Poile's Illustrious Career Set to Culminate With Hockey Hall of Fame Induction

David Poile thought a call might be coming.

As a longtime member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee, Poile knew how the process to welcome a new member into the Hall worked. So, on a certain day last summer, the former Nashville Predators general manager was keeping his mobile device close by, just in case.

Poile usually had the inside track to these kinds of things, but since he was eligible to be selected for the first time, he simply had to wait and see.

Then, like clockwork, Toronto’s 416 area code appeared on his screen.

“I knew that this was probably it,” Poile told broadcaster Kenny Albert as part of the NHL’s Induction Class Podcast, “and so I said, ‘Hello,’ a little sheepishly. And [Selection Committee Chairman] Lanny McDonald says, ‘David?’ And I said, ‘Lanny?’ And he says to me, ‘David, do you have Shea Weber’s phone number?’”

After the two were done laughing, McDonald confirmed what Poile had been hoping for, but never expecting.

On Monday night in Toronto, along with former Predators Captain Shea Weber - and, yes, McDonald already had Weber’s number, too - Poile will enter the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builder category as the winningest general manager in National Hockey League history.

Poile will join his father, Norman ‘Bud’ Poile, also a member of the Builder category, in the Hall, and he’ll do so with 1,533 victories to his name and 3,075 games managed, the most of anyone who has ever worked in the NHL.

“I have to make a couple of speeches when I get up to Toronto, and I think that's going to be harder than I ever thought,” Poile said last month to gathered media and Predators staff inside Bridgestone Arena. “The one thing that I am going to say in one of my speeches, for sure, and I say this to everybody through all the Preds people and the media, but when a player gets into the Hall of Fame, it’s because of their unique skill, elite skills and talent. We all know why a player gets in. And when a builder gets in, it's because of the village. And the village is always around me.

“Whether it's the support that I get from all the business side of the Predators, and the sales and all the different areas, or with the management team I have with coaches and assistant general managers, it totally takes a village for a builder to be successful, for a manager to be successful. I have never forgotten that, I always believed in that and I always needed that. I’m going to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and that’s so cool, but every one of you here has been part of the journey and part of why I’m getting in.”

Pete Rogers is one of the few people who has been with the Predators organization since the very first puck drop in October of 1998.

The only Head Equipment Manager the Preds have ever known, Rogers worked for Poile longer than just about anyone ever has. And just like everyone who’s had the pleasure, Rogers is better for it.

“He’s just a Hall-of-Fame person as well,” Rogers said of Poile. “David has gotten me involved in so many USA Hockey things and so much with the NHL being on some equipment committees, and he's always pushed me to do that to better myself. So, I can only imagine he's done that with everybody else, too, but he's just that person that you want to rally around, and you don't ever want to let him down. You know how much the game means to him, and the way he gives back and the way he treats people. And in my opinion, he's a complete package of a person that's very deserving of that award.”

Like anyone, Rogers never wanted to let Poile down.

There were moments earlier in Rogers’ career when, “The train kind of fell off the tracks a little bit,” and Poile was there to prove clarity for the equipment manager. At times, Poile would sit Rogers down and tell him how things needed to be done, to give him the truth even when the truth might be difficult to hear. But Rogers always knew Poile was doing it to make him better - and the team, too.

“I’ll never forget what he told me one time in his early years,” Rogers recalled. “Everybody came to Nashville from other organizations, so everybody had their ideas on how things should be. And one day, David put his hand on my shoulder. He goes, ‘Your job is a lot like your marriage. You have to work at it.’ And you know what? He wasn't wrong. Just simple advice like that - you just think about what he said and think, ‘He's right.’ You just take that and move forward with that.”

Over 25 years later, Rogers is grateful for every moment shared with Poile, and he’s honored to have played a part in Poile’s Hall-of-Fame career.

“When I first congratulated David, he goes, ‘You're as much a part of this as I am, because you were such a part of my career,’” Rogers said. “We all have different roles, but everybody's role is important. David's always preached that, and every role leads to the end of winning hockey games. Everybody has to be doing their thing for a group to be successful… [David and Shea], they’re just such great people. I can’t really emphasize that more, the type of people they are.”

Barry Trotz wouldn’t be back in Nashville if it weren’t for David Poile.

He wouldn’t have been here the first time, either.

Back in 1997, Poile needed a new head coach as he was building his expansion franchise in Tennessee. If he had opted for someone who was already established in NHL circles, Trotz’s life would have looked very different.

But Poile saw something in the young coach and decided he was the one to guide the Preds for the first time.

“David always thought about building,” Trotz said. “He’s built a couple franchises. [The] Washington [Capitals were] scuffling around, and he got it to be a perennial power threat every year [during his first stop as a general manager]. Then, he came to Nashville, building it from scratch and making it a playoff team year in and year out. But more than anything, he was a builder of people. I mean, I'm not coaching in the National Hockey League if it wasn't for David Poile trusting in the guy that had the least experience. There's so many people in management and scouting and coaching that he's given opportunities to, and I’ve learned from David. He’s just a great mentor and teacher.”

