The Tennessean spent some time at Bridgestone Arena with David Poile on his last day as general manager of the Nashville Predators on Friday.
The conversation covered a lot that happened during his 51-year career in the NHL. Here are some of the outtakes:
What would his father, Hockey Hall of Famer Bud Poile, say about his career?
Paul: “That’s a tough one. How do I know? My dad and I were very close. He’d be very proud of me. Today — I know this because the league told me — I am the longest serving general manager ever, No. 1. My dad is No. 100. How is that for symmetry?”
How close did Poile come to leaving when the Predators almost left Nashville in 2007?
Paul: “(Former Predators owner) Craig (Leopold) hired me. I love Craig, but he didn’t believe in the franchise anymore, or he had a better place to go. I’m not sure. Maybe I could have gone with him. (to Minnesota). I think he would have let me out of my contract if I wanted to go in a different direction. I didn’t know what I was getting into in the next step but I came to Nashville, those are my goals. We hadn’t even been given a fair start.
“We just finished the season. We were the third-best team in the National Hockey League. We unfortunately lost in the first round (of the playoffs) … we lost and Craig Leopold decided to go in a different direction. We were almost there. Then we had to go start over again. It was terrible. … I never put my house up for sale. I never tried to go anywhere else.”
What it was like to take stage with officers, Covenant School faculty member at NHL Awards
Paul: “I thanked those policemen (Mike Collazo and Jeff Mathes). We rehearsed the day before and talked about what (Ben Gatlin’s) role has been in the school. He ends up telling me how much the Predators have meant to the community, given us hope and belief. I’m trying to thank him and he’s thanking me.”
Does Poile have any regrets about his career?
Paul: “I don’t really want to have any regrets. We do that to ourselves all the time, ‘I should have done this yesterday; I should have talked to that player, should have made that trade.’ I didn’t want to do that. You just want to try to live in the present. I want to remember the good memories.”
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Did David Poile ever consider leaving Predators? Outtakes with former GM