people know I'm not the evil, arrogant jerk I've been portrayed as, and (I'd) love to fill in for teams elsewhere in the NHL if they have an anthem singer who can't make it one night."
Morgan performed the anthems at Bridgestone Arena more than 185 times over the years, according to The Tennessean's Kirk A. Bado.
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