Stastney fights weather to make NHL debut with Predators

Spencer Stastney knows that when it comes to making your NHL debut, not much can get in your way.

The Nashville Predators rookie made his debut against the St. Louis Blues at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday, but not before having to jump through hoops just to get to the arena in time because of a storm passing through the area.
On Friday, Stastney was playing for the Milwaukee Admirals -- the Predators' American Hockey League affiliate -- in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and got word around noon that he was getting called up for his NHL debut.
So he immediately went to the Grand Rapids airport to catch a flight, and was scheduled to land in Nashville around 7 or 8 that night.
It didn't exactly pan out that way.

His flight out of Grand Rapids was canceled because of the storm, so he ended up taking an Uber to Chicago -- just under a 200-mile trip -- to catch another flight to Nashville. That flight got delayed and was eventually also canceled.
Lucky for Stastney, he got on a flight to Nashville on Saturday morning, the day of his debut, and finally got to the arena around 9:15 a.m.
"With plenty of time to spare," Stastney told the Predators website.
At 9:30, he quickly met his teammates, got dressed for the game soon after that and took his first lap on the ice around 11:30 before the noon CT puck drop.
All with a smile on his face the entire time.

"This is perfect. I'll take this. Whatever it comes with, it'll be awesome," Stastney said. "So I'm just really excited to play hockey and have some fun. Yeah, I just try to enjoy it."
After the game,
a 6-1 win for the Predators
Stastney got the game puck and the celebratory helmet for his efforts.
Well-deserved, as clearly Stastney is willing to do whatever it takes to help his team.