There’s been seven captains in the history of the Nashville Predators and tonight they’ll all be honored for their years of service with the franchise.
Tom Fitzgerald, Kimmo Timonen, Mike Fisher, and Shea Weber all signed the alumni wall and will be honored prior to puck drop tonight. Jason Arnott was not able to make it to Nashville and the late Greg Johnson passed away in 2019.
“He was the most humble, honest, big-hearted person that I’d been around,” head coach Andrew Brunette said of Greg Johnson. “He left a hole in our hearts and he was a guy every day who had a smile on his face and worked hard and loved the game of hockey. Still miss him. We played a lot that first year and he helped me and taught me a lot about the game, we kept in touch and it’s a very tragic and sad thing.”
Here’s what Andrew Brunette had to say about Greg Johnson who will also be honored tonight on Captains Night. #Preds pic.twitter.com/2UWddkncy2
— Nick Kieser🏒 (@KieserNick) February 13, 2024
Tom Fitzgerald is the current general manager of the New Jersey Devils who are in town tonight. He reflected on raising his family here with his two boys starting their hockey careers in Nashville while his third son was born before he was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2002.
“Just being part of something special from the get-go was something I wanted since I chose to come here,” Fitzgerald said of joining the Predators in 1998. “It holds a really really sweet place in my heart.”
Fitzgerald was impressed with the longevity of the captains’ tenures in Nashville. Roman Josi is the seventh one in history, but for Fitzgerald, he admired more than what was going on within the walls of Bridgestone Arena.
“I had a young family and they learned how to skate at Centennial Sportsplex and then my third son was born here,” Fitzgerald said. “I never wanted to leave – I never asked to leave or be traded – I always thought it would be a good place to come back to but then things change.”
One of the things he remembers the most comes from opening night in 1998 when he had his infamous ride down the home bench on the top of the wall.
“I don’t think you can replicate that, it just happened in real-time and it was something. I go back and see a lot and wonder how I did that,” Fitzgerald said.
Even as an opposing GM in the league, he made it a point that players want to come to Nashville and they’re still chasing the one banner they want to add and that’s a Stanley Cup.
Fitzgerald was pulled aside on the floor in Nashville at the draft last summer and was able to make former Predators GM David Poile’s final trade before retiring.
“It was emotional for me. At the trade deadline I tried to make a deal with David on a small deal,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m very honored that they chose me and it was fitting I was David’s first captain who then made the last trade with him.”
Mike Fisher is going through hunting season out where he lives in Tennessee. Most recently he took in his first game of the season but typically watches the Predators from home.
Leadership was a big deal for Fisher throughout his career and when he found out he was traded from the Ottawa Senators it was a shock but it was a win-win for everyone involved.
“This has really become home raising my family and being part of this franchise and community. It’s been special and we don’t ourselves anywhere else,” Fisher said. “To be able to play here and some of the success we had and the disappointments. There are some many great memories but it’s something I won’t forget and I’m glad it was here.”
Fisher said he had no intention of coming back and finishing out his NHL career the way he did. The support he had from friends and family was enough to muster the ability to commit to trying to make a playoff push with the Predators back in 2018.
“It was my last chance and the team was doing real well,” Fisher said. “I wasn’t in shape at the time and it was a bit of a challenge at the time. It didn’t take long to get back in shape but I was glad I did it. It was disappointing but I knew after that it was time to really move on.”
Kimmo Timonen may have been captain for one season but let the record state that he did not want to leave. Due to the uncertainty of the franchise in 2007 he and forward Scott Hartnell were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I remember before leaving for the summer, I saw David Poile and before I left he told me he wanted to keep me but there was no way of knowing what would happen,” Timonen said over the summer. “I went home and I thought we could make it work. I wanted to be a leader for the franchise for as many years as possible. I started to hear from my agent that June that it didn’t look good. The Flyers acquired my rights and I told Scott Hartnell the news and he was traded too.”
Timonen went on to play with the Chicago Blackhawks in the final stretch of his NHL career and won the Stanley Cup in 2015. He agreed to be dealt from the Flyers to the Blackhawks in a final attempt and it paid off.
Before entering the final season of play he was dealing with blood clots and was able to recover in time to play.
“I got there and I was rusty, so I had a hard time catching up. The final moment was cool. At the morning skate the day we won the cup Jonathan Toews pulled me aside and said I would be the second one to lift the cup since I deserved it. We hadn’t played the game yet but then in the last few minutes all the emotions set in.”
Tonight Timonen and the other fellow captains will have their shining moment to be recognized for their time in Nashville.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
Comments