By AJ Willingham

CNN

(CNN) -- Kelly Clarkson may be one of the most popular artists in the country, but she could be persona non grata in Nashville if its hockey team doesn't win.

The Nashville Predators are one game away from advancing to the Stanley Cup finals. And since it's Nashville, its anthem performers in the playoffs have been country A-listers: There was Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Vince Gill and Carrie Underwood (who is married to a Predators player). The Predators have won every game these performers have opened.

And then there was...Kelly Clarkson. After she sang the anthem last week, the Predators lost their first home playoff game after winning six in a row. Was it a coincidence, or something else?

After the Preds lost following her performance, people floated the idea of a Clarkson curse.

It was almost as if the lovely singer already knew what was at stake: During the game, she tweeted out a pic of herself singing and asked the Predators to "please win or people will blame me!"

They didn't win. And while most people thought she slayed the song, some people blamed her. She was a jinx! Or maybe she broke the good-luck train of country bona fides and angered the spirit of the Country Music Capital! #BlameKellyClarkson! Yes, people get really weird about this stuff.

Now the Predators are back home in Nashville to face off against the Anaheim Ducks for a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. If they lose, this weird Clarkson-inspired juju will continue. It may depend on who sings the anthem before this final game -- and that is a secret the team is proud to keep. The Predators make a practice of not announcing who the anthem singer is, because inevitably it's someone ultra famous that makes the crowd go bonkers.

It's a nice tradition, one that would be even nicer if, you know, silly superstitions didn't mess it up. Luckily, it all seems to be in good fun -- for now. If they lose, that may be another story.