Saturday was a banner evening for Nashville Predators General Manager & President of Hockey Operations David Poile.
As the Predators hosted the Philadelphia Flyers for a Saturday Night in Smashville, Poile became the first GM in NHL history to reach 3,000 regular-season games, after serving as the lead decision maker for the Preds and the Washington Capitals over a 40-year span. .
Speaking on Episode 178 of the Predators Official PodcastPoile reflected on the historic milestone.
“It was amazing,” he said. “I don’t have exactly the correct word to use for it, but it’s a big wow. Obviously, when you’ve gone through 3,000 games, [you meet] A lot of people in this game and everybody says [my achievement] is incredible.”
In fact, no other NHL general manager – past or present – is anywhere near Poile’s achievement, with Glen Sather (2,700) and Lou Lamoriello (2,678) the next closest.
Poile – a husband, father and grandfather – has not been shy about the support he’s received from his family throughout the journey to 3,000.
“My wife was with me through some of the festivities,” said Poile. “She’s had to sacrifice a lot, as every woman does when the guy has a job that demands a lot of time, a lot of travel. I don’t take any credit for [my wonderful kids and grandkids]. My wife did all that.”
Poile also credits his father Bud Poile – the first GM of both the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks – as his primary source of inspiration.
“My dad was my mentor, obviously,” Poile said. “He was probably the most driving force of why I loved hockey from a very young age. I talked to him about what he did and what his path was and I saw lots of things I got out of that that I thought were really cool in in terms of the effect he had on those cities and selling hockey. And I thought maybe there’s something I could do [like that]”
Like his father Bud did in 1989, Poile won his own Lester Patrick Award in 2001 for his service to hockey in the United States.
But the accolades didn’t stop there. After the Predators first franchise appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in June 2017, Poile was named NHL General Manager of the Year. Shortly thereafter, Poile was inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame.
The GM is nowhere near settling down yet and is looking forward to the next two big events in Nashville’s future: the 2023 NHL Awards and Draft, both of which will be hosted at Bridgestone Arena.
“Nashville, as I’ve learned, puts on a good party,” Poile said. “The League certainly sees that and has given us the Awards this year and the Draft. I’m really looking forward to the Draft here in June and I’ve got to somehow find a way to be competitive this year and also get some extra picks. So, we’ll see what we can do along the way here.”
You can listen to David Poile’s full interview on Episode 178 of the Predators Official Podcast, hosted by Darren McFarland and Kara Hammer, by clicking here.
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