Poile adjusts to partial loss of sight

Preds GM now wears glasses

Nashville Predators general manager David Poile, who had been wearing a patch over his right eye since a puck smashed into his orbital bone/nose during a practice in St. Paul, Minn., on Feb. 6, now has a pair of prescription glasses.

He still doesn’t know if he will ever recover the sight in his eye.

“They say life is a series of adjustments,” said Poile, who has come to grips with his predicament after a pass between defencemen Shea Weber and Roman Josi ricocheted and he was hit flush in the face in the tunnel between the benches at the Xcel Energy Center.

The freak accident occurred came a few weeks before he was heading over to Sochi as GM of the United States’ Olympic team.

“If it happens two seconds earlier, maybe it goes over my head,” said Poile, who usually sits in the seats during practices.

Poile probably has been dealing with a concussion, too, but still handled the trade-deadline day, moving centre David Legwand to the Detroit Red Wings.

“I was waiting for (another GM) to take advantage of me,” he said with a laugh.

“I’m thinking and hoping it will be fine. I’ve talked to people who’ve lost their eyesight. Everything (healing) takes time. You have to be patient with yourself.”

Poile said dealing Legwand, Nashville’s first draft pick in 1997, was difficult. The Predators were cutting the cord with their longest-serving player. “It didn’t come about until a minute or two before two (the Central Standard Time deadline in Nashville).…” said Poile.