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.”
