USA TODAY International Edition
Cup Finals’ GMs make right moves
Rutherford, Poile show age is but a number in sports
In Ray Shero’s first week as Nashville Predators assistant general manager in 1998, he recalls that GM David Poile taught him his first lesson on how to manage a team.
Seven minutes before an opening faceoff, Poile told Shero he needed to duck into the players’ wives room for a moment.
“He comes out and says, ‘ I can’t believe it, but they have run out of chocolate chip cookies and we have to get them some,’ ” Shero says. “David is a detail person, and details are about people. To him, managing a team means taking care of everyone.”
Experience is always an important factor in a Stanley Cup Final, but in this year’s championship series between the Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins, the most experienced competitors are the general managers. Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford is 68, and Nashville’s Poile is 67. Together, they have logged almost 60 years as NHL GMs.
They are also regarded as the league’s two most aggressive traders. At a time when general managers often say it’s difficult to make trades because of the salary cap, Rutherford and Poile have both made multiple trades to propel their teams.
Last season, Poile dealt defenseman Seth Jones for No. 1 center Ryan Johansen, and before this season, he shocked the hockey world by swapping captain Shea Weber for flamboyant defenseman P. K. Subban.
Over the last two years, Ruth- erford has traded for Phil Kessel, Trevor Daley, Justin Schultz and Carl Hagelin, all of whom played major roles in helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2016. This season, he looked clairvoyant by adding veteran defensemen Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit before the Penguins were overrun by injuries on defense.
Rutherford and Poile have even completed a trade with each other that benefited both teams. In 2014, the Penguins received Patric Hornqvist, who provides a net- front presence and feistiness, while the Predators landed James Neal, a 23- goal scorer this season.
“I think both teams got the player they wanted,” said Poile, who considers Rutherford a friend and competitor.
It is a history of success that has kept Poile and Rutherford relevant, but it is their professionalism and gentlemanly demeanor that endears them to their colleagues around the hockey world.
“Jim is perfect for Pittsburgh because he is a straight shooter,” Penguins President David Morehouse said. “He says what he means and means what he says.”
Rutherford was 65 when Morehouse hired him, but Morehouse had no reservations because he had seen Rutherford in league meetings and knew him to be a progressive thinker.
“Everything Jim said in his interview that he would do, he did,” Morehouse said. “He said he believed we could win a Cup in two years, and that’s what happened.”
Joe Starkey, sports talk host on Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan, said fan response to Rutherford early in his tenure was negative.
“They thought he had lost his fastball,” Starkey said.
But after Rutherford acquired Kessel and fired coach Mike Johnston ( in Johnston’s second season) and replaced him with Mike Sullivan, it all changed.
Starkey said Pittsburgh fans love Rutherford now.
“He’s completely honest, and he’s a genuinely decent guy,” Starkey said. “You can easily make an argument that he’s the best trader in the business. You wouldn’t find a single Penguins fan who would say anything negative about him.”
Shero, now the New Jersey Devils’ GM, says he admires Rutherford’s willingness to admit his mistakes and move on.
“If he makes a bad signing, he doesn’t continue to try to justify it; he gets rid of the guy,” Shero said. “And that is easy to say and hard to do.”
It’s hard to question Rutherford’s moves, as he is one of two GMs to win Stanley Cups with two different teams ( the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and Pittsburgh in 2016).
Another subplot of the Final is that Poile has reached this stage for the first time after 35 years as a GM. He has been the Predators’ only GM in their 19- year history and spent 16 years with the Washington Capitals.
Poile is a fatherly figure as well as a boss. “He’s a very welcoming person,” Predators defenseman Matt Irwin said. “He makes everyone feel like they are ( important).”
Defenseman Mattias Ekholm says Poile is always calm. “There’s never anything unexpected with him,” he said.
Poile’s start in the NHL dates to 1972 when he was a member of Cliff Fletcher’s management team with the Atlanta Flames. He said Fletcher was his mentor, and his approach is patterned after Fletcher’s style. Fletcher was also an aggressive trader. But he taught Poile that trades should be considered responsibly.
“I would always say to him, ‘ Why don’t we trade this guy for that guy?’ And Cliff was always patient, and I thought he was listening to me,” Poile recalled. “One day, I caught him on the wrong day, and when I mentioned a trade, he pointed his finger at me and said, ‘ If you’re ever so lucky to be a GM, you will know how it feels to make a trade.’
“Now I know when you make a trade, you disrupt people’s lives. I always try to remember that.”
Shero said he didn’t truly understand what a mentor really was until Poile was his.
“I’ve said for years, whether David Poile wins a Stanley Cup or not, it will never define him. He’s a great hockey guy already,” Shero said. “More importantly, he’s a Hall of Fame person. He has impacted a lot of people’s lives.”