NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Three Predators legends will soon be forever enshrined in franchise history as the team will induct the first class into its new Golden Hall Thursday night ahead of the puck drop against the Blackhawks.
It would be hard to find a more fitting trio for the inaugural class than David Poile, Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber.
"This is kind of it," Poile said at the Golden Hall luncheon Wednesday. "This is the end of David Poile with the Predators other than I’m kind of advising them a little bit, but it’s so fitting that I go in with Pekka and Shea."
Poile was the architect of what the Predators are today. In 1997, he chose an opportunity with the unnamed expansion franchise team in Nashville over other opportunities.
It was a chance for him to follow in the footsteps of his father Bud, a Hall of Fame G.M., who started not one, but two teams over his career.
"This was always my dream job," Poile said. "I chose Nashville because I wanted to start a team. I wanted to have that challenge. My dad had it twice. He started the Philadelphia Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks and I learned a lot from him, what was good, what was not so good, and I had a plan. It was the best decision I ever made."
Poile served 26 years in Nashville, building the Predators into a consistent winner and perennial playoff team.
The Predators won 939 games under his guidance, helping Poile become the winningest G.M. in NHL history with 1,533 wins total over his 39-year career that also included 14 seasons with the Capitals. Many of those wins came with Weber on the blue line and Rinne in goal.
“When you’re looking to build a team you’re looking for guys that can help you on the ice, but you’re also looking for role models,” Poile said. “Guys that make a difference not just with goals, saves, wins, but in the community. And you’ve seen what they’ve done with Best Buddies, 365 (Pediatric) Cancer Fund, all the other things. They were leaders. They were special, special people.
Both Rinne and Weber owe their starts to Poile. The Predators selected Weber 49th overall in the loaded 2003 NHL Draft. They took Rinne a year later in the eighth round, which has since been eliminated from the Draft.
"For him to trust me like that and give me an opportunity, it changed my life," Rinne said at the luncheon.
"It’s an honor," Weber added of the Hall of Fame induction. "Especially to be going in with those two guys, it’s a special group."
Rinne and Weber began their professional careers together in 2005 with the Milwaukee Admirals, the Predators’ AHL affiliate. Both showed promise and eventually made their way to Nashville where their respective careers took off.
"He had a quicker route to the NHL than me," Rinne said. "But you could tell right away this guy was something special. He was the first true superstar I played with and I learned so much from him even though he’s younger than me. But he was my captain and I always felt like he was my older brother even though he’s younger, and I always looked up to him."
The duo helped form the Predators’ identity. Rinne became the winningest Finnish goalie in history, finishing with 369 victories between the pipes for the Predators.
Weber was a seven-time All-Star who wore the captain’s “C” on his Predators’ sweater from 2010-16, leading the team to their first playoff series win in 2011 as well as second-round appearances in 2015 and 2016 before he was traded to Montreal.
"To spend, I don’t know, eight, 10, 11 years together, it’s not usual for teammates to spend that much time together," Weber said. "So our friendship is as good as it’s going to get and to be going in with him — I don’t think I’d want anyone else."
The Golden Hall inductees will have their likenesses and accolades displayed on the wall at the club level of the building as well as their names on a banner raised to the rafters inside Bridgestone Arena.
Poile, Rinne and Weber also received matching gold jackets at the Golden Hall luncheon that they will wear for the induction ceremony. One more trip on the ice in front of 17,000 adoring fans for three Predators legends in a home that is now theirs forever.
"Oh yeah, there will be some emotions for sure," Weber said. "Every time I’m in this building I’m just holding back tears, to be honest. The crowd always welcomes me back. It’s a special place and has got a special place in my heart for sure."
The Golden Hall is the third honor the Predators have bestowed upon Rinne, the team’s most valuable player for more than a decade of its existence. The now 42-year-old, who now works for the team as a European scout, has a bronze statue in the plaza outside the arena and is the only player in team history to have his number retired.
"I love that building, I love the fans," Rinne said. "I really understand that now how lucky I was as a hockey player. You get to live your best life, live your dream and it’s truly special."
Poile and Weber shared another honor last fall when the two received the highest honor in hockey, getting inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Asked Wednesday about the string of accolades and what they mean to him, Poile, who retired in 2023, reiterated something he said in his Hall of Fame induction speech in Toronto.
"I gave everything I had to hockey,” Poile said. "My heart and soul. I worked really hard. But hockey has given me and my family so much more. So I’m just a lucky guy."
