Poile Reflects on Storied Career in Nashville After Announcing Retirement

In 1997, David Poile was staring down a life-changing decision.
After departing the Washington Capitals' front office at 48 years old, Poile was courting a tempting general manager offer from an existing NHL franchise. That is, until Craig Leipold and Jack Diller got on the phone and made Poile a unique offer to take the helm of the NHL's newest expansion team in an unfamiliar destination.
Against the advice of his father, Bud - a decorated NHL expansion GM himself - Poile took a chance and opted to take the path less traveled.
Twenty-five years later, the winningest and longest-tenured general manager in the history of the NHL - now 73 - chose to step into the unknown once more and announced his upcoming retirement on Sunday after a quarter century serving as the Nashville Predators' sole general manager.
The journey leading up to that decision, reportedly made over the summer, was nothing short of remarkable.

"It's been the best 25 years of my hockey career to be able to do something like this from scratch," Poile said following his announcement on Sunday. "There are so many firsts and milestones that you can only experience when you start something like an expansion team. [Whether it's] our first game, our first win, the first time we got into playoffs, hosting the NHL Draft and signing our first star player, winning our first playoff series, hosting the NHL All-Star Weekend, making our first trip to the Stanley Cup Final, winning the Presidents' Trophy, playing in the Winter Classic or hosting the Stadium Series and retiring our first jersey - they're all great memories, and I've loved everything about this job, from developing plans and working with people to bring the plans to reality."

If the ultimate plan was to turn a city known predominantly for its country music and southern disposition into a bonafide hockey destination with a fervent fanbase and a highly-competitive product to boot, Poile was certainly successful.
Under his leadership, the Predators not only captured a Western Conference Championship, the Presidents' Trophy, two division titles, 15 postseason berths and 926 wins, but played host to an NHL Draft, NHL All-Star Weekend, Stanley Cup Final and Stadium Series game in spectacular fashion as well.
Of course, before Poile hands the reins over to Barry Trotz in late June, the team will host two more premier League events in the 2023 NHL Awards and Draft, too.
"I suppose it is fitting that David's remarkable tenure ends in June, when the NHL will bring both its Awards and Draft to Nashville," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "Nobody has done more over the last 26 years to build Nashville into one of the League's premiere hockey markets. For that matter, nobody cares more for the game nor works harder to help it grow than David Poile."
To be certain, hockey has not only grown leaps and bounds on the ice at Bridgestone Arena, but throughout Nashville and its surrounding communities. Poile, of course, is largely to thank.
The Preds organization now boasts three Ford Ice Center locations across Middle Tennessee, with numerous programs bringing the sport to people of all ages and backgrounds, while off the ice its foundation has raised millions for local non profit organizations and logged thousands of volunteer hours.
"You can't say enough about David Poile," Predators President & CEO Sean Henry said. "Obviously, with over 50 years in this sport he's given so much to the game and he's always been a caretaker of the game first, and then his organization. I think he made all of us students of that and that pushed us all forward as he really did protect the game and always tried to make it better and better."
For his efforts, in 2001 Poile was awarded the Lester Patrick Award in recognition for his contributions to growing the game of hockey in the United States. And in 2017, following the Predators famed Stanley Cup Final run, Poile was named General Manager of the Year at the NHL Awards.
Poile - a loving father, grandfather and husband - credits his successes to family, and on Monday began to reflect on his towering career in the presence of those closest to him.
"There are three ingredients that I think really make us successful in life," Poile said. "Number one is who you married… Number two, the job that you love. I've had the only job I have ever wanted for 51 years. And number three, where you live…What do they call that when three things are all lined up in hockey? A hat trick - and I've scored a true hat trick [in life] and couldn't be more grateful."