Trotz is still experiencing that tutelage to this day.

When Poile decided back in 2023 his time as the only GM the Predators had ever known was coming to an end, he called Trotz. Now in his second stint with Nashville after he served as their first head coach from 1998 through the 2013-14 season, Trotz took over as general manager, a full-circle moment as the perfect successor.

One of the reasons Poile accepted the Nashville job back in 1997 was the opportunity to build a franchise from the ground up. And if Poile’s fingerprints are on just about everything in Nashville Predators history, Trotz is a close second.

Therefore, Nashville’s new GM knows exactly how much Poile has meant to hockey in the Music City, and this story may not have been written if it weren’t for the original builder.

“You know, hockey is probably not here if it wasn't for a guy like David, plain and simple,” Trotz said. “I don't know if it makes it [without David]. It was very close to being one of those situations where you might not make it. But we did it on limited budgets. We did it on outworking people on and off the ice, and then it just kept growing. And now, it’s a solid franchise.”

Trotz knows how much Poile’s passion and dedication to the game has led to this moment, and he expects his emotions to get the best of him come Monday night in Toronto.

“I'll tear up,” Trotz said of the idea of watching Poile and Weber be inducted into the Hall. “Going into the Hall of Fame, it's got to be the coolest thing. When the Hall of Fame says you're the elite in your class, whatever your profession is, and there's so many great people, but there's no one more deserving than David and Shea.

“David's been in the game a long, long time. He’s done so much good in the game, and always for the game. It’s always for the game to make it better, and he’s very diligent on that and passionate about the game.”

Brian Poile has never known anything different.

He grew up running around an NHL locker room. Family vacations were based on League events. Being at the rink wasn’t just normal, it was life.

So, when the Predators Assistant General Manager and Director of Hockey Operations watches his father be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Monday - 34 years after he saw his grandfather achieve the same feat - he’ll pause to appreciate how much this truly means for the definition of a hockey family.

“It’s super special,” Brian Poile said from his Bridgestone Arena office where he’s worked since 2010. “It’s just beyond cool to see both my grandfather and my dad get a chance to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Words can't really describe. It's just so amazing, because our family's been in hockey our whole life, but this is the pinnacle of our sport, to be able to get in there as a general manager. It's pretty amazing.”

Brian spent plenty of time around the Capitals franchise growing up when his father was managing in Washington, but working together was a dream come true. The father-son dynamic was everything they could have hoped for, and it’s a legacy Brian continues today.

“My dad's a really good boss, a really good mentor,” Brian Poile said. “I got to see him help myself and so many other people. So, it was really fun. And then also, to try to do something together, try to build something, to try to win something together, was pretty special to be on the same team together, per se, with the Preds.”

Brian was 12 when he watched his grandfather inducted into the Hall, and now his son, 8-year-old Wyatt, will be in attendance to do the same on Monday night. The memories that stick with Brian from that first ceremony involve all those from around the hockey world telling stories about Bud Poile. Coaches, executives, officials - everyone had something to share.

Now, Brian imagines the same will likely be true this time around because of the impact his father has had on the sport.

“He’s just such a good steward of the game,” Brian Poile said of his father. “He cares about our game so much. It’s fitting, because he's done so much for the game, not only in Washington and Nashville, but even the Board of Governors meetings and stuff to help grow our game, improve our game. His passion for our game is endless. So, it just seems like the right thing.”

That impact was greatest in Nashville, and the inductions of Poile and Weber are milestones for the franchise.

Yes, former Preds forwards Paul Kariya and Peter Forsberg are in the Hall of Fame, but their time in Nashville was short. For Poile and Weber, the first true homegrown Predators who have gotten the call, the honor means that much more for the organization beloved by so many throughout Tennessee and beyond.

“I’m just so happy and proud for our organization,” Brian Poile said. “When I think of the Predators organization, it's like my family. To me, that's part of our franchise evolution, and now we're getting banners in the rafters with [former Preds goaltender] Pekka [Rinne] and my dad, and now inductees into the Hall of Fame with Shea and my dad, it’s just huge for our franchise. Both Shea and my dad are more than deserving and have earned that opportunity, but it’s really great for the Predators to start having guys go in. I think it's just another stamp that our franchise is fully solidified. I can’t wait to see what's going to happen over the next decade if this is what's happened here in the last decade.”

David Poile thought the call might be coming - but he never allowed himself to entertain the idea until recently.

But now that the day-to-day business of running an NHL franchise is no longer at the forefront of his mind, he’s had more time to reflect on what he’s done for the game - and what the game has done for him.

He’s lived all over North America and worked for different franchises, but Poile’s heart will always be in Nashville and with hockey.

And he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“It’s the pinnacle, it's the end, it’s what everybody wants but not everybody gets,” Poile said. “And so, I'm very grateful, I feel very lucky, and like I say, hockey's been fantastic to me. You think about how hard you work, and I certainly think I was a hard worker and I gave as much as I had, but I also think that hockey gave me and my family even more. So, I'm a happy guy.”