"A big moment like that, you've got to prepare for it," Rinne said Monday morning from a meeting room inside Bridgestone Arena. "It's a little bit nerve-wracking too, but it's all good."
Yes, this is so much better than good, especially considering Rinne is the greatest athlete to ever sport a Predators uniform. Honoring the former goaltender by ensuring no one in Nashville will ever wear his number again was only a matter of time. Now, just seven months after Rinne decided he had played his final NHL game, that occasion has come.
"I'm very excited to be back," Rinne said. "I've missed Nashville, and it's just a lot of emotions right now. I know it's going to be a special week. So many things that make me happy - having my family here, having my friends, everything that's about to happen, the game [on Thursday] and then also the outdoor game - I'm very excited about it all. It's going to be a fun week."
Those family members and friends - Rinne anticipates he'll have approximately 50 people in from Finland to enjoy the festivities - will join the rest of Smashville in celebrating their favorite son, the first time many will have seen the netminder since he took what turned out to be a final victory lap last May.
Nowadays, for the first time since the mid-2000s, Rinne doesn't have an NHL schedule to follow. Instead, it's all about "dad life," as he calls it, with his young son, Paulus, who recently celebrated his first birthday. Rinne laughs and says he's also trying to stay in shape while living "a pretty normal life."
And while he's no longer entrenched in the daily grind of the NHL, he still takes plenty of interest in his team.
"I've been watching a lot of hockey and still staying involved, watching the Preds and staying connected," Rinne said. "It's obviously a huge change from my professional career, but it's been a good one. I still think [retiring] was the perfect timing and the right call for me at the right time."
Of course, part of keeping up with the Preds involves watching his fellow countryman and successor in Nashville's net, Juuse Saros. Rinne, who formed a father-and-son-like bond with Saros over the years, is quite proud of what he's seen.
"I wasn't surprised by his success, but it's been great to see," Rinne said of Saros. "He's carrying a huge load; he's playing a ton and it's a great sign. He looks great, he looks energized, too, and it doesn't seem to faze him. He's seeing a lot of pucks; he's seeing a lot of minutes and I'm very impressed by him.
"But it's been great to follow the Preds… When I watch the games back home, you're going to get sweaty palms and you get nervous about the games, but it's been fun."
Rinne's heart rate may be up a bit come Thursday evening as well, but he'll be ready. And if the tears start flowing? Well, you'll just have to excuse him as he reminisces on some of the best nights of his life.
"I've been trying to mentally prepare for it," Rinne said. "I've been trying to go through the emotions of how I'm going to feel - just trying to kind of prepare myself so I'm not going to be a mess on the ice, that I'm going to be able to speak, because I know it's going to be emotional. Having this connection to the organization through the city and our fans, it's going to be special. I know that it's going to be emotional, so that's the part that I'm focusing on is trying to keep myself together."
As for the fans? Well, Rinne wasn't about to spoil that speech he's been working on, but he's going to try his darndest to articulate what they mean to him - a partnership the likes of which Nashville may never see again.
"There's such a special connection between myself and the fans, and I've been so fortunate to have this relationship with them," Rinne said. "I don't take it lightly. It feels special, and I miss all the fans, that's for sure. We have the best fans in the League. Now that I'm retired, you really appreciate it. Playing a game and having these fans in the stands, it's a pretty special thing that in the middle of a career, you don't think about these things. I think you realize how good things are, but once you retire, it's like, 'Man, that was so much fun.'"
